Question

   When Jeanne Calment entered the world in 1875, telephones and automobiles still lay in the future. Albert Einstein and Pablo Picasso were not yet born. The Eiffel Tower was 14 years from being built. As a teenager, she met Vincent Van Gogh, near her home in Arles, in the south of France. He was “very ugly, ungracious(舉止粗俗的), impolite, sick—I forgive him, they called him loco(精神失常的)”, she recalled. When she died last week at age 122, she was the world’s eldest person. (There are others who claimed to the title, but only Calment had the official documents to prove her age.)

   Each February 21, her birthday, she would share the secrets of long life. Some years it was “a sense of humour”, others it was “keeping busy”. “God must have forgotten me,” she once explained. The truth probably was that she had good genes: her mother reportedly lived to be 86 and her father 94.

   Her life had its sadness: she outlived her husband, her only daughter and her grandson. According to a friend, she was imperturbable. “If you can’t do anything about it,” she reportedly said, “don’t worry about it.”

   In her last years she was nearly blind and deaf, but her health remained good. She ate a few bars of chocolate each week and continued smoking until a few years ago, when she could no longer light her own cigarettes. She never lost her sense of humour. On her 110^th birthday, she commented, “I’ve only ever had one wrinkle, and I’m sitting on it. “Her longevity made her famous; her spirit made her eternal(永恒的).

1. Why does the author mention Albert Einstein, Pablo Picasso and the Eiffel Tower?

  A. To show that Calment had seen famous people and things.

  B. To emphasize that Calment was born a long time ago.

  C. To indicate that Calment is just as famous.

  D. To admire the knowledge that Calment had.

2. The author believed that Calment’s longevity is mainly due to ______.

  A. a sense of humour            B. being kept busy

  C. belief in God                D. good genes

3. The underlined word “imperturbable” means ________.

  A. calm        B. humourous        C. friendly       D. healthy

4. Toward the end of the story, the author seems to be impressed by Callment ’s _________.

  A. spirit       B. religious belief      C. knowledge    D. longevity

Answer 1

BDAA