As a solo artist，Brightman has sold 26 million albums and two million DVDs in 34 countries. Her musical styles put opera, pop and jazz together. She is popular in the States but not here（Britain）—the image of her and her second husband, Andrew Lloyd Webber（he much older, she his muse) seems for ever frozen.
The 47-year-old singer talks about the new album Symphony that came out of a “very dark time”, including her decision to give up trying to have children. “People have suggested I could adopt,” Brightman says. “But work is central to my life now. And so I am going to put it to one side. After a while not having children becomes the normal and perhaps that might sound alarming, to parents especially, but I have never known anything different. I’m not hurt by not having children. My life and career are incredibly rich.”
Talking about growing up in a large family in Berkhamsted （father a property developer who later committed suicide）, she says: “I was gifted as a child, and very musical. I seemed to be good at anything to do with the arts. At 5 I understood the music I was dancing to and had an eye for costume.” She first appeared in a West End musical at 11 and hated boarding school.
Brightman led the saucy dance troupe（辣妹三人舞）Hot Gossip and had her first hit with I Lost My Heart to a Starship Trooper in 1978. At 18 she married a music manager called Andrew Graham Stewart. “I was probably in love but I can’t remember. Girls change such a lot between 18 and 22. It didn’t really work out.” In 1981 she was spotted by Lloyd Webber. She became his leading lady in Song and Dance, Requiem and Phantom of the Opera. They married in 1984.
Brightman says she felt hostility（敌意） “from the beginning. I haven’t tried to understand it. I’ve done very well everywhere else, especially the UK, where I now live. I just accept it for what it is. The more you are away from Britain, the more you appreciate it. But I don’t miss it, although I miss my family. Our profession can be uncomfortable but I enjoy what I do. I get on with it.”The first paragraph tells us that ______.
| A．Brightman is very popular around the world except in America |
| B．Brightman’s musical style is a mixture of opera, pop and jazz |
| C．the British people don’t like her for her style of music |
| D．Brightman is much older than Andrew Lloyd Webber |
Brightman decided to give up having children because ______.
| A．she could adopt one |
| B．her life and career were unbelievably rich without children |
| C．she felt it normal not to have children |
| D．she was too busy |
The following statements are true except ______.
| A．Brightman first appeared in a West End musical at 5 |
| B．Brightman disliked life on campus |
| C．Brightman was very gifted when she was young |
| D．the saucy dance troupe made Brightman famous |
The underlined word in the fourth paragraph probably means ______.
| A．located | B．admired | C．followed | D．found |
What does the author try to say in the last paragraph by quoting Brightman’s words?
| A．Brightman has to accept the fact that she isn’t liked in Britain |
| B．Brightman lives in America but she loves her own country |
| C．The British coldness towards Brightman led to her hatred to her homeland |
| D．Brightman was at a loss why she was not welcome in Britain |
A schoolgirl saved her father's life by kicking him in the chest after he suffered a serious allergic (过敏的) reaction which stopped his heart.
Izzy, nine, restarted father Colm's heart by stamping (踩) on his chest after he fell down at home and stopped breathing.
Izzy's mother, Debbie, immediately called 999 but Izzy knew doctors would never arrive in time to save her father, so decided to use CPR.
However, she quickly discovered her arms weren't strong enough, so she stamped on her father's chest instead.
Debbie then took over with some more conventional chest compressions (按压) until the ambulance arrived.
Izzy, who has been given a bravery award by her school, said: "I just kicked him really hard．My mum taught me CPR but I knew I wasn't strong enough to use hands．I was quite scared．The doctor said I might as well be a doctor or a nurse．My mum said that Dad was going to hospital with a big footprint on his chest.”
"She's a little star," said Debbie, "I was really upset but Izzy just took over．I just can't believe what she did．I really think all children should be taught first aid．Izzy did CPR then the doctor turned up．Colm had to have more treatment on the way to the hospital and we've got to see an expert."
Truck driver Colm, 35, suffered a mystery allergic reaction on Saturday and was taken to hospital, but was sent home only for it to happen again the next day．The second attack was so serious that his airway swelled, preventing him from breathing, his blood pressure dropped suddenly, and his heart stopped for a moment.
He has now made a full recovery from his suffering.From the passage, which of the sentences about Debbie is true?
| A．She thought it useless to teach children first aid. |
| B．She thought if her daughter became a doctor, she would kick him harder. |
| C．She did nothing to help her husband. |
| D．She was proud of her daughter. |
Izzy kicked her father in the chest ______ .
| A．to express her helplessness |
| B．to practise CPR on him |
| C．to keep him awake |
| D．to restart his heart |
What's the right order of the events?
| ①Izzy kicked Colm. ②Debbie called 999. ③Izzy learned CPR. ④Colm's heart stopped. |
A．3124
B．4231
C．3421
D．4312What does Paragraph 8 mainly talk about?
| A．What Colm suffered． |
| B．Colm's present condition. |
| C．What caused Colm's allergy． |
| D．Symptoms of Colm's allergic reaction. |
Why does the author write the news?
| A．To describe a serious accident． |
| B．To prove the importance of CPR. |
| C．To report a 9-year-old girl's brave act． |
| D．To call people's attention to allergic reaction. |
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
Do you want to get home from work knowing you have made a real difference in someone's life? If yes, don't care about sex or age! Come and join us, then you'll make it!
Position: Volunteer Social Care Assistant
(No Pay with Free Meals)
Place: Manchester
Hours: Part Time
We are now looking for volunteers to support people with learning disabilities to live active lives! Only 4 days left．Don't miss the chance of lending your warm hands to help others!
Role:
You will provide people with learning disabilities with all aspects of their daily lives．You will help them to develop new skills．You will help them to protect their rights and their safety．But your primary concern is to let them know they are valued.
Skills and Experience Required:
You will have the right values and great listening skills．You will be honest and patient．You will have the ability to drive a car and to communicate in fluent written and spoken English since you'll have to help those people with different learning disabilities．Previous care-related experience will be a great advantage for you.The text is meant to ______ .
| A．leave a note |
| B．send an invitation |
| C．present a document |
| D．carry an advertisement |
What does the underlined part mean?
| A．You'll make others' lives more meaningful with this job. |
| B．You'll arrive home just in time from this job. |
| C．You'll earn a good salary from this job. |
| D．You'll succeed in getting this job. |
The volunteers’ primary responsibility is to help people with learning disabilities ______ .
| A．to get some financial support |
| B．to properly protect themselves |
| C．to learn some new living skills |
| D．to realize their own importance |
Which of the following can first be chosen as a volunteer?
| A．The one who can drive a car. |
| B．The one who has done similar work before. |
| C．The one who has patience to listen to others. |
| D．The one who can use English to communicate. |
Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the text?
| A．A girl can’t apply for the position． |
| B．You can get salaries from the position. |
| C．Free meals are available． |
| D．You can get the position in 5 days. |
Children’s allowance. Many children first learn the value of money by receiving an allowance(零用钱). The purpose is to let them learn from experience at an age when financial （财政的；财务的；金融的)mistakes are not very costly.
In any case, parents should make clear what the child is expected to pay for with the money. At first, young children may spend all of their allowance soon after they receive it. If so, they’ll learn the hard way that spending must be done within a budget（预算）. Parents are usually advised not to offer more money until the next allowance. It is to show them that a budget demands choices between spending and saving.
Many people who have written on the subject of allowances say it is not a good idea to pay your child for work around the home. These jobs are a normal part of family life. Paying children to do extra work around the house, however, can be useful. It can even provide an understanding of how a business works.
Allowances give children a chance to experience what they can do with money. They can share it in the form of gifts or give it to a good cause. They can spend it by buying things they want. Or they can save it. Saving helps children understand that costly goals require sacrifice: They have to cut costs and plan for the future. Requiring children to save part of their allowance can also open the door to future saving and investing. Many banks offer services to help children learn about personal finance.Giving children an allowance can mostly help them ______.
| A．cut their living costs |
| B．learn to plan for the future |
| C．earn a living when young |
| D．get some financial knowledge |
By receiving an allowance, children can learn ______.
| A．how to spend money from experience |
| B．when to avoid making mistakes |
| C．what they should do next at a young age |
| D．what they can do with money earned |
What is the best title for the passage?
| A．Allowance, a great way to educate children |
| B．Allowance, a costly burden for children |
| C．Give allowances to children at once |
| D．Develop children’s allowances |
The following is something about extreme sports: Dangerous as they are, extreme sports remain appealing among many Australian young people! Camp extreme sports is the perfect test of your heart.
Kite Surfing
It’s the exciting mixture of kite, board and waves. The idea of using a kite to accelerate speed seems like a new challenge, yet the art of kite flying dates back to the 13th-century Chinese when it was used as a simple means of transport.
Catch a wind and you’re moving — up, down and across the surf. “It’s always exciting. You’d jump 5 feet or 35 feet. You never know if you’re going to go up in the air, and your heart is just going boom, boom, boom.”
Coasteering
It is by far the best activity and the event that everyone is still talking about. This is exploring the coastline without worrying about a coastal path or finding a rocky bay blocking your route. You climb, dive and swim from one place to another. With Coasteering, you don’t have to be able to swim as the wet suit and buoyancy(浮力) aid will keep you floating when you are in the water.
Sky Diving
Traditional parachuting(跳伞) doesn’t sound risky enough. So now sky diving is the name for jumping from a plane and listening to your heart beating heavily as you move fast towards earth before you open your parachute at the last moment.
Mountain Biking
It’s been around so long that bikers are no longer satisfied with just going up and down a mountain. Mountain biking is a sport which consists of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough land, using specially adapted mountain bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes, but include features designed to improve strength and performance in rough areas.
For details, please call us on 1300-792-668 or click here: www.xtremecamp.com.au.All the four extreme sports are intended to test one’s _____.
| A．potential strength | B．physical health |
| C．sports skills | D．courage |
The underlined word “it” refers to _____.
| A．kite flying | B．kite surfing |
| C．a kite | D．the art of kites |
Which of the following sports can be the most risky?
| A．Kite surfing. | B．Coasteering. |
| C． Mountain biking. | D．Sky diving. |
We can infer from the passage that _______.
| A．kites were the main means of transport in China |
| B．swimming skills play a key role in Coasteering |
| C．mountain biking requires more than riding common bikes |
| D．parachuting is the least popular sports at present |
What’s your opinion about finding good friends? Speaking from my past experience, it is very difficult to find good friends that you can trust but once you have found them, they are worth keeping forever! Therefore, I think friendship is the most important relationship that anybody could have.
The qualities I look for in a friend are a good sense of humor and sensitivity. A friend would have to be strong-minded and highly spirited. I think that these qualities are the key qualities to look for in a good friend.
Even the best friends can still have arguments between themselves, though usually about more serious topics, rather than the usual childish arguments. Some matters can seriously affect friendship. If one of your friends started experimenting with harmful and dangerous drugs, what would you do? A good friend would try to help as much as possible, while a bad example of a friend would simply shrug and turn a blind eye.
Not only the bad things affect friendship ---good activities do too, such as bonding with one another, not just by going out on a night with them, but by spending quality time with them and talking to each other. This is a key aspect of a good friendship.
Good friends do not always have to be in the same age group as you. I have a good friend and she is 47 years old and I am 16.
Unfortunately, some people lose contact with their friends as they grow older, which is a sad way to lose a good friend.
I think friendship is one of the most important things in life because if you have no friends you will have no happiness.According to the author, true friendship _____.
| A．is easy to get | B．needs management |
| C．deepens with time | D．affects one’s happiness |
Paragraph 3 is mainly about _____.
| A．why drugs are bad for teenagers |
| B．whether a friend is reliable |
| C．ways that help avoid arguments |
| D．problems that will test friendship |
According to the author, which matters least in friendship?
| A．Confidence | B．Age |
| C．Sense of humor. | D．Communication. |
Which of the following sayings can match the author's view on friendship?
| A．Old friends and old wines are best. |
| B．A friend without faults will never be found. |
| C．A friend to everybody is a friend to nobody. |
| D．A life without a friend is a life without a sun. |