【推荐1】The composing career of Albert Roussel got off to a wayward start, and received one of its biggest advances from a lie.

Roussel was orphaned at the age of eight and went to live with his grandfather. He built on the music he had learned from his mother, entertaining himself by reading through the family music collection and playing operatic selections and popular songs on the piano.

Three years later Roussel’s grandfather died, and his mother’s sister took him in. Her husband arranged for young Albert to take piano lessons. Summer vacations at a Belgian seaside resort added a second love to his life — the sea. He studied to be a naval officer, but still made time to study music.

In the French Navy, while he was stationed on a cruiser (巡洋舰) based at Cherbourg, he and two friends found the time to play the piano trios (三重奏) of Beethoven and other composers. Roussel also began composing. At the Chuich of the Trinity in Cherbourg on Christmas Day 1892, he had his first public performance as a composer with the performance of his Andante for string trio and organ.

That success encouraged Roussel to write a wedding march, and one of his fellow naval officers offered to show it to an outstanding conductor, Edouard Colonne. When Roussel’s friend returned with the manuscript (手稿), he reported that Colonne had advised Roussel to give up his naval career and devote his life to music.

Not long afterward, at the age of 25, Roussel did just that. He applied the self-discipline, conciseness, and spirituality that he had developed in the navy to his composing and became a major force in twentieth century French music. As for Eduoard Colonne’s inspiring advice that Roussel devote his life to music, Roussel’s navy friend later admitted that he had made it up and that he had never even shown Roussel’s manuscript to the conductor.

1. From “a wayward start” in Paragraph 1, we know Albert Roussel’s composing career________.

A．was a great success at first	B．was inspired early in every way
C．was a happy one because of a lie	D．was unpredictable in the beginning

2. Who first brought music to Roussel’s life?

A．His mother.	B．His grandfather.
C．His piano teacher.	D．His fellow naval officer.

3. Why did Roussel join the Navy?

A．He didn’t want to live with his mother’s sister.

B．He was fascinated by the sea at a seaside resort.

C．He wanted to practice music with his friends.

D．He thought it could help him create music.

4. The following factors except ________led to his success as a composer.

A．his love for music	B．the conductor’s inspiring advice
C．his navy friend’s lie	D．the good qualities acquired in the navy

【推荐2】Rock and roll music developed in the United States in the early nineteen-fifties. It was based on the music called rhythm and blues that was performed by African American musicians.

Early rock and roll singers developed their own kinds of music. Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, the Beach Boys, and Bob Dylan were the most popular rock and roll musicians in the early 1960s. All were American. Then, in 1964, a new rock and roll group from England invaded America: the Beatles.

Some people say the Beatles’ shook America like an earthquake. The Beatles changed rock and roll forever. Their early songs were influenced by American rock and roll musicians, including Chuck Berry. But the Beatles looked different and sounded different from many musical group before them.

The Beatles released their first album in the United States in 1964, when all of the top five records in America were by the Beatles. America were by the Beatles. In 1967 they released an album called “Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” It was one of the first “concept” albums. That is, all the songs were linked by a common story or idea.

By the 1970s, rock and roll music became known as rock music. Experts say rock music regained some of the energy of early rock and roll. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band became popular with their album “Born to Run”. Springsteen’s music was like the lively rock and roll music of the early nineteen-sixties. Many of his songs were about social issues. He sang about the effects of unemployment and the war in Vietnam.

1. The main topic of this passage is ________.

A．the history of American music	B．the development of rock and roll music
C．the famous rock and roll groups	D．the new forms of rock and roll music

2. What does “the Beatles’ music shook America like an earthquake” mean?

A．The Beatle’s music was as violent as an earthquake in America.

B．The Beatles looked differently because an earthquake hit America.

C．The Beatle’s music had great effect on the rock and roll music in America.

D．The Beatle’s music were greatly influenced by American rock and roll music.

3. Whose songs were mainly about social problems like unemployment and war?

A．Elvis Presley’s.

B．Bob Dylan’s.

C．Chuck Berry’s.

D．Springsteen’s.

4. From the passage, we can know that ________.

A．one of the Rolling Stones’ albums was called “concept”

B．all of the top five records in America were by the Beatles in 1964

C．the Rolling Stones was the only band that became popular in America

D．all the most popular rock and roll musicians in the 1960s were American

【推荐1】It is true that world population is growing, but this is not the cause of our current and future global problems. Believing this will cause us to ignore the real problem and risk long-term damage to our planet.
Let me start by explaining why overpopulation is a myth. For one thing, the UN Population Division regularly predicts population growth but provides a low variant (变量), medium variant, and high variant to factor in various possibilities. In the 2010 revision, their high variant suggests that the world population will be almost 16 billion in 2100, but the low variant predicts it will peak at 8 billion and decrease to just over 6 billion by 2100. In most cases, it is the low variant that has come true in the past, suggesting the same will be true of their future population predictions. In addition to this, the size of families is actually decreasing.
For another, if the Earth is overpopulated, there needs to be insufficient (短缺) food, water, and space for humans to live. However, Indian economist Raj Krishna estimates that India alone is able to increase crop produce to the point of providing the entire world’s food supply. The World Food Programme confirms that there is sufficient food grown to feed the world and there is the same amount of fresh water on the planet now as there was 10,000 years ago. So how is it possible that the number of people in the world is affecting our planet?
Therefore, it is not an increase in population but an increase in consumption that is a severe threat. Materialism and overconsumption are facts of life for everybody in the western world, as possessions reflect a person’s status in society and people strive to obtain happiness through owning the latest fashionable goods. Not only that, but waste is a common occurrence which has a huge effect on our resources. It is a sad truth that 80% of the world’s resources are currently used by just 20% of the world’s population.
Our overconsumption must be addressed now to make our lives more sustainable (可持续的) and avoid continuing the terrible damage to the environment we are causing. The key is education. If we do not work towards this but instead focus on the wrong issue, we may find ourselves living on a planet that can no longer sustain human life.
1. According to the author, what causes our current and future global problems?

A．The increase in population.

B．Shortage of food and water.

C．The fast growth of material needs.

D．Failure to protect the environment.

2. The underlined word “myth” in Paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to _________.

A．fact

B．misunderstanding

C．possibility

D．uncertainty

3. The author stresses that _____.

A．people should save food and water

B．economists are making wrong predictions

C．wrong judgment leads to serious consequences

D．measures should be taken to reduce population

4. What is mainly discussed in the passage?

A．The real cause of global problems.

B．The severe effect of overpopulation.

C．Reasonable use of natural resources.

D．Methods to reduce overconsumption.

【推荐2】If you have strong arms and feet, a lot of patience and a very good temper, you might make a good waiter. You must start, however, not in the restaurant, but in the kitchen, helping the chef, to learn exactly how each dish is prepared. Then you will be able to tell the customers what the ingredients are and how the food is cooked. From this first step, you may enter the restaurant as a “commis”, or learner. But you won’t be allowed to serve the customers yet. They will only let you do the simplest jobs, laying the tables and carrying the plates and cutlery. But all the time you must watch and learn. Later you will be taught how to serve food, and if you are good at it, you may become “chef de rang” (a waiter in charge of a number of tables). You may even become a head waiter eventually if you have the right sort of personality and you are not afraid of hard work.

When Carlo Bianchi first arrived in London, he spoke only two words of English—“please” and “Hello”. He managed to get a job helping in the kitchen of an Italian restaurant, and he spent what little spare time he had learning English. He was a good worker and soon they found him a job in the restaurant as a waiter. Every night, Carlo used to go home exhausted, but never too tired to study the language for half an hour before going to sleep. He always managed to save a third of his wages, which he put in the bank regularly every Friday. And no matter how tired or ill he felt, he always had a warm smile for his customers. They liked him, and people used to come to the restaurant and asked to be served by Carlo. Now, twenty-five years later, Carlo is the owner of six restaurants, and he hopes to open a seventh shortly. But he still believes in the personal style, and every night he goes to one or another of his restaurants to welcome the customers with a friendly greeting.

1. If you want to make a good waiter, you must have all of the following except________.

A．a lot of patience	B．strong arms and feet
C．a beautiful face	D．a very good temper

2. When you enter the restaurant as a learner, you can do all of the following except________.

A．laying the tables	B．serving the customers
C．carrying knives and forks	D．carrying the plates

3. As a waiter, Carlo used to ________ before going to sleep every night.

A．help in the kitchen	B．learn English
C．put some wages in the bank	D．play computer games

4. The reason why people like being served by Carlo was that________ .

A．he always had a warm smile for his customers however tired or ill he felt

B．he spent what little spare time he had learning English

C．he is the proprietor of six restaurants

D．he used to go home exhausted

【推荐3】Researchers have created a device that uses brain waves to translate what paralyzed (瘫痪的) people who can’t speak intend to say into sentences. The device, created by a team at the University of California, San Francisco, analyzes brain waves to decode what a patient is trying to say and then displays the text on a computer screen.

Volunteering to test the device was a man in his late 30s who 15 years ago suffered a brain-stem stroke that caused widespread paralysis and robbed him of speech.

The researchers implanted electrodes (电极) on the surface of the man’s brain, over the area that controls speech. A computer analyzed the patters when he attempted to say common words such as “water” or “good”, eventually becoming able to differentiate between 50 words that could generate more than 1,000 sentences.

Prompted (提示) with questions such as “How are you today?” or “Are you thirsty?”, the device eventually enabled the man to answer “I am very good” or “No, I am not thirsty”—not voicing the words but translating them into text, the team said.

It takes about three to four seconds for the words to appear on the screen after the man tries to say them. That’s not nearly as fast as speaking, but quicker than tapping out a response.

Harvard neurologists Leigh Hochberg and Sydney Cash called the work a “pioneering demonstration”. They said, “If the technology pans out, it eventually could help people with injuries, strokes or illnesses like Lou Gehrig’s disease whose brains prepare messages for delivery but those messages are trapped.”

The team has spent years mapping the brain activity that leads to speech. How did they know the device interpreted the man’s words correctly? They started by having him try to say specific sentences such as, “Please bring my glasses,” rather than answering open-ended questions until the machine translated accurately most of the time.

Next steps include ways to improve the device’s speed, accuracy and vocabulary size — and maybe one day allow a computer-generated voice rather than text on a screen — while testing a small number of additional volunteers.

1. What do we know about the device in the text?

A．It can make paralyzed people speak again.

B．It was implanted into a man’s heart.

C．It can produce words on a screen.

D．It can help restore patients’ lost memory.

2. What does the underlined word “differentiate” in paragraph 3 mean?

A．learn

B．distinguish

C．organize

D．speak

3. Which of the following may the researchers of the team agree with?

A．The device may have a promising future.

B．The device can do anything for paralyzed people.

C．In the future the device can produce pictures on a computer.

D．In the future the device can be affordable to more people.

4. What may be the best title of the text?

A．Researchers Found Good Methods to Help Paralyzed Patients.

B．Device Uses Brain Waves of Paralyzed Man to Help Him Communicate.

C．Paralyzed Man Communicates Normally with a Speech-aided Device.

D．Repeated Questions Given to Paralyzed Man Make Device More Intelligent.