1 . Louisa May Alcott's writings have been considered good reading for over a century. She was born on November 29, 1832. She was the second of four daughters: Anna, Louisa, Elizabeth, and May. Her father was a teacher and philosopher. He experimented with many different jobs and moved his family a great deal.
As Louisa grew, her talent for writing became evident. Her mother encouraged Louisa as she began to write plays and short stories. Her father never stayed with one job long enough to make much money, so Louisa worked as a tutor and maid, and wrote as she found time. In 1854, she published her first book, entitled Flower Fahies.
Louisa volunteered as a nurse for the Union army in November, 1862. She was impressed by the sight of so many suffering soldiers. In July, 1865, Louisa went to Europe as a nurse to a young lady. After returning home, she wrote Little Women in 1868. It was unlike any other book she had written.
Louisa was a strong supporter of women's rights. This movement started in the early 1800s, when women began to receive higher education and to participate in reform movements which involved them in politics. As a result, they questioned why they should not have equal rights with men. During the next twenty years, Louisa continued to write and advocate women's rights.
In 1877, her mother died. Her sister. May. died in 1879, leaving behind her baby daughter. The baby was sent to live with Louisa in 1880. In 1888, Louisa's health began to deteriorate（恶化）, so she went to live in a nursing home. On March 1, she caught a cold and died on March 6, 1888.
1. Who encouraged Louisa to write when she was young?| A．Her father. | B．Her teacher. | C．Her sister. | D．Her mother. |
| A．When she worked as a tutor and maid. | B．When she returned home from Europe. |
| C．When she worked as a nurse to a young lady. | D．When she volunteered as a nurse for the Union army. |
| A．Louisa led a busy life. | B．Louisa participated in reform movements, |
| C．Louisa fought for women's rights actively. | D．Louisa quit writing to fight for women's rights. |
| A．Louisa May Alcott's Life Story |
| B．Louisa May Alcott's Most Famous Work |
| C．Louisa May Alcott's Writings Were Greatly Loved |
| D．Louisa May Alcott Suffered a Lot During Her Short Life |
2 . The British poet Matthew Byrne moved to Beijing in 2013 and felt that the capital city's poetry scene was lacking．His obsession（痴迷）for starting poetry events led to the foundation of the Spittoon Collective in May 2015．“At that time，the literary activity in Beijing was The Bookworm based in Sanlitun，”Byrne says．
While some of Beijing's literary institutions would go on to close in the fall of 2019，Spittoon would continue to grow as a community for poets and writers，as well as musicians and others in the creative scene．
Byrne describes the Spittoon Collective as a platform for people to share ideas，from literary works to different forms of art，with projects developing from the creative energy within the community．
Spittoon originally started as a poetry night at the Mado Bar in Dongcheng District 's Baochao Hutong． Byrne says，“In Beijing，you have these wonderful hutongs，ancient structures where you can walk down and visit cool bars，so I thought it would be good to have a poetry event as it seemed like poetry belonged naturally to this area．”
He adds，“The objective now is to discover Chinese voices and broadcast them to the rest of the world．We create a kind of theme park-like atmosphere where every Thursday is occupied by a different literary style or art form．”
The readings would mainly be in English，but with an international community，a new section called“Poetry-in-Translation”was started，which featured works in Chinese，French，Arabic，Russian，Spanish and other languages．
Joining organized activities like Spittoon can be a major help for those caught up in a boring life．And it's especially important for the people who have moved to China as they need to build new relationships while living in a different country．
1. What can we know about the Spittoon Collective?| A．It was closed in 2019． |
| B．It was set up in 2013 in Beijing． |
| C．It's popular with literature lovers． |
| D．It's a community just for foreigners． |
| A．To attract students' love of poetry． |
| B．To expand China's literature globally． |
| C．To make Beijing's hutongs famous． |
| D．To combine poetry with the hutong． |
| A．Beneficial． | B．Negative． | C．Challenging． | D．Controversial． |
| A．Unclear． | B．Intolerant． | C．Doubtful． | D．Favorable． |
3 . This is a real story about an old man in China. Sixty-three-year-old Zhuang Guorong is a
Every year, the strong, younger-than-his-actual-age pensioner (领养老金者) goes to “the farmers’ home” of Chenyang Community to paint or
“The farmers’ home”, a public building,
The institute is a government
Zhuang works at the
He makes around 5,000 yuan — that’s about 740 US dollars — a year by doing this
As well as earning himself some money, Zhuang says the job gives him an opportunity to express his views of life to his fellow countrymen,
“This painting is about a nursing home. We now live in a(n)
“In this painting, I described a
| A．smart | B．famous | C．strict | D．retired |
| A．painting | B．writing | C．farming | D．designing |
| A．ask | B．teach | C．examine | D．answer |
| A．exercise | B．communicate | C．learn | D．draw |
| A．belongs to | B．looks like | C．serves as | D．stands for |
| A．decorated | B．supported | C．controlled | D．reported |
| A．school | B．office | C．village | D．institute |
| A．creates | B．collects | C．copies | D．exhibits |
| A．test | B．talking | C．work | D．research |
| A．especially | B．similarly | C．equally | D．generally |
| A．free | B．open | C．ageing | D．technological |
| A．ask for | B．rely on | C．think of | D．turn down |
| A．However | B．Instead | C．Besides | D．Therefore |
| A．dream | B．story | C．scene | D．photo |
| A．real | B．different | C．normal | D．sad |
4 . Susan had always loved making clothes, spending her teenage years fashioning Vogue Patterns to wear to parties. However, life got in the way of taking her fashion dreams any further.
Susan worked as any staff from a waitress to a cook in an old people’s home, before getting a job at a charity.
“For some reason, the charity had to reduce my days. I thought I’d use the opportunity to take up an A-level on my extra day off, and of course I chose textile,” she said. “At last, I knew what I wanted to do with myself; I wanted to be creative.”
At the age of 61, Susan quit her job to follow her passion. “I loved learning all the different techniques like quilting, batik (蜡染), pattern making,” she said. “I felt I was in my element, and getting my hands dirty with bleach (漂白剂) and dyes; I’d never felt happier.”
After an open day at the University of Northampton, she signed up to get a degree in fashion. Susan was a hit at university, and the teachers were impressed with her designs, which she described as female. Being picked for the Graduate Fashion Week show was the cherry on the cake. She said, “It was an unbelievable experience and I loved every minute of the show. It’s given me a taste of what I want to do next, and that’s to work in the fashion industry.”
To anyone else who has a dream they’ve never had the chance to complete, she has an important message. “I want to tell people to just have a go,” she said. “One step at a time, the journey of 1,000 miles starts with one step. Do what you can with what you’ve got and don’t let age be a barrier. I’m so glad I did the course—it’s given me a new lesson of life and shows you can really do anything.”
1. When Susan was young, she _______.| A．determined to become a designer | B．knew nothing about fashion |
| C．liked to design clothes very much | D．dreamed to work at a charity |
| A．I made a big decision in life. | B．I was used to the environment. |
| C．I made myself feel uncomfortable. | D．I did what I was good at. |
| A．They are connected with women. | B．They are different from those of others. |
| C．They reflect her attitude towards life. | D．They show the signs of natural beauty. |
| A．Find your own dream. | B．Never give up your dream. |
| C．Start your life one step at a time. | D．A step is the beginning of a journey. |
5 . Montreux, Lake Geneva, Switzerland
After passing away in 1991, Freddie Mercury's body was burned and. his ashes spread around in Lake Geneva. A statue o£ the lead singer of Queen was unveiled(揭幕) on November 25,1996, and overlooked the lake.
Nine Mile, Jamaica
In the village of Nine Mile lies a statue built just feet away from Bob Marley s childhood home, where the Reggae singer was buried after his death in 1981. In 1991, the Jamaican government declared Marley's birthday, February 6, a national holiday, and Nine Mile held an annual music festival in honor of the singer.
Joshua Tree National Park, Joshua Tree, Calif.
Gram Parsons was a regular visitor to Joshua Tree National Park until his death in 1973, and he and his friend Phil Kaufman made an agreement that whoever died first, the survivor would take the other guy's body to Joshua Tree and burn it. This agreement would be the foundation for one of the greatest stories in rock and roll history. Today, there is a Gram Parsons statue in Joshua Tree National Park.
Stone Mountain, Ga.
After one of the most unfortunate deaths in hip hop history, the Tupac Amaru Shakur Foundation was developed by Tupac's mother in 1997. The foundation began a center for the arts in 2005 as a youth arts training program. Located in Stone Mountain, the center has a peace garden with a statue of the late rapper.
1. Who was buried near where he was born?| A．Freddie Mercury. | B．Gram Parsons. |
| C．Bob Marley. | D．Tupac Amaru Shakur. |
| A．He put up a statue of Parsons in the park. |
| B．He kept the agreement after Parsons, death. |
| C．He started a youth arts training program. |
| D．He drafted an agreement for Gram Parsons. |
| A．The famous national parks around the world. |
| B．The famous singers and their interesting stories. |
| C．The famous places where statues are built there. |
| D．The memorial sites of well-known late musicians. |
6 . 语法填空
Do you think obtaining an academic degree is a very difficult task? Try 145. Professor VN Parthiban, who teaches in Chennai, India,
Parthiban’s journey started after he struggled
Unfortunately, there have been some negative side
7 . Lewis Carroll was the pen-name o£ Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, an English writer and author of two of the best loved children's books in English literature — Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass. The characters and phrases from these books have entered and become part of the English lexicon (词典) in a way that was comparable to those from Shakespeare's works.
Charles Dodgson was born on January 27,1832 and spent the first eleven years of his life at Warrington. Dodgson was educated first by homeschooling, then at boarding schools in Richmond and at Rugby, and finally at Charist Church College, Oxford. In later life, he remembered his boarding school experience with no fondness. Still, he was an excellent student and did very well academically throughout. For all his brilliance or perhaps because of it, he couldn't be bothered to spend long hours studying and so he didn't. If things came easily, that was fine; if they didn't, well, that doesn't seem to have bothered him overmuch.
His book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland first came into being in 1862 as a story he made up for Alice Liddell, the ten-year-old daughter of his friend Dean Henry Liddell. Later he wrote it down and showed the book, illustrated with his own drawings, to another friend, the fairy tale writer George Macdonald and his children. They loved it and enthusiastically urged him to get it published. Accordingly, Dodgson revised it for publication. And in 1865, with illustrations more professionally done by Sir John Tenniel, it became an immediate bestseller. Its sequel (续集) Through the Looking-Glass proved equally popular.
1. What does paragraph 1 intend to tell us?| A．Charles Dodgson was more famous than Shakespeare. |
| B．Charles Dodgson had great achievements in literature. |
| C．Charles Dodgson once worked on the English lexicon. |
| D．Charles Dodgson was a writer with a few works. |
| A．He was a hard-working student. | B．He struggled with his studies, |
| C．He received very little schooling. | D．He performed high study efficiency. |
| A．The persuasion from George Macdonald. | B．The help from Dean Henry Liddell. |
| C．The guidance of Sir John Tenniel. | D．The demand of a publisher. |
| A．had a little boy as its main character | B．wrote it just for his children |
| C．was sure it could be popular | D．didn't expect it to be published |
8 . Young Taylor Swift
For a certain 11yearold, a spring break trip to Nashville, Tennessee, was lifechanging. Nashville was the center of the country music industry.
While her mom waited in the car, the girl walked into all the big record companies in town.
Because that girl was Taylor Swift.
Making music came easily to Taylor, but making friends did not.
You probably know how this turned out. Since her first album came out in 2006, Taylor has won 10 Grammy Awards. Her album, 1989, has sold more than 9 million copies.
| A．What kind of music does Taylor sing? |
| B．So what makes Taylor so popular? |
| C．Taylor’s parents knew she was talented. |
| D．She introduced herself and dropped off recordings of her singing. |
| E．Taylor’s parents have made her into a successful singersongwriter. |
| F．Taylor has been interested in singing since she was little. |
| G．Kids would move to a different table when she tried to sit with them at lunch. |
