1 . Country music is one of the most popular kinds of music in the United States today because it is about simple but strong human feelings and events — love, sadness, good times, and bad times. It tells real-life, stories and sounds the way people really talk. As life becomes more complicated (复杂), it is good to hear music about ordinary people.
Country music, sometimes called country-western, comes from two kinds of music. One is the traditional music of the people in the Appalachian Mountains in the eastern Unite States. The other is traditional cowboy music from the west. The singers usually play guitars, and in the 1920s they started using electric guitars. At first city people said country music was low class. It was popular mostly in the South.
But during World War II, thousands of Southerners went to the Northeast and Midwest to work in the factories. They took their music with them. Soldiers from the rest of the country went to army camps (军营) in the South. They learned country music. Slowly it became popular all over the country.
Today country music is also popular everywhere in the United States and Canada — in small towns and in New York City, among black and white, and among educated and uneducated people. About 1, 200 radio stations broadcast country music twenty-four hours a day. English stars sing it in British English, and people in other countries sing it in their own languages. The music that started with cowboys and poor southerners is now popular all over the world.
1. It can be learned from the passage that country music comes from ____.| A．the Northeast and Midwest | B．real-life stories in small towns |
| C．factories and army camps in the South | D．the Appalachian Mountains and the West |
| A．the Northeast | B．the north | C．the Midwest | D．the south |
| A．they wanted to take music with them | B．they wanted to work in the factories there |
| C．they wanted to make country music popular | D．they wanted to make other people like country music |
| A．city people said it was low class | B．it started with cowboys and poor Southerners |
| C．people could sing it in many different languages | D．it is loved by different kinds of people in the world |
| A．City people didn’t like country music at first. |
| B．Country music is sung by stars all in English. |
| C．Country music is about human feelings and events. |
| D．Country music is popular among city people today. |
2 . It is a blue, cotton shirt. The shirt belonged to my
We shared the shirt, and as days
At times David also talked about his father. Usually it was late at night, in the dormitory just before bed, and the
Time passed and we had to say goodbye to each other. After lots of hugging, and words of thanks, we eventually departed. It was on my
I put aside the note, with
| A．colleague | B．brother | C．roommate | D．professor |
| A．Because | B．Unless | C．While | D．Even if |
| A．came across | B．went by | C．ran out | D．came up |
| A．victories | B．belongings | C．scholarships | D．stories |
| A．happened | B．refused | C．struggled | D．failed |
| A．turn out | B．stand out | C．figure out | D．drop out |
| A．interview | B．discussion | C．conversation | D．debate |
| A．failure | B．depression | C．poverty | D．illness |
| A．connection | B．distance | C．difference | D．conflict |
| A．first | B．last | C．next | D．second |
| A．touched | B．pulled | C．removed | D．folded |
| A．attached | B．applied | C．adjusted | D．admitted |
| A．guidance | B．devotion | C．friendship | D．mercy |
| A．less than | B．other than | C．more than | D．rather than |
| A．sympathetic | B．grateful | C．joyful | D．painful |
3 . Jack London, one of America's famous writers, was born in California in 1876. During his life, London worked at many jobs. His broad life experiences would become the background for his writing.
London loved to read. As a teenager, he spent many hours educating himself at the Oakland, California, public library. He studied in the University of California at Berkeley, but he stayed for only six months. He thought Berkeley was "not lively enough" and wanted to do something more exciting.
London wrote stories about working people and the hard times they had making a living. He worked as a sailor, farmer, factory employee, railroad worker, and gold prospector, to name just a few of his many jobs.
London grew up near the waterfront in Oakland. He loved the water. When he was fifteen years old, he bought a small sailboat. Later he sailed to Japan. Like many people of the time, London caught the Klondike Gold Rush. In 1897, he headed for Alaska. He didn't find gold, but he discovered something even more valuable. He discovered that people enjoyed listening to the stories he made up with his imagination. London made the miners laugh with story after story. Later, using his experiences during the Gold Rush, he created many more colorful stories.
London decided to live a full, exciting life. He once said, "I would rather be a superb meteor(流星) than a sleepy and permanent(永恒的) planet.”Each day, he pushed himself. Once London decided that he was going to be a writer, nothing could stop him. His goal was to write at least one thousand words every day. He refused to stop even when he was sick. In eighteen years, the writer published fifty-one books and hundreds of articles. He was the best-selling and highest-paid author of his day. Many people also considered him to be the best writer. White Fang and The Call of the Wild are his most famous stories and are about surviving in the Alaskan wilderness. Readers can enjoy Jack London's energy and his talent for telling wonderful stories each time they open one of his novels.
1. Why was Jack London able to write on many topics?| A．He pushed himself to reach goals. |
| B．He had a great number of experiences and jobs. |
| C．He was drawn to the Klondike Gold Rush. |
| D．He was the best-selling and highest-paid author. |
| A．That he sailed to Japan. |
| B．That he traveled to Alaska in 1897. |
| C．That he spent much of his time writing. |
| D．That he was not interested in college life enough. |
| A．was expert at the stars | B．aimed high and wanted to succeed |
| C．was interested in life | D．faced a choice between life and death |
| A．To tell London was the "best writer". |
| B．To describe life during the Klondike Gold Rush. |
| C．To provide information on Jack's life. |
| D．To introduce books written by Jack London. |
4 . My favourite book is The Adventure of Tom Sauyer by Mark Twain. Tom lives with his aunt Polly in a quiet street of St. Petersburg, Missouri. He’s a lively and clever young boy, and he finds himself in many exciting adventures. He runs away with his two friends, Huck Finn and Joe, to an island in the middle of the Mississippi River for several days. With Huck he goes looking for treasure, with Becky he gets lost in a cave. And finally, they find a box of gold.
My favourite scene in the book is when everyone thinks Tom is dead. He decides to go to his own funeral(葬礼). He hides and watches for a time and then suddenly he appears. Everyone is surprised to see him but they’re also pleased to see him alive.
Tom is the hero of the story, but there are other important characters. Huck is an outsider and everyone is afraid of him. Becky is pretty with fair hair, Joe is Tom’s best friend. And Injun Joe is the bad man of the story.
The theme of the story is about children growing up. It describes how strangers are seen in small towns of America. Finally, it talks about freedom, social rules and how people are punished for bad behaviour.
Why do I think The Adventure of Tom Sawyer is a great book? Mark Twain wrote the story in 1876, but it’s still read and loved by people all over the world today. And although it’s only a story, Twain wrote it in the everyday English of the southern states of America in the 19th century, so it sounds very real. Today its thought to be one of the greatest books in American literature. Go on-read it! I know you’ll enjoy it, too.
1. Where does Tom run away with his two friends?| A．To a quiet street. | B．To a small town. | C．To an island. | D．To a forest. |
| A．Huck Finn. | B．Joe. | C．Becky. | D．Polly. |
| A．They were surprised and happy. |
| B．They were surprised and sad. |
| C．They were worried and excited. |
| D．They were frightened and happy. |
| A．To recommend the book for you. |
| B．To explain the history of America. |
| C．To tell us when Mark Twain wrote the story. |
| D．To explain why the story sounds very real. |
5 . For people who are interested in sound, the field of sound technology is definitely making noise. In the past, sound engineers worked in the back rooms of recording studios, but many of today’s sound professionals are sharing their knowledge and experience with professionals in other fields to create new products based on the phenomenon we call sound.
Sound can be used as a weapon. Imagine that a police officer is chasing a thief. The thief tries to escape. And the officer can’t let him get away. he pulls out a special device points it at the suspect, and switches it on. The thief drops to the ground. This new weapon is called a Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD, 远程定向声波发射器). It produces a deafening sound so painful that it temporarily disables a person. The noise from the LRAD is directed like a ray of light and travels only into the ears of that person, but it is not deadly.
For those who hunger for some peace and quiet, sound can now create silence. Let’s say you are at the airport, and the little boy on the seat next to you is humming（哼唱）a short commercial song. He hums it over and over again, and you are about to go crazy. Thanks to the Silence Machine a British invention, you can get rid of the sound without upsetting the boy or his parents. One may wonder how the Silence Machine works. Well, it functions by analyzing the waves of the incoming sound and creating a second set of outgoing waves. The two sets of waves cancel each other out. Simply turn the machine on, point it at the target, and your peace and quiet comes back.
Directed sound is a new technology that allows companies to use sound in much the same way spotlights（聚光灯） are used in the theater. A spotlight lights up only one section of a stage; similarly, a “spotsound” creates a circle of sound in one targeted area. This can be useful for businesses such as restaurants and stores because it offers a new way to attract customers. Restaurants can offer a choice of music along with the various food choices on the menu, allowing customers more control over the atmosphere in which they are dining. Directed sound is also beginning to appear in shopping centers and even at homes.
1. What could be inferred from Paragraph 2 about the effect of the LRAD?| A．It causes temporary hearing loss | B．It slows down a running man |
| C．It makes it easy to identify a suspect | D．It keeps the suspect from hurting others |
| A．silence the people around you | B．remove the sound of commercials |
| C．block the incoming sound waves | D．stop unwanted sound from affecting you |
| A．They travel in circles | B．They clear the atmosphere. |
| C．They can be transformed into energy | D．They can be directed onto a specific area |
| A．creative designs of restaurant menus | B．ideal sound effects on the theater stage |
| C．different choices of music for businesses | D．strict control over any suspicious customer |
6 . U.S. actor Brent Hill studied the violin for seven years during his childhood. But, now, he couldn’t make a sound out of it. His latest role as Dewey Finn in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical, School of Rock, in which he plays with 36 talented child musicians, reminds him of his time as an instrumentalist.
Hill shared his story on arriving in Beijing. School of Rock is being staged in Beijing from March 22 until April 14 on its debut China tour. The musical staged its world premiere on Broadway in 2015.
The musical is based on the successful 2003 Hollywood comedy, starring Jack Black. The plot follows Dewey Finn, a failed rock star forced to make money as a substitute teacher at a private elementary school, where he turns a class of straight-A students into a rock band.
“The role, Dewey, is the biggest kid. I am a big kid in real life, so this part is not challenge. When I got the role, I did the exact same thing as Dewey who is a loser,” Hill says. “Working with child actors is exciting.”
Thousands of kids auditioned. Three-and-a-half months later, 36 made the cut. Samantha Zhang plays the role of Katie. She has practiced piano for seven years and violin for four but had to learn to play bass for the musical. “No many girls play bass. It’s so cool, and I feel like a rock star,” says the 13-year-old, who made her musical-theater debut in 2014. It’s the first time for the girl, who lives in Sydney with her Chinese parents, to visit China.
Webber became interested in the movie. He wrote 12 new songs. Hill says it’s difficult to get Black’s acting out of his subconsciousness. However, Webber’s songs enable Hill to make the role his own.
“School of Rock is about how music reaches and transforms everyone’s life especially children.” Webber said. “When the substitute teacher turned the straight-A student class into a rock band, it changed his life and theirs forever.”
1. What caused Hill to realize he was an unsuccessful violinist?| A．His latest role as Dewey Finn. | B．His childhood sufferings. |
| C．Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical. | D．36 talented child musicians’ performance. |
| A．He is the biggest child in his family. | B．He has staged the musical many times. |
| C．He liked to work with child actors. | D．He had the same experience as Dewey Finn. |
| A．She has little talent for music. | B．She enjoys her role of Katie. |
| C．She made her debut in China. | D．She was born in China. |
| A．Musicals lead to one’s success. | B．Webber’s new songs make little sense. |
| C．Music has significant effects in life. | D．Hill has performed in many musicals successfully. |
7 . Have you seen people who take pictures of food for more than 10 minutes before eating? My friend Stella is such an example. Every time we went to a restaurant she would not take a bite until all the dishes we
Many people care too much about others’ opinions and try too hard to
If they really want an elegant life, they should put more
| A．ordered | B．served | C．offered | D．prepared |
| A．cooking | B．washing | C．setting | D．collecting |
| A．messy | B．arranged | C．casual | D．missed |
| A．dishes | B．restaurants | C．tables | D．pictures |
| A．chance | B．choice | C．excuse | D．reason |
| A．comfort | B．please | C．inspire | D．discourage |
| A．independent | B．generous | C．responsible | D．confident |
| A．real | B．secret | C．peaceful | D．healthy |
| A．rarely | B．hardly | C．exactly | D．nearly |
| A．difficulty | B．change | C．guidance | D．harm |
| A．question | B．dislike | C．doubt | D．follow |
| A．effort | B．ambitions | C．feeling | D．money |
| A．other than | B．more than | C．rather than | D．less than |
| A．identifying | B．accepting | C．persuading | D．amusing |
| A．simplifying | B．ruining | C．beautifying | D．worsening |
8 . At the foot of the Tianmu Mountain in Zhejiang, a homestay (民宿) is attracting travelers from far and wide, which has won architectural medal at the 2021 German iF Design Awards.
The owners of the homestay are a couple in their late 30s who decided to return to their hometown three years ago. Li Xiumei used to be in charge of a division at a company in Hangzhou, and her husband was a sales director. It was an ordinary situation where Li’s husband was on business trips a lot and Li still worked on weekends. City life sometimes is not easy.
In 2018, they quit jobs and went back to Dongtianmu village, which lies in a forest of bamboo. The first time they drove into the village was one late afternoon. The cooking smoke was rising from the foot of the mountain, which gave them a very different feeling from the city.
The homestay was built beside her husband’s old countryside house. The old house is preserved (保留), while a brand-new building was built on its side and the whole site is made up of four courtyards. It has been updated to have a hall, a tea room, a kitchen, a dining room. Japanese cherry trees are planted in the east courtyard. A swimming pool is placed in the west courtyard, with a bar located on one side.
Li and her husband love gardening and music, and their new home gives them enough space to continue their interests and relax in the heart of nature. Li wants to share the quiet country life, so she makes her new home a homestay. In 2019, the homestay became an online hit after guests shared their experiences on social media. “The longer I stay here, the more I feel it was the right choice to come back, and this is more meaningful than making money,” Li says.
1. How did Li feel about city life?| A．Satisfied. | B．Noisy. | C．Attractive. | D．Tired |
| A．The forest of bamboo. | B．The smoke of cooking. |
| C．The fresh air in the village. | D．The feeling of loneliness. |
| A．It is ancient and broken. | B．It can hold many guests. |
| C．It must have been carefully designed. | D．It has been rebuilt by the couple. |
| A．Continuing their music dream. | B．Living in the countryside. |
| C．Staying at the old house. | D．Developing a city. |
9 . One afternoon I toured an art museum while waiting for my husband to finish a business meeting. I was looking forward to a quiet view of the wonderful works.
A young couple viewing the paintings ahead of me chatted
I was standing at the counter of the museum gift store making a
“He's a
“But what does he get out of the art?” I asked, He can't see.”
“Can't see! You're wrong. He sees a lot.
I learned something about patience, courage and love that day. I saw the
| A．continuously | B．carelessly | C．hardly | D．excitedly |
| A．required | B．decided | C．blamed | D．announced |
| A．coming up with | B．adding up to | C．putting up with | D．living up to |
| A．As though | B．Now that | C．Each time | D．Ever since |
| A．difference | B．deal | C．fortune | D．purchase |
| A．looked | B．got | C．reached | D．broke |
| A．casually | B．deliberately | C．hard | D．easily |
| A．brave | B．lucky | C．cold | D．clever |
| A．make up | B．give up | C．wake up | D．turn up |
| A．discovery | B．complaint | C．promise | D．contribution |
| A．Less | B．Better | C．Worse | D．More |
| A．describes | B．draws | C．touches | D．praises |
| A．wisdom | B．patience | C．courage | D．faith |
| A．thought | B．hearing | C．emotion | D．sight |
| A．expected | B．shared | C．received | D．imagined |
10 . A young Dutch inventor is widening his effort to cleanup floating (浮动的) plastic from the Pacific Ocean. He has developed a floating device (设备) to trap plastic waste moving into rivers before it reaches the oceans.
Boyan Slat was just 18 years old when he invented a system for catching waste in the ocean. He also founded an environmental group called “The Ocean Cleanup”. Its purpose is to develop the system. Last year, Slat showed the next step: a floating device which is called Interceptor. It removes plastic out of rivers. The device is powered by energy from the sun. “The 1,000 rivers are responsible for about 80% of plastic going into the world’s oceans,” said Slat. Three of the machines have already been used. Each machine costs about $775, 660, but the cost might drop as production increases.
Since they were used, the machines have been doing very well, collecting the plastic bottles and all the rubbish in the rivers. According to Slat, it is necessary to close “the tap”, which means preventing more plastic from reaching the ocean in the first place. He wanted to clean them all in the next five years. “This is not going to be easy, but if we do get this done, we could truly make our oceans again, ”said Slat.
The device is designed to be safe in rivers. Its nose is shaped to change directions to keep it away from larger floating things. It works by guiding plastic waste into an opening in the front of the device. The waste is then carried inside the machine where it is dropped into containers. The devices ends a text message to local operators that can come and empty it when it is full.
1. What do we know about Interceptor?| A．It needs solar power to work. | B．It is mainly used in the oceans. |
| C．It is being under test. | D．It can help sort waste. |
| A．The waste. | B．The oceans. |
| C．The machines. | D．The rivers. |
| A．To ensure the device’s safety. | B．To send operators text messages. |
| C．To empty the waste. | D．To serve as containers. |
| A．A novel. | B．A magazine. |
| C．A diary. | D．A guidebook. |
