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Emma Watson, 26, brings her childhood Disney character to life. The British actress played the beautiful girl Belle in Disney’s new live-action movie Beauty and the Beast(野兽). She also sang for the role, the first time she has done so in her career. The movie came out in China on March 17. Originally an animation film, it tells how a cursed man-beast is changed into a handsome prince by the love of Belle.
To play the lead role in Beauty and the Beast, Watson turned down the offer of La La Land, which won six awards besides the Best Actress at this year’s Oscars. However, she does not regret it. She told Vanity Fair that she believes the movie says something that is important for people to hear.
This is not her first time being invited to play a Disney princess. She refused the offer to play Cinderella. But she happily took on Belle because she saw her as a better role model. Belle doesn’t mind Beast’s ugly appearance and sees his good heart within. “She remains curious, compassionate (有同情心) and open-minded,” she told Total Film. “She’s not easily swayed by other people’s ideas.”
But to build her own version of Belle, Watson had a hand in shaping the character. She wanted Belle to be busy instead of just playing in the castle all day. So she had the idea of turning Belle into an inventor, like her father. And Belle even made a washing machine herself, though people broke it. She wanted it to free girls from chores (杂务) and allow them to learn how to read. She told Entertainment Weekly that people who broke the washing machine was symbolic (象征的) of people who broke Belle’s spirit and pushed her to become the woman they wanted her to be.
1.According to the passage, what does the movie Beauty and the Beast tell us?
A. The reason why the beast has an ugly appearance.
B. Beauties always fall in love with the ugly beasts easily.
C. Belle loves the beast and doesn’t care about his appearance.
D. A cursed man-beast is changed into a handsome prince by love.
2.Why did Watson play the lead role in Beauty and the Beast?
A. Because she refused to play Cinderella.
B. Because she had no chance to play in La La land.
C. Because she saw Belle as a better role model.
D. Because she thought the movie was important for people.
3.Why did people break Belle’s washing machine?
A. Because they thought the machine was useless.
B. Because they had an idea of turning her into an inventor.
C. Because they wanted to push her to be the woman they liked.
D. Because they wanted her to be busy instead of playing in the castle.
4.Which may be the best title for this passage?
A. A Disney’s Princess. B. More than a Beauty.
C. Beauty and the Beast. D. A beauty’s love story.
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The Vieira family moved to the United States in 1981.At that time, they decided to stop speaking Spanish at home and only communicate in English. This was because they were now living in an English-speaking country.
Now the Vieira children are adults, and they sometimes travel to Spain to visit their family and friends. But they can't communicate with them. Unfortunately this is common. When people move to new countries, they often leave their own customs and mother language behind. This is a mistake because there are many benefits to knowing more than one language.
One advantage of speaking more than one language is that you can communicate with more people around the world. You don't have to depend on others to talk for you, so you are more independent. People who know only one language must use others to help them communicate.
Furthermore, speaking the second language also allows people to experience other cultures and customs more effectively .Local expressions, vocabulary, and even jokes can have a powerful effect on a person's understanding of other culture. So knowing more than one language increases your knowledge of other cultures.
Finally, having more multilanguage speakers improves relationships between countries. If people from different countries can communicate well, the world can become closer. Countries will then have more respect for each other and better understand each other's problems.
The benefits of knowing more than one language are clear. In fact, there are no disadvantages. It is very sad that many people don't try to learn another language. It's even worse when people let themselves forget their mother language and become silenced.
1.The passage begins with the experience of Vieira family in order to ________.
A. discuss the need of teaching a new language
B. introduce the passage's main characters to the readers
C. describe the advantages of moving to another country
D. show the problem of speaking only one language
2.The underlined phrase “multilanguage speakers” (paragraph 5) means “people who know ________.”
A. their mother language B. a new language
C. more than one language D. baby language
3.According to the passage, if you can speak more than one language, you can ________
A. find a better job B. make more friends
C. better understand history D. communicate more independently
4.Based on the last paragraph, which of the following is the worst?
A. Not knowing another language. B. Forgetting one's language.
C. Refusing to learn another language. D. Failing to communicate with others.
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根据短文内容，从下面方框中选择适当的选项补全短文。
Don’t be too surprised if you see a car going down the road without a driver in Beijing these days. 1.Last month, Baidu began to test its self-driving cars on open roads in Beijing.
Self-driving cars began to develop in 2010. Since then, companies like Tesla, Uber and Baidu have been working to produce and test their own self-driving cars.
Self-driving cars are safer than regular cars. 2.They can remove the stress of driving and allow disabled or blind people to get around more easily.
3.In one test, researchers pointed a laser pointer(激光棒) at the car's sensors(传感器) while it was moving. The car mistakenly thought that the laser beam was in its way and slowed down or changed the direction. The software that is used to direct the cars may not be safe enough. 4.When we use our computers or smart phones, they sometimes crash (崩溃) without any reason. But if this happened to a self-driving car, the results could be deadly. Improvements to the software could be a solution to this problem.
A．At times, it may break down.
B．But self-driving cars have their own problems as well.
C．And they are more environmentally friendly than regular cars.
D．It might be one of Baidu’s self-driving cars
