Queen Victoria was monarch of Great Britain from 1837 until her death in 1901. This period is often called the Victorian Age.
Queen Victoria was a stern and serious woman. One reason she was so serious was that she had suffered a great loss. When she was twenty years old, she married a German prince named Albert. Victoria and Albert were deeply in love, and their marriage was extremely happy. In 1861, after they had been married for twenty one years, Albert died, leaving Queen Victoria heart broken. For the rest of her life, the lonely Victoria mourned his loss. It was customary in those days for a widow to dress in black for a short time after the death of her husband. But Queen Victoria dressed in black for forty years. And for forty years, as another sign of her grief, she wrote her letters on white paper edged in black.
Even before Prince Albert died, Queen Victoria was known as a very serious woman. She had a strong sense of duty and worked very hard at all her tasks. In her diary she wrote, “I love to be employed; I hate to be idle.” She never forgot that she was Britain’s queen and always acted with great dignity(尊严). Victoria had high ideals and moral standards (道德标准) that sometimes made her seem stuffy(古板的).
She was also very sure of herself. She always thought that she was right, and expected everyone to agree with her.
1. Which of the following statements about Queen Victoria is NOT true according to the passage?| A．She had great confidence in herself. |
| B．She ruled Great Britain for sixty-four years. |
| C．She enjoyed her marriage to a German prince. |
| D．She became a serious woman after her beloved husband died. |
| A．she was a stern woman |
| B．black was her favourite colour |
| C．that was one way to show her feeling of sadness |
| D．it was a custom among monarchs of Great Britain |
| A．confident | B．lonesome |
| C．workaholic | D．indecisive (优柔寡断的) |
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【推荐1】A one-armed 13-year-old basketball player in a video moves China. He is Zhang Jiacheng, from Guangdong Province. In the video, facing a taller, stronger, and older opponent(对手), he isn’t afraid at all.
Attracted by his good skills in the video, many people even fail to know that Zhang Jiacheng has only one arm. Although the young boy lost one of his arms in an accident, he became crazy about playing basketball at 12. “Work hard or just give up,” he always says. Thus, he spent all of his free time on it without considering his body condition.
People’s attention has encouraged him to work harder towards his goal—to become a top basketball player. “I just keep practising every day to improve myself whether at home or in the playground,” he says, “My biggest challenge is to control the ball much better.” After only a year of hard practicing, Zhang Jiacheng has improved his skills greatly. Through patience, confidence and determination, the young basketball player is getting closer to his life goal.
His effort and courage finally caught the attention of Yi Jianlian, a Chinese professional(职业的) basketball player, who shared the video on his own Weibo.
1. Why do people fail to know the boy has only one arm?| A．Because his good skills attract people. |
| B．Because his life goal encourages people. |
| C．Because he jumps to an amazing height. |
| D．Because he hides the other arm carefully. |
| A．To live a comfortable life. | B．To become a top basketball player. |
| C．To set up a basketball team. | D．To build a large gym for his school. |
| A．Controlling the ball better. | B．Keeping his balance. |
| C．Making some more friends. | D．Getting closer to his family. |
| A．Yi Jianlian’s cute pets. | B．Yi Jianlian’s courage. |
| C．The video’s influence. | D．The video’s quality. |
【推荐2】The bus was full of the sounds of laughing and yelling fifth graders. They were on their way to the zoo for a class trip. Mario was excited to see the zoo, but there was one problem. It was ten o'clock in the morning, but his stomach was already grumbling(咕咕叫). He reached down and grabbed his lunch bag. Opening it, he saw that it contained a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, an orange, and two cookies. Mario sighed. He always had peanut butter and jell.
“Trade you lunches,” he said to the boy seated next to him on the bus．
“Okay,” said Mark as he handed his brown bag to Mario．
Mario opened it and was hit with the smell of tuna(金枪鱼). Mario wrinkled his nose and quickly closed the bag. He leaned forward and tapped the shoulder of the girl in front of him.” Swap lunches, Toni?” he asked．
“Hmm, okay,” said Toni．
Mario smiled. This was fun. But when he looked into the bag, he frowned. What a disappointment! A ham sandwich, but no cookies! He had to have cookies．
Mario turned in his seat. “Want to trade lunches?” he asked Juana．
“Definitely!” said Juana. She grabbed his lunch and tossed hers onto his lap．
He opened the lunch bag. Pizza! He reached into the bag to grab it. Oh, no! The pizza was hard. He could hit a home run with pizza that hard．
Mario twisted in his seat. One last try, he told himself. “Hey, Mona! Trade lunches?”
Three rows behind him, Mona seemed hesitant: Finally, she nodded. She passed her lunch forward, and he passed his back．
Mario took a deep breath and opened the bag. It was a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, an orange, and two cookies. The sandwich was a little squashed(挤压), and one of the cookies was broken.
Mario ate it anyway. And it was delicious.
1. Mario trade lunches so many times because ________.| A．each lunch he received was dissatisfying |
| B．his curiosity was aroused with each trade |
| C．he needed something interesting to kill time |
| D．he preferred more food to settle his stomach |
| A．left-over food | B．a baseball bat |
| C．home-made bread | D．a difficult game |
| A．Friends are there when you need them． |
| B．You should be content with what you have． |
| C．If you want something done right, do it yourself． |
| D．There is always something better around the corner． |
【推荐3】When Charles Stratton was five, he stopped growing. His mother took him to see the famous showman, P.T. Barnum. Mr. Barnum thought a small person would be the perfect addition to his show. He hired Charles’ parents along with him, and they traveled the world together.
He gave the two-foot-tall Charles a name, General Tom Thumb. He taught Tom how to sing, dance, act and tell jokes. When he felt Tom was ready to perform on stage, he made up ads. To stir up great interest, he said that Tom was eleven years old and had come from England.
During the show, Tom fought battles pretendedly with tall people. He also danced upon a wooden plate held by a person who was eight feet tall. Tom’s act was very popular and brought in a lot of money. By the time Tom was an adult, he had grown very rich. He had become a billionaire at the age of twenty five.
Fortunately for Tom, Mr. Barnum added more little people to his show, and Tom became lucky in love as well. One of the little people was Lavinia Warren, a school teacher. Tom was able to win her love, and they married.
The ceremony and reception were the talk of the town. They were attended by many rich and famous people and by about 2000 guests. Crowds filled the streets of New York to have a look at their tiny wedding marriage. The couple even met with President Abraham Lincoln on their honeymoon just before going to live in Tom’s house in Connecticut.
Their wedding, which took place during the Civil War, provided a welcome escape from the sad problems of war. Not willing to let this bit of sunshine fade, communities throughout the country sponsored(发起) “Tom Thumb” weddings. In these weddings, small boys and girls, all dressed up, went through marriage ceremony for fun.
1. “Talk of the town” means_________.| A．it was in the newspaper | B．people spread bad rumors about it |
| C．it was the most popular happenings | D．it was discussed in a city meeting |
| A．It helped people cheer up in a dark time. | B．People gave it too much of their attention. |
| C．It was funny and ridiculous. | D．Tom and Lavinia were stupid. |
| A．the wooden plate would make it sound as if Tom was dancing |
| B．it made Tom look taller |
| C．the eight-foot-tall man was the only tall person Tom trusted |
| D．the difference between them would make Tom look even smaller |
| A．Weddings always make people feel full of sunshine. |
| B．People are always disappointed during war time. |
| C．Entertainment can serve an important purpose. |
| D．People should be married when they are small children. |
【推荐1】American magician David Blaine left the glass box in which he had lived for 44 days without food on October 19. Hundreds of people came to watch the end of his starvation experiment, which had become one of London’s main tourist attractions.
Looking thinner and darker, 30 year-old Blaine was taken out of his box over the River Thames and immediately sent to hospital. He was then slowly reintroduced to food, a process doctors said could be life threatening. He had been drinking only water since September 5.
A native of Brooklyn, New York, Blaine first became known as a street magician in the early 1990s. He soon found himself doing magic tricks in bars for the likes of American actor Leonardo DiCaprio and his super model friends.
Over the last decade Blaine has become famous with a combination of breathtaking magic and clever tricks aimed at getting a lot of attention.
In 1999, he was buried in a coffin (棺材) for one week and, in 2000, he spent 62 hours in a giant block of ice. Last year he stood on the top of a 25-meter pillar(柱子) in the center of New York for 35 hours before jumping into a pile of boxes.
“I think a lot of people are unable to accept that they’re able to do what they can do,” he said. “They don’t realize we can survive. The human being is an amazing creation.”
But he seemed to have suffered from spending so long in the glass box. He said that at times he was unable to see, had serious back pains and lost his sense of taste.
1. It is ________ for David Blaine to eat food after such a long starvation.| A．pleasant | B．delicious |
| C．dangerous | D．important |
| A．he had become blind | B．he had serious back pains |
| C．he lost his sense of taste | D．he was in weak health |
| A．Brave. | B．Adventurous. | C．Mad. | D．Crazy. |
| A．Blaine was immediately sent to hospital after he was taken out of his box because he was in dangerous condition. |
| B．Blaine was born and brought up in England. |
| C．In Blaine’s opinion, people can create a wonder. |
| D．Blaine didn’t have any food for 44 days. |
【推荐2】Jack Benny was one of the most famous names in show business. As a child, Benny learned to play the violin. After finishing his school, he joined the Navy. He continued using his violin to perform for sailors. In one show he was chosen more for his funny jokes than for his skill with the violin. That experience made him believe that his future job would be a comedian.
Benny developed a show personality that had all the qualities people dislike. He was known for being so stingy—he refused to spend any money unless forced to do so. On his shows Benny often spoke of his appearance, especially his baby blue eyes. As he grew older, he always claimed to be 39 years old. Benny rarely made jokes that hurt other people. Instead, he would let the other actors on the show tell jokes about him.
In real life, he was very giving and he was a person people liked having as their employer. Benny entered the new media of television in 1950. Five years later, he dropped his radio program to spend more time developing his television show. At first his appearances on television were rare. By 1960 the Benny Show was a weekly television program. It continued until 1965. Benny appeared in about twenty films during his life. A few became popular. But most were not. In 1963 Benny returned to Broadway for the first time since 1931.
Benny received many awards during his lifetime. Perhaps the one honor that pleased him most was that his hometown of Waukegan named a school for him. This was a special honor for a man who had never finished high school.
Benny continued to perform. He died of cancer in 1974. At his funeral his friend Bob Hope said, "Jack Benny was stingy to the end. He gave us only eighty years."
1. Benny was determined to be a comedian __________.| A．after he played the violin for the sailors |
| B．after he left the Navy for Broadway |
| C．after he performed in a show for the sailors |
| D．after he joined the Navy with his violin |
| A．Clever. | B．Mean. |
| C．Outgoing. | D．Hard-working. |
| A．developed a lovely personality |
| B．was more famous for playing the violin |
| C．often referred to his appearance |
| D．said funny things that hurt others |
| A．He did a good job in show business. |
| B．His first appearance on TV was very successful. |
| C．Most of his films became well-known. |
| D．He treated all his awards as nothing. |
【推荐3】Down syndrome(唐氏综合征)changes the course of the individual’s development and causes learning disabilities. But this doesn’t mean people with Down syndrome are not capable of being successful in life.
Karen Gaffney
She is the first person with Down syndrome to complete a relay swim of the English Channel. She is also a noteworthy(显著的)individual for being the first person with Down syndrome to be awarded an honorary doctor’s degree. Karen serves as the president of the Karen Gaffney Foundation of Portland. The organization is dedicated to helping those who have Down syndrome.
Madeline Stuart
She is an Australian model with this disorder. She is responsible for changing the face of the modeling industry. She’s walked in New York Fashion Week, Paris Fashion Week and London Fashion Week, despite having Down syndrome. Madeline is credited as being the world’s first supermodel with Down syndrome.
Tommy Jessop
He is noteworthy for being one of the first Down syndrome actors to star in a prime-time (黄金时段)BBC drama, On top of acting in movies, Tommy has played many parts in theater, such as the role of Hamlet. He has won several Best Actor Awards and received an honourable mention for his acting talent from the 17th European Film Festival Koszalin, Poland.
Collette Divitto
She is responsible for founding Collettey’s Cookies, a cookie company based in Boston. After failing to find a job for 2 years, Collette was inspired by her friends to open her own business, which is still doing well. Collettey’s Cookies employs around 20 people and about half of them are people with disabilities. She hopes to help create more jobs for people with disabilities.
1. Who went the furthest academically?| A．Karen Gaffney. | B．Tommy Jessop. |
| C．Madeline Stuart. | D．Collette Divitto. |
| A．She set up Collettey’s Cookies. |
| B．She won several Best Actor Awards. |
| C．She is the world’s first supermodel with Down syndrome. |
| D．She completed a relay swim of the English Channel. |
| A．A review on Hollywood films. | B．A fashion magazine. |
| C．A textbook on mathematics. | D．A book of inspirational stories. |
