win the attention of his very wealthy parents, who preferred his "clever" older brother. At age 8, Horowitz was
sent away to an abusive (虐待的) boarding school in his native England, even though he screamed and pleaded
(恳求) with his parents year after year not to send him. "The thought was, "It"ll be good for him"," Horowitz
recalls(回忆).
It was not. Horowitz did badly in his studies, had few friends and was bullied (欺负) for five years. "My
teachers couldn"t have had a lower opinion of me," he said. "I wasn"t even smart enough to rebel (反抗). The
one thing I remember from the very earliest age was this desire to write. When I was 10 years old, I remember
asking my parents to get me a typewriter for my birthday because I wanted to be a writer."
Now, at 55, Horowitz is one of the world"s most successful children"s book authors. His Alex Rider series
has sold more than 5 million copies, and the eighth book featuring the young spy. Crocodile Tears, came out
this month.
The Alex Rider books tell the adventures of 14-year-old Alex Rider, an agent for the British intelligence
agency MI6.
Horowitz said he doesn"t try to write for kids; it just comes out that way. "I have a feeling it"s to do with
purity and simplicity. I give as little information as is necessary to describe the room, the character in the room,
and get on with the action," he said.
That style has also made Horowitz a successful writer of television shows for adults in Britain because, he
says, writing books for kids is a lot like writing television for grown-ups. In both cases, it"s all about entertaining
people with a good story.
Now, Horowitz couldn"t be happier with his life. He sums up his success:"... you can be anything you want
to be if you just believe in yourself. I do believe it completely."
B. Horowitz"s miserable childhood
C. Horowitz, a successful children"s writer
D. Horowitz"s special writing style
B. was paid more attention by his parents
C. couldn"t understand why he was sent to the boarding school
D. led a miserable life because of poverty
B. often abused and bullied him
C. taught him how to write stories
D. thought little of his ability
B. He benefited a lot from boarding school.
C. He emphasizes the plot rather than characters in stories.
D. Although he is successful, he isn"t very happy.
B. Hardship teaches valuable lessons.
C. Interest is the best teacher.
D. Diligence is the parent of success.
England, as he accompanied his brother on a walking tour. He was impressed by the park"s winding paths,
open fields, lakes and bridges. Perhaps the most wonderful things of all was that the park was open to
everyone.
A moment beginning in 1840 to set aside park land on New York City"s Manhattan Island had a successful
result in 1856 with the purchase of 840 acres of rocky and swampy (沼泽) land, bought with about $5
million in state funds. Olmsted"s chance meeting with a project organizer led to his applying for the job of
park manager. In 1857 Olmsted was appointed manager of the proposed park, and the clearing of the site
began.
Calvert Vaux, a British architect, asked Olmsted to collaborate with him on a park design, and Olmsted
agreed. Vaux saw the park as a work of art, while Olmsted saw the park as a place for people to escape the
noise of the city. Together they invented a plan that would give the persons and animals living in the city a
quiet, green park and would also preserve and increase the good qualities of the natural features of the land.
The commissioners voted in favor of Vaux and Olmsted"s plan, and in 1858, the two became the official
designers of New York City"s Central Park.
It took millions of cartloads of topsoil to build Central park"s gentle slopes, shady glens, and steep, rocky
ravines. Five million trees were planted, a watersupply system was laid, and bridges, arches, roads and paths
were constructed. The park officially opened in 1876, and today, well over a century later, people still escape
the noise of the city in Olmsted and Vaux"s great work of art.
B. An engineering plan for Central Park C.
A. biography of Frederick Law Olmsted.
D. A guided walking tour of Central park
B. his hard work in clearing the land
C. his winning a design competition
D. a chance meeting with one of the park"s organizers
B. comment
C. vote
D. work together
B. The designers came from the same country.
C. It is an old park in America.
D. It is only for people who can well afford it.
an international cultural ambassador. And he was also a teacher and activist. For more than sixty years,
Mr. Stern performed excellent music. He performed in concerts around the world and on recordings.
Isaac Stern was born in 1920 in Ukraine. His parents moved to California the following year. He began
taking violin lessons after hearing a friend play the instrument. Later, he began studying music at the San
Francisco Conservatory (旧金山音乐学院). He progressed quickly. When he was sixteen, he played with
the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. The next year, he performed in New York and was praised by music
critics.
Isaac Stern became one of the busiest musicians of his day. He played more than one hundred concerts
a year. He also became one of the most recorded musicians in history. Isaac Stern also supported artistic
development and freedom.
In 1979, ISaac Stern visited China. He met with Chinese musicians and students. He taught them about
classical Western music. His visit was made into a film. It is called From Mao to Mozart: Isaac Stern in China.
It won an Academy Award for best documentary film.
In 1984, Isaac Stern received the Kennedy Center Honors Award for his gifts to American culture through
music. He expressed his thoughts about the part that music plays in life. He said music is an important part of
a civilized life. He said people need music as much as they need bread.
Isaac Stem died in 2001 at the age of eighty-one. He was a major influence on music in the twentieth
century. He leaves the world richer with his many recordings.
B. Difficult.
C. Entertaining.
D. Interesting.
B. advise the readers to take up music
C. introduce more achievements of Isaac Stern
D. show he acted as an international cultural ambassador
B. He had visited many countries to advertise his recordings.
C. He played less than one hundred concerts in all.
D. His excellent music life lasted over 60 years.
B. Isaac Stern was one of the most active musicians of his day
C. Isaac Stern was so busy that he couldn"t spare time to educate the youth
D. Isaac Stern led a rich life in his later life
B. Isaac Stern"s life of pursuing music.
C. Isaac Stern: one of the most honored musicians.
D. Isaac Stern"s visit to China.
After 13 years and 46,000 miles the British traveler Jason Lewis finished the round-the-world journey
using human power alone. He crossed five continents, two oceans and a sea to become the first peson to
go around the globe only depending on himself and using his own power. He finally returned to the UK on
Saturday, crossing the Greenwich Meridian Line (格林威治子午线), in his specially-designed, 8-meter-long,
pedal-powered (脚蹬动力的) boat, "Moksha". It was the same place where his journey began on July, 1994
when he was just 26 years old.
Jason used many kinds of transport methods during his great joumey,such as riding, swimming, boating,
and skating. His journey took him west from Britain to the USA and then to Australia, Asia, and Africa before
returning to Europe from the east.
The journey was not without dangers: in Colorado Jason was knocked down by a truck whose driver had
drunk a lot of wine while riding at the side of the road. He spend six weeks in hospital and nearly lost one of
his legs. After the accident, Jason was robbed (抢劫) and beaten several times on his journey, sent to prison
(监狱) by the Australian army that considered him to be a spy, and ran after by a lion in Egypt. But on the
way he raised money to help the poor children around the world. He also developed an education program for
schoolchildren while he was on his journey.
Next the world traveller may have a rest for a while. "I"ve seen enough deserts. I"ve climbed beautiful
green hills. I have slept in the open air in Australia and sat by the fire drinking a bottle of beer," said Jason.
"but I do miss our British. It"s really nice to be with the people who are always smiling to each other."
a. riding a bike
b. taking a bus
c. skating on the ice
d. swimming in the sea
e. taking a plane
f. pedaling a boat
B. acdf
C. abcd
D. bdef
B. He would set out to climb the Himalayas in Asia.
C. He would go camping in the open air in Australia.
D. He would have a picnic with his British friends.
B. Because he stole others" money and hit others.
C. Because he was thought to be a spy.
D. Because he ran after a lion and wanted to kill it.
B. using many kinds of transport methods during the journey
C. starting his journey from the Greenwich Meridian Line
D. having a specially designed boat "Moksha"
B. It was because he drunk a lot of wine that he was knocked down by a truck.
C. He paid more attention to children"s education.
D. He was very disappointed at the journey which took him 13 years.
performing plays at his high school. He later spent two years studying theatre at Northwestern University
in Evanston, Illinois. But he left college to join the army during the Second World War.
After the war, Charlton Heston found small roles in the theatre as well as in television shows. His
performance in a film version of the book Jane Eyre caught the attention of the Hollywood producer Cecil B.
DeMille who later asked Charlton Heston to play the role of Moses in his movie The Ten Commandments
which came out in 1954. The role in this film made Charlton Heston famous and decided his career as an
actor playing the role of heroes. His face and body represented (体现) strength and heroism (英雄气概) in
many different roles. He played cowboys, soldiers and athletes.
The movie Ben-Hur (1959) made Charlton Heston an even bigger star. Ben-Hur won eleven Academy
Awards, including Best Actor. Charlton Heston starred in many adventure movies during the 1960s. In the
1970s, Charlton Heston appeared in popular disaster movies like Earthquake, Skyjacked and Airport 1975.
Charlton Heston was also very active in the movie industry. He worked to help build the American Film
Institute. In 1977 he was honored for his service in the industry, receiving the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian
Award. In 1997 he was awarded a Kennedy Center Honor. And, in 2003, President Bush gave Charlton
Heston a Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation"s highest honor for ordinary people.
In 2000, the doctor found Charlton Heston had Alzheimer"s disease. He died in 2008 at his home in Beverly
Hills, California.
B. Cowboys
C. Soldiers
D. Athletes
B. The Ten Commandments
C. Ben-Hur
D. Earthquake
B. The Ten Commandments and Ben-Hur
C. Skyjacked and Airport 1975
D. The Ten Commandments and Earthquake
B. How Charlton Heston become famous.
C. Who made Charlton Heston a popular star.
D. Who made Charlton Heston win so many awards.
a. Catching the attention of Cecil B. DeMille.
b. Studying at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.
c. Acting in the film Skyjacked.
d. Catching Alzheimer"s disease.
e. Playing in the movie The Ten Comandments.
B. baecd
C. bacde
D. abecd
a Thai beach hit by a tsunami in 2004 and had been named Child of the Year (2005) by readers of a French
children"s newspaper.
She came ahead of a South African Aids orphan, a six-year-old girl who survived a kidnapping by pedophiles
(有恋童癖的人) and a young Parisian pop singer to win the Mon Quotidien award.
Tilly had studied tsunami with her geography teacher, Andrew Kearney, shortly before flying to Thailand
for a holiday with her parents and younger sister last year.
As she watched the waves suddenly begin to fall back, and the sea was bubbling, she wamed her mother,
Penny, that the beach was about to be struck by a tsunami. Mrs Smith and her husband, Colin, alerted other
holidaymakers and hotel staff and scores of people were cleared from Maikhao beach at Phuket.
Tilly, now 11, and back in Thailand for anniversary commemorations of the disaster, said:"It"s re- ally good,
just to know about tsunami or any natural hazard in case you are in one. I"m very glad that I was able to say on
the beach that a tsunami was coming. And I"m glad that they listened to me."
She had earlier said that the state of the sea, which was "sizzling (发出咝咝声) and bubbling", was "exactly
the same as in my geography lesson."
Tilly read a Thai poem entitled Tsunami at a candle-light vigil to commemorate (纪念)victims of the disaster.
She is unaware of her remarkable (非凡的) popularity among French children. Her picture appears on the
front page of Mon Quotidien, which is read by 10 to 14-year-olds.
"Our readers chose Tilly because they could identify with her," said Francois Dufour, the editor-in-chief.
"To be a pop star at 11 seems impossible, and the idea of having Aids or being kidnapped is remote from their
lives."
B. children from Britain
C. people from France
D. government in France
B. Two
C. Three
D. Without limit
B. Water rising suddenly with huge sounds.
C. Waves receding suddenly and bubbling.
D. Waves rising and fishes turnig over.
- 1—Mr. Green has _____ one-year-old son, doesn’t he?—Yes, and
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- 1等比数列的前项和,且(1)求数列的通项公式(2)求数列的前项的和
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- 3一Do you know _____ lady in blue? 一Yes. She is a teacher of a
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