1 . The arts, especially music, should be part of every school’s lessons at every grade level. Students would be much smarter if they had some musical experience. They could improve their classroom skills, like paying attention and following directions. People develop all these skills when they learn music. Making music also lets children use their imagination. It provides students with a chance to try out their own ideas.
Music not only makes children better students, but also gives them something positive to do. In a music programme, children can be part of a band instead of joining a gang (团伙). Parents can enjoy listening to their children’s music instead of seeing them glued to a computer or TV screen. In a school band, students get to be part of a team. They can get along well with old friends and make new friends through music.
Music builds self-confidence, too. It gives children a sense of achievement and success. Making music is something for them to be proud of, and it lets kids practise performing in front of the audience. Music gives children an opportunity for self-expression, and that helps develop their self-confidence.
Once again, music is important because it can make children better students, give them something positive to do, and build their character. That is why music lessons should be offered in every single grade in every school.
1. According to the passage, music could make students smarter by________.| A．improving their classroom skills and paying attention |
| B．improving their classroom skills and imagination |
| C．improving their attention and imagination |
| D．letting them make music and try out their own ideas |
| A．Unwilling to turn on. |
| B．Always looking at. |
| C．Unwilling to move. |
| D．Always playing with. |
| A．make children express themselves |
| B．bring children success |
| C．give children something to be proud of |
| D．develop children’s self-confidence |
| A．Music Is a Must as a Course at School |
| B．Music Builds Children’s Self-confidence |
| C．Music Makes Students Much Smarter |
| D．Learning Music and Making Music Build Children’s Character |
2 . Several years ago, Jeremy Clarkson, presenter of the famous BBC television programme ‘Top Gear’, discovered that one of his guests was half German and half Irish. Immediately, he said, “That’s quite a strange combination. It’s like, ‘this must be done absolutely perfectly… tomorrow’ ”.
This joke played on stereotypes of the Germans as efficient and the Irish as lazy. Many people could understandably be offended by these kinds of assertions(断言). We do not know every Irish person, so how can we then conclude that every Irish person is lazy?
I recently read on a website that Irish business people were described as being “generally rather casual” and “more outwardly friendly than many European countries”. German business people, on the other hand, are considered to be very direct and according to the website, they “do not need a personal relationship in order to do business”. Once you hear advice like this, it becomes easier to understand where jokes like the one in the first paragraph come from.
So why do some people disapprove of the kind of stereotypes as seen in Clarkson’s joke, but not batting an eyelid(眨眼) when it comes to generalizations. What is the difference between the two?
By definition, a stereotype is a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing. A cultural characteristic, on the other hand, is a pattern of behaviour that is typical of a certain group.
So what does this really mean? Stereotypes are simply overstated assumptions about groups of people. Imagine if a tourist visited a small town in Switzerland and saw a number of locals playing the alphorn instrument, and then claimed that Swiss people can play the alphorn. This would be a stereotype! This is an overstated image of the Swiss which is based on one tourist’s experience.
If, however, this tourist were to say that the Swiss are very punctual, this could be seen as a cultural characteristic. This is because it is a pattern of behaviour which is very typical in Switzerland: from their transport system to their business meetings. In this way, some people argue that generalizing another culture is not just useful, but important. Politicians always have to be mindful of the cultural characteristics of different countries. By becoming aware of different cultural characteristics, they can avoid causing offence in those cultures. However, others argue that generalizing cultures will always lead to offensive stereotypes. They argue that the best thing we can do is to stop generalizing cultures and start treating people as individuals.
All this raises important questions: can making generalizations about groups of people be a positive thing? Or should we always avoid making broad assumptions about different groups?
1. When he said, “It’s like, ‘this must be done absolutely perfectly…tomorrow’”, Jeremy Clarkson really meant ________.| A．the stereotypes of the Germans and the Irish are not so good |
| B．the combination of half German and half Irish is interesting |
| C．the characteristics of the Germans and the Irish are opposite |
| D．the Germans will do it perfectly tomorrow while the Irish won’t |
| A．The Swiss can play the alphorn quite well. |
| B．The Irish people are considered as lazy, direct and casual. |
| C．The Germans are thought to be efficient, friendly and direct. |
| D．The Swiss tend to arrive on time on various occasions. |
| A．they don’t want to offend other people |
| B．generalizing will lead to offensive stereotypes |
| C．cultural characteristics are better than stereotypes |
| D．they think different cultural characteristics are useful |
| A．illustrate the importance of making generalizations |
| B．show it is wrong to play jokes on stereotypes of different people |
| C．tell us the differences between stereotypes and cultural characteristics |
| D．discuss whether it is good to make generalizations about groups of people |
Shared Services Need More Imagination
Suppose you need to drill a hole in the wall to hang an item but do not own a power drill. You may regard it as expensive to buy a power drill and consider renting one. Sharing is the solution. The sharing industry is an emerging. highly flexible economic network that allows people to share resources, either free or for a fee.
The important idea of the sharing industry is that people might only need an item for a relatively short period. The private part of shared services has been moving towards this area since the beginning of the 1980s, and then the public part has taken note of the benefits and continued for best practice. The United States and Australia among others have had shared services in government since the late 1990s.
With the rise of the sharing industry, the best-known shared bikes and shared cars have got a lot of public attention. This kind of transportation is so environmentally-friendly that it is increasingly popular among people in many cities.
Of course shared services don’t need to be limited to machines. The real pay-off in shared services probably lies in renting out smaller, less heavy items. For example, in today’s casual environment, you don’t need a tie unless you’re going to a wedding or a job interview. So some companies, would let you pick up a tie when you needed it and only when you needed it. Another example is an umbrella-sharing service. Since visitors don’t want to be carrying umbrellas all the way, it would be cheaper and easier to simply borrow an umbrella on one street corner and drop it off on another.
Recently organizations that have centralized their IT functions have begun to take a close look at the technology services that their IT departments provide for customers, evaluating where it makes sense to provide technology components. E-mall and scanning (归描) operations were obvious early candidates. Many organizations are now oftering their document-intensive operations is a shared service, There is no doubt that people are calling for the expansion of shared services to more and more treas.
1. What is the sharing industry?2. Why does shared transportation receive attention from people?
3. Please decide which part is false in the following statement, then underline it and explain why.
Shared services are getting increasingly popular for their convenience, but there are still calls for expansion to wider areas because they are currently restricted to machines
4. Please provide another example of shared services and explain your reason. (about 40 words)
4 . The Best Thing that ever Happened for Being Nice
A few weeks ago, my family and I were at a restaurant. We had just finished having lunch when I excused myself to go to the
When I was in one of the stalls (隔间), the lady in the stall next to me was saying something. At first, I didn’t realize what she was saying, but
I passed her some paper. When we got out of the toilet stall, she kept
Some people were staring at me and the lady as I walked back to my family and our table, but I didn’t care. The lady was
When I got back to our table, my parents were looking at me, puzzled. Their daughter had simply intended to go to the toilet for a minute or two,
A few moments later, someone came up to us. It was the lady again. She thanked me again then
The best thing that happened to me that day was not only getting a
| A．stage | B．shop | C．restaurant | D．toilet |
| A．naturally | B．eventually | C．actually | D．hurriedly |
| A．understood | B．knew | C．showed | D．discovered |
| A．praising | B．hugging | C．kissing | D．thanking |
| A．outside | B．over | C．along | D．past |
| A．carried | B．moved | C．insisted | D．worked |
| A．bargain | B．refuse | C．accept | D．follow |
| A．treat | B．take | C．invite | D．bring |
| A．trying | B．laughing | C．growing | D．acting |
| A．stranger | B．model | C．hero | D．leader |
| A．yet | B．so | C．or | D．thus |
| A．shared | B．explained | C．reflected | D．proved |
| A．village | B．house | C．country | D．building |
| A．delicious | B．free | C．special | D．large |
| A．powerful | B．successful | C．helpful | D．wonderful |
Once upon a time, there was a tiger. His name was Kamau which means the quiet soldier. Kamau wondered, “Will I ever live up to my name?” Kamau is young and makes friends with everyone, but thinks low of himself. His leg disability makes it hard to walk. It makes him feel useless. But what he doesn’t know is that today will change it all.
One bright morning, Kamau spotted a bird in a tree, whose bright colors are so cheerful. She looked old. And he noticed one of her wings was cut. Kamau kept on walking towards the bird. “My name is Jelani,” she squawked as if she could read his mind. “I am Kamau,” he roared. “I know,” she said as if she had been watching over him his whole life. They spent a moment studying each other. At last, Kamau continued going past the tree.
“Do you know the meaning of your name?” she asked. Kamau stopped. The pain showed in his eyes. This is a question he has asked himself every day.
“My name means quiet soldier,” he said. Then he paused. “But I have been given the wrong name, for I am no warrior.”
“Do you know what my name means?” she asked. There was silence. “It means mighty. But as you can see, my body is not fit for it.” Then she looked up.
Kamau asked, “What are you looking at?”
“I am dreaming of flying free. Have you ever thought of running through the jungle, pride in your face?”
“We will never get that kind of life.” Kamau said angrily.
Jelani expected this. So, she explained why she didn’t care about it. “Sometimes, you have to let go of the things you don’t have and make do with what you have.”
“But even if I know this, I can’t be happy because I can’t do anything about my body. My mind knows it,” he said.
“I don’t know what you’ll be, but your mind tells you. It’s telling you that you’re useless, but if you ask your mind to stop, you will find your true self!” Jelani tells him.
Kamau realizes how lucky he was to have met Jelani. How fortunate he was to be able to change his mind.
Kamau finishes the story, making his sons think. It’s a year later and Kamau is a father. He hopes to teach his sons the same lesson that Jelani taught him. “Sons, we can’t always depend on physical abilities to show us who we are. First, think about what your mind can do to change your bad feelings into good ones.”
1. Why does Kamau think low of himself?2. Paraphrase the underlined sentence in paragraph 2.
Kamau spotted a bird in a tree, whose bright colors are so cheerful
3. Please decide which part is false in the following statement, then underline it and explain why.
Kamau finally realized that it is important to move on toward the things you desire and forget what you already have.
4. What ways do you have to change your bad feelings into good ones?（50词左右）
6 . Putting Pen to Paper: The History of Ballpoint Pens
Ballpoint pens may not seem like anything special, but they’ve made our lives more convenient than you might realize. The story behind their invention may also surprise you.
László Bíró, a Hungarian journalist, is said to have invented the ballpoint pen in 1938. Before the ballpoint pen, people used fountain pens. These old-fashioned pens had to be refilled often, and they leaked and easily made paper dirty.
Many inventors had tried to design similar types of pens before Bíró, but none had succeeded. Bíró’s ballpoint pen design used a small ball instead of a nib（钢笔尖）. When the ball is pressed onto paper, it rolls to pick up ink inside the pen and transfer it onto paper. The inspiration for this design came from an unexpected source. One day, Bíró happened to see children playing with marbles（弹珠游戏）. A boy rolled a marble through a puddle, creating a line of water on the street and giving Bíró the idea for the ballpoint design.
Bíró began selling his pen in Argentina, where he and his brother had fled to during World War Ⅱ. His biggest customer was UK’s Royal Air Force, which ordered 30,000 pens to allow its crews to write more easily while in the air.
Eventually, mass production made plastic ballpoint pens more affordable, and soon they were a household necessity.
| A．For this reason, ballpoint pens last for ages. |
| B．Ballpoint pens have become an essential tool in our everyday lives. |
| C．These pens are particularly popular because they are easy to write with. |
| D．Unfortunately, Bíró wasn’t able to spread his invention around the world. |
| E．Although ballpoint pens were convenient, they changed the way that people write. |
| F．However, the real breakthrough came when Bíró got help from his brother, who was a scientist. |
| G．Since Bíró spent much of his day writing, he was all too familiar with these inconveniences. |
7 . A Mission to Remove Space Junk
In video games and movies, we often imagine spaceships avoiding giant asteroids (小行星) in the solar system. However, a greater concern for our world is space debris. Space debris refers to the 8, 000 metric tons of junk that orbits around the Earth. These millions of pieces floating in space threaten to destroy satellites and machinery that are necessary for weather forecasting, GPS, and telecommunication.
Along with other efforts to minimize space debris, the company Astroscale has launched End-of-Life Service by Astroscale, or Elsa-D. It aims to model a space debris removal system and includes two spacecraft: a servicer and a client. Let’s look at the danger of space debris and how Astroscale’s technology would work.
What Really Is Space Debris?
Space debris forms when old satellite and spaceship parts gather in the low Earth orbit. This build-up of waste can range from large rocket parts all the way to small pieces of metal that form when the parts explode or hit.
Because all the pieces travel at high speeds of 28, 000 km/h in orbit, they pose a threat to active satellites. It is reported that at least 26, 000 pieces of space junk are as small as a softball, yet they could “destroy a satellite on impact.”
Over 500, 000 pieces of debris could damage protective systems, fuel tanks, and spacecraft cabins. More commonly, over 100 million pieces of space debris are as small as a grain of salt. These pieces are dangerous as they could break spacesuits and threaten the safety of the crew.
Scientists are able to track debris particles (微粒) larger than 10cm, but pieces near 1cm in size are vey difficult to monitor. As a result, the removal of space debris is essential to ensure that new satellites will not hit old ones. The European Space Agency reports that 3, 600 satellites are currently operating with 28, 000 pieces of debris being tracked. In the next decade, 10, 000 new satellites will orbit Earth. The need for an effective space debris removal system is growing.
Astroscale hopes to develop a system where the spacecraft attaches to dead satellites and direct them towards Earth to burn up in the atmosphere. The technology would be used on future satellites, not dead satellites that are already in orbit. The purpose of this specific mission is to show how the capture system will work. The client spacecraft will play a piece of space debris.
The servicer spacecraft will use GPS sensors and magnetic (磁对接) docking technology to capture the client spacecraft. Like a cat and mouse, the servicer will capture and release the client several times over 6 months and the tasks will become more difficult.
Astroscale hopes that all satellites being developed in the future will include the magnetic docking plate which allows the servicer to capture the debris. As companies and governments take on more space projects, a system to remove waste in space is going to be increasingly important.
1. What do we know about space waste?| A．Rocket bodies are the main source of space debris. |
| B．Space waste removal was fruitful in the past decades. |
| C．The pieces near 1cm in size can be watched and checked. |
| D．A piece of softball-sized space debris can destroy a satellite. |
| A．It aims to recycle the dead satellites. |
| B．It launched a spaceship carrying cats and mice. |
| C．It hopes to reduce the space projects. |
| D．It tries to get rid of the future dead satellites. |
| A．The New Technology | B．The Future Space Satellites |
| C．Where Does Space Junk Come? | D．Why Do We Remove Waste in Space? |
| A．It may cause troubles in space. | B．It has cleared some space waste. |
| C．It is challenging but worthwhile. | D．It will be put into use soon. |
8 . Do Trees Talk to Each Other?
Did you know that trees can communicate with each other? Suramme Simard, a professor of forest ecology at the University of British Columbia, has conducted research into the cooperative and social behavior of trees.
Growing up in the forests of Canada, Simard observed how logging (伐木) companies would cut down diverse forests and replace them with a single tree species. Loggers believed that by removing competition, the newly planted trees would thrive, as they would receive more space, water, and sunlight. However, Simard noticed these trees were actually more likely to suffer disease and environmental stress. As she investigated this question, Simard realized that tree communication was the answer to this.
Trees communicate through underground networks of helper fungi (真菌). The fungi connect with tree roots, forming links, which can connect trees of different kinds across a forest. The fungi transport water and nutrients to the trees. In return, trees provide fungi carbon-based sugars. The fungi not only allow for tree-fungi cooperation but also for communication. Trees can transport carbon, water, nutrients (营养), chemical warning signs, and hormones. This system allows them to balance resources and warn neighboring trees of danger. Trees are also connected through the “mother” trees, which are the oldest and largest trees. Through this connection, young trees can get the resource and information network.
These findings have many effects, including the way we structure our own societies and ecological practices. Mother trees are key for providing the information, medicinal, and resource capacity to future generations of trees. Also Simard believes that with climate change stressing out plants and threatening the survival of species, humans may need to step in to help — perhaps even by moving some species to cooler climates as the world warms.
While Simard wholeheartedly believes in the cooperative nature of trees, other scientists argue that competition is still the main reason why these trees end up sharing resources. The fungi that transport resources might actually be sending nutrients to resource-poor trees because they can demand more carbon-based sugars in return from plants on the edge of survival.
Regardless of whether cooperation or competition drives tree behavior, stronger evidence of forest communication and networks is an exciting discovery with much to learn!
1. What does the underlined word “thrive” in paragraph 2 probably mean?| A．Become removable. | B．Communicate freely. |
| C．Grow stronger | D．Share more resources. |
| A．The function of fungi. | B．The wide network of wood. |
| C．The transportation of nutrients. | D．The strong effect of “mother” trees. |
| A．Efforts should be made to protect mother trees. |
| B．The fungi stop mother trees from sharing resources. |
| C．Simard proves competition and cooperation work together. |
| D．Some endangered plants have been moved to cooler places. |
| A．Surprised. | B．Confused. | C．Inspired. | D．Uninterested. |
9 . Better to Be Different
Heroic deeds come in all shapes and sizes. Some of them require bravery in the face of danger, others result from a simple act of kindness.
Natalie Fernando was taking her 5-year-old autistic (患孤独症的) son Rudy for a seaside walk when the little boy suddenly broke down.
“My son loves to walk, but he hates to turn around and walk back. We usually try to walk in a circle to avoid this, but on his favourite walk with the boats we have no choice but to turn back. This will often lead to a breakdown, which I can normally handle, but today was too much for him and me,” Fernando explained on her blog.
The walking area at Southend-on-Sea is a very popular walking place in Essex, England. Knowing she and Rudy were drawing attention and that her son’s breakdown might go on for an hour, Fernando was apologetic, but she soon found herself exposed to unfavorable looks and comments of passersby.
That’s when a total stranger named Ian stopped to ask if she was okay. When Fernando explained what was going on, as if it was the most natural thing in the world to do, Ian lay down on the ground close to Rudy and engaged him in conversation.
The calming action quickly turned the situation around. After Rudy recovered, Ian walked Rudy and his mom back to their car.
“I wish there were more of this man around and I am beyond thankful,” Fernando said. “I will not forget his kindness.”
In addition to her gratitude, Fernando hopes Ian’s unselfish behavior might inspire others to look deeper before making social judgments themselves.
“It’s said a lot at the moment, ‘In a world where you can be anything, be kind.’” she wrote. “Words are easy, but these actions are not always so easy. This man is living the words and I couldn’t be more grateful.”
“We’re all walking our own path and directing the journey the best we can. Sometimes it takes a moment of kindness from a complete stranger to completely change your day.”
1. What was Fernando’s reaction when Rudy broke down?| A．She turned back. | B．She felt very sorry. |
| C．She gave him a hug. | D．She explained to passersby. |
| A．A stranger helped Rudy calm down. |
| B．A passerby sat down to talk with Rudy. |
| C．Ian drove Rudy and mom home safely. |
| D．Rudy’s sudden behavior lasted for one hour. |
| A．Brave | B．Generous | C．Humorous | D．Caring |
Beethoven wrote Symphony No. 9 in the early 1820s. It
