1 . Maria Martinez is remembered today as the maker of beautiful pottery (陶器) , Her pottery is in museums all over the world: The pots she made are black with shiny designs on them.
Maria Martinez was a Tewa Native American. She was born around 1887. As a young woman, Maria was known for fine pots she made. Maria and the other village women made pots for their families. They also sold pots to visitors. Compared to the pots made by the other women, young Maria’s were lovelier. But they were not outstanding. They were not the pots that would make the name Maria Martinez known around the world.
In 1908, some archaeologists came to Maria’s village. They finally found broken bits of pottery. The pots had belonged to a group of Native Americans who had lived there seven hundred years before. These finds changed Maria’s life.
One of the archaeologists showed Maria the pieces of broken pots. They were thinner than the pots Maria was making. They had an odd, shiny black finish (抛光) . He asked Maria if she could make such a pot. Maria said she would try.
Maria’s husband, Julian, helped her. First they had to find a way to make the wall of the pot thinner. Maria knew that the clay (黏土; 陶土) she was using would not work. A thin pot made out of that clay would crack (破裂) when it was fired. Maria ‘mixed different amounts of clay, sand, and. water. At last, she discovered a mix that would not crack.
Maria and Julian then had to find out how the shiny black finish had been made. They discovered that it took two steps. First, Maria began by polishing the dried clay surface of the pot. She used a smooth stone as her polishing tool. It was slow work. Then, when the pot was polished, she placed it in a fire that was built in a certain way. The fire and ashes worked their magic on the pot. Its finish was now shiny and black.
Maria and Julian had discovered the secrets of the early pottery makers. Then Maria produced many pots. Under Maria’s direction, her son and grandson are keeping the old ways alive just as Maria had done before them.
1. What can we learn about Mara from paragraph 2?| A．She donated her pots to museums. | B．She was good at making lovely pots. |
| C．She was a world-famous pottery maker. | D．She taught other women villagers to make pots. |
| A．When her husband helped her. | B．When she met an archaeologist. |
| C．When a new mix was discovered. | D．When broken pottery bits were found. |
| A．Polishing the dried surface. | B．Gluing the broken pieces. |
| C．Placing the pot into the fire. | D．Mixing clay and other materials. |
| A．She discovered a special clay mixture. | B．She spent a lifetime making many pots. |
| C．She passed down the way of making pots. | D．She could make pots with a shiny black finish. |
2 . Charlie Chaplin, British comedian, producer, writer, director and composer, is widely regarded as the greatest comic artist of the screen and one of the most important figures in the film history.
Chaplin was named after his father, a British entertainer. He spent his early childhood with his mother, the singer Hannah Hall, after she and his father separated, and took the place of his mentally unstable mother to appear on the stage. However, he and his mother soon separated from each other because the sick Hall was sent to a hospital. Then, Charlie was sent to a series of boarding schools.
Using his mother’s show-business contacts, Charlie became a professional entertainer in 1897 when he joined the Eight Lancashire Lads, a dancing act. His following stage characters include a small role in William Gillette^ Sherlock Holmes (1899). While touring America with the Karno company in 1913, Chaplin was signed to appear in Mack Sennett’s Keystone comedy films. Though Making a Living (1914) was not the failure that historians have claimed , Chaplin’s first screen character did not show him to best advantage. To come up with a more-workable screen image, Chaplin created an outfit consisting of a too-small coat, too-large pants and a walking stick. As a finishing touch, he put on a mustache(胡子).It was in his second Keystone film, Kid Auto Races at Venice (1914), that Chaplin’s classic screen character, “the Little Tramp(流浪汉)“，was born.
In truth, Chaplin did not always portray a tramp; in many of his films his character was employed as a waiter, store clerk? stagehand, fireman, and the like. But the Tramp’s attraction was universal： audiences loved his cheekiness(厚脸皮)，unexpected bravery and especially his recovery in the face of difficulties which moved the audience most. Some historians have traced the Tramp’s origins to Chaplin’s Dickensian childhood, while others have suggested that the character had its roots in the motto (座右铭)of Chaplin’s teacher, Fred Karno： ”Keep it eager, gentlemen, keep it eager. “ Whatever the case, within months after his movie was on, Chaplin was the screen’s biggest star.
1. Which word best describes Chaplin’s early life?| A．Carefree. | B．Struggling. | C．Simple. | D．Boring. |
| A．His further study in an art school. | B．His performances in another country. |
| C．His mother’s serious health problem. | D．His father disapproval of their meeting. |
| A．His early performances. | B．His main characters. |
| C．The reason for his success. | D．His relationship with others. |
| A．His action with a walking stick. | B．His unique and serious appearance, |
| C．His special learning experience. | D．His ability to recover from difficulties. |
