备战2024年中考英语阅读话题训练一 人与自我 主题18 人物传记

①There is really no reason for my writing the life of Su Tungpo except that I want to do it. For years, the writing of his biography(传记) has been at the back of my mind, but the regret is never quiet down. Now that I am able to apply myself to this task, I am happy, without any reasons.

②A vivid personality isn't that easy to be understood. One might say that Su Tungpo was an unchangeable optimist(乐观主义者), a friend of the people, a prose master, an original painter, a great calligraphist, an experimenter in wine making, an engineer, a secretary to the emperor, a dissenter in politics, and a poet. And yet that might miss the sum total of why people like Su Tungpo. Su Tungpo's complex personality gives a reason. Always deeply stuck in politics, he was always greater than politics. Without trick and without purpose, he went along singing, composing, and criticizing, to express something he felt in his heart, paying no attention to what might be the results of himself. He wrote just because he enjoyed writing, and today we enjoy his writing just because he wrote so beautifully, generously, and out of the clearness of his heart.

③As I try to find the reasons why for a thousand years in China each generation has a crowd of crazy admirers of this poet, I come to the second reason, which is the same as the first, stated in a different way. Su Tungpo had charm. The chief charm of Su Tungpo was a force of character (that could not be stopped by anyone), a force (that, started at the moment of his birth, had to run its course until death closed his mouth and stopped his laughing chatter). He wielded his pen almost as if it were a toy. He could be curious, or humorous or serious, very serious, and from his pen we hear various human emotions of joy, happiness, worry and love.

④On the whole, we get the impression that he played and sang through life and enjoyed it greatly, and when sadness came and unluckiness fell, he accepted them with a smile. That is the kind of charm which I am trying to describe in my way and which has made him the favorite poet of so many Chinese experts.

THE RACING DRIVER

British driver Mike Newman enjoys breaking speed records. In 2013, he broke two-the land speed and the water speed records. This achievement is more amazing because Mike cannot see. He was born with a serious eye disease and became blind at eight.

For many years, Mike did not think it was possible to take part in motor sports. But at the age of forty, he began to ride motorbikes and then he tried cars. "I love the engines, the smells, the noises which come with it, "he says.

When he isn't breaking records, Mike runs a charity called Speed of Sight. The charity helps other blind people to take part in motor sports.

THE CYCLIST

In 2000, at the age of fifteen. Chris Brown had a serious car accident. He lost his left leg. For the next few years, he found it very difficult to live with his disability. But in 2008 he saw a man with one leg cycle up a hill. "I can do that, "he thought, and he learned to cycle. It was really difficult. He failed countless times,____but he quickly picked himself up.

In 2009, he began to compete in races for disabled cyclists. His ambition was to compete in the Paralympic Games(残奥会)in 2021 and he worked hard to be in the French team. But then the rules for the competition changed and Chris could not take part because his condition did not match the new rules. So Chris found a new challenge:cycling up mountains. Now he competes in mountain races and cycles around 27, 000 kilometres every year!

THE SKIER

Alana Nichols was a sporty child. She loved ball games. Her ambition was to study sports at university. But then, at the age of seventeen, she broke her back in a serious snowboarding accident. She couldn't walk. For two years, she did not know what to do with her life.

But at the age of nineteen, she discovered a new sport: soft volleyball. She became part of the national team and won a gold medal at the Paralympics.

Alana realized that other sports were possible for her too. She tried surfing and basketball. Then she tried skiing. She worked hard. At the 2010 winter Paralympics, she became the only one to win gold medals at the summer and winter Paralympic Games when she won four medals for skiing. Then, in 2014. she won another prize at the winter games.

Before she appeared on the show Britain's Got Talent, Susan Boyle was just an ordinary middle-aged British woman. Now all this is going to change.

She lives in a house with her cat Pebbles in a small Scottish town. Because of learning difficulties, she doesn't have much education. But she has a very good voice. As a kid, she sang in church and choirs and school plays. For a living, she sang at local pubs.

When she took the stage on April 10th her hair was untidy and her clothes seemed just one step up from old clothes. The audience laughed at her.

But then she opened her mouth. The laughing audience went silent. A beautiful voice was singing I Dreamed a Dream. Everyone was amazed. At the end of her song, the audience jumped to their feet and clapped hands wildly.

Almost overnight, Susan became a well-known name. She won millions of fans. Her online videos have over 85.2 million hits.

Susan's story proved the truth of an old saying: "Never judge the book by its cover." Susan may look ordinary, and doesn't have much dress sense, but she can certainly sing.

Susan's fans admire her courage, as much as they do to her voice. She has experienced many disappointments, but her love for music has kept her going, which is worth anyone's respect.

 Six months, five continents (大洲), forty-one countries, fifty-two thousand kilometers. At 19, Zara Rutherford has broken two Guinness World Records. She became the youngest female (女性) to fly alone around the world and the first woman to do so in a microlight aircraft (超轻型飞机).  

The Belgian-British teenager landed in Belgium on Jan 20. "It's just really crazy," she told the news reporter.

 With two pilot parents, Rutherford started learning to fly at 14 and got her first license in 2020. To realize her dream of flying around the world alone, she sold her car to pay for the trip. She also found some sponsors (赞助者). One of them is Shark Aero. The company provided her with a two-seat microlight.  

 In August 2021, when everything was ready, Rutherford set off. She planned to finish her trip in three months. Instead, it took nearly half a year because of bad weather and expired (过期的) travel documents (证件).  

The most difficult part of the trip was flying over Russia's Siberia (西伯利亚) region. "It was -35℃ on the ground and -20℃ in the air. . . If the engines were to stop, I'd be hours away from rescue (救援) and I don't know how long I could have lived," Rutherford said. She also faced storms, wildfires, typhoons and broken parts of her aircraft.

Rutherford hopes her flight will encourage more girls to choose careers (职业) in aviation (航空业). "If you don't try and see how high you can fly, then you'll never know," Rutherford told the news reporter.

You might not be familiar with the name Beverly Cleary，but perhaps you have read one of her books——Ramona the Pest，Dear Mr Henshaw，too，she changed the world of children's books. 

As a child, Cleary had trouble learning to read. Even after she had learned to love reading，she still found many books boring. The girl felt like the people she was reading about had little to do with her or her life. She wanted to read funny books about children like herself. 

When she grew up, Cleary became a librarian. One day，some boys learned across the counter and asked her, Henry Huggins, tells the story of a boy and the stray dog that he takes in. Huggins is just an ordinary third﹣graderhit. 

Cleary went on to write more books about Huggins and the other children in his neighborhood. From this neighborhood, "Ramona the Pest" became Cleary's best﹣known character. Ramona is curious and stubborn. She is always getting into trouble. Whenever Ramona gets into trouble, it's often funny

Unlike many other children's authors, Cleary liked to focus on real-life problems. In several of her books, the parents have money problems or are unhappy with their jobs. Cleary dealt with these situations with a gentle sense of humour and a deep understanding. 

Cleary created over 40 books in all. More than 91 million copies of her books have been sold. The great author died at the age of 104 on March 25. Although she is no longer with us，her characters and stories will continue to be loved by many for years to come. 

As Xiong Chuanfa, 34, blew a lifelike puppy out of molten maltose(溶化的麦芽糖) in just minutes, kids looked carefully at him with great surprise, thinking he was a magician.

Xiong Chuanfa has been working on blowing sugar figurines, a Chinese traditional folk art with a history of over 600 years, for more than twenty years.

In this special art form, the artist heats the syrup(糖浆) to a certain temperature, pulls off a small amount, makes it into a ball with an open center, presses the open area together and stretches it to form a tube. Then he blows air into the tube and makes it into different shapes. The traditional folk art has been listed as a state-level intangible cultural heritage(非物质文化遗产).

Every morning, Xiong prepares the molten syrup and drives to start his "magic show" around his city. "Many people, particularly kids, are attracted by this sugar art. After all, the ancient art is gradually disappearing," Xiong said. Simon, from Australia, was attracted by a sugar Bing Dwen Dwen, the mascot of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, in Xiong's stall. Simon couldn't resist trying to make one himself. However, he couldn't get the wanted shape though he tried several times. "It looks simple, but actually it's very difficult to master the skill," he said. Thanks to Xiong's helping hand, Siunon finally saw a horse gradually taking shape. "Can't believe I've done this," he said, expressing his excitement at how a pot of sugar syrup has been turned into something "truly amazing".

Xiong said that blowing sugar figurines can date back to the Ming Dynasty and that his family has passed down this art for four generations. "My 6-year-old son often blows up a balloon-like sugar figure, just like I used to do as a child," he said. Xiong's wife Wang Li is an artist of the sugar painting, which is a form of traditional Chinese folk art that uses hot, liquid sugar to make 2-D objects.

"None of the cultural heritage left by our ancestors should be lost. They are name cards of the splendid Chinese culture and should be spread around the world," Xiong said. The couple often show their skills beside colleges to draw youngsters closer to the traditional art and allow them to experience its charm. "Sugar paintings and sugar figurines are childhood memories of several generations of Chinese people. We try to combine paper-cutting skills and modern elements(元素) with sugar figurines, making them similar to modern trend(趋势) while keeping a balance between beauty and taste. We will spend the rest of our lives helping pass on this intangible heritage," Xiong said.

Many people were deeply moved after learning about the family's story.

As Xiong Chuanfa, 34, blew a lifelike puppy out of molten maltose(溶化的麦芽糖) in just minutes, kids looked carefully at him with great surprise, thinking he was a magician.

Xiong Chuanfa has been working on blowing sugar figurines, a Chinese traditional folk art with a history of over 600 years, for more than twenty years.

In this special art form, the artist heats the syrup(糖浆) to a certain temperature, pulls off a small amount, makes it into a ball with an open center, presses the open area together and stretches it to form a tube. Then he blows air into the tube and makes it into different shapes. The traditional folk art has been listed as a state-level intangible cultural heritage(非物质文化遗产).

Every morning, Xiong prepares the molten syrup and drives to start his "magic show" around his city. "Many people, particularly kids, are attracted by this sugar art. After all, the ancient art is gradually disappearing," Xiong said. Simon, from Australia, was attracted by a sugar Bing Dwen Dwen, the mascot of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, in Xiong's stall. Simon couldn't resist trying to make one himself. However, he couldn't get the wanted shape though he tried several times. "It looks simple, but actually it's very difficult to master the skill," he said. Thanks to Xiong's helping hand, Siunon finally saw a horse gradually taking shape. "Can't believe I've done this," he said, expressing his excitement at how a pot of sugar syrup has been turned into something "truly amazing".

Xiong said that blowing sugar figurines can date back to the Ming Dynasty and that his family has passed down this art for four generations. "My 6-year-old son often blows up a balloon-like sugar figure, just like I used to do as a child," he said. Xiong's wife Wang Li is an artist of the sugar painting, which is a form of traditional Chinese folk art that uses hot, liquid sugar to make 2-D objects.

"None of the cultural heritage left by our ancestors should be lost. They are name cards of the splendid Chinese culture and should be spread around the world," Xiong said. The couple often show their skills beside colleges to draw youngsters closer to the traditional art and allow them to experience its charm. "Sugar paintings and sugar figurines are childhood memories of several generations of Chinese people. We try to combine paper-cutting skills and modern elements(元素) with sugar figurines, making them similar to modern trend(趋势) while keeping a balance between beauty and taste. We will spend the rest of our lives helping pass on this intangible heritage," Xiong said.

Many people were deeply moved after learning about the family's story.

Learning to play a musical instrument can be a bit tricky. For one thing, you have to have an instrument first in order to learn it. It can be a bit expensive. Besides, what if you find out that you don't really like the instrument after you start learning it?

Meng Qi, a 35-year-old Beijinger, is an electronic musician. He wasn't satisfied with the instruments that he saw on the market. His interest in musical experiments led him to design and build his own electronic instruments. 

His most well-known instrument is perhaps the Wing Pinger. It uses melody and noise to create special sounds that can't be made with regular instruments. 

"I build for myself first, mostly for experimenting with an instrumental idea. Then when I get bored with the instrument, I might sell it," he said. He added that his creations are not just musical instruments, but also represent his way of life and his idea of beauty.

Meng starts building his instruments on a computer. He uses Arduino, a software for electronic prototyping (原型设计), to design his creations. They look very different from regular musical instruments. They're made out of electronic parts that are connected together—kind of like how a computer is built. 

"First it can be a prototype in software, testing out ideas, as well as getting to know the range of the sound. Then it can be testing of the technical stuff, like the circuits to use. After that there will be selection of electronic parts till everything feels right. Then production can begin," he said.

However, it takes more than technical knowledge to design an electronic instrument. Meng's experience as a musician allows him to create instruments that are still playable and musical. 

"Playing a lot of instruments can help you both understand and feel the process of playing music," he said.

This is an ordinary day for Yang Jinlong. 

At 9 a. m，he drives to primary schools and middle schools in Xian Shanxi Province，to teach students about Shanxi kuaiban. It is a traditional Chinese form of storytelling to the rhythm of bamboo clappers（响板）which the art form is named after. Sometimes，he helps students prepare for competitions. Usually his classes run until about 6 p. m. and then he returns home to prepare classes for the next day. 

On June 10 the Ministry of Culture and Tourism announced 325 national intangible cultural heritage（非物质文化遗产）items in Beijing increasing the list to 1，557 items. Shanxi kuaiban，which appeared during the late Qing Dynasty，has been included. It has been introduced to local schools as part of their art education. 

Yang has been teaching young people the art form since 2003 after graduating from the National Academy of Chinese Theatre Arts in Beijing. He studied quyi there. Quyi is a general term for Chinese folk art forms including storytelling crosstalk and clapper talk. 

"Art education is important for students in China. Just as many students learn to play western musical instruments like the piano and violin there are many people learning traditional Chinese folk arts，including Shanxi kuaiban，which I'll work for my whole life，"he said. 

Kuaiban is popular in northern China，including Beijing and Tianjin. According to Yang，Shanxi kuaiban was influenced by the art of different areas. The art form can be played by a group of players or only one. With one or two pairs of kuaiban of different sizes in hand the players speak in the local dialect（方言）while telling stories，which are usually about heroes. The player tells stories while playing kuaiban and it's easy for the watchers to remember the stories since all the lines have rhymes. 

Thanks to artists like Yang，this traditional Chinese form of storytelling is passed on and stays alive in our country. 

My name is Al. When I was a young boy, I didn't fit in with the other kids. I felt different.

Some kids made fun of me.

I used to have a hard time at school. Things that were easy for some kids were difficult for me. My mind wandered, and I couldn't pay attention to what the teacher said. In fact, some teachers thought I might never graduate(毕业).

While other kids lived for gym class, I hated it. I didn't see the point in the games the kids played.

Then one day, I saw something that really changed my life. I was looking at a compass (指南针) and thought, "Why does that little needle (针) always know where north is? " It may seem silly now, but at that time, it made me take a second look at this thing I had seen many times before. I asked the simple question, "Why?"

I started to read about it and in doing so, I found that physics was really interesting to me. I started borrowing books from school and learning the math behind common things of everyday life.

I started catching up with my classmates. Soon, I was beyond them. By the end of high school, I was far ahead of my teachers.

I got a job at an office. In my spare time, I worked on my ideas. I sent these ideas to a university. The university told me that I had come up with something very important.

Since then, my ideas have been used to look at the world differently. Some say that they changed the way we look at the universe.

It all started that day when I looked at something I had seen many times and asked the question, "Why?"

You may know me. My name is Al… Albert Einstein.