I’ve changed my mind. “ I wanted to have a telescope, but now I want my dad back.” Lucien Lawrence’s letter to father for Christmas written after his schoolteacher’s father had been knifed to death outside his school gate, must have touched everyone’s heart. Lucien went on to say that without his father he couldn’t see the stars in the sky. When those whom we love depart from us, we cannot see the stars for a while.
But Lucien, the stars are still there, and one day, when you are older and your tears have gone, you will see them again. And, in a strange way, I expect that you will find your father there too, either in your mind and heart. I find that my parents, who died years ago, still figure in many of my dreams and that I think of them perhaps more than I ever did when they were alive. I still live to please them and I’m still surprised by their reactions. I remember that when I became a professor, I was so proud, or rather so pleased with myself that I couldn’t wait to cable my parents. The reply was a long time in coming, but when it did, all my mother said was “ I hope this means that now you will have more time for the children!” I haven’t forgotten. The values of my parents still live on.
It makes me pause and think about how I will live on in the hearts and minds of my children and of those for whom I care. Would I have been as ready as Philip Lawrence have been to face the aggressors, and to lay down my life for those in my care? How many people would want me back for Christmas? It’s a serious thought, one to give me pause.
I pray silently, sometimes, in the dead of night, that ancient cry of a poet “Deliver my soul from the sword, and my darling from the power of the dog.” Yet I know the death comes to us all, and sometimes comes suddenly. We must therefore plan to live forever, but live as if we will die tomorrow. We live on, I’m sure, in the lives of those we loved, and therefore we ought to have a care for what they will remember and what they will treasure. If more parents knew this in their hearts to be true, there might be fewer knives on our streets today. . According to the whole text we can see that the first paragraph ________.
| A．puts forward the subject of the text. |
| B．shows the author’s pity on the kid. |
| C．acts as an introduction to the discussion. |
| D．makes a clear statement of the author’ views |
. In the second paragraph the author mainly wants to explain to us _______.
| A．how much he misses his parents now |
| B．why his parents often appear in his dream |
| C．when Lucien will get over all his sadness |
| D．how proud he was when he succeeded in life |
. What feeling did the author’s mother express in her reply?
| A．Proud | B．Happy | C．Disappointed | D．Worried |
In the author’s opinion, the value of a person’s life is ________.
| A．to leave a precious memory to the people related |
| B．to have a high sense of duty to the whole society |
| C．to care what others will remember and treasure |
| D．to share happiness and sadness with his family |
. What does the writer mean by the sentence taken from an old poem?
| A．Call on criminals and murderers to lay down their guns. |
| B．Advise parents stay with their children safely at home. |
| C．Spend every day meaningfully in memory of the death. |
| D．Try to keep violence and murder far away from society. |
Gu Changwei was the first Chinese cinematographer to be nominated (提名) for an Oscar, he is regarded by Zhang Yimou as the best cinematographer in China. Gu was behind the camera for many of Zhang Yimou’s famous films including the one that rocketed Zhang to fame: “Red Sorghum (高粱)”. And now this master of the visual has taken on his first directing role with the film “Peacock”. So Gu Changwei has come out from behind the camera into the spotlight (聚光灯).
Gu Changwei is very serious about his directing “Peacock”. To get the authentic atmosphere, Gu took his film crew to the city of Anyang in central China’s Henan province where the story takes place, to shoot the film. He chose all new actors because he didn’t want “star” appeal to weaken the power of the story, and he also had his actors trained in the local dialect. For this film Gu has been able to get out from behind the camera to manage every aspect of the film, and to realize his own ideals in movie-making.
“Peacock” is about the life of an average family in a small town in Henan province in the late 70s and early 80s. Gu chose this story for his first movie because he grew up during this same period and it struck a chord with him.
“Peacock” wrapped up production in June, 2004. It’s aimed at the foreign film market and will be entered in February’s Berlin Film Festival, and released in China at the same time. But at the end of last October, Gu took “Peacock” to his Alma Mater, the Beijing Film Academy, one of the most famous film colleges in China, to hold a preview. The film was warmly received by both teachers and students. The underlined word “cinematographer” refers to a person who _____.
| A．has been nominated for an Oscar | B．uses a camera to shoot films |
| C．directs first-class films | D．arranges for cinema shows |
Gu didn’t employ “stars” in his film because _____.
| A．stars usually stick to their own acting styles |
| B．the stars may not be able to speak the local dialect |
| C．the stars may share the audience’s attention with the story |
| D．it was not easy for him, a fresh hand, to invite stars to join him |
Gu chose such a story for his first movie because _____.
| A．he was born in the early 1970s |
| B．he grew up in Henan province |
| C．he was popular in Henan province |
| D．the story had to do with his own experience |
From the passage we can learn that “Peacock” _____.
| A．is the film for which Gu is likely to win an Oscar prize |
| B．has already become popular both at home and abroad |
| C．has its production started last summer |
| D．will be publicly shown in spring, 2005 |
Please choose a proper title for this passage.
| A．From behind the camera into the spotlight |
| B．Chinese cinematographer to be nominated for Oscar |
| C．New faces to appear in “Peacock” |
| D．“Peacock” to enter foreign film market |
Years ago while lying in my hammock （吊床）and drinking JD from the bottle, I noticed my dog dragging something under the fence．Upon inspection, to my disappointment, I realized it was the next door neighbor’ s 10 - year - old daughter’ s rabbit．For years I had watched her come home from school and head straight out to its cage, free it and play with it in the yard．I knew that day would be no different and fearing for our dog, I had to think fast．
The rabbit was quite dirty, as if it had put up quite a struggle, so I washed it, combed it with the dog brush and blew it dry with the leaf blower．Upon finishing its grooming I jumped the fence and replaced it back in its cage hoping its death would be written off as "natural caused"．
Back to the hammock and JD．Within the hour the neighbor’ s Volvo palled in as usual and out popped the little girl, and as usual she headed straight for the cage．Only this time she stopped about six feet away and screamed: " D - A - D - D – Y！！！"
Her father, panic stricken, stood looking at the cage．Being the good neighbor that I am, I rushed to fence and asked if there was anything I could do．
Her father less than calmly shouted, "What kind of sick individual would dig up a little girl’s rabbit and put it back in its cage?"The girl was shocked because _____．
| A．the rabbit was killed by someone |
| B．the rabbit was too clean |
| C．the dead rabbit was cleaned and put back into the cage |
| D．the rabbit was asleep in the cage |
That day the girl ran to the cage _____．
| A．because her rabbit was there |
| B．because she．had a habit of going there to see her rabbit |
| C．because she wanted to see her rabbit again |
| D．because the rabbit was dead |
We can infer that the rabbit ______．
| A．was alive before the writer saw his dog dragging it |
| B．was already dead before the writer saw his dog dragging it |
| C．was in the cage playing with the dog |
| D．was at the fence seeking out for food before it was killed by the dog |
According to the story, the writer _____．
| A．was helpful to his neighbor | B．did a smart thing |
| C．was honest | D．made a mistake |
It is not often realized that women held a high place in southern European societies in the 10 th and 11 th centuries. As wife, the woman was protected by the setting up of a dowry (嫁妆) or decimum. Admittedly, the purpose of this was to protect her against the risk of desertion (遗弃)，but in reality its function in the social and family life of the time was much more important. The decimum was the wife’s right to receive a tenth of all her husband’s property. The wife had the right to withhold consent, in all transactions the husband would make, And more than just a right: the documents showed that she enjoyed a real power of decision, equal to that of her husband. In no case did the documents indicate any degree of difference in the legal status of husband and wife.
The wife shared in the management of her husband’s personal property, but the opposite was not always true. Women seemed perfectly prepared to defend their own inheritance(遗产，继承物)against husbands who tried to exceed their rights, and on occasion they showed a fine fighting spirit. A case in point is that of Maria, Vivas, a Catalan woman of Barcelona. Having agreed with her husband Miro to sell a field she had inherited, for the needs of the household, she insisted on compensation. None being offered, she succeeded in dragging her husband to the scribe to have a contract duly drawn up assigning her a piece of land from Miro’s personal inheritance. The unfortunate husband was obliged to agree, as the contract says, “for the sake of peace.” Either through the dowry or through being hot-tempered, the Catalan wife knew how to win herself, within the context of the family, a powerful economic position. A decimum was .
| A．the wife’s inheritance from her father |
| B．a gift of money to the new husband |
| C．a written contract |
| D．the wife’s right to receive one-tenth of her husband’s property |
In the society described in the passage, the legal standing of the wife in marriage was .
| A．higher than that of her husband | B．lower than that of her husband |
| C．the same as that of her husband | D．higher than that of a single woman |
What compensation did Maria Vivas get for the field?
| A．Some of the land Miro had inherited. | B．A tenth of Miro’s land. |
| C．Money for household expenses. | D．Money from Miro’s inheritance. |
Which of the following is Not mentioned as an effect of the dowry system?
| A．The husband had to share the power of decision in marriage. |
| B．The wife was protested from desertion. |
| C．The wife gained a powerful economic position. |
| D．The husband was given control over his wife’s property. |
Daredevil climber Alain Robert, known as the French Spiderman, stood strong winds and rain to climb the world’s tallest skyscraper, Taiper 101, Saturday.
Robert, dressed in a red rain jacket, tights and climbing shoes, climbed up ropes hung down the side of the 101-storey, 1,667-foot office tower, reaching the top in around four hours. “It was a very big moment and I felt a lot of satisfaction though I was already so tired and nearly all of my muscles were painful. I felt completely eased,” said Robert after taking the ride down in one of the tower’s lifts, the world’s fastest.
Several hundred onlookers and shoppers gathered at the base of the tower watching and cheering Roberts progress through live pictures on a large television screen. At times he disappeared from view as clouds passed by the top of the tower surrounding the upper storeys.
The 42-year-old Frenchman has covered scores of well-known structures around the world including the Empire State Building and the Eiffel Tower–without permission or any safety equipment or ropes.
This time Robert was wearing a harness(背带) fastened to safety ropes for the entire climb. He used the ropes to pull himself up most of the way, using his hands and feet to climb up the walls for only short sections. He said the management had requested he wear the ropes and safety equipment, which had also become necessary due to the rain making the windows and frames very slippery. Robert said he would not carry his pity the next time. The text mainly tells us that .
| A．another world record was broken by a Frenchman. |
| B．the French Spiderman climbed the world’s tallest building |
| C．how Alain Robert got the name “daredevil” |
| D．Alain Robert was praised for his great success |
During his climbing up Taipei 101, Alai Robert .
| A．never felt tired all the time |
| B．never used his hands and feet |
| C．had stayed somewhere for a short rest |
| D．was not seen on the television screen sometimes |
When Alain Robert climbed the Empire State Building, he was likely to .
| A．use only his hands and feet | B．be 42 years old |
| C．carry some safety equipment | D．get permission of someone |
According to the text, we can infer that .
| A．Alain Robert spent three hours climbing Taipei 101 |
| B．Alain Robert chose a rainy day on purpose |
| C．Alain Robert will climb Taipei 101 a second time |
| D．Alain Robert got lots of help from onlookers |
THE BRONTE FAMILY
Yorkshire, England was the setting for two great novels (小说) of the 19th century. These were Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre and Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights. The youngest sister, Anne, was also a gifted novelist, and her books have the same extraordinary quality as her sisters’.
Their father was Patrick Bronte, born in Ireland. He moved with his wife, Maria Bronte, and their six small children to Haworth in Yorkshire in 1820. Soon after, Mrs. Bronte and the two eldest children died, leaving the father to care of the remaining three girls and a boy.
Charlotte was born in 1816. Emily was born in 1818 and Anne in 1820. Their brother Branwell was born in 1817. Left to themselves, the children wrote and told stories and walked over the hills. They grew up largely self-educated. Branwell showed a great interest in drawing. The girls were determined to earn money for his art education. They took positions as teachers or taught children in their homes.
As children they had all written many stories. Charlotte, as a young girl, alone wrote 22 books, each with 60 to 100 pages of small handwriting. Therefore, they turned to writing for income. By 1847, Charlotte had written The Professor; Emily, Wuthering Heights; and Anne, Agnes Grey. After much difficulty Anne and Emily found a publisher(出版商), but there was no interest shown in Charlotte’s book. (It was not published until 1859.) However, one publisher expressed an interest in seeing more of her works. Jane Eyre was already started, and she hurriedly finished it. It was accepted at once; thus each of the sisters had a book published in 1847.
Jane Eyre was immediately successful; the other two, however, did not do so well. People did not like Wuthering Heights. They said it was too wild, too animal-like. But gradually it came to be considered one of the finest novels in the English language. Emily lived only a short while after the publication of the book, and Anne died in 1849.
Charlotte published Shirley in 1849, and Villette in 1853. In 1854 she married Arthur Bell Nicholls. But only a year later, she died of tuberculosis(肺结核) as her sisters had.We know from the text that .
| A．Jane Eyre was published in 1847 |
| B．Charlotte Bronte wrote 22 books in all |
| C．the Bronte sisters received good education |
| D．Patrick Bronte helped his daughters with their writing |
The underlined words “the other two” in the 5 th paragraph refer to .
| A．Shirley and Villette | B．The Professor and Agnes Grey |
| C．Agnes Grey and Wutheriing Heights | D．The Professor and wuthering Heights |
What do we know about the Bronte sisters from the text?
| A．Their novels interested few publishers. |
| B．None of them had more than two books published. |
| C．None of them lived longer than 40 years old. |
| D．Emily was the least successful of the three. |