Gorman is the youngest poet in U. S. history. She became the youth poet laureate (获奖者) of Los Angeles at age 16 in 2014 and the first national youth poet laureate three years later. She has recently completed her studies at Harvard University.
Her mother, Joan Wicks, teaches middle school in Watts. Shuttling among the neighborhoods gave Gorman a window to the world. Her like for poetry dates at least back to the third grade when her teacher read Ray Bradbury’s Dandelion Wine to the class.
Gorman is a lot better at it now, but still working on her confidence as a public speaker. “Until two or maybe three years ago, I couldn’t say the letter ‘r’. Even to this day sometimes I struggle with it. I’d want to say ‘girls can change the world’, but I can not say so many letters in that statement, so I’d say things like ‘young women can shape the globe’.”
For Gorman, writing became a cure. “I used writing as a form of self expression to get my word on the page. So the more I recited out loud, the more I was able to teach myself how to pronounce these letters which for so long had been my greatest impediment.” Gorman said she also used a song from Miranda’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Broadway musical Hamilton to help with her speaking. “But I don’t look at my disability as a weakness,” said Gorman. “It’s made me the performer that I am and the storyteller that I strive to be.”
In September, Gorman will release Change Sings, the first of two children’s books. The poet says she desires to publish a book “in which kids could see themselves as change-makers in history, rather than just observers”.
1. What happened to Gorman in 2017?| A．Winning the U. S. first youth poet laureate. |
| B．Graduating from Harvard University. |
| C．Becoming the youth poet laureate. |
| D．Turning into a public speaker. |
| A．Her mother’s encouragement. | B．Ray Bradbury’s works. |
| C．Her teacher’s effort. | D．Miranda’s inspiration. |
| A．Barrier. | B．Regret. | C．Motivation. | D．Achievement. |
| A．Modest and fortunate. | B．Wise and hardworking. |
| C．Determined and optimistic. | D．Thoughtful and ambitious. |
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【推荐1】One day, when I was working as a psychologist（心理学家）in England, an adolescent boy showed up in my office. It was David. He kept walking up and down restlessly, his face pale, and his hands shaking slightly. His head teacher had referred him to me. “This boy has lost his family,” he wrote. “He is understandably very sad and refuses to talk to others, and I’m very worried about him. Can you help?”
I looked at David and showed him to a chair. How could I help him? There are problems psychology doesn’t have the answer to, and which no words can describe. Sometimes the best thing one can do is to listen openly and sympathetically（同情）
The first two times we met, David didn’t say a word. He sat there, only looking up to look at the children’s drawings on the wall behind me. I suggested we play a game of chess. He nodded. After that he played chess with me every Wednesday afternoon---in complete silence and without looking at me. It’s not easy to cheat in chess, but I admit I made sure David won once or twice.
Usually, he arrived earlier than agreed, took the chess board and pieces from the shelf and began setting them up before I even got a chance to sit down. It seemed as if he enjoyed my company（陪伴）. But why did he never look at me?
“Perhaps he simply needs someone to share his pain with,” I thought. “Perhaps he senses that I respect his suffering.” Some months later, when we were playing chess, he looked up at me suddenly.
“It’s your turn,” he said.
After that day, David started talking. He got friends in school and joined a bicycle club. He wrote to me a few times, about his biking with some friends, and about his plan to get into university. Now he had really started to live his own life.
Maybe I gave David something. But I also learned that one…without any words---can reach out to another person. All it takes is a hug, a shoulder to cry on, a friendly touch, and an ear that listens.
1. When he first met the author, David.| A．felt a little excited |
| B．looked a little nervous |
| C．walked energetically |
| D．showed up with his teacher |
| A．wanted to ask the author for advice |
| B．liked the children’s drawings in the office |
| C．beat the author many times in the chess game |
| D．needed to share sorrow with the author |
| A．He liked biking before he lost his family. |
| B．He recovered after months of treatment. |
| C．He went into university soon after starting to talk. |
| D．He got friends in school before he met the author. |
| A．The author’s silent communication with him. |
| B．His teacher’s help. |
| C．The author’s friendship. |
| D．His exchange of letters with the author. |
【推荐2】By the time she turned 18, Khadijah Williams had attended twelve schools. She had lived in shelters, in parks, and in motels, never in a permanent residence for more than a few months. She had been laughed at and looked down upon by students at a dozen schools who thought of her as “different”.
Homeless since early childhood, Khadijah struggled all her life to hide her circumstances from teachers and fellow students. However, academic achievement proved to be a way for her to find confidence in herself again. For instance, at the age of 9, she placed in the 99th percentile on a state exam, and her teacher told her she was “gifted”. From that moment forward, Khadijah decided to do whatever it took to keep herself in that category. “I was so proud of being smart. I often heard my fellow students say, ‘You got the easy way out because you're homeless,’” she told The LA Times. “But I never saw it as an excuse about living a less successful life.”
By the second year of high school, she realized that she could not succeed in getting the education she dreamed of without getting help to go beyond what her current school could offer. She talked to teachers and advisers who helped her apply for summer community college classes, scholarships, and enrichment programs. And in the 11th grade, when she enrolled at Jefferson High School, she decided to complete the rest of her school career there—a decision that meant taking a bus each morning at 4 a.m. and not getting home until 11 p.m.
Here's the end of the story—when Khadijah poured the story of her life into her Harvard University college application, she was accepted.
1. What makes Khadijah confident in herself?| A．Her different personality. | B．Her ability to live well alone. |
| C．Her excellent performance in study. | D．Her fellow students' encouragement. |
| A．It's a really pitiful circumstance. | B．It makes her more strong-minded. |
| C．It offers her more ways to succeed. | D．It's an excuse about working less hard. |
| A．Pass a college entrance exam. | B．Apply for more advanced education. |
| C．Make a decision to complete high school. | D．Become a top student in her current school. |
| A．Twelve Schools Make a Successful Student |
| B．Being Different Means Having More Chances |
| C．Khadijah Williams: From Shelters to Harvard |
| D．Khadijah Williams: Inspiration to Homeless People |
【推荐3】When Mackenzie Foy got the call from film director Lasse Halls telling her that she'd landed the role of Clara in the new Disney film The Nutcracker and the Four Realms, she said "yes" immediately. "I was just excited to go on a new adventure," Foy told the Evening Standard. Indeed, when many actors and actresses choose to appear in films simply for the fame and exposure, Foy, a 17-year-old US actress, does it for the "adventure".
It's true that every movie Foy has ever been in is an adventure. In The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn for example, the 11-year-old Foy plays a half-human-half-vampire (吸血鬼) girl who has a superpower. In Interstellar, then 14, plays the daughter of a scientist who travels across the universe to try to find ways to save human beings from destruction. And now, in The Nutcracker and the Four Realms, which will be released in Chinese cinemas on November 2, Clara is going on yet another exciting journey. This time, she allows a doll that her parents give her as a Christmas gift into a strange world.
Foy likes excitement in real life, too. In fact, she has a first-degree black belt in tae kwon do (MY y ilÏ). "I am dying to do an action movie," she told Vanity Fair. "I can do my own stunts" And not happy with simply being in front of the camera, Foy dreams of trying something new one day. "I want to be a director once I finish high school," she told the Evening Standard. "I want to make films that will make people end up looking at the world in a different way, so that they will feel inspired and learn something new.
1. Why did Foy accept the role of Clara immediately?| A．To gain more reputation. |
| B．To earn more money. |
| C．To experience the adventure. |
| D．To improve her performance. |
| A．An action movie. |
| B．A documentary. |
| C．A love story. |
| D．A thriller. |
| A．Different performance |
| B．Special actions |
| C．Popular language |
| D．Unique skill |
| A．A Future Director. |
| B．A Young Adventurer. |
| C．A Productive Actress. |
| D．An Enthusiastic Youth. |
【推荐1】Shi developed an interest in handicraft (手工艺) when she was a child who often found herself alone at home. Out of boredom, she would play with paper, folding and cutting them into different shapes. This interest later developed into a passion, one that she decided to pursue by majoring in arts and design during her time in university. After graduation, however, she found herself working at a ship design company as she was unsure about what she wanted to do with her future. About a year later, the Shanghai Arts and Crafts Research Institute offered her a position in their paper-cutting department. Realizing that she still had a love for the handicraft, she made the career switch.
In 2010, Shi started learning paper-cutting from Xi Xiaoqin, an expert of paper cutting. Three years later, one of her works, The Fighting Fish, won the third place in a national competition. Six years later, Shi was named a Shanghai paper-cutting inheritor (继承人)and became the city’s “youngest inheritor” of the paper-cutting heritage. Over the past decade, Shi’s works have been exhibited in 23 exhibitions. Although Shi is already so skilled that she can create an animal pattern in 10 minutes, she continues to practice her skills every day. The reason is that she views paper-cutting as not just an art form, but also a form of learning about traditional Chinese culture. She thinks she has the responsibility to inherit this cultural treasure, and will make more efforts to attract people from different age groups and different fields to try paper-cutting.
1. What does paper-cutting mean to Shi Qinling?| A．A deep passion for the handicrafts. | B．A tool that relieves her of boredom. |
| C．Cutting random patterns from paper. | D．An art form of learning Chinese culture |
| A．Why Shi Qinling resigned from her previous job. |
| B．What Shi Qinling had done in university. |
| C．How Shi Qinling started paper-cutting career. |
| D．How Shi Qinling got rid of the boredom. |
| A．Creative and ambitious. | B．Selfless and determined. |
| C．Determined and responsible. | D．Talented and hardworking. |
| A．Paper-cutting Inheritor Shapes a Sharp Career |
| B．Paper-cutting Makes an Ordinary Artist Better |
| C．A Means of Learning About Chinese Culture |
| D．An Excellent Artist Shares Her Own Career Story |
【推荐2】Below is a list of women who changed the world when they were young girls and teens.
Mary Shelley
English author Mary Shelley was just 18 years old when she wrote Frankenstein, which many credit as the origin of science fiction. Thus, Shelley has been called “the teenage girl who invented science fiction.”
Alexandra Scott
Alexandra Scott was diagnosed with a form of cancer shortly before her first birthday. When she was just 4 years old, she set up her first lemonade stand in her front yard to raise money for childhood cancer research. Inspired by her story, people around the world set up their own lemonade stands to raise money for her cause. By the time she died in 2004, she had raised S1 million. Her family continues her legacy (遗志) through Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation.
Yuanyuan Tan
Chinese ballet dancer Yuanyuan Tan started representing her country in international competitions as a young teen. At 17, she became the youngest ever principal dancer at the San Francisco Ballet, as well as the first Chinese dancer to earn that title in a major Western company. She gives talks around the world, inspiring young dancers to follow their artistic dreams.
Bindi Irwin
Bindi Irwin carried on her father Steve Irwin's conservation legacy following his death in 2006. When she was 8 years old, she launched “Bindi the Jungle Girl” to encourage more kids to get interested in animals and wildlife conservation. She has continued to make TV appearances, published books and furthered her father's causes.
1. Who collected money for medical research?| A．Mary Shelley. | B．Yuanyuan Tan. | C．Bindi Irwin. | D．Alexandra Scott. |
| A．An inspiration to young artists. |
| B．A principal of an art school. |
| C．The youngest ballet company owner. |
| D．The first Chinese ballet dancer. |
| A．She encourages kids to raise animals. |
| B．She was diagnosed with cancer. |
| C．She makes efforts to conserve wildlife. |
| D．She wrote the first science fiction. |
【推荐3】World-famous music and movie star Olivia Newton-John died at her home in southern California. She sold over 100 million record albums during her career. From 1973 to 1983, she was among the world's most popular entertainers. She had 14 top 10 singles in the United States alone and won four Grammys.
Newton-John is most remembered for her performance in 1978's wildly popular musical movie Grease. She stars as high school student Sandy. “I was worried that at 29 I was too old to play a high school girl, ”Newton-John told The Telegraph in 2017.“Everything about making the film was fun, but if I had to pick a favorite moment, it was the transformation from what I call Sandy 1 to Sandy 2. I got to play a different character and wear different clothes, and when I put on that tight black outfit to sing You're the One That I Want, I got a very different reaction from the guys on the site.”
Physical. Newton-John's biggest single, came out in 1981. It was hugely popular, holding the number one position on Billboard's hit list for 10 weeks straight. Later, it was named the song of the year. A video linked to it won a Grammy as well.
In 1992, Newton-John's father died and she suffered from breast cancer. Three years later, she and actor Matt Lattanzi ended their marriage. And, a years-long relationship with cameraman Patrick McDermott ended mysteriously when he went missing during a 2005 fishing trip in California. “He was lost at sea, and nobody really knows what happened. But those are the things in life you have to accept and let go, ”she said.
Newton-John was born in Britain to Irene Born and Brin Newton-John. The Newton-Johns moved to Australia when Olivia was 5, but she returned to England in her teens and lived with her mother after her parents divorced. She had early dreams of becoming an animal doctor. After winning singing competitions in high school, she decided on a career in music instead.
1. The figures listed in the first paragraph are mainly intended to show Newton- John's______ .| A．wide influence | B．high productivity |
| C．diverse abilities | D．great achievements |
| A．Unconfident. | B．Thrilled. | C．Uninterested. | D．Proud. |
| A．Her unhappy childhood life. | B．Her mother's deep influence. |
| C．Her high school experience. | D．Her natural-born interest in music. |
| A．She fought against cancer bravely like her mother. |
| B．She suffered one misfortune after another during her lifetime. |
| C．It was a fishing trip that ended her marriage with Matt Lattanzi. |
| D．She remained the world's most popular entertainer throughout her career. |
