When Charles Strattion was five, he stopped growing. His mother took him to see the famous showman, P. T. Barnum, and thought a small person would be the perfect addition to his show. He hired Charles’ parents along with him, and they traveled around the world together.

He gave the two-foot-tall Charles a new name, general Tom Thumb. He taught Tom how to sing, dance, act, and tell jokes. When he felt Tom was ready to perform on stage, he made up ads. To stir up great interest, he said that Tom was eleven years old and had come from England.

Tom’s act was very popular and brought in a lot of money. By the time Tom was an adult, he had grown very rich. He had become a billionaire at the age of twenty-five.

Fortunately for Tom, Mr. Barnum added more little people to his show, and Tom became lucky in love as well. One of the little people was Lavinia Warren, a school teacher. Tom was able to win her love, and they married.

The ceremony and reception were the talk of the town. They were attended by many rich and famous people and by about two thousand guests. Crowds filled the street of New York to have a look at their tiny wedding carriage. The couple even met with President Abraham Lincoln on their honeymoon, just before going to live in Tom’s house in Connecticut.

Their wedding, which took place during the Civil War, provided a welcome escape from the sad problems of war. Not willing to let this bit of sunshine fade, communities throughout the country held Tom Thumb’s weddings. In these weddings, small boys and girls, all dressed up, went through marriage ceremony for fun.

1.“the talk of the town” means      .

A．they were in the newspaper

B．people spread many rumors about them

C．they were the most popular things happening

D．they were discussed in a city meeting

2.What does the author think about Tom Thumb’s wedding?

A．People gave it too much of their attention.

B．It helped people cheer up in a dark time

C．It was funny and ridiculous

D．Tom and Lavinia were stupid.

3.Which of the following is the best description of the fact that Tom was smart?

A．He became a billionaire at twenty-five

B．He learned how to sing, dance, and act at a very young age.

C．He met with President Lincoln during his honeymoon

D．He married a school teacher.

4.It was very funny when Tom danced on a wooden plate held by a person who was eight feet tall because      .

A．the wooden plate would make it sound as of Tom were tap dancing

B．it made Tom feel taller

C．the eight-foot-tall man was the only tall person Tom trusted

D．the difference between them would make Tom look even smaller

5.What does the author imply in the last paragraph?

A．Weddings always make people feel full of sunshine

B．People are always disappointed during wartime

C．Entertainment can serve an important purpose

D．People should be married even if they are small

 

 My sister_____ Tony for ten years next year.

A. has been married to        B. has married to       C. will be married to     D. will marry to

 

The Marches were a happy family. Poverty, hard work, and even the fact that Father March was away with the Union armies could not down the spirits of Meg, Jo, Amy, and Marmee, as the March girls called their mother.

The March sisters tried to be good but had their share of faults. Pretty Meg was often displeased with the schoolchildren she taught; boyish Jo was easy to become angry; golden-haired schoolgirl Amy liked to show up; but Beth, who kept the house, was loving and gentle always.

   The happy days passed and darkness came when a telegram arrived for Mrs. March. “Your husband is very ill,” it said, “come at once.” The girl tried to be brave when their mother left for the front. They waited and prayed. Little Beth got scarlet fever (猩红热) when she was taking care of the sick neighbor. She became very ill but began to recover by the time Marmee was back. When Father came home from the front and at that joyful Christmas dinner they were once more all together.

  Three years later the March girls had grown into young womanhood. Meg became Mrs. Brooke, and after a few family troubles got used to her new state happily. Jo had found pleasure in her literary efforts. Amy had grown into a young lady with a talent for design and an even greater one for society. But Beth had never fully regained her health, and her family watched her with love and anxiety.

  Amy was asked to go and stay in Europe with a relative of the Marches. Jo went to New York and became successful in her writing and had the satisfaction of seeing her work published there. But at home the bitterest blow was yet to fall. Beth had known for some time that she couldn’t live much longer to be with the family and in the spring time she died.

   News came from Europe that Amy and Laurie, the grandson of a wealthy neighbor, had planned to be married soon. Now Jo became ever more successful in her writing and got married to Professor Bhaer and soon afterwards founded a school for boys.

   And so the little women had grown up and lived happily with their children, enjoying the harvest of love and goodness that they had devoted all their lives to.

The members of the March family were Father March, Mrs. March and their _______.

   A. four daughters                 B. five daughters   

C. son and four daughters     D. son and five daughters

Who was the most successful in career (事业) among the March girls?

  A. Jo                B. Beth                 C. Amy                 D. Meg 

Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?

  A. The march Family              B. The March Parents  

C. The March Girls            D. The March Relatives

It can be inferred from the passage that the March family had ______.

  A. both happiness and sadness     B. wealthy neighbors 

  C. more girls than boys           D. a lot of rich relatives 

When I was 16 years old, I made my first visit to Disneyland in America. It wasn’t the first time I had been     36  . Like most English children I learned French   37  school and I had often been to France, so I     38  speaking a foreign language to people who didn’t understand 39  . But   40　I went to America, I was really looking forward to__41_ a nice easy holiday without any  42　problems.

__43__wrong I was! The misunderstanding began   44   the airport. I was looking for a 45__telephone to give my friend Danny a 46  and tell her I had arrived. A   47  old man saw me looking lost and asked   48 __ he could help me.

“Yes.” I said，“I was to give my friend a ring. ”“Well, that’s nice,” he said. “Are you getting   49  ? But aren’t you a bit young?”“  50  is talking about marriage?” I replied. “I just want to give my friend a ring to tell her I’ve arrived. Can you tell me   51   there’s a phone box?” “Oh!” he said, “there’s phone downstairs.”

When at last we did meet up, Danny explained the misunderstanding to me. “Don’t worry,”she said to me, “I had so many   52  at first. There are lots of words which the Americans   53   differently in meaning from us British. You’ll soon get used to   54  funny things they say. Most of the   55  , British and American people understand each other!”

1.A．out                B．away             C．outside          D．abroad

2.A．from               B．during           C．at               D．after

3.A．get used to        B．was used to      C．used to          D．used

4.A．English            B．French           C．Russian          D．Latin

5.A．when           B．while                C．if               D．for

6.A．buying         B．having           C．giving           D．receiving

7.A．time               B．human            C．language         D．money

8.A．Too                B．What a           C．What             D．How

9.A．with               B．to               C．over             D．at

10.A．cheap         B．popular          C．public           D．good

11.A．letter            B．ring             C．news             D．information

12.A．friendly          B．strange          C．stupid           D．tough

13.A．that              B．if               C．where            D．when

14.A．to marry          B．to be married        C．marrying         D．married

15.A．You               B．She              C．Who              D．He

16.A．where         B．in which         C．over there       D．that

17.A．trouble           B．difficulties     C．things          D．fun

18.A．write             B．speak            C．use             D．read

19.A．every         B．these            C．some             D．all the

20.A．chance            B．situation            C．condition            D．time

 

During the years after the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, structural engineers have been trying hard to solve a question that would otherwise have been completely unthinkable: Can building be designed to stand catastrophic blasts (攻击；爆破) by terrorists?

    Soon after the terrorist attacks on the twin towers, structural engineers from the University at Buffalo and the Multidisciplinary Center for Earthquake Engineering Research (MCEER) traveled to ground zero as part of a project funded by the National Science Foundation. They spent two days beginning the task of formulating (构思) ideas about how to design such structures and to search for clues on how to do so in buildings that were damaged, but still are standing.

    “Our objective in visiting ground zero was to go and look at the buildings surrounding the World Trade Center, those buildings that are still standing, but that sustained damage,” said Mr. Bruneau, Ph.D. “Our immediate hope is that we can develop a better understanding as to why those buildings remain standing, while our long-term goal is to see whether earthquake engineering technologies can be married to existing technologies to achieve enhanced performance of buildings in the event of terrorist attacks,” he added.

    Photographs taken by the investigators demonstrate the monumental damage to the World Trade Center towers and buildings nearby. One building a block away from the towers remains standing, but was badly damaged. “This building is many meters away from the World Trade Center and yet we see a column (柱子) there that used to be part of that building,” explained A. Whittaker, Ph.D. “The column became a missile that shot across the road, through the window and through the floor.”

    The visit to the area also brought some surprises, according to the engineers. For example, the floor framing (框架) system in one of the buildings was quite strong , allowing floors that were pierced by tons of falling debris (残砾) to survive. “Good framing systems may provide a simple, but reliable strategy for blast resistance,” he added. Other strategies may include providing alternate paths for gravity loads in the event that a load-bearing column fails. “We also need a better understanding of the mechanism of collapse,” said A. Whittaker. “We need to find out what causes a building to collapse and how you can predict it.”

    A. Reinhorn, Ph.D. noted that “earthquake shaking has led to the collapse of buildings in the past. Solutions developed for earthquake-resistant design may apply to blast engineering and terrorist-resistant design. Part of our mission now is to transfer these solutions and to develop new ones where none exist at present.”

1.The question raised in the first paragraph is one _____ .

A. that was asked by structural engineers a month ago

B. that is too difficult for structural engineers a month ago

C. that was never thought of before the terrorist attack

D. that terrorists are eager to find a solution to

2.The column mentioned by Dr. Whittaker _____ .

A. was part of the building close to the World Trade Center

B. was part of the World Trade Center

C. was shot through the window and the floor of the World Trade Center

D. damaged many buildings near the World Trade Center

3.A surprising discovery made by the investigators during their visit to ground zero is that _____.

A. floors in the faraway buildings remained undamaged

B. some floor framing systems demonstrate resistance to explosion

C. complex floor framing systems are more blast resistant

D. floors in one of the buildings were pierced by tons of debris

4. What Dr. Reinhorn said in the last paragraph may imply all the following EXCEPT that _____.

A. blast engineers should develop new solutions for terror-resistant design

B. blast engineering can borrow technologies developed for terror-resistant design

C. solutions developed for earthquake-resistant design may apply to terrorist-resistant design

D. blast engineering emerges as a totally new branch of science