2013高考英语人物传记类阅读理解 Elizabeth Taylor

　　Passage 4

　　(2006 安徽 B)

　　People fell in love with Elizabeth Taylor in 1944, when she starred in National Velvet—the story of Velvet Brown, a young girl who wins first place in a famous horse race. At first, the producers of the movie told Taylor that she was too small to play the part of Velvet. However, they waited for her for a few months as she exercised and trained—and added three inches to her height in four months! Her acting in National Velvet is still considered the best by a child actress.

　　Elizabeth Taylor was born in London in 1932. Her parents, both Americans, had moved there for business reasons.

　　When World War II started, the Taylors moved to Beverly Hills, California, and there Elizabeth started acting in movies. After her success as a child star, Taylor had no trouble moving into adult (成人) roles and won twice for Best Actress: Butterfield 8 (1960) and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf ? (1966).

　　Taylor’s fame (名声) and popularity gave her a lot of power with the movie industry, so she was able to demand very high pay for her movies. In 1963, she received $1 million for her part in Cleopatra—the highest pay received by any star up to that time.

　　Elizabeth Taylor is a legend (传奇人物) of our time. Like Velvet Brown in National Velvet, she has been lucky. She has beauty, fame and wealth. But she is also a hard worker. Taylor seldom acts in movies any more. Instead, she puts her time and efforts into her businesses, and into helping others—several years ago, she founded an organization that has raised more than $40 million for research and education.

　　1. The producers didn’t let Taylor play the part of Velvet at first because they thought she ______.

　　A. was small in size B. was too young

　　C. did not play well enough D. did not show much interest

　　2. What Elizabeth Taylor and Velvet Brown had in common was that they were both______.

　　A. popular all their lives B. famous actresses

　　C. successful when very young D. rich and kind-hearted

　　3. Taylor became Best Actress at the age of ______.

　　A. 12 B. 28

　　C. 31 D. 34

　　4. In her later life, Elizabeth Taylor devoted herself to______.

　　A. doing business and helping others B. turning herself into a legend

　　C. collecting money for the poor D. going about research and education work

　　【重点词汇】

　　fall in love with 与……相爱， 这里意为喜欢star v. 使成为明星， 让(一个演员)担任主角

　　win first place 获第一名play the part of (在戏中)扮演……

　　popularity n. 流行up to 直到

　　up to that time 直到那时have trouble 在……有困难

　　raise v. 筹集raise money 筹款

　　【疑难长句】

　　However, they waited for her for a few months as she exercised and trained—and added three inches to her height in four months!

　　这句话的难点在于as一词。这里as 引导的是时间状语从句， as she exercised and trained意思为在她锻炼身体和训练的时候。

　　(参考译文)不过， 他们仍然等了泰勒几个月， 那时她在锻炼身体和训练， 4个月后她的身高增加了3英寸。

　　【答案解析】

　　1. A 细节理解题。题目问的是： 制片人起初不让Taylor扮演Velvet是因为什么。根据文章第1段中的At first, the producers of the movie told Taylor that she was too small to play the part of Velvet.“起初制片人告诉Taylor她太小巧了， 不适合扮演Velvet。”可知， A项为正确答案。

　　2. C 推理判断题。题目问的是Elizabeth Taylor 和Velvet Brown的共同之处是什么。 根据文章大意， 当Elizabeth Taylor扮演了Velvet Brown之后， 她便成为了公认的最好的儿童演员， 这也为她以后出演成人角色的电影提供了非常有利的条件， 而影片中Velvet Brown是一名获得赛马冠军的小女孩， 两者可谓是年少得志。因此C为正确答案。

　　3. B 细节理解题。Taylor曾获得两次最佳女演员， 分别在1960年和1966年， 而她出生于1932年， 不难算出她首次获得最佳女演员是在28岁。因此B为正确答案。

　　4. A 细节理解题。题目问的是Elizabeth Taylor退出演艺圈后专心从事什么。选项A， 经商和帮助他人; 选项B， 使她自己成为一名传奇人物; 选项C， 为穷人筹款; 选项D， 研究和教育工作。根据文章最后一段， “Taylor seldom acts in movies any more. Instead, she puts her time and efforts into her businesses, and into helping others.” 她退出演艺圈后便开始经商和帮助他人， 因此A为正确答案。

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