It’s one of the coldest days of the year in Manhattan, with icy winds keeping most people indoors, but not Esperanza Spalding. The 27-year-old jazz artist is racing all over town. She spent the morning at a photo shoot for DownBeat magazine. Now she’s heading to a recording studio to fine-tune her next album. She rarely tweets, texts, or watches TV. She goes to bed early, gets up early, and practices the bass—her instrument of choice—every day.

Her diligence pays. Since winning the Grammy for Best New Artist last year—besting Justin Bieber and making his fans angry, her new album, Radio Music Society, comes out next month. The album is her fourth, and its 11 tunes are accompanied by short films, shot in New York, Spain, and Oregon.

Spalding became famous the old-fashioned way: No reality shows, She credits her mother, a single parent, with her early interest in the arts, She listened to the “oldies”—Motown and British rock bands from the ’60s and ’70s—because her mother didn’t think the modern stuff was good for her.

She says. “ I’m sure my whole life we were under the poverty line, you know, but I still felt rich. I had a rich upbringing, rich in the sense of a lot of love, a lot of education, nature, music and art, and laughing.” She adds, “It’s not just about the income you make.”

57. From the text, we can know that Spalding often .

A. does some reading　　　　　　　　　 B. works into the night

C. takes some outdoor exercise　　　　　 D. practices playing the bass

58. Why was Spalding able to win the Gammy for Best New Artist?

A. she had a great gift for a jazz music.

B. she devoted herself to music she loves.

C. her mother helped her with jazz music.

D. she beat Justin Bieber and his fans.

59. Spalding’s fourth album, Radio Music Society, was successfully filmed in

A. Manhattan　　 B. Boston　　　 C. Oregon　　　　 D. Washington

60. In Spalding’s eyes, which of the following mean “rich”?

A. leading a full life　　　　　　 B. becoming famous

C. having enough money　　　　 D. living a simple life

US president Barack Obama is probably ______ most powerful person in the world. But what was his high school life _______? You can find answers to the question in his “Back to School” speech ______ (give) on September 13, 2010.

“I know some of you may be nervous about starting a new school year and worried about _______ that’ll be like. Here is what I tell you: nobody _____ (get) to write your destiny (命运) but you. Your future is in your hands. Your life is what you make of it. And nothing is beyond your reach. So long as you’re willing to dream big. So long as you’re willing to work hard. So long as you’re willing to stay _____ (focus) on your education. An education has never been more important. I’m sure there will be times _____ you’re staying up late for a test, or dragging (费力地拉起) yourselves out of bed on a rainy morning, and wondering _____ it’s all worth it. Let me tell you: Nothing is as _____ in life as your education. In other ______ (word), the farther you go in school, the farther you’ll go in life.

An unforgettable experience I recently had made me ______ (see) how important friendships are and the need to have a better understanding of friends. A friend is a person ______ is always there to encourage and support you whenever you’re in trouble. A friend is a person who’ll try to do what he or she can______ you. A friend is a person who’s overjoyed seeing you win and who will share your sorrow when you’re ________ (disappoint).

    For my part, friendship is like a ______(price) gift: It can’t be bought for any amount. It’s also a shining light of hope. If you have friendship, you’ll never feel_______(alone).

Exactly 10 years ago, 189 heads of state ______ (gather) in New York. They set a number of goals. These goals included helping poor people, educating children and protecting the environment. The leaders agreed to do their best to meet the goals _______ 2015.

    With only five years _______ (go), about 140 world leaders got together in New York on September 20. Their________ (三天的)meeting was to talk about their work on the goals.

I love it at night. It’s peaceful. And when it cools down I sometimes do some ironing. I don’t really care for it. I work full-time and too busy for most housework. I remember the old woman who taught me to iron. I was about 15 and somehow got a live-in job taking care of a woman who had been an able-bodied, healthy woman until the accident that caused her to be paralyzed（瘫痪）.
The woman had an electric wheelchair. She could move her head and arms but not her hands or fingers. She had this clamp（夹子）attached to her arm and I’d have to open it and put a cup or a pencil in it and then she could move it. She would tell me how to do things. She would instruct me in great detail on the correct way to do things. Her home was perfect and beautiful. She would follow me around in her electric wheelchair to make sure I did everything exactly right. I’m sure she had been a perfect homemaker. She would have me fold everything, including socks and pillow cases. I would complain silently and wish terrible things on her. She taught me the right way to make the bed and tuck （塞）the corners. I know sometimes she’d get frustrated and impatient with me. I knew she wanted to grab it and do it herself. But she never yelled or scolded. Only insisted I do it right. I didn’t like it much, but I did it.
Today I can iron pretty well. I know where to start on a shirt, the right way to do the collar and sleeves. Now that I think about it, I don’t think she is an old lady. I think she might have been about my age now. Anyway, when I iron, I think of her and silently thank her for all the things I learned.
【小题1】From the passage we can infer that the writer of the passage now is ________.

A．a housewife	B．a full-time worker
C．a clothes maker	D．a college student

【小题2】The writer used to take care of the lady because ______.

A．she wanted to learn how to do housework

B．she was a relative of the disabled woman

C．she wanted to earn some money while sleeping and eating there

D．she had to do something in return to the lady for her kindness

【小题3】When the lady taught the writer how to do housework, the little girl was ______.

A．eager to learn	B．unwilling to learn
C．forced to learn	D．careful to learn

【小题4】What’s the writer’s attitude towards the lady now?

A．Sympathetic

B．Fearful

C．Hateful

D．Grateful

"I've changed my mind．I wanted to have a telescope, but now I want my daddy back．" Lucien Lawrence's letter to Father Christmas, written after his schoolteacher father had been knifed to death outside his school gale, must have touched every heart．Lucien went on to say that without his father he couldn't see the stars in the sky．When those whom we love depart from us, we cannot see the stare for a while．
But Lucien, the stars are still there, and one day, when you are older and your tears have gone, you will see them again．And, in a strange way, I expect that you will find your father is there too, in your mind and in your heart．I find that my parents, long dead now, still figure in many of my dreams and that I think of them perhaps more than 1 ever did when they were alive．I still live to please them and I'm still surprised by their reactions．I remember that when I became a professor,! was so proud, or rather so pleased with myself, that I couldn't wait to call my parents．The reply was a long time in coming, but when it did, all Mother said was "I hope this means that now you will have more time for the children!" I haven't forgotten．The values of my parents still live on．
It makes me pause and think about how I will live on in the hearts and minds of my children and of those for whom I care．Would I have been as ready as Philip Lawrence have been to face the aggressors （挑衅者）, and to lay down my life for those in my care? How many people would want me back for Christmas'' It's a serious thought, one to give me pause．
I pray silently, sometimes, in the dead of night, that ancient cry of a poet " Deliver my soul from the sword（剑）, and my darling from the power of the dog．" Yet I know the death comes to us all,
and sometimes comes suddenly．We must therefore plan to live forever, but live as if we will die
tomorrow．We live on, I'm sure, in the lives of those we loved．and therefore we ought to have a care
for what they will remember and what they will treasure．If more parents knew this in their hearts to
be true, there might be fewer knives on our streets today．
【小题1】According to the whole text we can see that the first paragraph ______．

A．puts forward the subject of the text

B．shows the author's pity on the kid

C．acts as an introduction to the discussion

D．makes a clear statement of the author's views

【小题2】In the second paragraph the author mainly wants to explain to us ______．

A．how much he misses his parents now

B．why his parents often appear in his dream

C．when Lucien will get over all his sadness

D．how proud he was when he succeeded in life

【小题3】What feeling did the author's mother express in her reply?

A．Proud．

B．Happy．

C．Disappointed．

D．Worried

【小题4】In the author's opinion, the value of a person's life is ______．

A．to leave behind a precious memory to the people related

B．to have a high sense of duty to the whole society

C．to care what others will remember and treasure

D．to share happiness and sadness with his family

【小题5】What does the writer mean by the sentence taken from an old poem?

A．Call on criminals and murderers to lay down their guns．

B．Advise parents stay with their children safely at home．

C．Spend every day meaningfully in memory of the death．

D．Try to keep violence and murder far away from society．

阅读下面短文，按照句子结构的语法性和上下文连贯的要求，在空格处填入一个适当的词或使用括号中词语的正确形式填空。

What on earth does happiness mean? I can’t give you its exact definition, but I’m sure if you love and help 1.        , you’ll get it.

I’ll never forget an old lady. She lives in 2.    small house alone. It is said that her husband and her son 3.   （die）in a road accident years ago. Her life is bitter, but she often helps others 4.    a smile. Whenever it snows, she is always the first to clean the paths. She looks after several children living nearby. I am one of them. I often remember the stories she told us and her kind smile. Perhaps she is unlucky, but I think she is a happy person. Her life is full of5.   （laugh）and love.

But I’m sad to see some people getting their happiness in bad ways. They talk 6.  （noisy）in cinemas and meeting rooms; they destroy trees to enjoy themselves and they laugh at others’ shortcomings. Perhaps they feel happy at that time,  7.  they will never get true happiness because they 8.   （lose）their personality already.

Now I know what happiness is.  9.  means kindness, love and unselfishness. Above all, I have come to understand that10.   （bring）happiness to others is getting ourselves happiness.