When an official at the U. S. Open Pocket Pool(台球)Championship saw a 9-year-old girl playing at one of the tournament tables, he told her that spectators(观众)were not allowed to play. But much to his surprise, the girl was actually a competitor. That was nine years ago, and today, with five U. S. Open Women’s titles behind her and a recently won world championship, no one is likely to mistake Jean Balukas for a spectator again.
It doesn’t seem too surprising that Jean became caught up in pool——her father owns a pool hall within walking distance of the family’s home in Brooklyn. When she was just tall enough to see over the table, she fell in love with the game soon. Five years later Jean was ready to enter her first U. S. Open. She still remembers the letter the officials sent her reminding her that she wouldn’t be allowed to stand on a box to play.

As Jean improved, she found it increasingly difficult to play games at her father’s pool hall. “If I’d beat one of the guys, his friends would laugh at them about losing to me,” she says. Now Jean comes to the hall only weeks before a tournament when she plays Johnny Goon, her father’s pool manager.
That Johnny can beat her shows the gap that now exists in pool — as in other sports — between the top men and women competitors. “I’m supposedly the top woman player, but I’d have a hard time beating the number 50 man,” says Jean. “If I was a boy and played pool, I’d be a nobody.”
Jean thinks that women pool players still have a long way to go because pool has been a man’s game for so long. “When they think of pool players, people have this picture in their head of gambling(赌博) and smoke,” she says.
Jean won four of the seven games in these two years. She was as surprised as anyone else at her performance, even though she was a New York City tennis champion and center for her high-school basketball team. Jean does not take full credit for her achievements, saying, “I think what I have in sports is a gift from God, and that’s why I can get out there and do so well.”
【小题1】We can learn from the first passage that Jean Balukas_____.

When an official at the U. S. Open Pocket Pool(台球)Championship saw a 9-year-old girl playing at one of the tournament tables, he told her that spectators(观众)were not allowed to play. But much to his surprise, the girl was actually a competitor. That was nine years ago, and today, with five U. S. Open Women’s titles behind her and a recently won world championship, no one is likely to mistake Jean Balukas for a spectator again.
It doesn’t seem too surprising that Jean became caught up in pool——her father owns a pool hall within walking distance of the family’s home in Brooklyn. When she was just tall enough to see over the table, she fell in love with the game soon. Five years later Jean was ready to enter her first U. S. Open. She still remembers the letter the officials sent her reminding her that she wouldn’t be allowed to stand on a box to play.

As Jean improved, she found it increasingly difficult to play games at her father’s pool hall. “If I’d beat one of the guys, his friends would laugh at them about losing to me,” she says. Now Jean comes to the hall only weeks before a tournament when she plays Johnny Goon, her father’s pool manager.
That Johnny can beat her shows the gap that now exists in pool — as in other sports — between the top men and women competitors. “I’m supposedly the top woman player, but I’d have a hard time beating the number 50 man,” says Jean. “If I was a boy and played pool, I’d be a nobody.”
Jean thinks that women pool players still have a long way to go because pool has been a man’s game for so long. “When they think of pool players, people have this picture in their head of gambling(赌博) and smoke,” she says.
Jean won four of the seven games in these two years. She was as surprised as anyone else at her performance, even though she was a New York City tennis champion and center for her high-school basketball team. Jean does not take full credit for her achievements, saying, “I think what I have in sports is a gift from God, and that’s why I can get out there and do so well.”

1. 1.

   We can learn from the first passage that Jean Balukas_____

   1. A.
      had become well-known at the age of 9
   2. B.
      had achieved great fame at the age of 18
   3. C.
      was often asked to play with men players
   4. D.
      was refused to play in the U. S. Open for her young age
2. 2.

   The letter Jean received before her first U. S. Open_____

   1. A.
      told her to arrive in time for the game
   2. B.
      showed people’s doubt about her ability
   3. C.
      told her about the basic rules of the game
   4. D.
      invited her to compete in the U. S. Open
3. 3.

   Jean Balukas believed that women pool players_____

   1. A.
      fall far behind men players
   2. B.
      aren’t suitable for a man’s game
   3. C.
      are impossible to beat any man player
   4. D.
      have a bad reputation(名声) for gambling and smoking
4. 4.

   By saying the underlined words in the last paragraph Jean meant that _____

   1. A.
      women players had a long way to go
   2. B.
      she wouldn’t stop before her great achievement
   3. C.
      she had much confidence in the game
   4. D.
      she achieved her success because of her born gift

"My dream has come true．I have always wanted to be a Grand Slam （大满贯） champion．"These are the words of the Chinese tennis player Li Na after she became the first Asian woman to win the Australian Open final on Jan．25th．2014．

???? "People were saying I'm getting old．So this is a great success for such an old woman．" the 32-year-old girl joked．

???? Miss Li has a tattoo （文身）．She has dyed her hair many different colors．And, at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, she told her fans to "shut up" when they got too noisy in their support．

????????????? Li Na was born in Wuhan．She started to play tennis at the age of 6．She once recalled: "As a child．I suffered a lot because every day I had to wake up early to practice．After school I had to practice more．I didn't have time to play．"

???? Luckily, the strong girl didn't give up．thus making history for Chinese tennis time after time．Now the new champion is already thinking about winning another Grand Slam title．"When you have one title, surely you will think about another," she says．not hiding her ambition．

???? "Chinese people are so lacking in confidence on the tennis court．If there is a person like me who can prove we Chinese can do it, the other young players in China will feel the same," she said．

1.Li Na began to learn playing tennis in the year of _____．

A．1988????? ????????????? B．1982 ????????????? C．1986 ????????????? D．1990

2.We can learn from the passage that _____．

A．Li Na is always impatient with her fans

B．Li Na is an old girl

C．Li Na is a fashionable girl

D．Li Na is a girl without ambition

3.When she began to play tennis, Li Na was _____．

A．happy ????????????? B．sad??? ????????????? C．excited?? ????????????? D．bored

4.Which of the following is WRONG about Li Na?

A．Li Na took part in the 2008 Beijing Olympics．

B．Li Na has already won a Grand Slam champion．

C．Li Na had to wake up early to practice playing tennis．

D．Li Na said she lacked confidence on the tennis court．

5.The passage mainly tells us _____．

A．something about the tennis

B．something about how to play tennis

C．the Chinese people and the tennis

D．the Grand Slam champion—Li Na

Gao Yuanyuan, a Beijing girl, is lucky. She seems to have everything that most girls can only dream of. Her pretty face and slim figure were spotted by a talent scout (星探) when she was only 16. Now her latest work, “Shanghai Dreams” won the Jury

Prize (评委会奖) at the 58th Cannes Film Festival, in France, on May 21. That success put Gao in the spotlight everywhere.

But Gao, 25, said that she didn’t think there was much to get excited about. “I am an actress. That’s my job,” she said. Nowadays people pay more attention to fame and money in the entertainment world, but ignore the effort(努力，汗水) made by an actor.” “Acting in front of the camera is just a vocation（职业）. Like any other job, you need to show that you are capable,” Gao explained. With more young people seeing acting as an ideal job, Gao advises that they first ask themselves seriously, “Do I love performing, or do I want to be a star?” For Gao, being a good actress is the most important thing.

Gao admitted that she didn’t like acting before. Her dream was to be an office worker. Her major at college was secretarial studies. “I did shoot ads and films when I was in college, but I thought of it as just a part-time job,” she added. “It was nothing special, in the same way my classmates were tutors and salesmen in their spare time.”

It was not until the TV series “Heavenly Sword and Dragon Saber” was shot that Gao began to love acting. At first, she said, the Hong Kong director didn’t think she was suitable for the role. “I performed in a fit of pique (赌气) and I’d never been so serious before,” she said. Then Gao found she became more interested in performing and worked harder for perfection.

51. Gao Yuanyuan became a star probably because __________.

   A. She had pretty face and slim figure

   B. She had always dreamed of it.

   C. “Shanghai Dreams” won the Jury Prize at the 58th Cannes Film Festival, in France

   D. Her job was an actress.

52. The word “ ignore” in Paragraph 2 means _________.

  A. know about    B. respect    C. pay no attention to  D. pay much attention to

53. Gao’s advice on being actress shows _____________.

  A. one needs to work hard.    B. one has to work hard.  

C. one should be honest       D. one should be capable

54. The best title of the passage is ____________.

   A. Gao and her acting life       B. Gao’s new work “Shanghai Dreams”

C. Gao and her TV series       D. Gao’s loving of acting

55. We may infer（推断） that Gao ________.

   A. Gao loved acting when she was young

   B. the Hong kong director didn’t appreciate her performance at first

   C. the TV series “Heavenly Sword and Dragon Saber” was popular

   D. When she was young, she acted in “Shanghai Dreams”