She belongs to no one but the whole world that can understand her language. Her music is appreciated across the globe but it is Singapore, China, Thailand and Britain that have helped to shape her talent.
Violinist, Vanessa-Mae, best known for her pioneering mix of pop and classical music, has just completed her Asian tour. She has a magic power that has attracted an audience from around the world but the violin genius has always drawn fans by blazing a new trail.
“I don’t like playing it safe, I like jumping into new styles,” she said. She started her Asian performance tour in China’s Hong Kong on September 19 and visited the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumper. The tour, aiming to promote her new album, “The Best of Vanessa-Mae”, ends in Thailand’s capital Bangkok on September 30.
The graceful and beautiful musician has attracted lots of fans in the places she has visited. She said although she enjoys trying out different forms of performance, including fashion shows and singing, she feels more comfortable with her violin. She has promised her fans she will never abandon the classical music that was the foundation of her training.
Vanessa-Mae, now 23, first picked up the violin at five. After six months of intensive training in Beijing, he turned professional at 10. it was her fusion (融合) of classical and rock in her 1995 album “The Violin Player”, that shot the then 17-year-old to international recognition. The record sold 3 million copies worldwide.
She has a Chinese-Singaporean mother and a Thai father. She was born in Singapore and grew up in Britain. Vanessa-Mae has released seven albums and plans two more in the near future—first a classical album,, then a pop recording.
She has said she wants to perform for the next 10 years, but after that she may settle down with her boyfriend, a 33-year-old wine-dealer from France, and concentrate on writing music.Vanessa-Mae started her Asian performance tour .
| A．to concentrate on writing music |
| B．to go on a lobng journey |
| C．to sell her new album “The Best of Vanessa-Mae” |
| D．to attract her fans |
She has given performance in these forms EXCEPT .
| A．playing the violin | B．fashion shows |
| C．singing | D．playing the piano |
What can we know about Vanessa-Mae from the passage?
| A．Her music is a mix of pop and classical music. |
| B．She has released nine albums. |
| C．Her music is a fusion of Chinese and Western music. |
| D．Being born in Singapore and growing up in Britain have resulted in popularity of her music. |
Ever since he got into the Hong Kong film industry in 1994 with He’s a Woman, She’s a Man, Hong Kong director, Peter Chan has been one of the industry’s most powerful voices. Later in 1996, another milestone Comrades: Almost a Love Story came into being. Chan’s latest film, American Dreams in China is a carefully-calculated film with an eye toward opening the mainland cinema market.
American Dreams in China is a film purely for Chinese audiences, but how it plays there remains to be seen. It sends the right messages, but whether that’s enough to make it a hit is everyone’s guess. Mainland audiences aren’t quite that easy to “speak” to.
The film began during the period of economic reforms in China in the 1980s. The bookish farm boy Cheng Dongqing (Huang Xiaoming), the ambitious and confident boy Meng Xiaojun (Deng Chao) and the poetic Wang Yang(Tong Dawei), were three friends at university in Beijing and preparing for American visa interviews. Wang was the first to be granted the visa but he gave it up for his western girlfriend, and Cheng was repeatedly denied. Only Meng actually got a study visa. As he was leaving, he told his friends that he wouldn’t come back.
Several years later, Cheng and Wang built a successful school, New Dream, from the ashes of Cheng’s misfortune(his girlfriend got a visa too, and Cheng lost his university teaching job) and Wang’s ability to connect with students often through Hollywood movies. In America, Meng suffered a lot. Disappointed, he went home and joined his friends at New Dream. Later, the three friends’ relationship became worsened, but finally was improved under the weight of their common goals. Which of the following films made Peter Chan a most influential director in Hong Kong?
| A．American Dreams in China |
| B．Comrades: Almost a Love Story |
| C．New Dream |
| D．He’s a Woman, She’s a Man |
The underlined word “granted” (in paragraph 3) probably means “_________”.
| A．prepared | B．given | C．involved | D．permitted |
When the three men made preparations for American visa interviews, how many was/were offered a visa?
| A．None | B．One. | C．Three. | D．Two |
What led Cheng and Wang to start a business?
| A．The connection with Hollywood movies. |
| B．The weight of their common goals. |
| C．Cheng’s misfortune and Wang’s ability. |
| D．Meng’s disappointment and sufferings. |
On a stormy day last August, Tim heard some shouting. Looking out to the sea carefully, he saw a couple of kids in a rowboat w ere being pulled out to sea.
Two 12-year-old boys, Christian and Jack, rowed out a boat to search a football. Once they’d rowed beyond the calm waters, a beach umbrella tied to the boat caught the wind and pulled the boat into open water. The pair panicked and tried to row back to shore. But they were no match for it and the boat was out of control.
Tim knew it would soon be swallowed by the waves.
“Everything went quiet in my head,” Tim recalls（回忆）. “I’m trying to fi gure out how to swim to the boys in a straight line.”
Tim took off his clothes and jumped into the water. Every 500 yards or so, he raised his head to judge his progress. “At one point, I considered turning back,” he says. “I wondered if I was putting my life at risk.” After 30 minutes of struggling, he was close enough to yell to the boys, “Take down the umbrella!”
Christian made much effort to take down the umbrella. Then Tim was able to catch up and climb aboard the boat. He took over rowing, but the waves were almost too strong for him.
“Let’s aim for the pier（码头）,” Jack said. Tim turned the boat toward it. Soon afterward, waves crashed over the boat, and it began to sink. “Can you guys swim?” he cried. “A little bit,” the boys said.Once they were in the water, Tim decided it would be safer and faster for him to pull the boys toward the pier. Christian and Jack were wearing life jackets and floated on their backs. Tim swam toward land as water washed over the boys’ faces.
“Are we almost there?” they asked again and again. “Yes,” Tim told them each time.
After 30 minutes, they reached the pier.Why did the two boys go to the sea?
| A．To go boat rowing. |
| B．To get back their football. |
| C．To swim in the open water. |
| D．To test the umbrella as a sail. |
Why did Tim raise his head regularly?
| A．To take in enough fresh air. |
| B．To consider turning back or not. |
| C．To check his distance from the boys. |
| D．To ask the boys to take down the umbrella. |
How can the two boys finally reach the pier?
| A．They were dragged to the pier by Tim. |
| B．They swam to the pier all by themselves. |
| C．They were washed to the pier by the waves. |
| D．They were carried to the pier by Tim on his back. |
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The Winners Club is a bank account specially designed for teenagers. It has been made to help you better manage your money. The Winners Club is a transaction account（交易账户）where you receive a key-card so you can get to your money 24/7—that’s 24 hours a day, 7 days a week!
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The Winners Club is a great choice for teenagers. And it is so easy to join. Simply fill in an application form. You will have to get permission from your parent or guardian (so we can organize that cool key-card) but it is easy. We can’t wait to hear from you. It’s the best way to choose to be a winner! The Winners Club is a bank account intended for _________.
| A．parents | B．teenagers | C．winners | D．adults |
The Winners Club provides magazines which ________.
| A．encourage spending |
| B．are free to all teenagers |
| C．are full of adventure stories |
| D．help to make more of your money |
If you want to be a member of the Club, you must _________.
| A．be an Internet user | B．be permitted by your parent |
| C．has a big sum of money | D．be in your twenties |
What is the purpose of this text?
| A．To set up a club. | B．To provide part-time jobs. |
| C．To organize key-cards. | D．To introduce a new banking service. |
In early autumn I applied for admission to college. I wanted to go nowhere but to Cornell University, but my mother fought strongly against it. When she saw me studying a photograph of my father on the sports ground of Cornell, she tore it up.
“You can’t say it’s not a great university, just because Papa went there.”
“That’s not it at all. And it is a top university.” She was still holding the pieces in her hand. “But we can’t afford to send you to college.”
“I wouldn’t dream of asking you for money. Do you want m e to get a job to help support you and Papa? Things aren’t that bad, are they?”
“No,” she said. “I don’t expect you to help support us.”
Father borrowed money form his rich cousins to start a small jewellery shop, His chief customers were his old college friends. To get new customers, my mother had to help. She picked up a long-forgotten membership in the local league of women, so that she could get to know more people. Whether those people would turn into customers was another question. I knew that my Parents had to wait for quite a long time before their small investment (投资) could show returns. What’s more ,they had not wanted enough to be rich and successful ；otherwise they could not possibly have managed their lives so badly.
I was torn between the desire to help them and change their lives, and the determination not to repeat their mistakes. I had a strong belief in my power to go what I wanted. After months of hard study I won a full college scholarship.(奖学金)My father could hardly contain his pride in me, and my mother eventually gave in before my success.The author was not allowed to go to Cornell University mainly because .
| A．his father graduated from the university |
| B．his mother did not think it a great university |
| C．his parents needed him to help support the family |
| D．his parents did not have enough money for him |
The father started his small shop with the money from.
| A．a local league | B．his university | C．his relatives | D．his college friends |
Why did the mother renew her membership in the league?
| A．To help with her husband’s business |
| B．To raise money for her sonaris. |
| C．To meet her long-forgotten friends |
| D．To better manage her life |
According to the text, what was the author determined to do in that autumn?
| A．To get a well-paid job for himself |
| B．To improve relations with his mother |
| C．To go to his dream university |
| D．To carry on with his father,s business. |
Most people know that Marie Curie was the first woman to win the Nobel Prize, and the first person to win it twice. However, few people know that she was also the mother of a Nobel Prize winner.
Born in September, 1897, Irene Curie was the first of the Curies’ two daughters. Along with nine other children whose parents were also famous scholars, Irene studied in their own school, and her mother was one of the teachers. She finished her high school education at the College of Sévigné in Paris.
Irene entered the University of Paris in 1914 to prepare for a degree in mathematics and physics. When World War I began, Irene went to help her mother, who was using X-ray facilities（设备） to help save the lives of wounded soldiers. Irene continued the work by developing X-ray facilities in military hospitals in France and Belgrum. Her services were recognised in the form of a Military’s Medal by the French government. In 1918, Irene became her mother’s assistant at the Curie Institute. In December 1924, Frederic Joliot joined the Institute, and Irene taugh him the techniques required for his work. They soon fell in love and were married in 1926. Their daughter Helene was born in 1927 and their son Pierre five years later.
Like her mother, Irene combined family and career. Like her mother, Irene was awarded a Nobel Prize, along with her husband, in 1935. Unfortunately, also like her mother, she developed leukemia because of her work with radioactivity（辐射能）. Irene Joliot-Curie died from leukemia on March 17, 1956.Why was Irene Curie awarded a Military Medal?
| A．Because she received a degree in mathematics. |
| B．Because she contributed to saving the wounded. |
| C．Because she won the Nobel Prize with Frederic. |
| D．Because she worked as a helper to her mother. |
Where did Ire ne Curie meet her husband Frederio joliot ?
| A．At the Curie Institute. | B．At the university of Paris |
| C．At a military hospital. | D．At the College of Sevigne. |
When was the second child of Irene Curie and Frederic Joliot born?
| A．In 1932. | B．In 1927. | C．In 1897. | D．In 1926. |
In which of the following aspects was Irene Cuire different from her mother?
| A．Irene worked with radioactivity. | B．Irene combined family and career. |
| C．Irene won the Nobel Prize once . | D．Irene died from leukemia. |
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