I started winning competitions. We still had very little money -- my father had to borrow $5,000 to pay for a trip to the International Young Pianists Competition in Ettlingen, Germany, in 1994, when I was 12. I realized later how much pressure he was under. Tears streamed down his face when it was announced that I'd won -- earning enough money to pay back our loan.

It was soo n clear I couldn't stay in China forever. To become a world-class musician, I had to play on the world's big stages. So in 1997, my father and I moved again, this time to Philadelphia, so I could attend The Curtis Institute of Music. Finally our money worries were easing. The school paid for an apartment and even lent me a Steinway（斯坦威钢琴）.At night, I would sneak into the living room just to touch the keys.

Now that I was in America, I spent two years practicing, and by 1999 I had worked hard enough for fortune to take over. The Chicago Symphony orchestra heard me play and liked me, but orchestra schedules were set far in advance. I thought I might join them in a few years.

The next morning, I got a call. The great pianist Andre Watts, who was to play the "Gala Benefit Evening" at Chicago's Ravinia Festival, had become ill. I was asked to replace him. That performance was, for me, the moment. After violinist Isaac Stern introduced me, I played Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1. My father's mouth hung open throughout the entire song.

I played until 3:30 a.m. I felt something happening. Sure enough, it was a great success. Still, my father kept telling me, "You'd better practice!" But living in America with me was beginning to relax him. In Beijing I'd been fat -- he made sure I ate -- and he'd been skinny. Now I was getting thin. He wasn't.

My father and I had often practiced a piece called "Horses," a fun version for piano and erhu. One night in Carnegie Hall, after I played Chopin and Liszt, I brought Dad out on the stage, and we played our duet（二重奏）. People went crazy -- they loved it. My father couldn't sleep for days. He was too happy to sleep.

There have been lots of concerts in Carnegie Hall, but for me playing there was especially sweet when I remember the cold days in Beijing. Together, my father and I worked to reach the lucky place where fortune spots you, and lets you shine.

 

1.In the first paragraph his father cried when it was announced that he'd won mainly because__________.

A.his father was excited that his son succeeded at last.

B.his father was under too much pressure.

C.they could pay back the loan with the prize.

D.his father was proud of him.

2. Tell the order of the events.

a. He and his father moved to Philadelphia.

b. He was asked to replace the great pianist Andre Watts.

c. He and his father played “Horses” together.

d.The Chicago Symphony orchestra heard his performance.

e. The Curtis Institute of Music lent him a Steinway

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

3. Which of the following statements agrees with the author?

A. The writer’s father had been very fat before they went to America.

B. The writer thought he would be one of them soon when he knew the Chicago Symphony orchestra heard him play and liked him.

C. The Curtis Institute of Music finally eased their money worries.

D. One can achieve his dream if he is lucky enough.

4. The underlined word there in the last paragraph refers to_________.

A. America     B. Beijing.   C. Carnegie Hall  D. All the places he went to. 

5. What is the best title of the passage?

A. I Took Off!                          B. When Fortune Spots Me.

C. No Pain, No Gain.                    D. My father and I

 

 

A Brown University sleep researcher has some advice for people who run high schools: Don’t start classes so early in the morning. It may not be that the students who nod off at their desks are lazy. And it may not be that their parents have failed to enforce (确保) bedtime. Instead, it may be that biologically these sleepyhead students aren’t used to the early hour.

“Maybe these kids are being asked to rise at the wrong time for their bodies,” says Mary Carskadon, a professor looking at problem of adolescent  (青春期的) sleep at Brown’s School of Medicine.

Carskadon is trying to understand more about the effects of early school time in adolescents. And, at a more basic level. she and her team are trying to learn more about how the biological changes of adolescence affect sleep needs and patterns.

Carskadon says her work suggests that adolescents may need more sleep than they did at childhood, no less, as commonly thought.

Sleep patterns change during adolescence, as any parent of an adolescent can prove. Most adolescents prefer to stay up later at nigh and sleep later in the morning. But it’s not just a matter of choice –their bodies are going through a change of sleep patterns.

All of this makes the transfer from middle school to high school—which may start one hour earlier in the morning  ---- all the more difficult , Carskadon says. With their increased need for sleep and their biological clocks set on the “sleep late, rise late” pattern, adolescent are up against difficulties when it comes to trying to be up by 5 or 6 a.m. for a 7:30 a.m. first bell. A short sleep on a desktop may be their body’s way of saying. “I need a timeout.”

1.Carskadon suggests that high schools should not start classes so early in the morning because ________.

A. it is really tough for parents to enforce bedtime

B. it is biologically difficult for students to rise early

C. students work so late at night that they can’t get up early

D. students are so lazy that they don’t like to go to school early

2.The underlined phrase “nod off” most probably means “ _______”.

A. turn around    B. agree with others  C. fall asleep  D. refuse to work

3. What might be a reason for the hard transfer from middle school to high school?

A. Adolescents depend more on their parents.

B. Adolescents have to choose their sleep patterns.

C. Adolescents sleep better than they did at childhood.

D. Adolescents need more sleep than they used to.

4. What is the test mainly about?

A. Adolescent heath care.      B. Problems in adolescent learning.

C. Adolescent sleep difficulties.   D. Changes in adolescent sleep needs and patterns.

 

A woman renewing her driver’s license at the County Clerk’s office was asked to state her occupation. She hesitated, uncertain how to classify herself.

“What I mean is,” explained the recorder, “do you have a job, or are you just a …”

“Of course I have a job,” said Emily. “I’m a mother.”

“We don’t list ‘mother’ as an occupation… ‘housewife’ covers it,” said the recorder.

One day I found myself in the same situation. The clerk was obviously a career woman, confident and possessed of a high sounding title. “What is your occupation?” she asked.

The words simply popped out. “I’m a Research Associate in the field of Child Development and Human Relations.”

The clerk paused, ballpoint pen frozen in midair.

I repeated the title slowly, then I stared with wonder as my statement was written in bold, black ink on the official questionnaire.

“Might I ask,” said the clerk with new interest, “Just what you do in this field?”

Coolly, without any trace of panic in my voice, I heard myself reply, “I have a continuing program of research (what mother doesn’t), in the lab and in the field (normally I would have said indoors and out). Of course, the job is one of the most demanding in the humanities (any mother care to disagree?), and I often work 14 hours a day (24 is more like it). But the job is more challenging than most careers and rewards are more of a satisfaction rather than just money.”

There was an increasing note of respect in the clerk’s voice as she completed the form, stood up, and showed me out.

As I drove into our driveway, buoyed up (鼓舞) by my glamorous new career, I was greeted by my lab assistants---ages 13, 7, and 3.

Upstairs I could hear our new experimental model (a 6 month old baby), in the child-development program, testing out a new vocal（嗓音的） pattern.

I felt proud! I had gone on the official records as someone more distinguished and indispensable (不可缺少的) to mankind than “just another mother.”

Motherhood…What a glorious career! Especially when there’s a title on the door.

1. What can we infer from the conversation between the woman and the recorder at the beginning of the passage?

A. Motherhood was not recognized and respected as a job by society.

B. The recorder was impatient and rude.

C. The author was upset about the situation that mothers faced.

D. The woman felt ashamed to admit what her job was.

2.How did the female clerk feel at first when the author told her occupation?

A. curious        B. indifferent       C. interested     D. puzzled

3.Why did the woman clerk show more respect for the author?

A. Because the author cared little about rewards.

B. Because she admired the author’s research work in the lab.

C. Because the writer did something she had little knowledge of.

D. Because she thought the author did admirable work.

4.What is the author’s purpose of writing the passage?

A. To show how you describe your job affects your feelings toward it.

B. To show that the author had a grander job than Emily.

C. To argue that motherhood is a worthy career and deserves respect.

D. To show that being a mother is hard and boring work.

 

Silence is unnatural to man．He begins life with a cry and ends it in stillness．In between he does all he can to make a noise in the world, and he fears silence more than anything else．Even his conversation is an attempt to prevent a fearful silence．If he is introduced to another person, and a number of pauses occur in the conversation, he regards himself as a failure, a worthless person, and is full of envy of the emptiest headed chatterbox （喋喋不休的人）．He knows that ninety-nine percent of human conversation means no more than the buzzing of a fly, but he is anxious to join in the buzz and to prove that he is a man and not a waxwork figure （蜡塑人像）．

         The aim of conversation is not, for the most part, to communicate ideas; it is to keep up the buzzing sound．There are, it must be admitted, different qualities of buzz; there is even a buzz that is as annoying as the continuous noise made by a mosquito （蚊子）．But at a dinner party one would rather be a mosquito than a quiet person．Most buzzing, fortunately, is pleasant to the ear, and some of it is pleasant even to the mind．He would be a foolish man if he waited until he had a wise thought to take part in the buzzing -with his neighbors．

         Those who hate to pick up the weather as a conversational opening seem to me not to know the reason why human beings wish 1:0 talk．Very few human beings join in a conversation in the hope of learning anything new．Some of them are content ．if they are merely allowed to go on making a noise into other people's ears, though they have nothing to tell them except that they have seen two or three new, plays or that they had food in a Swiss hotel．At the end of an evening during which they have said nothing meaningful for a long time, they just prove themselves to be successful conservationists．

1.According to the author, people make conversation to              .

         A．exchange ideas              B．prove their value

         C．achieve success m life          D．overcome their fear of silence

2.By "the buzzing of a fly" （Para．1）, the author means"_____".

         A．the noise of an insect                 B．a low whispering sound

         C．meaningless talks                  D．the voice of a chatterbox

3.According to the passage, people usually talk to their neighbors___     ．

         A．about whatever they have prepared                       

         B．about whatever they want to

         C．in the hope of learning something new

         D．in the hope of getting on well

4.What is the author's purpose in writing the passage?

         A．To discuss why people like talking about weather．

         B．To encourage people to join in conversations．

         C．To persuade people to stop making noises．

         D．To explain why people keep talking．

 

Love, success, happiness, family and freedom----how important are these values to you? Here is one interview which explores the fundamental questions in life．

       Question: Could you introduce yourself first?

       Answer: My name is Misbah, 27 years old．I was born in a war-torn area．Right now I’m a web designer．

       Q: What are your great memories?

       A: My parents used to take us to hunt birds, climb trees, and play in the fields．For me it was like a holiday because we were going to have fun all day long．Those are my great memories．

       Q: Does your childhood mean a lot to you?

       A: Yes．As life was very hard, I used to work to help bring money in for the family．I spent my childhood working, with responsibilities beyond my age．However, it taught me to deal with problems all alone．I learnt to be independent．

       Q: What changes would you like to make in your life?

       A: If I could change something in my life, I’d change it so that my childhood could have taken place in another area．I would have loved to live with my family in freedom．Who cares whether we have much money, or whether we have a beautiful house? It doesn’t matter as long as I can live with my family and we are safe．

       Q: How do your get along with your parents?

       A: My parents supported me until I came of age．I want to give back what I’ve got．That’s our way．But I am working in another city．My only contact with my parents now is through the phone, but I hate using it．It filters（过滤） out your emotion and leaves your voice only．My deepest feelings should be passed through sight, hearing and touch．

1.In Misbah’s childhood,      ．

       A．he was free from worry

       B．he liked living in the countryside

       C．he was fond of getting close to nature

       D．he often spent holidays with his family

2.What did Misbah desire most in his childhood?

       A．Peace and freedom               B．A beautiful house．

       C．．A colorful life．                 D．Money for his family．

3.How would Misbah prefer to communicate with his parents?

       A．By chatting on the Internet．       B．By calling them sometimes．

       C．By paying weekly visits．         D．By writing them letters．

4.If there were only one question left, what would it most probably be?

       A．What was your childhood dream?   B．What is your biggest achievement?

       C．What is your parents’ view of you? D．What was your hardest experience in the war?