When we talk about stars, especially women stars, it seems that they are always young, pretty and own charming body shapes. But recently a Britain's Got Talent（英国达人）star Susan Boyle has changed our views absolutely.
Simon Cowell, one of the judges of the talent show spoke of his shock over Ms Boyle's voice. "This lady came up, and I'm thinking, 'This will take five seconds and I can go to have a cup of tea'. That changed when she began to sing I Dreamed to Dream from Les Miserables. She knew we were going to have that reaction and just to see that look of satisfaction on her face through -it was one of my favorite moments," Cowell said.
The performance was posted on line and before long, the 47-year-old Scottish woman has been famous all over the world.
Speaking from her home in Scotland, Ms Boyle said that she hasn't thought of changing her appearance. She said that her friend helped her with make-up. "I mean, that's hardly a makeover（改头换面）," she added. Ms Boyle also spoke of the reason she first began to explore her vocal talents, "I was kind of slow at school, so getting like singing was a good way of hiding behind that and thus it built my confidence."
【小题1】Susan Boyle is _________

A．a judge	B．a Scottish woman
C．a beautiful woman	D．a reporter

【小题2】Susan Boyle had a look of satisfaction on her face when she was singing because______.

A．she was confident of her singing

B．she was satisfied with the judges

C．she was pretty and in good shape

D．she sang the song I Dreamed a Dream from Les Miserables

【小题3】According to the passage, which is NOT true?

A．It was the vocal talents that built Susan's confidence

B．Susan Boyle was not good at her lesson when at school.

C．Susan Boyle became famous because of her appearance.

D．Simon Cowell didn't think Susan Boyle a good singer at the first sight.

【小题4】What can we learn from Susan Boyle's success

A．It's never too old to learn.

B．It's easier to succeed at the age of 47.

C．If you are not able to study well, to be a singer instead.

D．If you have a dream, try to make it come true!

   Nelle Harper Lee was born on April 28,1926. Since Lee’s mother was mentally ill, she was raised by her lather. She became very close to her father.

The naughty Lee loved reading, and would make up stories with Truman Capote, her neighbour who was two years older than her. Seeing his daughter’s imagination, Lee’s father gave her a typewriter.

In high school, Lee developed an interest in English literature. After graduating in 1944, she went to the all-female Huntingdon College in Montgomery. Lee stood apart from the other students. She could have cared more about fashion, make-up, or dating. Instead, she focused on studies and writing. Transferring (转学) to the University of Alabama, Lee was known for being a loner and an individualist. Before her final year in the University of Alabama, Lee dropped out to become a writer. She moved to New York City where her childhood friend Truman was already a famous writer. While there, she worked on her first book — To Kill a Mockingbird. It won her the Pulitzer Prize in 1961 and was made into an Academy Award winning movie the following year.

To Kill a Mockingbird tells the story of six-year- old Scout and her brother who live in the town of Maycomb, Alabama with their single father Atticus. Atticus is a lawyer who defends blacks. At a young age, Scout lives in the surroundings of the terrors of segregation (隔离政策).

Then, in 2014, the first draft (草稿) of a new book — Go Set a Watchman was discovered among Lee’s papers. It is the story of 26-year-old Scout who returns to Maycomb to visit her father. She is shocked to find her father a changed man. He has turned into a segregationist!

The story shows the mixed feelings Scout has about the changes that have taken place in her homeland and her father. A loner for most of her life, Lee stayed unmarried, preferring to lead a small town life. On February 19,2016, Lee passed away at the age of 89.

【小题1】What can we learn about Lee?

A．She became a professional writer at college.

B．She had a gift for writing.

C．She was persuaded to become a writer by Truman.

D．She got interested in writing after getting a typewriter.

【小题2】What did the characters Lee described in to Kill a Mockingbird show?

A．Her love for a mockingbird.

B．The effect of having a sick mother.

C．Her experience of learning English literature.

D．Her relationship with her father.

【小题3】What happens to Scout’s father in Go Set a Watchman?

A．He has mixed feelings towards the blacks.

B．He straggles for the equal rights of the black people.

C．He supports segregating blacks from whites.

D．He fails to get used to the changes of his homeland.

【小题4】What is the passage mainly about?

A．How Lee fought against segregation.

B．How Lee’s book made her world-famous.

C．Lee’s whole life and her famous books.

D．Lee lived a painful life all her life.

   Canada’s Alice Munro, called the “master of the contemporary short story”, won the 2013 Nobel Prize in Literature. After that, the Nobel committee（委员会）said on Twitter that it hadn’t been able to contact Munro and left a phone message to tell her the good news. But The Canadian Press contacted her, and she was quoted as saying the award was "quite wonderful"and she was "terribly surprised".

Douglas Gibson, Munro's publisher read a statement on the author's behalf. "I am amazed and very grateful. I am particularly glad that winning this award will please so many Canadians. I'm happy that this will bring more attention to Canadian writing," she said, according to Gibson.

"Munro is acclaimed for her finely tuned storytelling，which is characterized by clarity and psychological realism（现实主义），"the Nobel committee said.

The author has won many honors over the years，including the 2009 Man Booker International Prize. "Alice Munro is mostly known as a short story writer and yet she brings as much depth，wisdom and precision to every story as most novelists bring to a lifetime of novels，"the Man Booker judging committee said at the time.

Munro，who lives in Huron County in southwestern Ontario，was born near there in Wingham. She started writing stories in her teen years and studied journalism and English at the University of Western Ontario. She started publishing in various magazines in the 1950s. In 1968，she published Dance of the Happy Shades，a collection of short stories. In 1971 she published a collection of stories entitled Lives of Girls and Women，which critics have described as a coming-of-age work.

Munro gained world fame for writing about everyday people. "Here is a world prize being won by someone who writes about housewives in Vancouver, booksellers in Victoria, bean farmers in Huron County and accountants and teachers and librarians — ordinary Canadian people, and she turns them into magic," Gibson said.

【小题1】How did Alice Munro feel about her winning the Nobel Prize?
A．Satisfied and proud.
B．Puzzled but grateful.
C．Surprised but happy.
D．Concerned but lucky.【小题2】The underlined word "acclaimed" in Paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to"_________".
A．understood     B. admired
B．advertised D. criticized【小题3】Which of the following shows the correct order of what happened in Munro's life？
a. She published Lives of Girls and Women.
b. She won the Man Booker International Prize.
c. She studied at the University of Western Ontario.
d. She won the Nobel Prize in Literature.
e. She published Dance of the Happy Shades.
A．c-a-b-d-e B. c-e-a-b-d
B．a-c-b-e-d D. a-b-c-d-e【小题4】What do we know about Munro's writing？
A．It concerns the life of poor people.
B．It contains depth and wisdom.
C．It usually tells magic stories.
D．It tends to avoid realistic problems.

Do you suppose Darwin, one of the greatest scientists of all time, really did foolish experiments? Or did he do experiments that were so simple and basic that other people just thought they were foolish?

Sometimes, people think they already know the answer to a question or the solution to a problem. Sometimes, they really do know an answer or a solution, but without thinking they are important.
Charles Darwin didn’t settle for(满足于)just thinking he knew something. And, he believed all things could be important however simple they seemed to be.
Suppose you drop sheets of paper that are of exactly the same size and shape. If you drop them at the same time in the same place, they will fall in the same way. Now make one of the sheets of paper into a tight little ball and let it drop along with the other sheets. What happens? You have done an experiment that is so simple that you might think it couldn’t be worth anything.
But this simple experiment is important. It explains part of our present-day understandings of physics, ideas that were worked out long ago by Galileo and Newton. And these understandings set aside some of ancient Greek physics.
Scientists sometimes stop to look at very simple things and to think very hard about them. Even the simplest idea, which we might think is foolish, can shake the foundations of science.
【小题1】The passage tells us that Charles Darwin　　　　.

A．was a great English scientist

B．always liked doing the experiments that others thought difficult

C．thought even the simplest thing was important

D．didn’t get well with others

【小题2】The underlined phrase “set aside” most probably means　　　　.

A．throw away	B．store up
C．put to use	D．realize

【小题3】The author of the passage tries to　　　　.

A．convince us that Charles Darwin, Galileo and Newton are the greatest scientists in the world

B．draw the conclusion that basic sciences are simple things

C．prove that two sheets of paper, with the same size and shape, will fall at the same speed

D．draw our attention to everyday happenings around us

【小题4】Which of the following is TRUE?

A．Darwin really did foolish experiments.

B．According to some people Darwin did foolish experiments.

C．It is believed by all the people that things could be important though they seemed to be simple.

D．Galileo and Newton worked out ancient Greek physics.

Jane Austen ever popular

This summer, the UK will honor its favorite writer, Jane Austen (1775-1817), by making her face on the new £ 10 note. In the 200 years since her death, Austen’s fame has increased from the modest amount she enjoyed in her lifetime to the global fame she receives today.

And yet Austen’s work is so very English that it’s rather strange she should be so popular all over the world. Her novels are so of her time that it’s remarkable that she’s still appreciated in this very different age. Her most famous works — including Pride and Prejudice, the one for which she is most known — are set in the world of the English gentry (绅士阶层) in the 18th century.

Most of her fiction is about young women of that time. Women of the gentry could not work so their chances of happiness or even basic living depended upon finding a husband. This is a very serious subject, of course, but the joy of Austen’s stories is her ability to make wonderful, but also touching comedy out of something so serious.

Take Pride and Prejudice as an example. Elizabeth Bennet is one of five daughters in a countryside family that struggles because daughters can’t inherit (继承) the property. Her mother wants to marry off as many of them as possible. The pushy and annoying Mrs Bennet is one of the great comic characters in English literature.

The main plot of the novel is driven by the love-hate relationship between Elizabeth and Mr Darcy, a wealthy noble. At first, they don’t get on. Elizabeth finds Darcy too proud; she feels he thinks he is better than everyone else in the countryside. She thinks that he looks down upon her family in particular. Darcy, while admiring Elizabeth, believes that she has treated him unfairly. The pleasure of the novel is reading how these obstacles (阻碍) are overcome and how the comical and unexpected ending is achieved.

If we think about this story, it’s obvious why Jane Austen is still popular 200 years after her death, and why readers can still identify with (与……产生共鸣) characters from the long dead world of the 18th century English gentry. Although there have been many changes since that time, it’s still the greatest challenge in life for men and women to find the partner of their dreams.

【小题1】What can we conclude from Paragraph 2?

A．The author believes Jane Austen’s works are ahead of her time.

B．The author thinks that everyone should read Jane Austen’s books.

C．The author has doubts about Jane Austen’s popularity all over the world.

D．The author is surprised that Jane Austen’s books are still so famous.

【小题2】According to the passage, Pride and Prejudice __________.

A．has a sad and unexpected ending

B．deals with a serious social issue in a lighthearted way

C．centers on countryside people’s struggles in the 18th century

D．tells readers that everyone can succeed through hard work

【小题3】According to the passage, why does Jane Austen remain popular today?

A．Because readers enjoy reading love stories about wealthy nobles.

B．Because readers are attracted by the way people deal with difficulties in the stories.

C．Because readers can always find something new from her novels.

D．Because her works deal with the problems many of today’s readers still face.

【小题4】What’s the main purpose of the passage?

A．To tell us why Jane Austen is chosen to be on the new £ 10 note.

B．To introduce the story of Pride and Prejudice.

C．To explain why Jane Austen is still popular today.

D．To introduce Jane Austen’s creative writing style.