CHICAGO (Reuters) - Smoking not only can wrinkle(起皺紋) the face and turn it yellow -- it can do the same to the whole body, researchers reported on Monday.
The study, published in the Archives of Dermatology, shows that smoking affects the skin all over the body -- even skin protected from the sun.
"We examined non-facial skin that was protected from the sun, and found that the total number of packs of cigarettes smoked per day and the total years a person has smoked were linked with the amount of skin damage a person experienced," Dr. Yolanda Helfrich of the University of Michigan, who led the study, said in a statement.
"In participants older than 65 years, smokers had significantly more fine wrinkling than nonsmokers. Similar findings were seen in participants aged 45 to 65 years," Helfrich's team added in their report.
The researchers tested 82 people, smokers and nonsmokers, taking pictures of the inner right arms. They ranged in age from 22 to 91 and half were smokers. Independent judges decided how wrinkled each person's skin was.
When skin is exposed to sunlight, notably（尤其）the face, it becomes coarse, wrinkled and discolored with a pale yellow tint, Helfrich's team wrote.
Several previous studies have found that cigarette smoking contributes to premature（過早的）skin aging as measured by facial wrinkles, the study said, but little has been done to measure the aging of skin not exposed to light.
The report did not discuss the mechanism involved but previous research has found that cigarette smoke, among other things, causes blood vessels（血管）beneath the skin to constrict（緊縮）, reducing blood supply to the skin.
Smoking can also damage the connective tissue (組織)that supports both the skin and the internal organs

1. 1.

   The best title for this passage would be_______

   1. A.
      The danger of smoking
   2. B.
      Smoking causes skin aging
   3. C.
      Quit smoking for health
   4. D.
      A survey of smokers
2. 2.

   It can be inferred from the study _______

   1. A.
      smoking won’t make skin protected from the sun
   2. B.
      smoking will do damage to skin rather than other organs
   3. C.
      smokers over 65 usually won’t worry about their skin
   4. D.
      the age of smokers is not connected with the result of the test
3. 3.

   From the passage smoking results in skin aging mainly because_____

   1. A.
      it will lower blood supply to skin
   2. B.
      it can make you feel tired
   3. C.
      it can make skin come off
   4. D.
      it can make blood run faster
4. 4.

   The main purpose of the passage is to ______

   1. A.
      inform people about the result of the study
   2. B.
      advise people how to protect skin
   3. C.
      warn people not to smoke again
   4. D.
      introduce a new way of avoiding skin aging

My father was Chief engineer of a merchant ship, which was sunk in World War II. The book
Night of the U-boats told the story.
Memories
In September, 1940, my mother, sister and I went to Swansea, where my father’s ship was getting ready to sail. We brought him a family photograph to be kept with him at all times and keep him sail.
Then I remember my mother lying face down, sobbing. She had heard from a friend that the ship had been sunk by a torpedo(魚雷).
I can remember the arrival of the telegram(電報(bào)),which in those days always brought bad news. My grand- mother opened it. It read, “Safe, Love Ted.”
My most vivid memory is being woken and brought down to sit on my father’s knee, his arm in a bandage.
He was judged unfit to return to sea and took a shore job in Glasgow for the rest of the war. For as long as I can remember, he had a weak heart. Mother said it was caused by the torpedoes. He said it was because of the cigarettes. Whichever, he died suddenly in his early 50s.
Ten years later I read Night of the U-boats and was able to complete the story.
Torpedo
One torpedo struck the ship. Father was in the engine room, where the third engineer was killed. He shut down the engines to slow the ship making it easier for it to be abandoned.
By the time he got on deck (甲板) he was alone. Every lifeboat was gone except one which had stuck firm. When he tried to cut it free it swung against the ship, injuring his hand and arm. He had no choice but to jump—still with the photograph in his pocket.
Three days later, he and other survivors were safe in Glasgow. All 23 with him signed the back of the photograph.
In my room is the book and the photograph. Often, glass in hand, I have wondered how I would have dealt with an explosion, a sinking ship, a jump into a vast ocean and a wait for rescue? Lest（以免）we forget, I have some more whisky and toast the heroes of the war

1. 1.

   We can infer(推斷) that the mother and children went to Swansea ________

   1. A.
      to meet a friend
   2. B.
      to see the father off
   3. C.
      to take a family photo
   4. D.
      to enjoy the sailing of the ship
2. 2.

   What did the author learn about the father from the telegram?

   1. A.
      he was still alive
   2. B.
      His knee was broken
   3. C.
      His ship had been sunk
   4. D.
      He had arrived in Glasgow
3. 3.

   What can we know about the author’s father after his ship was attacked?

   1. A.
      He lost his arm
   2. B.
      He repaired the engines
   3. C.
      He managed to take a lifeboat
   4. D.
      He was the last to leave the ship
4. 4.

   What is the passage mainly about?

   1. A.
      A group of forgotten heroes
   2. B.
      A book describing a terrifying battle
   3. C.
      A ship engineer’s wartime experience
   4. D.
      A merchant’s memories of a sea rescue

1. 1.

   This passage is______

   1. A.
      a brief introduction of a book
   2. B.
      a customer review of a book
   3. C.
      an example of self-motivation
   4. D.
      an advertisement for self-motivation
2. 2.

   The underlined expression "a-ha moment" means a moment when___．

   1. A.
      new ideas suddenly appear
   2. B.
      you relax yourself by reading
   3. C.
      you feel tired and sleepy
   4. D.
      you share your knowledge
3. 3.

   The passage most probably appears___．

   1. A.
      in a newspaper
   2. B.
      in a magazine
   3. C.
      on the Internet
   4. D.
      in a report

Beauty has always been regarded as something admirable. Almost everyone thinks attractive people are happier and healthier, have better marriages and have more respectable jobs. Personal consultants (顧問) give them better advice for finding jobs. Even judges are softer on attractive persons. But in the executive circle (政界), beauty can become a liability.
While attractiveness is a positive thing for a man’s rise, it is harmful to a woman. Handsome male executives were considered as having more honesty than plainer men; effort and ability were thought to be the reasons for their success. Attractive female executives were considered to have less honesty than unattractive ones; their success was attributed not to ability but to factors such as luck. All unattractive women executives were thought to have more honesty and to be more capable than the attractive female executives.
Why are attractive woman not thought to be able? An attractive woman is thought to be more feminine (女性的) and an attractive man more masculine (男性的) than the less attractive ones. Thus, an attractive woman has an advantage in traditionally female jobs, but an attractive woman in a traditionally masculine position appears to lack the "masculine" qualities required.
This is true even in politics. Anne Bowman recently published a study on the effects of attractiveness on political candidates (候選人). She asked 125 undergraduate students to rank two groups of photographs, one of men and one of women in order of attractiveness. The students were told the photographs were of candidates for political offices. They were asked lo rank them again, in the order they would vote for them.
The results showed that attractive males completely defeated unattractive men, but the woman who had been ranked most attractive always received the fewest votes

1. 1.

   In traditionally female jobs, attractiveness _____

   1. A.
      strengthens the feminine qualities required
   2. B.
      makes women look more honest and capable
   3. C.
      is of great importance to women
   4. D.
      often enables women to succeed quickly
2. 2.

   Bowman’s experiment shows that when it comes to politics, attractiveness _____

   1. A.
      turns out to be an obstacle to men
   2. B.
      affects men and women alike
   3. C.
      has as little effect on men as on women
   4. D.
      is more of an obstacle than a benefit to women
3. 3.

   It can be inferred from the passage that people's views on beauty are often _____

   1. A.
      practical
   2. B.
      old-fashioned
   3. C.
      prejudiced (偏見的)
   4. D.
      serious
4. 4.

   The author writes this passage to _____

   1. A.
      discuss the negative aspects of being attractive
   2. B.
      give advice to job-seekers who are attractive
   3. C.
      demand equal rights for women
   4. D.
      emphasize the importance of appearance

In today’s world of cell phones, mini laptops and MP5 players, most people have at least one time-telling tool with them. Since these devices are so common, is time running out for the 500-year-old watch? According to some consumers, yes. New Jersey teenager Charlie Wollman says a watch is “an extra piece of equipment with no necessary function”. Many young adults agree and use their cell phones to tell time. It is said that fewer young people wear watches today than five years ago. As a result, some people claim that the watch industry is at a crossroads.
However, watchmakers optimistically say that watches redeem popularity when consumers reach their 20s and 30s. By then, they are willing to spend money on a quality watch that doesn’t just keep good time. Fifty years ago, watchmakers boasted about their products’ accuracy. But in recent years, the watch industry has transformed itself into an accessory（飾品）business. And for many today, the image a watch communicates has become more important than the time it tells.
“Complications” --- features that go beyond simple timekeeping--- are an important part of a watch’s image. Today’s watches offer lots of features that meet almost any personality. These features include compasses, lunar calendars, USB drives, and even devices that measure the effectiveness of golf swings（揮棒方式）!
Creativity is also a key element in today’s watches. For example, Japanese watchmaker Tokyoflash makes watches that don’t even look like watches. The company’s popular Shinshoku model uses different color lights to tell the time. It looks more like a fashionable bracelet (手鐲) than a watch.                   
Whether a watch communicates fashion sense, creative flair or a love of sports, consumers want their timepieces to stand out. Nowadays, everyone has the same kind of gadget(小玩意兒) in their bags,  so people want to make a statement with what’s on their wrists. Will this interest in wrist fashion last?  Only time will tell!

1. 1.

   The underlined word “redeem” in Paragraph 2 can be best replaced by “__________”

   1. A.
      enlarge
   2. B.
      regain
   3. C.
      prove
   4. D.
      lose
2. 2.

   According to the passage, a multi-function watch can _________

   1. A.
      store the list of phone numbers
   2. B.
      remind you of your daily affairs
   3. C.
      be used as a calculator
   4. D.
      show the direction
3. 3.

   In Paragraph 4, Japanese watchmaker Tokyoflash is mentioned to _________

   1. A.
      prove today’s watches are fashionable
   2. B.
      compare a watch with a cool bracelet
   3. C.
      show how popular Shinshoku watches are
   4. D.
      stress it’s Tokyoflash that makes Shinshoku watches
4. 4.

   What might be the most suitable title for the passage?

   1. A.
      Japanese watches stand out
   2. B.
      Watches tell more than time
   3. C.
      Watch industry is in a bad situation
   4. D.
      Watches are becoming less popular

1970 was “World Conservation Year”. The United Nations wanted everyone to know that the world was in danger. They hoped that the governments would act quickly in order to conserve nature. Here is one example of the problem. At one time there were 1300 different plants, trees and flowers in Holland, but now only 860 remain. The others have been destroyed by modern man and his technology. We are changing the earth, the air and the water, and everything that grows and lives. We can't live without these things. If we continue like this, we shall destroy ourselves.
What will happen in the future? Perhaps it is more important to ask “What must we do now?” The people who will be living in the world of tomorrow are the young of today. A lot of them know that conservation is necessary. Many are hoping to save our world. They plant trees, build bridges across rivers in forests and so on. In a small town in the United States a large group of girls cleaned the banks of eleven kilometres of their river. Young people may hear about conservation through a record called “No, One's Going to Change our World. ” It was made by Scatles, Cliff Richard and other singers. The money from it will help to conserve wild animals.

1. 1.

   There are few plants, trees and flowers in Holland now because _______

   1. A.
      there has been a lot of conservation in Holland
   2. B.
      Holland does not need so many plants, trees and flowers
   3. C.
      many plants, trees and flowers don't grow there any more
   4. D.
      some plants, trees and flowers are dangerous
2. 2.

   We shall destroy ourselves if we don't _______

   1. A.
      improve our technology in planting trees
   2. B.
      hear about the record called “No, One's Going to Change our World”
   3. C.
      try our best to save the world
   4. D.
      change the earth
3. 3.

   “No,One's Going to Change our World. ” was _______

   1. A.
      an important book published in 1970
   2. B.
      a record calling on people to conserve nature
   3. C.
      an idea that nobody would accept
   4. D.
      a rule worked out by the United States
4. 4.

   What is the most important thing for us to do to save our world?

   1. A.
      We should clean the banks of our rivers.
   2. B.
      We should know what will happen in the future.
   3. C.
      We should know what we should do and do it now.
   4. D.
      We should plant more trees and flowers.

Over 70 percent of the "double single-child couples" in China need help from their parents in taking care of their own kids, according to a recent survey.
"Women of China" magazine and a consulting company carried out a survey recently on young couples of the "single-child" generation, the Morning Post reports. The couples surveyed were around 29 and have been married for three years on average, with university education and monthly income of 4.000 yuan ($531). Among them, 43.5 percent have kids.
Results show that 71.9 percent of the young couples have help from their parents in taking care of their kids.
Grown up as the "single-child", the only child in a family since the family planning policy was adopted in 1979, this generation depends much on their parents.
The parents of the "single-child" generation focused more on their children's physical well-being rather than their attitudes and values, according to some psychologists.
The research also found that the "double single-child couples" follow a rather traditional value system.
Survey shows that 27.5 percent of them got married after dating for one to two years, 25.2 percent two to five years, and 20 percent didn't tie the knot until dating for five years. Also, 30 percent of the couples were schoolmates, while 43.8 percent were introduced by someone.
Since their marriage are based on enduring relationships, 65.2 percent of the husbands and 62.9 percent of the wives think that compromise(妥協(xié))and tolerance(寬容)are necessary in their marriage. Meanwhile, 21.7 percent of the husbands and 37.1 percent of the wives support the idea that happiness is the key standard for a marriage

1. 1.

   The best title for the passage should be_______

   1. A.
      Mom and Dad, Take Care of My Kid Please
   2. B.
      Double Single-child Couples
   3. C.
      The Problem of the Single Child
   4. D.
      A Recent Survey By Woman of China"
2. 2.

   Which of the following is NOT supported by the passage?

   1. A.
      The majority of the "double single-child couples" in China depend much on their parents
   2. B.
      The parents of the “single-child” generation more care about their study and education
   3. C.
      One-fifth of the couples surveyed didn't get married until dating for five years
   4. D.
      All the couples surveyed have university education and 30 percent of them were schoolmates
3. 3.

   Which of the following descriptions about “double single-child couples” is True ?

   1. A.
      They are single child in either family and independent of their parents
   2. B.
      They are single child in either family and they are dependent on their parents
   3. C.
      They have at least two children and can afford to support themselves
   4. D.
      They, who were introduced by someone, follow a rather traditional value system
4. 4.

   According to the passage, we can learn that ______ is necessary in marriage

   1. A.
      wealth
   2. B.
      health
   3. C.
      understanding
   4. D.
      education

It happened to me recently that I was telling someone how much I had enjoyed reading Barack Obama’s Dreams From My Father and how it had changed my views of the current US President. The person I was talking to agreed with me that it was, in his words, “a wonderfully written book.” However, he then proceeded to talk about Mr. Obama in a way that suggested he had no idea of his background at all. I sensed that I was talking to a book liar(說謊者)．
And it seems that he is not the only one. Clearly two thirds of people have lied about reading a book which they haven’t. In The World Book Day survey, Dreams From My Father is at number 9. The survey lists top ten books, and various authors, which people have lied about reading. As I’m not one to lie too often, I’ll admit here and now that I haven’t read the entire ten books. But I am pleased to say that I have read the book at number one, George Orwell’s 1984. I think it’s absolutely outstanding．
Asked why they lied, the most common reason was to impress someone they were speaking to. This could be difficult if the conversation became more in-depth!
The World Book Day survey also has some other interesting information in it. It shows that many people lie about having read classical works by Jane Austen, the Bronte sisters, Charles Dickens and so on. But when asked which authors they actually enjoy, they named JK Rowling, Jilly Cooper, and Stephen King. Forty-one percent of people asked admitted they turned to the back of the book to read the end before finishing the story．
So which books have you lied about reading —if any — and which is your favorite?

1. 1.

   The main reason why people lie about reading is to __________

   1. A.
      make fun of the listener
   2. B.
      impress the listener
   3. C.
      please the listener
   4. D.
      interest the listener
2. 2.

   The underlined word “proceeded” in the passage probably means“___________”

   1. A.
      wanted
   2. B.
      happened
   3. C.
      continued
   4. D.
      stopped
3. 3.

   What is the best title for the passage?

   1. A.
      Are You A Book Liar?
   2. B.
      Readers Are All Liars
   3. C.
      World Book Day
   4. D.
      Dreams From My Father

Forest guards in western India are using cell phones with ringtones（手機(jī)鈴聲）of cows mooing, goats bleating and roosters crowing to attract leopards （豹）that have wandered into human settlements, officials said on Monday.
The wild cats in the state of Gujarat often get into villages near forests in search of food, say officials, adding that this results in attacks on people. But rather than use methods such as live bait（活誘餌）like goats tied to trees to lure (引誘) the leopards, which then fall into large pits dug by guards, officials say they have found a safer method to trap the cats.
“The moos of a cow, and bleating of a goat from the phone have proved effective to trap leopards,” said D. Vasani, a senior forest official in Gujarat. “This trick works.” Vasani said forest guards have downloaded the sounds of over a dozen animals as ringtones on their mobiles which they attach to speakers and fix behind a cage. They then play the ringtone continuously for up to two hours until the curious leopard appears and moves into the cage looking for its easy meal.
At least five leopards have so far been lured from villages since the new ringtone method was introduced three months ago. The cats have all been released （釋放）back into forest areas.
Wildlife activists welcomed the new initiative (新方案) saying that previous methods of trapping the cats using pits often resulted in the animals getting injured

1. 1.

   What can be the best title of the passage?

   1. A.
      Cell Phones to Hunt Animals
   2. B.
      Practical Uses of Cell Phones
   3. C.
      Wildlife And New Technology
   4. D.
      Phone Ringtones to Catch Leopards
2. 2.

   Forest guards in India try to catch leopards mainly because _______

   1. A.
      leopards attack villagers
   2. B.
      they want leopard fur
   3. C.
      leopards attack animals
   4. D.
      they have new ringtones
3. 3.

   According to the wildlife activists, the new method is _______

   1. A.
      appreciated because it benefits leopards
   2. B.
      not good because it may injure animals
   3. C.
      effective because ringtones work
   4. D.
      not safer than the former one
4. 4.

   We can learn from the passage except that _______

   1. A.
      forest guards don’t mean to hurt the leopards
   2. B.
      forest guards no longer use pits to trap leopards
   3. C.
      forest guards used goats to attract leopards
   4. D.
      recorded animal sound are used to lure leopards
5. 5.

   What will be needed to trap the leopards using the new method?
   a. cell phones  b. animals  c. sounds of animals  d. cages  e. large pits

   1. A.
      abcd
   2. B.
      bce
   3. C.
      ade
   4. D.
      acd

My Way to Success

From the day I signed up for the Naumburg Competition, everything changed. I had made a decision to start again, to save my life, and that meant a 360-degree turnaround.
I kept on practicing. An enormous amount of work had to be done in two months. I went from not practicing at all to thirteen hours a day.
I spent two weeks just playing scales. If I thought I sounded bad before, now I sounded worse than awful.
At the time I lived on 72nd Street, close to West End Avenue. I had an apartment with a window the size of a shoebox. I didn't do mylaundry. I left my apartment only to walk to Juilliard─and not onBroadway like everyone else. I walked up Amsterdam Avenue because I didn't want to see anybody, didn't want to run into anybody, didn't want anyone to ask what I was doing.
I stopped going to classes and became a hermit. I even talked Miss DeLay into giving my lesson at night.
My eating habits were awful. I lived on fried sausages, a pint of peanut butter/chocolate ice cream, and a gallon of Coca-Cola every day. That's all I ate for eight weeks.
I was nuts. I was completely obsessed with getting back into shape, with doing well in this competition. If I could, people would know I was still on earth. Not to count me out; to stop asking, “Whatever happened to Nadja?”
The last week before the Naumburg auditions, I couldn't touch the violin. I had worked and worked and worked and worked and then I just couldn't work anymore.
I certainly could have used it. I wasn't as prepared as I should have been. But I simply had to say, “Nadja, you've dedicated yourself to this thing. Ready or not, do your best.”
Fifty violinists from around the world auditioned for the competition on May 25, 26, and 27, 1981. Those that made it past thepreliminaries would go on to the semifinals. Those that passed that stage would go to the finals. In years past, one violinist was chosen as winner and two received second and third place.
On May 26, the day of my audition, I went to the Merkin Concert Hall at 67th Street and Broadway. I waited, played for twenty minutes, and went home. I couldn't tell whether the preliminary judges were impressed or not. I'd find out the next evening.
Maybe subconsciously I was trying to keep busy; that night, when I fried the sausages, I accidentally set my apartment on fire. I grabbed my cat and my violin, and ran out the door. The fire was put out, but everything in my place was wrecked.
Fortunately, the phone was okay and on the evening of May 27, I had the news from Lucy Rowan Mann of Naumburg. Thirteen of us had made it.
Talk about mixed emotions. I was thrilled to be among the thirteen; a group that included established violinists, some of whom had already made records. But it also meant I had to play the next day in the semifinals of the competition.
Everyone entering the competition had been given two lists of concertos. One was a list of standard repertory pieces. The other list was twentieth-century repertory. For our big competition piece, we were to choose from each list and play a movement from one in the semifinals, and a movement from the other in the finals─if we made it that far.
From the standard repertory list, I chose the Tchaikovsky Concerto. I had been playing the Tchaik for three years, so it was a good piece for me.
From the twentieth-century list, I chose the Prokofiev G minor Concerto. I had never played it onstage before.
My goal had been just passing the auditions, but now my thought pattern began to change. If I wanted a sliver of a chance of advancing again, my brain said, “Play your strong piece first.”
Logically, I should play the Tchaikovsky in the semifinals just to make it to the next stage. Who cared if that left me with a piece I probably wouldn't play as well in the finals of the competition? It'd be a miracle to get that far.
There wouldn't be more than seven violinists chosen for the final round, and if I were in the top seven of an international group, that was plenty good enough.
The semifinals were held on May 28 in Merkin Concert Hall. You were to play for thirty minutes: your big piece first, then the judges would ask to hear another.
There was a panel of eight judges. They had a piece of paper with my choices of the Tchaikovsky and the Prokofiev in front of them. “Which would you like to play?” they asked.
I said meekly, “Prokofiev.”
My brain and all the logic in the world had said, “Play your strong piece.” My heart said, “Go for it all. Play your weak piece now, save Tchaikovsky for the finals.”
Maybe I don't listen to logic so easily after all.
My good friend, the pianist Sandra Rivers, had been chosen as accompanist for the competition. She knew I was nervous. There had been a very short time to prepare; I was sure there'd be memory slips, that I'd blank out in the middle and the judges would throw me out. My hands were like ice.
The first eight measures of the Prokofiev don't have accompaniment. The violin starts the piece alone. So I started playing.
I got through the first movement and Sandra said later my face was as white as snow. She said I was so tense, I was beyond shaking. Just a solid brick.
It was the best I'd ever played it. No memory slips at all. Technically, musically, it was there.
I finished it thinking, “Have I sold my soul for this? Is the devil going to visit me at midnight? How come it went so well?”
I didn't know why, but often I do my best under the worst of circumstances. I don't know if it's guts or a determination not to disappoint people. Who knows what it is, but it came through for me, and I thank God for that.
As the first movement ended, the judges said, “Thank you.” Then they asked for the Carmen Fantasy.
I turned and asked Sandy for an A, to retune, and later she said the blood was just rushing back into my face.
I whispered, “Sandy, I made it. I did it.”
“Yeah,” she whispered back, kiddingly, “too bad you didn't screw up. Maybe next time.”
At that point I didn't care if I did make the finals because I had played the Prokofiev so well. I was so proud of myself for coming through.
I needed a shot in the arm; that afternoon I got evicted. While I was at Merkin, my moped had blown up. For my landlord, that was the last straw.
What good news. I was completely broke and didn't have the next month's rent anyway. The landlord wanted me out that day. I said, “Please, can I have two days. I might get into the finals, can I please go through this first?”
I talked him into it, and got back to my place in time for the phone call. “Congratulations, Nadja,”“they said. “You have made the finals.”
I had achieved the ridiculously unlikely, and I had saved my best piece. Yet part of me was sorry. I wanted it to be over already. In the three days from the preliminaries to the semifinals, I lost eight pounds. I was so tired of the pressure.
There was a fellow who advanced to the finals with me, an old, good friend since Pre-College. Competition against friends is inevitable in music, but I never saw competition push a friendship out the window so quickly. By the day of the finals, I hated him and he hated me. Pressure was that intense.
The finals were held on May 29 at Carnegie Hall and open to the public. I was the fourth violinist of the morning, then there was a lunch break, and three more violinists in the afternoon.
I played my Tchaikovsky, Saint-Sa‘ns’s Havanaise, and Ravel's Tzigane for the judges: managers, famous violinists, teachers, and critics. I went on stage at five past eleven and finished at noon. Those fifty-five minutes seemed like three days.
I was so relieved when I finished playing; I was finished! It's impossible to say how happy I was to see the dressing room. I went out for lunch with my friends. It was like coming back from the grave. We laughed and joked and watched TV.
As I returned to Carnegie Hall to hear the other violinists, I realized I'd made a big mistake: they might ask for recalls. A recall is when they can't decide between two people and they want you to play again. It's been done; it's done all the time in competitions. No way was I in shape to go onstage and play again.
In the late afternoon, the competition was over. Everybody had finished playing. Quite luckily─no recalls.
The judges deliberated for an hour. The tension in the air was unbelievable. All the violinists were sitting with their little circle of friends. I had my few friends around me, but no one was saying much now.
Finally, the Naumburg Foundation president Robert Mann came on stage.
“It's always so difficult to choose ...” he began.
“Every year we hold this competition,” Robert Mann said. “And in the past, we've awarded three prizes. This year we've elected to only have one prize, the first prize.”
My heart sank. Nothing for me. Not even Miss Congeniality.
“We have found,” Mann went on, “that second place usually brings great dismay to the artist because they feel like a loser. We don't want anyone here to feel like a loser. Every finalist will receive five hundred dollars except the winner, who will receive three thousand dollars.”
And then he repeated how difficult it was to choose, how well everyone had played ...dah, dah, dah.
I was looking down at the floor.  
“The winner is ...”
And he said my name.
A friend next to me said, “Nadja, I think you won!”
I went numb. My friends pulled me up and pointed me toward the stage. It was a long walk because I had slipped into a seat in the back. Sitting up in front was my old friend. I would have to walk right past him and I was dreading it, but before I could, he got up and stopped me.
He threw his arms around me and I threw my arms around him. I kept telling him how sorry I was. I was holding him and started to cry, saying, “I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.” I didn't want to lose, but I really didn't want him to lose either. And he was holding me and saying, “Don't be sorry. I'm so proud of you.” It was over, and we would be friends again.
I took my bow, then ran to Juilliard. Ten blocks uptown, one block west, to give Miss DeLay the news. She could be proud of me now, too.
Suddenly, everything was clear. Playing the violin is what I'd do with my life. Heaven handed me a prize: “You've been through a lot, kid. Here's an international competition.”
Everything had changed when I prepared for the Naumburg, and now everything changed again. I made my first recording. Between September 1981 and May 1982, I played a hundred concerts in America, made one trip to Europe, then two months of summer festivals. And people asked me back.
There was a great deal of anxiety playing in Europe for the first time. But I was able to rely on my self-confidence to pull me through.
Self-confidence onstage doesn't mean a lack of nerves backstage. The stakes had increased. This wasn't practice anymore, this was my life. I'd stare into a dressing-room mirror and say, “Nadja, people have bought tickets, hired baby-sitters, you've got to calm down; go out there and prove yourself.”
Every night I'd prove myself again. My life work had truly begun

1. 1.

   In a gesture to prepare for the competition, Nadja did all the following except _________

   1. A.
      preoccupying herself in practice
   2. B.
      trying to carry out her deeds secretly
   3. C.
      abandoning going to school for classes
   4. D.
      consuming the best food to get enough energy
2. 2.

   How many violinists does the passage mention advanced to the finals?

   1. A.
      Four
   2. B.
      Five
   3. C.
      Six
   4. D.
      Seven
3. 3.

   After Nadja finished playing at the finals, she went out for a while and when she came back to hear the other violinists she realized she had made a mistake because _________

   1. A.
      she forgot that there was going to be a recall
   2. B.
      she didn’t get hold of the permission to leave
   3. C.
      chances were that she had to replay and she was off guard
   4. D.
      there was another play she had to take part in in the afternoon