Billie Holiday was one of the greatest jazz(爵士音乐) singers in America. Her life was just a mixture of success and tragedy. Her singing expressed her experiences and feelings.
Billie Holiday was born Eleanora Fagan in 1915 in Baltimore, Maryland. Her parents were Sadie Fagan and Clarence Holiday. They were young when their daughter was born. Their marriage failed because Clarence Holiday was often out. He traveled as a musician with some of the earliest jazz bands and inspired his daughter.
Sadie Fagan cleaned people’s houses to make a living. But she could not support her family with the money she earned. So she moved to New York City where the pay was higher. She left her daughter in Baltimore with one of her distant relatives.
The young girl Eleanora Fagan changed her name to Billie, because she liked a movie star, Billie Dove. The talented Billie Holiday loved singing. She sang and listened  to music whenever she could. In one place near her home there was a machine that played records. The building was a theater where many famous singers also performed their newly-made songs for free.
Billie cleaned floors and did other jobs for the theater so that she could listen to the records. It was there that young Billie first heard the records of some famous black American blues artists of the 1920s. she heard Bessie Smith sing the blues. And she heard Louis Armstrong play the horn. Both musicians had a great influence on her.
Billie Holiday once said, “I do not think I’m singing. I feel like I am playing a horn. What comes out is what I feel. I hate straight singing. I have to change a tune to my own way of doing it. That is all I know.”
【小题1】Billie Holiday’s parents divorced because _______.

Billie Holiday was one of the greatest jazz(爵士音乐) singers in America. Her life was just a mixture of success and tragedy. Her singing expressed her experiences and feelings.

Billie Holiday was born Eleanora Fagan in 1915 in Baltimore, Maryland. Her parents were Sadie Fagan and Clarence Holiday. They were young when their daughter was born. Their marriage failed because Clarence Holiday was often out. He traveled as a musician with some of the earliest jazz bands and inspired his daughter.

Sadie Fagan cleaned people’s houses to make a living. But she could not support her family with the money she earned. So she moved to New York City where the pay was higher. She left her daughter in Baltimore with one of her distant relatives.

The young girl Eleanora Fagan changed her name to Billie, because she liked a movie star, Billie Dove. The talented Billie Holiday loved singing. She sang and listened  to music whenever she could. In one place near her home there was a machine that played records. The building was a theater where many famous singers also performed their newly-made songs for free.

Billie cleaned floors and did other jobs for the theater so that she could listen to the records. It was there that young Billie first heard the records of some famous black American blues artists of the 1920s. she heard Bessie Smith sing the blues. And she heard Louis Armstrong play the horn. Both musicians had a great influence on her.

Billie Holiday once said, “I do not think I’m singing. I feel like I am playing a horn. What comes out is what I feel. I hate straight singing. I have to change a tune to my own way of doing it. That is all I know.”

1.Billie Holiday’s parents divorced because _______.

A．Sadie Fagan wanted to move to New York City

B．the family couldn’t support itself

C．Clarence Holiday spent too much time in working

D．Clerence Holiday was a strange person

2.Who might originally have had an influence on Billie Holiday’s career in music?

A．Sadie Fagan        B．Clerence Holiday.    C．Bessie Smith.       D．Louis Armstrong

3.From the passage, we can learn that ______.

A．Sadie Fagan was fond of living in New York

B．Clerence Holiday didn’t love his wife at all

C．Billie lived a happy childhood

D．Billie had a gift for music

4.The underlined sentence “ What comes out is what I feel” means _____.

A．Billie Holiday doesn’t like to sing for others

B．Billie Holiday’s songs reflect her unhappy childhood

C．Billie Holiday is fond of the songs written for herself

D．Billie Holiday’s music is greatly determined by her emotions

5.In order to listen to the records in the theater, Billie Holiday_______.

A．cleaned floors for the theater              B．changed her name

C．moved to New York                      D．separated from her parents

Billie Holiday was one of the greatest jazz(爵士音乐) singers in America. Her life was just a mixture of success and tragedy. Her singing expressed her experiences and feelings.
Billie Holiday was born Eleanora Fagan in 1915 in Baltimore, Maryland. Her parents were Sadie Fagan and Clarence Holiday. They were young when their daughter was born. Their marriage failed because Clarence Holiday was often out. He traveled as a musician with some of the earliest jazz bands and inspired his daughter.
Sadie Fagan cleaned people’s houses to make a living. But she could not support her family with the money she earned. So she moved to New York City where the pay was higher. She left her daughter in Baltimore with one of her distant relatives.
The young girl Eleanora Fagan changed her name to Billie, because she liked a movie star, Billie Dove. The talented Billie Holiday loved singing. She sang and listened  to music whenever she could. In one place near her home there was a machine that played records. The building was a theater where many famous singers also performed their newly-made songs for free.
Billie cleaned floors and did other jobs for the theater so that she could listen to the records. It was there that young Billie first heard the records of some famous black American blues artists of the 1920s. she heard Bessie Smith sing the blues. And she heard Louis Armstrong play the horn. Both musicians had a great influence on her.
Billie Holiday once said, “I do not think I’m singing. I feel like I am playing a horn. What comes out is what I feel. I hate straight singing. I have to change a tune to my own way of doing it. That is all I know.”

1. 1.

   Billie Holiday’s parents divorced because _______

   1. A.
      Sadie Fagan wanted to move to New York City
   2. B.
      the family couldn’t support itself
   3. C.
      Clarence Holiday spent too much time in working
   4. D.
      Clerence Holiday was a strange person
2. 2.

   Who might originally have had an influence on Billie Holiday’s career in music?

   1. A.
      Sadie Fagan
   2. B.
      Clerence Holiday
   3. C.
      Bessie Smith
   4. D.
      Louis Armstrong
3. 3.

   From the passage, we can learn that ______

   1. A.
      Sadie Fagan was fond of living in New York
   2. B.
      Clerence Holiday didn’t love his wife at all
   3. C.
      Billie lived a happy childhood
   4. D.
      Billie had a gift for music
4. 4.

   The underlined sentence “ What comes out is what I feel” means _____

   1. A.
      Billie Holiday doesn’t like to sing for others
   2. B.
      Billie Holiday’s songs reflect her unhappy childhood
   3. C.
      Billie Holiday is fond of the songs written for herself
   4. D.
      Billie Holiday’s music is greatly determined by her emotions
5. 5.

   In order to listen to the records in the theater, Billie Holiday_______

   1. A.
      cleaned floors for the theater
   2. B.
      changed her name
   3. C.
      moved to New York
   4. D.
      separated from her parents

I was very disappointed not to be able to go to the jazz（爵士音乐） concert last Friday. The advertisement（广告） in the paper said that you could buy tickets at the theatre box in Richland Hills any day between 10:00 and 4:00.Since I work from 9:00 to 5:30, the only time I could go to the theatre was during my 45-minute lunch break. Unluckily, the theatre is on the other side of the town, and the bus service between my office and Richland Hills is not very good. But if you are lucky, you can make the round（往返的） trip in 45 minutes. Last Monday, I stood at the bus stop for fifteen minutes waiting for the bus. By the time I saw one come around the corner, there was not enough time left to make the trip. So I gave up and went back to the office. The same thing happened on Tuesday, and again the next day. On Thursday, my luck changed. I got on a bus right away and arrived at the theatre in exactly twenty minutes. When I got there, however, I found a long line of people at the office. I heard one man say he had been waiting in line for over an hour. Realizing I would not have enough time to wait in line, I caught the next bus and headed back（奔回） across the town. By Friday I realized my only hope was to make the trip by taxi. It was expensive, but I felt it would be worth it to hear the concert. The trip by taxi only took 10 minutes, but it felt like an hour to me. When I got to the theatre, I was relieved to see that nobody was waiting in line. The reason, however, I quickly discovered, was that they had already sold all the tickets.

1.The man learned that there would be a concert last Friday ________.

A. from his friends                                                   B. from one of his workmates

C. over the radio                                                          D. from the newspaper 

2.One day the man took________ to get to the theatre by bus.

A. forty-five minutes                                      B. fifteen minutes 

C. just twenty minutes                                 D. over an hour      

3.The underlined word “relieved” may best be replaced by“________”.

A. worried                            B. pleased                           C. puzzled                   D. sorry   

4.The writer mainly shows us his________.

A. enjoyment of the concert                                 B. anger for buying the ticket

C. efforts to buy the ticket                                     D. disappointment at the concert 

I was very disappointed not to be able to go to the jazz（爵士音乐） concert last Friday. The advertisement（广告） in the paper said that you could buy tickets at the theatre box in Richland Hills any day between 10:00 and 4:00.Since I work from 9:00 to 5:30, the only time I could go to the theatre was during my 45-minute lunch break. Unluckily, the theatre is on the other side of the town, and the bus service between my office and Richland Hills is not very good. But if you are lucky, you can make the round（往返的） trip in 45 minutes. Last Monday, I stood at the bus stop for fifteen minutes waiting for the bus. By the time I saw one come around the corner, there was not enough time left to make the trip. So I gave up and went back to the office. The same thing happened on Tuesday, and again the next day. On Thursday, my luck changed. I got on a bus right away and arrived at the theatre in exactly twenty minutes. When I got there, however, I found a long line of people at the office. I heard one man say he had been waiting in line for over an hour. Realizing I would not have enough time to wait in line, I caught the next bus and headed back（奔回） across the town. By Friday I realized my only hope was to make the trip by taxi. It was expensive, but I felt it would be worth it to hear the concert. The trip by taxi only took 10 minutes, but it felt like an hour to me. When I got to the theatre, I was relieved to see that nobody was waiting in line. The reason, however, I quickly discovered, was that they had already sold all the tickets

1. 1.

   The man learned that there would be a concert last Friday ________

   1. A.
      from his friends
   2. B.
      from one of his workmates
   3. C.
      over the radio
   4. D.
      from the newspaper
2. 2.

   One day the man took________ to get to the theatre by bus

   1. A.
      forty-five minutes
   2. B.
      fifteen minutes
   3. C.
      just twenty minutes
   4. D.
      over an hour
3. 3.

   The underlined word “relieved” may best be replaced by“________”

   1. A.
      worried
   2. B.
      pleased
   3. C.
      puzzled
   4. D.
      sorry
4. 4.

   The writer mainly shows us his________

   1. A.
      enjoyment of the concert
   2. B.
      anger for buying the ticket
   3. C.
      efforts to buy the ticket
   4. D.
      disappointment at the concert