1 . The big screen is never short of films about World WarⅡ. When Nazi Germany is featured in these films, cruel Nazi officers and brutal concentration camps most often represent it. But the new Hollywood movie Valkyrie tells a different story, “a chapter of German history which is little known abroad”, according to the German Cultural Minister Bernd Neumann.

Valkyrie is based on a true incident that took place in 1944. Colonel(陆军上校) Stauffenberg had been a loyal soldier for his entire military career. However, after losing an eye, a hand, and three fingers in an Allied bombing, he reached breaking point. The destruction that his country had brought to its European neighbors had become too terrible for the colonel to bear in silence. He hoped that someone would find a way to stop Adolf Hitler, one of the most evil tyrants the world has ever known. Realizing that time was running out, he decided that he must take action himself and joined the German resistance. These men drew up Operation Valkyrie, a plot to assassinate Hitler and to overthrow his Nazi government from the inside. This plot is what the film is named after and focuses on.

The Hollywood star Tom Cruise plays the lead role. “This was a very challenging film to make. We carried a huge responsibility to correctly portray history,” Cruise said.

However, the production has drawn criticism for lacking depth and for simplifying the motives behind the plot.

1. The passage tells us that Valkyrie is _____.

A．a story written by Bernd Neuman

B．a chapter in a German history book

C．a movie about Nazi concentration camps

D．a movie about a plan to assassinate Hitler

2. What does the sentence “he reached breaking point” probably mean?

A．He narrowly escaped being killed.

B．He couldn’t reach out his arm for anything.

C．He was rewarded for his brave attempts.

D．He decided to make a historic change in life.

3. Why did Tom Cruise say the film was challenging for him?

A．Because he never acted in such kind of film before.

B．Because he knew little about this episode of history.

C．Because he felt it a heavy task to present the real history.

D．Because he was afraid that the film might draw criticism.

4. The following passage will probably talk about _____.

A．the reason why the film is named after Valkyrie

B．the comments from the movie critics on Valkyrie

C．the praises from audience after watching Valkyrie

D．the importance of the role Cruise plays in Valkyrie

2 . Despite being First Lady, Jacqueline Kennedy usually kept her distance from politics. Yet in 1963, while still recovering from the death of her prematurely born son, Patrick Bouvier Kennedy, she agreed to join her husband John F. Kennedy on a trip to Texas. Unfortunately, in Dallas on November 22, 1963, President Kennedy was shot while sitting next to Jackie, and the pink suit she was wearing became covered in her husband’s blood.

Jackie tightly held her husband on the way to Parkland Memorial Hospital, attempting to tend to his badly hurt head. John’s vice president, Lyndon B. Johnson, had been in a separate vehicle in the same procession, and he and his wife Lady Bird proceeded to the hospital as well. Lady Bird later described how she saw, “in the president’s car, a bundle of pink, just like a drift of blossoms lying on the back seat. I think it was Mrs. Kennedy, lying over the President’s body.” She even kneeled on the blood-covered floor to pray. However, the time of his death was marked as 1 p.m.

Later, Jackie found a change of clothes waiting for her. She wiped off her face, but would later recall for a magazine writer: “One second later, I thought, ‘Why did I wash the blood off?’ I should have left it there; let them see what they’ve done.”

With this in mind, Jackie decided not to change her clothes, even as she agreed to be present as Johnson took the oath (誓词) of office. When offered the option to descend from the plane without being photographed, she again insisted, “We’ll go out the regular way. I want them to see what they have done.”

The former first lady had always understood the power of imagery to convey messages. By showing up in her bloody outfit, she reminded everyone there, and everyone who would later see photos from the ceremony of the murdered president.

1. According to the article, Jacqueline Kennedy refused to take off her suit after her husband was shot because ________.

A．she dared not recall the cruel assassination (刺杀) of her husband

B．she wanted to honor her husband in this way

C．she wasn’t given enough time to change into another outfit

D．she wanted to remind everyone of the violent act

2. Based on the information from the article, Jacqueline most likely had once worked as ________.

A．a photographer	B．a policy economist
C．a government lawyer	D．his husband’s secretary

3. According to the article, which of the following statements about Jacqueline Kennedy is true?

A．As First Lady, she was good at socializing with others.

B．She insisted on being photographed as usual when getting off the plane.

C．She lost control of her emotions after President Kennedy had been assassinated.

D．She didn’t attend the ceremony in which the new president Lyndon B. Johnson took the oath of office.

4. According to the article, Jacqueline Kennedy was ________.

A．calm and determined	B．shy and unconfident
C．emotional and considerate	D．strong-minded and cold-hearted

3 . 从括号内选择合适的内容完成下面短文。

Some of the most quoted quotes by experts in IT history have turned out to be ironic (讽刺的).

1899

“Everything that can be invented has already been invented.” Charles H. Duell, director of the U.S. Patent Office believed it     1     (would be, will be) a future with no more inventions. A century later, the world is telling us that there     2     (are, were) still many things to be invented, and many things that were once thought impossible are becoming true.

1943

“I think there is a world market for maybe five computers,” said Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM. Thomas Watson, referring to a time when the world needed only five mainframe computers to satisfy all computing requirements,     3     (had, would have) no idea that the demands on data processing (数据处理)     4     (became, would become) so great. Time has changed, and now is the age of the PC. For the world market capacity (容量) for PCs, we now have to use “billion” after numbers.

1949

“Computers in the future may weigh no more than 1.5 tons.” This was from Popular Mechanics, talking about the future of science.

The technology has completely been beyond people’s imagination, and the computer     5     (had long said, has long said) goodbye to its huge weight. Today’s microprocessor chips (微处理器芯片) are used in mobile phones, digital cameras and other hand-held electronic devices. Some experts predicted that one day nanotechnology     6     (would make, will make) chips as thin as a hair.

The surprising history of computing over the past years has taught us not to take experts’ comments too seriously. Anyone can make mistakes, and our lives will eventually become a history of limitations. When humans predicted confidently that something     7     (would happen, was happening) in the future, they tended to forget they     8     (would fail, have failed) to learn the lessons of history.

4 . On June 6, World War II veterans (老兵) and other visitors gathered in Normandy for the 78th D-Day anniversary (周年纪念日) in memory of soldiers who gave up their lives to bring peace and freedom to French people. Several thousand people joined a ceremony at the American Cemetery overlooking Omaha Beach in the French town of Colleville-sur-Mer.

US Air Force planes flew over the American Cemetery during the ceremony, in the presence of Army General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. It is the final resting place of 9,386 soldiers who died fighting on D-Day and in the operations that followed.

Ray Wallace, then 97, a former paratrooper, was among the World War II veterans attending the ceremony in the French town of Colleville-sur-Mer. According to him, on D-Day, his plane was hit and caught fire forcing him to jump earlier than expected. He landed 20 miles away from the town of Sainte-Mère-Église, the first French village to be liberated from Nazi occupation. Less than a month later, he was caught by the Germans. He was finally liberated after 10 months and returned to the U. S. Still, Wallace thought he was “lucky”. “I remember the good friends that I lost there. So, it’s a little emotional,” he said, with tears in his eyes. “I guess you can say I’m proud of what I did but I didn’t do that much.”

On D-Day, a large number of soldiers landed on the beaches, carried by 7,000 boats. On that single day, 4,414 soldiers lost their lives, 2,501 of whom were Americans. More than 5,000 were wounded. On the German side, several thousand were killed or wounded.

Wallace, who was using a wheelchair, was among about 20 World War II veterans who opened the parade (游行) of military vehicles on the eve of the D-Day anniversary in Sainte-Mère-Église with cheers from thousands of people, in a joyful atmosphere. He did not hide his pleasure, happily waving to the crowd as parents explained the stories of World War II heroes to their children. Many history lovers, wearing military clothes from the period, also came to the stage and celebrated the event.

1. What is the purpose of the D-Day anniversary ceremony in Colleville-sur-Mer?

A．To call on people to treasure their lives.

B．To remind people about the hard time.

C．To connect peace lovers worldwide.

D．To honor the dead soldiers on D-Day.

2. What did Ray Wallace probably want to express by mentioning his wartime experience?

A．His sadness at losing partners in war.

B．His doubt about the result of the war.

C．His pride in defeating the enemies.

D．His fear of losing his life in war.

3. Which words can best describe the atmosphere of the parade before the D-Day anniversary?

A．Peaceful and quiet.	B．Serious and stressful.
C．Warm and inspiring.	D．Surprising and amusing.

4. What does the text mainly talk about?

A．Veterans’ stories took people closer to D-Day.

B．People in France celebrated the success of D-Day.

C．People worldwide held activities to remember D-Day.

D．Veterans returned to mark the 78th anniversary of D-Day.

8 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

On the eve of the Chinese Lunar New Year,     1     falls on Sunday, Xinhua gathered some of the most famed rabbits in China. Xinhua also offered explanations of     2     (they) changing symbolism in modern-day China.

Jade Rabbit is probably the most famous rabbit in China. It features on the special stamps     3     (issue) by China Post to celebrate the Year of the Rabbit and was mentioned when the Chinese leadership extended Lunar New Year greetings. Legend has it that Yutu, or Jade Rabbit, is the pet of Lunar Goddess Chang’e. The rabbit’s common association with Earth’s only     4    (nature) satellite led China to name its first moon rover “Yutu”.

The image of a white rabbit often leaves     5     sweet taste in the minds of Chinese children. Born in 1959 in Shanghai, White Rabbit milk candies are a household name in China. The 64-year-old rabbit sweets have enjoyed renewed     6    (popular) among young consumers in recent years.

Lord Rabbit, known as Tu’er Ye in Chinese, is an auspicious (吉利的) clay toy for children in Beijing.    7     a human body and a rabbit’s ears and mouth, Lord Rabbit is actually a god     8    (govern) health and medicine, and an alternate version of the jade rabbit. The legend goes that Beijing once     9    (suffer) a plague (传染病) before the Mid-Autumn Festival. The goddess Chang e sent the rabbit to cure the disease. In gratitude, Beijing people made small clay statues     10     (pay) their respects to the rabbit that plague dispeller.