A．exciting
D．traditional
B．creative C．indifferent
B
Samuel Osmond is a 19-year-old law student from Cornwall, England. He never studied the piano. However, he can play very difficult musical pieces by musicians such as Chopin and Beethoven just a few minutes after he hears them. He learns a piece of music by listening to it in parts. Then he thinks about the notes in his head. Two years ago, he played his first piece Moonlight Sonata(奏鸣曲)by Beethoven. He surprised everyone around him.
Amazed that he remembered this long and difficult piece of music and played it perfectly, his teachers say Samuel is unbelievable. They say his ability is very rare, but Samuel doesn't even realize that what he can do is special. Samuel wanted to become a lawyer as it was the wish of his parents, but music teachers told him he should study music instead. Now, he studies law and music.
Samuel can't understand why everyone is so surprised. “I grew up with music. My mother played the piano and my father played the guitar. About two years ago, I suddenly decided to start playing the piano, without being able to read music and without having any lessons. It comes easily to me—I hear the notes and can bear them in mind—each and every note，” says Samuel.
Recently, Samuel performed a piece during a special event at his college. The piece had more than a thousand notes. The audience was impressed by his amazing performance. He is now learning a piece that is so difficult that many professional pianists can't play it. Samuel says confidently，“It's all about super memory—I guess I have that gift.”
However, Samuel's ability to remember things doesn't stop with music. His family says that even when he was a young boy, Samuel heard someone read a story, and then he could retell the story word for word.
Samuel is still only a teenager. He doesn't know what he wants to do in the future. For now, he is just happy to play beautiful music and continue his studies.
25. In what way is Samuel Osmond different from others? A. He has a talent for writing music. B. He can play the musical piece he hears. C. He is a top student at the law school. D. He can put down the note he hears.
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26. What can we learn from Paragraph 2?
A. Samuel chose law against the wish of his parents.
B. Samuel thinks of himself as a man of great musical ability. C. Samuel intended to be a lawyer rather than a musician. D. Samuel studies law and music on the advice of his teachers. 27.Why was everyone around Samuel astonished ? A. Because he received a good early education in music B. Because he played the guitar and the piano perfectly C. Because he could play the guitar better than his father D. Because he could play the piano without reading music 28. What can we infer from Samuel in Paragraph 4?
A. He became well-known during a special event at his college. B. He impressed the audience by playing all the musical pieces C. He plays the piano better than many professional pianists. D. He takes pride in his ability to remember things accurately.
C
Walt Disney is credited for creating such wonderful things as Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse. However, he cannot take the credit for creating other well-loved characters, such as Cinderella and Snow White. They are almost automatically associated with Disney because Disney turned old fables(寓言) into cartoon movies.
The original Cinderella varies very much from the Disney version we know today. It started off with the girl mourning her mother's death and going to her tomb three times a day. In addition, there were only birds that helped Cinderella; there was no such thing as a fairy godmother or helpful mice, nor was there mention of a horse and carriage.
The stepsisters were cruel: they always threw Cinderella's food into the ashes of the fire and made her sleep on the ashes on the floor, hence(因此) her name.
In the original story, the king's ball actually lasted for three days. With the help of the birds, the girl, beautifully dressed, danced with the prince on all three nights and the prince fell in love with her. However, she broke away from him to rush back home each night. On the last night, the prince placed something sticky on the stairs; as Cinderella made her escape, a shoe got stuck on it.
Here now is where the story becomes unpleasant: when the prince went to the house looking for the girl whose foot fitted the shoe, the wicked(邪恶的) stepmother told
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one of her two daughters to cut off her big toe to fit into the shoe. The daughter did as told. So the prince took her away to be his bride. But, when they passed the tomb of Cinderella's mother, the birds called out to the prince，
“Turn and peep, there's blood within the shoe；
The shoe is too small, the true bride waits for you.”
Realizing he had been tricked, the prince returned the daughter to her mother; the other then had to cut off part of her heel in order to fit into the shoe, with the same result. Only Cinderella's foot fitted perfectly and so the prince chose to marry her. The story ends with the wedding day: as Cinderella's two stepsisters followed her, pretending to be devoted to her so that they could enjoy the king's riches, two birds flew by and plucked(啄) out their eyes. Because of their wickedness and falsehood, they had to spend the rest of their days blind.
The original Cinderella is so different from the Disney version. Thank goodness Disney made such changes; it indeed was a wise move.
29．What does the underlined word “They” in the first paragraph refer to? A．Other well-loved characters. B．Such wonderful things. C．Old fables. D．Cartoon movies.
30．How did Cinderella get her name? A．It came from the word “ash”． B．It was given by Disney. C．The birds put forward it. D．She got it from her mother.
31．Which of the following is TRUE according to the original story? A．Helpful mice got Cinderella a beautiful dress. B．The ball was held to celebrate the prince's wedding. C．Cinderella left her shoe on the stairs on purpose. D．The birds told the prince that he had been cheated. 32．The moral of the original story is that ________． A．a well-behaved child earns a great reward B．a devoted person certainly deserves respect C．a wicked person cannot escape punishment D．a dishonest child cannot get mother love
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D
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34．A PENGO WATCH CONTROL can help you to ________． A．repair your TV
B．know what the weather is like C．be a James Bond D．organize your homework
35．Where would you be most likely to find the two texts? A．On a notice board.
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