第一节
A
Every Wednesday，I go to Cantata Adult Life Services，a local
retirement community in Brookfield，Illinois，US，with my classmates
to do community service.
Our visits
last about an hour，and we bring 25—30 students every time. We play
board games and cards with the elderly while we’re there.
You can
watch all the movies and TV shows you want about “life back
then”，but nothing compares to talking to the people who were
actually there. Just hearing their stories has touched me in a way
I never thought possible.
Whether it
was talking to 98-year-old“Hurricane Hilda” about her glory days as
a roller skater or chatting with Lou about the times she danced
with a famous actor，I was completely mesmerized by every single
memory the elderly wanted to share with me. Even those who don’t
have amazing memories make the experience fulfilling(充实的). I
remember visiting Mrs Robinson. She couldn’t recall much about her
past，but she told me she’d never forget how kind I was just to
listen to her. It made me realize that it’s the little things that
make life worth living.
If there’s
one thing I’ve realized in my three years of visiting Cantata，it’s
that presence——just being there—means more than anything to many of
them. And despite how busy our lives are，there’s always time to
make someone’s day.
21. Why does the
author go to Cantata Adult Life Services regularly?
A. To play board games.
B. To visit the elderly.
C. To watch movies.
D. To share stories.
22. The underlined
word “mesmerized” in Paragraph 4 is closest in meaning
to“_______”.
A.
confused
B.
annoyed
C.
encouraged
D. attracted
23. What may be the
most important to the elderly according to the author?
A. Staying with them.
B. The special old days.
C. Showing patience.
D. Amazing experiences.
B
It is good
to get in touch with your inner child from time to time，and
obviously some people are willing to pay big money for the chance
to do so in a proper environment. A Brooklyn-based adult preschool
is charging customers between $333 and $999 for the chance to act
like a kid again.
At Preschool Mastermind in New York adults get to participate in
show—and—tell，arts—and—crafts such as finger paint，games like
musical chairs and even take naps. The month-long course also has
class picture day where the adults are expected to have a field
trip and a parent day.
30-year-old Michelle Joni Lapidos，the brain behind the adult
preschool，studied childhood education and has always wanted to be a
preschool teacher. She’s always on the lookout for new ways to get
people in touch with the freedom of childhood. A friend encouraged
her to start the mastermind course instead.
According to Candice，her
blogger friend，Preschool Mastermind gives adults a chance to
relearn and master the things that they failed to understand as
children. “I realized all the significances of what we learn in
preschool，”said founder Michelle Joni，“People come here and get in
touch with their inner child. It’s magical. We are bringing
ourselves back to another place，another time with ourselves when we
are more believing in ourselves，more confident and ready to take on
the world. ”
“One
person’s here because they want to learn not to be so serious.
”Michelle said. “Another's here to learn to be more confident. ”She
explained that most of the classes were planned. However，Joni added
that while the planned activities were fun，it was often the
spontaneous(自发的)moments that attracted students. “It’s the things
you don’t plan for，the sharing between friends and learning from
each other. ’’
24. What is the purpose of Preschool Mastermind?
A. To give adults a chance to
return to childhood.
B. To help parents understand
their children better.
C. To provide practical
training courses for teachers.
D. To introduce some ways of
playing with children.
25. What is mainly
discussed about Preschool Mastermind in Paragraph 2 ?
A. Its
customers.
B. Its
activities.
C. Its environment. D. Its
schedule·
26. According to
Candice，people come to this program to________·
A. enjoy freedom of
thinking
B. realize their childhood
dreams
C. discover their inner
abilities
D. figure out childhood
puzzles
27. What do we know
about Michelle Joni?
A. She used to be a preschool
teacher.
B. She likes to make plans in
advance.
C. She founded Preschool
Mastermind.
D. She gained confidence by
sharing.
C
Martha
Graham, born in 1894, was one of the most famous dancers and
creators of dance, whose influence on dance has been compared with
the influence Picasso had on the modern visual arts, Stravinsky had
on music, or Frank Lloyd Wright had on architecture. She created
almost two hundred dance pieces. She is often called the Mother of
Modern Dance.
Earlier in
her life, however, Martha did not know that she would become a
dancer. At that time, the dancers were looked down on. So Martha's
parents didn't approve of her desire to dance at the beginning.
Until 1916, she began her studies at the newly created Denishawn
School of Dancing and Related Arts, founded by Ruth St. Denis and
Ted Shawn, where Graham worked very hard to improve her ability to
dance because she was considered too old to begin dancing.
In 1936,
Graham made her defining work, "Chronicle^, which signaled the
beginning of a new era in modern dance. The dance brought serious
issues to the stage for the general public in a dramatic manner.
Influenced by the Wall Street Crash of 1929, the Great Depression
that followed, and the Spanish Civil War, it focused on depression
and isolation, reflected in the dark nature of both the set and
costumes.
Graham
continued to dance past the age of seventy. Once again, she was met
with criticism from people who came to watch her shows. But she
didn't give up. Her last completed ballet was 1990's Maple Leaf
Rag. "A Dancer's World" is an introduction to Graham and her work.
She tells about her dances and her dance group shows some of their
methods.
