In 1883. John Roebling was inspired by an idea to build a spectacular bridge connecting New York with the Long Island. However, bridge building experts throughout the world thought this was an impossible feat and told Roebling to forget the idea, but Roebling could not ignore the vision he had in his mind of this bridge. After much discussion and persuasion he managed to convince his son Washington, an up and coming engineer, that the bridge in fact could be built.

    The project started well, but when it was only a few months underway a tragic accident on the site took the life of John Roebling. Washington was injured and left with a certain amount of brain damage, which resulted in him not being able to walk or talk or even move.

    "We told them so." "Crazy men and their crazy dreams.'' "It's foolish to chase wild visions." Evcryone had a negative comment to make and felt that the project should be scrapped since the Roeblings were the only ones who knew how the bridge could be built. In spite of his handicap, Washington was never discouraged.

    One day he was lying on his bed in hospital, seeing the sky and the tops of the trees outside for just a moment with the sunlight streaming through the windows, and a gentle breeze bowing the  flimsy white curtains apart when an idea hit him. He decided to make the best use of the only finger  he could move. Thus, he slowly developed a code of communication with his wife.

    He touched his wife's arm with that finger, indicating to her that he wanted her to call the engineers again. Then he used the same method of tapping her arm to tell the engineers what to do. It seemed foolish but the project was under way again.

    For 13 years Washington tapped out his instructions with his finger on his wife's arm until the bridge was finally completed.

1.Which of the following is true of Washington and his father?

A. They are hardworking and courageous.

B. They are stubborn and bold.

C. They are creative and persistent.

D. They are curious and modest.

2. In the third paragraph, the underlined phrase''wild vision" refers to______.

A. the tragic accident               B. the building of the bridge

C. the brain damage                D. the discussion and persuasion

3. What can we learn about Washington's wife?

A. She could understand Washington and helped him a lot.

B. She cnuldn't understand him but took good care of him.

C. She didn't like Washington's idea about building the bridge.

D. She took the responsibility to continue building the bridge.

4.From the passage, we know that_______when Roebling proposed building the bridge.

A. people all over America supported him

B. almost no bridge experts in the world supported him

C. his friends were strongly in favor of his idea

D. many people considered it would be a great fe

5. The passage suggests that______.

A.NO pains, no gains.

B.Many hands make light work.

C. A lighted heart is a good medicine.

D. Passion creates wonder.

 

Jean is a bright young lady who comes from a rich and famous family. She goes to a good university and has everything that money can buy. Well, almost everything is good. But the problem is that Jean’s family are so busy that they can hardly find time to be with her. So Jean spends a lot of time on her QQ. She likes being anonymous(匿名), talking to people who do not know about her famous family and her rich life. She uses the name Linda on QQ and has made a lot of friends who she keeps in touch with quite often.

Last year Jean made a very special friend on QQ. His name was David and lived in San Francisco. David was full of stories and jokes. He and Jean had a common interest in rock music and modern dance. So it always took them hours to talk happily on QQ and sometimes they even forgot their time. Of course, they wanted to know more about each other. David sent a picture of himself: He was a tall, good looking young man with big, happy smile. As time went by, they became good friends and often sent cards and small things to each other.

When Jean’s father told her that he was going on a business trip to San Francisco, she asked him to let her go with him so that she could give David a surprise for his birthday. She would take him the latest DVD of their favorite rock singer. But when she knocked on David’s door in San Francisco, she found that her special friend was a twelve-year-old boy named Jim!

1.Jean spends a lot of her time on QQ because she is _________.

A．rich              B．young            C．lonely            D．talkative

2.The reason why they even forgot their time is that they _________.

A．talked in delight on QQ

B．hated study

C．fell in love with each other

D．had similar hobbies

3.Why did Jean leave her home for San Francisco?

A．To amaze David.

B．To be on a business trip.

C．To be invited to Jim's birthday party.

D．To send some gifts to Jim.

4.The following states are true about Jean EXCEPT that _________ according to the passage.

A．she is a university student

B．she was born in a wealthy family

C．she made a friend named Jim younger than her

D．she uses her family name on her QQ

5.We could believe that Jean was _________ when seeing Jim himself instead of David at his door.

A．delighted          B．disappointed       C．regretful          D．confused

 

My grandparents were married for over half a century, and played their own special game the time they had met each other. The goal of their game was to write the word “shmily” in a surprise place for the other to find. They took turns leaving “shmily” around the house, and as soon as one of them discovered it, it was their turn to hide it once more. They dragged “shmily” with their fingers through the sugar and flour containers to await whoever was preparing the next meal. “Shmily” was written in the steam left on the mirror after a hot shower, where it would reappear bath after bath. There was no end to the places where “shmily” would pop up. Little notes with “shmily” were found on car seats, or taped to steering wheels. The notes were put inside shoes and left under pillows. “Shmily” was written in the dust upon the mantel（壁爐架）and traced in the ashes of the fireplace. This mysterious word was as much a part of my grandparents’ house as the furniture.

It took me a long time before I was able to fully appreciate my grandparents’ game. Skepticism has kept me from believing in true love --- one that is pure and enduring (持久的). However, I never doubted my grandparents’ relationship. It was based on passionate（熱情的）affection which not everyone is lucky enough to experience.

But there was a dark cloud in my grandparents’ life: my grandmother had breast cancer. The disease had first appeared ten years earlier. As always, Grandpa was with her every step of the way. He comforted her in their yellow room, painted that way so that she could always be surrounded by sunshine, even when she was too sick to go outside. But my grandmother grew steadily weaker until, finally, she could not leave the house anymore. Then one day, what we all dreaded finally happened. Grandma was gone.

“Shmily.” It was written in yellow on the pink ribbons of my grandmother’s funeral bouquet (花束). As the crowd thinned and the last mourners turned to leave, Grandpa stepped up to my grandmother’s coffin and, taking a shaky breath, he began to sing to her. Through his tears and grief, the song came: S-h-m-i-l-y: See How Much I Love You.

1.According to the passage, where may the word “shmily” be found?

a.in the flour containers

b.on the mirror

c.on the sheet of toilet paper

d.on pillows

e.on the furniture

A.a, b     B. b, c     C. a, d     D. b, e

2.The first paragraph is mainly about ________.

A.what the word “shmily” means

B.how the author’s grandparents played their special game

C.how the author appreciated her grandparents’ game

D.how the author’s grandparents cared for each other

3.The underlined phrase “pop up” in Paragraph 1 means ________.

A.appear    B. change    C. survive    D. work

4.According to the passage, the author _________.

A.thought the game was meaningless

B.believes everyone can experience true love

C.doubted the existence of true love at first

D.sometimes left “shmily” around the house

5.Grandpa tried to make Grandma comfortable by _______.

A.singing songs to her every day

B.painting the room yellow

C.encouraging her to go outside

D.helping her take a hot shower every day

 

To win an Oscar is an achievement at any age. To do so at 22, as Jennifer Lawrence has, is just amazing. Recently, the American star won Best Actress at this year's Academy Awards for her role in the film The Silver Linings Playbook. According to Time magazine's Richard Corliss, Lawrence is that rare young actress who "lends a mature intelligence to any role".

Though Lawrence has found great success through her big screen work, Lawrence wasn't sure what she really liked doing before the age of 14. She thought she'd go to college and maybe find a career as a doctor or a travel agent.     

Lawrence's two brothers were star athletes and one of them was a straight-A student. Unlike them, she suffered through school, never quite finding where she belonged. However, during a trip to New York, Lawrence suddenly realized that she wanted to be an actress. When she was enjoying the beautiful city, a model seeker asked if he could take her picture, and the next day he called her in for an audition (試鏡).      

"I read the script and it was the first time I had that feeling like I understand this," Lawrence said. "Within 20 minutes, in the cab ride from the hotel room, I decided I didn't want to be a model. In fact, I wanted to be an actress." Having appreciated this young lady's performance, the agency was so impressed with her reading that they signed her on the spot. But she insisted on finishing high school so she could give her full attention to her acting career.        

Lawrence burst onto the Hollywood scene last year with The Hunger Games, which established her as the highest-grossing (票房最高的) female action hero of all time. Rolling Stone called her “the most talented young actress in America".

1.What can we know about Jennifer Lawrence from Paragraph 3?

A. Her parents were really strict with her.

B. She seemed not to fit in with her school days well.

C. Her school performance made her today's fame.

D. Her two brothers were doing well in all school subjects.

2. Lawrence made up her mind to be an actress because of ______.

A. a model interview

B. her brothers' examples

C. the taxi-ride to her hotel room

D. the beautiful scenery of New York

3.From the text we can know that Lawrence is an actress of great ______.

A. confidence     B. ambition               C. independence  D. talent

4.What is the best title of the text? 

A. Choosing Right                                    B. Acting Wisely

C. Winning Young                                    D. Following Dreams

 

Success is often measured by the ability to overcome adversity（逆境）. But it is often the belief of others that gives us the courage（勇氣）to try.

J. K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter book series, began writing at age 6. Her good friend-Sean became the first person to encourage her and help her build the confidence that one day she would be a very good writer.

“He was the first person with whom I really discussed my serious ambition（志向） to be a writer. He was also the only person who thought I was bound to（注定）be a success at it, which meant much more to me than I ever told him at the time.”

Though there were many difficulties, Rowling continued her writing, particularly fantasy stories. But it wasn't until l990 that she first came up with the idea about Harry Potter. As she recalls（回憶）, it was on a long train journey from London to Manchester that “the idea of Harry Potter simply fell into my head. To my great disappointment, I didn't have a pen with me, and I was too shy to ask anybody if I could borrow one. I think, now, that this was probably a good thing, because I simply sat and thought, for four (delayed train) hours, and all the details came up in my brain, and this thin, black-haired, bespectacled（戴眼鏡的）boy who didn't know he was a wizard became more and more real to me.”

That same year, her mother died after a ten-year fight with serious diseases, which deeply affected her writing. She went on to marry and had a daughter, but separated from her husband shortly afterwards.

During this time, Rowling was diagnosed with depression（診斷患有抑郁癥）. Unemployed, she finished her first novel in area cafes, where she could get her daughter to fall asleep. After being refused by l2 publishing houses, the first Harry Potter novel was sold to a small British publishing house.

Now with seven books that have sold nearly 400 million copies in 64 languages, J. K. Rowling is the highest earning novelist in history. And it all began with her friend’s encouragement as well as her ambition to write.

1. Who believed J. K. Rowling was to be a good writer?

A．Her friend Sean.                        B．Her mother.

C．Her daughter.                          D．Her husband.

2.Rowling first came up with the idea about Harry Potter________.

A．a(chǎn)t the age of 6

B．on a train journey

C．a(chǎn)fter her mother's death

D．in her secondary school

3. She felt disappointed on the train because_________.

A．her train was delayed for four hours

B．she didn't have a pen with her

C．her mind suddenly went blank

D．no one would offer her help

4. It can be concluded from Paragraph 5 and 6 that Rowling is_________.

A．open-minded                          B．warm-hearted

C．good-natured                          D．strong-willed

5. The text mainly tells us_________.

A．a(chǎn)dversity makes a good novelist

B．the courage to try is a special ability

C．you can have a wonderful idea everywhere

D．encouragement helps one succeed