The Girl Who Fell From the Sky
From its opening lines – “ ‘You my lucky piece,’ Grandma says.... Her hand is wrapped around mine” – Heidi W. Durrow pulls us into her first novel, a moving story encircling us as firmly as that protective grandmotherly grip.
When we meet Rachel Morse, the daughter of an African-American GI and a Danish woman, she is just moving into the Portland, Oregon., home of her strong-minded paternal grandmother and her warm, classy Aunt Loretta. We soon learn that Rachel has survived a fall from a nine-story apartment building in which her mother, brother, and baby sister all died. Three months earlier, Rachel’s mother had left her alcoholic husband in Germany, following her “orange-haired” lover to Chicago. But Nella hadn’t been prepared for boyfriend’s drinking and racism, or for the looks and questions she gets as the mother of three brown children.
Rachel’s “new-girl feeling” in her grandmother’s home goes beyond her recent tragedy. Having grown up with a Scandinavian mother in the more colorblind society of an overseas Army base, this is her first time in a mostly black community. Her light-brown skin, “fuzzy” hair, and blue eyes raise questions about her racial identity that are entirely new and puzzling to her.
Starting sixth grade in her new school, Rachel notes, “There are fifteen black people in the class and seven white people. And there’s me. There’s another girl who sits in the back. Her name is Carmen LaGuardia, and she has hair like mine, my same color skin, and she counts as black. I don’t understand how, but she seems to know.” Several years later, in high school, her status remains uncertain. “They call me an Oreo. I don’t want to be white. Sometimes I want to go back to being what I was. I want to be nothing.”
Winner of the Bellwether Prize, created by Barbara Kingsolver to celebrate fiction that addresses issues of social injustice, “The Girl Who Fell From the Sky” comes at a time when bi-racial and multicultural identity – so markedly represented by President Obama – is especially topical.
But set in the 1980s and focusing on one unusually sympathetic girl overcoming family tragedy and feeling her way through racial tensions, Durrow’s novel surpasses topicality.
Like Rachel, Durrow is the light-brown-skinned, blue-eyed daughter of a Danish mother and an African-American father enlisted in the Air Force. With degrees from Stanford, Columbia Journalism School, and Yale Law School, it’s no wonder she gives her heroine discipline and brains.
Rachel’s life, however, is clearly not Durrow’s. No, there’s alcohol and drug addiction; deaths by fire, trauma, and infection. There are mothers who lose their children, and a saintly drug counselor who loses his beloved girl-friend. Through it all, what makes Durrow’s novel soar is her masterful sense of voice, her assured, delicate handling of complex racial issues – and her heart.
After hearing the blues music for the first time, Rachel feels what her mother called hyggeligt – “something like comfort and home and love all rolled into one.” She wonders what might have happened if her mother had known about such soulful music, “that sometimes there’s a way to take the sadness and turn it into a beautiful song.”
This, of course, is precisely what Durrow has done in this powerful book: taken sadness and turned it into a beautiful song.
60. What should be the direct cause of Rachel coming to Portland, Oregon?
A. Her mother left her alcoholic father.
B. A deadly tragedy happened to her family.
C. Her grandmother wants her to come and stay with her.
D. There was too much racism where she used to live with her mother.
61. Durrow’s life is different from Rachel’s in that _____________.
A. Durrow has to struggle through her life, depending on herself.
B. Durrow is troubled in her life by racism, living in a poor neighborhood.
C. Durrow has come through life much easier, with a better family background.
D. There’s alcohol and drug addiction in Durrow’s suffering-laden neighborhood.
62. Why does the writer of the book review mention President Obama in this writing?
A. To show the progress in America’s black community.
B. To highlight the racial harmony in the United States.
C. To indicate Obama’s influence in helping Durrow win the Bellwether Prize.
D. To remind readers of the background when the novel was written and won the Bellwether Prize.
63. The blues music Rachel hears is, deep at the bottom of her heart, most suggestive of ______.
A. bravery          B. hope           C. sadness         D. beauty

A pair of pandas being lent by China to Japan was set to arrive in Tokyo's Ueno Zoo in the Japanese capital and raising hopes that the animals may help improve bilateral (双边的)ties.

Bi Li and his female partner, Xian Nu, both 5, were  due  to  touch  down  at  Narita international Airport in Tokyo on a flight from Shanghai.

Together with their keeper, the pair were transferred from Chengdu, to Shanghai on Monday morning, said Li Desheng, deputy chief of the Wolong Nature Reserve.

The pair, which are young adults, will be the first pandas at Ueno Zoo since April 2008, when the institution's beloved Ling Ling died.

Ueno Zoo had spent 90 million yen ($1.1 million) installing under-floor heating, a playground with a sandbox and landscaping.

The pair will dine on rare bamboo from the central Japanese mountain of Izu that is similar to what they are used to at home in China.

The zoo's first pair of pandas arrived in 1972, marking the normalization of diplomatic ties between the two countries.

Expectations are running high that the pandas that will stay in Japan for 10 years will boost the local economy and improve troubled relations between Tokyo and Beijing.

Business and tourism officials expect them to bring in around 20 billion yen a year, or 10 percent of the local economy.

In 1993, a year after Ling Ling arrived in the zoo, an additional 1 million people visited the attraction. Visitors have fallen to around 3 million a year from 3.5 million since Ling Ling's death.

Since a boat collision near the Diaoyu Islands in September, Sino-Japanese relations have been at a low point. The media outlets expressed hope that bilateral relations will improve with the arrival of the pandas.

1.The passage mainly tells us         .    

A. a pair of pandas was lent to Japan by China

B. the pair of pandas from China brought hope of improving Sino-Japanese relations

C. the normalization of diplomatic ties between China and Japan

D. sino-Japanese relations have been at a low point since the Diaoyu Island incident

2.en the pair of pandas arrives in Japan,         .   

A. an additional 1 million people will visit the zoo

B. they will eat what they are used to from China

C. they will stay there for 10 years

D. they will be the first pandas at Ueno Zoo

3.According to the passage, we know that Ling Ling stayed in Japan for about         .  

A. 5 years              B. 10 years         C. 15 years        D. 20 years

4.What does the underlined phrase "touch down" probably mean ?   

A. take off             B. land              C. come up         D. meet

5. The arriving of the pandas is expected to bring several positive effects except         . 

A. boosting the local economy

B. improving the troubled relations between China and Japan

C. bringing in around 20 billion yen a year

D. attracting 3.5 million visitors from China

A pair of pandas being lent by China to Japan was set to arrive in Tokyo's Ueno Zoo in the Japanese capital and raising hopes that the animals may help improve bilateral (双边的)ties.
Bi Li and his female partner, Xian Nu, both 5, were  due  to  touch  down at  Narita international Airport in Tokyo on a flight from Shanghai.
Together with their keeper, the pair were transferred from Chengdu, to Shanghai on Monday morning, said Li Desheng, deputy chief of the Wolong Nature Reserve.
The pair, which are young adults, will be the first pandas at Ueno Zoo since April 2008, when the institution's beloved Ling Ling died.
Ueno Zoo had spent 90 million yen ($1.1 million) installing under-floor heating, a playground with a sandbox and landscaping.
The pair will dine on rare bamboo from the central Japanese mountain of Izu that is similar to what they are used to at home in China.
The zoo's first pair of pandas arrived in 1972, marking the normalization of diplomatic ties between the two countries.
Expectations are running high that the pandas that will stay in Japan for 10 years will boost the local economy and improve troubled relations between Tokyo and Beijing.
Business and tourism officials expect them to bring in around 20 billion yen a year, or 10 percent of the local economy.
In 1993, a year after Ling Ling arrived in the zoo, an additional 1 million people visited the attraction. Visitors have fallen to around 3 million a year from 3.5 million since Ling Ling's death.
Since a boat collision near the Diaoyu Islands in September, Sino-Japanese relations have been at a low point. The media outlets expressed hope that bilateral relations will improve with the arrival of the pandas.
【小题1】The passage mainly tells us         .    

A．an additional 1 million people will visit the zoo

B．they will eat what they are used to from China

C．they will stay there for 10 years

D．they will be the first pandas at Ueno Zoo

The Girl Who Fell From the Sky

From its opening lines – “ ‘You my lucky piece,’ Grandma says.... Her hand is wrapped around mine” – Heidi W. Durrow pulls us into her first novel, a moving story encircling us as firmly as that protective grandmotherly grip.

When we meet Rachel Morse, the daughter of an African-American GI and a Danish woman, she is just moving into the Portland, Oregon., home of her strong-minded paternal grandmother and her warm, classy Aunt Loretta. We soon learn that Rachel has survived a fall from a nine-story apartment building in which her mother, brother, and baby sister all died. Three months earlier, Rachel’s mother had left her alcoholic husband in Germany, following her “orange-haired” lover to Chicago. But Nella hadn’t been prepared for boyfriend’s drinking and racism, or for the looks and questions she gets as the mother of three brown children.

Rachel’s “new-girl feeling” in her grandmother’s home goes beyond her recent tragedy. Having grown up with a Scandinavian mother in the more colorblind society of an overseas Army base, this is her first time in a mostly black community. Her light-brown skin, “fuzzy” hair, and blue eyes raise questions about her racial identity that are entirely new and puzzling to her.

Starting sixth grade in her new school, Rachel notes, “There are fifteen black people in the class and seven white people. And there’s me. There’s another girl who sits in the back. Her name is Carmen LaGuardia, and she has hair like mine, my same color skin, and she counts as black. I don’t understand how, but she seems to know.” Several years later, in high school, her status remains uncertain. “They call me an Oreo. I don’t want to be white. Sometimes I want to go back to being what I was. I want to be nothing.”

Winner of the Bellwether Prize, created by Barbara Kingsolver to celebrate fiction that addresses issues of social injustice, “The Girl Who Fell From the Sky” comes at a time when bi-racial and multicultural identity – so markedly represented by President Obama – is especially topical.

But set in the 1980s and focusing on one unusually sympathetic girl overcoming family tragedy and feeling her way through racial tensions, Durrow’s novel surpasses topicality.

Like Rachel, Durrow is the light-brown-skinned, blue-eyed daughter of a Danish mother and an African-American father enlisted in the Air Force. With degrees from Stanford, Columbia Journalism School, and Yale Law School, it’s no wonder she gives her heroine discipline and brains.

Rachel’s life, however, is clearly not Durrow’s. No, there’s alcohol and drug addiction; deaths by fire, trauma, and infection. There are mothers who lose their children, and a saintly drug counselor who loses his beloved girl-friend. Through it all, what makes Durrow’s novel soar is her masterful sense of voice, her assured, delicate handling of complex racial issues – and her heart.

After hearing the blues music for the first time, Rachel feels what her mother called hyggeligt – “something like comfort and home and love all rolled into one.” She wonders what might have happened if her mother had known about such soulful music, “that sometimes there’s a way to take the sadness and turn it into a beautiful song.”

This, of course, is precisely what Durrow has done in this powerful book: taken sadness and turned it into a beautiful song.

1.What should be the direct cause of Rachel coming to Portland, Oregon?

  A. Her mother left her alcoholic father.

  B. A deadly tragedy happened to her family.

  C. Her grandmother wants her to come and stay with her.

  D. There was too much racism where she used to live with her mother.

2.Durrow’s life is different from Rachel’s in that _____________.

  A. Durrow has to struggle through her life, depending on herself.

  B. Durrow is troubled in her life by racism, living in a poor neighborhood.

  C. Durrow has come through life much easier, with a better family background.

  D. There’s alcohol and drug addiction in Durrow’s suffering-laden neighborhood.

3.Why does the writer of the book review mention President Obama in this writing?

  A. To show the progress in America’s black community.

  B. To highlight the racial harmony in the United States.

  C. To indicate Obama’s influence in helping Durrow win the Bellwether Prize.

  D. To remind readers of the background when the novel was written and won the Bellwether Prize.

4.The blues music Rachel hears is, deep at the bottom of her heart, most suggestive of ______.

  A. bravery          B. hope           C. sadness         D. beauty

　　 A boy and a girl glance about the crowded room. Their eyes meet. Embarrassed, they look away.The boy acts cool even though his heart is beating wildly. The girl, obviously nervous, is afraid that the boy will see her looking at him. A few seconds passes. He looks at her again. Her face becomes red. They continue their cat-and-mouse game for a long time. Will they ever talk to each other?　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

　　 The fact is that they have already communicated a lot, without ever saying anything. Nonverbal elements form a major part of any communication. People pick up more from nonverbal communication than from the words a person says. When we study a foreign culture, it just makes sense to pay attention to how people use nonverbal cues (暗示).

　　 Gestures consist of a major form of nonverbal communication. But often these gestures are culture-bound. For example, when the Maoris of New Zealand stick out their tongue at someone, it is a sign of respect. When American schoolchildren make the same gesture, it means just the opposite. Also, Americans often indicate "OK' with their thumb and forefinger touching to form a circle. The same gesture means "money" to the Japanese and "zero" to the French. For that reason,people in a foreign culture must use gestures with caution.

　　 Another part of nonverbal communication is the one that you might not think about--space.When someone comes too close, he feels uncomfortable. When he knocks into someone, he feels obligated (有义务的 ) to apologize. But the size of a person's "comfort zone" varies, depending on his cultural or ethnic (种族的) origin. For example, in casual conversation, many Americans stand about four feet apart. People in Latin or Arabic cultures, instead, stand very close to each other and touch each other often.

　　 Considering the effects of nonverbal communication, we never really stop communicating.How we walk, how we stand and how we use our hands all send a message to others. That's why it's possible to "read someone like a book".

64. The underlined word "nonverbal" in Paragraph 2 means" _____ ".

　 A. not using eyes　　　　　　　　　　　　 B. not using gestures

　 C. not using words　　　　　　 D. not using hands

65. In America, sticking out one's tongue means "_______" ,

　 A. OK　　　　　　 B. zero　　　　　　　 C. money　　　　　 D. disrespect

66. It can be inferred from the passage that_______ .

　 A. it's hard for boys to speak to girls

　 B. the Maoris of New Zealand are funny

　 C. the same gesture may have different meanings in different culture

　 D. if you want to learn more gestures you should read more books

67. The passage mainly tells us that

　 A. nonverbal elements play an important part in communication

　 Bi nonverbal communication conveys less information

　 C. reading a man like a book has been proved to be true

　 D. space is a necessary part of nonverbal communication