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    Nowadays bands 1.________ one after another both in China and in other countries.
Then 2.________ do people get to form a band? Usually bands are formed by music lovers
3.________ come together to write and play their own music. First, they may play to
4.________ to earn money to make a living, and at the same time 5.________ their music
and improve themselves.
    6．________,there was a band called "The Monkees" which wasn't formed 7.________.
It was formed by TV organizers who had 8.________ for four musicians in a newspaper.
At first not 9.________ the members in the band could sing well, neither could they
create their 10.________ music. They 11.________ on each other while playing music. Both
the jokes and music were 12.________ loosely on the band called "The Beatles". In spite
of this, the band soon attracted many people, who supported them 13.________. After a
year 14.________, they began to play their own instruments and write their own music.
And they became even more popular than "The Beatles" and sold even more records. However,
the band 15.________ in 1970, but reunited in the mid-1980s.

     The story of Madame Tussaud is as fascinating as that of the exhibition itself. From a housekeeper's
daughter to a successful business woman, her life has all the marks of a Hollywood blockbuster.
     Madam Tussaud was born in 1761 and named Marie Grosholtz. Her father was killed in battle only two
months before Mane's birth. For the first five years of her life, Marie lived in Berne with her mother, who
worked as housekeeper for Dr Philippe Curtius. A doctor, with a talent for wax modeling, Curtius became
her teacher.
     It was Curtius who opened the original wax exhibition in Paris in 1770 and introduced Marie to some
famous people. At only 17, she modeled the famous writer Francois Voltaire, followed by a portrait of
American statesman Benjamin Franklin when he was in Paris as US ambassador. Both figures are still on
display at Madame Tussaud's, London today.
     Her work at Curtius successful wax exhibition led to an invitation to the court of Louis XVI and his
queen. For nine years she lived at the palace of Versailles guiding the artistic education of the king's sister.
Meanwhile the French Revolution was about to erupt. Aware of the political arrest, Philippe Curtius called
Marie back to Paris. Marie's connection with the royal family made her guilty. Both she and her mother
were arrested. After she was set free, Marie was forced to make death masks (a death mask is a model of
a dead person's face, made by coving their face with a soft substance and letting it become hard) of executed
(被處決的) nobles. Many were former friends at court, including her former employers, the king and queen.
     By 1800 Marie was married with two young children and a poor business inherited from Curtius. Madame
Tussaud made the decision to take her exhibition on tour. In 1802, she left France. For the next 33 years,
Madame Tussaud traveled the British Isles, exhibiting her growing collection of portraits. In those pre-television
days, this was the only way most people had direct contact with the famous people of the time. The exhibition
became permanently based in London in 1835, moving to its present site in Marylebone Road in 1884. Her last
work, a remarkable self-portrait that is still on show, was completed only eight years before her death aged 89.

1. The underlined part in Para. 1 implies that Madame Tussaud's life was _____.

A. complicated
B. successful
C. peaceful
D. lonely

2. Marie got a job at that court of Louis XVI because of _____.

A. Curtius' recommendation
B. her gift for wax modeling
C. her mother's help
D. her friendship with the king's sister

3. Marie was arrested during the French Revolution because _____.

A. she had worked for Dr Philippe Curtius
B. she had modeled the French royal family
C. she had worked at the place of Versailles
D. she had refused to make death masks

4. The last paragraph is mainly about _____.

A. how Marie's was modeling business became successful
B. how Marie balanced her family and work
C. the establishment of Madame Tussaud's, London
D. the popularity of Madame Tussaud's wax exhibition

5. According toe the passage, how many of the following statements about Marie are TREU?
    a. She hadn't seen his father since she was born.
    b. She modeled the portrait of Francois Voltaire.
    c. She modeled the portrait of Francois Voltaire.
    d. She guided the artistic education of the king's daughter.
    e. In 1842, she completed her last work.

A. 2
B. 3
C. 4
D. 5

     On August 15th, in the women's individual all-around final of gymnastics of the Beijing 2008 Olympic
Games, Chusovitina is a shining star although she failed to win a medal eventually.
     When 33-year-old Oxana Chusovitina competes in her fifth Olympics (Beijing Olympics), she is twice
the age of most of her competitors. In addition, she has also competed in ten World Championships, three
Asian Games and three Goodwill Games. Chusovitina holds the record for the most individual World
Championships medals on a single event. She won an Olympic team gold medal as a 17-year-old in 1992.
Since then she has won a record of eight world titles.
     Her long career owes something to fate. In 2002, when her son Alisher, now aged nine, was diagnosed
with leukemia (白血病), she moved to Germany so that he could get the best possible treatment. To help in
those difficult times she kept up her training. It has paid off. But saving Alisher's life is not her only motivation.
As she recently told German media, "There is nothing in the world I enjoy more than gymnastics."
     Chusovitina was born on June 19, 1975 in Uzbek USSR. She was formerly a citizen of, and a competitor
for, the former Soviet Union (before 1993) and Uzbekistan (1993-2006). She has competed for Germany
since 2006. By the year of 2008, Chusovitina's career in gymnastics had been twenty years.
     She is one of only a handful of women to return to high-level gymnastics and international competition
after becoming a mother. Chusovitina is remarkable in her ability to remain competitive for so many years,
often in the face of great difficulty, and has been considered as a role model and an inspiration by many people
in the gymnastics community.

1. When she was 17 years old, Chusovitina won an Olympic team gold medal for _____.

A. the former Soviet Union
B. Uzbekistan
C. Germany
D. Russia

2. Chusovitina might begin her career in gymnastics in _____.

A. 1975
B. 1988
C. 1992
D. 1992

3. Chusovitina left her homeland because _____.

A. she wanted to compete in the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games
B. she wanted to serve for Germany
C. she wanted her son to get the best treatment
D. she had to face great difficulty in her homeland

4. According to the passage, Chusovitina is different from the other competitors in the Beijing 2008 Olympic
    Games because _____.

A. she is the best competitor in the games
B. she is much older than other gymnastics girls
C. she won an Olympic team gold medal when she was very young
D. she competes in order to earn money

5. According to the passage, which of the following words can best describe Chusovitina?

A. Kind-hearted.
B. Lovable.
C. Tough-minded.
D. Serious-minded.

     You Mi, a lovely and confident 17-year-old student, is the first Chinese high school student to appear on
the cover of the popular young adults' fashion magazine Seventeen.
     "You is IN," said Wang Lihua, Editor-in-Chief of Seventeen. "She is active and mature (成熟的) because
of her knowledge on everything from academic studies, to books on art, to movies. We found she's the very
style we're looking for to represent young people's attitudes." 　　
     You also impressed Wang with her fluent English when they first met last year. As the hostess of an
English broadcasting programme at the High School Affiliated to Renmin University, You is always praised
for speaking English almost like a native speaker. "I've built up my English by watching thousands of English
DVDs since I was 10," she explained. 　　　
     But for You, watching isn't enough. Last year, while in Senior 1, she met a talented boy who showed self-
made DV movies at the English Corner in her school. 　
     "I thought it was so cool and I knew that I should start making my own films," she said. So she wrote a
campus (校園) story, persuaded schoolmates to star in it and then began shooting a 30-minute DV movie, all
in English. "I played one of the leading roles, actually I was everything in my film. I worked on it every single
day during the SARS holidays," she recalled. The movie finally became a big hit on campus, earning You a
strong reputation (名氣) as a DV movie director. 　　　
     But this is not the only field she wants to master. Despite being a science student, You likes art, literature
and fashion design very much. 　　　
     "There are people who can be artists, there are people who edit books, and there are people who become
film producers. But I just hope to mix all the things up!" she said. "There is an old saying I believe: Chance
favours only the prepared mind."

1. You Mi was chosen to be a cover of Seventeen,mainly because she _____.

A. is beautiful
B. she is lovely and full of confidence
C. is active and mature
D. has rich knowledge

2. You Mi was chosen to be a cover of Seventeen,mainly because she _____.

A. is beautiful
B. she is lovely and full of confidence
C. is active and mature
D. has rich knowledge

3. The author mentioned a talented boy to show _____.

A. the great influence he had on You Mi
B. he was admired by his schoolmates
C. the young can do things as well as the adults do
D. self-made DV movies are popular at school

4. In the 30-minute DV movie, You Mi didn't act as a(n) _____.

A. director
B. musician
C. actress
D. producer

5. We can learn from the passage that _____.

A. You Mi hopes to be a mixed talent
B. the success of a 30-minute DV movie shocked You Mi
C. You Mi dreams of becoming a scientist
D. the outbreak of SARS delayed You Mi's studies

     Jean Driscoll can go faster in her wheelchair than the world's best marathoners (馬拉松運動員) 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 (親筆簽
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.

     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