Few of us haven’t read Cinderella, the story of a young woman living in poverty who meets the prince of her dreams. Some might not want to admit it, but there is a hidden Cinderella in everyone’s heart—we all wish we could achieve recognition or success after a period of obscurity(默默无闻)or neglect.
Mary Santiago has that secret dream, too. Her story is featured in Another Cinderella Story, a film set in a US high school.
Mary is shy but loves to dance. Compared with other girls, she is invisible. However, her world changes completely when a famous teenage pop singer, Joey Parker, appears.
Joey is everything the rest of the boys in her class are not—kind, handsome and desirable. Mary and Joey’s paths cross at a ball. They meet and fall in love with each other. But when Mary has to rush back home, she leaves behind her MP3 player, which becomes the only clue Joey has to find the girl of his dreams. Of course, there is a wicked(邪恶的)stepmother, who turns out to be Dominique Blatt and she takes in Mary after her dancer mother dies. Dominique treats Mary like a maid and does everything she can to make sure Mary doesn’t get into the top dance school. Her two daughters are equally determined to stop Joey falling for Mary, even if that means embarrassing her.
The story, though it mostly follows Cinderella, does add a few modern day twists to the classic fairy tale. Refreshingly, the film, unlike many high school films, does not focus on looks, although the actors are all beautiful. There is also a lot less materialism in Another Cinderella Story than in many similar movies.
“The movie takes the fairy tale Cinderella as its jumping off point, ”writes movie critic Amber Wilkinson. “The focus is firmly on following your dream. ”
1.The first paragraph is mainly to .
A. build interest and lead us to Mary’s secret dream
B. remind us why Cinderella is popular all the years
C. inform us of the main topic of the whole passage
D. tell us how interesting the fairy tale Cinderella is
2. In the movie, Mary Santiago is the main character who .
A. is brave in expressing her love
B. is attended to badly by the stepmother
C. has a dream of meeting a prince
D. is embarrassed by the pop singer
3.What can we infer from the passage?
A. Joey is just like other boys in Mary’s class.
B. Mary’s mother influences her a lot in singing.
C. Not many people have a dream to be realized.
D. The MP3 player helps Joey in finding Mary.
4.The passage is mainly .
A. an introduction to a film
B. a review about a film
C. an essay about dreams
D. an advertisement of Cinderella
5.According to the passage, Another Cinderella Story .
A. follows Cinderella with nothing new
B. pays more attention to the looks of the actors
C. encourages young people to follow their dreams
D. focuses more on materialism than other films
Do you suppose Darwin, one of the greatest scientists of all time, really did foolish experiments? Or did he do experiments that were so simple and basic that other people just thought they were foolish?
Sometimes, people think they already know the answer to a question or the solution to a problem. Sometimes, they really do know an answer or a solution, but without thinking they are important.
Charles Darwin didn’t settle for(满足于)just thinking he knew something. And, he believed all things could be important however simple they seemed to be.
Suppose you drop sheets of paper that are of exactly the same size and shape. If you drop them at the same time in the same place, they will fall in the same way. Now make one of the sheets of paper into a tight little ball and let it drop along with the other sheets. What happens? You have done an experiment that is so simple that you might think it couldn’t be worth anything.
But this simple experiment is important. It explains part of our present-day understandings of physics, ideas that were worked out long ago by Galileo and Newton. And these understandings set aside some of ancient Greek physics.
Scientists sometimes stop to look at very simple things and to think very hard about them. Even the simplest idea, which we might think is foolish, can shake the foundations of science.
1. The passage tells us that Charles Darwin .
A. was a great English scientist
B. always liked doing the experiments that others thought difficult
C. thought even the simplest thing was important
D. didn’t get well with others
2. The underlined phrase “set aside” most probably means .
A. throw away B. store up
C. put to use D. realize
3. The author of the passage tries to .
A. convince us that Charles Darwin, Galileo and Newton are the greatest scientists in the world
B. draw the conclusion that basic sciences are simple things
C. prove that two sheets of paper, with the same size and shape, will fall at the same speed
D. draw our attention to everyday happenings around us
4.Which of the following is TRUE?
A. Darwin really did foolish experiments.
B. According to some people Darwin did foolish experiments.
C. It is believed by all the people that things could be important though they seemed to be simple.
D. Galileo and Newton worked out ancient Greek physics.
I first met Li Ming at a friend birthday party five years ago. Then I invited Li Ming over in my place. We listen to my CDs together and soon became best friend. Three years ago, Li Ming’s parents invited I to spend two wonderful week in Qingdao with them during the summer holiday. Li Ming and I loved walking along the beautifully beaches there. Last year I was ill but had to stay in hospital for a week. Li Ming came see me every day. Then his father has changed jobs and they moved to another city. Since then we haven’t see each other much. But we’ve kept writing to each other.
I was ten when I first sat with my grandmother behind the cashier(收银台)in her general store. 1. I quickly learned the importance of treating customers politely and saying “thank you”.
At first I was paid in candy. 2. I worked every day after school, and during the summer and on weekends and holidays from 8 a. m. to 7 p. m. . My father helped me set up a bank account. 3.
By the time I was 12, My grandmother thought I had done such a good job that she promoted me to selling cosmetics(化妆品). I developed the ability to look customers directly in the eye. Even though I was just a kid, women would ask me such things as “What color do you think I should wear? ”I took a real interest in their questions and was able to translate what they wanted into makeup(化妆)ideas. 4.
The job taught me a valuable lesson: to be a successful salesperson, you didn’t need to be a rocket scientist—you needed to be a great listener. 5. Expect they are no longer women purchasing cosmetics from me; instead, they are kids who tell me which toys they would like to see designed and developed.
A. Later I received 50 cents an hour.
B. Before long, she let me sit there by myself.
C. I ended my selling a record amount of cosmetics.
D. Today I still carry that lesson with me: I listen to customers.
E. My grandma’s trust taught me how to handle responsibility.
F. Soon I found myself looking more beautiful than ever before.
G. Watching my money grow was more rewarding than anything I could have bought.
There has been an outpouring of love for a 23-year-old disabled woman whose dog was killed in front of her while a groomer(美容师)tried to trim(修剪)its claws.
Calls and e-mails came from as far away as the Upper Peninsula and Arizona as well as Oakland and Macomb counties, offering Laurie Crouch, who uses a wheelchair because of multiple sclerosis(硬化症), everything from dogs to money, such as that from Jason Daly of Roseville who said, “I would like to buy her a new dog. ”
A story about the death of Crouch’s pet, Gooch, was printed on the front page of Macomb Daily. Crouch said a groomer tied Gooch up with a collar, and then she and a man sat on the dog to trim its nails. Gooch died after one claw was trimmed.
Crouch yelled at the groomer to stop when she saw Gooch was struggling to breathe, but she said she was ignored. “If I could have walked, I would have put my hands on her and pulled her off my dog and physically stopped her, but I can’t do that. ”Gooch was not a trained service animal, but naturally helped Crouch by picking up things for her.
“This case is absolute animal abuse(虐待), ”Larry Obrecht, division manager of the Oakland County Animal Shelter in Auburn Hills said.
People who read the story contacted Oakland Press to offer help. A message, from Rebecca Amett of Giggles N Wiggles Puppy Rescue in Roseville, said, “We have puppies to donate and want to help the young woman who lost her service dog. ”
“When Gooch was with me I was happy, ”Crouch said, “I think I can be happy again but no animal can replace Gooch. There’s never going to be another Gooch out there but I think I will find a dog that can bring me joy again. ”
1.People called and emailed to .
A. give their angry voice to the groomer
B. offer help and care to Laurie Crouch
C. tell Crouch how to punish the groomer
D. offer a cure for Crouch’s disease
2. Gooch died mainly because .
A. the groomer was careless
B. the groomer didn’t know how to trim the dog’s nails
C. the groomer sat on the dog with another man
D. the dog was wearing a collar
3.What do we know about Crouch’s dog?
A. It was a specially trained service dog.
B. It was trained to do many things for people.
C. It was Crouch’s only friend.
D. It could offer some help to Crouch.
4.What does the passage mainly tell us?
A. A disabled woman’s service dog.
B. A cruel groomer killed a disabled woman’s dog.
C. People’s love for a disabled woman who lost her dog.
D. A disabled woman loves to have the dog as company.
Ten years ago, with only about 1, 000 pandas left in the world, China was desperately trying to clone(克隆)the animal and save the endangered species(物种). That was a move similar to what Texas A & M University researchers had been undertaking for the past five years in a project called “Noah’s Ark”(诺亚方舟).
Noah’s Ark was aimed at collecting eggs, embryos(胚胎), semen and DNA of endangered animals and storing them in liquid nitrogen. If certain species should become extinct, Dr. Duane Kraemer, a professor in Texas A & M’s College of Veterinary Medicine, said there would be enough of the basic building blocks to reintroduce the species in the future.
It was estimated that as many as 2, 000 species of mammals, birds reptiles would become extinct in over 100 years. The panda, native only to China, was in danger of becoming extinct in the next 25 years.
This week, Chinese scientists said they grew an embryo by introducing cells from a dead female panda into the egg cells of a Japanese white rabbit. They were then trying to implant the embryo into a host animal.
The entire procedure could take from three to five years to complete.
“The nucleus transfer(核子移植)of one species to another is not easy, and the lack of available(capable of being used)panda eggs could be a major problem,”Kraemer believed. “They will probably have to do several hundred transfers to result in one pregnancy(having a baby). It takes a long time and it’s difficult, but this could be groundbreaking science if it works. They are certainly not putting any live pandas at risk, so it is worth the effort, ”added Kraemer, who was one of the leaders of the project at Texas A& M, the first-ever attempt at cloning a dog.
“They are trying to do something that’s never been done, and this is very similar to our work in Noah’s Ark. We’re both trying to save animals that face extinction. I certainly appreciate their effort and there’s a lot we can learn from what they are attempting to do. It’s a research that is very much needed. ”
At present, the project has worked. The number of the pandas has increased to more than 1, 500.
1.The aim of “Noah’s Ark” project was to .
A. make efforts to clone the endangered pandas
B. save endangered animals from dying out
C. collect DNA of endangered animals to study
D. transfer the nucleus of one animal to another
2. According to Professor Kraemer, the major problem in cloning pandas would be the lack of .
A. available panda eggs B. host animals
C. qualified researchersD. enough money
3. The best title for the passage may be .
A. China’s Success in Pandas Cloning
B. The First Cloned Panda in the World
C. Exploring the Possibility to Clone Pandas
D. China—the Native Place of Pandas Forever
4.From the passage we know that .
A. Kraemer and his team had succeeded in cloning a dog
B. scientists tried to implant a panda’s egg into a rabbit
C. Kraemer would work with Chinese scientists in clone researches
D. about two thousand species would probably die out in a century
