Thompson’s Children
As her son Cameron sits at his laptop completing a task for his math degree course. Alison Thompson, a full-time mum is busy helping her daughter Emma (two years younger than Cameron) get dressed. While help has always been available for Emma, Alison and her husband also have to fight to get Cameron the support he needs."People could see that Emma has special needs but because Cameron was doing so well at school, his teachers never thought there was a problem with him, “says Alison.
It took Alison and her husband a while to realize their son was different. Cameron's ability didn’t become clear until he began primary school. Once he even corrected the teacher when she told the class that zero was the lowest number. Cameron told her she was wrong because there were negative numbers(负数). He was four at the time. Now 14-year-old Cameron is at secondary school, studying for a distance learning math degree with the Open University, having sailed through his GCSE at 11 and his A-level at 12, achieving top grades.
Bethany, another daughter of Alison, is bright too but not gifted. She is the one who will remind absent-minded Cameron to put on his coat. She also helps him out in social situations.
Emma attends a specialist school and the family is quick to celebrate her successes too.
“The other day she did up the buttons on her coat, which was real progress,” Alison says.
Late last year the Thompsons took part in a television documentary(纪录片) to prove that not all gifted children are the result of extremely ambitious parents. Gifted children need support too, but their lives don't have to be that different. Cameron is an example
1.What does paragraph 1 indicate?
A. Cameron helps Emma with her math tasks.
B. Teachers at school ignored Emma's problems.
C. Both Cameron and Emma need parental support.
D. The couple often have fights because of Cameron.
2.There are at least__________ people in Mrs. Thompson’s family.
A. three B. four
C. five D. six
3.What can be known from the passage?
A. Emma has learned to take good care of herself.
B. Cameron showed his gift before primary school.
C. The children of the family are bright and gifted.
D. Gifted kids are not so different as people expect.
Gwendolyn Brooks was the first African American to win a Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. Gwendolyn Brooks wrote hundreds of poems during her lifetime. She was known around the world for using poetry to increase understanding about black culture in America.
Her poems described conditions among the poor, racial inequality and drug use in the black community. She also wrote poems about the struggles of black women. But her skill was more than her ability to write about struggling black people. She was an expert at the language of poetry. She combined traditional European poetry styles with the African American experience.
In her early poetry, Gwendolyn Brooks wrote about the South Side of Chicago. The South Side of Chicago is where many back people live. In her poems, the South Side is called Bronzeville. It was A Street in Bronzeville that gained the attention of literary experts in 1945. Critics praised her poetic skill and her powerful descriptions of the black experience during the time. The Bronzeville poems were her first published collection.
In 1950, Gwendolyn Brooks became the first African American to win the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. She won the prize for her second book of poems called Annie Allen. Annie Allen is a collection of poetry about the life of a Bronzeville girl as a daughter, a wife and mother. She experiences loneliness, loss, death and being poor. Ms. Brooks said that winning the prize changed her life.
Her next work was a novel written in 1953 called Maud Martha, Maud Martha received little notice when it was first published. But now it is considered an important work by some critics. Its main ideas about the difficult life of many women are popular among female writers today.
In some of her poems, Gwendolyn Brooks described how what people see in life is affected by who they are. One example is this poem, Corners on the Curing Sky.
By the end of the 1960s, Gwendolyn Brooks’s poetry expanded from the everyday experiences of people in Bronzeville. She wrote about a wider world and dealt with important political issues.
1.What does the text mainly talk about?
A. The life of Gwendolyn Brooks. B. The struggles of black women.
C. The understanding about black culture. D. The poems of Gwendolyn Brooks.
2.What can we learn about Gwendolyn Brooks from the second paragraph?
A. She mainly wrote about the struggles of black women.
B. She was good at using the language of poetry.
C. Her writing skills were a little worse than her ability.
D. Her poems were mainly about the African experience.
3.The author develops the passage mainly by _______________.
A. providing examples B. using statistics
C. comparing opinions D. describing her experiences
4.In the next part, the author would most probably talk about _______________.
A. the difficulties Gwendolyn Brooks would meet
B. the poems related to political issues
C. the awards Gwendolyn Brooks gained
D. the racial inequality the black had to face
The latest addition to the Gtech garden power tools is a lightweight but powerful wireless Leaf Blower. This autumn it will make the time of clearing leaves and garden pieces very short.
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1.Which of the following is not the advantage of the new Gtech Leaf Blower?
A. A turbofan B. No wire C. The light weight D. Convenient delivery
2.What makes the new Gtech Leaf Blower easy to hold?
A. A straight air passage from intake to outlet.
B. Reasonable distribution of battery and product weight.
C. The variable trigger on the new Gtech Leaf Blower.
D. The removable nozzle on the new Gtech Leaf Blower.
3.What is the meaning of the underlined words “trip you up” in the text?
A. Tire you out B. Get you to fall down
C. Make you occupied D. Block you out
4.The purpose of this passage is _______________.
A. to advise us to buy the new Gtech Leaf Blower
B. to introduce to us the convenience of the new Gtech Leaf Blower
C. to teach us how to use the new Gtech Leaf Blower
D. to encourage us to talk about the new Gtech Leaf Blower
听下面一段独白，回答以下小题。
1.When did the speaker and his family come back to the United States?
A. Three years ago. B. Four years ago. C. Twenty years ago.
2.Why don’t the speaker’s family return to Britain now?
A. They don’t like Britain.
B. The daughter has to continue her study.
C. They’re happier living in the United States.
3.What is the purpose of the speaker’s six-week trip in England?
A. To see his friends. B. To go sightseeing. C. To advertise his new book.
4.What does the speaker think of his six-week trip?
A. Expensive. B. Difficult. C. Satisfying.
听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。
1.What is the topic of the picture for this year’s art competition?
A. Family. B. The countryside. C. Friends.
2.Why can’t the girl take part in the art competition?
A. She is not interested in it. B. She isn’t good at drawing. C. She is over the age limit.
3.What may the boy’s sister use to draw in the competition?
A. Colored pencils. B. Oil paints. C. Water colors.
4.What is the prize for the winner this year?
A. A computer. B. A camera. C. A television.
听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。
1.When does the boy go to the language club every week?
A. On Tuesday. B. On Wednesday. C. On Thursday.
2.What language will the boy learn next month?
A. French. B. Chinese. C. Japanese.
3.Where do the language club members meet?
A. In Room 2. B. In Room 3. C. In Room 4.
