Walt Disney is credited for creating such wonderful things as Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse. However, he cannot take the credit for creating other well-loved characters, such as Cinderella and Snow White. They are almost automatically associated with Disney because Disney turned old fables(寓言)into cartoon movies.
The original Cinderella varies very much from the Disney version we know today. It started off with the girl mourning her mother’s death and going to her tomb three times a day. In addition, there were only birds that helped Cinderella; there was no such thing as a fairy godmother or helpful mice, nor was there mention of a horse and carriage.
The stepsisters were cruel: they always threw Cinderella’s food into the ashes of the fire, and made her sleep on the ashes on the floor, hence(因此)her name.
In the original story, the king’s ball actually lasted for three days. With the help of the birds, the girl, beautifully dressed, danced with the prince on all three nights and the prince fell in love with her. However, she broke away from him to rush back home each night. On the last night, the prince placed something sticky on the stairs; as Cinderella made her escape ,a shoe got stuck on it.
Here now is where the story becomes unpleasant: when the prince went to the house looking for the girl whose foot fit the shoe, the wicked(邪恶的)stepmother told one of her two daughters to cut off her big toe to fit into the shoe. The daughter did as told. So, the prince took her away to be his bride. But, when they passed the tomb of Cinderella’s mother, the birds called out to the prince, “Turn and peep, there’s blood within the shoe; The shoe is too small, the true bride waits for you.”
Realizing he had been tricked, the prince returned the daughter to her mother; the other then had to cut off part of her heel in order to fit into the shoe, with the same result. Only Cinderella’s foot fit perfectly and so the prince chose to marry her. The story ends with the wedding day: as Cinderella’s two stepsisters followed her, pretending to be devoted to her so that they could enjoy the king’s riches, two birds flew by and plucked(啄)out their eyes. Because of their wickedness and falsehood, they had to spend the rest of their days blind.
The original Cinderella is so different from the Disney version. Thank goodness Disney made such changes; it indeed was a wise move.
1.What does the underlined word “They” in the first paragraph refer to?
A.Such wonderful things. B.Other well-loved characters.
C.Old fables. D.Cartoon movies.
2.How did Cinderella get her name?
A.The birds came up with it. B.It was given by Disney.
C.It came from the word “ash”. D.She got it from her mother.
3.Which of the following is TRUE according to the original story?
A.Helpful mice got Cinderella a beautiful dress.
B.The ball was held to celebrate the prince’s wedding.
C.Cinderella left her shoe on the stairs on purpose.
D.The birds told the prince that he had been cheated.
阅读下列材料，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题纸上将该选项标号涂黑。
A
From the very beginning of school we make books and reading a constant source of possible failure and public humiliation. When children are little we make them read aloud, before the teacher and other children, so that we can be sure they “know” all the words they are reading. This means that when they don’t know a word, they are going to make a mistake, right in front of everyone. After having taught fifth-grade classes for four years, I decided to try at all costs to rid them of their fear and dislike of books, and to get them to read oftener and more adventurously.
One day soon after school had started, I said to them, “Now I’m going to say something about reading that you have probably never heard a teacher say before. I would like you to read a lot of books this year, but I want you to read them only for pleasure. I am not going to ask you questions to find out whether you understand the books or not. If you understand enough of a book to enjoy it and want to go on reading it, that’s enough for me. Also I’m not going to ask you what words mean. “
The children sat stunned and silent. Was this a teacher talking? One girl, who had just come to us from a school where she had had a very hard time, looked at me steadily for a long time after I had finished. Then, still looking at me, she said slowly and seriously, Mr Holt, do you really mean that?” I said just as seriously, “I mean every word of it.
During the spring she really astonished me. One day, she was reading at her desk, From a glimpse of the illustrations I thought I knew what the book was. I said to myself, “It can’t be,” and went to take a closer look. Sure enough, she was reading Moby Dick , in edition with woodcuts. I said, “Don’t you find parts of it rather heavy going?” She answered, Oh, sure, but I just skip over those parts and go on to the next good part. “
This is exactly what reading should be and in school so seldom is, an exciting, joyous adventure. Find something, dive into it, take the good parts, skip the bad parts, get what you can out of it, go on to something else. How different is our mean-spirited, picky insistence that every child get every last little scrap of “understanding” that can be dug out of a book.
1.According to the passage, children’s fear and dislike of books may result from________.
A.reading little and thinking little
B.reading often and adventurously
C.being made to read too much
D.being made to read aloud before others
2.The teacher told his students to read______ .
A.for enjoyment
B.for knowledge
C.for a larger vocabulary
D.for higher scores in exams
3.Upon hearing the teacher’s talk, the children probably felt that________.
A.it sounded stupid
B.it was not surprising at all
C.it sounded too good to be true
D.it was no different from other teachers' talk
4.Which of the following statements about the girl is TRUE according to the passage?
A.She skipped over those easy parts while reading.
B.She had a hard time finishing the required reading tasks.
C.She learned to appreciate some parts of the difficult books.
D.She turned out to be a top student after coming to this school.
5.From the teacher's point of view,_________ .
A.children cannot tell good parts from bad parts while reading
B.children should be left to decide what to read and how to read
C.reading is never a pleasant and inspiring experience in school
D.reading involves understanding every little piece of information
E
Science has a lot of uses. It can uncover laws of nature, cure diseases, make bombs, and help bridges to stand up. Indeed science is so good at what it does that there’s always a temptation(诱惑) to drag it into problems where it may not be helpful. David Brooks, author of The Social Animal: The Hidden Sources of Love, Character,and Achievement, appears to be the latest in a long line of writers who have failed to resist the temptation.
Brooks gained fame for several books. His latest book The Social Animal, however, is more ambitious and serious than his earlier books. It is an attempt to deal with a set of weighty topics. The book focuses on big questions: What has science revealed about human nature? What are the sources of character? And why are some people happy and successful while others aren’t?
To answer these questions, Brooks surveys a wide range of disciplines（学科）. Considering this, you might expect the book to be a dry recitation of facts. But Brooks has structured his book in an unorthodox(非常规的), and perhaps unfortunate, way. Instead of introducing scientific theories, he tells a story, within which he tries to make his points, perhaps in order to keep the reader’s attention.So as Harold and Erica, the hero and heroine in his story, live through childhood, we hear about the science of child development and as they begin to date we hear about the theory of sexual attraction. Brooks carries this through to the death of one of his characters.
On the whole,Brooks’ story is acceptable if uninspired. As one would expect, his writing is mostly clear and, to be fair, some chapters stand out above the rest. I enjoyed, for instance, the chapter in which Harold discovers how to think on his own. While Harold and Erica are certainly not strong or memorable characters, the more serious problems with The Social Animal lie elsewhere. These problems partly involve Brooks’ attempt to translate his tale into science.
1.The author mentions the functions of science at the beginning of the passage to__________.
A.illustrate where science can be applied
B.demonstrate the value of Brooks’ new book
C.remind the reader of the importance of science
D.explain why many writers use science in their works
2.According to the author, which of the following could be a strength of the book?
A.Its strong basis.
B.Its convincing points.
C.Its clear writing.
D.Its memorable characters.
3.What is the author’s general attitude towards the book?
A.Contradictory.
B.Supportive.
C.Cautious.
D.Critical.
4.What is the author likely to write about after the last paragraph?
A.Problems with the book.
B.Brooks’s life experience.
C.Death of the characters.
D.Brooks’s translation skills.
The little boy turned to the old woman next to him, ‘‘Granny, are you sure I don’t have enough money?’’ She nodded. The little boy was still _______ the doll (洋娃娃) in his hand.
I walked toward him, _______who he wished to give this doll to. “Sister. She was sure that Santa Claus would bring a doll to her.” I told him that maybe Santa Claus would do so. But he replied to me _______, “No, Santa Claus (圣诞老人) can’t bring it to her _______ she is now. I have to give the doll to my mommy so that she can give it to my sister when she _______ there. My sister has gone to be with God. Daddy says that Mommy is going to see God very soon too, _______ I thought she could take the doll with her to give it to my sister.’’
The little boy looked _______ at me, “I told Daddy to tell Mommy not to go yet. I need her to wait until I come back from the mall. I _______ she didn’t have to leave me, but Daddy says that she has to go to be with my little sister.” Then he looked _______ at the doll with sad eyes.
I quickly __________ for my wallet. “Let’s check again, just in case you do have enough money for the doll!” “OK. I hope I do have enough.” I added some of my money to __________ without him seeing and we started to count it. There was enough for the doll and __________ some spare money. “Thank you God for giving me enough money!” He looked at me and __________, “I wanted to have enough money to buy a white rose for my Mommy, but I didn’t dare to ask God __________too much. But He gave me enough to buy the doll and a white rose. My mommy loves white roses.”
__________I remembered a local newspaper article two days ago, mentioning a drunk man in a truck hit a car __________by a young woman and a little girl. The little girl __________ right away and the mother was __________in a critical state.
Two days __________this encounter (偶然相遇) with the little boy, I read in the newspaper that the young__________had passed away.
1.A.raising B.holding C.hiding D.tearing
2.A.considering B.understanding C.watching D.asking
3.A.proudly B.hurriedly C.sadly D.angrily
4.A.where B.what C.who D.when
5.A.comes B.finds C.goes D.leaves
6.A.so B.for C.but D.as
7.A.down B.on C.to D.up
8.A.think B.wish C.imagine D.find
9.A.then B.sadly C.again D.now
10.A.reached B.looked C.searched D.charged
11.A.myself B.him C.his D.them
12.A.still B.yet C.also D.even
13.A.nodded B.added C.laughed D.showed
14.A.to B.for C.in D.on
15.A.Now B.Therefore C.However D.Then
16.A.occupied B.controlled C.attacked D.owned
17.A.left B.died C.came D.killed
18.A.knocked B.treated C.left D.kept
19.A.after B.since C.until D.before
20.A.man B.girl C.boy D.woman
With a great weight _______ off her mind, she passed all the tests successfully.
A.taking B.to take C.taken D.being taken
This is a promising company as its employees _______ to think outside the box and develop creative solutions.
A.encourage B.have encouraged C.were encouraged D.are encouraged
