One day about 30 years ago, a 2 year-old Chinese boy in Shenyang was watching a Tom and Jerry cartoon on TV. Tom the cat began to play the piano. The music was to beautiful that the boy fell in love with it at once. This little boy was Lang Lang – one of today’s great pianists.

Lang Lang began to play the piano at 3. By the age of 5, the had won fist place in Shenyang’s piano competition and performed his first public recital(独奏会). People were shocked by his perfect performance and thought he was a real talent. From that time on, playing on the global stage became the dream of Lang and his parents.

To help him much closer to his dream, when Lang was 9, his father quit his job and went with Lang to Beijing to help his son study piano. There, Lang did not receive the praise that he had received at home, and he experienced the hardest time of his life.

“I was kicked out of the class by my piano teacher six months later. It totally destroyed my piano dream,” Lang said in an interview on a Chinese TV program. Hearing about his son’s failure, Lang’s father was so furious(暴怒的) and frustrated(沮丧的) that he told Lang either to go back to Shenyang, or to commit suicide( 自杀). Feeling hopeless and in pain, Lang tried to damage his fingers by crushing(砸) them against a wall. He hated piano!

Luckily, another teacher noticed Lang’s sadness and encouraged him. Success came soon. Lang’s breakthrough came at age 17, when he gained worldwide fame at a well-known concert in 1999 in Chicago, US.

36. We can know from the first paragraph ______

A. Tom the cat came from Shenyang

B. Lang Lang could play the piano at the age of 2

C. Tom the cat got Lang Lang interested in piano

D. Jerry is 30 years old

37. What’s the meaning of the underlined word in Paragraph 3?

A. To give in       B. To give up

C. To give out      D. To be out of work

38. When did Lang’s breakthrough come?

A. At age 3.        B. At age 5.

C. At age 9.        D. At age 17.

    When Spring Festival arrives on February 7, the rat will start the 12 - year animal cycle. Yes, it is the Year of the Rat.

    In your English vocabulary,, the words rat and mouse may mean the same and be interchange-able. But in fact, it is net the ease. Mice and rats can be summed up nicely with two English phrases: "as quiet as a mouse," and "a dirty rat."

    Rats are considered dirty because they are often found in sewers (下水道) and other unclean places. They are also responsible for carrying the Black Plague(瘟疫) disease that wiped out much of Europe's population in the 15th century.

    Having a rat in your house is bad news. They smell terrible and usually make a lot of noise.

    Calling someone a "rat" in English means they are not to be trusted and are suspicious. Saying “Rats!” is also a way to show one s annoyance . Charlie Brown in the Snoopy comic strips often says this.

    Rats appear as mean and evil in some books and novels. However, a recent movie, Rata-touille, in which a rat plays a creative chef, has helped give rats a better image.

    Mice, on the other hand, are seen as quiet and cute. They are smaller than rats and often kept as pets.

Walt Disney's famous character Miekey Mouse helped give them a lovable image among chil-dren. Jerry, from the Tom and Jerry, cartoons, represents mice as playful creatures that like to play tricks on their friends.

1. Which of the following sentences is TRUE about rats and mice?

    A. Mice are usually creative and evil.         B. Rats are smaller than mice.

    C. Mice are lovely and quiet.                D. Rats are often kept as pets.

2. The underlined word in paragraph 2 probably means “______.”

    A.added         B. described       C. corrected      D. represented

3 .When "rat" is used in oral English, it can refer to ______.

    A. someone who is troublesome            B. someone playing tricks on friends

C. someone who is not reliable            D. someone who is lovable

4. The main idea of the passage is that _____.

    A. it is the Year of the Rat this year

    B. the words rat and mouse may mean the same and are interchangeable

    C. how to tell if it's a rat or a mouse

    D. some books and novels have helped give rats a better image

One day about 30 years ago, a 2 year-old Chinese boy in Shenyang was watching a Tom and Jerry cartoon on TV. Tom the cat began to play the piano. The music was to beautiful that the boy fell in love with it at once. This little boy was Lang Lang – one of today’s great pianists.

Lang Lang began to play the piano at 3. By the age of 5, the had won fist place in Shenyang’s piano competition and performed his first public recital(独奏会). People were shocked by his perfect performance and thought he was a real talent. From that time on, playing on the global stage became the dream of Lang and his parents.

To help him much closer to his dream, when Lang was 9, his father quit his job and went with Lang to Beijing to help his son study piano. There, Lang did not receive the praise that he had received at home, and he experienced the hardest time of his life.

“I was kicked out of the class by my piano teacher six months later. It totally destroyed my piano dream,” Lang said in an interview on a Chinese TV program. Hearing about his son’s failure, Lang’s father was so furious(暴怒的) and frustrated(沮丧的) that he told Lang either to go back to Shenyang, or to commit suicide( 自杀). Feeling hopeless and in pain, Lang tried to damage his fingers by crushing(砸) them against a wall. He hated piano!

Luckily, another teacher noticed Lang’s sadness and encouraged him. Success came soon. Lang’s breakthrough came at age 17, when he gained worldwide fame at a well-known concert in 1999 in Chicago, US.

56. We can know from the first paragraph ______

A. Tom the cat came from Shenyang

B. Lang Lang could play the piano at the age of 2

C. Tom the cat got Lang Lang interested in piano

D. Jerry is 30 years old

57. What’s the meaning of the underlined word in Paragraph 3?

A. To give in       B. To give up

C. To give out      D. To be out of work

58. When did Lang’s breakthrough come?

A. At age 3.       B. At age 5.

C. At age 9.       D. At age 17.

One day about 30 years ago, a 2 year-old Chinese boy in Shenyang was watching a Tom and Jerry cartoon on TV. Tom the cat began to play the piano. The music was to beautiful that the boy fell in love with it at once. This little boy was Lang Lang – one of today’s great pianists.

Lang Lang began to play the piano at 3. By the age of 5, the had won fist place in Shenyang’s piano competition and performed his first public recital(独奏会). People were shocked by his perfect performance and thought he was a real talent. From that time on, playing on the global stage became the dream of Lang and his parents.

To help him much closer to his dream, when Lang was 9, his father quit his job and went with Lang to Beijing to help his son study piano. There, Lang did not receive the praise that he had received at home, and he experienced the hardest time of his life.

“I was kicked out of the class by my piano teacher six months later. It totally destroyed my piano dream,” Lang said in an interview on a Chinese TV program. Hearing about his son’s failure, Lang’s father was so furious(暴怒的) and frustrated(沮丧的) that he told Lang either to go back to Shenyang, or to commit suicide( 自杀). Feeling hopeless and in pain, Lang tried to damage his fingers by crushing(砸) them against a wall. He hated piano!

Luckily, another teacher noticed Lang’s sadness and encouraged him. Success came soon. Lang’s breakthrough came at age 17, when he gained worldwide fame at a well-known concert in 1999 in Chicago, US.

56. We can know from the first paragraph ______

A. Tom the cat came from Shenyang

B. Lang Lang could play the piano at the age of 2

C. Tom the cat got Lang Lang interested in piano

D. Jerry is 30 years old

57. What’s the meaning of the underlined word in Paragraph 3?

A. To give in       B. To give up

C. To give out      D. To be out of work

58. When did Lang’s breakthrough come?

A. At age 3.       B. At age 5.

C. At age 9.       D. At age 17.

       Tom and Jerry are ______ of selling $4700 worth of heroin to a number of drug users.

       A. accused                   B. accustomed                     C. adjusted                   D. accompanied