STEVE EMBER: And I'm Steve Ember with People In America in VOA Special English. Today we remember the singer and actress Lena Horne. During her sixty-year career performing, Lena Horne entertained people with her beauty and rich, emotional voice. She used her fame to fight social injustices toward African-Americans.
Lena Horne was born in New York. At sixteen, Lena became a dancer at the famous club in New York City in 1933. After taking voice lessons, she soon became a singer. In 1940, Lena Horne became the first African-American to perform with an all-white jazz hand. After performing at a club in Hollywood, California, she caught the attention of filmmakers. She soon began making movies. Her films became very popular. In the 1940s, Lena Horne was the first African-American in Hollywood to sing a long -term contract with a major movie studio. Her deal with MGM stated that she would never play the role of a servant. She refused to play roles that represented African-Americans disrespectfully.
Lena Horne once said that World War II helped make her a star. She was popular with both black and white soldiers. She sang on army radio programs and traveled to perform for the troops. These experiences led to Lena Horne's work in the civil rights movement.
Lena Horne sang at rights gatherings. She took part in the march on Washington protest in 1963. It was during this event that Martin Luther King gave his "I have a dream" speech. She protested racial separation at the hotels where she performed. She took action so that she and her musicians would be allowed to stay in those hotels. B1ack musicians at the time generally stayed in black neighborhoods.
At the age of eighty, she said she did not have to act like a white woman that Hollywood hoped she would become. She said: "I'm me, and I'm like nobody else."
Lena Horne died in New York in 2010. How old was Lena Horne when she died?
A.93 years old. | B.98 years old. |
C.86 years old. | D.88 years old. |
We can infer from the passage that_____
A.black women were forbidden to perform in the film in the 1940s |
B.Lena Horne didn't make any films in the 1960s |
C.Lena Horne liked staying at hotel very much |
D.black actresses often played roles of servants in the film in the 1940s |
Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?
A.Lena Home became the first African-American in Hollywood in her forties. |
B.Dena Horne was a friend of Martin Luther King. |
C.Lena Horne was involved in civil rights activities in the 1960s. |
D.Lena Horne took an active part in sports activities. |
This text is developed
A.by space | B.by time |
C.by process | D.by comparison |
根据对话情景的内容,从对话后所给的选项中选出能够填入每一空白处的最佳选项,并在答题卡上将该选项涂黑。该选项中有两个为多余选项。
M: How are your new neighbors, Nancy?
W: They seem nice enough, but they have a son who’s driving me crazy.
M: ___6___
W: He comes home every night around 10 with his car window rolled down and radio turned up really loud.___7___ But by then Brian and Lisa are wide awake.
M: Oh, no.
W: Oh, yes.Sometimes it takes us until midnight just to get them to settle down again.
M: ___8___
W: We haven’t even really met them yet except to say a quick hello.
M: You are not going to like them when you do meet them, I dare say.
W: I know, but I feel stupid complaining.___9___ I’m just not getting enough sleep and neither are the children.
M: ___10___
W: Yeah.
M: Then you could mention that the hardest thing at present is getting your children to sleep at night.
A.Have you tried talking to them? |
B.What do you mean? |
C.Actually, they didn’t say anything. |
D.Maybe you could ask about their son and they’ll be sure to ask about yours. |
E.Well, you know how early I have to get up to be here at the office.
F.Don’t get your hopes too high!
G.It stops as soon as he turns the car off.
根据对话内容,从对话后的选项中选出能填在空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。(AB="E," AC="F," AD=G)
—When is your vocation going to start?
—I'll be leaving on the fifth of August
—61How many weeks are you going to be taking?
—I'm taking two weeks now, but l want to save the other week and take it sometime during winter.
—That sounds good.62
—To the beach.
—Have you made your hotel reservation yet?
—63I'll be staying with friends.
—You're lucky. 64
—What about you? When are you planning to take your vocation?
—_ 65I should be thinking about it, I guess.
A.Oh, I don't need to do that. |
B.No, not really ! |
C.That's only a few days from now |
D.It’s hard to find a hotel in August. |
E. That depends.
F. I don't know.
G. Where are you going?
根据对话内容,从对话后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。(每小题1分,共5分)
M:Hi.Jenny.Nice to meet you here! Have you got everything ready for Christmas?
W:61.What about you,Mike?
M:62.By the way,have you read this news in the newspaper? Two men broke into a store near here last night and took more than $4,500 in cash.
W:63.Two young men held up my husband on the street last week in the middle of the afternoon.
M:Really? 64.Where did that take place?
W:65.Right in front of the cinema.
A.I’m sorry to hear that |
B.No.I came here to get some meat and fruit |
C.Only a block from here |
D.I think I can get everything ready today |
E. How much did it cost you?
F. That’s nothing
G. Good luck to you
根据短文内容,从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。
E
A.It was the Mississippi that made the city what it is |
B.Levees, high banks built of earth, hold back the flood waters |
C.Therefore, as we know, it’s the third longest river in the world |
D.It is known that the“Great Water”has also been a frontier river |
E.However, they paddled up and down the Mississippi in their boats to seek their fortune
F.The“Great Water”always remains a thread, for the streets of the city are below the level of the river
G.They call themselves Cajuns, who have actually been leading fairly primitive lives and preserving their own traditions
(请将答案答在答题纸规定区域内)
阅读下列短文,并根据所读内容在文章后表格中的空格里填入最恰当的词。注意:每个空格不超过3个单词。
We’ve all been hurt by another person at one time or another. This pain causes problems. It not only causes us to be unhappy, but can ruin relatioships, distract(使分心) us from work and family and other important things, make us unwilling to open up new things.
We need to learn to let go. We need to be able to forgive, so we can move on and be happy. Forgiveness does not mean you erase the past, or forget what has happened. All it means is that you are letting go of the anger and pain, and moving on to a better place.
It’s not easy, but you can learn to do it.
Think about the advantages and disadvanges. Think of all the problems this pain causes you, and realize you need to change. Then th
ink of the benefits of forgiveness—— how it will make you happier, free you from the past and the pain, and improve your relationships and life in general.
Try to put yourself in that person’s situation. Try to understand why the person did what he did. What could he have felt as he did it, and what did he feel afterward? How does he feel now? You aren’t saying what he did is right, but are trying to understand instead.
Understand your responsibility. Try to figure out how you could have been partly responsible for what happened. This isn’t to say you’re taking all the blame, or taking responsibility away from the other person, but to realize that we are not victims but participants in life.
Allow peace to enter your life. As you focus on the present, try focusing on your breathing. Imagine each breath going out is the pain and the past, and imagine each breath coming in is peace, entering you and filling you up.
Title: How to let go and forgive
65. _____ caused by being hurt |
Making us unhappy; distracting from daily life; Ruining relationships; making us close to new things. |
Definition of forgiveness |
Letting go of the 66.______ Moving on to a better place. |
Benefits of forgiveness |
Making you happier; 67.______ from the past and the pain; Improving your relationships and life in general |
68._____ |
Thinking about the advantages and disavantages; Trying to understand the other person as if you were in the same situation; Figuring out 69._____ Allowing peace to enter your life. |