Ron Meyer is the president and COO（首席运营官） of Universal Studios．As one of the most successful business leaders in Hollywood, he heads up Universal Pictures and Universal Parks & Resorts．He's the guy who oversees the production of Multimillion-dollar extravaganzas（作品） like King Kong and Cinderella Man．

Meyer’s story sounds like the plot of one of his motion pictures．He grew up in a modest home where there was little income．It was a big deal to go to a restaurant．At 15, he quit high school and spent his time hanging out with the neighborhood toughs（流氓）．He was then a kid quick with his fists who seemed to get into fights somewhat regularly．At one point, he was separated from others with an infectious disease, having no TV and nothing to do．His mother sent him two books．One was The Amboy Dukes, a novel about kids in street gangs．The other was The Flesh Peddlers, about a guy in the talent agency（星探公司）who lived a successful life．“I realized,” he says, “that I was no longer that silly kid I had been, and I wanted to change my life．”

Meyer took any job he could get．He worked as a busboy and short-order cook．He cleaned offices and sold shoes．That attitude made an impression on people．One day he received a call from Paul Kohner, a successful agent who represented stars like John Huston, Charles Bronson and Lana Turner．Their messenger and driver had quit, and they knew Ron was willing to take whatever job they offered. He started the job the next day．

Meyer was lucky to work with a good boss―and he had the brains to make the most of that experience．In nearly six years of driving for Kohner, Meyer became his right-hand man and learned a lot．By the 1970s, Meyer had built many relationships in the business．In 1975, the fate presented an opportunity and he started his own operation Creative Artists Agency, which became a huge success, representing Hollywood legends like Barbra Streisand, Tom Hanks and Tom Cruise．

Twenty years later, Meyer was appointed to run Universal Studios, a position far beyond his youthful dream．But once he saw success was possible, he was driven to achieve it．Today, colleagues regularly owe his success―and theirs―to his humility and perseverance．It’s a level of success that takes determination, personality and intelligence, whether it comes from a college education or from the street．

1.What is the main idea of the passage? 

A．How a bitter childhood contributes to one’s success．

B．It’s important to choose a right career to achieve one’s life goal．

C．A talent agency helps a person to become famous．

D．It’s people’s determination, intelligence and personality that decide their success．

2.What does the author mean by saying “he had the brains to make the most of that experience”?

A．He benefited a good deal from the experience．

B．He smartly took the opportunity to learn from the experience．

C．That experience made him ever smarter than ever before．

D．He used his brains to impress his boss．

3.Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A．A talent agency is to oversee the production of movies．

B．Ron Meyer did far more successfully than Raul Kohner．

C．Relationship is the most important thing in the film industry．

D．Meyer had never thought of being as successful as today．

完形填空  (15%)

请认真阅读下面短文,从短文后各题所给的(A、B、C和D)四个选项中,选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

“Hey, Jenny ! How’s the model?”

    I had just taken a bite of my hot dog  31   I heard a familiar voice yelling at me from across the crowded school yard. I saw a group of popular girls who were all  32  .

“What kind of  33   are you going to do? An ad for a Frankenstein movie?” More laughter. My stomach twisted into a tight knot. How could they humiliate (羞辱) me like this, in front of the entire school? As I walked into the cafeteria, I  34   the dark scars on my right hand.

At 9 months old, I knocked over a tea pot and dumped boiling water all over my hands and stomach. My parents  35   me to the hospital, but I had to have skin graft (移植) operation. I was in so much pain! But what  36  me most were the cruel things people said about how I looked, like that day at lunch.

The girls were being super mean to me because they’d heard I was considering doing some modeling. A close friend had suggested that I shouldn’t let my scars  37  me and that I might make a good model.

But after that  38   at school, I was sure I’d made a huge mistake. Upon arriving home, I covered the mirror with a blanket, fell on my bed and sobbed.

    The next day, I   39  myself to go to school. At lunch my best friend Jesse tried to encourage me: “You can’t  40  forever, Jenny. So what if you have a few scars? Just go outside and show them that you’re just as good as they are.” Although I knew he was right, I couldn’t imagine standing up for myself like that.

However, that night as I sat on the bed, my friend’s words replayed in my mind. I’m  41   hiding from myself, I thought. How stupid! Slowly, I stood up, walked over to the  42 , and tossed the blanket aside. There, in the mirror I saw a slim, dark-haired, blue-eyed girl, looking just fine, 43  with a few scars.

The next day I wore a comfortable T-shirt to school. What’s more, I had lunch outside the cafeteria,

 44  beside those mean girls. They were shocked that I should dare to walk into their territory. I felt different too—free and happy.

Sometimes people still look at me strangely. They whisper and stare, but I don’t let it get to me. I have applied to several modeling companies, and at least one company is considering me for jobs. Maybe I’ll never  45   posing on the runway (T形舞台), but I do know one thing: I’m done.

A. as             B. when                 C. while            D. before

A. nodding        B. cheering             C. laughing         D. quarreling

A. modeling       B. writing         C. drilling         D. acting

A. looked into        B. searched for         C. wondered about   D. glanced at

A. presented     B. guided           C. rushed           D. handed

A. hurt           B. beat                 C. disappointed     D. puzzled

A. impress            B. limit                C. award        D. suspect

A. effect             B. phenomenon       C. movement         D. scene

A. forced          B. expected             C. reminded         D. arranged

A. apologize      B. beg              C. hide             D. complain

A. hardly             B. ever                 C. even             D. gradually

A. blanket        B. bed             C. chair            D. mirror

A. while         B. though           C. and          D. because

A. right           B. still                C. therefore        D. anyhow

A. give up        B. end up           C. put up       D. set up

Animals Can Sense Natural Disasters

Among the dead in South Asia’ s tsunami（海啸）were many tourists at Sri Lanka’ s national wildlife park at Yala. But very few of the park’s animals — elephants, buffaloes, monkeys and wild cats — appear to have died. There are theories that animals can sense natural disasters and run away to safety.

First, it’s possible that the animals may have heard the quake before the tsunami hit. The underwater burst produced sound waves known as infrasound（次声）. Humans can’t hear infrasound, but many animals including dogs, elephants, tigers and pigeons can.

A second early warning sign the animals might have sensed is ground vibration（震动）. The great quake would have produced vibrational waves known as Rayleigh waves. These vibrations move through the ground like waves moving on the surface of the ocean but faster. They travel at ten times the speed of sound. The Rayleigh waves would have reached Sri Lanka hours before the water hit. Mammals, birds, insects and spiders can sense Rayleigh waves. So the animals at Yala might have felt the Rayleigh waves and then run to higher ground.

But what about humans? While we can’t hear infrasound, we can feel it, although we don’t necessarily know we’re feeling it. We also experience Rayleigh waves by special sensors in our joints（关节）, which exist just for that purpose. Sadly, it seems we don’t pay attention to the information when we get it. Maybe we screen it out because there’s so much going on before our eyes and in our ears.

1.Why did few animals at Yala die when the tsunamis that caused a huge number of human deaths hit?

A．Because human beings cannot hear the infrasonic sound.

B．Because the animals were staying at a higher place in the park.

C．Because the animals were able to run much faster than human beings.

D．Because the animals might have picked up the danger signals and ran away.

2.Which of the statements about “Rayleigh waves” is true?

A．Rayleigh waves can be felt both by animals and human beings.

B．Rayleigh waves, just like infrasonic sound, can only be felt by animals.

C．Rayleigh waves are vibrational waves that usually cause quakes or tsunamis.

D．Rayleigh waves move on the ocean surface at a speed ten times that of sound waves.

3.According to the passage, which of the statement is true?

A．We can’t feel the infrasound so we can’t be informed of the danger.

B．We ignore the information of tsunami’s coming even though we can also get it.

C．We were so busy on our minds that we feel neither infrasound nor Rayleigh waves.

D．We can feel Rayleigh waves and infrasound so we can escape the danger like animals.

One sunny afternoon, a seven-year-old girl went for a walk. She crossed a large area of grassland into the woods __36__ she realized that she was lost.

Sitting on a rock and __37__ what to do, she began crying. After a while, she__38__ to walk along a wide path lined with tall trees and thick bushes. __39__ it was getting dark, she saw a small, dark wooden house. She opened the door and __40__ stepped in. Suddenly, she heard a strange noise, and she ran out the door and back to the __41__. Cold and tired, she fell asleep near a __42__.

The girl’s parents were out and her dog, Laddy, was at home. Laddy __43__ that his Mistress（女主人）was in danger. He jumped __44__ a window, breaking the glass. He looked in the fields. But he couldn't find his mistress anywhere. However, from the ground came a __45__ scent (气味) as he lowered his head. He __46__ the scent and walked across the grassland. Barking __47__ into the air, the dog __48__ through the woods until he found the __49__ . But the girl was not there, so he headed back to the woods. Much to his __50__ , he saw his mistress’ blue shirt in the distance. He __51__ over some bushes and saw the little stream, where the girl was __52__.

When she opened her eyes and   53  her dog standing beside her, the girl said, “you   54   me, Laddy,” and she kissed him several times. Seeing their daughter and dog coming back, the parents burst into tears of     55 . That night Laddy had a Hero's supper: a huge meal of steak.