It has been said that Lincoln was always ready to join in a laugh at himself. There is one particular story that he always told with great delight.
In his early days as a lawyer, Lincoln went from town to town to hear and judge legal(法律的)cases. During one of these trips, he was sitting in a train when a strange man came up to him. The stranger looked at the tall clumsy(笨拙的)lawyer and said that he had something he believed belonging to Lincoln. Lincoln was a bit puzzled. He had never seen the man before. He didn’t see how a total stranger could have something of his. Lincoln asked how this could be. The stranger pulled out a penknife and began to explain. Many years before, he had been given the pocketknife. He had been told to keep it until he was able to find a man uglier than himself.
Lincoln’s eyes always sparked when he reached this part of the story. The story always brought smiles to the faces of those who heard it. The tale itself was funny. But even more delightful was the fact that a man as great as Lincoln could still laugh at himself.This passage is about .
| A．a stranger and his strange knife |
| B．Lincoln’s favorite story |
| C．meeting stranger in a train |
| D．Lincoln’s favorite penknife |
From the story we can infer that the stranger in the train
| A．liked to make friends | B．liked to tell jokes |
| C．collected penknives | D．was not handsome |
Lincoln was given the pocketknife for
| A．his appearance | B．a good laugh |
| C．being a lawyer | D．being good-humored |
Which of the following statements is right?
| A．Lincoln, even though great, was not proud. |
| B．Lincoln was a great and proud man. |
| C．Lincoln lacked self-respect. |
| D．Lincoln had a good sense of humor. |
What does the word “sparked” in the last paragraph mean?
| A．闪耀 | B．暗淡 | C．无神 | D．忧伤 |
One night Mr. Lee was driving his wife home from work. She was a staff nurse in a hospital. It was almost midnight and she was quite tired out. She soon fell asleep. Mr Lee looked at her and smiled.
Mr. Lee was a cautious and experienced driver. He knew it was safer to drive slowly on a dark night. After some time he noticed a car following him. It was traveling very fast. Suddenly it overtook his car.
The driver of the car was in a hurry. He did not see the approaching lorry(货车). To avoid hitting it, he swerved his car. It skidded off the road and hit a big tree. The driver and his passenger were injured. They were badly cut by glass splinter from the broken windscreen.
Mr. Lee quickly stopped his car by the side of the road. His wife got out of the car to help the injured men. The lorry driver also stopped to lend a helping hand. Mr. Lee immediately drove off to telephone the police.
About twenty- five minutes later, a police car and an ambulance arrived. The injured men were carried into the ambulance and taken to hospital.
The policemen took down details of the accident. Mr. Lee and the lorry driver told them all that they could remember. The policemen thanked them for their help. Mr. and Mrs. Lee then got into their car and continued their journey home.Mrs. Lee fell asleep in the car because_____.
| A．she was very tired |
| B．her husband was driving very slowly |
| C．it was too late |
| D．both A and C |
When the accident happened, the other car was _____.
| A．in front of Lee’s car | B．behind Lee’s car |
| C．on the right side of Lee’s car | D．on the left side of Lee’s car |
To avoid hitting it, the driver swerved his car. "Swerved" means_____.
A stopped suddenly B. turned to one side
C. drove faster D. turned around
She is only 12 years old but lives only with her younger sister. Her parents are far away from home, and she has to take care of her younger sister. She is He Can, a student at Anqing Jiangzhen Middle School in Anhui, one of the “stay-at-home children” in her town. To make money, these kids’ parents go to big cities to find jobs. Their children have to stay at home because they have to go to school.
He Can’s parents left home when she was only four. They only come back for the Spring Festival every year. Because she had to live with different relatives at different times, He Can went to eight different primary schools.
“I used to complain,” she said. “But later I understood my parents. They have to go away to make a better life for us.” He Can said her frequently (频繁地) changing life also has a good side.
“When I went to a new school, I had to try to make friends,” said He Can. “I became outgoing. Now I’m not afraid of talking to people.”
He Can said her relatives were kind to her. They taught her how to cook and wash clothes.
When He Can was going to start junior high school, her parents agreed to let her live out with her younger sister. She rents a house near the school. Sometimes their grandmother comes over and helps them.
Every day, He Can gets up at 6:00 am and cooks breakfast. Then the two girls go to school. They have supper at 6:00 pm. Then He Can does chores and helps her sister take a shower. She usually goes to bed at 9:30 pm.
Though busy, He Can is still a top student in her class. She said the secret is never to put things off until tomorrow.
“I think my life is OK,” she said. “But if possible, I would like my parents to settle down (安顿下来) and live with us.”Why does He Can live only with her younger sister?
| A．Because their parents don’t like them. |
| B．Because their parents have to work in a big city. |
| C．Because they enjoy living by themselves. |
| D．Because their schools are too far away from their home. |
Where did He Can live before she started junior high school?
| A．In her relatives’ houses. | B．In her own house. |
| C．In a house she rented. | D．In her school. |
What does He Can think of changing schools so often?
| A．She hates it and complains a lot about it. |
| B．She thinks it good for her growth. |
| C．She enjoys it because she can make more friends. |
| D．She thinks it bad for her studies. |
What is He Can’s secret of being top at studies though busy?
| A．She often asks her relatives for help. |
| B．She exercises a lot to make herself stronger. |
| C．She gives her sister some work to do. |
| D．She tries to finish everything before going to bed. |
Lillian Hanson, a college student, expects to graduate in about two years. What makes Mrs. Hanson different from her classmates is her age-----73 years. She has been studying at college, a few courses at a time, for 27 years.
When Lillian Hanson graduated from high school, she went to the bank to borrow money for further education. The banker gave her no encouragement. He didn’t think that a country girl should borrow money to go to college. He thought she should be at home doing work in the house or around the farm. So Lillian Hanson went home and raised a family of nine children instead of going to college. Mrs. Hanson never forgot her dream of getting a higher education. When her children were grown, she tried again.
She finds that it is the hardest part of going back to school at her age to sit in class for long periods of time. Because she is not as quick as she used to be, Mrs. Hanson often gets up and walks around classes to keep from getting stiff(不灵活). At the beginning of a course in using the computer, the other students all stood up to give her a warm welcome when she introduced herself and explained why she was there and what her aims were.
49. Mrs. Hanson couldn’t go to college immediately after she graduated from high school because ____________.
A. she hadn’t got enough money
B. she was a country girl
C. the banker ordered her not to borrow any money
D. the banker thought she should raise a family of nine children
50. The computer students welcomed Mrs. Hanson warmly because ______.
A. she had got an excellent result in the exam
B. she was good at telling funny stories
C. they wanted to get her help in their studies
D. they were deeply moved by her spirit
51. Mrs. Hanson is the sort of person who ________.
A. cares for study very much
B. likes to borrow money from the bank
C. never misses a chance to talk
D. tries to save any money for her family
52. In which order did Mrs. Hanson do the following things?
a. she began her studies at college.
b. She finished high school.
c. She got married and gave birth of nine children.
d. She had her 73 rd birthday.
e. She went to the bank to borrow money.
A. a c b e d B. b e c a d C. b c e d a D. e d a c b
Elizabeth Blackwell was born in England in 1821, and moved to New York City when she was ten years old. One day she decided that she wanted to become a doctor. That was nearly impossible for a woman in the middle of the nineteenth century. After writing many letters asking for admission(录取) to medical schools, she was finally accepted by a doctor in Philadelphia. She was so determined that she taught school and gave music lessons to get money for the cost of schooling.
In 1849, after graduation from medical school. she decided to further her education in Paris. She wanted to be a surgeon(外科医师) , but a serious eye problem forced her to give up the idea.
Upon returning to the United States, she found it difficult to start her own practice because she was a woman. By 1857 Elizabeth and her sister, also a doctor, along with another woman doctor, managed to open a new hospital, the first for women and children Besides being the first woman physician and founding her own hospital , she also set up the first medical school for women.Why couldn’t Elizabeth Blackwell realize her dream of becoming a surgeon?
| A．She couldn’t get admitted to medical school |
| B．She decided to further her education in Paris |
| C．A serious eye problem stopped her |
| D．It was difficult for her to start a practice in the United States |
What main obstacle(障碍) almost destroyed Elizabeth’s chances for becoming for a doctor?
| A．She was a woman. |
| B．She wrote too many letters. |
| C．She couldn’t graduate from medical school. |
| D．She couldn’t set up her hospital. |
How many years passed between her graduation from medical school and the opening of her hospital?
| A．Eight years | B．Ten years | C．Nineteen years | D．Thirty-six years |
According to the passage, all of the following are “firsts” in the life of Elizabeth Blacekwell except that she ______.
| A．became the first woman physician |
| B．was the first woman doctor |
| C．and several other women founded the first hospital for women and children |
| D．set up the first medical school for women |
Eilzabeth Blackwell spent most of her lift in _______.
| A．England | B．Paris | C．the United States | D．New York City |
A young British sailor was missing at sea yesterday in similar circumstances(情况)to the way his father died five years ago．
The dinghy(救生橡皮船)，used to take Richard Smith，21，to his yacht(快艇)，was discovered empty, floating in seas off the Caribbean island．An air and sea search was carried out but he has still not been discovered．
Richard’s mother, Bicknell，said from her home in Hampshire，“It’s so much coincidence．Richard always carried a photograph of his father attached to a poem，which included the date of his disappearance．”
“Now, it’s very strange because all they have found is Richard’s dinghy．We need to know this time what has happened one way or another．If you know at least you can go through the grieving process(悲痛的过程)．”
In November 1996，Mr. Smith’s father, Charlie，was sailing in the Tasmen sea between the Australian mainland and the island of Tasmen with his new wife．They lost radio contact with the shore and they, together with their yacht were never seen again，and their disappearance remains a mystery．
Richard is described a talented(有才能的)and experienced sailor who has crewed for the champion ocean racer．He had sailed to the。Caribbean in November to crew ocean racing yachts for entertainment．He ended the evening drinking in the Abracbabra bar but left after local police closed it for being too noisy．
About 2 am the following day Richard headed back for his dinghy．He started its outboard motor before giving all elderly woman a lift to her yacht after her dinghy had gone missing．It was the last time he was seen．
Riehard Smith was in 2000．
| A．ten | B．fifteen | C．twenty | D．eighteen |
People searched for Richard using ．
| A．ship only | B．ship and radio | C．ship and plane | D．yacht and car |
According to the passage，we know Richard died because ．
| A．he was a green hand in sailing |
| B．some unknown animal attacked him |
| C．that was a maze in the area he was sailing |
| D．of something we don’t know |
Which statement is NOT true according to this passage?
| A．Young Smith had lost radio contact with the shore before he died． |
| B．Richard’s father had married two women at least． |
| C．Richard didn’t drink on the evening before he was lost because the policeman closed the bar． |
| D．Richard was seen at about 2 am the day he disappeared． |
The writer tells us ．
| A．a story about two heroes | B．a piece of news about a merchant ship |
| C．a coincidence | D．the dying process of Richard |
David Beckham was born in 1975, in London, at a place called Leytonstone. When he was a young boy , his greatest passion was football. He played it whenever he had the chance. Sometimes he would go and watch a game with his friends. When David Beckham was 12 years old, he won the Bobby Charlton Soccer Skills award （奖金）. This was an important step forward for this young boy, and it led him to go for a visit to a football training camp in Spain. As a boy he played for the schools of Essex and also for his county team.
In 1991, he became a trainee with Manchester United. This meant that he could practice football as much as he wanted to and play for the highly successful Manchester United Youth Cup team and Under-21 team. In April, 1995, he played his first football league game against Leeds United. During 1996, David became a regular member of the team and Manchester United won in both football seasons, with David scoring many goals.
His goals made him a household name. In the first game of the 1996—1997 season, he scored an surprising goal from beyond the halfway line; seeing the goalkeeper a little way out of his goal, Beckham sent the ball over the goalkeeper’s head and into the goal. It was a wonderful goal and Beckham became famous overnight. He continued to score astonishing goals, especially from free—kicks. The speed of one of his shots was timed at 157 kph. He also had the ability to make the ball go from left to right, or right to left, whenever he chose. Goalkeepers were never sure where the ball was going, and it regularly ended up in the goal.
David Beckham won his first prize for football skills
| A．in 1975 | B．in 1987 | C．in 1991 | D．in 1996 |
Which word can take the place of the underlined word “passion” in paragraph 1?
| A．skill | B．prize | C．success | D．interest |
The unusually surprising way that he scored goals
| A．made him popular in many British homes | B．helped him to gain many prizes for Essex |
| C．kept him playing for Leeds United | D．offered him the chance to join the national team |
Which of the following shows the right order of what happened to Beckham?
a. Beckham played his first football league game.
b. Beckham won the Bobby Charlton Soccer Skills award.
c. Beckham played for Manchester United Youth Cup team.
d. Beckham went to Spain to join a football training camp.
e. Beckham played for the schools of Essex.
| A．e, b, a, d, c | B．e, d, a, c, b | C．b, d, e, c, a | D．b, e, d, a, c |
The passage is mainly talking about
| A．when Beckham became famous all over Britain |
| B．how Beckham became a successful football player |
| C．why Beckham could win in football league games |
| D．what abilities Beckham had to score so many goals |
C
Susan Sontag（1933—2004） was one of the most noticeable figures in the world of literature. For more than 40 years she made it morally necessary to know everything—to read every book worth reading, to see every movie worth seeing. When she was still in her early 30s，publishing essays in such important magazines as Partisan Review，she appeared as the symbol of American culture life，trying hard to follow every new development in literature，film and art. With great effort and serious judgment，Sontag walked at the latest edges of world culture.
Seriousness was one of Sontag’s lifelong watchwords（格言），but at a time when the barriers between the well-educated and the poor-educated were obvious, she argued for a true openness to the pleasure of pop culture. In “Notes Camp”, the 1964 essay that first made her name，she explained what was then a little—known set of difficult understandings，through which she could not have been more famous.“Notes on Camp”，she wrote，represents “a victory of ‘form’ over ‘content’, ‘beauty’ over ‘morals’ ”.
By conviction（信念）she was a sensualist（感觉论者），but by nature she was a moralist（伦理学者），and in the works she published in the 1970s and 1980s，it was the latter side of her that came forward. In “Illness as Metaphor”—published in 1978，after she suffered cancer—she argued against the idea that cancer was somehow a special problem of repressed personalities（被压抑的性格），a concept that effectively blamed the victim for the disease. In fact，re-examining old positions was her lifelong habit.
In America，her story of a 19th century Polish actress who set up a perfect society in California，won the National Book Award in 2000. But it was as a tireless，all-purpose cultural view that she made her lasting fame.
“Sometimes,” she once said，“I feel that，in the end，all I am really defending…is the idea of seriousness，of true seriousness.”And in the end，she made us take it seriously too.
64．The underlined sentence in paragraph l means Sontag ____________.
A．was a symbol of American cultural life
B．developed world literature，film and art
C．published many essays about world culture
D．kept pace with the newest development of world culture
65．She first won her name through____________.
A．her story of a Polish actress
B．her book Illness as Metaphor
C．publishing essays in magazines like Partisan Review
D．her explanation of a set of difficult understandings
66．Susan Sontag’s lasting fame was made upon____________.
A．a tireless，all-purpose cultural view
B．her lifelong watchword: seriousness
C．publishing books on morals
D．enjoying books worth reading and movies worth seeing
67．From the works Susan published in the 1970s and 1980s，we can learn that _____.
A．she was more a moralist than a sensualist
B．she was more a sensualist than a moralist
C．she believed repressed personalities mainly led to illness
D．she would like to re-examine old positions
I stood up to speak and my mind went blank .Has this ever happened to you? You may be nervous in front of an audience（观众）.You may be worried that you didn’t prepare enough, You may have forgotten some of your facts. What can you do? Sometimes people prepare too much and become terrified if they can’t remember the words they have practised. It is a good idea to bring some notes to help you organize, but don’t memorize your speech. If you “go blank”,begin by explaining the purpose of your speech, and the test will probably follow.
“Go blank” here means
| A．to be absent-minded | B．to think too much suddenly |
| C．to be afraid of the audience | D．not knowing what to say at the moment |
Before the listeners, the speakers who have pre-pared enough
| A．never go bland | B．never feel afraid |
| C．may forget the prepared words | D．may forget the opening speech |
A good way to make to made a good speech is
| A．to memorize the speech | B．to organize the audience well |
| C．to have some brief motes at hand | D．to have the audience take notes |
The man who goes blank in front of the listeners should .
| A．begin with the purpose of his speech | B．cut off the rest of his speech |
| C．see his notes right away | D．find some way to draw the audience’s attention |
A little girl was given so many picture books on her seventh birthday that her father. Who should have run his office and let her mother run the home, thought his daughter should give one or two of her new books to a little neighbor boy named Robert, who had visited their home sometimes.
Now, taking books, or anything else, from a little girl is like taking sweets from a baby, but the father of the little girl had his way and Robert got a couple of her books. “After all, that leaves you with nine,” said the father, who thought he was a child psychologist（心理学家）,and couldn’t shout his big stupid mouth on the subject.
A few weeks later, the father went to his library to look up “father” in The Oxford English Dictionary, eager to enjoy the praise of fatherhood through the centuries, but he couldn’t find volume（册）F-G and then he discovered that others were missing too. A-B,L-M, V-Z. He looked everywhere for them, and learned what had happened to the four missing volumes.
“A man came to the door this morning” said the little daughter, “and he didn’t know how to get from here to Torrington or from Torrington to Wintec, and he was a kind man, much nicer than Robert, and so I gave him four of your books After all, there are thirteen volumes in the Oxford English Dictionary, and that leaves you with nine.According to the writer’s opinion,
| A．a mother should keep house and father educate the children |
| B．A father should run the home as well as his office |
| C．A father should run his office and leave his children to his wife |
| D．A father shouldn’t only run his office but educate his children |
“The father of the little girl has his way” means
A. the father went out to work in his office
B. the father decided to the girl a lesson
C. the father still did what he wanted to. Considering himself a psychologist, the father
A. couldn’t stop discussing the subject
B. couldn’t helping（禁不住）talking about the subject
B. couldn’t refuse to listen to the subject
D. couldn’t give an explanation of he subjectWhat’s still unclear to us in the story?
| A．The exact number of the picture books the girl had received. |
| B．How many volumes the Oxford English Dictionary includes. |
| C．Whether each volume of the dictionary includes entries beginning with two letters. |
| D．Whether the father knew his daughter’s mind well |
What do we know about the little girl?
| A．She liked Robert very much. | B．She liked reading dictionary |
| C．She dislikes what her father did to her picture books. | |
| D．She is a kind and helpful girl. |
When Dean Arnold got his first job, he was miserable Each time he went to work, he coughed and he couldn’t breathe. Working in a bakery when you are allergic（过敏的）to flour can be painful.
But Arnold stayed with the National Biscuit Company for ten years. He was a businessman and he helped them improve production. At last his health problems became too serious. He left and formed his own company.
With his wife and mother, he founded Arnold Bakery. They tried new recipes,（调制法）,changing the kind and amount of flour used. This enabled Arnold to work there without too much pain The bread, made with unbleached（未漂白的）flour, was baked in brick oven.（烤箱）
They began by baking two dozen loaves. The bread was sold door to door for fifteen cents a loaf. Winning customers to his usual, old fashioned bread took time. But Arnold. Struggling against his allergy, built his bakery into one of the largest in the United States. According to context, the underlined word “miserable” means
| A．quite pleased | B．rather unhealthy | C．too lucky | D．very unhappy |
A good title for the passage would be
| A．A Sick Baker | B．A Brick Oven Bread Baker |
| C．An Old Fashioned Baker | D．How to Overcome Allergy |
Dean left the National Biscuit Company because he
| A．suffered from allergy to flour | B．didn’t like the job |
| C．wanted to form his own company | D．wanted to make more money |
Which of the following is not mentioned in the passage?
| A．Arnold’s bread was baked in a brick oven |
| B．Arnold’s bread was made with unbleached flour |
| C．Arnold’s bread was sold at a low price |
| D．Arnold’s bread was of poor quality |
From the passage we can conclude that Arnold was
| A．determined | B．brave | C．unusual | D．unhealthy |
四．阅读理解（每题2分，共40分）
An old woman went suddenly blind. She promised a doctor a lot of money if he could make her see again. “If you fail”, she said , “ you will get nothing,” The doctor agreed with her.
The doctor soon discovered what was wrong with her, but he decided not to cure her right away. Instead, each time he visited, he secretly took some of her things. When he had taken everything that he wanted, he cured her blindness and sent her a large bill. Now when the old woman could see again she noticed that all her things had gone and she refused to pay the bill. So the doctor took her before a judge.
“What the doctor says is true.” she said to the judge. “But I say I’m not cured, because I still can’t see any of the things in my house.”
The old woman won her case and the doctor went away unhappily without getting his pay.
71. The doctor didn’t cure the old woman right away because __________.
A. He didn’t know how to cure her B. He wanted to get a lot of money
C. He wanted to take the woman’s things D The woman refused to pay him
72. The woman was _______ .
A. clever B. greedy C. cruel D. dishonest
73. The doctor was ________.
A. honest B. a cheat C. a kind man D. ready to help others
74. Which sentence is right according to the passage?
A. The judge didn’t believe the old woman
B. The doctor cured the woman’s blindness in a short time.
C. The woman got back all her things taken by the doctor.
D. The doctor failed to get his pay.
February 24,2008 saw thieves break into the showroom of an Italian jeweler liked by Hollywood stars and stole things worth up to 10 million dollars while its owners were in Los Angeles hosting a party to celebrate the Oscars．
The robbery，which took place at the Damiani showroom in Milan’s fashion district that morning，was compared later with the“perfect scenes”in films such as Ocean’s Eleven and The Italian Job．
The thieves had spent more than a month digging a tunnel from a disused cellar(地下室)in a building joined to the showroom．The digging had been heard for weeks but was thought to be part of continuing building works next door. The four thieves，dressed in balaclavas，sunglasses and fake uniforms of the Guards, used an inside stair to reach the first floor，thus avoiding alarms(警报器) and video cameras．
The showroom had been opened for a private viewing and there were five employees inside，including a cleaning lady and a member of the staff，as well as the manager. The thieves said they were there to check the accounts(账目)，then knocked down the staff，tied them up with ropes，covered their mouths with tape and locked them in the washroom. They then helped themselves to jewelry and left the way they had come．
The entire operation had taken little more than 40 minutes．The employees managed to free themselves and raise the alarm，but by then the thieves were long gone．The police said that they were looking into whether the robbers had“inside assistance”that had helped them to avoid the alarms and cameras．
45．Which of the following is the best title of this passage?
A．A perfect robbery B．10 million of Jewelry Stolen
C．The Italian Thie
ves D．An Italian Jeweler
46．Why didn’t the thieves appear in the cameras? Perhaps because ．
A．there was something wrong with the cameras then
B．the thieves entered the showroom through an inside stair
C．the employees were too frightened to open the cameras then
D．the cameras didn’t work with the uniforms of the guards
47．Which of the following is true according to the passage?
A．The Italian jeweler was popular with some famous American film stars．
B．The thieves went into a disused tunnel into the showroom．
C．When the robbery took place，there was no one in the showroom．
D．One of the jeweler employees must have helped the robbery secretly．
48．We can learn from the passage that
A．The items were so dear that no one coul
d afford to buy one．
B．The thieves left the showroom from where they came into it．
C．The most valuable jewels survived the robbery．
D．The jeweler had to close down because of the showroom robbery．
第二部分：阅读理解（共15小题;每小题2分，满分30分）
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项A、B、C、D中，选出最佳选项。
A farmer was put in prison. One day, he got a letter from his wife.
“I am worried about our farm,” she wrote. “It’s time to plant potatoes, but I can’t do all the digging by myself.”
The farmer thought over and then had an idea. He wrote to his wife, “Don’t dig the fields. This is where my gold is. Don’t plant potatoes until I come home.”
A few days later, the farmer got another letter from his wife. It said, “Two days ago, about ten prison guards came to our fields. It looked as if they were looking for something. They have dug our fields.”
The farmer wrote to his wife at once. “Now you can plant our potatoes.” he wrote.
46. Why was the farmer put in prison? ________.
A. Because he had done something wrong
Because he had a lot of gold in the fields
C. The writer didn’t say anything about why the farmer was put in prison
D. For nothing
47. The farmer told his wife ____ first.
A. not to dig the fields B.to dig the fields
C. to ask the prison guards for help D. to find the gold in the fields
48. Why did the prison guards dig the farmer’s fields?________.
A. They wanted to help the farmer B.Their leader ordered them to do so
C. The farmer asked them to do so D. They wanted to find out the gold
49. Why did the farmer ask his wife to plant potatoes at once ? Because _____.
A. their fields had been dug
B.the gold was found out
C. the prison guards asked him to do so
D. the prison guards were digging the fields
The Girl Who Fell From the Sky
From its opening lines – “ ‘You my lucky piece,’ Grandma says.... Her hand is wrapped around mine” – Heidi W. Durrow pulls us into her first novel, a moving story encircling us as firmly as that protective grandmotherly grip.
When we meet Rachel Morse, the daughter of an African-American GI and a Danish woman, she is just moving into the Portland, Oregon., home of her strong-minded paternal grandmother and her warm, classy Aunt Loretta. We soon learn that Rachel has survived a fall from a nine-story apartment building in which her mother, brother, and baby sister all died. Three months earlier, Rachel’s mother had left her alcoholic husband in Germany, following her “orange-haired” lover to Chicago. But Nella hadn’t been prepared for boyfriend’s drinking and racism, or for the looks and questions she gets as the mother of three brown children.
Rachel’s “new-girl feeling” in her grandmother’s home goes beyond her recent tragedy. Having grown up with a Scandinavian mother in the more colorblind society of an overseas Army base, this is her first time in a mostly black community. Her light-brown skin, “fuzzy” hair, and blue eyes raise questions about her racial identity that are entirely new and puzzling to her.
Starting sixth grade in her new school, Rachel notes, “There are fifteen black people in the class and seven white people. And there’s me. There’s another girl who sits in the back. Her name is Carmen LaGuardia, and she has hair like mine, my same color skin, and she counts as black. I don’t understand how, but she seems to know.” Several years later, in high school, her status remains uncertain. “They call me an Oreo. I don’t want to be white. Sometimes I want to go back to being what I was. I want to be nothing.”
Winner of the Bellwether Prize, created by Barbara Kingsolver to celebrate fiction that addresses issues of social injustice, “The Girl Who Fell From the Sky” comes at a time when bi-racial and multicultural identity – so markedly represented by President Obama – is especially topical.
But set in the 1980s and focusing on one unusually sympathetic girl overcoming family tragedy and feeling her way through racial tensions, Durrow’s novel surpasses topicality.
Like Rachel, Durrow is the light-brown-skinned, blue-eyed daughter of a Danish mother and an African-American father enlisted in the Air Force. With degrees from Stanford, Columbia Journalism School, and Yale Law School, it’s no wonder she gives her heroine discipline and brains.
Rachel’s life, however, is clearly not Durrow’s. No, there’s alcohol and drug addiction; deaths by fire, trauma, and infection. There are mothers who lose their children, and a saintly drug counselor who loses his beloved girl-friend. Through it all, what makes Durrow’s novel soar is her masterful sense of voice, her assured, delicate handling of complex racial issues – and her heart.
After hearing the blues music for the first time, Rachel feels what her mother called hyggeligt – “something like comfort and home and love all rolled into one.” She wonders what might have happened if her mother had known about such soulful music, “that sometimes there’s a way to take the sadness and turn it into a beautiful song.”
This, of course, is precisely what Durrow has done in this powerful book: taken sadness and turned it into a beautiful song.
60. What should be the direct cause of Rachel coming to Portland, Oregon?
A. Her mother left her alcoholic father.
B. A deadly tragedy happened to her family.
C. Her grandmother wants her to come and stay with her.
D. There was too much racism where she used to live with her mother.
61. Durrow’s life is different from Rachel’s in that _____________.
A. Durrow has to struggle through her life, depending on herself.
B. Durrow is troubled in her life by racism, living in a poor neighborhood.
C. Durrow has come through life much easier, with a better family background.
D. There’s alcohol and drug addiction in Durrow’s suffering-laden neighborhood.
62. Why does the writer of the book review mention President Obama in this writing?
A. To show the progress in America’s black community.
B. To highlight the racial harmony in the United States.
C. To indicate Obama’s influence in helping Durrow win the Bellwether Prize.
D. To remind readers of the background when the novel was written and won the Bellwether Prize.
63. The blues music Rachel hears is, deep at the bottom of her heart, most suggestive of ______.
A. bravery B. hope C. sadness D. beauty
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