October 31, 2009, California

     Tsien Hsue-shen, PhD'39, one of the founders of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, died on October 31, He was 98.

     Tsien, born in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou, graduated from the National Qinghua University in 1934 and in August of 1935 he left China to study at the Massachusetts Institute Technology. In 1936 he went to the California Institute of Technology to commence graduate studies .Tsien obtained his doctor degree in 1939 and would remain at Caltech for 20 years, becoming the Goddard Professor and establishing a reputation as one of the leading rocket scientists in the United States.

   In 1943, Tsien and two others in the Caltech rocketry group drafted the first document to use the name Jet Propulsion Laboratory. During the Second World War, he was amongst the other scientists participated the "Manhattan Project" .After World War II he served as a consultant to the  United States Army Air Force. During this time, Conlonel Tsien worked on designing an intercontinental space plane. His work would inspire the X--20Dyna-Soar which would later be the inspiration for the Space Shuttle. In1945 Tsien Hsue--shen married Jiang Ying, the daughter of Jiang Baili--one of the Chinese nationalist leader Chiang Kai--shen's leading military strategists. But in 1950, the Chinese-born scientist was accused of harboring Communist sympathies and stripped of his security clearance.

   In September 1955 he was permitted to leave for China, where Tsien resumed his research, founded the Institute of Mechanics, and went on to become the father of China's missile program, a trusted member of the government and Party's inner circle, and the nation's most honored scientist, Tsien retired in 1991 and has maintained a low public profile in Beijing, China. The PRC government launched its manned space program in 1992 and used Tsien's research as the basis for the Long March rocket which successfully launched the Shenzhou V mission in October of 2003.The elderly Tsien was able to watch China's first manned space mission on television from his hospital bed.

   In his late years, since the 1980s, Tsien devoted himself to spirituality research, and advocated scientific investigation of traditional Chinese medicine, Qigong and "special human body functions".

1.The underlined word "commence" in this passage probably means ____

A. make up    B. get    C. begin   D. promise

2.Tsien Hsue--shen got married at the age of ______

A.45          B.28     C. 24      D.34

3.What is the right order of the events related to Tsien Hsue--shen ?

a. his later life    b. return to China    c. career in the U.S.A  d. his early life and education 

A. a-b-c-d    B. d-c-b-a     C. d-b-c-a     D. c-b-d-a

4.Which of the following statements is NOT true?

A. Tsien Hsue--shen got a doctor's degree in 1939.

B. Tsien Hsue--shen married Jiang Ying, the daughter of Chinese nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shen.

C. Tsien Hsue-shen has made a contribution to the Space Shuttle.

D. Tsien Hsue-shen was interested in traditional Chinese medicine, qigong and "special human body functions" in his later life.

“Tomorrow is another day”---- this line has impressed various people at various times. It's now 70 years after it appeared in the film, but it still seems to hold its power especially during an economic downturn.

The phrase comes from a film adaptation of Margaret Mitchell's successful 1936 novel Gone With the Wind. It's set in the American South and tells the story of a strong heroine, Scarlett O' Hara, who struggles to find love during the Civil War and, afterwards, of her strength in surviving the war and its hardships.

Love story 

In a moment of despair, Scarlett finally realizes that her love belongs to Rhett Butler. For many audiences, it is the theme of love and struggle that has kept the movie alive. While the burning of Atlanta might seem irrelevant(不相关的) to today's viewers, the timeless theme of love keeps its ability to touch people.

With a promise to her lover still in her mind, Scarlett chooses to stay in the midst of war and take care of Melanie. But her heart is broken when Rhett just walks away, leaving the woman that he once loved with cruel words, "Frankly, dear, I don' t give a damn."(毫不在乎)

Great epic (史诗)

The film shows the love-hate relationship of these characters, but also American history, the fall of the Confederacy and the following period of Reconstruction in the South. The background made this film a true classic in the epic genre.

When the film opened after World War II, French viewers loved it, and it reminded them of their fight against the Nazis. In 1940 Shanghai, during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression(侵略), people stood in line for hours to watch this film, and saw the same suffering they were having as well as the hope and possibility of building a new homeland from the ruins.

     Each nationality could identify with the story and see it as a victory. In fact, Gone With the Wind never lost its charm and ability to inspire and amaze.

Biggest of all time

The film had five directors, 15-plus screenwriters, and an unexpected $3.9 million budget. The film brought in $ 200 million, which makes it the biggest selling film of all times in North America. It also won 10 Academy awards in 1940.

1.The underlined "it" in the first paragraph refers to _______.

    A. the novel Gone with the Wind            B. "tomorrow is another day"

    C. the movie Gone with the Wind            D. the Academy Award

2. The text is written mainly to _______.

   A. celebrate the anniversary of Margaret Mitchell

   B. introduce how the film was directed and filmed

   C. throw light on the charm of the movie "Gone with the Wind"

   D. inspire people to struggle the economic downturn

3. It can be concluded that Scarlett O' Hara is _______.

   A. optimistic and lucky                    B. childish and realistic

   C. caring and stubborn (固执的)              D. strong-minded and persistent (坚毅的)

4. The passage mentions Shanghai in order to _______.

   A. prove that the background of the movie touched viewers

   B. describe how popular the movie was at that time

   C. point out that Shanghai was a center of entertainment

   D. tell us that Chinese were suffering the War then

Violin prodigies（神童）, I learned, have come in distinct waves from distinct regions. Most of the great performers of the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries were born and brought up in Russia and Eastern Europe. I asked Isaac Stern, one of the world’s greatest violinists, the reason for this phenomenon. “ It’s very clear, “ he told me. “ They were all Jews and Jews at the time were severely oppressed and ill-treated in that part of the world. They were not allowed into the professional fields, but they were allowed to achieve excellence on a concert stage.” As a result, every Jewish parent’s dream was to have a child in the music school because it was a passport to the West.

Another element in the emergence of prodigies, I found, is a society that values excellence in a certain field and is able to nurture(培育) talent. Nowadays the most nurturing societies seem to be in the Far East. “ In Japan, a most competitive society with stronger discipline than ours,” says Isaac Stern, “ children are ready to test their limits every day in many fields, including music. When Western music came to Japan after World War II, that music not only became part of their daily lives, but it became a discipline as well.” The Koreans and Chinese, as we know, are just as highly motivated as the Japanese.

That’s a good thing, because even prodigies must work hard. Next to hard work, biological inheritance plays an important role in the making of a prodigy. J. S. Bach, for example, was the top of several generations of musicians, and four of his sons had significant careers in music.

59. Jewish parents in Eastern Europe longed for their children to attend music school because_____.   

   A. it would allow them access to a better life in the West

   B. Jewish children are born with excellent musical talent

   C. they wanted their children to enter into the professional fields

   D. it would enable the family to get better treatment in their own country

60. Nurturing societies as mentioned in the passage refer to societies that_____.

   A. enforce strong discipline on students who want to achieve excellence

   B. treasure talent and provide opportunities for its full development

   C. encourage people to compete with each other

   D. promise talented children high positions

61. Japan is described in the passage as a country that attaches importance to_____.

   A. all-rounded development

   B. the learning of Western music

   C. strict training of children

   D. variety in academic studies

62. Which of the following contributes to the emergence of musical prodigies according to the passage?

   A. A natural gift.                        B. Extensive knowledge of music.

   C. Very early training.                 D. A prejudice-free society.

Violin prodigies (神童), I learned, have come in distinct waves from distinct regions. Most of the great performers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries were born and brought up in Russia and Eastern Europe. I asked Isaac Stern, one of the world’s greatest violinists the reason for this phenomenon. “It is very clear,” he told me. “They were all Jews and Jews at the time were severely oppressed and ill-treated in that part of the world. They were not allowed into the professional fields, but they were allowed to achieve excellence on a concert stage.” As a result, every Jewish parent’s dream was to have a child in the music school because it was a passport to the West.

Another element in the emergence of prodigies, I found, is a society that values excellence in a certain field to nurture (培育) talent. Nowadays, the most nurturing societies seem to be in the Far East. “In Japan, a most competitive society, with stronger discipline than ours,” says Isaac Stern, children are ready to test their limits every day in many fields, including music. When Western music came to Japan after World War II, that music not only became part of their daily lives, but it became a discipline as well. The Koreans and Chinese as we know, are just as highly motivated as the Japanese.

That’s a good thing, because even prodigies must work hard. Next to hard work, biological inheritance plays an important role in the making of a prodigy. J. S. Bach, for example, was the top of several generations of musicians, and four of his sons had significant careers in music.

   Jewish parents in Eastern Europe longed for their children to attend music school because ________.

A. it would allow them access to a better life in the West

B. Jewish children are born with excellent musical talent

C. they wanted their children to enter into the professional field

D. it would enable the family to get better treatment in their own country（A）

   Nurturing societies as mentioned in the passage refer to societies that ________.

A. are highly motivated in the education of music

B. treasure talent and provide opportunities for its full development

C. encourage people to compete with each other

D. promise talented children high positions（B）

Which of the following contributes to the emergence of musical prodigies according to the passage?

A. a natural gift.                      B. extensive knowledge of music.

C. very early training.                 D. a prejudice-free society.（A）

   Which of the following titles best summarizes the main idea of the passage?

A. Jewish Contribution to Music    B. Training of Musicians in the World

C. Music and Society                    D. The Making of Music Prodigies

Academy Awards  The Academy Awards are the most prominent film award in the United States. The Awards are granted by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Academy Awards are nicknamed “Oscars” , which is also the nickname of the statuette. The name is said to have been born in 1931 when Margaret Herrick saw the statuette on a table and said. “It looks just like my uncle Oscar!”

Berlin Film Festival  One of the “A” festivals in Europe. The Berlin International Film Festival, also called the “Berlinale”, is held annually in February and started in 1951 after an initiative of the American, who occupied part of the city after World War II. The jury always placed special emphasis on representing films from all over the world, from the former Eastern Bloc Countries (东方阵营) as well as from Western countries.The awards are called Golden and Silver Bears ( as the bear is the symbol of Berlin).

Venice Film Festival   The Venice Film Festival takes place every year in late August/early September on the Lido in the historic Palazzo del Cinema, in Venice, Italy since 1932; its main award is the “Leond'Oro” (Golden Lion).  Recently, a new award has been added, the San Marco Award for the best film

Cannes Film Festival  The Cannes Film Festival is. a famous international film festival. It has been held annually in Cannes, in the south of France, since 1946 with a few exceptions. Given massive media exposure, the Festival is attended by many movie stars and is a popular venue for movie producers to launch their new films and attempt to sell their works to the distributors who come from all over the globe.

The most famous award given out at Carmes is the “Palme d'Or” (Golden Palm) for the best film; this is sometimes shared by multiple films in one year.

1.Which award can be shared by multiple films in one year?

2. Which of the following statements about “Oscars” is NOT true?

3. Which award has the shortest history?

4. Which of the following best states the main idea of the passage?