Oprah Winfrey, the American media queen, is undoubtedly one of the most successful women in the world. She’s the host and owner of The Oprah Winfrey Show, which continuingly wins high ratings, and the founder of Harpo Productions, which produces her television shows and movies.
Certainly Winfrey feels right these days. Early on, however, Winfrey seemed more like a candidate for welfare rolls than film roles. She stayed with her grandmother after birth and moved to Wisconsin to live with her mother at 6, and hence began the most difficult period in her life. They lived in the low-income community and her mother showed her less attention. Her classmates came from families with more money and she couldn’t participate with them in a lot of activities.
The young girl had held too much anger and pain inside and she rebelled. She repeatedly ran away from home and got into various troubles. During that time, she turned heavy smoker, became addicted to alcohol and drug and was sent to a juvenile detention home(青少年拘留所) at the age of 13.
Fed up, Oprah’s mother sent her to Tennessee to live with her father. To a large extent, this man saved Oprah’s life and helped pave the way for her success. She received a full scholarship to Tennessee State University where she majored in Speech and Performing Arts. After graduation, she landed a job as a news reader at a television station, where she did not do well at first. But she did not give up; instead, she worked harder. She put in long hours and prepared carefully before going on camera.
Her hard work paid off: she moved up swiftly to news reader and reporter in Baltimore and was offered her own talk show in 1977. From then on, her career began to take off.
Some people are handed money at birth and are nurtured into success; other people create their own success, and Oprah Winfrey definitely belongs to the latter. “There is no such thing as failure in my life,” she concluded, “Life is a marathon. I think the ones who survive in life do it by hammering at it one day at a time.” Well, by doing so, she won the game.By mentioning “Winfrey seemed more like a candidate for welfare rolls than film roles” in Paragraph 2, the author indicates that ______.
| A．she was interested in acting and applied for roles in many films, but failed. |
| B．she was more interested in working for charities than in films. |
| C．she lived a poor life and had to depend on the government for food. |
| D．the film companies wouldn’t offer her roles because she was too poor. |
Which of the following is NOT the cause of her bad behaviors as a teenager?
| A．Her mother had no time to take good care of her. |
| B．Her classmates’ families were very rich. |
| C．She couldn’t take part in activities with her classmates. |
| D．She had too much anger and pain inside. |
Oprah Winfrey succeeded at last chiefly due to _______.
| A．her hard childhood living with her grandmother. |
| B．her hard work and the spirit of not giving up. |
| C．her good performance in the juvenile detention home. |
| D．her major in Speech and Performing Arts in college. |
Which of the following can best serve as the title of this passage?
| A．Oprah Winfrey, from a problem girl to the American media queen. |
| B．Oprah Winfrey, from a news reader to a marathon winner. |
| C．Even famous people have a disgraceful past. |
| D．All that glitters is not gold. |
You're in a department store and you see a couple of attractive young women looking at a sweater. You listen to their conversation:
"I can't believe it-----a Lorenzo Bertolla! They are almost impossible to find. Isn't it beautiful? And it's a lot cheaper than the one Sara bought in Rome."
They leave and you go over to see this incredible sweater. It's nice and the price is right. You've never heard of Lorenzo Bertolla, but those girls looked really stylish. They must know. So, you buy it. You never realize that those young women are employees of an advertising agency. They are actually paid to go from store to store, talking loudly about Lorenzo Bertolla clothes.
Every day we notice what people are wearing, driving and eating. If the person looks cool, the product seems cool, too. This is the secret of undercover marketing. Companies from Ford to Nike are starting to use it.
Undercover marketing is important because it reaches people that don't pay attention to traditional advertising. This is particularly true of the MTV generation ---- consumers between the age of 18 and 34. It is a golden group. They have a lot of money to spend, but they don't trust ads.
So advertising agencies hire young actors to "perform" in bars and other places where young adults go. Some people might call this practice deceptive (骗人的), but marketing executive Jonathan Ressler calls it creative. "Look at traditional advertising. Its effectiveness is decreasing." However, one might ask what exactly is "real" of young women pretending to be enthusiastic about a sweater? Advertising executives would say it's no less real than an ad. The difference is that you know an ad is trying to persuade you to buy something. You don' t know when a conversation you overhear is just a performance.The two attractive young women were talking so that they could _____.
| A．get the sweater at a lower price |
| B．decide on buying the sweater |
| C．be admired by other shoppers |
| D．be heard by people around |
Lorenzo Bertolla is _____.
| A．a very popular male singer |
| B．an advertising agency |
| C．the brand name of a sweater |
| D．a clothing company in Rome |
Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?
| A．Traditional advertising will soon disappear in the market. |
| B．The MTV generation tend to be more easily influenced by ads. |
| C．Undercover marketing will surely be banned soon by the government. |
| D．Traditional advertising is becoming less effective because it's too direct. |
Which of the following would be the best title for the text?
| A．Two Attractive Shoppers |
| B．Lorenzo Bertolla Sweaters |
| C．Undercover Marketing |
| D．Ways of Advertising |
Exploit your parking space
An unused parking space or garage can make money. If you live near a city center or an airport, you could make anything up to ￡200 or ￡300 a week. Put an advertisement for free on Letpark or Atmyhousepark.
Rent（出租）a room
Spare room Not only will a lodger（房客）earn you an income, but also, thanks to the government-backed “rent a room” program, you won’t have to pay any tax on the first ￡4500 you make per year. Try advertising your room on Roomspare or Roommateeasy.
Make money during special events
Don’t want a full-time lodger? Then rent on a short-term basis. If you live in the capital, renting a room out during the Olympics or other big events could bring in money. Grashpadder can advertise your space
Live on set
Renting your home out as a “film set” could earn you hundreds of pounds a day, depending on the film production company and how long your home is needed. A quick search on the Internet will bring up dozens of online companies that allow you to register your home for free—but you will be charged if your home gets picked.
Use your roof
You need the right kind of roof, but some energy companies pay the cost of fixing solar equipment (around ￡14,000), and let you use the energy produced for nothing. In return, they get paid for unused energy fed back into the National Grid. However, you have to sign a 25-year agreement with the supplier, which could prevent you from changing the roof.If you earn ￡5000 from renting a room in one year, the tax you need to pay will be based on______.
| A．￡800 | B．￡500 | C．￡4500 | D．￡5000 |
If you want to use energy free, you have to_____.
| A．sign an agreement with the government |
| B．pay around ￡14,000 for the equipment |
| C．sell the roof to some energy companies |
| D．keep the roof unchanged for within 25 years |
For whom the text most probably written？
| A．Lodgers. | B．Advertisers. |
| C．House owners. | D．Online companies |
Arthur Miller (1915-2005) is universally recognized as one of the greatest dramatists of the 20th century. Miller's father had moved to the USA from Austria Hungary, drawn like so many others by the "Great American Dream". However, he experienced severe financial hardship when his family business was ruined in the Great Depression of the early 1930s.
Miller's most famous play, Death of a Salesman, is a powerful attack on the American system, with its aggressive way of doing business and its insistence（坚持，强调） on money and social status as indicators of worth. In Willy Loman, the hero of the play, we see a man who has got into trouble with this system. Willy is "burnt out" and in the cruel world of business there is no room for sentiment（感伤）: if he can't do the work, then he is no good to his employer, the Wagner Company, and he must go. Willy is painfully aware of this, and at a loss as to what to do with his lack of success. He refuses to face the fact that he has failed and kills himself in the end.
When it was first staged in 1949, the play was greeted with enthusiastic reviews, and it won the Tony Award for Best Play, the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award, and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. It was the first play to win all three of these major awards.
Miller died of heart failure at his home in Roxbury, Connecticut, on the evening of February 10, 2005, the 56th anniversary of the first performance of Death of a Salesman on Broadway.
Why did Arthur Miller's father move to the USA?
| A．He suffered from severe hunger in his home country. |
| B．He was attracted by the "Great American Dream" |
| C．He hoped to make his son a dramatist. |
| D．His family business failed. |
The play Death of a Salesman________.
| A．exposes the cruelty of the American business world |
| B．discusses the ways to get promoted in a company |
| C．talks about the business career of Arthur Miller |
| D．focuses on the skills in doing business |
What can we learn about Willy Loman?
| A．He treats his employer badly. |
| B．He runs the Wagner Company |
| C．He is a victim of the American system. |
| D．He is regarded as a hero by his colleagues. |
What is the text mainly about?
| A．Arthur Miller and his family |
| B．The awards Arthur Miller won |
| C．The hardship Arthur Miller experienced |
| D．Arthur Miller and his best-known play |
From the health point of view we are living in a marvelous age. We are immunized (免疫) from birth against many of the most dangerous diseases. A large number of once deadly illnesses can now be cured by modern drugs and medical treatment. It is almost certain that one day cures will be found for the most stubborn remaining diseases. The expectation of life has increased enormously. But though the possibility of living a long and happy life is greater than ever before, every day we witness the unbelievable slaughter (屠杀) of men, women and children on the roads. Man vs the motor-car! It is a never-ending battle which man is losing. Thousands of people the world over are killed or horribly killed each year and we are quietly sitting back and letting it happen.
It has been rightly said that when a man is sitting behind a steering wheel (方向盘), his car becomes the extension of his personality. There is no doubt that the motor-car often brings out a man’s very worst qualities. People who are normally quiet and pleasant may become unrecognizable when they are behind a steering-wheel. They are ill-mannered and aggressive, willful as two-year-olds and absolutely selfish. All their hidden disappointments and regrets seem to be brought by the act of driving.
The surprising thing is that society smiles so kindly on the motorist and seems to forgive his behavior. Everything is done for his convenience. Cities are allowed to become almost impossible to live in because of heavy traffic; towns are made ugly by huge car parks; the countryside is ruined by road networks; and the mass annual slaughter becomes nothing more than a statistic, to be conveniently forgotten.
It is high time a world system of laws were created to reduce this senseless waste of human life. As for driving, the laws of some countries are not strict and even the strictest are not strict enough. Here are a few examples of some the things that might be done. The driving test should be standardized and made far more difficult than it is; all the drivers should be made to take a test every three years or so; the age at which young people are allowed to drive any vehicle should be raised to at least 21; all vehicles should be put through strict annual tests for safety. Even the smallest amount of alcohol in the blood can affect a person’s driving ability. Present drinking and driving laws (where they exist) should be made much stricter. Maximum and minimum speed limits should be introduced on all roads. Governments should lay down safety specifications (规范) for manufacturers, as has been done in the USA. All advertising stressing power and performance should be banned. These measures may sound inordinately severe. But surely nothing should be considered as too severe if it results in reducing the annual toll of human life. After all, the world is for human beings, not motor-cars.The main idea of this passage is_________.
| A．Traffic accidents are mainly caused by motorists. |
| B．Thousands of people the world over are killed each year. |
| C．The laws of some countries about driving are not too strict. |
| D．Only stricter traffic laws can prevent accidents. |
What does the author think of society toward motorists?
| A．Society laughs at the motorists. |
| B．Huge car parks are built in the cities and towns. |
| C．Victims of accidents are nothing. |
| D．Society forgives their rude driving. |
Why does the author say: “his car becomes the extension of his personality?”
| A．Driving can show his real self. |
| B．Driving can show the other part of his personality. |
| C．Driving can bring out his character. |
| D．His car can express his temper. |
The attitude of the author is_________.
| A．ironical | B．critical |
| C．appealing | D．favorable |
It is of great importance for students to be able to get a feel for the rhythm and sounds of a poem---more so than for most pieces of prose (散文). This isn’t always easy in a second language, and so listening to their teacher read the poem, or to a professional recording, perhaps by the poet or by an actor, is, I feel, necessary.
As with any listening activity, students will need some kind of preparation and task so that they can be actively engaged. They might be asked to check predictions that arose from a warm-up discussion, to compare their suggested rhyming couplets with the poet’s, or to identify stressed words and syllables.
You might also want to get your students to listen to recorded or live discussions about poems. This can, for example, take the form of a couple of teachers or a group of students giving their views on a poem, or even an interview with the poet.
I’m a big fan of jigsaw listening because of the natural information gap. If your school has the facilities, you might like to:
divide your students into two, or even three groups
give each group a different cassette or CD and tasks to work on
then they come back together to share what they have learned.
Remember that your own enthusiasm is a key factor in any activity relating to literature in the classroom.
Finally, don’t forget to encourage art for art’s sake. Listening for pleasure, to poetry (or to anything else, for that matter), is to be fostered at every opportunity, because of the obvious benefits which include motivation, vocabulary acquisition and learner independence. Many good song lyrics (歌词) could be termed poetry and treated accordingly in the classroom, copyright rules permitting. Which of the following is true according to the passage?
| A．An English student will have difficulty understanding Li Bai’s poems. |
| B．an English student will have some difficulty understanding Walt Whitman. |
| C．A Chinese student will have some difficulty understanding Du Fu’s works. |
| D．An American student will have some difficulty understanding William Shakespeare. |
What kind of preparations should the students do in the listening activity？
a. They’d better predict what the poem is about.
b. They’d better have a warm-up discussion.
c. They will share their own works with their classmates
d. They should know the stressed words.
e. They should make clear the stressed syllables.
f. They should first go to an actor.
| A．abcf | B．abde | C．cdef | D．bcdf |
Who do you think is this passage written for?
| A．The students. | B．The poets. |
| C．The teachers. | D．The readers. |
What’s the main idea of the passage?
| A．How to use poems to develop the students’ skills. |
| B．Listening to poem is more difficult than reading prose. |
| C．The schools should encourage the students to study poems. |
| D．Preparations should be done before teaching. |
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