Published in 1896 and one of the most memorable horror stories ever written, Dracula, by Irish writer Bram Stoker,is the story of a vampire（吸血鬼）,someone who lives on human blood. Stoker wrote the book after reading stories about Central European vampires and set his novel in Transylvania. Even today,there are readers of the book who believe that Transylvania is a mythical（神话的）country,a figment（虚构）of Stoker’s imagination. Nothing could be further from the truth. Transylvania is part of modern-day Central European country Romania,and the country does indeed have a history of mythological vampires.

However,Romanians are always puzzled by the description of the novel’s central character, Count Dracula,a tall,elegant aristocrat（贵族）with impeccable（完美的）manners who also happens to speak very good English. This is a world away from the images of vampires that they have grown up with. Romanian vampires are half-human creatures who live solitary lives in the forests,not aristocrats living in castles with well-stocked libraries.

So where did Stoke get the image for his Dracula? The answer becomes clearer when one learns of his relationship with a man called Henry Irving,the greatest British stage actor of his time.

Stoker was working as a civil servant in his home city of Dublin when he first met Irving. Bored with his tedious life and work, Stoker took every opportunity to visit the theatre and for a while was the drama critic for the Dublin Evening Mail. One of the reviews he wrote was of a performance of Shakespeare’s play Hamlet,with Irving in the lead role.

Irving was so pleased with Stoker’s review of his performance that he asked to meet him. Stoker couldn’t believe his luck when one night,he was invited to a dinner party where Irving was the guest of honour. Irving entertained the assembled dinner guests with some renditions（表演）of famous poems and speeches from Shakespeare.

Stoker was already writing the first chapters of Dracula and began to base the central character on Irving,in the vain hope that if it ever became a stage play, Irving would play the central character. Sadly,Irving never did,but the two men became close friends,and in 1878 Stoker left the civil service and became Irving’s manager in London.

1.Bram Stoker set his novel in Transylvania because       .

A．it is in modern-day Romania

B．Transylvania is a mythical country

C．he wanted to tell a true story

D．he had read stories about vampires from the area

2.The central character of the novel       .

A．is very similar to the vampires that Romanians know about

B．Is completely different from the vampires Romanians know about

C．Has impeccable manners,like a real Romanian vampire

D．Is puzzled by the comparison with Romanian vampires

3.What was Stoker’s hope?

A．That the book would become a stage-play.

B．That Irving would play the central character in the stage play.

C．That he could live in London.

D．That Irving would work for him.

 

He was so pleased with all ______ we had done for him _____ he wrote us a letter to praise us for it.

A. what; what   B. what; that     C. that; what    D. that; that 

What would you do if Martians (火星人) kidnapped (绑架) your mom? In the 3-D animated movie Mars Needs Moms, a young boy named Milo finds himself in this exact difficult situation. The aliens want to steal Milo’s mother’s “momness” for their own young. Now it’s up to the 9-year-old to get his mom back before she is lost forever.

Every good action movie has a bad guy. The villain (反派角色) in this film is the Martian Supervisor, played by Mindy Sterling. The Supervisor has an icy cold heart. Remarkably, Sterling acted out almost all of her scenes in a special Martian language created just for the movie. “Learning Martian was a piece of cake,” Sterling said. “There wasn’t too much to learn; sometimes, I just made it up!”

Anyone who has a mother will be moved by this movie. In fact, anyone who loves someone will be moved by this movie. Maybe it is because the story was inspired by a real-life event. The movie is based on a novel by prize-winning cartoonist Berkeley Breathed. He wrote the book after a dinner-table incident between his wife and son, who was then 4 years old. That night, Breathed’s son had thrown his broccoli into the air and rushed out of the room angrily, yelling at his mother on the way out. Breathed told his son, “You might think differently about your mom if she were kidnapped by Martians.” He wrote the novel that same evening.

All kids get into arguments with their parents. The fights may be about homework, chores or eating vegetables. Mars Needs Moms tells us to look past these silly disagreements and to remember the importance of family and the things that really matter.

1.In the movie Mars Needs Moms the aliens want to _____.

A. kill Milo’s mother   

B. take Milo as their kid

C. make Milo’s mother their kids’ mom

D. send their kids to Milo’s family

2.To Mindy Sterling, learning Martian language is _____.

A. simple B. difficult    C. interesting D. unacceptable

3.What made Breathed write the novel?

A. The movie producer’s idea.

B. His wife’s inspiration and help.

C. His good relationship with his mother.

D. His son’s bad behavior toward his mother.

4.In the last paragraph the author wants to _____.

A. advise children to help with the housework

B. encourage readers to learn something from the movie

C. stress the importance of doing something different

D. ask parents to be good teachers of their children

 

完形填空（共20小题；每小题1.5分，满分30分）

阅读下面短文，从短文后各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出可以填入的空白处的最佳选项，并从答题卡上将该选项涂黑。

A man lost his legs in a tragic accident. After the accident, only two fingers  1 on his right hand.

However, he was bright, creative and educated. He had gained much experience while traveling throughout the world. Yet, he became very  2  after the accident. He was afraid he would spend his life 3 and would no longer be able to live a life in a(n)  4  way.

One day, he remembered how he had 5  loved getting letters. He realized that he still had partial  6   of his right hand and could write with difficulty. Then, he had an idea. “Why not write to other people who need  7 ?”

Who to write to? He thought of people in prison. Many of them hoped to 8 their freedom. Others would keep feeling sad and remain locked away for the rest of their lives. He decided that he must try to  9  them.

He wrote to a prison officer about sending letters to prisoners. The prison officer replied that writing to the prisoners would be 10 . However, it would be 11  prison rules for them to write back.

Filled with the 12  of carrying out his idea, the man knew he had to write. He began sending one-way 13  of love, hope, strength and encouragement.

He 14  twice a week, testing his strength and ability to the limit. He poured his heart and soul into his words, 15  his experience and optimism.

It was difficult to write those letters, especially without hope of a 16 . Frequently, he felt discouraged. He often wondered if anyone 17  read his letters. However,  he determined to 18  as long as he could help others.

One day he received a letter from the prison officer. It was a short note from the officer who monitored  and 19  the prison mails.

The letter said, “Please write on the best paper you can 20 . Your letters are passed from cell (牢房) to cell until they fall to pieces!”

1.                A．appeared       B．remained       C．grew D．developed

 

2.                A．moved         B．depressed       C．interested D．tired

 

3.                A．worrying        B．regretting       C．thinking  D．suffering

 

4.                A．meaningful      B．different        C．new D．attractive

 

5.                A．seldom         B．never          C．always    D．hardly

 

6.                A．muscle         B．energy         C．task  D．function

 

7.                A．money         B．knowledge      C．friendship D．encouragement

 

8.                A．enjoy          B．express         C．regain    D．receive

 

9.                A．educate        B．reach          C．save D．support

 

10.               A．impossible      B．necessary       C．acceptable D．difficult

 

11.               A．against         B．above          C．from  D．within

 

12.               A．plan           B．strength        C．ability D．intention

 

13.               A．messages       B．tickets         C．gifts  D．rules

 

14.               A．played         B．traveled        C．wrote D．studied

 

15.               A．forgetting       B．sharing         C．increasing D．forming

 

16.               A．story          B．reply          C．job   D．reward

 

17.               A．immediately     B．already         C．actually   D．luckily

 

18.               A．wait           B．ask            C．change    D．continue

 

19.               A．checked        B．chose          C．kept  D．sent

 

20.               A．make          B．afford          C．imagine   D．expect

 

 

Mark Twain left school when he was twelve. He had little school education. In spite of this, he became the most famous writer of his time. He made millions of dollars by writing. His real name was Samuel Langhorne Clemens, but he is better known all over the world as Mark Twain, his penname.

Mark Twain was born in 1835 and he was not a healthy baby. In fact, he was not expected to live through the first winter. But with his mother’s care, he managed to survive. As a boy, he caused much trouble for his parents. He used to play jokes on all his friends and neighbors. He didn’t like to go to school, and he often ran away from home. He always went in the direction of the nearby Mississippi(密西西比河). He was nearly drowned nine times.

After his father’s death, Mark Twain began to work for a printer, who only provided him with food and clothing. Then, he worked as a printer, a river-boat pilot and later joined the army. But shortly after that he became a miner. During this period, he started to write short stories. Afterwards he became a full time writer.

In 1870, Mark Twain got married. In the years that followed he wrote many books including Tom Sawyer in 1876, and Huckleberry Finn in 1884, which made him famous, and brought him great fortune.

Unfortunately, Mark Twain got into debts in bad investments(投资) and he had to write large numbers of stories to pay these debts. In 1904, his wife died, and then three of his children passed away.

At the age of 70, his hair was completely white. He bought many white suits and neckties. He wore nothing but white from head to foot until his death on April 21, 1910.

1.In his childhood, Mark Twain, ________.

A. learned a lot at school                                       

B. he often went swimming with other boys

C. his mother often worried about his safety    

D. he often played games with other boys

2.Which of the following shows the right order about Mark Twain?

a. He became a miner.                          b. He worked as a printer.

c. He got into debts.                       d. His father died.

e. He became a full-time writer.         F. He joined the army.

A. a—d—b—c—e—f                   B. d—b—f—a—e—c

C. d—a—f—e—b—c          D. c—b—d—f—e—a

3.In order to make a living, Mark Twain _______.

A. first worked as a printer

B. did many kinds of work

C. wrote stories in the beginning

D. joined the army after he worked in a mine

4.From the passage we can see that Mark Twain _______.

A. had a happy childhood

B. was a good boy and always did what he was asked

C. was very naughty when he was young

D. lived a pleasant life