American magician David Blaine left the glass box in which he had lived for 44 days without food on October 19, 2003. Hundreds of people came to watch the end of his starvation experiment, which has become one of London’s main tourist attractions.
Looking thinner and darker, 30-year-old Blaine was taken out of his box over the River Thames and immediately went to hospital. He was then slowly reintroduced to food, a process doctors say could be life threatening. He had been drinking only water since September 5.
A native of Brooklyn, New York, Blaine first became known as a street magician in the early 1990s. He soon found himself doing magic tricks in bars for the likes of American actor Leonardo DiCaprio and his super model friends.
Over the last decade Blaine has become famous with a combination of breathtaking magic and clever tricks aimed at getting a lot of attention. In 1999, he was buried in a coffin (棺材) for one week and, in 2000, he spent 62 hours in a giant block of ice. Last year he stood on top of a 25-meter pillar (柱子) in the center of New York for 35 hours before jumping into a pile of boxes.
“I think a lot of people are unable to accept that they’re able to do what they can do,” he said. “They don’t realize we can survive. The human being is an amazing creation.”
But he seems to have suffered from spending so long in the glass box. He said that at times he was unable to see, had serious back pains and lost his sense of taste.
小题1:It is for David Blaine to eat food after such a long starvation.| A．pleasant | B．delicious | C．dangerous | D．important |
小题2:Having spent such a long time in the glass box, he suffered the following EXCEPT that .| A．he had become blind | B．he had serious back pains | | C．he lost his sense of taste | D．he was in weak health |
小题3:Which of the following can best describe David Blaine?| A．Serious. | B．Adventurous. | C．Smart. | D．Crazy. |
小题4:Which of the following is NOT true about David Blaine?| A．Blaine immediately went to hospital after he was taken out of his box. | | B．Blaine was born and brought up in England. | | C．In Blaine’s opinion, people can create a wonder. | | D．Blaine didn’t have any food for 44 days. |
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小题1:C
小题2:A
小题3:B
小题4:B |
介绍了美国魔术师David Blaine最近的一次魔术以及他的一些基本情况。
小题1:推理题、根据第二段第二行He was then slowly reintroduced to food, a process doctors say could be life threatening可知在饿了很多天以后在吃东西是很危险的。
小题2:细节题。根据最后一句He said that at times he was unable to see, had serious back pains and lost his sense of taste.只是说他有时候看不见，表示说他就一直看不见了。
小题3:推理题。通读全文，根据他所作得那些事情，外面可以推断他是一个有冒险精神的人。
小题4:细节题。根据第三段第一行A native of Brooklyn, New York, Blaine first became known as a street magician in the early 1990s.可知他在美国出生。 |
核心考点
试题【American magician David Blaine left the glass box in which he had lived for 44 d】；主要考察你对
题材分类等知识点的理解。
[详细]举一反三
When I was in the third grade, I was picked to be the princess in the school play. For weeks my mother had helped me practice my lines. But once on stage, every word disappeared from my head. Then my teacher told me she had written a narrator"s part for the play, and asked me to change roles. Though I didn"t tell my mother what had happened that day, she sensed my unhappiness and asked if I wanted to take a walk in the yard. It was a lovely spring day. We could see dandelions(蒲公英）popping through the grass in bunches, as if a painter had touched our landscape with bits of gold. I watched my mother carelessly bend down by one of the bunches. "I think I am going to dig up all these weeds," she said. "From now on, we"ll have only roses in this garden." "But I like dandelions," I protested. "All flowers are beautiful-even dandelions!" My mother looked at me seriously. "Yes, every flower gives pleasure in its own way, doesn"t it?" she asked thoughtfully. I nodded. "And that is true of people, too," she added. When I realized that she had guessed my pain, I started to cry and told her the fact. “But you will be a beautiful narrator,” she said, reminding me of how much I loved to read stories aloud to her. Over the next few weeks, with her continuous encouragement, I learned to take pride in the role. The big day finally came. A few minutes before the play, my teacher came over to me. “Your mother asked me to give this to you,” she said, handing me a dandelion. After the play, I took home the flower, laughing that I was perhaps the only person who would keep such a weed.
小题1:The girl did not play the role of the princess mainly because_____ | A．she felt nervous on the stage. | | B．she lost her interest in that role. | | C．she preferred the role of the narrator | | D．she had difficulty memorizing her words |
小题2:Why did the mother suggest a walk in the garden?| A．To remove the dandelions | | B．To enjoy the garden scene | | C．to help her daughter with the play. | | D．to have a talk with her daughter. |
小题3:What is the main idea of the story?| A．Everybody can find his or her own way to success. | | B．Everybody should learn to play different roles | | C．Everybody has his or her own value in the world. | | D．Everybody has some unforgettable memory. |
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Buster Brown was a thief and a good one too，he thought． He’d never been caught by the police because he never took chances．He was always prepared for any unforeseen event or emergency.
Confidently，he stood outside the house of his intended victim(受害者)and read the sign on the front gate of the house．“Don"t worry about the dog—be aware of the owner!” it said．Buster smiled and found his way in．
The house looked quite normal outside，but inside it was very exotic with fascinating objects on display．As he began putting them into his bag，a dog came into the room．It stopped when it saw Buster，then wagged its tail madly and went over to him，licking his outstretched hand． "Good boy，” Buster whispered． “What a great guard dog you are—trying to lick me to death.” Satisfied he"d made friends with the dog，Bluster began to wander round the house，choosing items to put in his bag．His skilled eye picked out only the best antiques(古董)：a pair of silver candleholders，a silver tea-and-coffee service，etc．．His new friend，the dog，sat and watched，as if wondering what was happening．
“Well，boy，” Buster whispered，finally．“That might do．Any more and I won"t be able to carry it!” He swung the heavy bag onto his shoulders, just as the lights came on, nearly blinding him. He shielded his eyes with his hand.
"You"re a very silly person," the figure in the doorway said, his voice dry and dust. As the man came closer, Buster could see he was well dressed. His face seemed familiar, but Buster couldn"t quite place where he had seen him before.
"You should have taken more notice of the sign outside," the man rasped. "I knew about this attempted robbery last week and I also know you will end up behind bars for 20 years. Fancy trying to rob the house of the world"s greatest fortune-teller!"
小题1:Why was Buster so confident?| A．He was not afraid of dogs. | | B．He knew the owner of the house lived alone. | | C．The house had no security alarm. | | D．He had never been caught by the police. |
小题2:Which of the definitions is closest in meaning to the word "exotic" in the third paragraph?| A．Messy and untidy. | B．Rich and expensive. | | C．Foreign and unusual. | D．Comfortable and calming. |
小题3:How did Buster decide which objects to take?| A．He took those that were easy to carry in his bag. | | B．He took only the best antiques. | | C．He took those that he knew he could sell easily. | | D．He looked for silver objects. |
小题4:What punishment waits for Buster Brown?| A．A long prison sentence. | | B．A prison sentence with hard labor. | | C．A heavy fine. | | D．Community service for 20 years. |
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A group of graduates got together to visit their old university professor.
The conversation soon turned into complaints about 36 in work and life. Offering his 37 coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and 38 with a large pot of coffee and a 39 of cups---porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain-looking, some expensive, some beautiful—telling them to 40 themselves to the coffee.
When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said, “if you have 41 , all the nice-looking expensive cups have been 42 , leaving behind the plain and 43 ones. While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the 44 of your problems and stress.”
“Be assured that the cup 45 adds no quality to the coffee. 46 it is just more expensive and in some cases 47 hides what we drink.”
“48 all of you really want is coffee, not the cup, 49 you consciously went for the best cups…. And then you began 50 each other’s cups.”
Now consider this: 51 is the coffee; the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. 52 are just tools to hold and contain life, and the type of cup we have does not define, nor change the 53 of life we live. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we 54 to enjoy the coffee. Value the coffee, not the cups! Don’t let the cups 55 you … enjoy the coffee instead.
| 小题1: | | A．stress | B．dream | C．sorrow | D．truth |
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| 小题2: | | A．friends | B．customers | C．fellows | D．guests |
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| 小题3: | | A．carried | B．returned | C．arrived | D．reached |
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| 小题4: | | A．kind | B．variety | C．sort | D．number |
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| 小题5: | | A．devote | B．expose | C．help | D．addicted |
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| 小题6: | | A．searched | B．witnessed | C．noticed | D．discovered |
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| 小题7: | | A．taken up | B．brought in | C．sold out | D．cut down |
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| 小题8: | | A．expensive | B．cheap | C．beautiful | D．usual |
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| 小题9: | | A．point | B．answer | C．source | D．result |
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| 小题10: | | A．by itself | B．on its own | C．for itself | D．itself |
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| 小题11: | | A．At no time | B．At times | C．In no case | D．In most cases |
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| 小题12: | | A．ever | B．even | C．never | D．hardly |
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| 小题13: | | A．What | B．That | C．Which | D．Whether |
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| 小题15: | | A．suspecting | B．liking | C．envying | D．eyeing |
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| 小题16: | | A．Love | B．Life | C．Future | D．Failure |
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| 小题18: | | A．quantity | B．style | C．quality | D．standard |
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| 小题19: | | A．have | B．hesitate | C．forget | D．fail |
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| 小题20: | | A．force | B．drive | C．puzzle | D．amaze |
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Without any hesitation, he said, “I’d be better off dead.” Hearing those words come out of my best friend’s mouth tore my heart apart. He has repeated that phrase more than once, and my mind continually plays it over like a voice recording.
I met him about three years ago. After knowing me for six months, he told me about his struggles with depression. Sadness was not the only emotion that came over me; I was shocked. He seemed so outgoing and happy all the time. I soon learned that he was physically and emotionally abused as a young child, causing him to have suicidal thoughts.
He refuses to talk to others about his depression because he now distrusts adults, especially those in his family. Nevertheless, he feels as if I understand him and that I know the right words to speak. Therefore, when it comes to helping him, convenience is not in my vocabulary. It does not matter where I am or what I am doing, for he always comes first.
Many students at his school laugh at him when they notice scars on his arms from cutting. As he sees it, other kids have every right to make fun of him. But no one holds such a right, so I encourage him to ignore the heartless kids who treat him badly. When he feels the weight of judging eyes or hateful voices, I always remind him that I care about him unconditionally. Just hearing me say I will always be his best friend seems to give him the security he needs to keep on going.
My best friend once told me that if he had not had me, he would not be alive. He said that my encouraging words convinced him not to take his life. Our friendship has taught me that a single kind word can influence someone’s life. With the fragility of life as it is, I believe in the necessity of encouragement.
小题1:According to the first paragraph, what the author’s friend said made the author feel ______.| A．puzzled | B．heartbroken. | C．frightened | D．hopeless |
小题2:By saying “convenience is not in my vocabulary”, the author means ______.| A．he is always ready to help his friend. | | B．he hardly spares time to help his friend. | | C．he has no good excuse for refusing his friend. | | D．he is not good at communicating with his friend. |
小题3:From the passage we learn that the author’s friend ________.| A．had a happy childhood but everything changed later | | B．wanted to share his story but no one listened. | | C．took it for granted that he was made fun of | | D．was always of sad appearance |
小题4:What does the author learn from his experiences?| A．How to make a big difference to others. | | B．The importance of encouragement. | | C．How to get rid of depression | | D．The necessity of security |
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Disease, poverty, hate, love—Charles Dickens’ stories opened his readers eyes to the most important themes of his age. Two hundred years on, his stories still speak volumes across the world, proving that Dickens’ legacy(遗产) was far greater than just “great literature”
February 7 marks the 200th anniversary of the writer’s birthday. To mark this date, BBC writer Alex Hudson listed six things Dickens gave the modern world. Let’s take a look at two of them.
A white Christmas
Dickens is described as “the man who invented Christmas”—not the religious festival, but the cultural aspects that we associate with the festive season today. In the early 19th century, Christmas was barely worth mentioning, according to critic and writer Leigh Hunt. The committee which ran the Conservative Party even held ordinary business meetings on Christmas Day – unthinkable in the West nowadays, when everyone but the most necessary workers takes at least three days off.
Many people believe that Dickens’ popular descriptions of the festive period became a blueprint for generations to come. In his classic novel, A Christmas Carol, he not only put forward the idea of snow at Christmas, but also painted a picture of glowing warmth –“ home enjoyments, affections and hopes”.
In his biography of Dickens, Peter Ackroyd wrote: “ Dickens can be said to have almost single-handedly created the modern idea of Christmas.”
“Dickensian” poverty
Dickens was one of the first to take an honest look at the underclass and the poor of Victorian (the period during British Queen Victoria’s reign from 1837 to 1901) London.
He helped popularize the term “red tape” to describe situations where people in power use needless amounts of bureaucracy（官僚作风） in a way that particularly hurts the weaker and poorer members of society.
“Dickensian” has now become a powerful word for describing an unacceptable level of poverty. In 2009, when the president of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers in the UK wanted to talk about deprivation in some areas of Britain, she did not use words like “terrible” or “horrific”, but rather described it as “life mirroring the times of Dickens”.
小题1:What is the main idea of the article?| A．An introduction to Charles Dickens’ classic novels. | | B．Charles dickens’ impact on the world. | | C．Charles Dickens’ amazing characters. | | D．Why Charles Dickens is popular across the world. |
小题2:Why is Dickens called “the man who invented Christmas”?| A．Because he created the religious festival. | | B．Because many of his novels have something to do with Christmas. | | C．Because one of his novels helped to shape Christmas celebrations. | | D．Because he was the first man to have proposed celebrating Christmas. |
小题3:According to the article, the phrase “red tape” refers to _______.| A．rules or procedures that are required to accomplish a task | | B．a situation in which poor members of society are hurt. | | C．conflict between people in power and weaker people | | D．pointlessly time-consuming official procedures |
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