Have you ever heard of a great Chilean poet? He was once referred to as the Picasso of poetry. Beloved by Chileans of all classes, he is one of the most widely read and respected poets in history. And this year is the 110th birthday of Pablo Neruda (1904-1973).
Born with the name Neftali Ricardo Reyes Basolto, he was a tall, shy and lonely boy. He loved to read and started to write poetry when he was ten. The American poet Walt Whitman, whose framed picture Neruda later kept on his table, became a major influence on his work.
However, his father did not like the idea of having a poet for a son and tried to discourage him from writing. To cover up the publication of his first poem, he took the pen name Pablo Neruda.
In 1924 Neruda gained fame with his most widely read work “Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair’’. Yet his rich experience as a diplomat and exile made him go beyond the theme of love. His work also reflected the political struggle of the left and development of South America. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1971.
Neruda loved the sea which he saw as creative, destructive and forever moving. He found inspiration in the power and freedom of the waves and the seabirds on the coast. “I need the sea because it teaches me,” he wrote. “I move in the university of the waves.” He loved how the sea forever renewed itself, a renewal echoed (共鸣) in his work.The underlined word “Picasso” can probably be replaced by “________”.
| A．poem fan |
| B．most important person |
| C．famous person from Picasso |
| D．freedom fighter in Picasso |
Neftali Ricardo Reyes Basolto took the pen name Pablo Neruda because ________.
| A．he was greatly influenced by other poets |
| B．literary greats usually used the pen name |
| C．his father encouraged him to use the name |
| D．he wanted to prevent his father knowing the publication |
Which of the following is not the theme of his works?
| A．Social reform. | B．Love. |
| C．Political struggle. | D．Development of South America. |
The last paragraph mainly tells us ________.
| A．Neruda loved to write his poems near the sea |
| B．the sea gave Neruda vast writing inspiration |
| C．the beautiful scenery along the Chile coast |
| D．Neruda’s poems were widely read overseas |
An 18-year-old high school student who had just learned to swim in the last summer vacation saved the life of a drowning Ohio boy on Friday
afternoon.
Tom Erickson was credited with (因．．．．．．而受赞扬
)saving the life of Jason Pryor,10, in Mill Creek (小河) Park. Young Jason Pryor, from Chillicothe, was visiting relatives from Anchor Point when he fell into Mill Creek.
The Pryor boy had no business playing near the edge of the river, but he had no idea of the danger.
The creek, with much more water than usual for the recent spring rains, flowed fast and carried the boy around a bend and out of sight from his parents, who took Jason out there and said they had not even witnessed the incident.
Luckily for Jason, one of the most unselfish students from Brentwood’s Central High School was taking a walk alone through the park.
As soon as he found the boy struggling in the water, Erickson jumped into the creek and managed to pull the drowning boy out of the water. And it was reported that Erickson had never received any life-saving instruction before.
“I wasn’t sure I could do it,” Erickson said. “I didn’t know if I could swim through the river by myself, not to mention getting another person out with me.”
This incident should be a lesson to young children who do not know how to swim. Stay away from dangerous bodies of water. Young Jason Pryor lives at _______.
| A．Anchor Point | B．Chillicothe, Ohio | C．Mill Creek | D．Brentwood |
Which of the following sentences is true according to the passage?
| A．Life-saving instruction helped a lot in the incident. |
| B．Jason’s parents saw him fall into the creek but couldn’t help. |
| C．The creek flowed fast because it was very straight without any bends. |
| D．Erickson was not sure if he could save the boy when jumping into the creek. |
What’s the possible meaning of the underlined sentence “The Pryor boy had no business playing near the edge of the river,” in the third paragraph?
| A．The accident was none of the boy’s business. |
| B．The boy had no friends to play with him. |
| C．The boy shouldn’t have played near the creek. |
| D．The boy was very busy and had no time to play. |
What would be the best title for the passage?
| A．Did You Know the Danger of Water | B．Be Responsible Parents |
| C．The Fast Running Mill Creek | D．Beginning Swimmer Saved Drowning Boy |
Geena David knew she wanted to be a movie star when she was very young. She was not sure what gave her the idea, but she wanted to look like a movie star. “I have a lot of pictures from my childhood of me wearing sunglasses,” she ways. “I used to wear them to watch TV.”
Early movie actors started wearing sunglasses not because they looked good, but because their eyes hurt. The lights used on movie sets were extremely bright and could cause a painful problem known as “Klieg eyes”. It was named after the Klieg brothers who invented the lights. Actors wore sunglasses to give their eyes a rest. But when movie stars began wearing their sunglasses in public, they quickly became a must.
Eventually actors started wearing sunglasses in their movies as well as on the street. Audrey Hepburn wore ultra-cool Ray-Ban sunglasses in the 1961 movie, Breakfast at Tiffany’s. As a result, Ray-Ban sunglasses started to appear more and more in the movies. In 1979, Ray-Ban “Wayfarers” were worn by Jake and Elwood in The Blue Brothers. Tom Cruise wore Ray-Ban “Aviator” sunglasses in the 1986 hit, Top Gun. Then in 1997, Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones made Ray-Ban “Predator” sunglasses famous in Men in Black.
Of course sunglasses aren’t just a fashion statement. The main reason to wear sunglasses is to protect our eyes against UV radiation. UV radiation can damage our eyes, so people now choose their sunglasses carefully. But you don’t have to give up style for safety. The choice of frames and lenses available these days is huge. So you can protect your eyes and still be the coolest person on the beach. What is mainly discussed in this passage?
| A．The use of sunglasses. | B．The history of sunglasses. |
| C．The sunglasses wearing. | D．Why movie stars like to wear sunglasses. |
Why did Geena David like to wear sunglasses?
| A．She was a movie star. | B．She wanted to follow a movie star. |
| C．Wearing sunglasses was good to her eyes. | D．It was good wear sunglasses when watching TV. |
Early actors’ eyes hurt because _______.
| A．they wore sunglasses. | B．they went out in the sun too much |
| C．the lights on movie sets were too bright | D．their scripts were written in very small writing |
We may know from this passage that _______.
| A．Audrey Hepburn was a famous film star |
| B．Ray-Ban is the name of sunglasses maker |
| C．sunglasses made Top Gun the hit in 1986 |
| D．Men in Black must be an advertisement of sunglasses |
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The manager expects to meet and talk with successful applicants in Paris in June and July.What is the purpose of the text?
| A．To introduce a language school in Japan. | B．To hire language teachers to work in Japan. |
| C．To describe working conditions in Japan. | D．To make clear the requirements for Japanese teachers. |
We know from the text that those who are going to Japan will _______.
| A．teach English only in Osaka | B．receive a degree from a university |
| C．have free accommodation | D．get trained for the job |
Before going to Japan, you need _______.
| A．to see the manager of NOVA France | B．to take some computer courses |
| C．to write a letter to Japan | D．to find a place to live |
If you want to work in Japan you should _______.
| A．have some working experience | B．know how to use computers |
| C．present good teaching plans | D．speak several languages |
The summer I was ten, my mother decided to bring us to the world of art. My brother and I were not very excited when we realized what my mother meant. What she meant was that we would have to spend one afternoon a week with her at the Fine Arts Museum. Before each visit to the museum, she made us read about artists and painting styles. It was almost as bad as being in school. Who wants to spend the summer thinking about artists when you could be with your friends at the swimming pool?
First we had to read about ancient Egyptians and their strange way of painting faces and then go to look at them at the museum. My 12-year-old brother thought this was so funny, but I was not interested. Later we had to learn about artists in the Middle Ages who painted people wearing strange long clothing. We had to look at pictures of fat babies with wings and curly (鬈曲的) hair and with no clothes on flying around the edges of paintings. I certainly couldn't see what was so great about art.
On our last visit to the museum, something happened when I saw a painting by a woman called Mary. In it, a woman was reading to a child. The colors were soft and gentle, and you could tell by the mother’s expression how happy she was just to be with the child. I couldn't stop looking at this painting! I wanted to see every painting Mary had ever made! It was really worth looking at so many paintings to find a painter who could interest me so much. The aim of the mother’s plan was to _______.
| A．take them to visit the museum | B．introduce them to the world of art |
| C．ask them to read about artists | D．show them different painting styles |
What was the writer’s experience in the museum before the last visit?
| A．She came to feel her mother’s love. | B．She liked many paintings. |
| C．She hardly enjoyed herself. | |
D．She could un derstand the pictures of fat babies. |
What made the writer go through a change that summer?
| A．One of Mary's paintings. | B．A strange way of painting. |
| C．Artists in the Middle Ages. | D．Her mother’s instruction. |
When someone says, “Well, I guess I'll have to go to face the music,” it doesn’t mean he is planning to go to a concert. It is something far less pleasant, like being called in your boss to explain why you did this and did that, and why you did not do this or that. Terrible music, indeed, but it has to be faced. At some time or another, every one of us has had to “face the music”, especially as children. We can remember father’s angry voice: “I want to talk to you!” And only because we did not obey him. What an unpleasant business it was!
The phrase “face the music” is known to every American, old and young. It is at least one hundred years old. Where did the expression come from?
The first explanation came from the American novelist James Fenimore Cooper. He said, in 1851, that expression was first used by actors while waiting in the wings (舞台的两侧) to go on stage. After they got their clue(暗示) to go on , they often said, “It’s time to go to face the music. ” And that is exactly what they did face the orchestra (乐队) which was just below the stage.
An actor might be frightened or nervous as he moved on to the stage in front of the audience(观众) that might be friendly, or perhaps unfriendly, especially if he forgot his lines. But he had to go out. If he did not, there would be no play. So “face the music” came to mean: having to go through something, no matter how unpleasant the experience might be, because you knew you had no choice. The expression “face the music” means ______.
A． plan to go to a concert |
| B．get one’s clue to do something |
| C．have to go through something far less pleasant |
| D．disobey what one's father says |
The passage tells us that the expression was first used by _____.
| A．children | B．novelists | C．actors | D．audience |
In the last paragraph the Chinese meaning of the word “line” is _______.
| A．老板 | B．同事 | C．角色 | D．台词 |