1 . “They tell me that you’d like to make a statue of me — is that correct, Miss Vinnie Ream?”
The deep, gentle voice helped calm the nervous girl. Asking a favor of the President of the United States was no casual matter, especially for a seventeen-year-old girl.
“Yes, sir,” she replied, her dark eyes meeting his. “I wouldn’t have dared to ask you, but my teacher, Mr. Mills, says I am ready. I plan to make it in an admirable manner.”
President Lincoln smiled.“Painters, sculptors — they’ve all tried to make the best of this ordinary face, but I’m afraid there’s not much hope. What did you have in mind, Miss Ream? A bust (半身像)?”
Before Vinnie could say yes, the President hurried on, a shade of apology in his voice. “Of course — I shouldn’t have asked. A full-length pose would be much too big a project for a young woman your size.”
Vinnie’s face turned red. She realized she looked like a child, with her tiny figure. “Small does not mean weak, sir,” she defended herself. “I was born in the country of Wisconsin. I’ve driven teams of horses and carried water. Making a full-length clay (黏土) figure would not exhaust my strength — and that is what I intend to do!”
The President’s eyes, brightened at her show of spirit. “Sorry, madam, I have underestimated you as I didn’t know your background.”
But his smile faded as he rubbed his beard with bony fingers, in thought. “Miss Ream,” he sighed, “I’d like to let you do it, but as you know, we are in the middle of a war. How could I possibly take the time to pose for a sculpture now? I hardly have a minute to myself.”
Vinnie glanced around and noted the size of his office. “I work quickly,” she said. Her voice was soft but confident as she pointed to the corner near the windows. “If I were to bring my clay here and work for three hours every afternoon, I could complete most of the project while you are at your desk.”
The President seemed to consider her idea seriously. He got up and shook Vinnie’s hand warmly, “I’ve heard that you are a talented young woman, and I have found you charming and intelligent as well. I cannot make my decision immediately, but you will hear from me soon.”
The very next day, Vinnie received an invitation from the President.
1. How did President Lincoln first respond to Vinnie’s request?| A．Doubtful. | B．Thrilled. |
| C．Regretful. | D．Pleased. |
| A．her experience from other projects |
| B．the heavy labor she had done before |
| C．her innocent childhood in the country |
| D．the skill she picked up in Wisconsin |
| A．avoid disturbing the president’s work |
| B．keep all her tools within easy reach |
| C．observe the President at a right angle |
| D．achieve effects of natural lighting |
| A．Ups and downs make one strong. |
| B．Experience helps to promote excellence. |
| C．A strong-willed soul can reach his goal. |
| D．Devotion requires enthusiasm. |
2 . Can we humans avoid war? Can war be prevented ?
Our task now is not to blame the past，but to plan for the future.
If there is peace in the world, men can use their rockets to explore the mystery of space,their submarines to explore the depth of the sea,their missiles to deliver to mails and their fine equipment to penetrate(穿透）jungles of Africa ,instead of using them military.
Governments can use their money to build more schools,so that more children can be educated to be useful citizens.
We know that neither peace nor such a dream world can come true in a day or month.
| A．How can a peaceful world be achieved? |
| B．The process may even take decades or centuries. |
| C．Peace can be won through the efforts of all human beings. |
| D．Things for military use can be transformed to peaceful use. |
| E．Scientists can use atomic energy to power steamships and planes. |
| F．I am sure that we would not like to experience another world war, |
| G．History tells that there were wars, great or small，in every century, in every decade. |
3 . Michael Herr, who has died aged 76, was the author of Dispatches (1977), the best book about the Vietnam War. It took Herr eight years to write Dispatches, in part because he went home from Saigon with a bad case of stress disorder. He had gone to Vietnam as a journalist for Esquire magazine. An American general asked him whether he was there to write about military fashion and humor. No. He wrote little for Esquire, but took advantage of the US government’s decision to allow journalists extraordinary access to go to war with the soldiers. He shared their discomforts and their fears, witnessed their death and recorded their language.
His own language, a stream of consciousness pulsing with energy, but masterfully controlled, captured the fear and the horror, but also the excitement, of the war in the jungle and paddy fields. He recorded with a connoisseur’s expertise (行家专长) such details as the many ways in which soldiers would wish each other good luck, and the degrees of madness that were considered acceptable.
The power of the book, perhaps, comes from Herr’s insistence on describing the war, or more precisely his own responses to it, rather than protesting against it. It also comes from the ceaseless accompaniment of two elements, drugs and music — more particularly rock music, and especially the music of Jimi Hendrix. Herr himself spent drug-fuelled weekends in a flat in Saigon, staring at an ancient French map of Indochina. He met soldiers with a left pocket full of Dexedrine, the “upper” (兴奋剂) officially administered by the army to get them into battle, and a right pocket full of “downers” (镇定剂) to get them through it.
Dispatches did not come out until 1977, when the country was beginning to have its mind on other problems, but it did more, perhaps, than any other book to freeze an image of despair and a sense of waste about the war, rather as the trench poets of 1914 —1918 did in Britain.
Herr also made vital contributions to two of the most influential Vietnam films Apocalypse Now and Full Metal Jacket. His work, in the book and the two films, has been seen as part of the process whereby the US came to see itself and its history no longer merely through traditional literature, but in sounds and images.
1. Why did Michael Herr go to Vietnam during the war years?| A．To join the soldiers in military actions. |
| B．To report military actions and advances. |
| C．To give an authentic account of the war. |
| D．To write about military fashion and humor. |
| A．It truly reflects Herr’s responses to the war. |
| B．Music and drugs give the author inspiration. |
| C．Its language is casually selected and organized. |
| D．It fully describes Herr’s protest against the war. |
| A．they suffered stress disorder |
| B．they were addicted to drugs |
| C．they used them to cure the wounds |
| D．they exchanged them for music records |
| A．Herr directed two influential Vietnam films. |
| B．Herr’s work played a positive role in traditional literature. |
| C．Herr stopped writing after the book Dispatches was published. |
| D．Herr’s work offered Americans more ways to know themselves. |
