Few of us haven’t read Cinderella, the story of a young woman living in poverty who meets the prince of her dreams. Some might not want to admit it, but there is a hidden Cinderella in everyone’s heart—we all wish we could achieve recognition or success after a period of obscurity(默默无闻).
Mary Santiago has that secret dream, too. Her story is featured in Another Cinderella Story, a film set in a US high school.
Mary is shy but loves to dance. Compared with other girls, she is invisible. However, her world changes completely when a famous teenager pop singer, Joey Parker, appears.
Joey is everything the rest of the boys in her class are not—kind, handsome and desirable. Mary and Joey’s paths cross at a ball. They meet and fall in love with each other. But when Mary has to rush back home, she leaves behind her MP3 player, which becomes the only clue Joey has to find the girl of his dreams. Of course, there is a wicked(邪恶的) stepmother, who turns out to be Dominique Blatt and she takes in Mary after her dancer mother dies. Dominique treats Mary like a maid and does everything she can to make sure Mary doesn’t get into the top dance school. Her two daughters are equally determined to stop Joey falling for Mary, even if that means embarrassing her.
The story, though it mostly follows Cinderella, does add a few modern day twists to the classic fairy tale. Refreshingly, the film, unlike many high school films, does not focus on looks, although the actors are all beautiful. There is also a lot less materialism in Another Cinderella Story than in many similar movies.
“The movie takes the Cinderella fairytale as its jumping off point,” writes movie critic Amber Wilkinson. “The focus is firmly on following your dream.”The first paragraph is mainly to ____________.
A.build interest and lead us to Mary’s secret dream |
B.remind us why Cinderella is popular all the years |
C.inform us of the main topic of the whole passage |
D.tell us how interesting the fairy tale Cinderella is |
In the movie, Mary Santiago is the main character who _____________.
A.is brave in expressing her love |
B.is attended badly by the stepmother |
C.has a dream of meeting a prince |
D.is embarrassed by the pop singer |
What can we infer from the passage?
A.Joey is just like other boys in Mary’s class. |
B.Mary’s mother influences her a lot in singing. |
C.Not many people have a dream to be realized. |
D.The MP3 player helps Joey in finding Mary. |
The passage is mainly about ___________.
A.an introduction to a film |
B.a review about a film |
C.an essay about dreams |
D.an advertisement of Cinderella |
According to the passage, Another Cinderella Story ________.
A.follows Cinderella with nothing new |
B.pays more attention to the looks of the actors |
C.encourages young people to follow their dreams |
D.focuses more on materialism than other films |
Say you are a 17th century construction worker who’s worked hard to build a splendid tower for the dead wife of your emperor.
Now say that the emperor orders your fingertips cut off so your can never build another one . Yes, this story is about the Taj Mahal, one of the most famous buildings in the world. And
the tale behind the construction is just as impressive as the building itself.
First, there’s the emperor of northern India, Shah Jehan, also called the King of the World.
In 1612, Shah Jehan married Mumtaz Mahal. Mad in love, they had 14 children over the next 20 years. But then sadness came. As Mumtaz was about to give birth to child number 14, she said she heard her unborn baby cry out. It was a sign of death. And as Mumtaz lay dying ,
she asked Jehan to build a lasting memorial(纪念物)to celebrate their love.
The heartbroken Jehan ordered his wife’s dying wish carried out, and more than 20,000 workers worked nearly 2 years to complete the construction. In 1653, Jehan placed Mumtaz’s remains under the center of the building.
Later, son number five, Aurangzeb, murdered his brothers and took over the power from his aging father. Jehan lived the rest of his days, eight years, imprisoned not far from the Taj Mahal. Jehan was only allowed to climb onto the top of his prison to see the timeless treasure from a distance. But never again would he be allowed to visit it until he was buried next to his wife.
Today, 25,000 people visit the Taj Mahal each day. Though the reason for building the tower was a strange and sad story, people who see its breath-taking beauty are reminded of the happiness that inspired its construction.
64. The first two paragraphs were written mainly to show that .
A. the Taj Mahal is an unusual historic building
B. ancient Indian emperors were cruel
C. construction workers led a hard life in ancient India .
D. India has some of the most famous buildings in the world.
65. The Taj Mahal was first built as .
A. a prison B. a gift to Mumtaz C. a memorial building D. a tourist attraction
66. From the passage we can learn that Mumtaz probably died in .
A. 1626 B. 1632 C. 1634 D.1653
67. The underlined word “happiness” in the last paragraph refers to “ ”.
A. the married happiness of the emperor and his wife
B. the great pleasure Jehan once found in exercising his power.
C. the happiness Jehan felt on completing the Taj Mahal
D. the pleasure tourists experience when visiting the Taj Mahal
Crime has its own cycles, a magazine reported some years ago. Police records that were studied for five years from over 2,400 cities and towns show a surprising link between changes in the seasons and crime patterns.
The pattern of crime has varied very little over a long period of years. Murder reaches its high during July and August, as do other violent attacks. Murder, moreover, is more than seasonal: it is a weekend crime. It is also a nighttime crime: 62 percent of murders are committed between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. Unlike the summer high in crimes of bodily harm, burglary has a different cycle. You are most likely to be robbed between 6 p.m. and 2 a.m. on a Saturday night in December, January, or February. What is the most uncriminal month of all? May — except for one strange statistic. More dog bites are reported in this month than in any other month of the year.
60. The main idea of paragraph 1 is _________.
A. crime is a serious social problem
B. there is a link between changes in the seasons and crime patterns
C. crime is not linked to the changes in the seasons
D. 2,400 towns were studied for five years
61. The subject of paragraph 2 is __________.
A. Summer crime B. burglary C. murder D. nighttime crime
62. According to the passage, a murder would most likely occur _______.
A. on a weekend night in winter
B. on a weekend afternoon in summer
C. on a Saturday night
D. on a weekend night in summer
63. In paragraph 2 “it is also a nighttime crime,” “it” refers to _________.
A. murder B. 62 percent C. weekend crime D. dog bite
第三部分:阅读理解(共20小题;每小题2分,满分40分)
阅读下列短文,从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中,选出最佳选项。
There is no clear advice on how to use your body language. What you do might be interpreted(诠释)in several ways, depending on the surroundings and who you are talking to. You’ll probably want to use body language differently when talking to your boss compared to when you talk to a girl you’re interested in. The following are some effective ways to improve your body language.
First, to change your body language you must be aware of your body language. Notice
how you sit, how you stand , how you use your hands and legs, and what you do while talking to someone.
You might want to practice in front of a mirror. It might seem silly but no one is watching you. This will give you good feedback(反馈)on how you look to other people and also give you an opportunity to practice a bit before going out into the world.
Another tip is to close your eyes and visualize how you would stand and sit to feel confident, open and relaxed or whatever you want to communicate. See yourself move like that version of yourself. Then try it out.
You might also want to observe friends, role models, movie stars or other people you think have good body language. Observe what they do and you don’t and take bits and pieces you like from them. Try using what you can learn from them.
Some of these tips might seem like you are faking(假装) something. But fake it till you make it a useful way to learn something new. And remember, feelings work backwards too. If you smile a bit more you will feel happier. If you sit up straight you will feel more energetic and in control. If you slow down your movements you’ll feel calmer.
56.What’s the purpose of the passage?
A.To show the importance of body language.
B.To compare spoken language with body language.
C.To give some tips on improving body language.
D.To introduce different kinds of body language.
57.We can learn from the passage that_________.
A.body language is not as important as spoken language.
B.movie stars and models always have good body language.
C.using more body language can make us more popular.
D.different body language should be used in different situations.
58.The underlined word “visualize” in Paragraph 4 means_________.
A.see in one’s mind B.discuss with somebody
C.look in the mirror D.Practice again and again
59.What does the author mainly want to say in the last paragraph?
A.Don’t hide your true feelings. B.It’s a good idea to imitate some people .
C.Try to stay calm all the time. D.Go on learning more about body language.
“Earthquake!” The word flashed in my brain. A roaring sound filled my ears . I tried to slide beneath my desk. The desk did a wild tap dance, slipping and sliding towards the centre of the room. I twisted my body and grabbed at the window sill behind me, somehow kicking free of my dancing chair. I tried to stand. My legs skated away as if on a bucking escalator.
My fingers shook, grasped and held the window sill tightly. Somewhere through the roar sounded the terrified scream of some wounded animal. I looked behind me and tried to steady my gaze on the other kids but the scene was a dizzy nightmare. Some of the class was sitting in the middle of the room, surrounded by chairs and desks. One girl was screaming. A boy was trying to claw his way across the floor to the door in a crazy overarm crawl.
My grip froze me to the window sill.
I cried aloud, “I’m going to die. I’m going to die. Save me, I’ m not ready to die, I’m not ready!”
I hunched forward on my knees and pressed my face against my clenched fingers. I looked at the backs of my fingers and stupidly noticed the fragile pale hairs growing out of the pores. The fingers would soon cease to exist. Somehow the impending horror of my death was too terrible to even cry about.
Suddenly, I became aware that the rocking had ceased. Perhaps I wasn’t going to die.
72. The roaring sound was made by ______.
A. a wounded animalB. people screaming
C. children running D. an earthquake
73. When the narrator clenches his fingers he is ______
A. afraid B. angry C. injured D. impatient
74.Pararaph Two describes the _______.
A. injuries suffered by the narrator B. effects of a bad nightmare
C.disorder in the classroom D. narrator’s fear of death
75. At the end of the passage there is a felling of ______.
A. panic B. hope C. sorrow D. excitement
When you want to go shopping, decide how much money you can spend on new clothes. Think about the kind of clothes you really need. Then look for those clothes you really need. Then look for those clothes on sale.
There are labels(标签)inside all new clothes. The labels tell you how to take care of your clothes. The label for a shirt may tell you to wash it in warm water. A sweater label may tell you to wash in cold water. The label on a coat may say “dry clean only ”, for washing may uin this coat. If you do as the directions (说明) on the label, you can keep your clothes looking their best for a long time.
Many clothes today must be dry cleaned. Dry cleaning is expensive. When buying new clothes, check to see if they will need to be dry cleaned. You will save money if you buy clothes that can be washed.
You can save money if you buy clothes that are well made. Well-made clothes last longer. They look good even after they have been washed many times. Clothes that cost more money are not necessarily better made. They do not always fit better. Sometimes less expensive clothes look and fit better than more expensive clothes.
68. If you want to save money , you had better buy clothes that_____.
A. don’t fit youB. don’t last long C. need to be dry cleanedD. can be washed
69. The label inside the clothes tell you________.
A. how to keep the clothes looking their best B. how to save money
C. whether the clothes fit you or not D. where to get the clothes dry cleaned
70. The first thing for you to do before you buy clothes is ______
A. to look for well-made clothes B. to see how much money you can spend on it
C. to know how to wash them D. to read the labels inside them
71. We learn from the passage that cheaper clothes_______.
A. are always worse made B. must be dry cleaned
C. can not be washed D. can sometimes fit you better