________ you _______ further problems with your printer, contact your dealer
for advice.
A. If, had B. Have, had C. Should, have D. In case, had
The word "pooh-pooh" in the sixth paragraph means
A. appreciate
B. praise
C. shun
D. ridicule
TEXT B
Predicting the future is always risky. But it's probably safe to say that at
least a few historians will one day speak of the 20th century as America's “
Disney era ” . Today, it's certainly difficult to think of any other single
thing that represents modern America as powerfully as the company that created
Mickey Mouse. Globally, brands like Coca-Cola and McDonalds may be more
widely-known, but neither encapsulates 20th-century America in quite the same
way as Disney.
The reasons for Disney's success are varied and numerous, but ultimately the
credit belongs to one person — the man who created the cartoon and built the
company from nothing, Walt Disney. Ironically, he could not draw particularly
well. But he was a genius in plenty of other respects. In business, his greatest
skills were his insight and his management ability. After setting himself up in
Hollywood, he single-handedly pioneered the concepts of branding and
merchandising — something his company still does brilliantly today.
But what really distinguished Disney was his ability to identify with his
audiences. Disney always made sure his films championed the “ little guy ” , and
made him feel proud to be American. This he achieved by creating characters that
reflected the hopes and fears of ordinary people. Some celebrated American
achievements — Disney's very first cartoon Plane Crazy, featuring a silent
Mickey Mouse, was inspired by Charles Lindbergh's flight across the Atlantic.
Others, like the There Little Pigs and Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, showed
how, through hard work and helping one's fellow man, or Americans could survive
social and economic crises like the Great Depression.
Disney's other great virtue was the fact that his company — unlike other big
corporations — had a human face. His Hollywood studio — the public heard —
operated just like a democracy, where everyone was on firstname terms and had a
say in how things should be run. He was also regarded as a great patriot because
not only did his cartoons celebrate America, but, during World War II, studios
made training films for American soldiers.
The reality, of course, was less idyllic. As the public would later learn,
Disney's patriotism had an unpleasant side. After a strike by cartoonists in
1941, he became convinced that Hollywood had been infiltrated by Communists. He
agreed to work for the FBI as a mole, identifying and spying on colleagues whom
he suspected were subversives.
But, apart from his affiliations with the FBI, Disney was more or less the
genuine article. A new book, The Magic Kingdom; Walt Disney and the American Way
of Life, by Steven Watts, confirms that he was very definitely on the side of
ordinary Americans — in the 30s and 40s he voted for Franklin Roosevelt,
believing he was a champion of the workers. Also, Disney was not an apologist
for the FBI, as some have suggested. In fact, he was always suspicious of large,
bureaucratic organizations, as is evidenced in films like That Darned Cat, in
which he portrayed FBI agents as bungling incompetents.
By the time he died in 1966, Walt Disney was an icon like Thomas Edison and
the Wright Brothers. To business people and filmmakers, he was a role model; to
the public at large, he was “ Uncle Walt ”— the man who had entertained them all
their lives, the man who represented them all their lives, the man who
represented all that was good about America.
86. Walt Disney is believed to possess the following abilities EXCEPT
A. painting.
B. creativity
C. management.
D. merchandising.
TEXT C
I am afraid to sleep. I have been afraid to sleep for the last few weeks. I am so tired that, finally, I do sleep, but only for a few minutes. It is not a bad dream that wakes me ; it is the realiry I took with me into sleep . I try to think of something else. Immediately the woman in the marketplace comes into my mind.
I was on my way to dinner last night when I saw her . She was selling skirts. She moved with the same ease and loveliness I often saw in the women of Laos. Her long black hair was as shiny as the black silk of the skirts she was selling . In her hair, she wore three silk ribbons, blue ,green, and white. They meminded me of my childhood and how my girlfriends and I used to spend hours braiding ribbons into our hair.
I don’t know the word for “ribbons”, so I put my hand to my own hair and , with three fingers against my head , I looked at her ribbons and said “Beautiful.” She lowered her eyes and said nothing. I wasn’t sure if she understood me (I don’t speak Laotian very well).
I looked back down at the skirts. They ahd designs in them: squares and triangles and circles of pink and green silk. They were very pretty. I decided to buy one of those skirts, and I began to bargain with her over the price. It is the custom to bargain in Asia. In Laos bargaining is done in soft voices and easy moves with the sort of quiet peacefulness.
She smiled, more with her eyes than with her lips. She was pleased by the few words I was able to say in her language, although they were mostly numbers, and she saw that I understood something about the soft playfulness of bargaining. We shook our heads in disagreement over the price; then, immediately, we made another offer and then another shake of the head. She was so pleased that unexpectedly, she accepted the last offer I made. But it was too soon. The price was too low. She was being too generous and wouldn’t make enough money. I moved quickly and picked up two more skirts and paid for all three at the price set; that way I was able to pay her three times as much before she had a chance to lower the price for the larger purchase. She smiled openly then, and, for the first time in months, my spirit lifted. I almost felt happy.
The feeling stayed with me while she wrapped the skirts in a newspaper and handed them to me. When I left, though, the feeling left, too. It was as though it stayed behind in marketplace. I left tears in my throat. I wanted to cry. I didn’t , of course.
I have learned to defend myself against what is hard; without knowing it, I have also learned to defend myself against what is soft and what should be easy.
I get up, light a candle and want to look at the skirts. They are still in the newspaper that the woman wrapped them in. I remove the paper, and raise the skirts up to look at them again before I pack them. Something falls to floor. I reach down and feel something cool in my hand. I move close to the candlelight to see what I have. There are five long silk ribbons in my hand, all different colours. The woman in the maketplace! She has given these ribbons to me!
There is no defense against a generous spirit, and this time I cry, and very hard, as if I could make up for all the months that I didn’t cry.
89. According to the writer, the woman in the marketplace ____.
A. refused to speak to her.
B. was pleasant and attractive.
C. was selling skirts and ribbons.
D. recognized her immediately.