第三部分  阅读理解（共20小题，；每小题2分，满分40分）

     On Nov.18, 1995, Itzhak Perlman, the violinist, came on stage to give a concert in the Avery Fisher Hall at the Lincoln Center in New York City.

     If you have ever been to a Perlman concert, you know that getting on stage is no small achievement for him.  He was stricken with polio (小儿麻痹症) as a child, and so he has braces (支架) on both legs and walks with the aid of a pair of crutches (拐杖).

     He walks painfully until he reaches his chair.  Then he sits down  slowly,  puts his crutches on the floor, undoes the clasps (扣压环) on his legs, pushes one foot back and extends the other foot forward. Then he bends down and picks up the violin, puts it under his chin, nods to the conductor and begins his play.

     But this time,  something went wrong.  Just as he finished the first few notes,  one of the strings on his violin broke — it went off like gunfire across the room.      We figured that he would have to get up, put on the clasps again,  pick up the crutches and limp his way off stage — to either find another violin or else find another string for this one. But he didn't. Instead, he waited a moment, closed his eyes and then signaled the conductor to begin again.

     The orchestra began,  and he played from where he had left off. When he finished,  there was an extremely impressive silence in the room. And then people rose and cheered.  He smiled,  wiped the sweat from his brow, raised his bow to quiet us,  and then he said in a quiet tone, "You know, sometimes it is the artist's task to find out how much music you can still make with what you have left."

1. What does the author mean when he writes the underlined part in Paragraph 2?

    A. It's very difficult for Perlman to get to the stage. 

    B. It's' hard for Perlman to play a violin with three strings.

    C. It's not easy for Perlman to face such a large audience.

    D. Pefiman plays the violin with three strings successfully.

2. The third paragraph describes             .

    A. how Perlman deals with his disability

    B. Pefiman's attitude towards the concert

    C. the various stages of Perlman' s performance

    D. the difficulties Pefiman had before playing

3. What does the underlined word "one" in Paragraph 5 refer to?

    A. String.              B. Crutch.

    C. Violin.              D. Orchestra.

4. Itzhak Pefiman can be best described as a man who is         .

    A. intelligent            B. strong-willed

    C. humourous           D. highly skilled

 

Something that has always interested me about Abraham Lincoln is，not surprisingly，his sense of humor. As far as I can tell，he's the first American President to have one．

    That's because the term“sense of humor” really wasn't in common usage until the eighteen-sixties and seventies．In the eighteen-forties and fifties，it was called“the sense of the ridiculous," and didn't have the positive connotations（隐含意义）that“sense of humor" has today. Back then，what was ridiculous was what invited ridicule（讥笑）．Funniness and cruelty went hand in hand．Of course，they still do a lot of arm-in-arm walking in our day as well．

    Lincoln’s humor was very different because，for one thing，it was actually "humor＂as what the word meant in his time. We don't make the distinction between "wit（风趣）”and "humor”anymore; but in the nineteenth century people did．Wit was unpleasant and offensive while humor was pleasant and sympathetic．It’s the difference we note now when we distinguish between "laughing with”and“laughing at．”Lincoln was much more about "laughing with”than "laughing at．”And when“laughing at，”it was often himself he was teasing.

    In the famous Lincoln-Douglas debates，when Douglas accused Lincoln of being two-faced，Lincoln replied，referencing his plain looking，“Honestly，if I were two-faced，would I be showing you this one？”And，in a way，Lincoln's face itself tells us much about his sense of humor．

    You can comb through thousands of photographs of politicians，soldiers，and the like from Lincoln's time and not find a single smile．

    True, the long exposures（曝光）required for photographs of that time made smiling difficult．Yet Lincoln alone，as far as I can tell，overcame that difficulty.

    Interestingly, while having a sense of humor，or at least the appearance of one provided by comedy writers has become a necessary characteristic for an American President in our time，in the nineteenth century，too much humor was considered problem.  And that was the case for Lincoln．A journalist covering the Lincoln-Douglas debates commented that“I could not take a real personal liking to the man，owing to an inborn weakness. . .that he was extremely, fond of jokes，anecdotes，and stories．”

1.We can infer from Paragraph 2 that＿＿

A .the American President could influence the use of English

B. the term "sense of humor”wasn't invented until the 1860s

C .what is funny to someone might be offensive to someone else

D. the concept of humor remains the same despite the passing of time

2.The underlined words“this one”in Paragraph 4 refer to＿＿．

A. Lincoln's unattractive face

B. Lincoln's sense of humor

C. the debate they were having

D.cruelty that went with funniness

3.We rarely see people from Lincoln's time wear smile in their photos because＿．

A. being humorous was considered inappropriate

B. they found it quite funny to smile before camera

C. not smiling for photographs was the fashion

D. photography technology then was not advanced

4.What might the writer think of the journalist covering the Lincoln-Douglas debates？

A. His comment accurately reflected his time

B. He created a false picture of Lincoln

C. He was prejudiced and self-centered

D. He was brave to point out Lincoln's weakness

 

Many people say pennies are not worth saving. After all, a penny is only worth a cent. But one unusual penny turned out to be worth a lot more when a coin collector paid $1.7 million for it earlier this month.
The coin is one of a kind. It is the only penny that the Denver mint(铸币厂) made out of copper, instead of steel, in 1943. Because it is unique, it is also very valuable. No penny has ever sold for so much money.
The Changing Penny
The Lincoln penny first appeared in 1909. For 34 years, the one-cent coin was made out of copper. Then, in 1943, the penny changed. World War II was going on, and copper was needed for equipment. So for one year, pennies were made out of steel instead. At least most of them were.
Only a few coins were made out of unused copper. There are three main mints, or places where coins are made, in the United States. Of the known copper pennies from 1943, twelve were made in the Philadephia mint, and five were made in the San Francisco mint. Only one was made in the Denver mint.
Nobody knows for sure why a copper penny was made at the Denver mint in 1943, coin dealers Andy Skrabalak told Time for Kids. “There is a rumor that a mint employee made the coin in the middle of the night.”
A Special Set
The coin collector who bought the $1.7 million penny wants to remain unknown. But the reason for the trade is known. He already had two copper pennies from 1943 – one from the San Francisco mint and one from the Philadephia mint. To complete the set, he needed the Denver penny. The three coins will go on display at a coin exhibition in Tampa, Florida.
The collector who sold the penny is also keeping his name a secret. It took four years to convince him to give up the rare coin. Now that he has finally donating all of the money to charity.
【小题1】Why is the Lincoln penny worth over one million dollars?
A. Because it has a history of thirty-four years.
B. Because it was made out of a rare material.
C. Because it was made on one night of 1943 by the Denver mint.
D, Because it was the only coin Denver mint made out of copper in 1943.
【小题2】Before the Lincoln penny was sold, people thought one-cent coins __________.

A．were worth collecting for selling later

B．were surely valuable if not made out of steel

C．wouldn’t be sold for large amounts of money

D．were only useful for some coin museums

【小题3】At least how many copper coins were made in 1943?

A．Five

B．Twelve

C．Seventeen

D．Eighteen

【小题4】What can we learn about the collector who sold the penny?

A．He already had two copper pennies from 1943.

B．He wanted to complete the set of copper pennies.

C．He didn’t want to sell his penny in the beginning.

D．He was a well-known coin dealer in Tampa, Horida.

In the early part of the twentieth century, racism was widespread in the United States. Many African Americans were not given equal opportunities in education or employment. Marian Anderson (1897-1993) was an African American woman who gained fame as a concert singer in this climate of racism. She was born in Philadelphia and sang in church choirs during her childhood. When she applied for admission to a local music school in 1917, she was turned down because she was black. Unable to attend music school, she began her career as a singer for church gatherings. In 1929, she went to Europe to study voice and spent several years performing there. Her voice was widely praised throughout Europe. Then she returned to the US in 1935 and became a top concert singer after performing at Town Hall in New York City.

Racism again affected Anderson in 1939. When it was arranged for her to sing at Constitution Hall in Washington, DC, the Daughters of the American Revolution opposed it because of her color. She sang instead at the Lincoln Memorial for over 75 000 people. In 1955, Anderson became the first black soloist to sing win the Metropolitan Opera of New York City. The famous conductor Toscanini praised her voice as “heard only once in a hundred years”. She was a US delegate to the United Nations in 1958 and won the UN peace prize in 1977. Anderson eventually triumphed over racism.

1. According to this passage, what did Marian Anderson do between 1917 and 1929?

A．She studied at a music school.              B．She sang for religious activities.

C．She sang at Town Hall in New York.           D．She studied voice in Europe.

2.Toscanini thought that Marian Anderson        .

A．had a very rare voice                    B．sang occasionally in public

C．sang only once in many years              D．was seldom heard by people

3.Anderson’s beautiful voice was first recognized      .

A. at the Lincoln Memorial              B. in Washington, DC.

C. in Europe                            D. at the United Nations

4.This passage shows that Anderson finally defeated racism in the US by         .

A．protesting to the government              B．appealing to the United Nations

C．demonstrating in the streets               D．working hard to perfect her art

 

In the early part of the twentieth century, racism was widespread in the United States. Many African Americans were not given equal opportunities in education or employment. Marian Anderson (1897-1993) was an African American woman who gained fame as a concert singer in this climate of racism. She was born in Philadelphia and sang in church choirs during her childhood. When she applied for admission to a local music school in 1917, she was turned down because she was black. Unable to attend music school, she began her career as a singer for church gatherings. In 1929, she went to Europe to study voice and spent several years performing there. Her voice was widely praised throughout Europe. Then she returned to the US in 1935 and became a top concert singer after performing at Town Hall in New York City.

Racism again affected Anderson in 1939. When it was arranged for her to sing at Constitution Hall in Washington, DC, the Daughters of the American Revolution opposed it because of her color. She sang instead at the Lincoln Memorial for over 75 000 people. In 1955, Anderson became the first black soloist to sing win the Metropolitan Opera of New York City. The famous conductor Toscanini praised her voice as “heard only once in a hundred years”. She was a US delegate to the United Nations in 1958 and won the UN peace prize in 1977. Anderson eventually triumphed over racism.

1.According to this passage, what did Marian Anderson do between 1917 and 1929?

A．She studied at a music school.	B．She sang for religious activities.
C．She sang at Town Hall in New York.	D．She studied voice in Europe.

2.Toscanini thought that Marian Anderson         .

A．had a very rare voice	B．sang occasionally in public
C．sang only once in many years	D．was seldom heard by people

3.Anderson’s beautiful voice was first recognized       .

A. at the Lincoln Memorial              B. in Washington, DC.

C. in Europe                            D. at the United Nations

4.This passage shows that Anderson finally defeated racism in the US by

A．protesting to the government	B．appealing to the United Nations
C．demonstrating in the streets	D．working hard to perfect her art