1 . Some of the world’s most famous musicians recently gathered in Paris and New Orleans to celebrate the first annual International Jazz Day. UNESCO( United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) recently set April 30 as a day to raise awareness of jazz music, its significance, and its potential as a unifying (联合) voice across cultures.

Despite the celebrations, though, in the U.S. the jazz audience continues to shrink and grow older, and the music has failed to connect with younger generations.

It’s Jason Moran’s job to help change that. As the Kennedy Center’s artistic adviser for jazz, Moran hopes to widen the audience for jazz, make the music more accessible, and preserve its history and culture.

“Jazz seems like it’s not really a part of the American appetite,” Moran tells National Public

Radio’s reporter Neal Conan “What I’m hoping to accomplish is that my generation and younger start to reconsider and understand that jazz is not black and write anymore. It’s actually colorful, and it’s actually digital.”

Moran says one of the problems with jazz today is that the entertainment aspect of the music has been lost. “The music can’t be presented today the way it was in 1908 or 1958. It has to continue to move, because the way the world works is not the same,” says Moran.

Last year, Moran worked on a project that arranged Fats Waller’s music for a dance party, “Just to kind of put it back in the mind that Waller is dance music as much as it is concert music,” says Moran. “For me, it’s the recontextualization. In music, where does the emotion (情感) lie? Are we, as abstract as a Charlie Parker record gets us into a dialogue about our emotions and our thoughts? Sometimes we lose sight that the music has a wider context,” says Moran, “So I want to continue those dialogue. Those are the things I want to foster.”

1. What does the underlined word “that” in paragraph 3 refer to?

A．Jazz becoming more accessible.

B．The production of jazz growing faster.

C．Jazz being less popular with the young.

D．The jazz audience becoming larger.

2. What can we infer about Moran’s opinion on jazz?

A．It will disappear gradually.

B．It remains black and white.

C．It should keep up with the times.

D．It changes every 50 years.

3. Which of the following can be the best title for the text?

A．Exploring the Future of Jazz

B．The Rise and Fall of Jazz

C．The Story of a Jazz Musician

D．Celebrating the Jazz Day

2 . Phrases like “good sharing!” and “great job on the slide!” echo across American playgrounds. Coaches pass out ribbons to every participant. Scholar publishes a series called “I’m Special!” assuring readers that the ability to play with friends and sing songs makes them special indeed.

We’ve been told that high self-esteem(自尊) is the key to children’s happiness and success, and we’ve been praising and protecting them ever since. But has the self-esteem movement gone too far? Many experts argue that instead of raising healthy high achievers, maybe we’re raising a generation of narcissists(自我陶醉者). “Our old concepts of self-esteem are old-fashioned, and parents need to send the concept to the trash heap of all things outdated and useless,” says Aaron Cooper, co-author of I Just Want My Kids to be Happy.

While experts used to blame low self-esteem for everything from bad grades to criminal behavior, research has shown that inflated (膨胀的) self-esteem is more often the criminal. An article called “Rethinking Self-Esteem” by Roy made a stir when he supposed that criminals and drug abusers actually had higher self-esteem than the general population. Martin and Ervin found that the modern habit of constant praise was turning kids skeptical and unmotivated. And esteemed child development expert T. Barry recently wrote in The New York Times that the phrase “self-esteem” had lost its meaning. Parents just want their children to have a positive self-image. And while it’s easy to make fun of the extremes of the self-esteem movement, it’s difficult to walk the fine line between acquiring self-respect and self-centeredness.

Anyway, make it clear that while you have expectations for their behavior, you love and accept them unconditionally. True self-esteem isn’t about a steady stream of applause; it develops when children know their limits and responsibilities, are given enough opportunities to challenge themselves, and feel secure that they’re loved even when they fail.

1. What’s the purpose of using phrases like “good sharing!” and “great job on the slide!”?

A．To attract readers’ attention.	B．To introduce the topic.
C．To give the author’s opinion.	D．To tell readers the key to happiness and success.

2. According to the text, which of the following statements is true?

A．Children with high esteem are likely to be high achievers.

B．In children’s development high self-esteem plays a positive role.

C．High self-esteem makes kids motivated nowadays.

D．High self-esteem does harm to kids in a way.

3. What’s the author’s attitude towards high self-esteem?

A．Subjective.

B．Positive.

C．Objective.

D．Negative

3 . My biggest survival story lasted for six months — six months of physical and mental struggle.

On the first day, my mother talked as she drove towards the Foothills, near a town called Los Altos in California. She told me that the swimming coach she was taking me to was an Olympian, and she hoped that I was going to improve with the coach.

After driving for 30 minutes, we drove through the gate of what appeared to be an expensive club, and saw the coach waiting for me. “Get into lane four, and do it quickly — you’re late. I want you to freestyle while I talk to your mom.”

I think that was the fastest I’d ever gotten into a pool. But if I thought that was bad, then I had another thing coming.

Each day for the next week, the swimming training was so grueling that I could barely get myself out of the pool after the two-hour class. My coach would yell at me whenever I did something wrong or I was hesitant to perform a task. During the day I was so nervous about this woman, that even at school, I was constantly planning what to say and do at swim practice.

The only reason I stayed as long as I did was because of one girl, whom I met around two weeks into the program.   People did not really want to talk when I tried to reach out to them. But this girl saw that I was alone and sat next to me while we were stretching (拉伸).

I “survived” the training because I had someone who could cheer me on and someone that I could have fun with but also be serious with. We stood up for each other when the coach called us out. Sometimes, it felt like it was us against the world when we were on that team. So finally, when we realized that this place just wasn’t for us, we both left and I’ve never seen her since. I obviously wouldn’t have died without her, but I definitely wouldn’t have improved so much as a swimmer and just as a person.

1. What do we know about the author’s swimming coach?

A．She seems impatient with her students.

B．She is quite popular among her students.

C．She left a good first impression on the author.

D．She was an Olympian and is known for her freestyle swimming.

2. The underlined word “grueling” in Paragraph 5 probably means ________.

A．boring

B．enjoyable

C．exhausting

D．meaningful

3. How did the author survive her training days?

A．By practicing really hard.

B．With the help of a new friend.

C．By chatting with her teammates.

D．With the encouragement of her coach

6 . What are the speakers talking about?

A．A photographer.

B．A vacation.

C．A photo.

7 . What is the man’s opinion about soap operas?

A．Relaxing.

B．Boring.

C．Interesting.

8 . Where is the man going?

A．5th Avenue.

B．6th Avenue.

C．8th Avenue.

9 . Many years ago, I owned a service station and roadhouse on the main road between Melbourne and Adelaide.

      One very cold, wet night at about 3:30 a.m., there was a________on the front door of our house. A young man, wet from________to toe, explained that he had________out of petrol about 30 km up the road. He had left his pregnant wife and his two children ________ at the car and said that he would hitchhike (搭便车) back.
      Once I had________a can with petrol, I took him back to his car where his two-year-old and four-year-old children were both ________, saying that they were cold. Once the car had started, I suggested that he________ me back.
      Before leaving, I had turned the heater________in the roadhouse, so that when we went in, it was nice and________. While the little ones played and ran________, I prepared bread and butter for the children, and hot chocolate for the________.
      It was about 5 a.m. before they ________. The young fellow asked me how much he________me and I told him that the petrol pump (加油泵) had ________ $15. He offered to pay “call-out fee”, but I wouldn’t accept it.
      About a month later, I received a________ from Interstate, a large bus company that we had been trying to________to stop off at our roadhouse for a long time. It________out that the young fellow I had helped was its general manager, the most ________ person in the company.
      In his letter, he thanked me again and________me that, from then on, all their buses would stop at my service station. In this________, a little bit of kindness was rewarded with a huge amount of benefits.1.

A．kick

B．hit

C．beat

D．knock

2.

A．finger

B．shoulder

C．head

D．hand

3.

A．driven

B．used

C．come

D．run

4.

A．away

B．behind

C．over

D．out

5.

A．supplied

B．poured

C．equipped

D．filled

6.

A．sleeping

B．crying

C．quarrelling

D．fighting

7.

A．allow

B．ring

C．lead

D．follow

8.

A．on

B．off

C．in

D．over

9.

A．neat

B．hot

C．warm

D．attractive

10.

A．around

B．inside

C．nearby

D．along

11.

A．drivers

B．guests

C．customers

D．adults

12.

A．left

B．arrived

C．ate

D．disappeared

13.

A．gave

B．paid

C．owed

D．offered

14.

A．appeared

B．become

C．happened

D．shown

15.

A．call

B．letter

C．check

D．notice

16.

A．get

B．force

C．require

D．hope

17.

A．pointed

B．turned

C．worked

D．found

18.

A．generous

B．successful

C．serious

D．powerful

19.

A．praised

B．commanded

C．informed

D．persuaded

20.

A．lesson

B．business

C．aspect

D．case