When Charles Stratton was five, he stopped growing. His mother took him to see the famous showman, P. T. Barnum. Mr. Barnum thought a small person would be the perfect addition to his show. He hired Charles' parents along with him, and they traveled the world together.
He gave the two-foot-tall Charles a name, General Tom Thumb. He taught Tom how to sing, dance, act and tell jokes. When he felt Tom was ready to perform on stage, he made up ads. To stir up great interest, he said that Tom was eleven years old and had come from England.
During the show, Tom fought battles pretendedly with tall people. He also danced upon a wooden plate held by a person who was eight feet tall. Tom's act was very popular and brought in a lot of money. By the time Tom was an adult, he had grown very rich. He had become a billionaire at the age of twenty five.
Fortunately for Tom, Mr. Barnum added more little people to his show, and Tom became lucky in love as well. One of the little people was Lavinia Warren, a schoolteacher. Tom was able to win her love, and they married.
The ceremony and reception were the talk of the town. They were attended by many rich and famous people and by about 2000 guests. Crowds filled the streets of New York to have a look at their tiny wedding marriage. The couple even met with President Abraham Lincoln on their honeymoon just before going to live in Tom's house in Connecticut.
Their wedding, which took place during the Civil War, provided a welcome escape from the sad problems of war. Not willing to let this bit of sunshine fade, communities throughout the country sponsored(发起) "Tom Thumb" weddings. In these weddings, small boys and girls, all dressed up, went through marriage ceremony for fun.
1.The underlined words "Talk of the town" means________.
A. it was in the newspaper
B. it was the most popular topic
C. people spread bad rumors about it
D. it was discussed in a city meeting
2.What does the author think about Tom's wedding?
A.Tom and Lavinia were stupid.
B. People gave it too much of their attention.
C. It was funny and ridiculous.
D. It helped people cheer up in a dark time.
3.What is the main idea of the last paragraph?
A. Weddings always make people feel full of sunshine.
B. People are always disappointed during war time.
C. Entertainment can serve an important purpose.
D. People should be married when they are small children.
Like most people, I was brought up to look upon life as a process of getting. It was not until in my late thirties that I made this important discovery: giving-away makes life so much more exciting. You need not worry if you lack money.
This is how I experimented with giving-away. If an idea for improving the window display of a neighborhood store flashes to me, I step in and make the suggestion to the storekeeper. One discovery I made about giving-away is that it is almost impossible to give away anything in this world without getting something back, though the return often comes in all unexpected form.
One Sunday morning, the local post office delivered an important special delivery letter to my home, though it was addressed to me at my office. I wrote the postmaster a note of appreciation. More than a year later I needed a post-office box for a new business I was starting. I was told at the window that there were no boxes left, and that my name would have to go on a long waiting list. As I was about to leave, the postmaster appeared in the doorway. He had overheard(无意中听到)our conversation. "Wasn’t it you that wrote us that letter a year ago about delivering a special delivery to your home?" I said yes. "Well, you certainly are going to have a box in this post office if we have to make one for you. You don’t know what a letter like that means to us. We usually get nothing but complaints."
1.From the passage, we understand that _____.
A. the author did not understand the importance of giving until he was in late thirties
B. the author was like most people who were mostly receivers rather than givers
C. the author received the same education as most people during his childhood
D. the author liked most people as they looked upon life as a process of getting
2.According to the author, _____.
A. giving means you will lack money
B. the excitement of giving can bring you money
C. you don’t have to be rich in order to give
D. when you give away money, you will be rich
3.The author would make the suggestion to the storekeeper _____.
A. in writing B. in person
C. in the window display D. about the neighborhood
4.When the author needed a post-office box, _____.
A. he had put his name on a waiting list
B. he wrote the postmaster a note of appreciation
C. many people had applied for post-office boxes before him
D. he asked the postmaster to make one for him
Share with others, and sadness will be greatly lessened／reduced while happiness will be doubled．
请根据以上的话写一篇不少于120词的英语短文，如引用提示语则不计入总词数。
注意：
①无须写标题；
②除诗歌外，文体不限；
③内容必须结合你生活中的具体事例；
④文中不得透露个人姓名和学校名称。
What would Barbie look like if she were average?
According to US artist Nickolay Lamm, she would be a brunette with a rounded face and a much thicker waist．
Frustrated with the unrealistic beauty standards of Barbie and her friends, Lamm took data from Disease Control and Prevention about an average 19-year-old American woman, who is about 163 cm tall, with a 84-cm waist． With those measurements, Lamm created a doll．
The doll-s tagline （口号）is “Average is beautiful．”
“I think a realistic-size doll is important because when I look at current dolls on the market, they all look like supermodels," the artist told APF． “I just had the impression that the wall of supermodels suggests that something is wrong with you if you don-t look like one． So I created an alternative to suggest that it’s OK to look like a normal person．"
The Lammily dolls, which are 27 cm tall, have been on sale since last month．
Lammily also has other features． Unlike Barbie and her friends, whose pointed legs would force her to walk on all fours if she were real, Lammily has articulated（枢接的） joints – able to walk, run, and play． The doll can even be put in a yoga position．
What’s more, the Lammily dolls include a sticker package that can help to add real-life marks to the dolls, including freckles, acne, moles, and tattoos．
“You can also add minor cuts and bruises, like ones you'd get from falling down while snowboarding," Lamm told NBC．
“I feel that, right now． dolls are very perfect looking, when, in real life, few of us have perfect skin," Lamm told The Huffington Post． “Things like pimples are a natural part of who we are． So, why not give dolls a real treatment?"
As The Huffington． Post said, "Getting kids used to the idea that these things are completely normal and not 6flaws'（缺陷） to be ashamed of can only be a good thing．"
1.Why did Nickolay Lamm make the Lammily doll? （No more than 14 words） （2 marks）
2.How is the Lammily doll different from Barbie dolls? （No more than 13 words） （3 marks）
3.What does Lamm mean when he says, "why not give dolls a real treatment?" in the second-to-last paragraph? （No more than 1 words） （3 marks）
4.What is the author-s attitude toward Lammily dolls? （No more than 6 words） （2 marks）
Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each． answer ．
Many people believe that classical music has nothing to do with young people today．However, this issue frequently causes heated debate．
Some people say that classical music is associated only with old people． For example, if you look at the audience at a classical concert, the majority is over the age of fifty．
Others say it is more popular than we first imagine． Many young people listen to classical music without realizing it． It is often used in films and advertisements． For example, a famous piece of classical music was used as the theme music for the 1990 World Cup． Not many people could have given its name, but millions enjoyed it．
Also, some people point out that young people produce new music based on classical ideas: for example, it is said that rap music was invented by a classical musician in 1912, but it is now used by young people in pop music．
However, young people point to the fact that classical music has been outstripped（超越） by technology． To play a classical instrument, such as a violin, you need to study hard and practice for hours． Nowadays, you don-t need to get aching arms from practicing． A teenager can write and make music using a computer program in the comfort of his own bedroom．
A final point to bear in mind is that the term “classical music" is used to refer to a great variety of music, from jazz to pieces for large orchestras． This makes it even more difficult to say whether classical music is relevant to young people．
So, it may be only a minority of young people who play classical instruments, but when it comes to enjoying classical music, it depends on the piece of music． It may be more relevant to young people in the modern world than they realize!
Six seconds after its launch in Virginia, US, an unmanned rocket bound for the International Space Station （ISS） exploded, disappointing people both on Earth and in space．
Hundreds of millions of dollars worth of cargo was destroyed in the Oct． 28 explosion due to An“equipment failure”, said Orbital Sciences, the company hired by NASA for the resupply mission．
The rocket was carrying a cargo ship loaded with 2,200 kilograms of supplies such as food, tools, parts, and experiments． Roughly a third of the cargo was a series of scientific investigations． Some of them were from high school students in the US． For example, 10 students from the Cristo Rey Jesuit College Preparatory School of Houston were conducting experiments about microgravity and put their samples on the rocket． “I know that failure is a part of science, but I really feel sorry for my students," science teacher Greg Adragna told the Houston, Chronicle ．
Astronauts at the ISS felt a more urgent disappointment, however． The cargo included 617kg of food． Now they will have to rely on supplies from a Russian launch on Oct． 29．
Launched in 1998 and involving the US, Russia, Canada, Japan, and the member countries of the European Space Agency, the ISS is one of the most ambitious international collaborations in history． Currently, there are six astronauts at the station, five male and one female． Three are from Russia, two are from the US, and one is from Germany． They have lived together for about six months． The station gets regular resupplies from Earth, using unmanned spacecrafts． Food is always a big part of the supplies． Most of the food is frozen and ready to eat, and often tastes bad-somewhat like trying to eat when you have a heavy cold．
To make space life better, however, scientists have made breakthroughs． Earlier this year, Russian astronauts managed to grow a variety of crops aboard the station． Next year they are going to try to grow rice and other plants． And, as transporting water to space is expensive, astronauts are looking for ways to recycle water． "Astronauts on board the ISS already drink water distilled from sweat and urine<尿） ," Russian news agency RIA Novosti reported．
Is that the reason the astronauts were so disappointed not to get the water from the failed resupply mission, by any chance?
1. What is the author-s main purpose in writing the article?
A．To explain what caused the explosion of NASA-s unmanned rocket．
B．To inform us of the explosion of NASA-s unmanned rocket and its effects．
C．To tell us about astronauts lives at the International Space Station．
D．To tell us how the world reacted to the explosion of NASA-s unmanned rocket．
2. The underlined word “cargo” in the second paragraph is closet in meaning to
A． goods B． equipment
C． food supply D． investigation
3.How did teacher Greg Adragna feel about the explosion of the rocket?
A． Angry． B． Anxious．
C． Frustrated． D． Unconcerned．
4.We can conclude from the article that the situation seemed for astronauts on board the ISS when the rocket exploded．
A． hopeless B． interesting
C． depressing D． dangerous
5.Which of the following statements is TRUE about the ISS, according to the article?
A． Half of the astronauts at the ISS are from the US．
B． The ISS was set up by four countries．
C． The water that astronauts at the ISS drink is mainly made by recycling．
D． Most of the food astronauts eat at the ISS is frozen and tastes bad．
