As a child I never worried about losing my hearing, even though many other members of my family had done so. It seemed I was one of the ____ ones. I had a lovely voice and felt ____ about my singing. At 13,1 made my debut (初次登台)in a school production of Carlo Menotti ’ s opera and knew then that I ____ on stage.
But then I noticed that ____ I didn’t sit at the front in lectures, I would ____to hear. I went to the hospital to have a ____ test. I felt desperate，my ambitions ____ by a diagnosis of incurable nerve deafness.
However, my bravery persuaded me to ____ my plans and I went on to study at the Royal Northern College of Music. I kept my ____ a closely guarded secret, convinced that admitting it would ____ my career. I won roles on merit (凭成绩)，but the added fear and anxiety at auditions (试听) ____ me.
At 28, I made my debut at New Sadler’s Wells Opera. But my hearing loss was ____ I couldn ’ t hear myself sing well any more. I ’ d get a feeling of terror and want to ____ before every performance. ____ a superb technician fitted in-the-ear hearing aids, making me self-conscious and my confidence ____ I was fast learning to ____ , singing by sensation. Recording music is now a joy and acoustic (原声的)sounds through the headphones help me ____.
____ in technology mean my latest hearing aids are wireless, and my ____ is at its peak. I continue to tour the world. This year, I decided it was time to be ____ , not ashamed, and went public as the only deaf mezzo-soprano in the world.
1.A. clever B. lucky C. pitiful D. active
2.A. curious B. anxious C. awkward D. confident
3.A. belonged B. sacrificed C. survived D. trembled
4.A. though B. since C. if D. after
5.A. struggle B. hesitate C. pretend D. cease
6.A. blood B. hearing C. sight D. memory
7.A. achieved B. developed C. crushed D. extended
8.A. figure out B. stick to C. go over D. give up
9.A. background B. scores C. ambitions D. deafness
10.A. start B. further C. change D. ruin
11.A. puzzled B. consumed C. impressed D. motivated
12.A. accelerating B. compensating C. recovering D. disappearing
13.A. rest B. play C. drill D. flee
14.A. Thankfully B. Clearly C. Actually D. Generally
15.A. faded B. grew C. counted D. helped
16.A. forget B. judge C. cooperate D. adapt
17.A. laugh B. howl C. relax D. sleep
18.A. Drawbacks B. Applications C. Improvements D. Regulations
19.A. attention B. performance C. intelligence D. energy
20.A. famous B. creative C. proud D. innocent
If you ask people to name one person who had the greatest effect on the English language, you will get answers like “Shakespeare” “Samuel Johnson” and “Webster”， but none of these men had any effect at all compared to a man who didn’t even speak English - William the Conqueror.
Before 1066, in the land we now call Great Britain lived people belonging to two major language groups.In the westcentral region lived the Welsh, who spoke a Celtic language, and in the north lived the Scots, whose language, though not the same as Welsh, was also Celtic.In the rest of the country lived the Saxons, actually a mixture of Anglos, Saxons, and other Germanic and Nordic peoples, who spoke what we now call AngloSaxon (or Old English), a Germanic language.If this state of affairs had lasted, English today would have been close to German.
But this state of affairs did not last. In 1066 the Normans led by William defeated the Saxons and began their rule over England. For about a century, French became the official language of England while Old English became the language of peasants. As a result, English words of politics and the law come from French rather than German. In some cases, modern English even shows a distinction between upperclass French and lowerclass AngloSaxon in its words.We even have different words for some foods, meat in particular, depending on whether it is still out in the fields or at home ready to be cooked, which shows the fact that the Saxon peasants were doing farming, while the upperclass Normans were doing most of eating.
When Americans visit Europe for the first time, they usually find Germany more “foreign” than France because the German they see on signs and advertisements seems much more different from English than French does. Few realize that the English language is actually Germanic at its beginning and that the French influences are all the result of the man’s ambition (野心).
1.The two major languages spoken in what is now called Great Britain before 1066 were ____.
A.Welsh and Scottish B.Nordic and Germanic
C.Celtic and Old English D.AngloSaxon and Germanic
2.Which of the following groups of words is, by inference, rooted in French?
A.president, lawyer, beef B.president, bread, water
C.bread, field, sheep D.folk, field, cow
3.Why does French appear less foreign than German to Americans on their first visit to Europe?
A.Many French words are similar to English ones.
B.They know little of the history of the English language.
C.Most advertisements in France appear in English.
D.They know French better than German.
Many kids would likely argue that their lunchtime is too short.While the precious breaks after class are used to relax and chat with friends, students also need to scarf_down a full meal to fuel them through the rest of the day.
But it is found that students need more than few minutes to consume (消耗) those muchneeded nutrients (营养).Longer lunchtime is healthier.The study compared food choices with the amount of time students are given to eat.Students with less than 20 minutes for lunch ate less, including nutritional fruits and vegetables.
Nationwide, the average (平均的) lunchtime is about 30 minutes. But researchers found that the real lunchtime can get cut down to less than 10 minutes.Researchers researched 1,001 students in lowincome neighborhoods in Massachusetts that had lunchtime between 20 and 30 minutes.Students with shorter lunchtime were less likely to even choose a fruit in their lunch:44 percent of students with 20minute time picked up an apple or orange.
More than 30 million children, half of all public school children nationwide, according to the Southern Education Foundation, eat lowcost or free lunches every day under the National School Lunch program.With the 2010 Healthy, HungerFree Kids Act, school lunches have seen an overhaul (详细检查) in their nutritional guidelines, with an increase in whole grains (全谷类), lowfat choices, fruits and vegetables.
While increasing lunchtime and cutting into class time may not be a possible choice for many schools, whose funding depends on the results of tests.Researchers suggested simplifying the lunch lines so that students can make the most out of the time they have.
1.The underlined phrase “scarf down” in the first paragraph means “________”.
A.discuss B.cook C.eat D.improve
2.If students’ lunchtime is less than 20 minutes, they would ________.
A.have healthier lunches B.eat more vegetables
C.have less choices D.be short of proper nutrition
3.What do nearly half students choose to eat if they only have 20 minutes for lunch?
A.The vegetables. B.The milk. C.The meat. D.The fruits.
4.Why wouldn’t schools cut into class time in the last paragraph?
A.Because the students will not have the enough healthy choice.
B.Because the nonideal result of the test will influence the school fund.
C.Because the school will have to improve lunch quality.
D.Because the students will waste their lunchtime playing.
When your baby get older, you’re faced with the most challenging problem of all: How to get him or her best education you can.
“There was a time when you could enroll your child in kindergarten and about 13 years sit on one of those folding chairs and touch your eyes as they graduated from high school，” Peg Tyre says.
These days the difficult decision of where to send your kid to school starts early.You have to choose a school when your child might only be three or four years old.When you go on a school tour, Tyre says, don’t judge the place just by the finger paintings decorating the hallways.
“You want to look at the relationship between teacher and student，” she says.”What you want to see is teachers who have a lot of respect for kids, who seem to know their strengths and weaknesses.”
There’s a myth Tyre wants to say that has to end that all teachers are good teachers and can be moved around from classroom to classroom like bricks.
“That’s just not true，” she says.”One of the things I would say is a teacher who is in their first year is not a wonderful sign for an effective teacher for your child.They tend to be kind, they have a lot of energy, but they are not that effective in that first year.” So what do you do if your child is placed in a classroom with an inexperienced teacher? Don’t march straight to the principal’s office and demand a change, Tyre says.
“You can go to the principal and you can ask this question: What are you doing to support that teacher this year so that my child moves forward this year and is not just a guinea pig (实验对象) for your firstyear teacher？”
Many parents know when they tour a school to ask about class size.But Tyre says the research doesn’t suggest that a smaller class size is a must.”When you look at the really research on class size, class size is very important from kindergarten to third grade ...After third grade there’s less of an effect on academic result.” she says.
1.We can infer from the second paragraph that in the past ________.
A.a child had to learn at the same school for 13 years
B.parents would cry at their children’s graduation from school
C.folding chairs were required for children to sit on
D.it was easy to get the best education for a child at school
2.To choose a school for your kid，you should ________.
A.judge whether teachers respect your kid
B.decide what strengths and weaknesses your kid has
C.see how finger paintings decorate the hallways
D.consider whether the teachers have their own kids
3.What statement may Tyre agree to?
A.A new teacher can be energetic and effective.
B.It is wonderful for a kid to have a firstyear teacher.
C.A new teacher can teach students of different levels.
D.All teachers aren’t good teachers in fact.
4.What was Tyre’s attitude towards class size?
A.She was strongly against it. B.She felt it wasn’t worth consideration.
C.She thought it was most important. D.She insisted on taking it seriously.
If you want to become a fluent English speaker you should take some advice: there are four skills in learning English. They are reading ,listening, speaking and writing. The most important thing you must remember is that if you want to improve your speaking and writing skills you should first master the skills of reading and listening.
Read as much as you can. But your reading must be active. It means that you must think about the meaning of the sentences, the meaning of the unfamiliar words, etc. There is no need for you to pay much attention to grammar or try to understand all the unfamiliar words you come across, but the fact that you see them for the first time and recognize them whenever you see them, for example in other passage or books, is enough. It would be better to prepare yourself a notebook so you can write down the important words or sentences in it.
As for listening, there are two choices: besides reading, you can listen every day for about 30 minutes. You can only pay attention to your reading and become skillful at your reading, then you can catch up on your listening. Since you have lots of inputs in your mind, you can easily guess what the speaker is going to say. This never means that you should not practice listening.
For listening you can listen to cartoons or some movies that are specially made for children. Their languages are easy. Or if you are good at listening you can listen to VOA or BBC programs every day. Again the thing to remember is being active in listening and preferably taking some notes.
If you follow these pieces of advice, your speaking and writing will improve automatically, and you can be sure that with a little effort they will become perfect.
1.According to the author, which should you improve first among the four skills?
A.Reading and listening.
B.Reading and writing.
C.Writing and speaking.
D.Speaking and listening.
2.To improve your reading, when you read you should ________.
A.look up all the new words in the dictionary
B.think about what you are reading actively
C.spend more time studying grammar
D.copy as many words and sentences as possible
3.The author seems to agree with the view that _________.
A.everyone should listen to VOA or BBC programs every day
B.You needn’t practice listening if you keep on reading every day
C.being good at reading is helpful in improving your listening
D.you should take notes of whatever you are hearing
4.The passage is mainly about how to _________.
A.choose suitable listening materials
B.deal with new words in reading
C.improve your English as quickly as possible
D.become fluent in speaking and writing English
听下面一段独白，回答以下小题。
1.What problem will the motorway bring to the village?
A.Children will find it hard to go to the Streeve Beach.
B.The well-known beauty spot will be destroyed.
C.Fewer villagers will live there.
2.What will be built on farmland?
A.A swimming pool. B.A steel factory. C.Houses.
3.Where will the high-tech park be built?
A.In the north of the village. B.In the south of the village. C.In the west of the village.
4.What is most villagers’ attitude towards the government plans?
A.Fully satisfied. B.Rather worried. C.Quite unexpected.
