When 16-year-old Ella Fitzgerald stepped onto the stage to perform at Harlem’s Apollo Theater in 1934, she had no idea that her life was about to change. Her childhood had been
36 . After the death of her parents, Fitzgerald had been placed in a boarding school.
37 , the teachers at the school mistreated her,
38 she ran away. Homeless and orphaned, Fitzgerald was trying her best to
39 on the streets of New York City when she won a contest to perform during an amateur night at the Apollo. She had
40 planned to dance, but at the last second, she decided to sing her mother’s favorite song
41 . Her performance earned her
42 from several well-known musicians. Ella Fitzgerald went on to become a
43 jazz singer.
During a musical career that spanned six decades, Fitzgerald
44 more than 200 albums. She won 13 Grammy Awards, the last of which she received in 1990. She worked with some of the greatest American singers of the twentieth century, including Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, and Dizzy Gillespie. Her talent and charm
45 a wide range of listeners around the world. The worldwide 46 of Ella Fitzgerald helped make jazz a more popular genre.
Until the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, the United States
47 African American citizens the same treatment
48 white citizens received. Fitzgerald’s manager and her band
49 to perform at places where discrimination was practiced. They also decided not to perform unless they were paid the same
50 as white singers and musicians. Ella’s fight for
51 received support from numerous celebrity admirers, including Marilyn Monroe. Fitzgerald never took her good fortune for granted. She gave money to charities and organizations that contributed to
52 disadvantages children. For her many civic contributions, in 1992 President George Bush
53 her the Presidential Medal of Honor, one of the highest honors
54 to civilians.
In 1991, Fitzgerald gave her
55 performance in New York’s Carnegie Hall. Although Ella Fitzgerald died in 1996, the American “First Lady of Song” continues to live in the hearts and ears of music lovers worldwide.
| 小题1: | | A．rich | B．rough | C．tiresome | D．happy |
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| 小题2: | | A．Importantly | B．Unforgettably | C．Naturally | D．Unfortunately |
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| 小题3: | | A．therefore | B．but | C．so | D．then |
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| 小题4: | | A．survive | B．experience | C．learn | D．stand |
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| 小题5: | | A．strangely | B．blindly | C．originally | D．probably |
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| 小题6: | | A．in spite | B．instead | C．in place | D．though |
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| 小题7: | | A．jealousy | B．recognition | C．reputation | D．gratitude |
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| 小题8: | | A．creative | B．dependent | C．undiscovered | D．distinguished |
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| 小题9: | | A．released | B．sold | C．copied | D．showed |
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| 小题10: | | A．compared with | B．appealed to | C．composed of | D．depended on |
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| 小题11: | | A．celebration | B．admiration | C．relaxation | D．indication |
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| 小题12: | | A．denied | B．supported | C．offered | D．hated |
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| 小题13: | | A．which | B．what | C．that | D．like |
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| 小题14: | | A．decided | B．refused | C．started | D．afforded |
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| 小题15: | | A．number | B．quantity | C．amount | D．lots |
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| 小题16: | | A．wealth | B．future | C．equality | D．agreement |
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| 小题17: | | A．caring for | B．playing with | C．preferring to | D．taking after |
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| 小题18: | | A．rewarded | B．awarded | C．paid | D．presented |
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| 小题19: | | A．accessible | B．inadequate | C．available | D．official |
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| 小题20: | | A．best | B．vivid | C．open | D．final |
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