Liu Qian, a magician from Taiwan, cast his spell(魔法)over an audience of thousands on the CCTV Spring Festival Show. Die-hard fans are still trying to work out the secrets behind many of the tricks he performed.

But Liu, 32, when asked, laughed off the idea that there might be an “answer” to his magic. “The most fascinating things about magic is the puzzling process. People enjoy how magicians make the impossible come true,” said Liu.

Few people today believe in the possibility of real magic. They also often fail to consider magicians’ devotion to their art. It can take a magician years’ of practice to perfect a trick before he performs it on stage.

Part of Liu’s star appeal is his astonishing skill. However, when he began in the industry, he was embarrassingly clumsy. “I could practice thousands of times for one single act. It wasn’t much fun,” he said.

No magician’s supernatural powers on stage extend to their life off stage. Liu says his life was no easier or funnier because he was a magician.

He developed an interest in magic at a young age, but didn’t consider making a living out of it until he graduated from university. He had studied Japanese language and found himself unable to find a job. “My parents never considered being a magician as a proper job. To begin with, I had little confidence I would be doing this in the long term,” he said.

Yet Liu felt a powerful calling to become a magician. “For many people, magic somehow means a miracle, which is something we all secretly wish for no matter how hard-bitten or cynical (愤世嫉俗的)we become,” he said.

Liu may be right. A popular modern dream is of the fairy godmother, who waves her magic wand (棒) and makes our dreams come true. But according to Liu, we all have the power to create magic in our lives. As Liu puts it: it’s not the magic that makes it work；it’s the way we work that makes it magic.

1. According to the passage, we can tell that ________.

A. being a famous magician, Liu Qian leads a comfortable life

B. it is a hard job for magicians to perform magic tricks well

C. Liu Qian’s parents supported his wish of earning a living by being a magician

D. Liu Qian showed great talents in performing magic tricks when he first took it up

2. As to whether there’s real magic, Liu Qian believes ________.

A. there is no real magic and what counts in our life is the way we work

B. if we secretly wish for something, magic will turn out to be a miracle

C. the puzzling process of performing magic tricks is the answer to magic

D. there exists a fairy godmother waving her magic wand to make our dreams come true

3. Which of the following sayings is similar to the underlined sentence in meaning?

A. All roads lead to Rome.                B. Easier said than done.

C. Actions speak louder than words.       D. Where there is a will, there is a way.

4. What is the best title for the passage?

A. Magic in our lives                     B. The answer to magic

C. A popular magician from Taiwan         D. The way to become a successful magician

Liu Qian, a magician from Taiwan, cast his spell(魔法)over an audience of thousands on the CCTV Spring Festival Show. Die-hard fans are still trying to work out the secrets behind many of the tricks he performed.

But Liu, 32, when asked, laughed off the idea that there might be an “answer” to his magic. “The most fascinating things about magic is the puzzling process. People enjoy how magicians make the impossible come true,” said Liu.

Few people today believe in the possibility of real magic. They also often fail to consider magicians’ devotion to their art. It can take a magician years’ of practice to perfect a trick before he performs it on stage.

Part of Liu’s star appeal is his astonishing skill. However, when he began in the industry, he was embarrassingly clumsy. “I could practice thousands of times for one single act. It wasn’t much fun,” he said.

No magician’s supernatural powers on stage extend to their life off stage. Liu says his life was no easier or funnier because he was a magician.

He developed an interest in magic at a young age, but didn’t consider making a living out of it until he graduated from university. He had studied Japanese language and found himself unable to find a job. “My parents never considered being a magician as a proper job. To begin with, I had little confidence I would be doing this in the long term,” he said.

Yet Liu felt a powerful calling to become a magician. “For many people, magic somehow means a miracle, which is something we all secretly wish for no matter how hard-bitten or cynical (愤世嫉俗的)we become,” he said.

Liu may be right. A popular modern dream is of the fairy godmother, who waves her magic wand (棒) and makes our dreams come true. But according to Liu, we all have the power to create magic in our lives. As Liu puts it: it’s not the magic that makes it work；it’s the way we work that makes it magic.

1. According to the passage, we can tell that ________.

A. being a famous magician, Liu Qian leads a comfortable life

B. it is a hard job for magicians to perform magic tricks well

C. Liu Qian’s parents supported his wish of earning a living by being a magician

D. Liu Qian showed great talents in performing magic tricks when he first took it up

2. As to whether there’s real magic, Liu Qian believes ________.

A. there is no real magic and what counts in our life is the way we work

B. if we secretly wish for something, magic will turn out to be a miracle

C. the puzzling process of performing magic tricks is the answer to magic

D. there exists a fairy godmother waving her magic wand to make our dreams come true

3. Which of the following sayings is similar to the underlined sentence in meaning?

A. All roads lead to Rome.             B. Easier said than done.

C. Actions speak louder than words.     D. Where there is a will, there is a way.

4. What is the best title for the passage?

A. Magic in our lives                 B. The answer to magic

C. A popular magician from Taiwan     D. The way to become a successful magician

Liu Qian, a magician from Taiwan, cast his spell（魔法）over an audience of thousands on the CCTV Spring Festival Show．Die-hard fans are still trying to work out the secrets behind many of the tricks he performed．

But Liu, 32, when asked, laughed off the idea that there might be an “answer” to his magic．“The most fascinating things about magic is the puzzling process．People enjoy how magicians make the impossible come true,” said Liu．

Few people today believe in the possibility of real magic．They also often fail to consider magicians’ devotion to their art．It can take a magician years’ of practice to perfect a trick before he performs it on stage．

Part of Liu’s star appeal is his astonishing skill．However, when he began in the industry, he was embarrassingly clumsy．“I could practice thousands of times for one single act．It wasn’t much fun,” he said．

No magician’s supernatural powers on stage extend to their life off stage．Liu says his life was no easier or funnier because he was a magician．

He developed an interest in magic at a young age, but didn’t consider making a living out of it until he graduated from university．He had studied Japanese language and found himself unable to find a job．“My parents never considered being a magician as a proper job．To begin with, I had little confidence I would be doing this in the long term,” he said．

Yet Liu felt a powerful calling to become a magician．“For many people, magic somehow means a miracle, which is something we all secretly wish for no matter how hard-bitten or cynical （愤世嫉俗的）we become,” he said．

Liu may be right．A popular modern dream is of the fairy godmother, who waves her magic wand （棒） and makes our dreams come true．But according to Liu, we all have the power to create magic in our lives．As Liu puts it: it’s not the magic that makes it work；it’s the way we work that makes it magic．

1.According to the passage, we can tell that ________．

A．being a famous magician, Liu Qian leads a comfortable life

it is a hard job for magicians to perform magic tricks well

C．Liu Qian’s parents supported his wish of earning a living by being a magician

D．Liu Qian showed great talents in performing magic tricks when he first took it up

2.As to whether there’s real magic, Liu Qian believes ________．

A．there is no real magic and what counts in our life is the way we work

if we secretly wish for something, magic will turn out to be a miracle

C．the puzzling process of performing magic tricks is the answer to magic

D．there exists a fairy godmother waving her magic wand to make our dreams come true

3.Which of the following sayings is similar to the underlined sentence in meaning?

A．All roads lead to Rome．         Easier said than done．

C．Actions speak louder than words．  D．Where there is a will, there is a way．

4.What is the best title for the passage?

A．Magic in our lives               The answer to magic

C．A popular magician from Taiwan   D．The way to become a successful magician

.

第三部分：阅读理解

第一节：（共20小题；每小题2分，满分40分）

阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项中，选出最佳选项。

Liu Qian, a magician from Taiwan, cast his spell（魔法）over an audience of thousands on the CCTV Spring Festival Show. Die-hard fans are still trying to work out the secrets behind many of the tricks he performed.  

But Liu, 32, when asked, laughed off the idea that there might be an “answer” to his magic. “The most fascinating thing is the puzzling process. People enjoy how magicians make the impossible come true,” said Liu.

Few people today believe in the possibility of real magic. They also often fail to consider magicians’ devotion to their art. It can take a magician years’ of practice to perfect a trick before he performs it on stage.

Part of Liu’s star appeal is his astonishing skill. However, when he began in the industry, he was all embarrassingly clumsy. “I could practice thousands of times for one single act. It wasn’t much fun,” he said.

No magician’s supernatural powers on stage extend to their life off stage. Liu says his life was no easier or funnier because he was a magician.

He developed an interest in magic at a young age, but didn’t consider making a living out of it until he graduated from university. He had studied Japanese and found himself unable to find a job. “My parents never considered being a magician as a proper job. To begin with, I had little confidence I would be doing this in the long term,” he said.

Yet Liu felt a powerful calling to become a magician. “For many people, magic somehow means a miracle, which is something we all secretly wish for no matter how hard-bitten we become,” he said.

Liu may be right. A popular modern dream is of the fairy godmother, who waves her magic wand(魔杖) and makes our dreams come true. But according to Liu, we all have the power to create magic in our lives. As Liu puts it: it’s not the magic that makes it work；it’s the way we work that makes it magic.

56. According to the passage, we can tell that __________.

A. being a famous magician, Liu Qian leads a comfortable life

B. it is a hard job for magicians to perform magic tricks well

C. Liu Qian’s parents supported his wish to be a magician

D. Liu Qian showed great talents for magic tricks when he first took it up

57. Talking of whether there’s real magic, Liu Qian believes _________.

A. there is no real magic and what counts in our life is the way we work

B. if we secretly wish for something, magic will turn out to be a miracle

C. the puzzling process of performing magic tricks is the answer to magic

D. there exists a fairy godmother waving her magic wand to make our dreams come true

58. Which of the following is similar to the underlined sentence in meaning?

A. All roads lead to Rome.       B. A miss is as good as a mile.

C. Every dog has his day.        D. No pains, no gains.

59. What is the best title for the passage?

A. Magic Power by Liu Qian       B. The Magic Skill

C. A Popular Magician---Liu Qian   D. How to Be a Successful Magician

Janice is an American engineer working in Nanjing. She and her husband George, who is teaching English at a university, have been eager to get to know Chinese people better, so they were pleased when Liu, Janice’s young co-worker, invited them to her home for dinner.
When they arrived, Liu introduced them to her husband Yang and asked them to sit down at a table containing eight plates of various cold dishes. Half an hour later she came back and sat down and the three began to eat. Yang came in from time to time, putting hot dishes on the table. Most of the food was wonderful, though neither George nor Janice could eat the fatty pork, and there was much more than they could eat. They kept wishing Yang would sit down so they could talk to him. Finally he did sit down to eat a bit, but soon it was time to go home.
Janice and George felt slightly depressed by this experience, but returned the invitation two weeks later. They decided to make a nice American meal and felt lucky to find olives, crackers(脆饼), tomato juice, and even some cheese in the shop. They put these out as appetizers（开胃品）. For the main course they prepared spaghetti and a salad.
When Liu and Yang arrived and began to have dinner, they took small tastes of the appetizers and seemed surprised when both George and Janice sat down with them. They ate only a little spaghetti and didn’t finish the salad on their plates. After a while, George cleared the table and served coffee and pastries(糕点). Yang and Liu each put four spoons of sugar into their coffee but didn’t drink much of it and ate only a bite or two of pastry.
After they left, George and Janice were upset. “ We left their place so full but they’re going to have to eat again when they get home. What went wrong?

1. 1.

   What do we know about the dinner at Liu’s home?

   1. A.
      It lasted about half an hour
   2. B.
      There were eight dishes in all
   3. C.
      the hot dishes were mainly cooked by Yang
   4. D.
      Many dishes were cooked in American style
2. 2.

   Why did the American couple feel a bit depressed after dinner at Liu’s home?

   1. A.
      They received a cold welcome
   2. B.
      The fatty pork was not delicious
   3. C.
      The dinner was not well prepared
   4. D.
      Yang spent little time talking with them
3. 3.

   During the dinner at Janice’s home, Liu and Yang _______

   1. A.
      found little food to enjoy
   2. B.
      ate much salad and pastry
   3. C.
      drank a lot of coffee with much sugar
   4. D.
      showed much interest in American food
4. 4.

   The text is most likely to be found in a book about _______

   1. A.
      cooking skills
   2. B.
      cultural differences
   3. C.
      language learning
   4. D.
      business management