Listeningtomusiccanhelpmefocus-优题课

The adolescent girl from Tennessee was standing on the stage of a drama summer camp in New York．But the girl didn’t feel joyful．She was not the leggy，attractive Hollywood type．In fact，she described herself as stupid．
This girl was Reese Witherspoon，who had wanted to be a country singer and admired and respected Dolly Patton very much．
That day at the end of the camp her coaches told her to forget about singing．They suggested she think about another career．She took their words to heart．After all，why shouldn’t she believe the professionals?
But back at home in Nashville，her mother—a funny，happy，optimistic woman—wouldn’t let her feel depressed．Her father，a physician，encouraged her to achieve in schoo1．So she worked hard at everything and was accepted at Stanford University．
And at 1 9，she got a part in a low-budget movie called Freeway, which prepared for her role in the movie Pleasantville．But her big break came with Legally Blonde．
“If you can’t sing and you aren’t charming，play to your strengths．If you’re going to make it in this business，better focus on what you’re good at，”she told the interviewer later．
And then came the offer that took her back to her Nashville—playing the wife of a country star Johnny Cash，a singing role．
All of a sudden the old fears learned on that summer stage were back．She was so nervous on the stage．But she didn’t give up on the movie or herself．She spent 6 months taking singing lessons again．She learned to play the Autoharp．And the hard work built up her confidence．
Last March，Reese Witherspoon walked up on another stage，the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood，and accepted the Oscar as Best Actress for her heartbreaking，heartwarming singing role as June Carter Cash in Walk the Line．
Why was Reese Witherspoon sad that day?

A．The experts advised her to give up singing．

B．Dolly Parton told her to leave the stage．

C．The coaches described her as foolish．

D．The professionals considered her ignorant．

What can be inferred from Paragraph 4?

A．Reese was an optimistic girl．

B．Her parents supported her a lot．

C．Her parents were disappointed with her．

D．Reese blamed herself all day long．

Which of the following is true according to the passage?

A．Reese’s mother was a physician．

B．Freeway was Reese’s big break．

C．Reese won the Oscar for Walk the Line．

D．New York was Reese’s home town．

How did Reese succeed in playing the singing role?

A．She did her best to make herself leggy and attractive．

B．She tried hard to forget about that summer stage．

C．She practised Autoharp lessons for more than 6 months．

D．She regained her confidence through hard work．

What can we learn from Reese’s experience?

A．Two heads are better than one．

B．When in Rome，do as the Romans do．

C．Where there is a will，there is a way．

D．Hope for the best，and prepare for the worst．

Phil Donahue，the former television talk show host，had something of a reputation for giving clergy（神职人员）a hard time，and he has said the reason he’s that way is that he has little respect for them．Most clergy will do anything for some media attention，he says．In his autobiography(自传)，however, he tells about an encounter with a minister who was different．It happened while Donahue was a young television reporter in Ohio，and one day he was sent to West Virginia in the bitter cold winter to cover a mine disaster．He went by himself in a battered little car, carrying a mini camera to film the story．
It was so cold when he got there，however, the camera wouldn’t work．So he put it inside his coat to warm it up enough to run．In the meantime，the families of the trapped miners were gathered around．The),were just simple mining people—women，old men，and children．Several of the trapped men were fathers．
Then the local minister arrived．He was tall and thin，and he didn’t speak well at a11．But he gathered all the families around in a circle，and the held one another in their arms while he prayed for them．
As this was going on，Donahue was still trying to get his camera to work，and he was extremely disappointed because he couldn’t film the scene．Finally，after the prayer was over，Donahue managed to get his camera operating．So he told the minister he had his camera working now and asked if the minister would please do the prayer again so he could film it for the evening news．
This simple West Virginia preacher, however，told Donahue，“Young man，we don’t pray for the news．I’m sorry，but we’ve already prayed，and I will not pose．”
To this day，Donahue remembers that minister with respect．You don’t forget that kind of character，no matter who you are or what you believe．
We can learn from Paragraph 1 that Donahue _______________．

A．used to show much respect for clergy

B．thinks most clergy tend to attract media attention

C．used to have a hard time dealing with clergy

D．always misunderstands clergy

For what purpose did Donahue go to West Virginia one day?

A．To report on an accident．

B．To rescue the miners．

C．To film the praying of a minister．

D．To witness a disaster．

What do we know about Donahue’s camera?

A．It was advanced and hard to operate．

B．The low temperature prevented it working properly．

C．It was all right before the prayer started．

D．It needed to be repaired．

What did the minister refuse to do?

A．To pray for the accident．

B．To make up the news．

C．To cooperate with the reporter．

D．To pray for the trapped miners on TV

What’s the main idea of the passage?

A．The clergy are having a hard time．

B．Praying saved the trapped miners．

C．A minister who gains Donahue’s respect．

D．A mine disaster happened in Virginia．

Shirley Temple, who died on February 10, 2014, was that rare example of a Hollywood child star who, when the cameras stopped rolling, carved out a new career.
For four years, she was Hollywood’s biggest box-office star representing the kind of sweet, innocent girl that everyone wanted as their daughter. However, years later, she reappeared as a successful politician.
Shirley Temple was born in Santa Monica, California on 23 April 1928. Encouraged by her mother, she learned to dance while she was just three.
In 1934, Stand Up and Cheer became her first film and the film was a great success. At the age of six she was earning $1,250 a week — more than $21,000 at today’s values.
Across the world, audiences flocked to see her in films such as Little Miss Marker, The Little Colonel and The Littlest Rebel.
In 1935 she was awarded a special Oscar (Academy Award) and her foot and hand prints were added to those of stars such as Jean Harlow and Mary Pickford outside Grauman’s Chinese theatre in Hollywood. The peak of her film career came in 1939 when The Little Princess became a box-office success.
Temple starred in a total of 43 feature films. But she found it difficult to maintain her film career in adulthood and retired from Hollywood in 1950.
She disappeared from the spotlight for nearly 20 years. She returned to the public eye in 1967, as a Republican candidate for Congress. When Nixon became president, he rewarded her with an appointment to the American delegation to the United Nations. Then, in 1974, President Ford appointed her the United States Ambassador(大使) to Ghana. George Bush Snr, appointed her Ambassador to Czechoslovakia.
Shirley Temple drew a line between her childhood stardom and her later political career. “Some people are stuck on this image of the little girl,” she once said. “She is not me. We shouldn’t live in the past; my life is now.” Nevertheless, for many across the world, the name Shirley Temple always called to mind a superstar child.
Shirley Temple died at the age of _____.

A．75

B．80

C．86

D．90

What happened to Shirley Temple when she was 7 years old?

A．She won a special Oscar.	B．She began to learn to dance.
C．She appeared in her first film.	D．She retired from Hollywood.

Which of the following represents the peak of Shirley Temple’s film career?

A．Stand Up and Cheer.	B．Little Miss Marker.
C．The Little Colonel.	D．The Little Princess.

We can infer that _____.

A．the films in which Shirley Temple starred in adulthood were not popular

B．Jean Harlow and Mary Pickford appeared in the same film with Temple

C．Shirley Temple succeeded in being elected as Congresswoman in 1967

D．Shirley Temple was the youngest person to receive an Academy Award

Human civilization has truly come a long way．From using animals for transport to the super fast automobiles that we have today．From using flint to making fire to using one touch lighters．But there are some things that we will never let go of．Some ancient traditions that have been brought down through the ages are still followed today．

Groundhog Day(土拔鼠节)，falls on the 2nd of February every year．It is observed in the United States and Canada．While this day may be a public holiday and a bank holiday，it is not a compulsory holiday declared by the government．But this is not so for all the states．State-wise holidays may vary．
Ever heard of Punxsutawney Phil? Groundhog Day is observed because of this groundhog．The day is indeed about a groundhog．Punxsutawney is the name of an apparently weather forecasting groundhog．He lives in his burrow(洞穴)on Gobler’s Knob，Punxsutawney in Pennsylvania，for a short period before the 2nd of February every year．On the 2nd of February，Phil comes out from his burrow and looks for his shadow．If he sees his shadow and goes back into the burrow，then America will have an extended winter of six weeks，But if he cannot see his shadow，and he remains outside．It means winter will soon end and spring will arrive very shortly .Phil has been‘predicting’the length of winter in this manner for almost a century and they have always been almost 100％ accurate．
Groundhog Day is celebrated in some parts of the USA and Canada．The largest celebration is held at Punxsutawney，Pennsylvania．People come in scores to visit Punxsutawney Phil．They wait eagerly, camping days in advance，to see the small groundhog appear from his burrow，check for his shadow and either go back in or stay out．People cheer when they hear it is time for winter to end and celebrate by eating sweets and singing and dancing．Today．the Groundhog Day is a widespread tradition and an exciting event．
People celebrate Groundhog Day because ______________.

A．some sweets are provided on Groundhog Day

B．more and more people love groundhogs

C．the groundhog predicts the beginning of spring

D．Punxsutawney Phil is worth respecting

What does the author intend to tell us in Paragraph 1？

A．Human civilization has a long history．

B．Some old traditions should be carried on．

C．Human civilization develops very fast．

D．Some old traditions have disappeared．

We learn from the passage that Punxsutawney Phil ____________．

A．forecasts the weather based on his shadow

B．witnesses the history of human development

C．organizes celebrations on Groundhog Day

D．gives performances on Groundhog Day

We may infer from the passage that ________________．

A．groundhogs will replace TV weathermen soon

B．groundhogs can forecast the weather accurately

C．Groundhog Day is becoming popular in the US and Canada

D．a longer shadow of a groundhog indicates a longer winter

Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?

A．Winter will end if the groundhog goes back into the burrow.

B．Groundhog Day is a compulsory’holiday in the US and Canada．

C．A groundhog will remain outside if he sees his shadows on 2^nd，Feb．

D．The celebration in Punxsutawney attracts large numbers of visitors．

Most of the people who appear most often and most gloriously in the history books are great conquerors and generals and soldiers, whereas the people who really helped civilization forward are often never mentioned at all. We do not know who first set a broken leg, or launched a seaworthy boat, or calculated the length of the year, or manured(施肥)a field; but we know all about the killers and destroyers. People think a great deal of them, so much so that on all the highest pillars (纪念柱) in the great cities of the world you will find the figure of a conqueror or a general or a soldier. And I think most people believe that the greatest countries are those that have beaten in battle the greatest number of other countries and ruled over them as conquerors. It is just possible they are, but they are not the most civilized.
　　Animals fight; so do savages (野蛮人); hence to be good at fighting is to be good in the way in which an animal or a savage is good, but it is not to be civilized. Even being good at getting other people to fight for you and telling them how to do it most efficiently －this, after all, is what conquerors and generals have done －is not being civilized. People fight to settle quarrels. Fighting means killing, and civilized peoples ought to be able to find some way of settling their disputes other than by seeing which side can kill off the greater number of the other side, and then saying that that side which has killed most has won. And it not only has won, but, because it has won, has been in the right. For that is what going to war means; it means saying that might is right.
　　That is what the story of mankind has on the whole been like. Even our own age has fought the two greatest wars in history, in which millions of people were killed or disabled. And while today it is true that people do not fight and kill each other in the streets －while, that is to say, we have got to the stage of keeping the rules and behaving properly to each other in daily life － nations and countries have not learnt to do this yet, and still behave like savages.
In the opening sentence the author indicates that ________.

A．conquerors, generals and soldiers should not be mentioned in history books.

B．history books focus more on those who helped civilization forward.

C．those who truly helped civilization forward is rarely mentioned in history books.

D．most history books were written by conquerors, generals and soldiers.

In the author’s opinion, the countries that ruled over a large number of other countries are

A．certainly both the greatest and the most civilized

B．neither the most influential nor the most civilized.

C．possibly the most civilized but not the most powerful.

D．likely the greatest in some sense but not the most civilized.

The meaning of “it means saying that might is right.”(The last sentence of Paragraph 2) is that ________.

A．in a war only those who are powerful will win.

B．those who are right should fight against those who are wrong.

C．only those who are powerful have the right to go to war.

D．those who fight believe that the winner is right and the loser wrong.

In the third paragraph, what the author wants to convey to us is that ________.

A．we have fought fewer wars but suffered heavier casualties.

B．modern time is not so civilized compared with the past.

C．our age is not much better than those of the past.

D．World War I and World War II are different from previous wars.

According to the passage, who helped civilization forward?
A. The pioneers in science and technology.
B. Conquerors and generals.
C. Those setting disputes by force.
The experts in military matters
This passage is most likely taken from an article entitled ________.

A．Who Should Be Remembered

B．Civilization and History

C．War and World Peace

D．Great conquerors in the world

A．tell us that life is dull	B．prove that music affects mood
C．tell us how to seek happiness	D．tell us bad mood can affect work