Picasso, the famous Spanish painter, was born in 1881. His father was an art teacher. Picasso began to paint very early. He was admitted to the Royal Academy of Art at the age of 15. After 1900, he spent much time in Paris, living there from 1904 to 1947, when he moved to the south of France.
Throughout his career, Picasso moved from style to style with ease. He practiced sculpture, illustrated books and also showed great interest in pottery design and other fields of art.
Picasso produced a great number of drawings during his lifetime. No later artist of the School of Paris has replaced him in international influence.
Picasso is generally considered to be the foremost figure in 20th century French art. His paintings are now exhibited in leading European and American galleries.The main idea of the passage is _____.
| A．Picasso is considered to be the foremost figure in the 20th century French art |
| B．Picasso is a famous Spanish painter |
| C．Picasso spent much time in Pairs, living there from 1904 to 1970 |
| D．Picasso’s life and art |
According to the writer, Picasso was _____.
| A．more important than any other French artist in international influence |
| B．more important than any other Spanish artist in international influence |
| C．the most important figure in Spain |
| D．the most important figure in France |
Picasso moved from style to style with ease. It means _____.
| A．he did not like only one style |
| B．he changed his style without difficulty |
| C．he not only liked sculpture, but also pottery design |
| D．he showed great interest in other fields of art |
A mother’s ad calling for her son to come home for Chinese New Year ran on the front page of the Chinese Melbourne Daily newspaper on January 14.
It placed a full page ad, saying “Dear Peng, I’ve called you many times but you don’t pick up, maybe you will see this. Dad and mom won’t ever force you to get married anymore, come home for Chinese New Year! From your mom who loves you.”
The ad, which appeared on the front page of the Chinese Melbourne Daily on Tuesday, would cost $2,796.80 Australian dollars ($2465). The newspaper serves the city’s Chinese community. The mother, who lives in Guangzhou had placed the ad after losing contact with her son.
Every year around this time, many Chinese prepare to head home for China’s most important festival. But many of the younger generation are afraid of facing family confrontations about their love life.
On the online Chinese forum Tianya. cn, a single man asked for advice on facing his family. “It’s almost that time of the year. How should I explain to my family and relatives that I am single?” a user in Guangzhou “1979xiaozhu” posted. Many of the replies were telling him not to go home instead.
User “qianlidaiwanwoduxing” wrote: “Going home means they will either arrange blind dates for you or you get scolded.”
“This year my mom gave me an ultimatum. One, bring 50,000 yuan; second, bring a wife home. If I don’t have both then she said I don’t need to come home. What a tragedy!” said user “fghjkh84”.
Those girls who can’t handle the pressure of parents can rent a boyfriend for the day through China’s online shopping giant, Taobao.com. Rental boyfriends come with services such as meeting the parents, shopping and watching movies.The mother placed a full page ad in order to _______.
| A．ask her son to come back to China for the festival |
| B．beg her son to answer her telephone more times |
| C．force her son to come home and get married |
| D．make her son become famous in Melbourne |
Why did the mother place the ad in the Chinese Melbourne Daily?
| A．Because her son didn’t want to get married in China. |
| B．Because she couldn’t get in touch with her son any more. |
| C．Because her son wanted to live alone in Australia. |
| D．Because she wanted her son to come back to work. |
What leads many Chinese young people not to go home for New Year?
| A．Their busy work. | B．The long distance. |
| C．Their low pay. | D．Their love life. |
From the passage we can infer ______.
| A．the user “1979xiaozhu” is a married young man |
| B．the user “qianlidaiwanwoduxing” will go home |
| C．the user “fghjkh84” will bring a wife home |
| D．some single girls have to bring an untrue boyfriend home |
“When an American asks me this question, it’s like a wall of ice crashing down between us.” my Moscow-born friend Galina said. The question is “How are you?”.
The answer Americans give, of course is, “Fine.” But when Russians hear this they think one of two things: you are experiencing a rare moment of fineness or you are lying.
Ask a Russian, “How are you?” and you will hear, for better or worse, the truth. I have experienced many painful minutes of silence after my grandmother made her stock response: “Terrible,” to which she might add, “Why? Because being old is terrible and I am very old.”
“‘Fine’ makes Russians think that Americans have no soul,” I explained recently to an American-born friend. “That they just want to go home, eat a frozen dinner in front of the TV, and wait out the hours before going to work to make money again.” He laughed, “You know, there’s something to that.”
The thing most Russians don’t realize is that, in English, “How are you?” isn’t a question at all, but a form of “hi”, like the Russian “privyet!”
Psychologists at the University of Michigan have shown that, while Russians are, indeed, easier to be depressed than Americans, their open acceptance of bad experiences might be healthier.
Recently, when I looked through a few American guides on traveling to Russia, I was disappointed to find that they all suggested that tourists adopt the American approach to “How are you”.When you ask a Russian “how are you” the Russian will ________.
| A．answer “fine” |
| B．tell you the truth |
| C．make no answer |
| D．get angry and walk away |
If an American answers “fine” to the question “how are you”, the Russian will think ______.
| A．he is not honest | B．he will go home |
| C．he likes watching TV | D．he is living a bad life |
We can infer Russians’ answer to “how are you” can make Americans feel ________.
| A．happy | B．angry |
| C．puzzled | D．touched |
About ten men in every hundred suffer from color blindness in some way. Women are luckier; only about one in two hundred is affected (影响) in this matter. Perhaps, after all, it is safer to be driven by a woman!
There are different forms of color blindness. In some cases a man may not be able to see deep red. He may think that red, orange and yellow are all shadows(阴影) of green. Sometimes a person cannot tell the difference between blue and green. In few cases an unlucky man may see everything in shades of green--a strange world indeed.
Color blindness in human beings is a strange thing to explain. In a single eye there are millions of very small things called “cones”. These help us to see in a bright light and to tell difference between colors. There are also millions of “rods”, but these are used for seeing when it is near dark. They show us shape but no color.
Some insects (昆虫) have favorite colors. Mosquitoes (蚊子) prefer blue to yellow. A red light will not attract (吸引) insects, but a blue lamp will. In a similar way human also have favorite colors. Yet we are lucky. With the help of the cones in our eyes we can see many beautiful colors by day, and with the help of the rods we can see shapes at night. One day we may even learn more about the hidden colors around us.The passage is mainly about .
| A．color blindness |
| B．color and its surprising effects. |
| C．women being luckier than men |
| D．danger caused by color blindness |
According to the passage, with the help of the “cones”, we can .
| A．tell different shapes |
| B．see in a weak light |
| C．kill mosquitoes |
| D．tell orange from yellow |
Which of the statements (陈述) about the color-blind is TRUE?
| A．None of them can see deep red |
| B．All of them see everything in shades of green. |
| C．None of them can tell the difference between blue and green. |
| D．Not all of them have the same problem in recognizing color. |
We can attract and kill mosquitoes by using a .
| A．red light | B．yellow light |
| C．blue light | D．green light |
I receive many letters from children and can’t answer them all--there wouldn't be enough time in a day. I’ll try to answer some of the questions that are mostly asked. Where did I get the idea for Stuart Little and for Charlotte's Web? Well, many years ago, I went to bed one night in a railway sleeping car, and during the night I dreamed about a tiny boy who acted rather like a mouse. That's how the story of Stuart Little got started.
As for Charlotte's Web, I like animals and my farm is a very pleasant place to be--at all hours. One day, when I was on my way to feed the pig, I began feeling sorry for the pig because, like most pigs, he was going to die. This made me sad. So I started thinking of ways to save his life. Three years after I started writing it; it was published(出版). ( I am not a fast writer, as you can see.)
Sometimes I'm asked when I started to write, and what made me want to write. I started early -as soon as I could spell. Children often find pleasure through trying to set their thoughts down on paper, either in words or in pictures. I was not good at drawing, so I used words instead. As I grew older, I found that writing could be a way of making a living.
Well, here is the answer to the last question. No, they are imaginary (虚构的) stories. In real life, a family doesn't have a child who looks like a mouse and a spider doesn't write words in her web. Although my stories are imaginary, I like to think that there is some truth in them, too--truth about the way people and animals feel, think and act.The writer wrote this passage to .
| A．introduce his new books. |
| B．introduce two funny stories |
| C．explain why he enjoys writing |
| D．answer some readers’ questions |
We can know from the passage that the writer is a person who .
| A．writes imaginary stories for children |
| B．writes very fast. |
| C．mainly writes stories for adults |
| D．works on a friend’s farm |
The writer started to write because he wanted to .
| A．improve his spelling |
| B．express his thoughts |
| C．show his sadness |
| D．make a good living |
What is probably the last question?
| A．Are your stories true? |
| B．What is the truth in your stories? |
| C．Will you write more imaginary stories? |
| D．Do you know a child looking like a mouse? |
When I was about 12, I had an enemy, a girl who liked to point out (指出) my shortcomings. Week by week her list grew: I was very thin, I wasn’t a good student, I talked too much, I was too proud, and so on. I tried to hear all this as long as I could. At last, I became very angry. I ran to my father with tears in my eyes.
He listened to me quietly, then he asked. “Are the things she says true or not? Janet, didn’t you ever wonder what you’re really like? Well, you now have that girl’s opinion. Go and make a list of everything she said and mark the points that are true. Pay no attention to the other things she said.”
I did as he told me. To my great surprise, I discovered that about half the things were true. Some of them I couldn’t change (like being very thin), but a good number I could-and suddenly I wanted to change. For the first time I go to very clear picture of myself.
I brought the list back to Daddy. He refused to take it. “That’s just for you,” he said. “You know better than anyone else the truth about yourself. But you have to learn to listen, not just close your ears in anger and feeling hurt. When something said about you is true, you’ll find it will be of help to you. Our world is full of people who think they know your duty. Don’t shut your ears. Listen to them all, but hear the truth and do what you know is the right thing to do.”
Daddy’s advice has returned to me at many important moments. In my life, I’ve never had a better piece of advice.What did the father do after he had heard his daughter’s complaint (抱怨)?
| A．He refused to take the list and have a look at it. |
| B．He told her to pay attention only to the things that were true. |
| C．He told her not to pay any attention to what her ‘enemy’ had said. |
| D．He criticized (批评) her and told her to overcome her shortcomings. |
What does “Week by week her list grew” mean?
| A．Week by week, my shortcomings grew more serious. |
| B．I was having more and more shortcomings as time went on. |
| C．Week by week she discovered more shortcomings and pointed them out to me. |
| D．She kept on adding new shortcomings to the list so that it was growing longer and longer. |
Why did her father listen to her quietly?
| A．Because he wasn’t quite sure which girl was telling the truth. |
| B．Because he wanted to show his anger by keeping silent for a while. |
| C．Because he knew that his daughter was telling the truth. |
| D．Because he believed that what her daughter’s “enemy” said was mostly true. |
Which do you think would be the best title for this passage?
A. My Father
B. The Best Advice I’ve Ever Had
B. My Childhood
D. Not an Enemy, but the Best Friend
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