Does Fame Drive You Crazy?
Although being famous might sound like a dream come true, today’s star, feeling like zoo animals, face pressures that few of us can imagine. They are at the center of much of the world’s attention. Paparazzi (狗仔队) camp outside their homes, cameras ready. Tabloids (小报) publish thrilling stories about their personal lives. Just imagine not being able to do anything without being photographed or interrupted for a signature.
According to psychologist Christina Villareal, celebrities — famous people — worry constantly about their public appearance. Eventually, they start to lose track of who they really are, seeing themselves the way their fans imagine them, not as the people they were before everyone knew their names. “Over time,” Villareal says, “they feel separated and alone.”
The phenomenon of tracking celebrities has been around for ages. In the 4th century B.C., painters followed Alexander the Great into battle, hoping to picture his victories for his admirers. When Charles Dickens visited America in the 19th century, his sold-out readings attracted thousands of fans, leading him to complain about his lack of privacy. Tabloids of the 1920s and 1930s ran articles about film-stars in much the same way that modern tabloids and websites do.
Being a public figure today, however, is a lot more difficult than it used to be. Superstars cannot move about without worrying about photographers with modern cameras. When they say something silly or do something ridiculous, there is always the Internet to spread the news in minutes and keep their “story” alive forever.
If fame is so troublesome, why aren’t all celebrities running away from it? The answer is there are still ways to deal with it. Some stars stay calm by surrounding themselves with trusted friends and family or by escaping to remote places away from big cities. They focus not on how famous they are but on what they love to do or whatever made them famous in the first place.
Sometimes a few celebrities can get a little justice. Still, even stars who enjoy full justice often complain about how hard their lives are. They are tired of being famous already.
【小题1】It can be learned from the passage that stars today .
| A．are often misunderstood by the public |
| B．can no longer have their privacy protected |
| C．spend too much on their public appearance |
| D．care little about how they have come into fame |
| A．Great heroes of the past were generally admired. |
| B．The problem faced by celebrities has a long history. |
| C．Well-known actors are usually targets of tabloids. |
| D．Works of popular writers often have a lot of readers. |
| A．Availability of modern media. |
| B．Inadequate social recognition. |
| C．Lack of favorable chances. |
| D．Huge population of fans. |
| A．Sincere. | B．Skeptical. | C．Disapproving. | D．Sympathetic. |
【小题1】B
【小题2】B
【小题3】A
【小题4】D
解析试题分析：本文叙述了现在的名人面临许多问题。们人们没有隐私可言，那些小报记者，用先进的摄像机躲在名人家附近拍照，通过网络快速的传播。其实名人面临的问题已经有很长的历史。许多名人已经厌倦出名了。
【小题1】推理判断题。根据第一段的They are at the center of much of the world’s attention. Paparazzi (狗仔队) camp outside their homes, cameras ready. Tabloids (小报) publish thrilling stories about their personal lives.可知现在的名人有很多媒体关注着，因此没有隐私可言。故选B。
【小题2】主旨大意题。根据第三段的The phenomenon of tracking celebrities has been around for ages. 可知名人面临大家的关注，没有隐私的现象已经有很长的历史。故选B。
【小题3】推理判断题。根据第四段的 photographers with modern cameras.和there is always the Internet to spread the news in minutes and keep their “story” alive forever.可知现在的媒体越来越先进，报道的又快有多，因此名人的境况更难了。故选A。
【小题4】推理判断题。根据最后一段的They are tired of being famous already.可知作者认为名人已经厌倦出名了，从中可推测作者同情名人。故选D。
考点：社会现象类短文阅读。
科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
“Some day, there’ll be no Americans left in the NBA,” said 12-year-old Xing Tao, who joined his school team two weeks ago after watching Yao Ming in a televised NBA game, “The players will all be Chinese, like Yao.”
To China, Yao is a home-grown superstar who helped make the world’s first basketball league closer to Chinese players. To the NBA, the 2.23-meter center offers an opening of a different sort into the world’s largest new market. Yao’s NBA first appearance against the Indiana Pacers in October reached 287 million families in the US. That game might have been a bit of a letdown to Yao’s fans: He played just 11 of the 48 minutes, had two rebounds(篮板) and got no points. Comparing that with his performance on December 19, also against Indiana, Yao won 29 points and 10 rebounds. “This was one of the most exciting games I’ve had,” Yao said after Houston’s 95-83 victory. The NBA has to be excited about his on-count success. In all his games, he’s averaging 12.7 points and 7.7 rebounds, quite good for a new star. “Yao Ming has brought the NBA closer to the Chinese,” said NBA spokeswoman Cheong Sau Ching, “That makes the dream seem practical for other people in China and proud to be Chinese.”
The 22-year-old Yao is not the country’s first player in the NBA: Wang Zhizhi broke down the Dallas Mavericks in November 2003. But Yao’s combination of modesty and skills make him a favorite back home.
【小题1】What’s the direct reason for Xing Tao to join the school basketball team?
A. He watched an NBA game
B. He liked basketball.
C. He hoped to play for the NBA.
D. He had dream that he would become a basketball star.
【小题2】How many points did Yao Ming win in his first game in the NBA?
| A．zero | B．two | C．29 | D．10 |
| A．failure | B．surprise | C．disappointment | D．sadness. |
| A．He is modest and performs excellently. |
| B．He is too kind to others. |
| C．More and more Chinese people like to watch his games. |
| D．He is very modest but proud. |
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科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
In England, people often talk about the weather because they can experience (经历) several seasons in one day. In the morning the weather is warm just like in spring. An hour later black clouds come and then it rains hard. The weather gets a little cold. In the late afternoon the sky will be sunny, the sun will begin to shine, and it will be summer at this time of a day.
In England, people can also have summer in winter, or have winter in summer. So in winter they can swim sometimes, and in summer sometimes they should take warm clothes.
umbrella (伞)or a raincoat with them in the sunny morning, but you should not laugh at them.If you don't take an umbrella or a raincoat, you will regret (后悔) later in the day.
【小题1】Why do people in England often talk about the weather?
| A．Because they may have several seasons in one day |
| B．Because they often have very good weather |
| C．Because the weather is warm just like in spring |
| D．Because the sky is sunny all day |
| A．sunshine and snow | B．black clouds |
| C．summer and winter | D．spring and autumn |
| A．their friends ask them to do so | B．it often rains in England |
| C．they are going to sell them | D．they are their favourite things |
| A．Bad Seasons | B．Summer or Winter |
| C．The Weather in England | D．Strange English People |
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科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
Most people know precious gemstones (宝石) by their appearances. An emerald flashes deep green, a ruby seems to hold a red fire inside, and a diamond shines like a star. It’s more difficult to tell where the gem was mined, since a diamond from Australia or Arkansas may appear the same to one from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. However, recently, a team of scientists has found a way to identify a gemstone’s origin.
Beneath the surface of a gemstone, on the tiny level of atoms and molecules, lie clues to its origin. At this year’s meeting of the Geological Society of America in Minneapolis, Catherine McManus reported on a technique that uses lasers to clarify these clues and identify a stone’s homeland. McManus directs scientific research at Materialytics, in Killeen, Texas. The company is developing the technique. “With enough data, we could identify which country, which mining place, even the individual mine a gemstone comes from,” McManus told Science News.
Some gemstones, including many diamonds, come from war-torn countries. Sales of those “blood minerals” may encourage violent civil wars where innocent people are injured or killed. In an effort to reduce the trade in blood minerals, the U.S. government passed law in July 2010 that requires companies that sell gemstones to determine the origins of their stones.
To figure out where gemstones come from, McManus and her team focus a powerful laser on a small sample of the gemstone. The technique is called laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy. Just as heat can turn ice into water or water into steam, energy from the laser changes the state of matter of the stone. The laser changes a miniscule part of the gemstone into plasma, a gas state of matter in which tiny particles called electrons separate from atoms.
The plasma, which is superhot, produces a light pattern. (The science of analyzing this kind of light pattern is called spectroscopy.) Different elements produce different patterns, but McManus and her team say that gemstones from the same area produce similar patterns. Materialytics has already collected patterns from thousands of gemstones, including more than 200 from diamonds. They can compare the light pattern from an unknown gemstone to patterns they do know and look for a match. The light pattern acts like a signature, telling the researchers the origin of the gemstone.
In a small test, the laser technique correctly identified the origins of 95 out of every 100 diamonds. For gemstones like emeralds and rubies, the technique proved successful for 98 out of every 100 stones. The scientists need to collect and analyze more samples, including those from war-torn countries, before the tool is ready for commercial use.
Scientists like Barbara Dutrow, a mineralogist from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, find the technique exciting. “This is a basic new tool that could provide a better fingerprint of a material from a particular locality,” she told Science News.
【小题1】We learn from Paragraph 1 that __________________.
| A．an emerald and a ruby are names of diamonds. |
| B．it’s not difficult to tell where the gem was mined. |
| C．appearances help to identify the origin of gemstones. |
| D．diamonds from different places may appear the same. |
| A．To look for more gemstones. |
| B．To encourage violent civil wars. |
| C．To reduce the trade in blood minerals. |
| D．To develop the economy. |
| A．Heat can turn ice into water or water into steam. |
| B．Gemstones from the same area produce similar light patterns. |
| C．Laser can changes a miniscule part of the gemstone into plasma. |
| D．Materialytics has already collected patterns from thousands of gemstones. |
| A．It is ready for commercial use. |
| B．People can use the new tool to find more gemstones. |
| C．It can significantly reduce the gemstones trade in blood minerals. |
| D．It will bring about a revolutionary change in identifying the origin of minerals. |
| A．tell us how to identify the origin of diamonds. |
| B．introduce a laser technique in identifying a stone’s origin |
| C．prove identifying the origin of gemstones are difficult |
| D．attract our attention to reducing trade in blood minerals |
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科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
For generations here in the deepest South, there had been a great taboo（禁忌）: publicly crossing the color line for love. Less than 45 years ago, marriage between blacks and whites was illegal, and it has been forbidden for much of the time since.
So when a great job about an hour’s drive north of the Gulf Coast attracted him, Jeffrey Norwood, a black college basketball coach, had reservations. He was in a serious relationship with a woman who was white and Asian.
“You’re thinking about a life in South Mississippi?” his father said in a skeptical voice, recalling days when a black man could face mortal（致命的） danger just being seen with a woman of another race, regardless of intentions. "Are you sure?"
But on visits to Hattiesburg, the younger Mr. Norwood said he liked what he saw: growing diversity. So he moved, married, and, with his wife, had a baby girl, who was counted on the last census（人口普查） as black, white and Asian. Taylor Rae Norwood, three, is one of thousands of mixed-race children who have made this state home to one of the nation's most rapidly expanding multiracial populations, up 70 percent between 2000 and 2010, according to new data from the Census Bureau.
In the first comprehensive accounting of multiracial Americans since statistics were first collected about them in 2000, reporting from the 2010 census, made public in recent days, shows that the nation’s mixed-race population is growing far more quickly than many researchers had estimated, particularly in the South and parts of the Midwest. That conclusion is based on the bureau’s analysis of 42 states; the data from the remaining eight states will be released soon.
In North Carolina, the mixed-race population doubled. In Georgia, it grew by more than 80 percent, and by nearly as much in Kentucky and Tennessee. In Indiana, Iowa and South Dakota, the multiracial population increased by about 70percent.
Census officials estimated the national multiracial growth rate was about 35 percent since2000 according to the known result, when seven million people ----- 2.4 percent of the population chose more than one race.
【小题1】If a black man married a white woman 50years ago, the worst result was that _____.
| A．he was sentenced to death | B．he was considered to be immoral |
| C．he was criticized by the public | D．he was treated as a lawbreaker |
| A．stable | B．bad | C．mixed | D．dangerous |
| A．Jeffrey Norwood was born in Hattiesburg and grew up there. |
| B．Taylor Rae Norwood’s mother is a white-Asian. |
| C．70 percent of the people in Mississippi are multiracial. |
| D．Mississippi has the largest multiracial population in the US. |
| A．Georgia. | B．Tennessee. | C．North Carolina. | D．South Dakota. |
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科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
You may not pay much attention to your daily elevator ride. Many of us use a lift several times during the day without really thinking about it. But Lee Gray, PhD, of the University of North Carolina, US, has made it his business to examine this unnoticed form of public transport. He is known as the “Elevator Guy”.
“The lift becomes this interesting social space where behaviors are sort of odd (奇怪的),” Gray told the BBC. “They (elevators) are socially very interesting but often very awkward places.”
We walk in and usually turn around to face the door. If someone else comes in, we may have to move. And here, according to Gray, liftusers unthinkingly go through a set pattern of movements. He told the BBC what he had observed.
He explained that when you are the only one inside a lift, you can do whatever you want – it’s your own little box.
If there are two of you, you go into different corners, standing diagonally (对角线地) across from each other to create distance.
When a third person enters, you will unconsciously form a triangle. And when there is a fourth person it becomes a square, with someone in every corner. A fifth person is probably going to have to stand in the middle.
Newcomers to the lift will need to size up the situation when the doors slide open and then act decisively. Once in, for most people the rule is simple – look down, or look at your phone.
Why are we so awkward in lifts?
“You don’t have enough space,” Professor Babette Renneberg, a clinical psychologist at the Free University of Berlin, told the BBC. “Usually when we meet other people we have about an arm’s length of distance between us. And that’s not possible in most elevators.”
In such a small, enclosed space it becomes very important to act in a way that cannot be understood as threatening or odd. “The easiest way to do this is to avoid eye contact,” she said.
【小题1】The main purpose of the article is to _____.
| A．remind us to enjoy ourselves in the elevator |
| B．analyze what makes people feel awkward in an elevator |
| C．share an interesting but awkward elevator ride |
| D．tell us some unwritten rules of elevator behaviors |
| A．ignore | B．judge | C．put up with | D．make use of |
| A．the lack of space |
| B．someone’s strange behaviors |
| C．their unfamiliarity with one another |
| D．their eye contact with one another |
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科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
Who is your role model? Normally the answer to this question would be anyone around you who you find truly inspiring. It could also be someone like J. K. Rowling or Martin Luther King. Jr. , who have proven to be strong and intelligent people.
However, in today’s world, stars are regarded as role models along with the heroes listed above, despite their intentions or actions. Teens attempt to imitate their actions for two major reasons. Firstly, to be fashionable and accepted by popular culture, and secondly because stars’ actions are so well documented by the media that it seems to grab our attention and turns it to following stars’ lives. Much of the reports about stars is shocking and exhibits bad morals or lifestyles that aren’t right for teenagers. In addition, almost everything stars do is described beyond truth to make a shocking story by taking it to the next level.
However, teens must take responsibility for their actions. We can’t always blame stars for influencing us. Only you have control over yourself and only you choose to do something. Our bodies and actions are in the hands of no one else.
Now, who ever said stars are role models? Whether they choose to be or not, stars set examples as soon as they step into the spotlight. With reporters following and recording every move they make, it is impossible not to be watched and then be imitated. These people influence teens whether or not they want to. Why should someone who doesn’t want to be setting an example set one? So，should we look up to them or to people who are true and good role models? It’s our responsibility as teens to know right from wrong, and it’s time for us to take responsibility for our actions. In doing so，we will lean toward those inspiring people that want to be setting an example, and follow in their steps to be like them.
【小题1】According to the first paragraph, _______ can usually be role models.
| A．political leaders |
| B．wealthy writers |
| C．people inspiring others |
| D．people with great intelligence |
| A．Interest in stars’ life and expectation of getting rich. |
| B．Motivation for being fashionable and inspiration from popular examples. |
| C．Intentions to gain acceptance and encouragement from stars’ lifestyle. |
| D．Desires to be stylish and great influence from the mass media. |
| A．have a control over their own bodies and actions |
| B．be responsible for their own choices and behaviors |
| C．follow fashionable stars’ steps to be more popular |
| D．choose right role models according to different reports |
| A．stars have the responsibility for teenagers’ actions |
| B．not all famous stars choose to influence teenagers |
| C．teenagers choose those inspiring people as their role models |
| D．stars set examples immediately they stepped into the spotlight |
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科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
We all like watching online videos of dogs and cats doing funny things. But if you had to decide, which of the two animals would you say you might like better? Your answer may say something about your personality.
According to a 2010 study led by Sam Gosling, a scientist at the University of Texas, US, dog people are about 15 percent more outgoing and 13 percent more pleasant to be friends with than cat people.
This is not hard to understand, since cats and dogs behave differently themselves. “Cats will occasionally engage in social activities, but usually after only a few minutes, they will abandon the game. Dogs, on the other hand, will often engage in play, like fetching a thrown ball, for hours at a time,” said Modern Dog Magazine.
Although cat people are less social, Gosling’s study showed that they are 11 percent more open-minded than dog people. They usually like art, adventures and unusual ideas. They also have more imagination and curiosity. But dog people are more likely to stick to old beliefs and traditional interests.
However, their love of a free lifestyle also means that cat people dislike making plans. They just follow whatever ideas pop into their heads without planning ahead. But dog people are different. They usually have strong self-control and like to carry out their plans.
Despite these big differences between dog people and cat people, there are some things that they have in common, “Both types of people consider themselves close to nature, dislike animal-print clothing, and are generally optimists,” noted Mother Nature Network.
But can personality change? Can a cat person become a dog person, or the other way around? In a study done by Stanley Coren, a scientist based in Canada, he asked cat owners: “If you had enough living space and there were no objections form other people in your life, and someone gave you a puppy as a gift, would you keep it?”
About 68 percent of them said they would not accept a dog as a pet. But when dog owners were asked the same question about a kitten, almost 70 percent said they would allow a cat into their lives.
【小题1】According to the article, dog people _____________ cat people.
| A．perform better in school than | B．are more open-minded than |
| C．have closer friends than | D．are more traditional than |
| A．take little interest in | B．take part in | C．benefit from | D．suffer from |
| A．Both of them like planning ahead |
| B．Both of them love travelling and adventures |
| C．Both of them are imaginative and curious |
| D．Both of them care about nature. |
| A．Cat people are more likely to become dog people. |
| B．Dog people are more likely to accept cats into their homes than cat people are to accept dogs. |
| C．Neither dog nor cat people like to accept a new pet. |
| D．It is difficult to find out whether dog people or cat people will make a change. |
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科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
Millions of girls grow up with the hope of becoming a famous singer. Some even win local talent competitions as children, but only a few such early successes and dreams turn into reality. Jessica Andrews is one of the few whose dreams have come true.
Andrews, first taste of success came at the age of 10. She won a talent competition in her home town of Huntingdon, Tennessee, singing I Will Always Love You, originally sung by Whitney Houston. Houston's version of the song appeared on The Bodyguard sound track, which happened to be the first album Andrews ever bought.
Within two years, talk of Andrews had spread to Nashville and caught the attention of producer Byron Gallimore, whose credits include work with Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, and Jo Dee Messina. With Gallimore signed on to produce, Andrews soon had a recording contract (合同)with Dream Works' Nashville label.
Andrews' professional career was launched with 1999's Heart Shaped World, recorded when she was 14 years old. The album included the country hit I Will Be There For You, which also appeared on The Prince Of Egypt. She followed up the release of the album by touring as a support act for such country superstars as Faith Hill and Trisha Yearwood.
With the release of 2001's Who I Am, Andrews became a star in her own right. The album was certified (证明）gold for sales of 500,000 copies. Andrews returned in April 2003 with Now, an album that she promised would show a new side of the young artist. "This album has a very different feeling for me," she said. "It's a lot more personal and there's a confidence that wasn't quite there on the first two. I feel especially connected to this group of songs."
【小题1】 What's the meaning of the underlined word “launched" in the fourth paragraph?
| A．Aimed. | B．Sent. | C．Started. | D．Set. |
| A．The Bodyguard was the first album Andrews ever bought. |
| B．After Andrews sang Who I Am, she became a star in her own right. |
| C．I Will Always Love You was originally sung by Whitney Houston. |
| D．Now expresses a new feeling of Andrews. |
| A．Now. | B．Heart Shaped World. |
| C．The Prince of Egypt. | D．Who I Am |
| A．Jessica Andrews' Life | B．Jessica Andrews' Dream |
| C．Jessica Andrews' Songs | D．Jessica Andrews' Success as a Singer |
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