Sakamoto Ryuichi, who died on March 28 after a long battle with cancer, once described his musical method thus: “I open my ears to the world.” But what Mr. Srakamoto heard, few others could. As a member of the Japanese techno-pop band Yellow Magic Orchestra, he helped pioneer modern electronic music. As a composer, he brought the work of directors such as Bernardo Bertolucci to life. His passing brought about mourning from the whole music world.
Mr. Sakamoto was born in Tokyo in 1952 and took to music early. He graduated from one of Tokyo’s top colleges of music, where he studied Western classical music, and explored an interest in the traditional music of Japan’s Okinawa as well as in that of India and Africa. Early in his career, Mr. Sakamoto trained his ears on the sound of technology. Yellow Magic Orchestra, a group he formed in 1978,used synthesisers(合成器)in instrumental songs intended for dancing - a novel combination at the time. “Errors or noises absorb me and I wonder if new musical currents could come from this imperfection,” Mr. Sakamoto said. That was exactly what happened: Mr. Sakamoto’s music helped inspire what would later become techno and hip-hop. Then he turned towards the sound of nature. He listened to the wind blowing, the water dropping, the rocks moving and the leaves falling, which he introduced into his music.
Unusually for a Japanese musician, Mr. Sakamoto used his fame to speak out on social and political issues, including environmental preservation and nuclear(原子核的)power. In 2011, an earthquake and tsunami rocked northeast Japan and set off a nuclear meltdown in Fukushima. In the wake of the disaster, Mr. Sakamoto travelled often to the region to support local residents.
In 2014, the cancer shook Mr. Sakamoto’s life. But even that could not weaken his longing to hear more. In the next few years, he composed the score for “The Revenant”, and produced a film about sound called “Coda”.
1. What’s paragraph 1 mainly about?| A．The style of Sakamoto Ryuichi’s music. |
| B．Sakamoto Ryuichi’s comments on music. |
| C．Sakamoto Ryuichi’s contributions to music. |
| D．The influence of Sakamoto Ryuichi’s music. |
| A．He liked nature scenery. |
| B．He got inspired from noises. |
| C．He created techno and hip-hop. |
| D．He became interested in music at college. |
| A．Intelligent and frank. | B．Talented and caring. |
| C．Generous and enthusiastic. | D．Determined and humorous. |
| A．A musician: making sounds into music |
| B．Sounds of nature: sources of music composition |
| C．Yellow Magic Orchestra: memories of generations |
| D．Sakamoto Ryuichi: speaking out for the common people |
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【推荐1】Scientists have known for a long time about a link between chronic (慢性的) stress and obesity. But they couldn’t find the key factor in the past. Recently researchers at Georgetown University in Washington D. C. made what they call a “perfect advance”.
Dr. Zofia Zukowska says, “Thanks to our hard work of the past years, we have actually discovered the exact reason why people get fat when they are stressed and eat a high fat, high sugar diet. And by knowing the reason, we can now deal with obesity.” Dr. Zukowska and her colleagues put laboratory mice under the same type of stress they would experience in the wild such as meeting up with a more aggressive and dangerous mouse. They then fed these mice a fast food diet. The mice became fat.
What’s more, they found an increased amount of a chemical called neuropeptide Y, or NPY for short, in these mice, which is activated by stress and helps stimulate (刺激) the growth of fat cells. And the fat in mice grew around their middle, just as it does in humans. Middle fat is the most dangerous kind, as it affects the heart and liver, causing heart disease, adding to cholesterol (胆固醇) levels, high blood pressure, and so on. But the researchers found they could block the fat-causing NPY with another chemical, and thus could manipulate obesity effectively.
To their pleasant surprise, NPY seems to work in the human body much like it does in mice. If so, Dr. Zofia Zukowska says it would be a major advance in the battle against obesity, which will be used to cure the patient of the disease caused by stress and obesity. However, the researchers say many more studies need to be done before human trials can begin.
1. According to the passage, the “perfect advance” refers to discovering ________.| A．the reason why mice get stressed and fat |
| B．the cause leading to people’s stress and obesity |
| C．the reason why stressed people tend to become fat |
| D．a way to cure people of obesity caused by stress |
| A．the weak one is likely to become worried and take in more fat and sugar |
| B．the weak one will be afraid and eat less and less |
| C．the aggressive one will suffer from stress and obesity |
| D．the aggressive one will eat the weak one’s food as well as its own |
| A．pick up | B．take control of |
| C．make the most of | D．have a knowledge of |
| A．it can cause some serious diseases if not treated properly |
| B．it causes stress which helps stimulate the growth of fat cells |
| C．the very important chemical NPY will be cut off by it |
| D．chronic stress and obesity will gradually develop from it |
【推荐2】It was a snowy day during the spring break when I walked into a great restaurant. In this blizzard weather, it was the only restaurant that remained open.
The restaurant has a long history in Hong Kong. Its owners, the couple, Peter and Michelle, have been running the restaurant since 2007.
“Things have changed a lot in the past 30 years,” Peter said. “Chinese students 20 years ago thought that a 70-cent bowl of rice was too expensive, but now a $20 meal is acceptable”. He also said that the new generation of Chinese students engaged with other students, bringing all their non-Chinese friends to visit the restaurant.
Peter takes great pride in his own cooking. He was curious about how the food was made and why particular foods or sauces had specific tastes. He chose to serve mainly Guangdong and Sichuan food at the restaurant, featuring the family-style Chinese dim sum or hot pot.
When I asked whether he would modify the taste of the dishes to suit the taste of most Americans, Peter said, “We are not like those American Chinese restaurants. We provide the genuine Chinese taste to our customers, and they will love it because it is delicious, and their taste will suit the taste of our dishes, not the other way around.”
“If I hear complaints from my customers, I will be so upset that I can’t fall asleep at night”, he said. “Luckily most of my favorite dishes received wide acclaim from my customers and it takes more than one person’s effort.”
He compares himself with the craftsmen in China who are proud of preserving ancient Chinese art and whose motivation is only on people’s enjoyment of their work and thought.
Such a spirit of craftsmanship has been remarkable and greatly valued in the past. The craftsman’s spirit with perfection, precision, concentration, and patience remains in Peter and his cooking.
1. How long have the couple been running the restaurant?| A．16 years | B．20 years | C．30 years | D．70 years |
| A．Its customers are mainly Chinese. |
| B．It sticks to its original taste of the dishes. |
| C．It adjusts the taste according to the customers. |
| D．Its menu merely contains Guangdong and Sichuan food. |
| A．Generous and patient. | B．Ambitious and economical. |
| C．Thoughtful and humorous. | D．Precise and devoted. |
| A．He believes that cooking just needs one person’s effort. |
| B．He shows an interest in preserving ancient Chinese art. |
| C．He takes pride in cooking the best typical Chinese cuisine. |
| D．He cares about the taste of the dishes rather than customers’ complaints. |
【推荐3】Most teens need about 8 to 10 hours of sleep each night. Getting the right amount of sleep is necessary for anyone who wants to do well in tests or sports. Unfortunately, many teens don’t get enough sleep.
Until recently, teens was often blamed for staying up late, oversleeping for school, and falling asleep in class. But recent studies show that their sleep patterns(模式) actually differ from those of adults or kids.
Scientists say that during the teen years, the body’s circadian rhythm, which is controlled by a biological(与生物学有关的) clock in the brain, is temporarily reset, telling a person to fall asleep later and wake up later. This change might arise from the fact that the brain hormone melatonin(褪黑激素) is produced later at night for teens than it is for kids and adults. This can make it harder for teens to fall asleep early.
These changes in the body’s circadian rhythm are in line with a busy time in life. For most teens, the pressure to do well in school is stronger than when they were kids, and it’s harder to get by without studying hard. And teens also have other time demands — everything from sports and other after-school activities to doing a part-time job to save money for college.
Early start times in some schools might also play a role in lost sleep. Teens who fall asleep after midnight may still have to get up early for school, meaning that they might have only 6 or 7 hours of sleep a night. A few hours of missed sleep a night may not seem like a big deal, but it can lead to sleep loss over time.
1. The right amount of sleep is mentioned in Paragraph 1 to ________.| A．show the secret of good sleep |
| B．attract readers’ interest in sleep patterns |
| C．introduce the topic about sleep loss among teens |
| D．discuss the relationship between sleep and performance |
| A．Early start times are the main reason for teens’ sleep loss. |
| B．Teens can get up late to make up for their lost sleep. |
| C．There are biological reasons for teens’ sleeping late. |
| D．A busy schedule has little to do with teens’ sleep patterns. |
| A．The suggestions on how to get enough sleep. |
| B．The reasons why teens don’t get enough sleep. |
| C．The results caused by not getting enough sleep. |
| D．The importance of getting enough sleep for teens. |
【推荐1】Ludwig van Beethoven is the most famous classical composer of the Western world. He is known for his powerful music and for continuing to compose after he became deaf.
Born to a musical family in the small German city of Bonn in December 1770, Beethoven was an excellent pianist and violinist as a boy. He soon became the first important composer to earn a successful living without working for the church or court. Beethoven began to lose his hearing in the late 1790s and by 1819 he was totally deaf. When he heard nothing, in order to hear the notes (音符), he cut the legs off the piano so that he could feel the vibrations (震动)as he played.
Beethoven enjoyed taking long walks in the countryside. The villagers respected him a lot and would not bother him when they passed him. He was a strange man with his untidy clothes, wild hair and a bad temper.
For his last 15 years Beethoven was regarded as the world’s best composer. The four-note beginning to his Fifth Symphony is one of the most famous moments in all of music. The notes were described as “Fate knocking at the door”. He wrote the popular Moonlight Sonata in 1801.
Beethoven never married. After his death in March 1827, his friends found his letters to a lover, but they never found out who she was.
Besides lots of concerts and broadcasts, over 200 films use Beethoven’s music. Although he died many years ago, Beethoven is still influencing the music world.
1. Most of Beethoven’s works are of___________.| A．light music | B．powerful music |
| C．sad music | D．violin music |
| A．He was totally deaf at the age of 28. |
| B．He didn’t like working for the church or court. |
| C．His family had some effect on him in music. |
| D．Many of Beethoven’s works were composed for a girl. |
| A．Because he continued to compose after his deafness. |
| B．Because he never married all his life. |
| C．Because he enjoyed taking long walks in the countryside. |
| D．Because he didn’t care for his appearance and had a bad temper. |
| A．Beethoven, the world’s best composer |
| B．Beethoven, a very strange composer |
| C．Beethoven, a struggling composer |
| D．Beethoven, the world’s most productive composer |
【推荐2】Daughter of an opera singer, Pat Benatar first studied opera at Juilliard before dropping out to marry her high school sweetheart. Together they moved to New York, but the two soon separated. In the hope of living happily ever after, she remembered her earlier dream of becoming a professional singer and started trying hard to realize it. At night, Benatar worked as a singing waitress. During the day, she knocked at the doors of record companies with her demo tape(样带).
For three years, she was met with nothing but rejections(拒绝) from record companies. These record companies were fond of her voice but they said that she was too feminine(女性的)for the style of music she performed. Then, on Halloween night 1977, Benatar gave a performance dressed as a modern vampire(吸血鬼). The audience went wild. This experience led Benatar to change her looks. In her later performances, she usually wore black tights and a short black top.
The new style made her performances more popular, and gave her a chance to work for Chrysalis Records. Her first single, Heartbreaker, headed the Top 40 charts, as did several of her other songs. Benatar won four Grammy Awards for Best Rock Vocal performance, from 1980 to 1983. Benatar was also the winner of three American Music Awards: Favorite Female Pop/Rock Vocalist of 1981 and 1983, and Favorite Female Pop/Rock Video Artist of 1985.
In 2010, Pat Benatar wrote a book, Between a Heart and a Rock Place, discussing her early life and success in the music business.
1. Benatar wanted to realize her dream of being a professional singer after ________.| A．she ended her marriage | B．she had a daughter |
| C．she lost her job as a singer waitress. | D．she finished her studies at Julliard |
| A．her voice | B．her looks | C．her experience | D．her songs |
| A．crazy | B．quiet | C．impatient | D．nervous |
| A．a modern vampire | B．a new style of music |
| C．a rock star | D．an opera singer |
【推荐3】Mayre Abboud Melki and her husband will be always grateful they were not home when an explosion over a mile away tore through it. On August 4，a serious explosion rocked Beirut, Lebanon, causing widespread destruction（摧毁） across the city. Thousands were injured, over 100 people lost their lives, and countless others were left homeless. While May’s house was left standing, it was seriously damaged, and her husband’s store was destroyed. Still, she refused to give up!
When the 79-year-old woman stepped into her home of 60 years a day later, she was heartbroken. Broken glass and bricks littered the floor, a lot of facilities were ruined（破坏）, and there were holes in the walls. Still, she felt hopeful when she saw that her piano, a wedding gift from her father, was untouched. That’s when she sat down and began to play.
As volunteers worked to clean up the house, she played “Auld Lang Syne” and then some Arabic songs. “She pushed through the pain and tried to have a few moments of peace, ” her granddaughter, May-Lee Melki, said. “To see her lean into her faith was something that was a strong message to her community and our family immediately.”
Her resilience(坚韧) with the encouraging music inspired her loved ones and thousands of people around the world! May-Lee shared a video of the powerful moment on Facebook, and it quickly went viral(走红). It isn’t hard to see why! In May-Lee’s words, it “was able to express a symbol of hope and peace among all of the despair.(绝望)”
1. According to the passage, which of the following is true?| A．The explosion caused little damage. |
| B．May-Lee had to clean up the house by herself. |
| C．May-Lee lost everything in the explosion. |
| D．May-Lee’s music and action encouraged other people. |
| A．Not damaged. | B．Not used. | C．Not prepared. | D．Not protected. |
| A．Her musical talent is great. | B．She used to be a famous pianist. |
| C．People can find hope and peace in it. | D．She was good at making videos. |
| A．Hard-working. | B．Positive. | C．Careful. | D．Far-seeing. |
