Ernest Gaines, the son of sharecroppers (佃农), was born in January 15, 1933 on the River Lake Plantation near the small village of Oscar, Louisiana. He attended school for kids more than five months out of the year. But that was more education than his family before him had received. He would say later in life that his ear for the stories of his elders was developed as he wrote letters for adults who couldn’t read or write.
In the late 1940’s, at the age of 15, his family moved to the northern California where he could do something that had been forbidden in the South: visit a library. Ernest later attended San Francisco State University. Then he returned to Louisiana in 1963, inspired by James Meredith’s bid to enroll in the then-all-white University of Mississippi. He took it as a sign that the South was changing and that he could be part of that change. “As I’ve said many times before, the two greatest moves I’ve made were on the day I left Louisiana in 1948, and on the day I came back to Louisiana in 1963,” he said.
Less than 10 years later, in 1971, he published the novel that brought him attention, The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman which told the story of a black woman born as a slave who lives long enough to witness the civil rights era. Ernest would later say that the fictional Jane was modeled after his disabled great-aunt, Augustine Jefferson, who could not walk, but was strong enough to raise a family. Another novel, A Gathering of Old Men, published in 1983, was made into a movie in 1987. He won the National Book Critics Circle Award in 1993 for his novel A Lesson Before Dying. A number of his stories and essays were gathered in the 2005 collection Mozart and Leadbelly.
His permanent residence in Louisiana was a house that he and his wife built on land that was once part of River Lake Plantation. Ernest talked about his home, “If Auntie could sit here with me, or my stepfather who took me away from here, or my uncle George, who used to take me to those old beat-up bars in Baton Rouge — if I could, I’d just buy him a good glass of Gentleman Jack, and we could sit here and talk. Oh, I wish I could do that.”
1.How did Ernest benefit from writing letters for adults?
A.It inspired great love for writing in him.
B.It made him enter the university successfully.
C.It laid the foundation for his writing of his elders.
D.It promoted his communication with his families.
2.What can we know about Ernest from paragraph 2?
A.Ernest got the freedom of education in California.
B.Ernest’s departure and return influenced his life a lot.
C.James helped him apply to University of Mississippi.
D.Ernest’s experience in the South affected him greatly.
3.In which novel can you know about Ernest’s auntie?
A.Mozart and Leadbelly. B.A Lesson Before Dying.
C.A Gathering of Old Men. D.The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman.
4.What does Ernest convey in his words in the last paragraph?
A.He misses his relatives. B.He hopes to leave again.
C.He cherishes his childhood. D.He loves drinking and chatting.
Leila’ s Hair Museum
Before the invention of photography, people kept memories of loved ones by creating mementos(纪念物)using human hair. In 1986, Leila Cohoon opened a museum in Independence, Missouri, to show her collection of more than 2, 000 pieces of hair-based art collected over 30 years. Billed as the only hair museum in the world, it includes more than 400 braided hair wreaths(花环)and 2,000 pieces of jewellery dating back to the mid-1600s. “My museum is filled with other people’s families,” Leila says. “It tells a story. ”
International UFO Museum and Research Center
On July 7, 1947, a farmer discovered mysterious metallic debris(金属碎片)in his farm outside Roswell, New Mexico. Roswell Army Air Field (RAAF)originally said it recovered a flying disc. The next day, RAAF changed its words: The object was a weather balloon. Stories of a UFO and a government cover-up spread. Each year, 180,000 people check out the dirt from the UFO crash site, photos, and reports about the Roswell incident.
Museum of Bad Art
Not all art is created equal. After finding an oil painting in the rubbish in 1993—the now classic Lucy in the Field with Flowers—Scott Wilson started collecting bad art. Before long, he showed his finds at the Somerville movie theater. The Museum of Bad Art (MOBA) gives the public a firsthand look at some of the world’s worst “disaster-pieces”. Popular paintings include Mana Lisa, Hollywood Lips, and Drilling for Eggs. “MOBA is always on the lookout for the best of the worst,” said co-founder Marie Jackson. “But what an artist considers to be bad doesn’t always meet our low standards. ”
Mutter Museum
Welcome to the Mutter Museum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania—home to more than 5,000 brains, bones, and dead bodies! In 1858, Dr. Thomas Dent Mutter gave his collection of preserved body parts, and bones to the College Of Physicians to improve medical education, which led to the museum’s creation in 1863. Today, Mutter is the most famous medical museum in America, housing a wall of bones, and pieces of Albert Einstein’ s brain.
1.What is special about Leila’s Hair Museum?
A. It is full of family stories.
B. It houses the world’s greatest photos.
C. It holds collections from around the globe.
D. It was opened to remember Leila’s loved ones.
2.What can you find in the Mutter Museum?
A. Photos about the Roswell incident. B. Some of Albert Einstein’s brain.
C. 2,000 pieces of jewellery. D. Mana Lisa.
3.What do the four museums have in common?
A. They are newly-founded museums. B. They are art-centered.
C. They are unpopular among visitors. D. They are quite unusual.
假定你是李华, 现在英国，你想和你的同学们参观镇上的一次历史展览会。请你根据以下内容 给展览会的负责人写一封信，询问你想了解的相关信息。内容主要包括:
1.展览的内容；
2.展览开始和结束的日期；
3.门票是否有折扣。
注意：1.词数 80 词左右；
2.可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；
3.已给内容不计入词数。
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单词拼写
1.What percentage of the students in your school are a ______ to colleges?
2.These toys are a real b ______ at such low prices.
3.Consider carefully where your s ______ and weaknesses lie.
4.Facing such f ______ competition, he has to make every effort.
5.He a ______ to his girl friend for having kept her waiting.
6.He tried over and over and finally s ______ (成功).
7.Are you ______ (熟悉的) with the rules of baseball?
8.They ______ (探索) this desert region in 1923.
9.You have to ask for your teacher’s ______ (许可) to leave early.
10.They only have a ______ (有限的) amount of time to explain their idea.
As a young man, Aaron was a skilled artist, a porter. He had a wife and two fine sons. One night, his older son developed a stomachache. Thinking it was some _______ disorder, neither Aaron nor his wife took the condition very seriously. But the illness was actually severe and the boy _______ suddenly that night.
The son’s death could have been prevented if he had only _______ the seriousness of the situation! Aaron’s emotional health got _______ under the heavy burden of his guilt (内疚). What's worse, his wife left him a short time later, leaving him alone with his six-year-old younger son. The hurt and pain of the two situations were more than Aaron could handle, and he _______ alcohol (酒精) to help him cope. In time Aaron became an alcoholic (酗酒者).
As the alcoholism (酗酒) _______, Aaron began to lose everything he possessed — his home, his land, his art objects, everything. _______, Aaron died alone in a San Francisco motel room.
When I heard of Aaron's death, I reacted like most people who show no respect for one ending his life with nothing material to show for it. ''What a complete failure! '' I thought. ''What a _______ life! ''
As time went by, I began to reevaluate my earlier cold _______. You see, I knew Aaron’s now adult son, Ernie. He has a family and he is one of the kindest, most caring, most loving men I have ever known. I watched Ernie with his ________. I saw the free flow of ________ between them. I knew that kindness and caring had to come from somewhere.
I hadn't heard Ernie talk much about his father. It is so hard to ________ an alcoholic. One day I worked up my courage to ________ him. ''I'm really ________ by something, '' I said. ''I know your father was basically the only one to ________ you. What on earth did he do that you became such a special person? ''
Ernie sat quietly and thought for a few moments. Then he said, ''From my earliest memories as a child until I left home at 18, Aaron came into my room every night, gave me a ________ and said, 'love you, son. '''
Tears came to my eyes as I realized what a fool I had been to judge Aaron as a(n) ________. He had not ________ any material possessions to his son. But he had been a kind loving ________. He ________ one of the finest, most giving men I have ever known.
1.A.common B.strange C.special D.unusual
2.A.cried B.died C.ached D.awoke
3.A.discussed B.questioned C.ignored D.realized
4.A.considered B.improved C.damaged D.examined
5.A.turned to B.referred to C.picked up D.gave up
6.A.decreased B.disappeared C.progressed D.approached
7.A.Finally B.Surprisingly C.Naturally D.Obviously
8.A.short B.wasted C.rich D.lonely
9.A.speech B.judgment C.words D.attitude
10.A.children B.friends C.colleagues D.pets
11.A.thoughts B.blood C.love D.time
12.A.hate B.hide C.change D.defend
13.A.meet B.interview C.call D.ask
14.A.embarrassed B.puzzled C.frightened D.harmed
15.A.visit B.teach C.leave D.raise
16.A.kiss B.gift C.book D.lecture
17.A.pity B.pride C.failure D.honor
18.A.presented B.left C.offered D.showed
19.A.husband B.adult C.artist D.father
20.A.found out B.left out C.left behind D.pointed out
To joke around is to have fun with someone. To fool someone is to try to make them believe something that is not true. 1.
April 1st is known as the day to fool people with practical jokes, pranks or harmless tricks. 2. Some say April Fools' Day began as one big mistake.
Many centuries ago, people in the Western world used the Julian calendar. 3. However, when people began using the Gregorian calendar, the New Year was moved to January 1st. Those who forgot the change and tried to celebrate New Year's Day on the wrong date were teased and called ''April fools''. This is just one of the many theories behind the origin of April Fools' Day. 4.
The fool is a common character in art, music and literature. William Shakespeare is famous for his fools. And fools make for great pop songs. Fools are found in many words, expressions and proverbs. To be foolhardy means to do something that are too dangerous or risky. For example, it is foolhardy to hike up a mountain during a heavy snowstorm. If something is foolproof, it is planned or made so well that nothing could go wrong. 5.
''Look, I don't want to get into trouble. This plan of yours sounds risky. ''
''My plan is foolproof. Nothing will go wrong as long as you do exactly as I say. ''
A.Not even a fool could mess it up.
B.And that is the purpose of April Fools' Day.
C.They celebrated the New Year on April 1st.
D.Even a smart person can be a fool at times.
E.But the tradition remains the same—to fool someone.
F.Fools also find themselves in many proverbs.
G.But how did this tradition begin?
