It doesn’t impress like George Washington’s plantation on the Potomac, but Lincoln’s home in downtown Springfield, Illinois,
When the house was built, it was much
Although Mary loved flowers,
2 . Leslie Nielsen’s childhood was a difficult one, but he had one particular shining star in his life — his uncle, who was a well-known actor. The admiration and respect his uncle earned inspired Nielsen to make a career (职业) in acting. Even though he often felt he would be discovered to be a no-talent, he moved forward, gaining a scholarship to the Neighborhood Playhouse and making his first television appearance a few years later in 1948. However, becoming a full-time, successful actor would still be an uphill battle for another eight years until he landed a number of film roles that finally got him noticed.
But even then, what he had wasn’t quite what he wanted. Nielsen always felt he should be doing comedy but his good looks and distinguished voice kept him busy in dramatic roles. It wasn’t until 1980 — 32 years into his career — that he landed the role it would seem he was made for in Airplane! That movie led him into the second half of his career where his comedic presence alone could make a movie a financial success even when movie reviewers would not rate it highly.
Did Nielsen then feel content in his career? Yes and no. He was thrilled to be doing the comedy that he always felt he should do, but even during his last few years, he always had a sense of curiosity, wondering what new role or challenge might be just around the comer. He never stopped working, never retired.
Leslie Nielsen’s devotion to acting is wonderfully inspiring. He built a hugely successful career with little more than plain old hard work and determination. He showed us that even a single desire, never given up on, can make for a remarkable life.
1. Why did Nielsen want to be an actor?A.He enjoyed watching movies. | B.He was eager to earn money. |
C.He wanted to be like his uncle. | D.He felt he was good at acting. |
A.He directed some high quality movies. | B.He avoided taking on new challenges. |
C.He focused on playing dramatic roles. | D.He became a successful comedy actor. |
A.Art is long, life is short. | B.He who laughs last laughs longest. |
C.It’s never too late to learn. | D.Where there’s a will there’s a way. |
3 . When I was 9, we packed up our home in Los Angeles and arrived at Heathrow, London on a gray January morning. Everyone in the family settled quickly into the city except me. Without my beloved beaches and endless blue—sky days, I felt at a loss and out of place. Until I made a discovery.
Southbank, at an eastern bend in the Thames, is the center of British skateboarding, where the continuous crashing of skateboards left your head ringing .I loved it. I soon made friends with the local skaters. We spoke our own language. And my favorite: Safe. Safe meant cool. It meant hello. It meant don’t worry about it. Once, when trying a certain trick on the beam(横杆), I fell onto the stones, damaging a nerve in my hand, and Toby came over, helping me up: Safe, man. Safe. A few minutes later, when I landed the trick, my friends beat their boards loud, shouting: “ Safe! Safe! Safe!” And that’s what mattered—landing tricks, being a good skater.
When I was 15, my family moved to Washington. I tried skateboarding there, but the locals were far less welcoming. Within a couple of years, I’d given it up.
When I returned to London in 2004, I found myself wandering down to Southbank, spending hours there. I’ve traveled back several times since, most recently this past spring. The day was cold but clear: tourists and Londoners stopped to watch the skaters. Weaving(穿梭)among the kids who rushed by on their boards, I found my way to the beam. Then a rail—thin teenager, in a baggy white T—shirt, skidded(滑)up to the beam. He sat next to me. He seemed not to notice the man next to him. But soon I caught a few of his glances. “I was a local here 20 years ago,” I told him. Then, slowly, he began to nod his head. “Safe, man. Safe.”
“Yeah,” I said. “Safe.”
1. What can we learn about the author soon after he moved to London?A.He felt disappointed. | B.He gave up his hobby. |
C.He liked the weather there. | D.He had disagreements with his family. |
A.Be careful! | B.Well done! | C.No way! | D.Don’t worry! |
A.To join the skateboarding. | B.To make new friends. |
C.To learn more tricks. | D.To relive his childhood days |
A.Children should learn a second language. |
B.Sport is necessary for children’s health. |
C.Children need a sense of belonging |
D.Seeing the world is a must for children. |
The Xi’an City Wall is the most complete city wall that has survived China’s long history. It
We accessed the wall through the South Gate. The wall is 12 meters high and from here you can see streams of people moving inside and outside the City Wall.
After
We
5 . Swap, Don’t shop!
You keep hearing about recycling, right? But it doesn’t end with bottles, cans, and paper. Clothing takes a huge amount of natural resources(资源)to make, and buying loads of new clothing(or throwing out old clothing)is not healthy for the environment. So what to do with all those perfectly-good-but-you’re-maybe-a-little-sick-of-them clothes piled on your bedroom floor?
A successful swap depends on the selection of clothes, the organization of the event, and, obviously, how much fun is had. It’s really easy to do! Here are a few pointers.
●Invite 5—10 people so you have a nice selection.
●
●Put different types of clothing on different surfaces in the room.
●Set a starting time. Maybe you say “go,” or turn on a certain song, or whatever.
A.Less people than that |
B.Hold a clothing swap |
C.If two people are competing |
D.Just keep music playing throughout |
E.Donate whatever clothes are left over |
F.Have everyone put their clothes in the right spots |
G.Tell everyone to bring clean clothes in good condition |
6 . Port Lympne Reserve, which runs a breeding (繁育) programme, has welcomed the arrival of a rare black rhino calf (犀牛幼崽). When the tiny creature arrived on January 31, she became the 40th black rhino to be born at the reserve. And officials at Port Lympne were delighted with the new arrival, especially as black rhinos are known for being difficult to breed in captivity (圈养).
Paul Beer, head of rhino section at Port Lympne, said: “Obviously we’re all absolutely delighted to welcome another calf to our black rhino family. She’s healthy, strong and already eager to play and explore. Her mother, Solio, is a first-time mum and she is doing a fantastic job. It’s still a little too cold for them to go out into the open, but as soon as the weather warms up, I have no doubt that the little one will be out and about exploring and playing every day.”
The adorable female calf is the second black rhino born this year at the reserve, but it is too early to tell if the calves will make good candidates to be returned to protected areas of the wild. The first rhino to be born at Port Lympne arrived on January 5 to first-time mother Kisima and weighed about 32kg. His mother, grandmother and great grandmother were all born at the reserve and still live there.
According to the World Wildlife Fund, the global black rhino population has dropped as low as 5500, giving the rhinos a “critically endangered” status.
1. Which of the following best describes the breeding programme?A.Costly. | B.Controversial. | C.Ambitious. | D.Successful. |
A.She loves staying with her mother. | B.She dislikes outdoor activities. |
C.She is in good condition | D.She is sensitive to heat. |
A.They had their first born in January. | B.They enjoyed exploring new places |
C.They lived with their grandmothers. | D.They were brought to the reserve young |
A.The rhino section will be open to the public. |
B.It aims to control the number of the animals. |
C.It will continue to work with the World Wildlife Fund. |
D.Some of its rhinos may be sent to the protected wild areas. |
7 . It’s the seaside birds that deserve at least part of the blame for getting Nick Burchill blacklisted at the Fairmont Empress Hotel in Victoria, Canada.
Burchill was
That’s when things went
Older and wiser now, Burchill chalked up the incident to youthful indiscretion (莽撞).
“I have
His letter
A.studying | B.staying | C.looking | D.packing |
A.visit | B.help | C.follow | D.make |
A.sell | B.have | C.bring | D.taste |
A.filled | B.locked | C.abandoned | D.lost |
A.surprised | B.pleased | C.excited | D.worried |
A.dug | B.cleared | C.cut | D.laid |
A.delicious | B.safe | C.soft | D.ready |
A.left | B.nodded | C.waited | D.regretted |
A.far | B.funny | C.wrong | D.blind |
A.beach | B.driveway | C.hall | D.table |
A.application | B.apology | C.request | D.invitation |
A.hungry | B.dead | C.missing | D.wild |
A.wake up | B.get out | C.take off | D.break in |
A.mess | B.puzzle | C.fight | D.challenge |
A.recovered | B.retired | C.escaped | D.matured |
A.suffering | B.plans | C.madness | D.actions |
A.hands in pocket | B.nose in the air | C.hat in hand | D.feet on the ground |
A.indirectly | B.deliberately | C.cautiously | D.secretly |
A.replace | B.remember | C.reconsider | D.renew |
A.arrived | B.worked | C.ended | D.disappeared |
A MOTHER’S DAY SURPRISE
The twins were filled with excitement as they thought of the surprise they were planning for Mother’s Day. How pleased and proud Mother would be when they brought her breakfast in bed. They planned to make French toast and chicken porridge. They had watched their mother in the kitchen. There was nothing to it. Jenna and Jeff knew exactly what to do.
The big day came at last. The alarm rang at 6 a.m. The pair went down the stairs quietly to the kitchen. They decided to boil the porridge first. They put some rice into a pot of water and left it to boil while they made the French toast. Jeff broke two eggs into a plate and added in some milk. Jenna found the bread and put two slices into the egg mixture. Next, Jeff turned on the second stove burner to heat up the frying pan. Everything was going smoothly until Jeff started frying the bread. The pan was too hot and the bread turned black within seconds. Jenna threw the burnt piece into the sink and put in the other slice of bread. This time, she turned down the fire so it cooked nicely.
Then Jeff noticed steam shooting out of the pot and the lid starting to shake. The next minute, the porridge boiled over and put out the fire. Jenna panicked. Thankfully, Jeff stayed calm and turned off the gas quickly. But the stove was a mess now. Jenna told Jeff to clean it up so they could continue to cook the rest of the porridge. But Jeff’s hand touched the hot burner and he gave a cry of pain. Jenna made him put his hand in cold water. Then she caught the smell of burning. Oh dear! The piece of bread in the pan had turned black as well.
注意:1.续写词数应为150左右。2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
As the twins looked around them in disappointment, their father appeared.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________The twins carried the breakfast upstairs and woke their mother up.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________9 . By day, Robert Titterton is a lawyer. In his spare time though he goes on stage beside pianist Maria Raspopova — not as a musician but as her page turner. “I’m not a trained musician, but I’ve learnt to read music so I can help Maria in her performance.”
Mr Titterton is chairman of the Omega Ensemble but has been the group’s official page turner for the past four years. His job is to sit beside the pianist and turn the pages of the score so the musician doesn’t have to break the flow of sound by doing it themselves. He said he became just as nervous as those playing instruments on stage.
“A lot of skills are needed for the job. You have to make sure you don’t turn two pages at once and make sure you find the repeats in the music when you have to go back to the right spot.” Mr Titterton explained.
Being a page turner requires plenty of practice. Some pieces of music can go for 40 minutes and require up to 50 page turns, including back turns for repeat passages. Silent onstage communication is key, and each pianist has their own style of “nodding” to indicate a page turn which they need to practise with their page turner.
But like all performances, there are moments when things go wrong. “I was turning the page to get ready for the next page, but the draft wind from the turn caused the spare pages to fall off the stand,” Mr Titterton said, “Luckily I was able to catch them and put them back.”
Most page turners are piano students or up-and-coming concert pianists, although Ms Raspopova has once asked her husband to help her out on stage.
“My husband is the worst page turner,” she laughed. “He’s interested in the music, feeling every note, and I have to say: ‘Turn, turn!’ Robert is the best page turner I’ve had in my entire life.”
1. What should Titterton be able to do to be a page turner?A.Read music. | B.Play the piano. |
C.Sing songs. | D.Fix the instruments. |
A.Boring. | B.Well-paid. |
C.Demanding. | D.Dangerous. |
A.Counting the pages. | B.Recognizing the “nodding”. |
C.Catching falling objects. | D.Performing in his own style. |
A.He has very poor eyesight. | B.He ignores the audience. |
C.He has no interest in music. | D.He forgets to do his job. |
10 . When the explorers first set foot upon the continent of North America, the skies and lands were alive with an astonishing variety of wildlife. Native Americans had taken care of these precious natural resources wisely. Unfortunately, it took the explorers and the settlers who followed only a few decades to decimate a large part of these resources. Millions of waterfowl (水禽) were killed at the hands of market hunters and a handful of overly ambitious sportsmen. Millions of acres of wetlands were dried to feed and house the ever-increasing populations, greatly reducing waterfowl habitat.
In 1934, with the passage of the Migratory Bird Hunting Stamp Act (Act), an increasingly concerned nation took firm action to stop the destruction of migratory (迁徙的) waterfowl and the wetlands so vital to their survival. Under this Act, all waterfowl hunters 16 years of age and over must annually purchase and carry a Federal Duck Stamp. The very first Federal Duck Stamp was designed by J.N. “Ding” Darling, a political cartoonist from Des Moines, lowa, who at that time was appointed by President Franklin Roosevelt as Director of the Bureau of Biological Survey. Hunters willingly pay the stamp price to ensure the survival of our natural resources.
About 98 cents of every duck stamp dollar goes directly into the Migratory Bird Conservation Fund to purchase wetlands and wildlife habitat for inclusion into the National Wildlife Refuge System — a fact that ensures this land will be protected and available for all generations to come. Since 1934, better than half a billion dollars has gone into that Fund to purchase more than 5 million acres of habitat. Little wonder the Federal Duck Stamp Program has been called one of the most successful conservation programs ever initiated.
1. What was a cause of the waterfowl population decline in North America?A.Loss of wetlands. | B.Popularity of water sports. |
C.Pollution of rivers. | D.Arrival of other wild animals. |
A.Acquire. | B.Export. |
C.Destroy. | D.Distribute. |
A.The stamp price has gone down. | B.The migratory birds have flown away. |
C.The hunters have stopped hunting. | D.The government has collected money. |
A.The Federal Duck Stamp Story | B.The National Wildlife Refuge System |
C.The Benefits of Saving Waterfowl | D.The History of Migratory Bird Hunting |