“I grew up on Jackson’s music and I still have all his stuff on My iPod. I think that Michael Jackson will go down in history as one of our greatest entertainers. His brilliance as a performance also was paired with a tragic and in many ways，sad personal life.”
Michael Jackson was a singer，songwriter，dancer and celebrity icon with a vast catalog of hit records and countless awards to his credit. Beyond that，he had transfixed the world like few entertainers before or since. As a solo performer，he had enjoyed a level of superstardom previously known  ——Barack Obama
only to Elvis Presley，the Beatles and  Frank Sinatra.
Michael Jackson was unquestionably the biggest pop star of the 80s’，and certainly one of the most popular recording artists of all time.
Michael Joseph Jackson was born on August 29,1958.The fifth and youngest son of steelworker Joe Jackson，Michael displayed a talent for music and dance from an extremely young age. His father began to organize a family musical group around his three eldest sons in 1962，and Michael joined them the following year，quickly establishing himself as a dynamic stage performer. Dubbed the Jackson 5，the group signed to Motown in 1968 and issued their debut single in October 1969，when Michael was just 11 years old. I Want You Back，ABC，The Love You Save and I’ll Be There all hit number one in 1970，making the Jackson 5 the first group in pop history to have their first four singles top the charts. Later in 1972，Jackson had his first number one solo single，Ben. In 1977，he met producer/composer Quincy Jones for the first time. With Jones producing，Jackson recorded his first solo album as an adult，Off the Wall.
Released（发行） in 1982，the Quincy Jones produced Thriller refined the strengths of Off the Wall：the dance and rock tracks were more driving，the pop tunes and ballads softer and more soulful，and all of it was recognizably Michael. There was no surprise that Thriller was a hit；what was a surprise was its staying power .Jackson’s duet with McCartney，The Girl Is Mine，was a natural single choice，and it peaked at number two；then Billie Jean and the Van Halen track Beat It both hit number one，for seven and three weeks respectively.
Michael Jackson died from heart disease on June 25 at age 50.
【小题1】What does Barack Obama mean by saying “His brilliance as a performance also was paired with a tragic and in many ways，sad personal life”？

完形填空（共20小题；每小题1.5分，共30分）
阅读下面短文，从短文后所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中选出可以填入空白出的最佳选项。
?After 42-year-old guy Tom had quitted his job, he began to make up his mind to become a freelance (self-employed) writer, no one could tell for sure whether he would succeed or not．He found a cold storage room in a building, set up a(n)  21  typewriter and settled down to work．
After a year or so, however, Tom began to  22  himself．He found it was difficult to earn his living by  23  what he wrote．But Tom determined to put his dream to the test —  24  it meant living with uncertainty and fear of  25 ．This is the shadowland of hope, and  26  with a dream must learn to live there．
One day Tom got a call, “We need a(n)  27 , and we’re paying $6,000 a year．” $6,000 was  28  money in 1960．It would enable Tom to get a nice apartment, a used car and more． 29 , he could write on the side． 30  the dollars were dancing in Tom’s head, something  31  his senses．He had dreamed of being a  32  — full time．“Thanks, but no,” Tom said  33 ．“I’m going to stick it out and write．”
After Tom got off the phone, he  34  everything he had: two cans of vegetables and 18 cents．Tom put the cans and cents into a  35  bag, saying to himself, “There’s everything you’ve made of yourself so far．”
　　Finally his work was  36  in 1970．Instantly he had the kind of fame and success that  37  writers ever experience．The shadows had turned into limelight．
　　Then one day, Tom  38  a box filled with things he had owned years before． 39  was a paper bag with two cans and 18 cents．Suddenly he  40 himself working in that cold storage room．It reminds Tom, and anyone with a dream, of the courage and persistence it takes to stay the course in the shadowland．

Lena Horne was born in Brooklyn，New York in 1917.Her mother was away for much of her　36　.So her grandmother helped raise her.
At the age of sixteen，Lena　37　work as a dancer at the famous Cotton Club in New York City.After　38　 voice lessons，she soon began performing there as a singer too.At the age of nineteen，Lena moved to Pittsburgh and 　39　Louis Jones，who was an actor.　40　，their life together did not last long.But they had two　41　，Gail and Edwin.
In 1940，Lena Horne became the first African American to travel and　42　with an all white jazz band.She　43　made records and performed at New York City’s Café Society jazz club.This was the first nightclub in the United States　44　racial barriers (隔阂).Many jazz clubs during this period had　45　 performers，but few allowed them to watch the　46　as part of the audience.
Lena Horne became very　47　.After performing at a club in Hollywood，California，she　48　filmmakers.So with the help of some filmmakers，she soon　49　making movies.Lena Horne said that she was able to make movies　50　she was the kind of black person that white people could accept.But she said this was the　51　kind of acceptance.It was because of the way she　52　，not because of how good she was or how hard she worked.
However，through her hard work，she helped　53　racial barriers.During her sixty year career as a performer，Lena Horne earned people’s　54　and respect.She used her fame to　55　social injustices(不公正)toward African?Americans.