完形填空。     O. Henry was a pen name used by an American writer for short stories. His    1    name was William Sydney
Porter. He was born in North Carolina in 1862. As a young boy he lived an exciting life. He did not go to school
for very long,    2    he managed to    3    himself everything he needed to know. When he was about 20 years
old, O. Henry    4    to Texas, where he tried different    5   . He first worked on a newspaper, and then had a
job in a bank. When some money went missing from the bank, O. Henry was believed to have    6    it. Because
of that, he was sent to    7   . During the three years in prison, he learned to    8    short stories. After he got out
of prison, he went to New York and    9    writing. He wrote mostly about New York and the life of the poor
there.
     Most of O. Henry"s   10   are set in his own time, the early years of the 20th century. Many take place in New
York City, and deal for the most part with ordinary   11  : clerks, policemen, waitresses. O. Henry"s short stories
are well known   12   their wit, wordplay, warm characterization and clever twist endings. And his stories
were   13   more playful and optimistic. People like his stories,   14   simple as the tales were, they would finish
with a sudden change at the   15  , to the reader"s surprise.

(     )1. A. real          (     )2. A. or            (     )3. A. learn         (     )4. A. went          (     )5. A. stories       (     )6. A. defended      (     )7. A. prison         (     )8. A. read           (     )9. A. liked         (     )10. A. families      (     )11. A. things         (     )12. A. like          (     )13. A. very           (     )14. A. when          (     )15. A. end	B. middle        B. and             B. teach          B. lived          B. books         B. stolen         B. homeland         B. write          B. believed      B. stories        B. writers        B. as           B. less           B. how           B. last	C. first             C. for                C. allow             C. stayed             C. banks             C. preserved        C. neighbourhood       C. tell              C. continued          C. fantasies         C. people            C. to               C. so                C. because            C. first	D. last                D. but                   D. turn                 D. left                   D. jobs                  D. reacted             D. jungle                 D. take                  D. stopped                               D. deeds              D. readers              D. for                 D. much                 D. so                    D. beginning
1-5 ADBAD   6-10 BABCB   11-15 CDDCA
阅读理解。
Jean Driscoll can go faster in her wheelchair than the world"s best marathoners (马拉松运动员) can run!      In April, Jean finished the Boston Marathon in 1 hour 34 minutes 22 seconds. That"s about 33 minutes faster than the winning male runner! She competed on the track, too. She was second in the 800 meter wheelchair race at the 1992 Olympics.      Jean doesn"t like to be told she"s brave. "I"m in sports because I"m a competitive person!" Jean was born with spinal bifida (脊柱裂), a birth illness that damages the spine (脊椎). She began to use a wheelchair to get around in high school. Then she tried wheelchair race and was amazed. "Players crashed into each other and fell out of their chairs," she says, "It was fun."      Jean tried other wheelchair sports. At the University of Illinois, her wheelchair basketball team won two national titles.      Now Jean coaches and teaches. She tries to get people to set goals. "When I sign my autograph (亲笔签 名)," says Jean, "I write, dream big and work hard."
1. What made Jean take part in sports?
[     ]
A. She was brave. B. She was competitive. C. She was strong. D. She was disabled.
2. What kind of education did she receive?
[     ]
A. High school. B. Junior middle school. C. High education. D. Primary school.
3. What is Jean"s advice on how to succeed?
[     ]
A. Work hard. B. Hope for the best. C. Dream a lot. D. Have great wishes and work hard.
阅读理解。
F. Scott Fitzgerald, born on September 24, 1896, an American novelist, was once a student of St. Paul Academy, the Newman School and attended Princeton. University for a short while. In 1917 he joined the army and was posted in Alabama, where he met his future wife Zelda Sayre. Then he had to make some money to impress her.      His life with her was full of great happiness, as he wrote in his diary:"My own happiness in the past often approached such joy that I could share it even with the person dearest to me but had to walk it away in quiet streets and take down parts of it in my diary."      This side of paradise, his first novel, was published in 1920. Encouraged by its success, Fitzgerald began to devote more time to his writing. Then he continued with the novel the Beautiful and Damned (1922), a collection of short stories Thales of the Jazz Age (1922), and a play The Vegetable (1923). But his greatest success was The Great Gatsby, published in 1925, which quick brought him praise from the literary world. Yet it failed to give him the needed financial security. Then, in 1926, he published another collection of short stories All the Sad Young Men.      However, Fitzgerald"s problems with his wife Zelda affected his writing. During the 1920s he tried to reorder his life, but failed. By 1930, his wife had her first breakdown and went to a Swiss clinic. During this period he completed novels Tender Is the Night in 1934 and The Love of the Last Tycoon in 1940. while his wife was in hospital in the United States, he got totally addicted to alcohol. Sheila Graham, his dear friend, helped him fight his alcoholism.
1. How many novels written by Fitzgerald are mentioned in the passage?
[     ]
A. 5 B. 6 C. 7 D. 8
2. Which of the following is the correct order to describe Fitzgerald"s life according to the passage?      a. He became addicted to drinking.      b. He studied at St. Paul Academy.      c. He published his first novel This Side of Paradise.      d. The Great Gatsby won high praise.      e. He failed to reorder his life.      f. He joined the army and met Zelda.
[     ]
A. f-c-e-a-b-d B. b-e-a-f-c-d C. f-d-e-c-b-a D. b-f-c-d-e-a
3. We can infer from the passage that Fitzgerald _____.
[     ]
A. had made some money when he met Zelda in Alabama B. was well educated and well off before he served in the army C. would have completed more works if his wife hadn"t broken down D. helped his friend get rid of drinking while his wife was in hospital
4. The passage is probably followed by a concluding paragraph about _____.
[     ]
A. Zelda"s personal life B. Zelda"s illness and treatment C. Fitzgerald"s friendship with Graham D. Fitzgerald"s contributions to the literary world
阅读理解。
Rae Armantrout, who has been a poetry professor at the University of California San Diego (UCSD) for two decades, has won the 2010 Pulitzer Prize in the poetry category for her most recent book, "Versed".      "I"m delighted and amazed at how much media recognition that the Pulitzer brings, as compared to even the National Book Critics Award, which I was also surprised and delighted to win," said Armantrout.      "For a long time, my writing has been just below the media radar, and to have this kind of attention, suddenly, with my 10th book, is really surprising."      Armantrout, a native Californian, received her bachelor"s degree at UC Berkeley, where she studied with noted poet Denise Levertov, and her master"s in creative writing from San Francisco State University. She is a founding member of Language Poets, a group in American poetry that analyzes the way language is used and raises questions to make the reader think.      In March, she won the National Book Critics Circle Award for "Versed."      "This book has gotten more attention," Armantrout said, "but I don"t feel as if it"s better."      The first half of "Versed" focuses on the dark forces taking hold of the United States as it fought the war against Iraq. The second half looks at the dark forces casting a shadow over her own life after Armantrout was diagnosed with cancer in 2006.      Armantrout was shocked to learn she had won the Pulitzer but many of her colleagues were not. "Rae Armantrout is a unique voice in American poetry," said Seth Lerer, head of Arts and Humanities at UCSD.      "Versed", published by the Wesleyan University Press, did appear in a larger printing than her earlier works, which is about 2,700 copies. The new edition is scheduled to appear in May.
1. According to Rae Armantrout, _____.
[     ]
A. her 10th book is much better B. her winning the Pulitzer is unexpected C. the media is surprised at her works D. she likes being recognized by her readers
2. Which of the following is true of Rae Armantrout?
[     ]
A. She published a poetry textbook. B. She used to teach Denise Levertov. C. She started a poets" group with others. D. She taught creative writing at UC Berkeley.
3. What can we learn about "Versed"?
[     ]
A. It consists of three parts. B. It is mainly about the American army. C. It is a book published two decades ago. D. It partly concerns the poet"s own life.
4. Rae Armantrout"s colleagues think that she _____.
[     ]
A. should write more B. has a sweet voice C. deserves the prize D. is a strange professor
5. What can we learn from the text?
[     ]
A. About 2,700 copies of "Versed" will be printed. B. Cancer made Armantrout stop writing. C. Armantrout got her degrees at UCSD. D. "Versed" has been awarded twice.
阅读理解。
When you"re lying on the white sands of the Mexican Riviera, the stresses (压力) of the world seem a million miles away. Hey, stop! This is no vacation－you have to finish something!      Here lies the problem for travel writer and food critic (评论家) Edie Jarolim. "I always loved traveling and always liked to eat, but it never occurred to me that I could make money doing both of these things," Jarolim said. Now you can read her travel advice everywhere－in Arts and Antiques, in Brides, or in one of her three books. The Complete Idiot"s Travel Guide to Mexico"s Beach Resort.      Her job in travel writing began some eight years ago. After getting a PhD in English in Canada, she took a test for Frommer"s travel guides, passed it, and got the job. After working at Frommer"s, Jarolim worked for a while at Rough Guides in London, then Fodor"s, where she fell so in love with a description of the Southwest of the U.S. that she moved there.      Now as a travel writer, she spends one-third of her year on the road. The rest of the time is spent completing her tasks and writing reviews of restaurants at home in Tucson, Arizona.      As adventurous as the job sounds, the hard part is fact-checking all the information. Sure, it"s great to write about a tourist attraction, but you"d better get the local (当地的) museum hours correct or you could really ruin someone"s vacation.
1. Which country does Jarolim live in now?
[     ]
A. Mexico. B. The U.S. C. The U.K. D. Canada.
2. What is the most difficult for Jarolim?
[     ]
A. Working in different places to collect information. B. Checking all the facts to be written in the guides. C. Finishing her work as soon as possible. D. Passing a test to write travel guides.
3. What do we know about Jarolim from the text?
[     ]
A. She is successful in her job. B. She finds her life full of stresses. C. She spends half of her time traveling. D. She is especially interested in museums.
4. What would be the best title for the text?
[     ]
A. Adventures in Travel Writing B. Working as a Food Critic C. Travel Guides on the Market D. Vacationing for a Living
阅读理解。
Robert Owen was born in Wales in 1771. At the age of ten he went to work. His employer had a large Private library, so Owen was able to educate himself. He read a lot in his spare time and at nineteen he was given the job of superintendent (监工) at a Manchester cotton mill. He was so successful there that he persuaded his employer to buy the New Lanark mill in Scotland.      When he arrived at New Lanark it was a dirty little town with a population of 2,000 people. Nobody paid any attention to the workers" houses or their children"s education. The conditions in the factories were very bad. There was a lot of crime and the men spent most of their wages on alcoholic drinks.      Owen improved the houses. He encouraged people to be clean and save money. He opened a shop and sold the workers cheap, well-made goods to help them. He limited the sale of alcoholic drinks. Above all, he fixed his mind on the children"s education. In 1816 he opened the first free primary school in Britain.      People came from all over the country to visit Owen"s factory. They saw that the workers were healthier and more efficient than in other towns. Their children were better fed and better educated. Owen tried the same experiment in the United States. He bought some land there in 1825, but the community was too far away. He could not keep it under control and lost most of his money.      Owen never stopped fighting for his idea. Above all he believed that people are not born good or bad.      He was a practical man and his ideas were practical. "If you give people good working conditions," he thought, "they will work well and, the most important thing of all, if you give them the chance to learn, they will be better people."
1. For Owen, his greatest achievement in New Lanark was _____.
[     ]
A. improving worker"s houses B. helping people to save money C. preventing men from getting drunk D. providing the children with a good education
2. From the passage we may infer that Owen was born _____.
[     ]
A. into a rich family B. into a noble family C. into a poor family D. into a middle class family
3. Owen"s experiment in the United States failed because _____.
[     ]
A. he lost all his money B. he did not buy enough land C. people who visited it were not impressed D. it was too far away for him to organize it properly
4. We may infer form the passage that no children in Britain could enjoy free education until _____.
[     ]
A. 1771 B. 1816 C. 1825 D. 1860