A blind schoolgirl has become the youngest interpreter (口译员) when she is only ten years.
Alexia Sloane is from Cambridge. She was told by the doctor she had a brain tumor (脑癌) when she was on holiday "with her parents in France. After that the two-year-old girl became blind.
Though the little girl can't see anything, she has great talent for languages and at the age of 10 she is already fluent (流利的) in English, French, Spanish and Chinese-and is learning German.
Now her dream of working as an interpreter has come true. East of England MEP (欧盟议员) Robert Sturdy invited her to the European Parliament (议会). "Usually a person who enters the European Parliament should be 14 at least. So it was amazing for Alexia to work there at the age of 10. " said Alexia's mother Isabelle. Alexia can speak three languages since birth. As her mum is hah" French and half Spanish and her dad Richard is English. " She has always been very good at languages and shown an interest from a very young age. " added Isabelle, who also has a four-year-old daughter Melissa.
Alexia has dreamed of becoming an interpreter since she was six and chose to go to the European Parliament as her prize when she won the Young Achiever Community Award of the Year (年度青年成就奖). She asked if she could learn from the interpreters and HEP Robert Sturdy agreed to take her along as his guest. " It was fantastic and I decided to become an interpreter, "said Alexia. "Nothing can stop me. "

1. 1.

   How old is the youngest interpreter according to the passage?

   1. A.
      4.
   2. B.
      6.
   3. C.
      10.
   4. D.
      14.
2. 2.

   When did Alexia Sloane become blind?

   1. A.
      When she was born.
   2. B.
      After she had a brain tumor.
   3. C.
      After she became an interpreter.
   4. D.
      When she was on holiday with her parents.
3. 3.

   Who offered Alexia the chance of working as an interpreter?

   1. A.
      Richard.
   2. B.
      Isabelle.
   3. C.
      Melissa.
   4. D.
      Robert Sturdy.
4. 4.

   What is right about Alexia Sloane?

   1. A.
      She can speak five language fluently.
   2. B.
      She is a talented language learner.
   3. C.
      She is the only child in the family.
   4. D.
      She went to France on holiday after she won the award.
5. 5.

   What do you think is the meaning of the sentence "Nothing can stop me. "?

   1. A.
      Never give up.
   2. B.
      Believe in yourself.
   3. C.
      Nothing is impossible.
   4. D.
      Failure is the mother of success.

Eileen Collins is the first woman ever chosen to be a spaceship pilot. She is also the first woman to command(指挥) a spaceship. Today she has flown more than 5, 000 hours in more than 30 kinds of airplanes.

Talking about high school, she said, “I began reading all kinds of books about famous women pilots. These women went and flew into dangerous places. Their stories encouraged me.” In 1977 Eileen got a pilot’s license and the following year she graduated from university. She went into space in 1999 at the age of 43. She took with her the hopes and dreams of a nation of young people on the earth.

Eileen is not only an astronaut but also a wife and the mother of a young daughter. She has short curly hair and friendly brown eyes. She met her husband, Pat, while they were together in the air force(空军).

When she was named as the First Woman Spaceship Commander in 1998, Eileen smiled and said, “When I was a child, I dreamed about space. It was only a dream that I would be one of the astronauts someday. I hope all children will be encouraged to reach for their dreams, when they see I go into space. I believe dreams do come true!” 

1.How many hours has Eileen flown?

2.When did Eileen go into space?

3.What does Eileen look like?

4.Who did Eileen meet in the air force?

5.Did Eileen believe that her dream would come true?

As a child, I was really afraid of the dark and of getting lost. These fears were very real and caused me some uncomfortable moments.

Maybe it was the strange way things looked and sounded in my own room at night that scared me so much. There was never complete darkness, but always a streetlight or passing car lights, which made clothes on the back of a chair take on the shape of a wild animal. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the curtains seem to move when there was no wind. A very low sound in the floor would seem a hundred times louder than in the day. My imagination (想象) would run wild, and my heart would beat fast. I would lie very still so that the “enemy” would not discover me.

Another of my childhood fears was that I would get lost, especially on the way home from school. Every morning I got on the school bus right near my home. That was no problem. After school, though, when all the buses were lined up along the street, I was afraid that I would get in the wrong one and be taken to some other strange places. On school or family trips to a park or a museum, I wouldn’t let the leaders out of my sight.

Perhaps one of the worst fears of all I had as a child was that of not being liked or accepted by others. Being popular was so important to me then, and the fear of not being liked was a serious one.

One of the processes growing up is being able to realize and overcome our fears. Understanding the things that scared us as children helps us achieve greater success later in life.

1.The author had _______ kind(s) of fears when she was a child.

A. one?? ?? ????????????? B. two????? ????????????? C. three?????? ????????????? D. none

2._______ would scare the author at night.

A. Streetlight and car lights???? ????????????? ????????????? ????????????? B. Wild animals and enemies

C. Moving curtains and wind?? ????????????? ????????????? ????????????? D. Clothes and walls

3.When she went to some other places, she would _______.

A. walk away without others

B. take a bus by herself

C. follow others closely

D. make sure not to take a wrong bus

4.Which of the following would be possibly true when she was a child?

A. She thought being popular among people was important.?????????????

B. She was always the leader of the others.

C. She always got poor grades.

D. She was not liked by others at all.

Frankenstein is one of the world’s most famous horror stories. It’s about a doctor who creates a new man from the body parts of dead people and brings it to life. But the experiment goes wrong and the monster(怪兽) kills the doctor and many others. The story has been read by millions since it was first published and in the last hundred years it has been made into dozens of movies. Many people are surprised to learn its writer was a 19-year-old woman, called Mary Shelley.
Mary was born into a rich London family in August 1797. She was educated by her parents and when she was 13 decided to become a writer. In 1812, she met the famous writer Percy Shelley and they soon got married. Sadly for Mary, their first child died soon after birth in Italy. In her diary, Mary wrote about a dream: “I dreamt that my little baby came to life again—that it had only been cold and that we rubbed it before the fire and it lived.”
In 1816, Percy Shelley and 19-year-odl May visited the poet Lord Byron at his home in Switzerland. Because of the bad weather they stayed indoors reading horror stories. One night, Byron asked everyone to write their own story. Mary thought of her dream and wrote the story Frankenstein.
Frankenstein was published when Mary was 21, and became a huge success. Many people didn’t think a 19-year-old woman could write so well and believed her husband was the real writer.
Although famous, Shelley’s life was full of sadness. Only one of her four children lived and in 1822 her husband died in a swimming accident. Mary was broken-hearted and decided not to marry again. She devoted herself to her child and continued to write until her death in 1851.
【小题1】 What do we know about he story Frankenstein?

I remember the first time I met Alfred after years. He was sitting on a bench in the park. He looked very sad and cold. He hadn’t got a coat on and it started to rain. Usually, I don’t like to stop to speak to a stranger who looked like that. His shoes were well-cleaned and his clothes were quite smart, but he did not have an umbrella with him and he was getting wet in the rain. I stopped walking and said to him in a nice voice. “ Are you OK?” he looked up, and was surprised to see me. He cried out. “ Are you …” he couldn’t remember my name. I was also surprised. He was Alfred! “ I’m Tom, Alfred, what are you doing here?” I asked. He did not explain to me, but caught my hand, and asked how my life was like. I told him that I was out of job. I suggested that we go somewhere warm and dry.

So we found a café nearby and continued our conversation. I learned that he married with two children, and his wife was Sherry. I could not believe my ears. Twenty years ago his best friend was Linda, and Sherry was his worst enemy! They often had quarrels ( 争吵) and fights in the play.

Alfred told me that he became a businessman when he graduated from the school and owned two companies in the city. I asked him why he was sitting in the rain in the park. He said that he had just had a quarrel with Sherry, and acting in the same way as when she was young, threw him out of the door and locked him　out. He was young, threw him out of the door and locked him out. He was waiting for her to be calm and let him in again.

1.What did Alfred look like?

A. Pleasant B. Smart C. Hungry D. Well-dressed

2.Alfred was ___ them.

A married B. nice C. weak D. strong

3. How was Alfred when he was Tom?

A. Happy B. Surprised C. Glad D. Angry

4.The writer ________

A. liked to speak to a stranger B. met Alfred in a café

C. thought Alfred’s wife was Sherry D. hadn’t met Alfred twenty years.

5.What happened to Alfred?

A. He lost his wife B. He lost his job

C. His wife didn’t let him go home D. His friend didn’t want to see him.