A year ago, at the annual pre-Grammy party, Whitney Houston, the great star, walked on stage and closed the evening with a brilliant performance．

Last Saturday, Houston was once again the focus before the Grammy, but her presence was a regrettable one．Earlier that day, the pop music's former queen was found dead in her hotel room．She was 48．This, no doubt, is sad news to the whole music industry and her fans all over the world．

At her peak(巅峰), Houston was the golden girl of the music world．From the mid-1980s to the late 1990s, she was one of the world's best-selling artists．She impressed audiences with her effortless, powerful and peerless performance．

Besides multi-million record sales, Houston made countless hits such as The Greatest Love of All, I Have Nothing, and the mostly famous I Will Always Love You．She also influenced a generation of younger singers, from Christina Aguilera to Mariah Carey．

But by the end of her career, there was a shocking fall for this superstar．Houston had been addicted to(上瘾) drugs．Her album sales declined (下降) and the hits stopped coming and her once beautiful voice became hoarse （嘶哑的）, unable to hit the high notes as she used to．

In 2009, Houston staged a successful comeback with the album I Look To You, which fell on top of the charts．But hoarse voice, canceled concerts, and continuous illness-Houston's comeback trail wasn't smooth at all．In an interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2009, Houston admitted: "It (show business) is too much for me and I wanted out．"

Now that Houston has finally taken a break from all the chaos(混乱), may she rest in peace．

1.Whitney Houston died ______．

A．shortly before the Grammy this year         B．earlier last Sunday

C．a year ago                             D．at the annual pre-Grammy party

2.The underlined word "peerless" in Paragraph 3 most probably means ______．

A．having no power                        B．having no equal

C．requiring no effort                      D．leaving no impression

3.The cause of the fall of Whitney Houston was that _____．

A．her album sales declined

B．show business was too much for her

C．her fans no longer love her

D．she had been addicted to drugs

4.According to the passage, which is not Houston’s achievement?

A．She made countless hits such as I Have Nothing.

B．She influenced a generation of younger singers.

C．She became the focus before the Grammy this year.

D．She staged a successful comeback in 2009.

 

I know what you’re thinking : pizza （比萨饼）? For breakfast? But the truth is that you can have last night’s leftovers in the a. m. if you want to. 

I know lots of women who skip breakfast （不吃早餐） , and they have a ton of different excuses for doing it . Some say they don’t have time. others think they’re “saving” calories （卡路里）, still others just don’t like breakfast food .  

But the bottom line is that eating in the morning is very important when you’re trying to lose weight. “Eating just about anything from 300 to 400 calories would be better than nothing at all,” says Katherine Brooking , R , D , who developed the super-easy eating plan for this year’s “SELF CHALLENGE”. And even pizza can be healthy if it’s loaded with vegetables, and you stick to one small piece.   21  Breakfast is one meal I never miss, and the same goes for most weight loss success stories. Research shows that eating breakfast keeps you from overeating later in the day. Researchers at the University of Southem California found that breakfast skippers have a bigger chance of gaining weight than those who regularly have a morning meal.  

So eat something in the morning, anything. I know plenty of friends who end up having no breakfast altogether, and have just coffee or orange juice. I say, try heating up last night’s leftovers-it may sound crazy, but if it works for you, do it! I find if I tell myself, “You can always eat it tomorrow,” I put away the leftovers instead of eating more that night. Try it…you may save yourself some pre-bedtime calories. And watch your body gain the fat-burning effects.  

The word “leftovers” in Paragraph 1 probably means__________.

 A.food remaining after a meal        B. things left undone 

 C. meals made of vegetables          D. pizza topped with fruit 

What can we infer from the text? 

A. Working women usually have breakfast in a hurry.  

B. Many people have wrong ideas about breakfast.  

C. There are some easy ways of cooking a meal.  

D. Eating vegetables helps save energy.  

According to the last paragraph, it is important to____________.  

A. eat something for breakfast        B. be careful about what you eat 

C. heat up food before eating it        D. eat calorie-controlled food 

The text is written mainly for those_____________.  

A. who go to work early        B. who want to lose weight 

C. who stay up late            D. who eat before sleep 

Peanuts to This
Proudly reading my words, I glanced around the room, only to find my classmates bearing big smiles on their faces and tears in their eyes． Confused, I glanced toward my stone-faced teacher． Having no choice, I slowly raised the report I had slaved over, hoping to hide myself． “What could be causing everyone to act this way?”
Quickly, I flashed back to the day Miss Lancelot gave me the task． This was the first real talk I received in my new school． It seemed simple: go on the Internet and find information about a man named George Washington． Since my idea of history came from an ancient teacher in my home country, I had never heard of that name before． As I searched the name of this fellow, it became evident that there were two people bearing the same name who looked completely different! One invented hundreds of uses for peanuts, while the other led some sort of army across America． I stared at the screen, wondering which one my teacher meant． I called my grandfather for a golden piece of advice; flip （掷） a coin． Heads—the commander, and tails—the peanuts guy． Ah! Tails, my report would be about the great man who invented peanut butter, George Washington Carver．
Weeks later, standing before this unfriendly mass, I was totally lost． Oh well, I lowered the paper and sat down at my desk, burning to find out what I had done wrong． As a classmate began his report, it all became clear, “My report is on George Washington, the man who started the American Revolution．” The whole world became quiet! How could I know that she meant that George Washington?
Obviously, my grade was awful． Heartbroken but fearless, I decided to turn this around． I talked to Miss Lancelot, but she insisted: No re-dos; no new grade． I felt that the punishment was not justified, and I believed I deserved a second chance． Consequently, I threw myself heartily into my work for the rest of the school year． Ten months later, that chance unfolded as I found myself sitting in the headmaster’s office with my grandfather, now having an entirely different conversation． I smiled and flashed back to the embarrassing moment at the beginning of the year as the headmaster informed me of my option to skip the sixth grade． Justice is sweet!
【小题1】What did the author’s classmates think about his report?

A．Controversial．

B．Ridiculous．

C．Boring．

D．Puzzling．

【小题2】Why was the author confused about the task?

A．He was unfamiliar with American history．

B．He followed the advice and flipped a coin．

C．He forgot his teacher’s instruction．

D．He was new at the school．

【小题3】The underlined word “burning” in Para． 3 probably means _______．

A．annoyed

B．ashamed

C．ready

D．eager

【小题4】In the end, the author turned things around _______．

A．by redoing his task

B．through his own efforts

C．with the help of his grandfather

D．under the guidance of his headmaster

Restaurants in Europe, the United States and Japan are testing technology to let diners order their food direct from a screen at their table instead of depending on a fellow human being to note their choice.
Besides cutting costs, companies that sell the “e-menus” argue the bytes-for-bites way has a new value that can attract younger customers, and various photographs of steaks and gooey desserts attract diners to order more. It also could extend the TV dinner. How about a computer game dinner?
“It's about impulse-buying,” said Adi Chitayat, Conceptic’s CEO. “If a person starts looking at pictures of chocolate cake, the chances are he'll order it.” Frame, a restaurant in Tel Aviv with the system, is said to have its sales on tables with the e-menu increased by about 11% . Customers often call ahead to reserve （预定）spots equipped with screens, manager Natalie Edry told Reporters.
At one of the e-menu tables, IT worker Gil Uriel and his young family were enthusiastic as they checked out pictures of the dishes on offer and squabbled（争吵）overdesserts. “It’s more visual,” says Uriel, as his children clicked away furiously on a games function between courses. “We can still choose, we can still argue —but it’s much easier when we can all see it.”
【小题1】The following are the advantages of “restaurants with” EXCEPT that         .

A．eating in them is more comfortable

B．the restaurants can save a lot of money

C．they can attract more youngsters to the restaurants

D．customers can see the pictures of their ordered foods

【小题2】The underlined word “impulse—buying” in the 3rd paragraph means     .

A．having no idea in buying things

B．being uninterested in buying things

C．having no patience in buying things

D．being encouraged in buying things

【小题3】According to the last paragraph, we know that       .

A．customers feel little interest in the e-menus

B．e-menus only attract a small number of customers

C．it still takes time for e-menus to be widely accepted

D．restaurants of this kind are refused by customers

【小题4】This passage might be taken from      .

A．a food guide	B．a website
C．a traveling magazine	D．classic advertisements

Peanuts to This

Proudly reading my words, I glanced around the room, only to find my classmates bearing big smiles on their faces and tears in their eyes． Confused, I glanced toward my stone-faced teacher． Having no choice, I slowly raised the report I had slaved over, hoping to hide myself． “What could be causing everyone to act this way?”

Quickly, I flashed back to the day Miss Lancelot gave me the task． This was the first real talk I received in my new school． It seemed simple: go on the Internet and find information about a man named George Washington． Since my idea of history came from an ancient teacher in my home country, I had never heard of that name before． As I searched the name of this fellow, it became evident that there were two people bearing the same name who looked completely different! One invented hundreds of uses for peanuts, while the other led some sort of army across America． I stared at the screen, wondering which one my teacher meant． I called my grandfather for a golden piece of advice; flip （掷） a coin． Heads—the commander, and tails—the peanuts guy． Ah! Tails, my report would be about the great man who invented peanut butter, George Washington Carver．

Weeks later, standing before this unfriendly mass, I was totally lost． Oh well, I lowered the paper and sat down at my desk, burning to find out what I had done wrong． As a classmate began his report, it all became clear, “My report is on George Washington, the man who started the American Revolution．” The whole world became quiet! How could I know that she meant that George Washington?

Obviously, my grade was awful． Heartbroken but fearless, I decided to turn this around． I talked to Miss Lancelot, but she insisted: No re-dos; no new grade． I felt that the punishment was not justified, and I believed I deserved a second chance． Consequently, I threw myself heartily into my work for the rest of the school year． Ten months later, that chance unfolded as I found myself sitting in the headmaster’s office with my grandfather, now having an entirely different conversation． I smiled and flashed back to the embarrassing moment at the beginning of the year as the headmaster informed me of my option to skip the sixth grade． Justice is sweet!

1.What did the author’s classmates think about his report?

A．Controversial．

B．Ridiculous．

C．Boring．

D．Puzzling．

2.Why was the author confused about the task?

A．He was unfamiliar with American history．

B．He followed the advice and flipped a coin．

C．He forgot his teacher’s instruction．

D．He was new at the school．

3.The underlined word “burning” in Para． 3 probably means _______．

A．annoyed

B．ashamed

C．ready

D．eager

4.In the end, the author turned things around _______．

A．by redoing his task

B．through his own efforts

C．with the help of his grandfather

D．under the guidance of his headmaster