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Six years ago at the age of 35,I suddenly decided I wanted to learn the cello（大提琴）.Straight away I rented an instrument and appeared before Wendell Margrave,professor of musical instruction.
"You can be as good as you want to be,"Margrave said rather mysteriously.On a piece of paper he drew the notes E and F.He showed me where to put my fingers on the neck of the cello and how to draw the bow.Then he entered my name in his book: 10 am,Tuesday.Tuesday followed Tuesday,and soon it was spring.
Thus began my voyage out of ignorance and into the dream.E-F,E-F,we played together—and moved on to G.It was a happy time.I was again becoming something new,and no longer trapped as the same person.Surely the most terrible recognition of middle life is that we are past changing.We do what we can already do.The cello was something I couldn't do.Yet each Tuesday this became less and less true.Riding home on the bus one snowy night and learning the score of Mozart's C-Major Quintet(莫扎特的C大调五重奏),I felt the page burst into music in my hands.I could by then more or less read a score,and was humming（哼唱）the cello line,when suddenly all five parts came together harmonically（和谐地） in my head.The fellow 
sitting opposite stared.I met his glance with tears,actually hearing the music in my head for the first time.Could he hear it too, perhaps?No,he got off at the next stop. As the years slipped by,my daughter grew up,playing the piano well.My goal was that she and I would one day perform together.I also wanted to perform in public with and for my peers,and to be secretly envied.I continued to play,to perform,but it is not the same.Before,when I heard a cello,it was all beauty and light.Now,as the TV camera gets close to Rostropovich's face,I recognize that his smile shows his incredible determination.Even for him,the cello is a difficult instrument that doesn't respect your ambitions.I picked up my cello and practiced.As good as I wanted to be,I am as good as I'm going to get.It is good enough.
1.From the first two paragraphs,we can learn that_______ . .
A. the author already knew some cello basics
B. the author went to a cello lesson every Tuesday
C. the author bought a cello after he decided to learn it
D. Wendell Margrave was a famous but mysterious professor
2.The author writes that "it was a happy time" in Paragraph 3 mainly because .
A. he felt very bored with his new life
B. it was beautiful to be able to hear the music in his mind
C. Professor Margrave made learning the cello very easy for him
D. he enjoyed the feelings of growth and getting closer to his dream
3.From the last paragraph,it can be inferred that the author .
A. put on shows with his daughter
B. was determined to catch up with Rostropovich
C. is happy to have kept up his personal development
D. was confident that his peers would envy him for his cello playing ability
4.The purpose of the article is mainly to .
A. show his deep gratitude to his cello tutor
B. advise readers on how to improve their cello skills
C. describe his incredible efforts to overcome difficulties
D. encourage readers that it's never too late to pursue their dreams
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Six years ago at the age of 35,I suddenly decided I wanted to learn the cello（大提琴）.Straight away I rented an instrument and appeared before Wendell Margrave,professor of musical instruction.
"You can be as good as you want to be,"Margrave said rather mysteriously.On a piece of paper he drew the notes E and F.He showed me where to put my fingers on the neck of the cello and how to draw the bow.Then he entered my name in his book: 10 am,Tuesday.Tuesday followed Tuesday,and soon it was spring.
Thus began my voyage out of ignorance and into the dream.E-F,E-F,we played together—and moved on to G.It was a happy time.I was again becoming something new,and no longer trapped as the same person.Surely the most terrible recognition of middle life is that we are past changing.We do what we can already do.The cello was something I couldn't do.Yet each Tuesday this became less and less true.Riding home on the bus one snowy night and learning the score of Mozart's C-Major Quintet(莫扎特的C大调五重奏),I felt the page burst into music in my hands.I could by then more or less read a score,and was humming（哼唱）the cello line,when suddenly all five parts came together harmonically（和谐地） in my head.The fellow sitting opposite stared.I met his glance with tears,actually hearing the music in my head for the first time.Could he hear it too, perhaps?No,he got off at the next stop. As the years slipped by,my daughter grew up,playing the piano well.My goal was that she and I would one day perform together.I also wanted to perform in public with and for my peers,and to be secretly envied.I continued to play,to perform,but it is not the same.Before,when I heard a cello,it was all beauty and light.Now,as the TV camera gets close to Rostropovich's face,I recognize that his smile shows his incredible determination.Even for him,the cello is a difficult instrument that doesn't respect your ambitions.I picked up my cello and practiced.As good as I wanted to be,I am as good as I'm going to get.It is good enough.
1.From the first two paragraphs,we can learn that_______ . .
A. the author already knew some cello basics
B. the author went to a cello lesson every Tuesday
C. the author bought a cello after he decided to learn it
D. Wendell Margrave was a famous but mysterious professor
2.The author writes that "it was a happy time" in Paragraph 3 mainly because .
A. he felt very bored with his new life
B. it was beautiful to be able to hear the music in his mind
C. Professor Margrave made learning the cello very easy for him
D. he enjoyed the feelings of growth and getting closer to his dream
3.From the last paragraph,it can be inferred that the author .
A. put on shows with his daughter
B. was determined to catch up with Rostropovich
C. is happy to have kept up his personal development
D. was confident that his peers would envy him for his cello playing ability
4.The purpose of the article is mainly to .
A. show his deep gratitude to his cello tutor
B. advise readers on how to improve their cello skills
C. describe his incredible efforts to overcome difficulties
D. encourage readers that it's never too late to pursue their dreams
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On some level, I always knew that I wanted to be a doctor－at least from the age of eight or ten years old, anyway.
Although my father wasn’t a doctor, he made his own brand of “house calls”. I followed him as he brought a plate of my mother’s home cooking to an elderly man named Frank on all major holidays and when Frank was sick. As far as I know, their only connection was that Frank was an occasional customer at Dad’s small gas station. Frank’s home was a two-room house on the rough side of town with an old front porch (门廊) where you could fall if you weren’t careful. Frank had no relatives and as far as I could tell, no other visitors either. Through his attitude and by caring, my father was teaching me to be a doctor, although neither of us knew it at the time.
When I was 13, my father developed lung cancer. He brought home a diagram the doctor had drawn showing where his cancer was and told me that he was going to die. He asked me to take care of my mother when he was gone. I was an only child. He said he loved me on the night when he died.
When you’re 13 and your father dies, you have some choices to make. You can use the situation as an excuse for letting your actions and graded go down, or you can honor his memory and try to do something positive with yourself. I focused my energy on my schoolwork and my goal of becoming a doctor.
1. What’s the father’s “own brand of ‘house calls’”?
A. his treatment for frank’s serious illness.
B. his care for Frank.
C. his attitude towards the author.
D. his wish that his kid would be a doctor.
2. The author began to want to be a doctor when_________
A. father helped frank regularly
B. Father developed lung cancer
C. father asked him/her to take care of Mother
D. father died
3. what was the influence of Father’s death on the author?
A. The author began to think seriously about his/her career.
B. The author was too sorrowful to carry through his /her study.
C. The author used the situation as an excuse for quitting school.
D. The author made great effort at his/her goal of becoming a doctor.
4. The best title for the text would be_________.
A. What Made Father Respectable
B. What Led Me to Be a Doctor
C. How to Help Strangers
D. How to Deal with Death
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Many years ago, my dad decided to volunteer at the local children hospital. My dad loved kids. It was the perfect job for him. He would talk to them and play with them and do arts and crafts with them.
There was a girl, Karen, who had been admitted with a rare disease that paralyzed (使麻痹) her from the neck down. She was very depressed (沮丧的). My dad decided to try to help her. He started visiting her in her room, bringing paints, brushes and paper. He stood the paper up against a backing, put the paintbrush in his mouth and began to paint. He didn’t use his hands at all. Only his head would move. He would visit her whenever he could and paint for her, telling her, “See, you can do anything you set your mind to.”
At the end of the day, she began to paint using her mouth, and she and my dad became friends. Soon after, the little girl was discharged (允许出院) because the doctors felt there was nothing else they could do for her. Some time later, my dad was at the volunteer counter in the lobby (门厅) of the hospital when Karen came in. She ran straight over to my dad and hugged him really tight. She gave my dad a picture she had done using her hands. At the bottom it read “Thank you for helping me walk”.
My dad would cry every time he told us this story. He would say sometimes love is more powerful than doctors, and my dad who died just a few months after the little girl gave him the picture—loved every single child in that hospital.
1.The writer’s father decided to volunteer ________.
A.at the children bookstore B.in the shopping mall
C.at the local children hospital D.in the community
2.How did the writer’s father help the paralyzed little girl?
A.He showed her she could still do things.
B.He painted special pictures for her.
C.He helped her practice walking.
D.He visited her and made a toy for her.
3.Why did the little girl give the writer’s father a picture?
A.Because he liked pictures very much.
B.Because she wanted to thank him for his help.
C.Because he was badly ill.
D.Because her mother wanted her to do that.
4.What can we infer from the passage?
A.The girl was discharged after she had recovered from her disease.
B.The girl became a famous painter at the end.
C.The girl who paralyzed from the neck down could do nothing.
D.Love has a magic power and can make wonders.
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My mother died at the age of thirty-six, leaving me aged seven. I was _________ mainly by relatives when my father remarried. By my early twenties, I had learned that my mother, who had polio (小儿麻痹症) as a young child, had not been _________ to live past her early twenties.
After the tough upbringing I've had, I began to _________ why she chose to have children when she knew she would die _________. Finally, from my aunt, I got a simple answer: My mother had always _________ the doctors’ prediction. She had done so well with her _________ issues that she thought she would live long enough to raise me.
I got a little relieved. _________ I still felt deeply _________ that my mother had left me in such a _________ situation. And then the ____________ came.
There were no words spoken and no thoughts ____________ but only feelings. I recall no background to the dream ― only the ____________ of my mother walking toward me. She was ____________ of the serious scoliosis (脊柱侧弯) that had troubled her. She walked straight and came toward me with her arms open, her kind eyes shining even more brightly than I __________ , a beautiful smile on her face. She wrapped her arms around me and I returned her a warm hug. We ____________ stood, holding each other as a strong feeling of deep love ____________ over me. At that dream moment I knew my mother had never ____________ to bring me into the world and then leave. She loved me then and she had kept loving me.
Thirty-five years ago I awoke from that dream with a great peace. My sadness ____________. I have never had a single moment of doubt about my mother's love ____________. I continue my life, in the ____________ that my mother's unconditional love is always there.
1.A.raised up B.made up C.brought up D.picked up
2.A.suggested B.expected C.promised D.proved
3.A.wonder B.understand C.realize D.appreciate
4.A.alone B.fast C.poor D.young
5.A.suited B.challenged C.followed D.failed
6.A.emotion B.management C.academy D.health
7.A.However B.Moreover C.Otherwise D.Therefore
8.A.delighted B.worried C.excited D.hurt
9.A.difficult B.special C.strange D.different
10.A.chance B.problem C.dream D.decision
11.A.exchanged B.provided C.gained D.offered
12.A.imagination B.voice C.smile D.figure
13.A.aware B.free C.full D.sick
14.A.concluded B.realized C.remembered D.predicted
15.A.actually B.simply C.finally D.always
16.A.ran B.washed C.turned D.got
17.A.pretended B.managed C.intended D.happened
18.A.grew B.disappeared C.followed D.solved
19.A.though B.just C.still D.since
20.A.knowledge B.dream C.hope D.expectation
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Elizabeth Freeman was born about 1742 to African American parents who were slaves. At the age of six months she was acquired, along with her sister, by John Ashley, a wealthy Massachusetts slaveholders. She became known as “Mumbet” or “Mum Bett.”
For nearly 30 years Mumbet served the Ashley family. One day, Ashley’s wife tried to strike Mumbet’s sister with a spade. Mumbet protected her sister and took the blow instead. Furious, she left the house and refused to come back. When the Ashleys tried to make her return, Mumbet consulted a lawyer, Theodore Sedgewick. With his help, Mumbet sued(起诉) for her freedom.
While serving the Ashleys, Mumbet had listened to many discussions of the new Massachusetts constitution. If the constitution said that all people were free and equal, then she thought it should apply to her. Eventually, Mumbet won her freedom---- the first slave in Massachusetts to do so under the new constitution.
Strangely enough, after the trial, the Ashleys asked Mumbet to come back and work for them as a paid employee. She declined and instead went to work for Segdewick. Mumbet died in 1829, but her legacy lived on in her many descendants(后裔). One of her great-grandchildren was W.E.B. Du Bois, one of the founder of the NAACP, and an important writer and spokesperson for African American civil rights.
Mumbet’s tombstone still stands in the Massachusetts cemetery where she was buried. It reads, in part: “She was born a slave and remained a slave and remained a slave for nearly thirty years. She could neither read nor write, yet in her own sphere she had no superior or equal.”
1.What do we know about Mumbet according to Paragraph 1?
A. She was born a slave
B. She was a slaveholder
C. She had a famous sister
D. She was born into a rich family
2.Why did Mumbet run away from the Ashleys?
A. She found an employer
B. She wanted to be a lawyer
C. She was hit and got angry
D. She had to take care of her sister
3.What did Mumbet learn from discussions about the new consititution?
A. She should always obey her owners’ orders
B. She should be as free and equal as whites
C. How to be a good servant
D. How to apply for a job
4.What did Mumbet do after the trial?
A. She chose to work for a lawyer
B. She found the NAACP
C. She continued to serve the Ashleys
D. She went to live with her grandchildren
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Elizabeth Freeman was born about 1742 to African American parents who were slaves. At the age of six months she was acquired, along with her sister, by John Ashley, a wealthy Massachusetts slaveholders. She became known as “Mumbet” or “Mum Bett.”
For nearly 30 years Mumbet served the Ashley family. One day, Ashley’s wife tried to hit Mumbet’s sister with a spade(铁锹). Mumbet protected her sister and took the blow instead. Angry, she left the house and refused to come back. When the Ashleys tried to make her return, Mumbet turned to a lawyer, Theodore Sedgewick. With his help, Mumbet sued(起诉) for her freedom.
While serving the Ashleys, Mumbet had listened to many discussions of the new Massachusetts laws. If the laws said that all people were free and equal, then she thought it should apply to her. Eventually, Mumbet won her freedom—the first slave in Massachusetts to do so under the new law.
Strangely enough, after the trial, the Ashleys asked Mumbet to come back and work for them as a paid employee. She refused and instead went to work for Segdewick. Mumbet died in 1829, but her spirit lived on in her many generations. One of her great-grandchildren was W.E.B. Du Bois, one of the founder of the NAACP, and an important writer and spokesperson for African American civil rights.
Mumbet’s tombstone still stands in the Massachusetts cemetery where she was buried. It reads, in part: “She was born a slave and remained a slave for nearly thirty years. She could neither read nor write, yet in her own area she had no superior or equal.”
1.What do we know about Mumbet according to Paragraph 1?
A. She was born into a rich family.
B. She was a slaveholder.
C. She was born a slave.
D. She had a famous sister.
2.What did Mumbet do after the trial?
A. She founded the NAACP.
B. She went to live with her grandchildren.
C. She continued to serve the Ashleys.
D. She chose to work for a lawyer.
3.What did Mumbet learn from discussions about the new constitution?
A. How to be a good servant.
B. How to apply for a job.
C. She should always obey her owners’ orders.
D. She should be as free and equal as whites.
4.What is the text mainly about?
A. A trial that shocked the whole world.
B. The life of a brave African American woman.
C. A story of a famous writer and spokesperson.
D. The friendship between a lawyer and a slave.
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I moved to the small, busy town of Edison in New Jersey six years ago. It was during the second term of my fifth grade. My parents got new jobs and higher income, so they decided it was time to move from Woodbridge to a better, more educational town.
In the US, it is unnecessary to take a test to get into a “good” middle or high school. You just attend the school close to where you live. So, many parents will think about the quality of the local school when they decide to buy a new house. My parents did the same. We finally chose Edison mainly because of the high quality of its school.
In New Jersey, an area with a good school usually means a concentration of Asian people. There are about 300 students in our school. 55% are Asians and just under half of that are Chinese. There are so many Chinese people nearby that we even have our own Chinese school.
Edison is an old town, just like thousands of others in the United States. However, I have treated it as my hometown. That’s where I spend much of my youth, and the memories there can’t be moved anywhere else.
1.Why did the writer’s parents move to Edison?
A．Because they were born there. B．Because it was a better educational town.
C．Because the writer began his fifth grade. D．Because the writer didn’t need to take a test.
2.How many students are from Asia in the writer’s school?
A．About 80. B．About 160. C．About 220. D．About 300.
3.What does the underlined expression “a concentration of” mean in Paragraph 3?
A．None of. B．The whole of C．A large number of D．A small number of
4.Why can’t the writer forget Edison?
A．Because he regards it as his hometown. B．Because his parents got new jobs there.
C．Because there are many Asians there. D．Because it is in the state of New Jersey.
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Paen Long has had a dream ever since he saw a plane for the first time at the age of six. His dream was to ____ a plane. Last year, the 30-year-old man started building his plane ____. “I was afraid that people would ____ me, so sometimes I worked at night,” he said. It was a long time ____ he put his dream into practice. Paen Long tried to build his own plane, using the money he had ____ from running his own garage (汽车修理厂). He has spent three years ____ YouTube videos in order to ____ how to make a plane.
It took him a year to build his plane, using mostly recycled materials. The plane’s first ____ came at 3 pm on 8th, March. Local villagers gathered excitedly to watch the plane fly. ____, the plane only got 50 m in the air before crashing (撞击) to the ____. “When all people were looking at me, I felt very ____,” he said.
Although the first try ____. Paen Long remains ____. His next project is to build a seaplane. Paen Long thinks the plane will cost over $10,000. “I never feel ____ for spending all my money building a plane,” he said.
His wife, Hing Muoyheng, ____ about her husband, especially as they have two young sons. However, she has no ____. “I don’t know how planes work and he doesn’t have any ____ to help him. He can only search for information himself,” she said, “I tried to ask him to ____ a few times because I was afraid, but he said he wouldn’t ____, so I have to support his ____.”
1.A. repair B. make C. draw D. buy
2.A. carefully B. impatiently C. secretly D. suddenly
3.A. make use of B. make fun of C. get tired of D. turn to
4.A. before B. until C. when D. since
5.A. expected B. saved C. stolen D. borrowed
6.A. recording B. producing C. showing D. watching
7.A. answer B. learn C. control D. guess
8.A. design B. flight C. interview D. meeting
9.A. Therefore B. Besides C. However D. Otherwise
10.A. ground B. crowd C. house D. park
11.A. angry B. excited C. proud D. ashamed
12.A. appeared B. continued C. changed D. failed
13.A. determined B. kind C. nervous D. upset
14.A. anxious B. sorry C. hungry D. grateful
15.A. hears B. knows C. talks D. worries
16.A. chance B. aim C. choice D. reason
17.A. experts B. classmates C. volunteers D. workers
18.A. fly B. stop C. help D. leave
19.A. give up B. give in C. give away D. give out
20.A. suggestion B. dream C. conclusion D. research
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At the age of 53,Dr.Holden,a college president, decided to escape from university life for some time. “After being the president for too long,” he later explained, “you begin to ________ yourself and assume you have the power that you don’t.” He especially wanted to learn about people who do ________ work. “I wanted to relearn things I’d forgotten.”
Dr. Holden started his leave on a farm, ________ thirteen hours a day. After that, he planted trees in Atlanta, washed dishes in a restaurant and during the last ten days ________ a garbage collector. This unusual leave was conducted ________. Holden only telephoned his family once a week, informing them that he was healthy.
He did have trouble seeking ________, though. He had been on the job washing dishes at the restaurant exactly one hour ________ the boss came over and said, “I’m afraid you won’t do. It’s not your work. Sorry”. Then he ________ him two dollars. That was the first time in more than thirty years as a job ________ that Holden had heard such words. It helped him understand how a man of his age might feel when he suddenly ________ he had lost his job.
Holden had some things to say. “A lot of my co-workers would complain when the work was too heavy,” he said, “but they’d complain ________ when there was nothing to do.” He found pride and satisfaction came ________ in the form of praise from co-workers. While pay ________, what brought the greatest satisfaction was knowing that your effort had been noticed.
Dr. Holden returned to his post after two months of working with his hands, ________that every young person should be required to spend at least half a year in the world of ________ before starting university studies.
1.A. overdo B. overvalue C. overuse D. overwork
2.A. practical B. physical C. special D. social
3.A. resting B. hunting C. writing D. labouring
4.A. worked as B. worked out C. worked at D. worked on
5.A. in order B. in place C. in secret D. in turn
6.A. experience B. advice C. employment D. fortune
7.A. after B. before C. while D. when
8.A. handed B. presented C. allowed D. charged
9.A. interviewer B. candidate C. holder D. trainer
10.A. observed B. recognized C. indicated D. declared
11.A. gradually B. frequently C. more D. less
12.A. personally B. hopefully C. extremely D. chiefly
13.A. helped B. counted C. multiplied D. rose
14.A. convinced B. satisfied C. delighted D. excited
15.A. sport B. game C. fancy D. work
sitting opposite stared.I met his glance with tears,actually hearing the music in my head for the first time.Could he hear it too, perhaps?No,he got off at the next stop. As the years slipped by,my daughter grew up,playing the piano well.My goal was that she and I would one day perform together.I also wanted to perform in public with and for my peers,and to be secretly envied.I continued to play,to perform,but it is not the same.Before,when I heard a cello,it was all beauty and light.Now,as the TV camera gets close to Rostropovich's face,I recognize that his smile shows his incredible determination.Even for him,the cello is a difficult instrument that doesn't respect your ambitions.I picked up my cello and practiced.As good as I wanted to be,I am as good as I'm going to get.It is good enough.