A
(2020·郑州市第三次质检)
US student Vanessa Tahay stands out from the other teenagers in her school. Her skin is dark and her accent is thick.If you ask her, she will tell you these are the things she is proudest of.Tahay is a poet, and at 18 she was considered among the best in Los Angeles.
When she is on the stage, audiences often go silent.They also laugh, shout and cry. But this doesn't come easily for someone who comes from a village that sits at the base of a huge mountain range in Central America.When she first appeared at school, she was teased by others for being short and different.She never spoke, so they called her “mouse”．
“How do I defend myself？” Tahay thought.“I don't know how.”
“Keep going，” her mother would tell her.“At some point，you'll learn.”
She spent hours after school and on weekends watching the same DVD: English Without Barriers.
Tahay's elder brother, Elmer, persuaded her to go to the afterschool poetry club. In the last six years, her English teacher Laurie Kurnick has turned Cleveland Charter High School's poetry program into one of the most respected in the city.Her team draws from the likes of D．H. Laurence, Pat Mora and Kendrick Lamar to create poems about their own lives.The poems focus on many things—some funny, some painful.
The first time Tahay read the group's poems, she was wild with joy.“I wish I could write like that，” she thought.“I want to say something.”
She wrote her first poem about her first year in America.She called it Invisible.The day her turn came to recite poems in front of the team, she broke down crying. She cried for 15 minutes.“I had so much held in，” Tahay said. “I couldn't even finish it.”
But she kept at it despite her lessthanperfect grammar, spelling and diction (措辞)．Still, she wouldn't tell her friends about her poetry because she worried they would make fun of her.
But with time, her poems changed her. “They gave me pride，” Tahay said.“They told me that I'm worth something.”
“She had this innocence，” Kurnick said. “This willingness to be genuine shows you things you don't ever see.”
文章大意：本文是一篇记叙文。主要讲述了美国学生Vanessa Tahay的故事：她通过自己的努力战胜了别人的嘲笑，并找到了自己的人生价值。
1．What did Tahay's mother suggest she do when she was teased by others？ C
A．Fight with them bravely.
B．Report them to her teachers.
C．Ignore them and keep going.
D．Try hard to make friends with them.
解析：细节理解题。根据第四段中的“‘Keep going，’ her mother would tell her.”可知，本题答案为C。
2．What are the themes of Tahay and her team's poems？ D
A．Their admiration for the great poets.
B．Their appreciation of natural beauty.
C．Their expectations of a better future.
D．Funny and painful stories about their lives.
解析：细节理解题。根据第六段中的“to create poems about their own lives.The poems focus on many things—some funny, some painful.”可知，他们的诗歌主题是他们生活中有趣的和痛苦的故事。故本题选D。
3．How did Tahay probably feel when she first read the group's poems？ B
A．She was cold. B．She was excited.
C．She was nervous. D．She was frightened.
解析：细节理解题。根据第七段中的“she was wild with joy.‘I wish I could write like that，’she thought.‘I want to say something.’”可知，她很兴奋，她希望她能像他们一样写诗。故选B。
4．How did Tahay benefit from writing poems？ A
A．She felt more confident about herself.
B．She won many national poetry competitions.
C．She became the first student poet in the city.
D．She improved her grammar and spelling greatly.
解析：推理判断题。根据倒数第二段“But with time, her poems changed her.‘They gave me pride，’ Tahay said.‘They told me that I'm worth something.’”可知，随着时间的流逝，诗歌改变了她，给了她信心，告诉她她是有价值的。故本题选A。
