Đọc hiểu lớp 8 · Tổng hợp Đọc hiểu 8

Mary Kay Cosmetics is an international company that sells beauty products. One woman started the business in the 1960s with an investment of $5,000. Mary Kathlyn Wagner was born in the state of Texas in 1918. For much of her childhood, she cared for her sick father while her mother worked long hours at a restaurant. Mary Kay married Ben Rogers when she was 17 years old. They had three children before he left home to serve in World War Two. When he returned, their marriage ended. Mary Kay looked for a job so she could support her children. She began selling different kinds of products. One night, Mary Kay was showing products at the home of Ova Heath Spoonemore. Ms. Spoonemore began giving her guests some homemade skin care products. The products were developed by her father, J.W. Heath, in Arkansas. Mary Kay tried the skin care products and liked them. She bought the rights to Heath’s skin care products and started her own company. She paid $500 for the legal rights to the products. And in 1963, The Mary Kay Cosmetics company began operating in Dallas, Texas. The idea was to sell skin care products through demonstrations in homes and offices. Independent sales representatives bought beauty products from the company and sold them at higher prices. Mary Kay decided that each representative who brought other saleswomen into the company would receive part of the new person’s earnings. That way, experienced sales representatives would be willing to train new ones. By 1965, the company was selling almost one million dollars in products. Mary Kay Cosmetics became one of the most successful direct sellers of skin care products in America. It continues to have sales offices and representatives in many different countries. Mary Kay aimed to grow sales based on the idea that it is best to compete against yourself. That means every individual is trying to beat their own sales records. Prizes for high sales marks included special paid holidays and jewelry. Until a few years ago, a pink Cadillac was a top prize. After her third husband, Mel Ash, died of cancer in 1980, she wanted to help find a cure for the disease. At first, she helped organizations raise money for research.

Wild celebrations of Mardi Gras come just before the start of Lent. Lent is the Christian observance leading up to the Easter holiday. It is a serious, spiritual time, especially important to Roman Catholics. The name "Mardi Gras" comes from the French language. It means "Fat Tuesday." The day is also called “Shrove Tuesday” in some places. Mardi Gras marks the end of the Carnival period, a time of public merrymaking energetically observed in Europe and South America. Mardi Gras in New Orleans During Mardi Gras, huge crowds fill the streets of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the southern part of the United States. People from all over the country come to eat, drink and dance. Police watch the crowds carefully. Many parties and parades have already taken place by the time Fat Tuesday arrives. In fact, activities start in January and last for weeks before the big Tuesday. Social groups hold parades. Some of the huge floats, or special parade vehicles, carry up to two hundred fifty people. Riders on the parade floats wear colorful clothes. Top hats made from bird feathers can stand a meter tall. Beautiful, and sometimes strange, masks cover the faces of people on the floats. These people throw cups and necklaces to the crowds of people who watch the parades. Another tradition is to eat “King Cake." This food, similar to a sweet bread, is served at Mardi Gras parties. Inside one piece is a small plastic baby. Whoever gets the baby must promise to hold the next party. The French Quarter is the oldest part of the city. It remains the heart of New Orleans. And the French Quarter is where some of the best food -- a mix of French and Caribbean influences -- can be found. In New Orleans, music spills into the streets not just at Mardi Gras, but throughout the year. New Orleans is known as the birthplace of jazz. But local sounds also include Cajun and zydeco music. On Bourbon Street, the music and the crowds seem like a huge celebration that never ends. The most traditional old-time jazz is played at Preservation Hall in the French Quarter.

The Statue of Liberty has served as the guardian of New York Harbor for nearly 150 years. The statue might be one of the most photographed works of art in the world. A French sculptor, Frederic Auguste Bartholdi, designed it in the late 1800s. Today the monument remains a beautiful sight on the New York skyline. The materials required for building the Statue of Liberty were almost lost at sea. In 1885, the ship carrying those materials nearly sank in stormy seas. Luckily, the ship survived. It arrived in June of that year. By 1886, the Statue of Liberty was erected on what was then called Bedloe’s Island. The statue was officially opened that year. Many years later, the island was given a new name: Liberty Island. “Lady Liberty,” as many people call the statue, was a gift from the people of France. Its full name is “Liberty Enlightening the World.” The United States and France have been friends and allies since the American Revolution. France helped the American colonial armies defeat British forces. The war officially ended in 1783. A few years later, the French rebelled against their king. The Statue of Liberty from the air France had wanted to give the statue to the United States on the 100th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence -- July 4th, 1876. But technical problems and lack of money delayed the project. France finally officially presented the statue to the United States in Paris in 1884. A pedestal to hold the 200 tons of weight was finished later. The statue also needed a structure that could hold its weight of more than 200 tons. French engineer Alexandre Gustave Eiffel created the necessary technology. Later, he designed the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Eiffel and others worked in Paris to produce a strong support system for the statue. The design also had to have the ability to move a little in strong winds. In France, workers separated the statue into 350 pieces, put them on a ship and sent them across the ocean. After surviving the rough seas, the statue arrived in New York in more than 200 wooden boxes. It took workers four months to build the statue on the pedestal. On October 28th, 1886, President Grover Cleveland accepted the statue in a ceremony. He said: “We will not forget that Liberty has here made her home; nor shall her chosen altar be neglected.” She's a survivor