1 . Morning exercises started. The students at Coqen County Middle School in southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region eagerly
Under the
This dance, originating from Cishi Township several hundred years ago,
To keep its nearly 700 students
“Many students come from rural areas but only a few are
By
“Not only is the class more cohesive (有凝聚力的), but the
| A．played | B．approached | C．rushed | D．gathered |
| A．devoted | B．operated | C．accepted | D．related |
| A．confirmation | B．guidance | C．declaration | D．account |
| A．breath | B．energy | C．behavior | D．conduct |
| A．exists | B．requires | C．offers | D．recommends |
| A．responsible | B．available | C．beneficial | D．suitable |
| A．active | B．sensitive | C．frank | D．patient |
| A．live up to | B．kept in contact with | C．gave away to | D．teamed up with |
| A．attracted | B．awarded | C．charged | D．permitted |
| A．familiar | B．content | C．concerned | D．generous |
| A．Typically | B．Remarkably | C．Surely | D．Unfortunately |
| A．routes | B．styles | C．categories | D．steps |
| A．adopting | B．introducing | C．adapting | D．describing |
| A．enthusiasm | B．identification | C．belief | D．principle |
| A．challenge | B．impression | C．relationship | D．arrangement |
Emily White was born seventeen years ago with many physical issues affecting her tiny body. Some of her organs, bones and muscles were out of shape. Though no one expected her to survive, she did make it. But she had a strange figure that everyone could recognize, even from a distance.
In Emily’s hometown, there was a yearly outdoor performance in the school hall at Christmas. It had been performed for so many years that it had become one of the most important events for many of the townsfolk. Each year, many people tried out for the show, but most were turned down. Only the best performers could be included.
Emily had a most beautiful singing voice. Last year, she asked Mrs. Owens, her music teacher, if she could join in the performance. Mrs. Owens took a look at her body and said, “Child, you just don’t fit. Everyone would stare at you and that would make you uncomfortable. It would make them uncomfortable too.”
Without singing a single note, Mrs. Owens sent Emily back through the door of the choral room (合唱室). Hurt and upset, Emily decided never to try out again. But things changed as the following school year, Mrs. Owens retired and a new music teacher arrived—Mr. Butler.
He had heard about Emily and suggested that she give it a try again. Emily didn’t want to be rejected again, so she hesitated about it. But finally her love for singing and strong desire to join in the performance outweighed her hesitation. She tried out again and learnt the result would be posted the next day on the door of the choral room.
Emily couldn’t sleep that night, having turned in bed back and forth thousand times as she was worried that she would be rejected again and would never fit in.
Paragraph 1:The nex tday, Emily hurried to school and anxiously glanced at the list of the result.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Paragraph 2:
Finally, the day of the performance came.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________The reason why singer-songwriter Zhang Gasong’s music is unique lies
He talked about his experience and
Born in the countryside of Jingyuan county, Baiyin city, Northwest China’s Gansu Province, Zhang, 34, has become famous for his songs that
Some video works of his singing, dressed in traditional Chinese clothing and playing traditional musical instruments, have spread
One of such videos is
| A．He wants to be different. |
| B．He wants to be like his friends. |
| C．He thinks it is cool to play the guitar. |
Although Emily’s singing was very pleasant to hear, lacking of courage, she never dared to sing in front of strangers.
One summer, the neighborhood where she lived would hold a singing competition. Her best friend, Lucy, came to invite her to participate in the competition, but Emily said. “I’m afraid to take part in it.” Her mother said, “It’s okay, just do it bravely.” Emily followed her mama’s advice and decided to give herself a try. The day came. Emily and Lucy went to the competition site. But she was too frightened to walk onto the stage. She had been waiting until others finished singing. She shakily forced herself to stand on the stage. She started to sing, but her voice was so low. What’s worse, she was so nervous that she forgot the lyrics after singing a few words. Being laughed at by others, embarrassed and shy, she ran away from the stage.
Some naughty boys ran after her and said, “Emily, coward (胆小鬼)! Emily, coward!” Emily didn’t argue with them. What she wanted was to go back home as quickly as she could. Finally, she rushed into the house, hugged her mom and cried sadly.
“Well, my poor girl. Don’t cry. Tell me what happened to you,” asked her mom. Emily looked up at her mother and told her what she had experienced.
Listening to her, her mom cupped her face and said, “It doesn’t matter, girl. As long as you practice singing more in front of strangers, you will become braver little by little. So, my girl, don’t be beaten by a failure. You can go out to practice singing every day. No matter who is listening to you, go on singing and never stop. I believe there will be a harvest for you.”
注意：
1. 续写词数应为150左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Paragraph 1
Emily followed her mom’s advice and walked into the park where many people were singing and dancing.
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Paragraph 2
The second year, the neighborhood held the singing competition again.
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6 . It is difficult for a teacher to decide whether to allow students to listen to music in the classroom. Every time students need to write an essay or work on a problem, they say, “Can I put my headphones on? I think better that way.” But is that really true? Does music help concentrate?
Research offers little to back up the idea that listening to music improves concentration. In one small study, 133 students performed reading tasks while listening to either light music, hip hop, or no music at all. Students who performed the reading tasks in silence scored the highest. Music with a higher intensity (强度) like hip hop was more distracting and had a bad effect on task performance.
Volume (音量) plays a more important role than the type of music. The study found that the louder the music, the worse the performance in concentration. The type of music didn’t matter. Data from the study showed once again that silence was the best environment to improve concentration.
However, music has a positive effect on work performance. Studies have showed that listening to music leads to positive changes in mood, as well as creativity. In fact, in music-listening cultures, which students are certainly part of, there’s actually a change in mood when the music is taken away.
It’s hard to convince my students that music doesn’t help with their concentration. Taj, a senior told me, “I wouldn’t be able to concentrate if I were listening to music and trying to read. However, when I write, I feel like music helps me concentrate deeply. I don’t have writer’s block. It’s easy for me to put my words on paper.”
“Maybe not with reading, but when it comes to math, listening to music certainly helps,” Danela told me. “You could actually be singing along with what you’re listening to and doing well in math.”
1. What does the underlined word “distracting” in paragraph 2 probably mean?| A．Making it difficult for someone to concentrate. |
| B．Causing great excitement. |
| C．Making someone want to do something. |
| D．Making someone feel frightened. |
| A．Students do well in reading tasks while listening to music. |
| B．Music can’t improve people’s mood and creativity. |
| C．Different types of music lead to different performances. |
| D．The volume of music affects concentration. |
| A．They believe music doesn’t help concentrate. |
| B．They use music to help with their paper-writing. |
| C．They can’t focus on reading while listening to music. |
| D．They don’t listen to music while doing math problems. |
| A．Should Students Listen to Music? | B．Does Music Help Concentration? |
| C．Is Music Related to Reading? | D．Can Music Change Mood? |
Frederic Chopin was born in March 1810 near Warsaw in Poland and was one of the greatest musicians in the world. He composed twenty-four short
One day in 1838, when Chopin’s lover George Sand went out in a rainstorm, Chopin became worried. While he
When Sand came back, Chopin played
However, like Sand, many people hear raindrops in this prelude. Some notes repeating throughout the piece sound like raindrops. The flow of the music is like rain, too. The piece starts
8 . Classical music is one of the most complex, and beautiful forms of music. It can be enjoyed by people of all ages, and can be appreciated in many different ways.
Once you have a basic understanding of these elements, you can start to appreciate classical music on a deeper level.
Finally, classical music can be appreciated through its history and culture. Learning about the musicians, the pieces, and the different movements in classical music can help you understand and appreciate it more.
| A．One way to do this is by listening to it more closely. |
| B．If you are a music enthusiast, you might have heard the term; music appreciation. |
| C．There are also many books and articles about classical music that can help. |
| D．It is important to first understand the different elements that make it up. |
| E．The secret to classical music is; it’s just music. |
| F．Harmony is created by two or more melodies playing together. |
| G．You can also appreciate classical music by watching it being performed. |
9 . Do you know Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton? They are musicians who can make their instruments sing. But do you know there are some musicians who are greater than them? The drummers in West Africa, who play the dùndún drums, can make their instruments talk.
The researchers analyzed the Yorùba language and the drumming of dùndún drums. They found that the drumming sounds like the tones of the Yorùba language, while the correctness decreases when the drums are used only for music or less direct communication such as songs. The scientists also found four modes through which dùndún drums connect music and language. Called “talking drums”, dùndún drums can be used as purely musical instruments or what scientists refer to as speech surrogacy (替代).
More importantly, the research shows how studying non-western cultures can enrich the way scientists understand music and speech, according to lead author Dr Cecilia Durojaye. “These kinds of findings are useful for considering deeper relationships and understanding of various types of communication and the development of language and music,” she said. “The talking drum is unique because it has a foot in both language and music camps and its existence reminds us of the boundary (边界) between speech and music.”
While the talking drum is specific to the Yorùba language, speech surrogacy in music occurs across cultures, so the research can contribute to how scientists understand the phenomenon in general and in the Yorùba culture specifically. Speech surrogacy can spread history. Through musical instruments like these drums, one can know the history of a particular culture, as well as aspects of how the people think, their belief systems and values, and what is likely important to them.
But there is still much that scientists don’t understand about speech surrogacy. “Our study, which focuses on the spoken, sung and drummed forms, represents one of the first steps towards understanding these various structures,” Durojaye said. “We will continue exploring this unique instrument.”
1. What do we know about dùndún drums from the text?| A．They are pretty popular instruments in Africa. |
| B．They are used to add fun to the Yorùba language |
| C．They make sounds similar to the Yorùba language. |
| D．They can clearly convey the drummers thoughts. |
| A．Showing people the importance of body language. |
| B．Drawing public attention to cultural heritage protection. |
| C．Being the first study on the boundary between speech and music. |
| D．Providing insights into the connection between music and language. |
| A．It happens in limited kinds of cultures. |
| B．It is likely to cause trouble for the Yorùba people. |
| C．It can greatly influence people’s beliefs and values. |
| D．It enables people to know different aspects of a culture. |
| A．Talking drums convey more than a language |
| B．A significant musical instrument is found in West Africa |
| C．New research analyzes the development of African music |
| D．Scientists have found more forms of the Yorùba language |
10 . Music is not just a set of sounds and rhythms. Its influence on brain is much deeper than any other human experience. Keep on reading to know all these amazing power of music.
A recent study suggests that preterm (早产的) babies appear to experience less pain and feed more when listening to music. Experts led by Dr. Manoj Kumar of the University of Alberta,Canada,found that music had a beneficial effect on reducing pain for preterm babies experiencing painful medical tests. It also appeared to benefit full-term babies during operations.
Many people experiencing brain damage have speech and movement-related problems. Music can help recover from brain injuries. As a different and effective treatment, doctors often advise such patients to listen to good music to improve the parts of the brain responsible for these two functions. When people with neurological (神经的) disorders hear a musical beat, it helps them to regain a balanced walk.
Though music cannot make deafness disappear, it really can stave off the loss of hearing. There was an experiment involving 163 people where 74 were musicians. Participants were asked to pass some listening tests. Musicians heard the sounds better than non-musicians, and this difference gets clearer with age. This means that a 70-year-old musician hears better than a 50-year-old non-musician, even in a noisy environment.
Besides, music mends a broken heart. It is not about a thrown-away love, but about a heart attack. The matter is that music can help people recover from a heart attack or heart operation by reducing blood pressure, slowing down the heartbeat rate, and reducing anxiety. Listening to the quality music produces positive emotions, improves the movement of blood, and expands blood vessels, thus, promoting quick recovery of the whole cardiovascular (心血管的) system.
1. How does music affect preterm babies?| A．It helps develop their potential in music. |
| B．It helps reduce their pain. |
| C．It helps improve their hearing systems. |
| D．It helps repair their neurological systems. |
| A．Cause. | B．Increase. |
| C．Prevent. | D．Expand. |
| A．It has a positive effect on human body systems’ work. |
| B．It can encourage people to do sports. |
| C．It helps make a person outgoing. |
| D．It helps patients recover more quickly than medicine does. |
| A．People Who Can Benefit From music. |
| B．The Best Time to Listen to Music. |
| C．The Way to choose Quality Music. |
| D．How Music Affects Our Mind and Body. |
