Ray Charles, a black singer and pianist of the USA. He had won 12 Grammy Awards(格莱美奖) and performed at 10, 000 concerts around the world. Many musicians called him simply “The Genius”(天才).
Ray Charles was born into a poor family, without a father. When he was 5 years old, his younger brother died, and around the same time, Charles started to lose his sight. By the age of 7, he was completely blind. He had already been learning the piano for a year, and when he went blind, his mother knew this would be the only way he would make any money in the future. All his life, Charles remembered her saying: “Do it right, or don't do it at all.”
Later he went to a school for blind and deaf children. There the teachers also encouraged him to study music. Sadly, while he was still at school, his mother died. He left school and in the early 1950s Charles organized a group of players. He sang, played the piano and wrote music. He made many classical CDs with famous artists such as Elton John and the Beatles.
In 2003 a film of his life Ray was made. The part of Charles was played by a younger actor and musician called Jamie Foxx. The film director brought Foxx to meet Charles. After they had been playing together for two hours, Charles, then aged 73, jumped up and said, “He's the one. He can do it.” A year later Charles died aged 74. The film of his life has been as popular as his songs and means that the memory of Charles' music will live on.
根据短文内容，选择最佳答案，并在答题卡上将选定答案的字母标号涂黑。
1.What can we learn from Ray's childhood story?
A.His father died when he was 5 years old.
B.He started to lose his sight at the age of 7.
C.He was born in a rich musician family.
D.He started to learn the piano when he was 6.
2.Ray Charles' mother encouraged him to play music because ________.
A.his father was a musician as well
B.it would help him get used to being blind
C.it was a good way for a blind person to get money
D.his teacher thought he was a genius
3.Ray Charles went to a school for ________.
A.normal children B.deaf and blind children
C.talented children only D.children without parents
4.Ray Charles thought that Jamie Foxx ________.
A.was the right person to play him in the film B.was a good film-maker
C.was the wrong person to play him in the film D.was a good director
5.What is the main idea of the last paragraph?
A.Becoming a musician. B.Childhood story.
C.The film of Ray's life. D.Master of many styles.
You may have heard of the famous saying, “East or west, home is the best.” What does the word “home” mean to you? How do you say the word in French? In Chinese? In your language? Even if (尽管) people usually know what the word means, it sometimes has no exact translation. It’s not surprising, because the idea of home is different from country to country, and from person to person. A home is more than a roof(屋顶）and four walls. It’s cooking, eating, talking, playing and sleeping that go on inside. And at home you usually feel safe and relaxed.
Homes look different in different countries. They also have different things inside. For example, in cold northern Europe, there’s a fire in the living room or kitchen and all the chairs face it. In the south, where the sun shines a lot and it’s more important to keep the heat out, there are small windows and cool stone floors.
We asked some people about their homes. How often do people move house in your country? “In my country many people don’t stay in one place for a very long time. They often move every ten years or so.”
— Cherry, Boston, USA
What are features (特点) of homes in your country?
“In Britain, even in town, there’s always a garden. We have separate(各自的) bedrooms and living rooms. But we don’t often have balconies. The weather isn’t warm enough!
— Pat. Exeter, England
根据短文内容，选择最佳答案，并在答题卡上将选定答案的字母标号涂黑。
1.The word “home” sometimes has no exact translation because ______.
A.people can’t find this word in the dictionary
B.no one knows what it is
C.it has different meanings in different countries
D.people can’t understand each other very well
2.According to the passage, you can do everything except(除了) ______at home.
A.making friends B.cooking and eating
C.playing and talking D.sleeping and relaxing
3.Why is it important to keep the heat out of the houses in southern Europe?
A.Because they want to breathe(呼吸) fresh air outside.
B.Because there’s a fire in the living room.
C.Because they wear heavy clothes all day long.
D.Because the sun there shines a lot.
4.From the second paragraph, what kind of homes people have depends on ______.
A.whether they are rich or not B.the climate (气候) they have
C.how old they are D.whether they live in the city or the countryside
5.Which one of the sentences below is TRUE?
A.People in Britain seldom have balconies because it’s so hot outside.
B.Some Americans move house several times during their lifetime.
C.Homes look the same in different countries.
D.Houses in northern Europe have big windows and cool stone floors.
根据表格信息，选择最佳答案，并在答题卡上将选定答案的字母标号涂黑。
1.The Long Night was written by ______.
A.David Reilly B.Maha C.Joanna D.Marcie Jacome
2.The story of Hard Work happened in ______.
A.Australia B.Thailand C.India D.England
3.From the passage we can see Tina is ______.
A.a doctor B.a film star C.a writer D.a college student
4.______ is about a difficult journey.
A.Hospital or Cinema B.Hard Work
C.The Long Night D.Harry Potter
5.The passage above is ______.
A.an ad B.a story C.a novel D.a diary
People all have problems. If we don’t deal with these problems, we can easily become unhappy. Worrying about our problems can influence how we do at school. It can also influence the way we behave with our families. So how do we deal with our problems? There are many ways, and here is one of them.
Most of us have probably been angry with our friends, parents or teachers. Perhaps they said something you didn’t like, or you felt they were unfair. Sometimes people can stay angry for years, about a small problem. Time goes by, and good friendship may be lost.
When we are angry, however, we are usually the ones influenced. Perhaps we have seen young children playing together. Sometimes they have disagreements, and decide not to talk to each other. However, this usually does not last for long, because they usually forget it quickly.
根据上述内容，判断下列句子正误，正确的在括号内填“T”，错误的在括号内填“F”。
1.The main idea of the passage is how to deal with our problems.
2.Worrying about our problems can’t influence how we do.
3.Children don’t talk to each other probably because they disagree with each other.
4.We aren’t influenced when we are angry.
5.From the text we know an important lesson for us is learning to forget.
Jim, a successful businessman, told the experience of his childhood.
When he was 12 years old, his parents died. He was alone and didn’t get on well with others. People always laughed at him. No one showed ______to him.
His only friend was a dog named Tige. He gave his dog enough to eat and drink, but sometimes he was not ______to it. He didn’t know that an unkind word sometimes could cut one’s heart like a knife.
One day as he walked down the street, a young lady was walking in front of him. One of her bags dropped from her arms. As she stopped to _____, she dropped other bags. He came to help her. “Thank you, dear! You are a nice little boy!” She said kindly, smiling.
A special feeling came to him. It was the first time that he had heard such kind words. He watched her _____ she went far away, and then he whistled (吹口哨) to his dog and went directly to the river ______.
“Thanks, dear! You are a nice little boy!” He repeated what the woman said. Then in a low_____ he said to his dog, “You are a nice little dog.” Tige raised its ears as if it understood.
“Hmm! Even a dog likes it!” he said. “Well, Tige, I won’t say anything unkind to you ___.” Tige waved its tail happily.
The boy thought and thought. Finally he looked at himself in the river. He saw _____but a dirty boy. He washed his face carefully. Again he saw a _____nice boy. He was amazed. From then on, he started a new life.
After telling this, the businessman said, “This is the very place in which that kind woman planted the first seed (种子) of kindness in my heart.” What a great ______it has!
1.A.kindness B.happiness C.illness D.worries
2.A.exciting B.interesting C.strange D.friendly
3.A.find it B.pick it up C.look it up D.give it up
4.A.until B.after C.since D.because
5.A.far B.nearby C.fast D.nearly
6.A.sound B.noise C.voice D.hear
7.A.too B.at all C.any long D.any more
8.A.anything B.nothing C.everything D.something
9.A.clean B.dirty C.smiling D.angry
10.A.present B.dream C.advice D.power
— It is too hard for me to make my dream come true.
— Never _________. Believe in yourself!
A.lose heart B.hurry up C.look up D.put up
