1 . There is an interesting, but at the same time a sad phenomenon now:there is a rise in the number of singers and bands that have little to do with good music.Many singers or bands know little about what good music means. What is the cause of this rise?
Most of these singers have taken music as a“job” because it is a good source of making money. And if you have a good appearance and also expensive clothes to show off at your concerts or at different appearances in public, then your voice is not as important as it should be. The public will prefer to admire more the most interesting parts of your body, whether you are a girl or a boy.They will even forget about the fact that you are there to show your music skills, not your dancing, which is important too, but not at such a high level.
Therefore, we can see many young girls on TV who look very good but who have nothing to do with music.They choose to wear very provocative (挑逗性的) clothes to catch attention, but when it comes to singing they are a complete mess and one doesn't need to have an ear for music to notice their lack of talent. But anyway, they have concerts and they enjoy travelling from one place to another. It is the public's fault because they accept this and are pleased with this commercial music. People who enjoy this kind of music are generally young people while adults prefer listening to old good bands.
However, the young generation should understand while appearance is important, it is less important than talent and a good voice. If somebody has a great voice and wants to become a singer, he should take some special courses in this area, because they will help him improve singing abilities.
1. The passage shows that many singers consider music as_____.A.an art serving the public |
B.a good way of making money |
C.a way of living fully |
D.a fashionable lifestyle |
A.appearance is the most important thing in the world of music |
B.all people who have received training in singing can become famous |
C.adults should help young people improve their abilities |
D.a singer's talent and voice are the most important factors |
A.Critical. | B.Supportive. |
C.Tolerant. | D.Worried. |
A.Entertainment. | B.Sport. |
C.Comment. | D.Story. |
2 . Salvador Dali (1904-1989) was one of the most popular of modern artists. The Pompidou Centre in Paris is showing its respect and admiration for the artist and his powerful personality with an exhibition bringing together over 200 paintings, sculptures, drawings and more. Among the works and masterworks on exhibition the visitor will find the best pieces, most importantly The Persistence of Memory. There is also L’Enigme sans Fin from 1938, works on paper, objects, and projects for stage and screen and selected parts from television programmes reflecting the artist’s showman qualities.
The visitor will enter the World of Dali through an egg and is met with the beginning, the world of birth. The exhibition follows a path of time and subject with the visitor exiting through the brain.
The exhibition shows how Dali draws the viewer between two infinities (无限). “From the infinity small to the infinity large, contraction and expansion coming in and out of focus: amazing Flemish accuracy and the showy Baroque of old painting that he used in his museum-theatre in Figueras,” explains the Pompidou Centre.
The fine selection of the major works was done in close collaboration (合作) with the Museo Nacional Reina Sofia in Madrid, Spain, and with contributions from other institutions like the Salvador Dali Museum in St. Petersburg.
1. Which of the following best describe Dali according to Paragraph 1?A.Optimistic. | B.Productive. |
C.Generous. | D.Traditional. |
A.One of his masterworks. | B.A successful screen adaptation. |
C.An artistic creation for the stage. | D.One of the beat TV programmes. |
A.By popularity. | B.By importance. |
C.By size and shape. | D.By time and subject. |
A.Artworks. | B.Projects. |
C.Donations. | D.Documents. |
3 . As Internet users become more dependent on the Internet to store information, are people remember less? If you know your computer will save information, why store it in your own personal memory, your brain? Experts are wondering if the Internet is changing what we remember and how.
In a recent study, Professor Betsy Sparrow conducted some experiments. She and her research team wanted to know the Internet is changing memory. In the first experiment, they gave people 40 unimportant facts to type into a computer. The first group of people understood that the computer would save the information. The second group understood that the computer would not save it. Later, the second group remembered the information better. People in the first group knew they could find the information again, so they did not try to remember it.
In another experiment, the researchers gave people facts to remember, and told them where to find the information on the Internet. The information was in a specific computer folder (文件夹). Surprisingly, people later remember the folder location (位置) better than the facts. When people use the Internet, they do not remember the information. Rather, they remember how to find it. This is called “transactive memory (交互记忆)”
According to Sparrow, we are not becoming people with poor memories as a result of the Internet. Instead, computer users are developing stronger transactive memories; that is, people are learning how to organize huge quantities of information so that they are able to access it at a later date. This doesn’t mean we are becoming either more or less intelligent, but there is no doubt that the way we use memory is changing.
1. The passage begins with two questions to ________.A.introduce the main topic | B.show the author’s attitude |
C.describe how to use the Internet | D.explain how to store information |
A.Sparrow’s team typed the information into a computer. |
B.The two groups remembered the information equally well. |
C.The first group did not try to remember the formation. |
D.The second group did not understand the information. |
A.keep the information in mind |
B.change the quantity of information |
C.organize information like a computer |
D.remember how to find the information |
A.We are using memory differently. |
B.We are becoming more intelligent. |
C.We have poorer memories than before. |
D.We need a better way to access information. |
4 . Training for a marathon (马拉松) requires careful preparation and steady, gradual increases in the length of the runs.
During the first week, do not think about distance, but run five minutes longer each day.
A.After six days |
B.For a good marathon runner |
C.Before you begin your training |
D.With each day, increase the distance by a half mile |
E.If they still feel good, you can begin running in them |
F.Time spent for preparation raises the quality of training |
G.Now you are ready to figure out a goal of improving distance and time |
Then their good relationship broke. It began with a small thing, then bitter words, and then weeks of silence. One morning Farmer John woke up to find a stream between the two farms. “It must be Bob,” John thought.
Then one day there was a knock on John’s door. He opened it to find a carpenter (木匠) standing at the doorway.
“I’m looking for a few days’ work,” the carpenter said.
“I do have a job for you,” John said. “Look across the stream at that farm. That’s my neighbour Bob. He dug a stream between the two farms. I want you to build a fence—an 8-foot fence. I don’t want to see his place or his face any more. I don’t have such a neighbour!”
The carpenter said, “I think I know what to do, sir, and I’ll be able to do a job that pleases you.”
Farmer John helped the carpenter get the materials (材料) ready and then he was off for the day.
About sunset when the farmer returned, the carpenter had just finished his job. The farmer’s eyes opened wide. There was no fence there at all!
It was a bridge! And the neighbour, Bob, was coming across, with his hand outstretched (伸出). “Hi, John! You’re quite a fellow to build this bridge!”
Then they met in the middle, taking each other’s hands. “I’m terribly sorry for what I have said and done. We should be good to each other.” said Farmer Bob.
Then they turned to see the carpenter, who was ready to go. “No, wait! Stay a few days. I have a lot of other jobs for you,” said Farmer John. “I’d love to stay,” the carpenter said, “but I have more bridges to build.”
1. What does the sentence “You’re quite a fellow to build this bridge!” mean?
A.John was great to build this bridge. |
B.John was not good at building bridges. |
C.John was foolish to build such a bridge. |
D.John should build the bridge earlier. |
A.Shy. | B.Wise. | C.Proud. | D.Careless. |
A.What a Big Fence! | B.A Strong Bridge |
C.Three Kind Men | D.A Fence or a Bridge? |
When I was 13, my family moved away. Linda and I kept in touch through letters, and we saw each other on special times—like my wedding and Linda’s. Soon we were busy with children and moving to new houses, and we wrote less often. One day a card that I sent came back, stamped “Address Unknown”. I had no idea how to find Linda.
Over the years, I missed Linda very much. I wanted to share happiness of my children and then grandchildren. And I need to share my sadness when my brother and then mother died. There was an empty place in my heart that only a friend like Linda could fill.
One day I was reading a newspaper when I noticed a photo of a young woman who looked very much like Linda and whose last name was Wagmans—Linda’s married name. “There must be thousands of Wagmans.” I thought, but I still wrote to her.
She called as soon as she got my letter. “Ms Tobin!” she said excitedly, “Linda Evans Wagmans is my mother.” Minutes later I heard a voice that I knew very much, even after 40 years, laughed and cried and caught up on each other’s lives. Now the empty place in my heart is filled. And there’s one thing that Linda and I know for sure: We won’t lose each other again!
1. What happened to me when I was 13?
A.My father died of an illness. |
B.I got married and had a son. |
C.My family removed to a new place. |
D.Linda moved away with her family. |
A.I forgot to write the address. |
B.The address couldn’t be found. |
C.Something was wrong with the card. |
D.Linda was sent to a foreign country. |
A.Linda could fill my dream |
B.Linda made a promise that she would visit me |
C.Linda had a deep effect on my choice of life |
D.I wanted to share happiness and sorrow with Linda |
A.A photo of a young woman who looked very much like Linda. |
B.Linda was still looking for me in the newspaper. |
C.Linda fell in love with a man called Wagmans. |
D.Linda was still living in the nearby city. |
How are you getting along with your high school? It may be hard for you as this is the first time that you
First, you should take
There’s no need
8 . The jobs of the future have not yet been invented.
Your children need to be deeply curious.
True creativity is the ability to take something existing and create something new from it.
Understanding how others feel can be a challenge for kids. We know what’s going on inside our own head, but what about others? Being able to read people helps kids from misreading a situation and jumping to false conclusions.
A.Encourage kids to cook with you. |
B.And we can’t forget science education. |
C.We can give kids chances to think about materials in new ways. |
D.So how can we help our kids prepare for jobs that don’t yet exist? |
E.Gardening is another great activity for helping kids develop this skill. |
F.We can do this in real life or ask questions about characters in stories. |
G.Being able to communicate ideas in a meaningful way is a valuable skill. |
9 . Should we allow modern buildings to be built next to older buildings in a historic area of a city? In order to answer this question, we must first examine whether people really want to preserve the historic feel of an area. Not all historical buildings are attractive. However, there may be other reasons—for example, economic (经济的) reasons—why they should be preserved. So, let us assume that historical buildings are both attractive and important to the majority of people. What should we do then if a new building is needed?
In my view, new architectural styles can exist perfectly well alongside an older style. Indeed, there are many examples in my own home town of Tours where modern designs have been placed very successfully next to old buildings. As long as the building in question is pleasing and does not dominate (影响) its surroundings too much, it often improves the attractiveness of the area.
It is true that there are examples of new buildings which have spoilt (破坏) the area they are in, but the same can be said of some old buildings too. Yet people still speak against new buildings in historic areas. I think this is simply because people are naturally conservative(保守的)and do not like change.
Although we have to respect people’s feelings as fellow users of the buildings, I believe that it is the duty of the architect and planner to move things forward . If we always reproduced what was there before, we would all still be living in caves. Thus, I would argue against copying previous architectural styles and choose something fresh and different , even though that might be the more risky choice.
1. What does the author say about historical buildings in the first paragraph?A.Some of them are not attractive. |
B.Most of them ate too expensive to preserve. |
C.They are more pleasing than modern buildings. |
D.They have nothing to do with the historic feel of an area. |
A.We should reproduce the same old buildings. |
B.Buildings should not dominate their surroundings. |
C.Some old buildings have spoilt the area they are in. |
D.No one understands why people speak against new buildings. |
A.destroy old buildings |
B.put things in a different place |
C.respect people’s feelings for historical buildings |
D.choose new architectural styles |
A.To explain why people dislike change. |
B.To argue that modern buildings can be built in historic areas. |
C.To warn that we could end up living in caves. |
D.To admit how new buildings have ruined their surroundings. |
He asked among his friends to see if anyone was particularly
Dave told him, and Sam answered, “Well, what about advertising it in the paper? You may
For two days after the advertisement first appeared, there was no
The next morning, at a quarter to ten, Dave parked the car in the square outside his front door,
A.directly | B.safely | C.properly | D.easily |
A.so | B.such | C.very | D.too |
A.keep | B.repair | C.sell | D.throw |
A.anxious | B.lucky | C.ashamed | D.generous |
A.some | B.neither | C.none | D.most |
A.delighted | B.upset | C.calm | D.astonished |
A.on | B.up | C.it | D.that |
A.learn | B.miss | C.get | D.find |
A.message | B.advice | C.request | D.description |
A.uses | B.loses | C.has | D.spends |
A.doubt | B.help | C.trouble | D.answer |
A.tell | B.see | C.agree | D.call |
A.exact | B.suitable | C.early | D.late |
A.follow | B.meet | C.bring | D.introduce |
A.recognize | B.gain | C.admire | D.test |
A.happening | B.meaning | C.turning | D.failing |
A.read | B.inserted | C.answered | D.placed |
A.forget | B.show | C.disagree | D.admit |
A.as | B.that | C.so | D.such |
A.bargain | B.sale | C.accident | D.result |