Chaplin, one of the greatest and funniest actors, was born in London in 1889. When a poor boy, he was often seen waiting outside the London theatres, hoping to get work in show business. He could sing and dance, and above all, he knew how to make people laugh. But he couldn’t get work and therefore wandered about the city streets.
Charlie Chaplin first acted when he was five. He broke into show business because his mother, a music-hall performer, lost her voice during the performance and had to leave the stage, and Charlie went on and sang a well-known song. Halfway through the song, a shower of money poured onto the stage. Charlie stopped singing and told audiences he would pick the money first and then finish the song. The audiences laughed. This was the first of millions of laughs in Charlie Chaplin’s fabulous(神话) career.
Twenty years later the same Chaplin became the greatest and best loved comedian in the world. His dream came true in the world. His dream came true in the end. Chaplin became world-famous and almost a king in the world of the film.
Even people who don’t understand English can enjoy Chaplin’s films because they are mostly silent. The equipment for adding sound to films had not yet been developed. The development of films with sound became a problem for Chaplin, as he was uncertain about making films with dialogues. Instead, he coninued to make films without dialogue, but he added music, which he wrote himself. It isn’t what he says that makes us laugh. His comedy doesn’t depend on words. It depends on little actions which mean the same thing to people the world over.
Chaplin lived most of his life in America and the last years in Switzerland, where he was buried at Christmas 1977, at the age of eighty-eight. There was sadness all over the world at the news of his death.
In his book, Chaplin tells us how to succeed in life. He says, “You have to believe in yourself. That’s the secret.”Chaplin is regarded as king of comedy mainly because______.
A.lots of people have seen his films |
B.he could sing and dance well |
C.he knew how to make people laugh |
D.he acted out the common human situations best in his comedy |
What makes people laugh in Chaplin’s films?
A.It isn’t his words but his actions. | B.Neither his words nor actions. |
C.Either his words or his actions. | D.Not only his words but also his actions. |
The only secret of Charles Chaplin’s huge success is that______.
A.he can make all people, men and women, old and young laugh |
B.he has full trust in himself |
C.he is always active and hard-working all his life |
D.though he is always in trouble, he never loses heart |
Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?
A.He was too shy to meet the managers of the theatres. |
B.People won’t stop laughing until tears run down Chaplin’s face. |
C.People all over the world can enjoy Chaplin’s films without translation because most of them are silent. |
D.He wouldn’t like to work at the theatre. |
Being able to multitask-doing several things at the same time-is considered a welcome skill by most people. But if we consider the situation of the young people aged from eight to eighteen, we should think again.
What we often see nowadays is that young people juggle an ever larger number of electronic devices(电子产品)as they study. While working, they also surf on the Internet, send out emails, answer the telephone and listen to music on their iPods. In a sense, they are spending a significant amount of time in fruitless efforts as they multitask.
Multitasking is even changing the relationship between family members. As young people around them. They can no longer greet family members when they enter the house, nor can they cat at the family table.
Multitasking also affects young people's performance at university and in the workplace. When asked about their opinion of the effect of modern gadgets(器具)on their performance of tasks, many young people gave a positive response(反应). However, the response from the worlds of education and business was not quite as positive. Educators feel that multitasking by children has a serious effect on later development of study skills. They believe that many college students now need help to improve their study skills. Similarly, employers feel that young people entering the job market need to be taught all over again, as modern gadgets have made it unnecessary for them to learn special skills to do their work.
1. |
What does the underlined word "juggle" in Paragraph 2 most probably mean?
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2. |
In Paragraph 3, the author points out that.
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3. |
What is the main idea of the last paragraph?
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4. |
The author develops the passage mainly by.
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While all my classmates seen to be crazy about a one-way ticket to Mars(火星), I’d rather say Mars is totally unsuitable for human existence. People won’t have enough food supplies there, and the terrible environment would make it impossible for them to live a long life. Besides, the journey won’t be safe. Can anybody explain to me just why people would go to Mars, never to return?
Steve Minear, UK
Here are the things you can think of: the desire to explore a foreign and unique environment, the excitement of being the first humans to open up a new world, the expectation of fame and glory…For scientists there is another reason. Their observations and research will probably lead to great scientific achievements.
Donal Trollop, Canada
There are already too many people on the Earth. I think that sometime before the end of the century, there will be a human colony(殖民地)on Mars. It will happen when people finally realize that tow-way trips to the red planet Mars are unnecessary. Most of the danger of space Flight is in the launches(发射) and landings. Cutting the trip home would therefore reduce the danger of accidents, save a lot of money, and open the way to building an everlasting human settlement on another world.
Enough supplies can be sent on ahead. And every two years more supplies and more people will needs, and Mars is far more pleasant than the other planets in the outer space.
Paul Davies. USA The main purpose of Steve Minear’s writing is .
A.to report his classmates’ discussion | B.to invite an answer to his question |
C.to explain the natural state of Mars | D.to show his agreement on going to Mars |
Which of the following best states Donal Trollop’s idea?
A.There is a plan to send humans to Mars. |
B.There are many reasons for going to Mars. |
C.Scientists become famous by doing research on Mars. |
D.It is possible to build an Earth-like environment on Mars. |
Paul Davies points out that .
A.humans need only a one-way ticket to Mars. |
B.two-way trips to Mars will be made safe soon |
C.it is easy to reduce the danger and cost of flights to Mars |
D.it is cheap to build an everlasting human settlement on Mars |
What does Paul Davies think of human existence on Mars?
A.Humans will have to bring all they need from the Earth. |
B.Humans will find Mars totally unsuitable for living. |
C.Humans can produce everything they need. |
D.Humans can live longer in the colony on Mars |
I arrived at my mother’s home for our Monday family dinner. The smells of food flew over from the kitchen. Mother was pulling out quilt(被子)after quilt from the boxes, proudly showing me their beauties. She was preparing for a quilt show at the Elmhurst Church. When we began to fold and put them back into the boxes, I noticed something at the bottom of one box. I pulled it out. “What is this?” I asked.
“Oh?” Mom said, “That’s Mama’s quilt.”
I spread the quilt. It looked at if a group of school children had pieced it together; irregular designs, childish pictures, a crooked line on the right.
“Grandmother made this?” I said, surprised. My grandmother was a master at making quilts. This certainly didn’t look like any of the quilts she had made.
“Yes, right before she died. I brought it home with me last year and made some changes,” she said. “I’m still working on it. See, this is what I’ve done so far.”
I looked at it more closely. She had made straight a crooked line. At the center of the quilt, she had stitched(缝) a piece of cloth with these words: “My mother made many quilts. She didn’t get all lines straight. But I think this is beautiful. I want to see it finished. Her last quilt.”
“Ooh, this is so nice, Mom,” I said. It occurred to me that by completing my grandmother’s quilt, my mother was honoring her own mother. I realized, too, that I held in my hands a family treasure. It started with the loving hands of one woman, and continued with the loving hands of another.Why did the author go to mother’s home?
A.To see her mother’s quilts. | B.To help prepare for a show. |
C.To get together for the family dinner. | D.To discuss her grandmother’s life. |
The author was surprised because .
A.the quilt looked very strange. | B.her grandmother liked the quilt. |
C.the quilt was the best she had seen. | D.her mother had made some changes |
The underlined wood “crooked” in the passage most probably means .
A.unfinished | B.broken | C.bent | D.unusual |
Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?
A.A Quilt Show | B.Mother’s Home | C.A Monday Dinner | D.Grandmother’s Quilt |
阅读理解: 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。
Melissa Poe was 9 years old when she began a campaign for a cleaner environment by writing a letter to the then President Bush. Through her own efforts, her letter was reproduced on over 250 donated billboards across the country.
The response to her request for help was so huge that Poe established Kids For A Cleaner Environment (Kids F.A.C.E.) in 1989. There are now 300,000 members of Kids FACE worldwide and is the world's largest youth environmental organization.
Poe has also asked the National Park Service to carry out a "Children's Forest" project in every national park. In 1992, she was invited as one of only six children in the world to speak at the Earth Summit in Brazil as part of the Voices of the Future Program. In 1993, she was given a Caring Award for her efforts by the Caring Institute.
Since the organization started, Kids F.A.C.E. members have distributed and planted over 1 million trees! Ongoing tree-planting projects include Kid's Yards – the creation of backyard wildlife habitats (栖息地) and now Kids F.A.C.E. is involved in the exciting Earth Odyssey, which is a great way to start helping.
"Starting the club turned out to be a way to help people get involved with the environment. Club members started doing things like recycling, picking up litter and planting trees as well as inviting other kids to join their club."
"We try to tell kids that it's not OK to be lazy," she explains. "You need to start being a responsible, environmentally friendly person now, right away, before you become a resource-sucking adult."
1. Kids F.A.C.E is _____.
A. a program to help students with writing
B. a project of litter recycling
C. a campaign launched by President Bush
D. a club of environmental protection
2. What can we learn about Poe?
A. She was awarded a prize in Brazil.
B. She donated billboard across the country.
C. She got positive responses for her efforts
D. She joined the National Park Service.
3. Kid’s Yards is _____.
A. established in a national park.
B. started to protect wildlife
C. a wildlife- raising project
D. an entertainment park for kids.
4. Which of the following can be inferred from the text?
A. Adults are resource-sucking people
B. Poe sought help from a youth organization
C. Kids F.A.C.E members are from the U.S.
D. Kids are urged to save natural resources.
阅读理解: 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。
It was the summer of 1965. DeLuca, then 17, visited Peter Buck, a family friend. Buck asked DeLuca about his plans for the future. “I’m going to college, but I need a way to pay for it,” DeLuca recalls saying. “Buck said, ‘You should open a sandwich shop.’”
That afternoon, they agreed to be partners. And they set a goal: to open 32 stores in ten years. After doing some research, Buck wrote a check for $1000. DeLuca rented a storefront (店面) in Connecticut, and when they couldn’t cover their start-up costs, Buck kicked in another $1000.
But business didn’t go smoothly as they expected. DeLuca says, “After six months, we were doing poorly, but we didn’t know how badly, because we didn’t have any financial controls.” All he and Buck knew was that their sales were lower than their costs.
DeLuca was managing the store and going to the University of Bridgeport at the same time. Buck was working at his day job as a nuclear physicist in New York. They’d meet Monday evenings and brainstorm ideas for keeping the business running. “We convinced ourselves to open a second store. We figured we could tell the public, ‘We are so successful, we are opening a second store.’” And they did—in the spring of 1966. Still, it was a lot of learning by trial and error.
But the partners’ learn-as-you-go approach turned out to be their greatest strength. Every Friday, DeLuca would drive around and hand-deliver the checks to pay their suppliers. “It probably took me two and a half hours and it wasn’t necessary, but as a result, the suppliers got to know me very well, and the personal relationships established really helped out,” DeLuca says.
And having a goal was also important. “There are so many problems that can get you down. You just have to keep working toward your goal,” DeLuca adds.
DeLuca ended up founding Subway Sandwich, the multimillion-dollar restaurant chain.
1. DeLuca opened the first sandwich shop in order to ____.
A. support his family
B. pay for his college education
C. help his partner expand business
D. do some research
2. Which of the following is true of Buck?
A. He put money into the sandwich business.
B. He was a professor of business administration.
C. He was studying at the University of Bridgeport.
D. He rented a storefront for DeLuca.
3. What can we learn about their first shop?
A. It stood at an unfavorable palce.
B. It lowered the prices to promote sales.
C. It made no profits due to poor management
D. It lacked control over the quality of sandwiches
4. They decided to open a second store because they ___.
A. had enough money to do it.
B. had succeeded in their business
C. wished to meet the increasing demand of customers
D. wanted to make believe that they were successful
5. What contribute most to their success according to the author?
A. Learning by trial and error.
B. Making friends with suppliers.
C. Finding a good partner.
D. Opening chain stores.