Since my retirement from teaching music in 2001, I have spent a good deal of time painting as an artist. I actually began drawing again in the summer of 1995 when my father died, so perhaps I was trying to recover from the loss of my father, or maybe it was just that it brought back memories of him. In any case, I drew pen and ink animals and landscapes(风景画) much influenced by Krenkel and St. John for five years.

  For some strange reason, I had been waiting until my retirement to start doing watercolors again, but as soon as I walked out of the school door for the last time I picked up my brushes and rediscovered Andrew Wyeth, who quickly became my favorite artist. I had looked through all the art books I had on my shelves and found his watercolors to be the closest to how I thought good watercolors should look. So I painted landscapes around Minnesota for three years and tried out many other types of painting. However, watercolors remained my first choice, and I think I did my best work there, showing my paintings at a number of art exhibitions.

  Art is now together with my piano playing and reading. There is a time for everything in my world, and it is wonderful to have some time doing what I want to do. As Confucius once said, “At seventy I can follow my heart’s desire.”

36.   What is the text mainly about?

A. Learning to paint in later life.                   B. How to paint watercolors

C. An artist-turned teacher                  D. Life after retirement

37.   The author started drawing again in 1995 because _____.

A．he hoped to draw a picture of his father

B．he couldn’t stop missing his father

C．he had more time after retirement

D．he liked animals and landscapes

38.   We can infer from the text that the author _____.

A．had been taught by Krenkel and St. John

B．painted landscapes in Minnesota for 5 years

C．believed Wyeth to be the best in watercolors

D．started his retirement life at the age of seventy

39.   How does the author probably feel about his life as an artist?

A. Very enjoyable.                                     B. A bit regretful.

C. Rather busy.                              D. Fairly dull.

  Since my retirement from teaching music in 2001, I have spent a good deal of time painting as an artist. I actually began drawing again in the summer of 1995 when my father died, so perhaps I was trying to recover from the loss of my father, or maybe it was just that it brought back memories of him. In any case, I drew pen and ink animals and landscapes(风景画) much influenced by Krenkel and St. John for five years.

  For some strange reason, I had been waiting until my retirement to start doing watercolors again, but as soon as I walked out of the school door for the last time I picked up my brushes and rediscovered Andrew Wyeth, who quickly became my favorite artist. I had looked through all the art books I had on my shelves and found his watercolors to be the closest to how I thought good watercolors should look. So I painted landscapes around Minnesota for three years and tried out many other types of painting. However, watercolors remained my first choice, and I think I did my best work there, showing my paintings at a number of art exhibitions.

  Art is now together with my piano playing and reading. There is a time for everything in my world, and it is wonderful to have some time doing what I want to do. As Confucius once said, “At seventy I can follow my heart’s desire.”

36.   What is the text mainly about?

A. Learning to paint in later life.                   B. How to paint watercolors

C. An artist-turned teacher                  D. Life after retirement

37.   The author started drawing again in 1995 because _____.

A．he hoped to draw a picture of his father

B．he couldn’t stop missing his father

C．he had more time after retirement

D．he liked animals and landscapes

38.   We can infer from the text that the author _____.

A．had been taught by Krenkel and St. John

B．painted landscapes in Minnesota for 5 years

C．believed Wyeth to be the best in watercolors

D．started his retirement life at the age of seventy

39.   How does the author probably feel about his life as an artist?

A. Very enjoyable.                                     B. A bit regretful.

C. Rather busy.                              D. Fairly dull.

I have a good memory of my grandfather，Jack. He was sitting in his armchair in the front room.

 I sat next to him. We were reading aloud，our heads bent over the page in front of us，a finger marking the words；separated by seven decades，brought together by words. It's a common scene in British families；however，in our case，the usual order of things is reversed（颠倒）．Granddad had been blind since I was tiny，so I was reading to him.When reading aloud，people usually read something that's of interest to the listener. So I didn't read children's books；I read the sorts of things Granddad liked to hear about. Much of the vocabulary in Granddad’s reading material was far beyond me. When I met unfamiliar words，I'd spell them out.

   Granddad would help me. It must have been painful for him to hear news；but he never hurried me along or complained. Our reading wasn't really about getting knowledge. It was a way for us to spend time together.

My grandfather wasn't always blind. He had been a good carpenter（木匠）．The first Christmas of my parents' marriage，he built my mother a bookcase，which now belongs to my son Jonah，providing a link between four generations.

I was a fortunate child；I spent a lot of time with my grandfather，and he opened the world to me in a particular way. Reading was our way of building a relationship that has had a lasting effect on me. In the school holidays，I sometimes accompanied him on trips to the seaside with the local association for the blind. This might seem strange，but I felt that my personal value was realized because I could finally do something for Granddad.

A decade later，I found a position in a nursing home，which reminded me of my early experiences；reading to senior citizens was a connection back to Granddad. More than simple conversation，reading aloud is a connection between two individuals and it can have a big emotional（情感的）effect on elderly people.

1.What can we know from the first paragraph?

A．The author's grandfather was born blind.

B．The author is seventy years younger than her grandfather.

C．The author often sat opposite to her grandfather while reading.

D．It's quite common in Britain that children read to their grandfathers.

2.Why didn't the author choose to read children's books?

A．To expand her  knowledge.

B．To make her vocabulary  bigger.

C．To show off in front of her grandfather.

D．To satisfy the needs of her grandfather.

3.How did the author feel during the trips with Granddad?

A．Proud.        B．Troubled.

C．Curious.      D．Embarrassed.

 

The British people are among the world’s greatest readers of newspapers．It’s been the custom ever since most people could read．

    But why do people want to do nothing but read while traveling to work in a train? Perhaps they are tired, or else they sit behind a newspaper to shut themselves off from the world．All the same, most men would notice a woman struggling with a heavy case and jump up to help her and a pretty girl sitting opposite wouldn’t escape their attention either．In this case a paper is useful because they can have a good look at her from behind it without her knowing．Perhaps they do nothing but read．There are stories of girls and young men who met in the rush hours, got married, and went on traveling in the same train hand in hand．

1.The main idea of this passage is that______．

   A．people in Britain are great newspaper readers

B．why people read newspaper when they travel by train

   C．people do nothing but read in a train

   D．when people go to work in a train, they do different things

2.According to this passage, reading newspaper______．

   A．is a custom just among men who can read  B．is something the British do only traveling in a train

   C．is a daily activity most people enjoy      D．can help people in many ways

3.A man might be reading a newspaper in a train for the following reasons except that ______．

   A．he is trying to get some business news     B．he wants to have a rest

   C．he hopes to escape the attention of a pretty girl

   D．he doesn’t want to talk with other people around him

4.The writer said that most men in the train would help a woman struggling with a heavy thing．The implication(含义) is that ______．

   A．It is interesting for a man to help a woman in trouble

   B．it is considered a man’s duty to offer help to a woman in need

   C．the woman is too weak to carry a heavy case

   D．men are often more interested in other things than reading newspapers, especially when women are in trouble