Selena Gomez and I are scheduled to meet at a low-key coffee shop in Encino. Not wanting to keep the superstar waiting, I arrived at nine, 20 minutes early. As I was catching up on e-mails, Selena quietly scooted into the seat next to me. No bodyguard. Not even a drop of makeup. She was ten minutes early and so inconspicuous that no one else in the restaurant looked up so much. Selena was wearing Bebe shorts. She had a baby face and ordered a hot chocolate.
After making small talk about what she wore for the shoot, she dived into the subject of her career. Selena declared 2012 the year of movies. She filmed three: Spring Breakers, a drama; The Getaway, an action flick; and Hotel Transylvania, a comedy. Each is a marked move away from the teen style that made her a household name.
Now that her Disney days are behind her, Selena is at that unstable point in a child star’s career where she is trying to grow up---both as a person(she turned 20 in July)and as an artist. “Being part of the Disney Channel was such a blessing, and I’m super happy with what my show accomplished, but acting is something I would like to take on more seriously.” She continued, “I don’t necessarily feel accomplished. I want to creat a whole different persona when it comes to acting.”
Selena has been working fulltime since she was seven years old and scored a role on Barney&Friends. In 2007, when she was offered the lead in Wizards of Waverly Place, Selena, her mother, and her stepfather uprooted from Grand Prairie, Texas, to LA, where they are settling now.When was it that Selena arrived at the low-key coffee shop?
| A．At ten. |
| B．At ten to nine. |
| C．At ten past nine. |
| D．At thirty past nine. |
Which of the following statements is ture according to the second paragraph?
| A．Selena went into her film career as soon as we met in the coffee shop. |
| B．Three famous films filmed in 2012 have shown her teen style. |
| C．The film Hotel Transylvania is an action flick filmed in 2012 |
| D．Each of the three films marks Selena’s move away from her teen style. |
How did Selena think of Disney days which were behind her?
| A．She thought of playing in Disney a blessing. |
| B．She didn’t feel very satisfied with her show in Disney. |
| C．She found her not accomplished in her performance in Disney. |
| D．She believed her being part in Disney Channel a blessing. |
The underlined word in the last paragraph probably means “ _______”.
| A．moved | B．picked | C．changed | D．informed |
Scott Fitzgerald, born on September 24, 1896, an American novelist, was once a student of St. Paul Academy, the Newman School and attended Princeton University for a short while. In 1917 he joined the army and was posted in Alabama, where he met his future wife Zelda Sayre. Then he had to make some money to impress her.
His life with her was full of great happiness, as he wrote in his diary: “My own happiness in the past often got such joy that I could share it even with the person dearest to me but had to walk it away in quiet streets and take down parts of it in my diary.”
This Side of Paradise, his first novel, was published in 1920. Encouraged by its success, Fitzgerald began to devote more time to his writing. Then he continued with the novel the Beautiful and Damned (1922), a collection of short stories Tales of the Jazz Age (1922), and a play The Vegetable (1923). But his greatest success was the novel The Great Gatsby, published in 1925, which quickly brought him praise from the literary world. Yet it failed to give him the needed financial security. Then, in 1926, he published another collection of short stories All the Sad Young Men.
However, Fitzgerald’s problems with his wife Zelda had an effect on his writing. During the 1920s he tried to reorder his life, but failed. By 1930, his wife had her first breakdown and went to a Swiss clinic. During this period he completed novels Tender Is the Night in 1934 and The Love of the Last Tycoon in 1940. While his wife was in hospital in the United States, he got totally addicted to (沉迷于) alcohol. Sheila Graham, his dear friend, helped him fight his alcoholism.How many novels written by Fitzgerald are mentioned in the passage?
| A．5 | B．6 | C．7 | D．8 |
Which of the following is the correct order according to the passage?
a. He became addicted to drinking.
b. He studied at St. Paul Academy.
c. He published his first novel This Side of Paradise.
d. The Great Gatsby won high praise.
e. He failed to reorder his life.
f. He joined the army and met Zelda.
| A．f-c-e-a-b-d | B．b-e-a-f-c-d |
| C．f-d-e-c-b-a | D．b-f-c-d-e-a |
We can infer from the passage that Fitzgerald __________.
| A．had made some money when he met Zelda in Alabama |
| B．was well educated and well off before he served in the army |
| C．would have completed more works if his wife hadn’t broken down |
| D．helped his friend get rid of drinking while his wife was in hospital |
The passage is probably followed by a concluding paragraph about __________.
| A．Zelda’s personal life |
| B．Zelda’s illness and treatment |
| C．Fitzgerald’s friendship with Graham |
| D．Fitzgerald’s contributions to the literary world |
Wanted，Someone for a Kiss
We’re looking for producers to join us on the sound of London Kiss 100 FM. You’ll work on the station’s music programs. Music production experience in radio is necessary, along with rich knowledge of modern dance music. Please apply in writing to Producer Vacancies, Kiss 100.
Father Christmas
We’re looking for a very special person, preferably over 40, to fill our Father Christmas suit.
Working days: Every Saturday from November 24 to December 15 and every day from December 17 to December 24 except Sundays, 10:30 -16:00.
Excellent pay.
Please contact the Enterprise Shopping Centre, Station Parade, Eastbourne.
Accountants Assistant
When you join the team in our Revenue Administration Unit, you will be providing assistance within all parts of the Revenue Division, dealing with post and other general duties. If you are educated to GCSE grade C level we would like to talk to you. This position is equally suitable for a school leaver or for somebody who has office experience.
Wealden District Council
Software Trainer
If you are aged 24-45 and have experience in teaching and training, you could be the person we are looking for. You should be good at the computer and have some experience in program writing. You will be allowed to make your own decisions, and to design courses as well as present them．Pay upwards of ￡15，000 for the right person. Please apply by sending your CV (简历)to Mrs. R. Oglivie, Palmlace Limited.Who should you get in touch with if you hope to work in a radio station?
| A．Producer Vacancies, Kiss 100. |
| B．Mrs. Oglivie, Palmlace Limited. |
| C．The Enterprise Shopping Centre. |
| D．Wealden District Council. |
We learn from the ads that the Enterprise Shopping Centre needs a person who__________.
| A．is aged between 24 and 40 |
| B．may do some training work |
| C．should deal with general duties |
| D．can work for about a month |
Which position is open to recent school graduates?
| A．Producer, London Kiss. | B．Father Christmas. |
| C．Accountants Assistant. | D．Software Trainer. |
What kind of person would probably apply to Palmlace Limited?
| A．One with GCSE grade C level. |
| B．One with some office experience. |
| C．One having good computer knowledge. |
| D．One trained in producing music programmes. |
When I was about 12, I had an enemy, a girl who liked to point out my shortcomings(缺点). 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, and 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 got a fairly 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 feel 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?
| A．He refused to take the list and have a look at it. |
| B．He told her not to pay any attention to what her “enemy” had said. |
| C．He was angry and told her to overcome her shortcomings. |
| D．He told her to write down all and pay attention only to the things that were true. |
What does “Week by week her list grew” mean?
| A．Week by week she discovered and pointed out more shortcomings of mine. |
| B．She kept on adding new ones to the list so it was growing longer and longer. |
| C．I was having more and more shortcomings as time went on. |
| D．Week by week, my shortcomings grew more serious. |
Which do you think would be the best title for this passage?
| A．My Father |
| B．My Childhood |
| C．The Best Advice I’ve Ever Had |
| D．Not an Enemy, but the Best Friend |
To many web-building spiders, most of whom are nearly blind, the web is their essential window on the world: their means of communicating, capturing prey (猎物), meeting mates and protecting themselves. A web-building spider without its web is like a man cast away on an island of solid rock, totally out of touch and destined to starve to death.
So important is the web to an orb-web spider’s survival that the animal will continue to construct new webs daily even if it is being starved. For 16 days the starving spider builds completely normal webs. Then, as the animal gets scrawnier (憔悴的), it constructs a wider-meshed web using fewer strands (线). Such webs would only trap larger prey, which is more economical from the perspective of a starving spider.
The spider stores energy by recycling web protein. It simply eats its own web each evening and re-uses it to produce new silk. In studies with radioactively labeled materials, it was found that 95 percent of web protein reappears in the next day’s web. Most of the energy needed for web-building is used in walking over the strands as they are laid down.
Scientists are impressed by the adaptability of the spider’s highly preprogrammed brain, which is larger for its size than the brain of any other invertebrate (无脊椎动物). If web-building is interrupted, or if some of the existing strands are destroyed, the spider simply goes back to see where the web is left off and then finished building a normal web. One spider will even finish building the incomplete web of another.
What is probably the best title for the passage?
| A．Secrets of Spiders’ Adaptability |
| B．Importance of Webs to Spiders |
| C．Secrets of the Spiders’ Life |
| D．Spiders’ Highly Preprogrammed Brain |
According to the passage, which of the following statements is TRUE?
| A．Web-building spiders have good eyesight. |
| B．One web-building spider usually conducts one web. |
| C．Most spiders will stop conducting webs when hungry. |
| D．Web-building spiders will probably die without their webs. |
A spider conducts a wider-meshed web when _______.
| A．it is 16 days old |
| B．it is getting weaker |
| C．it has fewer strands |
| D．it hunts for food |
A spider’s ability to finish an incomplete web proves that _______.
| A．it has a highly preprogrammed brain |
| B．it reuses its web protein to reproduce new silk |
| C．the web is everything for a spider |
| D．it is able to rebuild a destroyed web |
Happy birthday! Do birthdays really make people happy? Of course they do. Birthdays celebrate the day we were born. Besides, that extra candle on the cake suggests another year of growth and maturity—or so we hope. We all like to imagine that we’re getting wiser and not just older. Most of us enjoy seeing the miracle of growth in others, as well. For instance, seeing our children develop and learn new things makes us feel proud. For Americans, like people in most cultures, growing up is a wonderful process. But growing old? That’s a different story.
Growing old is not exactly pleasant for people in youth-oriented American culture. Most Americans like to look young, act young and feel young. As the old saying goes, “You’re as young as you feel.” Older people joke about how many years young they are, rather than how many years old. People in some countries value the aged as a source of experience and wisdom. But Americans seem to favor those that are young, or at least “young at heart”.
Many older Americans find the “golden years” to be anything but golden. Economically, “senior citizens” often struggle just to get by. Retirement at age 65 brings a sharp decrease in personal income. Social security benefits usually cannot make up the difference. Older people may suffer from poor nutrition, medical care and housing. Some even experience age discrimination (歧视). In 1987, American sociologist Pat Moore dressed up like an older person and wandered city streets. She was often treated rudely—even cheated and robbed. However, dressed as a young person, she received much more respect.
Unfortunately, the elderly population in America is increasing fast. Why? People are living together. Fewer [来源:Z-x-x-k.Com]babies are being born. And middle-aged “baby boomers” are rapidly entering the groups of the elderly. America may soon be a place where wrinkles (皱纹) are “in”. Marketing experts are already noticing this group of consumers (消费者).The main idea of the third paragraph is________.
| A．the golden years can make the old earn lots of money |
| B．many old people in America are leading a hard life |
| C．the old in America have to retire at the age of 65 |
| D．American social security benefits are not good |
From the last paragraph we know that the underlined word “in” can be replaced by________.
| A．serious | B．bad |
| C．disappearing slowly | D．growing fast |
From this passage we can know________.
| A．in America, growing up is not a wonderful process |
| B．in America, growing up is as wonderful a process as growing old |
| C．in America, growing up is a wonderful process, while growing old is not |
| D．in America, growing old is a wonderful process, while growing up is not |
What should be mentioned in the following paragraph?
| A．The public will change their attitude towards old people. |
| B．People will provide more services to the old in their communities. |
| C．Companies will soon produce more goods for old Americans. |
| D．The government will pass laws to ensure the benefits of the people. |
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