A lot of teenagers are good at art at school, but how would you feel if people called you “the new Picasso (畢加索)” or if presidents and other famous people collected your paintings?

Alexandra Nechita was ten when her paintings became famous all over the world. She visited Britain, France, Italy, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and her family’s native place (祖籍) Romania where 5,000 fans came to see her at the airport. Alexandra said, “When it all started, I was moved. It was very exciting and I loved the traveling, but I got very tired. And I missed home.”

Alexandra is a good student. Her studies always come first. She only starts painting after she’s done her homework. She works on two or three paintings at a time. The paintings sell for thousands and Alexandra’s parents have given up their jobs to work for their daughter. Life for the Nechita family is very different from what it was like a few years ago.

Alexandra’s father Niki left Romania for political reasons in 1985. At first he tried his best to learn English and had different kinds of low-paid jobs. In 1987, he brought his wife and Alexandra, who was then 18 months old, to America. The family was very poor. Alexandra began to draw at the age of three.

She was drawing for four or five hours a day. Soon people offered to buy her paintings and she had her first art show at the age of eight. Stories about this child appeared in the newspapers and television. They now live in a large house with a swimming pool. Her mother said, “We started without anything, but thanks to Alexandra, we have everything we ever dreamed of.”

46. Alexandra became well-known all over the world for her paintings at the age of _______.

A. 18months　　　　　 B. three　　　　　　　　 C. eight　　　　　　　　 D. ten　　　　　　

47. Which country does Alexandra live?

A. America. 　　　　 B. Britain. 　　　　　 C. Romania. 　　　 D. France.

48. Alexandra’s painting _________.

A. took her a lot of time at school　 　

B. made her drop out of school

C. didn’t influence her studies at school

D. made her fall behind others in studies at school　　　　　　　　

49. When her family arrived in America in 1987, _________.

A. their life was very hard

B. they lived by selling Alexandra’s paintings

C. Alexandra began to draw her painting

D. her parents left their jobs and worked for her

50. From the passage, we can learn ________.

A. Alexandra was not interested in travelling

B. Alexandra’s success changed her family’s life

C. Alexandra’s parents were good at English

D. Alexandra’s stories appeared often on the radio and TV

Mike wants a computer. He asks his parents for the money but they say he must get it himself. But how does he get it? He  46  about this when he walks home. Not many people want to ask children to work for them. Maybe he can take away snow for the neighbors. But it is not  47 . He has to  48 a long time for that. He can’t cut grass for their gardens  49 he has no tools to do the work. Then he  50 one of his classmates, Dick. He is delivering(送)  51 . “I can do that,  52 ”, he thinks, “Maybe I can even get the computer right away. I can pay(付款) for it a little each week”. He  53 to catch up with(趕上) Dick. Mike asks him a lot of questions. He learns that it is  54 to get twenty-five dollars each week. Dick  55 him that the job takes about three hours each week and   56  him the phone number of the newspaper manager.
Mike almost flies home. After he tells his mother   57  he thinks, she  58 , “ I think it is a   59  idea,” she says, “I'll call the newspaper.” “Wait, Mum,” Mike says, “I’ll call. After that, I' m going to be a businessman now.” Mike’s mother smiles   60  .

Denny Crook was a famous photographer. He traveled all over the world, taking pictures for magazines and newspapers, and won many prizes.

“I’ll do anything to get a good photo,” he often said. “I’ll go anywhere at any time, even if it is (41).”

And he told the (42). He had photos of earthquakes, forest fires, floods and even wars. If something interesting happened, Denny went to photo it.

He was a married man and his wife often asked him to take her with him, but he always (43).”I’ll travel for my work, not for (44),” he told her . “You won’t enjoy yourself, and I won’t have (45) to look after you. Sometimes there’s not even anywhere to (46), and I have to sleep outside. I often don’t have a good (47) or a bath for days. You won’t like it.”

“Denny, I’m not a child,” his wife didn’t (48). “I can look after myself. Please take me with you the next time you go overseas.”

Denny did not say anything, but he (49) about it, and when he was asked to go to Africa he said to his wife, “You can come to Africa with me if you want to. I’ve got to take photos of wild (50) there. It should be interesting and not too uncomfortable.”

His wife was very (51), and at first she had a very enjoyable time.

Then Denny went to off to (52) some lions to photo. His wife went with him, but before long they became separated. She walked down one path while he walked down the other.

Suddenly, Denny heard her (53). He ran back and saw her running toward him. A huge lion was chasing her.

Quickly Denny took his camera out of its case and (54) it at his wife and the lion.

Then he shouted, “(55), woman! I can’t get you both in the picture!”