A year ago, at the annual pre-Grammy party

题目内容：

A year ago, at the annual pre-Grammy party, Whitney Houston, the great star, walked on stage and closed the evening with a brilliant performance．

Last Saturday, Houston was once again the focus before the Grammy, but her presence was a regrettable one．Earlier that day, the pop music's former queen was found dead in her hotel room．She was 48．This, no doubt, is sad news to the whole music industry and her fans all over the world．

At her peak(巅峰), Houston was the golden girl of the music world．From the mid-1980s to the late 1990s, she was one of the world's best-selling artists．She impressed audiences with her effortless, powerful and peerless performance．

Besides multi-million record sales, Houston made countless hits such as The Greatest Love of All, I Have Nothing, and the mostly famous I Will Always Love You．She also influenced a generation of younger singers, from Christina Aguilera to Mariah Carey．

But by the end of her career, there was a shocking fall for this superstar．Houston had been addicted to(上瘾) drugs．Her album sales declined (下降) and the hits stopped coming and her once beautiful voice became hoarse （嘶哑的）, unable to hit the high notes as she used to．

In 2009, Houston staged a successful comeback with the album I Look To You, which fell on top of the charts．But hoarse voice, canceled concerts, and continuous illness-Houston's comeback trail wasn't smooth at all．In an interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2009, Houston admitted: "It (show business) is too much for me and I wanted out．"

Now that Houston has finally taken a break from all the chaos(混乱), may she rest in peace．

小题1:Whitney Houston died ______．

A．shortly before the Grammy this year

B．earlier last Sunday

C．a year ago

D．at the annual pre-Grammy party小题2:The underlined word "peerless" in Paragraph 3 most probably means ______．

A．having no power

B．having no equal

C．requiring no effort

D．leaving no impression小题3:The cause of the fall of Whitney Houston was that _____．

A．her album sales declined

B．show business was too much for her

C．her fans no longer love her

D．she had been addicted to drugs小题4:According to the passage, which is not Houston’s achievement?

A．She made countless hits such as I Have Nothing.

B．She influenced a generation of younger singers.

C．She became the focus before the Grammy this year.

D．She staged a successful comeback in 2009.

最佳答案：

小题1:A

小题2:B

小题3:D

小题4:C

答案解析：

本文介绍了流行巨星Whitney Houston一生的成就和悲惨的结果。

小题1:A 细节题。根据第二段1,2行Last Saturday, Houston was once again the focus before the Grammy, but her presence was a regrettable one．Earlier that day, the pop music's former queen was found dead in her hotel room．说明在今年的格莱美颁奖前，她去世了，故A正确。

小题2:B 推理题的。根据本句She impressed audiences with her effortless, powerful and peerless performance．以及本段内容都说明她的表演是非常棒的，故B项无与伦比与句意相符，故B项正确。

小题3:D 推理题。根据倒数第二段第2行．Houston had been addicted to(上瘾) drugs．说明染上毒瘾是她去死的根本原因，故D正确。

小题4:C 细节题。根据文章第三段Besides multi-million record sales, Houston made countless hits such as The Greatest Love of All, I Have Nothing, and the mostly famous I Will Always Love You．She also influenced a generation of younger singers, from Christina Aguilera to Mariah Carey．二行第四段In 2009, Houston staged a successful comeback with the album I Look To You, which fell on top of the charts都说明ABD三项是她的成就，只有C项只是她的一个活动，不是 成就，故C项符合要求。

点评：介绍了Whitney Houston的成就和最后的结局。本题考查了细节题和推理题较多，答题时在文章找到对应的地方，用笔进行标记，这有利于后期有时间检查时可以立刻找到答案的位置。仔细理解作者所讲的意思，再结合选项，通过排除法和自己对全文的把握，选出正确答案。

考点核心：

人物传记类文章的文体特征：

人物传记是记叙文体的一种，主要描写某人的生平事迹、趣闻轶事、生活背景、个性特征、成长奋斗历程等，包含记叙文的时间、地点、人物、事件等要素。其特点是以时间的先后或事件的发展为主线，空间或逻辑线索贯穿文章始终，脉络清楚，可读性较强。