The bus stops in the Dutch city of Utrecht are as beautiful as they are practical. Now, 316 bus stops feature a green roof that adds some life to the city, while also storing rainwater, catching dust, and providing some much needed shade during the warmer months. This project is good for the honey bee population that is attracted to the plants on the roof. To keep up this successful ecosystem, municipal（市政的）workers drive around in electric cars, taking care of the mini gardens.
Another one of the biggest benefits to come out of these green stops is the improved air quality. Smoking, cars, and bacteria all contribute to polluting the air we breathe. These eco-friendly public spaces act as an air purifier for city people, though humans aren’t the only group that benefit from them.
Utrecht has also made great efforts towards moving their transportation system away from gas-guzzling（高耗油的）buses. The city replaced 10 gas-guzzling buses with electric powered buses and plans to have only CO2 inactive buses on the road by 2028.
The buses have a system that records the driver’s efficiency and rider’s comfort levels. Drivers can win prizes based on how safe and comfortable the ride was. The city is also one of the most bicycle-friendly places in the world. Roads have been redesigned for cyclists’ convenience and there is a new state-of-the-art 6,000 space bicycle parking area that is located beneath Utrecht’s central train station.
Utrecht offers prize money to keep citizens energized and motivated to live greener lives. There are even prize money for people to transform their roofs into green roofs too. Achieving the goals of an eco-friendlier city takes cooperation and Utrecht is leading the way to protect our environment.
1. What is special about the bus stops in Utrecht?| A．They are eco-friendly. |
| B．They can save a lot of energy. |
| C．They are artificially-intelligent. |
| D．They can provide electric power for buses. |
| A．Not all buses are gas-guzzling at present. |
| B．Gas-guzzling cars have been completely replaced. |
| C．Only electric private cars are allowed on the roads. |
| D．Buses have air purifiers fixed on them. |
| A．Buses are always too crowded. |
| B．Buses are often behind schedule. |
| C．Buses are too big for redesigned roads. |
| D．Buses are generally comfortable and safe. |
| A．Give up smoking. | B．Create gardens on their roofs. |
| C．Paint their roofs green. | D．Buy more honey. |
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【推荐1】Over the past four decades, more than 450 butterfly species have been hit by the falling numbers. In the US alone, the number of monarch butterflies (黑脉金斑蝶) has seen a drop of 80%, from scientists recording millions of them in the 1980s, and only 29,000 in 2020. It’s part of a wider possibility across the insect group. In 2017, scientists in Germany raised alarm bells after finding that insects had fallen by more than 70% in 30 years.
For farmers, monarch butterflies pollinate (授粉) a very large percentage of food crops. It is very important t protect them because their disappearance could have a huge economic influence. Butterflies are also helpful in the coal mine for other insects, as it is easier for them to feel the environmental change. and relatively easy to record.
Leading environmental organizations have been working hard to find new ways of recording the number of butterflies. As of now, there is no long-term data to develop good protection methods. The scientists wanted to address the challenge that long term recording programs worldwide have faced: they are focusing on training locals as insect experts, which requires much money. They came up with a new method to the problem. In Yasuni National Park, they hired park rangers (护林员) who were trained and then carried out recording. The rangers were able to recognize butterflies with an 85% success rate, which is important for these kinds of recording programs to be successful.
Compared with other recording projects, this study represents a long-term solution. “Our method increases the chance of recording in the long term by reducing the money spent on it such as wages,” said lead author Maria Checa. “Furthermore, it also offers opportunities for public organizations to achieve their environmental goals.”
1. How does the author develop the first paragraph?| A．By telling a story. | B．By listing numbers. |
| C．By showing possible results. | D．By discussing different reasons. |
| A．They are quicker. | B．They are lazier. |
| C．They are slower. | D．They are more inactive. |
| A．Discover. | B．Solve. | C．Invent. | D．Balance. |
| A．Uncaring. | B．Disapproving. | C．Positive. | D．Doubtful. |
【推荐2】Parks are the beating hearts of cities, providing crucial environments for wildlife of many sizes as well as areas of rest and recreation for local citizens. Accessible via public transport, and located near a university, a stadium and the National Library, Warsaw’s Pole Mokotowskie Park provides green space for many people.
One of the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s five pathways to transformative change for water management is to restore species population, ecosystems and the benefits that nature provides to people by using each city’s advantage. As more urban centres seek new ways to unite greenery into the built environment, projects of all sizes and stages add to essential corridors and stopping points for a range of wildlife.
Tasked with improving Warsaw’s Pole Mokotowskie Park’s natural sustainability, architecture company WXCA looked at ways of enhancing the elements that were already in place to better support wildlife. One of the most visible means was the removal of thousands of square metres of concrete (混凝土). Removing concrete in and around ponds and other waterways allows the city’s features to shape themselves naturally, in reaction to both the surrounding environment and the weather. Doing so can support biodiversity by removing artificial constraints and flows. More than 13,000 square metres of concrete has already been removed, with more removal planned over the next year.
For the human users of the park, the designers created education, activity, and art spaces. The Grand Salon, a grassland surrounded by trees, is for large public gatherings, and a handful of pavilions (亭) spread throughout the space provide visible means of monitoring the quality of the air and water. They also contribute to the park’s ecosystem through rainwater harvesting. As the temperature consistently rises, city planners are using the leaves and branches of the plants and mixed use designs to reduce heat islands, improve air quality and prevent urban runoff.
1. What do we know about Warsaw’s Pole Mokotowskie Park?| A．It creates a new way to the city center. |
| B．It serves different community groups. |
| C．It reminds the public to protect the environment. |
| D．It shows the locals are living happily. |
| A．Providing stages to show off creativity. | B．Taking advantage of the city’s resources. |
| C．Encouraging people to get close to nature. | D．Supplying various wildlife with more room. |
| A．Limits. | B．Factors. | C．Methods. | D．Damages. |
| A．By offering some shelters. | B．By collecting rainwater. |
| C．By monitoring the air quality. | D．By reducing high temperature. |
【推荐3】All sorts of items become litter but two of the most common and most dangerous are cigarette butts and plastic bags. Litter is a big problem for our environment but it is a problem that individuals can easily do something about. Not littering at all or cleaning up litter, such as cigarette butts and plastic bags, greatly improves the quality of our environment.
Although cigarette butts are small, they are bad for the environment. Over 1,600 billion cigarettes are smoked each year in China and large quantities of the butts are thrown away. Worldwide, about 4.5 trillion butts are littered every year. Apart from the fact that butts spoil the beauty of the environment, they contain some very toxic chemicals. These find their way into the water supply where they decrease the quality of the water and endanger plants and animals that live there. Because there are so many butts and because they can take up to 5 years to break down, the toxic chemicals add up to a large amount. So, if people have to smoke, they should not throw away the butts but put them in the rubbish bin instead.
Plastic bags are another common form of litter that is a danger to the environment. There are several reasons for this. They are made from oil and gas, which are non-renewable resources. If they are not recycled, these resources are lost to us. In China, 2 billion plastic bags are used every day. An enormous number of these become litter. This is a huge problem because they last from 20 to 1,000 years in the environment. They float easily in air and water and travel long distances. They find their way to rivers, parks, beaches and oceans. Plastic bags kill up to one million seabirds, 100,000 sea mammals and countless fish each year worldwide. When the animal dies and breaks down, the plastic bag can become free again to kill another animal. It is up to people not to let plastic bags become litter. It would be better if they used fewer and recycled them.
Cleaning up your cigarette butts and plastic bags would improve the environment. The earth would be a better place because it would be less polluted. And we would know that we were doing something to look after our planet. However, I believe the best solution would be not to smoke or use plastic bags at all.
1. What does paragraph 2 mainly tell us?| A．Dozens of plastic bags become litter. | B．Butts spoil the beauty of the environment. |
| C．Cigarette butts are bad for the environment. | D．It takes up to 5 years for butts to break down. |
| A．By making explanations. | B．By listing numbers. |
| C．By making comparisons. | D．By making definitions. |
| A．Classify the litter. | B．Use fewer plastic bags. |
| C．Put the butts in the rubbish bin. | D．Not to smoke or use plastic bags at all. |
| A．No smoking, no littering | B．Recycle the plastic bags |
| C．Clean up your butts and bags | D．Stop spoiling the environment |
【推荐1】The Nobel Prize for literature is given to the person who shall have produced the most outstanding work in the field of literature. Here are four winners, along with the reasons.
Peter Handke
He is an Austrian novelist, playwright, translator, poet, film director and screenwriter. He is most famous for his novel about his mother’s act of killing herself deliberately, A Sorrow Beyond Dreams. He was awarded the 2019 Nobel Prize for literature.
Kazuo Ishiguro
He is a British novelist, screenwriter and short-story writer. He was born in Japan, but his family moved to the UK in 1960 when he was five. He is known for The Remains of the Day, Never Let Me Go and The Saddest Music in the World. He was awarded the 2017 Nobel Prize for literature.
Bob Dylan
He is one of the most influential singer-songwriters of the 20th century. In 2016, he was named the winner of the 2016 Nobel Prize for literature and it was the first time that the honor had been given to a musician. He was praised for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition.
Svetlana Alexievich
She was awarded the 2015 Nobel Prize for literature. Her works reflected the suffering and courage in her time. She is known for her works about the women involved in World War II and the description of the Soviet Union’s war in Afghanistan.
1. Which of the following is Peter Handke’s famous book?| A．Never Let Me Go. | B．The Remains of the Day. |
| C．A Sorrow Beyond Dreams. | D．The Saddest Music in the World. |
| A．He was the first musician to receive the Nobel Prize. |
| B．He tried to explore the human nature. |
| C．He wrote a lot of Japanese songs. |
| D．He helped the women in need. |
| A．Peter Handke’s. | B．Kazuo Ishiguro’s. |
| C．Bob Dylan’s. | D．Svetlana Alexievich’s. |
【推荐2】Follow the following tips to reduce your stress to manageable levels!
Avoid “must” thinking. Let’s go off the idea that you must do something in a certain way, for example, “I must get a great score in a test”, or else. This thought pattern only adds to the stress you’ll feel. Judge your situation calmly, and not as a life-or-death situation.
Clean up the mess. Don’t study in a messy or crowded area. Clear yourself a nice, open space that’s free of distraction.
Set manageable goals. Break large projects into smaller, practical parts. You’ll feel a positive sense of achievement as you finish each part.
Imagine dumping your worries. Imagine yourself walking on a beautiful beach, carrying a sand bucket. Stop at a good spot and put your worries into the bucket. Drop the bucket and watch as it floats away into the ocean.
Think good thoughts. Make a set of good but brief affirmations and repeat them to yourself just before you fall asleep at night. You will feel much better in the morning.
Imagine yourself succeeding. Close your eyes and remember a real-life situation in which you did well. Imagine facing your stressful situation with the same feelings of success.
Use your bed for sleeping, not studying. Your mind may start to connect your bed with work, which will make it harder for you to fall asleep.
Enjoy comforting sounds. If you want to play music, keep it low in the background. Classical music especially can help the learning process.
Take a walk. Take a short, vigorous walk. Clear your mind.
1. Which of the following might be the best title for the passage?| A．How to Set Manageable Goals | B．How to Reduce Your Stress |
| C．The Cause of Stress | D．The Study of the Human Mind |
| A．walk on a beautiful beach | B．drop our thoughts into the sea |
| C．not pay much attention to any of our feelings | D．get rid of our worries |
| A．cut it into smaller, practical parts | B．set as many goals as possible |
| C．accept the large project as a whole | D．finish exactly half of the project first and then the other |
| A．we can think clearly while we are in bed |
| B．rock music can help the learning process |
| C．thinking our real-life success will do us good while in trouble |
| D．we must treat everything as a life-or-death situation |
【推荐3】If the crust（外壳）of the earth were not pretty solid（坚固的）, it would be shaking and moving up and down frequently. However, there are places in the rocks of the earth’s crust where it isn’t strongly held together—where faults exist. Along the faults, one rock might push against another with great force. The energy is changed to vibration in the rocks, so they begin to shake and we have an earthquake!
The most famous one in North America was the Sin Francisco earthquake of 1906. Seven hundred people died and property（财产）damage amounted to about $425,000,000. The greatest destruction came from the fires that followed the quake.
One of the most famous earthquakes in Europe took place in Lisbon, Portugal, in 1755. The city was destroyed and at least thirty thousand people were killed. In 1908, in Calabria and Sicily, a quake killed about seventy-five thousand people. In 1915, in central Italy, hundreds of towns and villages were damaged and thirty thousand people were killed.
Two great earthquakes that caused great damage in Asia took place in Tokyo, Japan, and in Gansu Province in China. The Tokyo quake of 1923 killed more than one hundred thousand people and destroyed the city and the city of Yokohama, too. The Chinese quake in 1920 covered more than three hundred square miles and killed about two hundred thousand people.
1. The first paragraph mainly tells us_____________.| A．where earthquakes happen | B．the damage caused by earthquakes |
| C．how earthquakes happen | D．famous earthquakes in the world |
| A．force | B．shaking | C．energy. | D．losing |
①the San Francisco earthquake
②the earthquake in Lisbon, Portugal
③the earthquake in Calabria and Sicily
④the earthquake in central Italy
⑤the earthquake in Gansu Province
⑥the Tokyo quake
| A．③④⑤⑥②① | B．⑤⑥②①③④ | C．①③④②⑤⑥ | D．②①③④⑤⑥ |
| A．the fires following the San Francisco earthquake caused more damage than the earthquake did |
| B．the earth’s crust in Europe is weaker than that in other places |
| C．there were 75,000 people killed in the San Francisco earthquake |
| D．the city of Yokohama was not greatly influenced by the Tokyo quake |
【推荐1】What can holidaymakers in Argentina do in the country? Express.co.uk spoke to the travel experts to find out more.
The best time to visit Argentina
If you want to avoid crowds and peak prices while still enjoying everything offered, Lloyd, Director of Sunvil Latin America, advises visiting from October to mid-December and April to mid-June.
If you want to see the Patagonia penguins (企鹅), Tom Bourlet, a travel blogger, advises going between October and March.
The best places to visit in Argentina
“Buenos Aires is a melting pot of cultures,” said Tom Hughes, “Here travellers will discover a wealth of culture, not to mention it is the birthplace of a fast dance, tango. Nature lovers should head to the world’s largest waterfall system, Iguazu Falls.”
“I highly recommend San Carlos de Bariloche,” Tom Bourlet said. “It’s a quite beautiful and fantastic, and also acts as a good base for exploring the Lake District.”
“The best holiday destination in Argentina is Patagonia. The most famous place is Ushuaia — the southernmost city in the world. Expect glaciers (冰川), national parks, wildlife and end of the world cruising,” said Lloyd.
The best accommodation in Argentina
Lloyd advises avoiding some of the chain hotels. “While it may be attractive to stay at famous hotels, I recommend some of the smaller boutique hotels in the city,” he said.
Bourlet also recommends staying in some of Argentina’s more unique accommodation, such as a youth hostel and a boutique hotel in the heart of Argentina’s wine country.
1. Which time is available for tourists to observe penguins?| A．May 1st. | B．July 24th. | C．September 3rd. | D．November 11th. |
| A．Tango was born there. |
| B．Its scenery is quite beautiful. |
| C．Tourists can explore in national parks. |
| D．It is the southernmost city in the world. |
| A．A chain hotel. | B．A youth hostel. |
| C．A boutique hotel. | D．A well-known hotel. |
【推荐2】More cycling, better public transport and car bans...Places all over the world are taking a range of measures to lower traffic pollution.
Paris
Paris bans cars in many historic central districts on weekends, places odd-even (单双日的) bans on vehicles，makes public transport free during major pollution events and encourages car-sharing programs. A long section of the right bank of the river Seine is now car-free and a monthly ban on cars has come into force along the Champs-Elysees.
The Netherlands
Politicians want to ban the sale of all petrol cars from 2025, allowing only electric or hydrogen vehicles. The new law will allow anyone who already owns a petrol car to continue using it. Most cities encourage bicycle use.
Freiburg
Freiburg in Germany has 500km of bike routes and a cheap and efficient public transport system. One town, Vauban, forbids people to park near homes and makes car-owners pay $18,000 for a space on the edge of town in return for living without a car. People are offered cheaper housing, free public transport, and plentiful bicycle spaces.
Curitiba
The southern Brazilian city of two million people has one of the biggest and lowest-cost bus systems in the world. Nearly 70% of its people go to work by public transport and the result is pollution-free air and traffic-free streets.
Copenhagen
Copenhagen prioritizes (优先考虑) bikes over cars and now has more cycles than people. The city calculates that one mile on a bike is worth $0.42 to society, while one mile in a car is a $0.2 loss. Large parts of the Danish capital have been closed to vehicles for decades.
1. What will happen in Paris during major pollution events?| A．Historic central districts won’t allow cars in. |
| B．Car-sharing programs will raise money publicly. |
| C．People must obey the odd-even traffic restrictions on weekends. |
| D．People can take public transport free of charge. |
| A．put 500km of bike routes into full use |
| B．only allow the sale of electric or hydrogen vehicles |
| C．completely forbid the use of petrol cars |
| D．own the biggest and lowest-cost bus system in the world |
| A．Freiburg and Copenhagen | B．Park and Curitiba |
| C．Paris and Freiburg | D．Curitiba and Copenhagen |
【推荐3】My mother was an excellent housekeeper. She had a few surgeries over the years, and before each one she’d have my father move the stove out from the wall so she could clean behind it. It would have been hard for her to relax in the hospital if she knew there were dust balls behind the stove.
The entire house was tidy and organized – there was a place for everything and everything
was in its place. Mom would hang the sheets outside to dry rather than inside the house. And if storm clouds gathered, she would run outside, race down to the sheets, throw them into a bag, and then race back to the house as the rain started, satisfied that a major catastrophe had been avoided. Throughout our entire childhoods, my sisters and I were spoiled with fresh bedding and cookies fresh from the oven.
There’s something beautiful about freshness, like the beginning of a school year, the start of a marriage, the birth of a child, moving to a new place, or starting a new job.
Freshness is like opening a new calendar that isn’t yet filled with neglected tasks. A new year always means a chance at a fresh start. But the question is, how do we choose to make this new start?
Maybe I need to do some housekeeping myself. A good sweeping usually leads to finding some interesting things – an old memory or two and new hobbies that fell by the wayside. Perhaps it’s time to clean out all those drawers filled with junk – the ones holding old tapes that replay the things I regret doing and the things that I wish I had done.
My personality could use some polish (亮光剂) as well – the ability to listen more than I talk. Glass cleaner (玻璃清洁剂) would be a good idea too – something to give me a clearer view of the things that matter and the things that don’t.
Cleaning is rarely my first choice of activity, but I’m ready to go and do what needs to be done. Here’s to a fresh start and a new year.
1. What can we learn about the author’s mother according to the article?| A．She prefer rainy days to sunny days. |
| B．She couldn’t bear anything to be unorganized in her house. |
| C．She required her daughters to wash their own bedding. |
| D．She ask her husband to do the housekeeping during her surgeries. |
| A．She has forgotten it | B．It was painful for her. |
| C．It was full of happiness. | D．She was spoiled by her mother. |
| A．She see it as a chance to improve herself and move on. |
| B．She wants to help reduce her mother’s burden. |
| C．She is quite bothered by her messy house. |
| D．She thinks it’s time to learn some life skills. |
| A．give advice on how to clean the house. |
| B．inspire people’s thought and plan for the new year. |
| C．share the story of her mother’s strength. |
| D．recall her mother sisters and father. |
【推荐1】We continue our Foreign Student Series on higher education in the United States. Now you move on to college life once you are admitted to a school. The first thing you need to value is a place to live. Housing policies differ from school to school. Students might have to live in a dormitory, at least for the first year there.
Dorms come in all sizes. Some have suites. Six or more students may live in one suite. Other dorms have many rooms along a common hallway, usually with two students in each room . Many students say dormitories provide the best chance to get to know other students. Also, dorms generally cost less than apartments or other housing not owned by the school
Most colleges and universities offer single-sex dorms, but usually males and females live in the same building. They might live on the same floors and share the same common bathrooms. They may live in the same room only if they are married.
Edward Spencer is the associate vice president for student affairs at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg. He says it is important to understand the rules of the building in which you will live. He advises students to ask questions before they decide about their housing. For example, if a student requires a special diet, will the school provide it ? How much privacy can a student expect ? Will the school provide a single room if a student requests one ? And what about any other special needs that a student might have?
Virginia Tech, for example, had a ban against candles in dorms . But it changed that policy to let students light up candles for religious purposes. The university also has several dorms open all year so foreign students have a place to stay during vacation time.
1. Why do some students in the U.S. choose to live in dorms, according to the passage ?| A．Dorms allow students in the U.S. choose to live in dorms |
| B．Dorms are safer for students to live in most cases |
| C．Dorms offer the chance to meet other people and are cheap as well |
| D．In most schools students are required to live in the dorms |
| A．what suites in American schools are like | B．what dorms in American schools are like |
| C．what dorms are owned by schools | D．when people get to know each other |
| A．colleges usually don’t provide a special diet | B．housing rules differ from one building to another |
| C．a ban against candles in dorms is necessary | D．the U.S. college always satisfies students’ requests |
| A．Places to live in U.S. colleges | B．housing polices in the U.S |
| C．Advantages of dormitories | D．Rules of single-sex dorms |
【推荐2】Using natural and organic products for skincare is increasingly popular-and that includes suncream. Many websites, including Pinterest and Instagram, feature users' recipes for homemade suncream. Judging from the comment, the rise in interest for homemade suncream is because some people fear the chemicals in shop-bought suncream and believe that natural products mixed at home will be better at protecting them from the sun's harmful rays. The fear originates from recent news that some suncream elements seem to disturb hormones (荷尔蒙).
Many of the homemade suncream recipes contain elements like shea butter and cocoa butter as well as coconut and vitamin E oils. The sun protection factor (SPF) values for these elements, according to the authors of these recipes, are between four and six. These SPF values, if true, are not enough to protect the skin against the harmful effects of sunlight. Some recipes include carrot seed essential oil, which the authors claim to have an SPF of 35-40. But this is unlikely, given the small amount used in these recipes. The European Commission recommended SPF factor for moderate skin protection is 15-29 (and 30-50+ for high protection).
The sun's most harmful rays are ultraviolet (UV) radiation-notably UVB and UVA radiation. UVB has a shorter wavelength and doesn't go far into the skin, but it is very dangerous as it can change the DNA in skin cells and cause skin cancer. UVA has a longer wave- length and can go much deeper into the skin. UVA can cause harmful reactive oxygen molecules (分子)called “free radicals” to form. These molecules can damage fat, protein and DNA in the skin, thereby weakening the normal function of skin cells.
Shop-bought suncream contains approved UV-blocking molecules that block UVA and UVB rays. Zinc oxide (氧化锌)is one of these UV-blocking materials. It has been extensively tested to determine the most effective size for blocking harmful rays. It is not clear whether the zinc oxide powder recommended for the homemade recipes meets with the recommended size or proportion needed.
1. What may concern consumers of the shop-bought suncream?| A．The price of it. | B．The hormones in it. |
| C．The chemicals in it. | D．The production process of it. |
| A．Measuring the amount of chemicals in suncream. |
| B．Measuring the harm suncream do to people. |
| C．Measuring the hormone level of suncream. |
| D．Measuring the protective effect of suncream. |
| A．How sun protection products work. |
| B．What harm the sun's rays bring to skin. |
| C．How the sun's most harmful rays form. |
| D．How UVB and UVA radiation can be blocked. |
| A．Shop-bought suncream needs more tests. |
| B．More zinc oxide powder is beneficial to skin. |
| C．Shop-bought suncream is more suitable for people. |
| D．More chemicals will be added into shop-bought suncream. |
【推荐3】Opera is an art form that celebrates the human voice. No other art form creates excitement and moves the heart in the way that opera does, especially when performed by a great singer. Opera is an important part of the Western classical music tradition. It uses music, words, and actions to bring a dramatic story to life. Opera started in Italy at the end of the 16th century and later became popular throughout Europe. Over the years, it has responded to various musicals. In recent decades, much wider audiences have been introduced to opera through modern recording technology. Some singers have become celebrities thanks to performing on radio, on TV, and in the cinema.
However, in recent years, opera has been facing serious challenges. One current challenge to opera is economic. The shortage of money raises the broader question of how much should be paid to support opera singers and other artists. Society seems to accept the large salaries paid to business managers and the multi-million-dollar contracts given to sports athletes. But what about opera singers? Somehow, people have the idea that artists can be creative only if they suffer in poverty, but this is unrealistic. If artists, including opera singers, lack the support they need, valuable talent is wasted.
Not only the shortage of money, but also the way money is managed in the opera world has led to hardships. Principal (主要的)singers are generally paid performance fees once they complete a show. They typically receive nothing during the many weeks of rehearsal (排练) before a show starts.
Another problem faced by opera is how to meet the demands of audiences who are influenced by popular entertainment. Pop singers are often judged as much on the basis of how they look as how they sound. These demands may be unrealistic and possibly harmful. Opera singers simply cannot make a sound big enough to fill a large theater or concert hall without a microphone if their body weight is too low. Emphasizing physical appearance over singing ability may cause audiences to miss out on the human voice at its best.
There are no easy solutions to opera's problems and there are many different opinions about the value of opera. However, every year many young people register for music courses with hopes and dreams of developing their talents in this special art form. The fact that opera has survived many obstacles and continues to attract the rising generation shows that it remains a respected art form full of value.
1. Which of the statements is TRUE according to the passage?| A．Opera singers' life stories are dramatic. |
| B．Opera will soon appear on TV and in films |
| C．Opera fans thank celebrities for performing. |
| D．Opera develops by adapting to new conditions. |
| A．Opera singers are financially insecure. |
| B．Opera singers waste their valuable talent. |
| C．Opera singers get paid before the show. |
| D．Opera singers perform better if they are poor. |
| A．Popular culture has had a positive influence on opera. |
| B．Audiences know best how opera should be performed. |
| C．Microphones should be used to make opera more enjoyable. |
| D．Opera singers' voices should be valued more than their looks. |
| A．The Economic Challenge to Opera | B．Opera Faced with the Difficulties |
| C．Opera as Part of Popular Culture | D．The Historical Context of Opera |
