The volunteers who brought the nine-year-old to the orphanage* knew little about her. The streets where they found her had been her home for many years. Her parents were unknown. They had left her long ago.

At the orphanage, the girl, like all the children there, was taught to read and write. While she was studying at the orphanage, she learned something else -- to be independent*. At twenty-one, she left the orphanage and began work as a secretary.

And then, in 1975, while she was still working as a common secretary, something very unusual happened. She entered the Miss Hong Kong competition -- and won it. This was the turning point in her life. Now Mary Cheung was very popular in Hong Kong.

Mary entered the competition because she was full of ambitions* and because she wanted to show that orphanage girls could be something. Winning the competition gave her the chance to start a new life. This led her first into television and then to a business manager. When she was working as a manager, she had trouble with her reports. “My English just wasn’t good enough,” she said. Fortunately, she had a boy-friend (who later became her husband) to help her.

Mary studied management at Hong Kong Polytechnic and graduated in 1980. She started her own company in 1995. But she was still working hard to develop herself. She then studied for a Fine Arts degree at the University of Hong Kong. Her ambition was to teach arts in Hong Kong. Since 1987, she has spent a lot of her time on photography. She has held several exhibitions of her work in many places, including China, New Zealand and Paris. She still found time, however, to work on TV and for charity, to write for newspapers and bring up her family.

The girl from street has come a long way, but her journey is not finished yet.

1 Mary ______ when the volunteers found her.

   A. was known well                               B. lived with her parents

   C. had been homeless for many years           D. was at school like all the children

2______ was the turning point in Mary’s life.

A. Being brought to the orphanage                  B. Being taught to read and write

C. Having trouble with her reports               D. Winning the Miss Hong Kong competition

3 The underlined sentence “The girl from street has come a long way” means that ______.

A. Mary has travelled a lot

B. Mary is very tired because she has run a long way

C. Mary is always hard-working and she has made a great success

D. Mary needs to have a rest because she has made a great success

4 From the passage we can learn that ______.

  A. Mary has achieved all her ambitions

  B. Mary never stopped developing herself all the time

  C. Mary’s life as a small child was very happy and comfortable

D. Mary became a secretary after she won the Miss Hong Kong competition