Carlos Gardel was born on Dec. 11, 1890, just at the right time. The recording and film industries were jus starting to impact the world. Carlos had good looks and a pleasant voice. His death occurred at the peak of his career and popularity in a tragic accident.

Carlos Gardel was the first great singer of tango and to this day remains an icon (崇拜对象) in Argentina, Uruguay and much of the world. As a result of his important role in tango, there are three countries that claim him as their own: France, Uruguay and Argentina.

Carlos’s mother, Berthe, was an unmarried mother and his father did not recognize him. His mother took Carlos to Buenos Aires in 1893. They lived in a poor part of town and Carlos spent his time in the streets; he dropped out of school in 1906 at the age of 15 and started singing in bars.

For the next few years, Carlos toured the clubs and theaters of Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil. His most constant singing partner was Jose Razzano, a folk singer Carlos had met earlier during a singing match. In 1915, after playing in a club in Brazil, Carlos was shot in the left lung, where the bullet stayed for the rest of his life. “Mi Noche Triste” was the hit song that sent Carlos skyrocketing in popularity. It became the first recorded vocal tango and the public was grabbed by the recording of the song. Carlos and Rozzano spent the next years touring through Latin America. In 1923, they left the continent and struck out for Europe. In 1935, Carlos decided to go on tour through the Caribbean and northern South America. On June 24, a plane he was a passenger in was hit by another plane on the runway. Everyone on board was killed.

     Carlos may be gone, but he is far from forgotten.

6. The passage was mainly written to ______.

         A. show us the history of tango                          B. introduce the first singer of tango

         C. teach us how tango developed                      D. advertise a tango class

7. We can infer from the passage that _____.

         A. Carlos lived a poor life with his mother in Buenos Aires

         B. Carlos had only been to France, Uruguay and Argentina

         C. Carlos died at the age of 54.

         D. Carlos was born when the film industry began to fail

8. What’s the RIGHT time order of the following events?

         a. Carlos toured through Latin America.

         b. Carlos was shot after playing in a club in Brazil.

         c. Carlos toured the clubs and theaters of Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil.

         d. Carlos moved to Buenos Aires.

         A. cbad                                 B. dcba                                 C. cabd                                 D. dcab

9. The underlined word “grabbed” in Paragraph 4 can be replaced by _____.

         A. lied                                   B. frightened                      C. cheated                          D. attracted

10. Which of the following statements about Carlos in NOT  true?

         A. His singing partner Jose was his brother.

         B. He is an important figure in the world of tango.

         C. His father did not recognize him

         D. He died in a plane accident.

 

—— It seems that his health is improving．

—— Yes．It is ten years ______ he _______．

A．since；  smoked                  B．since；  did n' t smoke

C．that； smoked                    D．before； smoked

 

My father never wanted his children to know what he did for a living. Dad worked in Plant C. Lying beside Lake Erie, it saw him in at sunrise and out at nightfall. Sometimes my mother would take my siblings (兄弟姐妹) and me to the public beach in our hometown of Ashtabula. She’d gather us round and point to the smokestacks, coughing clouds into the sky.

“Wave to daddy!” she’d shout. Four little hands would shoot into the air. I never knew what Dad did in Plant C, but during 34 years of hard work, he had surgery (手术) on his shoulder and hand. At 48, he had his first heart attack. He retired in 1993, right after the last kid graduated from college. But the damage was done. A few years later, the next heart attack killed him.

I saw my dad in plant C only once, when I took dinner to him. That night, I looked at my father, covered in sweat and coal, and for the first time I knew why he was so often angry for no reason.

Recently my father’s friend, Toby Workman, walked me there. I knew my father never wanted me to see it. At every station, he described the job and the danger. It was like listening to a foreign language. I walked past many DANGER signs. Toby put his hand on my shoulder. “Look”, he said, “you need to understand something. Your dad was a maintenance mechanic. He worked the most dangerous job. If something broke, he fixed it. ”

A few days later, my daughter graduated from college. I gave her the hard hat Toby handed to me as I left, and this note: “Whenever you feel something difficult, put this on, look in the mirror, and remember your roots.”

1.What is the purpose of the passage?

A．In memory of the author’s mother         B．to know about what the father did.

C．In memory of the author’s father.          D．to remind the family to live well.

2.Which of the following is TRUE of the facts about the author’s father?

A．He didn’t suffer a heart attack until he retired.

B．He always faced danger while working.

C．He was satisfied with his job.

D．He worked in Plant C for 48 years in all.

3.When the author saw her father in Plant C,       ___.

A．her father was fixing a broken machine.

B．she didn’t recognize her father.

C．she understood him about his bad temper.

D．her father was angry about her coming.

4.When Toby Workman described the author’s father’s job, the author   ____  .

A．felt familiar with the job                  B．decided to do the same work.

C．wanted to learn a foreign language          D．felt much puzzled

5.The author gave her daughter the hat to hope that her daughter could    _______ .

A．get encouraged by her grandfather         B．overcome all difficulties by wearing it

C．remember her grandfather                D．follow her grandfather’s work

 

Emma Hart Willard (1787—1870) was an American pioneer educator. In her time, colleges and universities were open only to men, and women were not permitted to attend.

Emma received advanced education at home from her father and became a school teacher at twenty. She continued to teach at school for several years after her marriage. Then began offer college lessons in her home to women students. Later she founded a school in New York State, which was the first school that offered higher education in the US for women.

Emma Willard also tried to persuade New York State to pass a law to allow women to attend public colleges and universities, though that did not come about until after her death. Some years later people remembered her for her life-long efforts and elected her to the US Hall of Fame (荣誉) in 1905.

1.Emma received advanced education at home because _________.

A．universities were only for men at that time

B．her father did not trust the schools

C．her family was poor when she was young

D．she was too shy to go to a public college

2.Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A．She managed to persuade her state to pass a law allowing women to go to universties.

B．She went on with her teaching after she got married.

C．She received advanced education by teaching herself.

D．She was elected to work in the US Hall of Fame.

3.What do you suppose the US Hall of Fame is?

A．It is a grand hall where honoured people receive prizes from the government.

B．It is a place where honoured people in the US are buried.

C．It is a building set up in memory of great American people.

D．It is a house of representatives to which respected people are elected.

4.Why was Emma Willard considered an important person?

A．She was the first woman to get college education.

B．She fought for equal rights for women in the US.

C．She was the first American woman to become a college teacher.

D．She was a pioneer in winning higher education for women in the US.

 

When I was small and my grandmother died, I couldn’t understand why I had no tears. But that night when my dad tried to cheer me up, my laugh turned into crying.

.   So it came as no surprise to learn that researchers believe crying and laughing come from the same part of the brain. Just as laughing has many health advantages, scientists are discovering that so, too, does crying.

Whatever it takes for us to reduce pressure is important to our emotional (情感的) health, and the study found that 85 percent of women and 73 percent of men report feeling better after crying.

Besides, tears attract help from other people. Researchers agree that when we cry, people around us become kinder and friendlier and they are more ready to provide support and comfort. Tears also enable us to understand our emotions better; sometimes we don't even know we're very sad until we cry. We learn about our emotions through crying, and then we can deal with them.

Just as crying can be healthy, not crying — holding back tears of anger, pain or suffering — can be bad for physical health. Studies have shown that too much control of emotions can lead to high blood pressure, heart problems and some other illnesses. If you have a health problem, doctors will certainly not ask you to cry. But when you feel like crying, don't fight it. It's a natural — and healthy— emotional response.

Why didn't the author cry when her grandmother died?

A. Because her father did not want her to feel too sad.

B. Because she did not love her grandmother.

C. Because she was too shy to cry at that time.

D. The author doesn’t give the explanation.

It can be inferred from the text that ______.

A. there are only two ways to keep healthy

B. crying does more good to health than laughing

C. crying and laughing play the same roles

D. emotional health has a close relationship to physical health

According to the author, which of the following statements is true?

A. Crying is the best way to get help from others.

B. We must cry if we want to reduce pressure.

C. We will never know our deep feelings unless we cry.

D. Fighting back tears may cause some health problems.

What might be the most suitable title for the text?

A. Why We Cry              B. How to Keep Healthy

C. Power of Tears            D. A New Scientific Discovery