Think of some of your favorite singers. When you listen, they can make you happy or sad, peaceful or angry. They can make you relax or want to get up and dance. Gifted singers have the power to affect us in many ways—emotionally, physically and mentally.
But becoming a great singer isn’t as easy as listening to one. It takes practice, devotion and strong lungs! Just ask the well-known American opera（歌剧）star Carol Vaness.
At the Metropolitan Opera in New York City where she often sings, Carol’s voice must be loud enough to be heard by four thousand people. It must reach every person in the theater, without a microphone, even when she’s singing softly. The reason Carol can project her voice that far is the way she breathes.
“When you breathe, it’s like a swimmer taking a deep breath before going underwater,” Carol explains. “You have to take a lot of air into your lungs.”
According to Carol, the main difference between pop singing and opera is “how you breathe, how much air you take in, and how you control it coming out. Regular singing is more like speaking, and it’s lot softer. When I sing for children, they’re often surprised by how the vibrations strike their ears—like waves on a beach, ”Carol says. “In opera, the air doesn’t just go out of your mouth—it vibrates in your chest，the way a guitar vibrates when it’s played.”
Ever since she started piano lessons at the age of ten, Carol has loved music. As she got older, she decided to become a music teacher. When she went to college, she took singing lessons as part of her studies. Her voice teacher discovered that nineteen-year-old Carol had an exceptionally beautiful soprano voice-the highest singing voice for women.
Carol decided to make opera her goal, not only because she loved to sing but also because she loved the drama. Opera is a play in which the characters sing the words instead of speaking them. The stories of opera can be tragic or comical. They can be personal stories about two people falling in love or grand stories about kings and queens who lived long ago. As the characters in an opera sing, the emotions（情感）expressed by words and music come to life.
Today, Carol performs throughout the United States and Europe and she has song for almost twenty years. But she has never forgotten where she started singing in the first palace.
“Put your heart into your singing and enjoy it,” says Carol, “because singing is a great joy. That’s why I sing. In fact, that’s why everybody sings.”
【小题1】According to the passage,  the Metropolitan Opera in New York City     .

The Beginning of the Civil Rights Movement
In 1955，bus seats for African Americans and whites were separated in parts of the U．S.. On December 1,1955，in the city of Montgomery，Alabama，a conflict，or disagreement，started when an African American woman named Rosa Parks refused to give her bus seat to a white man and go to the back of the bus. The police took 42?year?old Parks to jail.
The African American community was extremely angry. They had a meeting and decided to work together to protest discrimination. They agreed to boycott(抵制) the buses on the day that Parks went to court. The day was a success. Empty buses drove through the streets. The city lost money. The community decided to continue the boycott. They elected a man named Martin Luther King，Jr. to be the leader.
The boycott continued. It was difficult for African Americans to get to work without buses，but they didn’t stop the boycott. The city continued to lose money. Finally，the U．S. Supreme Court decided that Montgomery’s bus laws were unfair and gave the African American community equal right. On December 21,1956，the bus boycott ended.
The Montgomery Bus Boycott was the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement. The movement eventually led to the Civil Rights Act in 1964，a set of laws that made discrimination a crime. During the Montgomery Bus Boycott，people worked together to change the government. Today，people in the U．S. continue to work together for a change. Now hundreds of organizations and community groups work to protect the rights of U．S. citizens and residents

1. 1.

   How is the situation for the black in the U．S. in 1955?

   1. A.
      They were treated equally
   2. B.
      They were treated unfairly
   3. C.
      They had no rights to take a bus
   4. D.
      They were not allowed to take the same bus with the white
2. 2.

   What is the cause of the Civil Rights Movement?

   1. A.
      Bus seats for African Americans and white were separated in parts of the U．S
   2. B.
      Rosa Parks was sent to jail for she refused to give her bus seat to a white man
   3. C.
      The African American community had a meeting to protest discrimination
   4. D.
      A man named Martin Luther King，Jr. was elected to be the leader
3. 3.

   How long did the boycott continue?

   1. A.
      Less than a year
   2. B.
      Less than a month
   3. C.
      More than a year
   4. D.
      More than a month
4. 4.

   How did the black people fight for the civil rights?

   1. A.
      By refusing to take buses
   2. B.
      By refusing to talk to the white
   3. C.
      Through fights with the white people
   4. D.
      By doing nothing
5. 5.

   What is the final result of the Civil Rights Movement?

   1. A.
      The U．S. Supreme Court decided that Montgomery’s bus laws were unfair and gave the African American community equal right
   2. B.
      They elected a man named Martin Luther King，Jr. to be the leader
   3. C.
      Black people and white people can take the same bus
   4. D.
      The movement eventually led to the Civil Rights Act in 1964，a set of laws that made discrimination a crime

The greatest source of inspiration for me has always been my father. Though he’s been gone for 17 years, his1still resonate(产生共鸣). He taught me how to run my own race in life. But the most inspiring thing he taught me was to2.
One incident is 3in my mind. It happened when I was a teenager. My sister and I weren’t very fond of a so-called friend of 4. Dad was a very generous man, and as he’d done with so many people, he’d given this fellow great help. But when he asked for a favor5, the guy didn’t deliver.
Dad’s outlook(人生观)on most things was “Live and let live.” In this case, however, his calmness6Terre and me, and we let him know it.
“How can you be nice to that man?” we said to him. “You’ve been so kind to him, and he’s not being kind back. Why would you want to give him the time of day again?”
My father shrugged(耸肩)and said to us, “I do not bend my back with7. ”
I didn’t get it at first, but over the years I came to understand the8. Holding a grudge(怨恨)doesn’t9the person you’re angry with, but it changes you. It makes you heavier and gives you more weight to drag around.
After my father died in 1991, a (n)10came from a fellow I’d had a quarrel with years before to11his sympathy. He wrote: “I thought I’d tell you how sorry I am12the loss of your father. I know he13the world to you. I just wanted to let you know that you are in my thoughts. ”
Much moved, I wrote back. I thanked him for his14. And then, because he’d15
our disagreement, I recalled Dad’s inspiring words. “I am my father’s daughter,” I wrote. “And like him, I do not bend my back with yesterday.”

1. 1.
   1. A.
      lectures
   2. B.
      suggestions
   3. C.
      lessons
   4. D.
      pictures
2. 2.
   1. A.
      forgive
   2. B.
      persuade
   3. C.
      forget
   4. D.
      excuse
3. 3.
   1. A.
      vital
   2. B.
      obvious
   3. C.
      visual
   4. D.
      vivid
4. 4.
   1. A.
      sister’s
   2. B.
      mine
   3. C.
      father's
   4. D.
      mother’s
5. 5.
   1. A.
      in return
   2. B.
      in turn
   3. C.
      by return
   4. D.
      by turn
6. 6.
   1. A.
      relaxed
   2. B.
      moved
   3. C.
      interrupted
   4. D.
      bothered
7. 7.
   1. A.
      anger
   2. B.
      disappointment
   3. C.
      worry
   4. D.
      yesterday
8. 8.
   1. A.
      reason
   2. B.
      word
   3. C.
      philosophy
   4. D.
      sentence
9. 9.
   1. A.
      change
   2. B.
      hurt
   3. C.
      upset
   4. D.
      disturb
10. 10.
    1. A.
       news
    2. B.
       letter
    3. C.
       message
    4. D.
       information
11. 11.
    1. A.
       explain
    2. B.
       express
    3. C.
       produce
    4. D.
       present
12. 12.
    1. A.
       in
    2. B.
       with
    3. C.
       about
    4. D.
       at
13. 13.
    1. A.
       showed
    2. B.
       represented
    3. C.
       equaled
    4. D.
       meant
14. 14.
    1. A.
       kindness
    2. B.
       sympathy
    3. C.
       understanding
    4. D.
       consideration
15. 15.
    1. A.
       referred
    2. B.
       mentioned
    3. C.
       reminded
    4. D.
       retold

The greatest source of inspiration for me has always been my father. Though he’s been gone for 17 years, his   21  still resonate（产生共鸣）. He taught me how to run my own race in life. But the most inspiring thing he taught me was to   22 .
One incident is   23  in my mind. It happened when I was a teenager. My sister and I weren’t very fond of a so-called friend of   24 . Dad was a very generous man, and as he’d done with so many people, he’d given this fellow great help. But when he asked for a favor   25 , the guy didn’t deliver.
Dad’s outlook（人生观）on most things was “Live and let live.” In this case, however, his calmness   26  Terre and me, and we let him know it.
“How can you be nice to that man?” we said to him. “You’ve been so kind to him, and he’s not being kind back. Why would you want to give him the time of day again?”
My father shrugged（耸肩）and said to us, “I do not bend my back with   27 . ”
I didn’t get it at first, but over the years I came to understand the   28 . Holding a grudge（怨恨）doesn’t   29  the person you’re angry with, but it changes you. It makes you heavier and gives you more weight to drag around.
After my father died in 1991, a (n)   30  came from a fellow I’d had a quarrel with years before to   31  his sympathy. He wrote: “I thought I’d tell you how sorry I am   32  the loss of your father. I know he   33  the world to you. I just wanted to let you know that you are in my thoughts. ”
Much moved, I wrote back. I thanked him for his   34 . And then, because he’d   35  
our disagreement, I recalled Dad’s inspiring words. “I am my father’s daughter,” I wrote. “And like him, I do not bend my back with yesterday.”