William, a highly skilled plumber (水管工) with three decades of experience, was admired by everyone for his outstanding plumbing abilities. However, what many didn’t know was his deep love for music. Ever since he was a young boy, William was passionate about singing. He dreamed of attending a music school and becoming a famous pop singer, just like his idol Willie Nelson. He even dreamed about performing in his own private concerts someday. Unfortunately, tragedy struck when a car accident claimed the lives of both his parents, abruptly ending all his ambitions for the future. As the eldest brother in his family, William had to drop out of school and find a job to support his two younger sisters.
After three decades, William’s passion for singing remained as strong as ever. As he went about his plumbing work, he always carried a little radio with him, belting out tunes and joyfully singing along. The dull tasks of repairs became enjoyable and much more manageable with music in the background. Occasionally, when inspiration struck, he even composed a song or two of his own. In fact, he had setup a small basement studio where he recorded some of these songs, purely for the fun of it.
One day, William received a call from a client, Remus Gall, asking him to help repair the pipes in his kitchen. William accepted the mission readily. Upon arriving at Mr. Gal’s, he was led into the kitchen and began his work. As usual, while doing the repair work, he happily sang along to his small radio. Coincidentally, Remus Gall was a music producer and owner of a small recording company. Remus overheard the plumber singing and immediately realized there was something in William’s voice. He was amazed that an ordinary plumber should have such great talent in singing. After the repair work, Remus got the chance to talk with William and introduced his profession to him.
“You’ve really got a beautiful voice.” Remus said sincerely. “Have you ever thought of releasing an album of your own? If so, I would be more than glad to help 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。
William was greatly shocked by what he heard.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
After three months’ hard work, William’s first-ever album finally came out.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Lily has finally become a good dancer now, all thanks to Shanda’s presence. Of all the people in Lily’s life, Shanda in particular stands out. As Lily thinks of Shanda, a smile spreads across her face, She feels loved and grateful more than ever that she has such a teacher and friend.
Eleven years of dance and going on twelve that year, she doubted it would end up like any other year. She might be stuck in any empty spot and didn’t know what to do with her next dance move. Little did she know that year would change her completely.
That year, Lily felt lucky that Shanda would choreograph (编舞) for her dance, Lily expected to work with Shanda, a young talented dancer, to have an okay dance, but she never expected she would have such an impressive impact on her way to dance.
The moment Lily walked into the marble floored, wall-to-wall mirrored rooms, she already felt like Shanda had faith in her. Shanda smiled at her with appreciative eyes. In the following days, Shanda always encouraged her, “Work to the best of your ability and keep going.” When she wanted to give up, Shanda told her that the real importance of dance was to love it.
Throughout their hard work and devotion, not only did Lily’s ability to dance grow, but also their friendship grew. Shanda became more than a teacher to Lily. She was also a close friend that Lily could turn to for anything. Shanda gave her encouragenent when Lily needed edit the most, and Shanda was always there to cheer Lily up when she felt down.
As the year quickly came to an end, it was high time for Lily to show her dance to the audience. As she walked to the backstage filled with other dancers warming up and expecting their performance, she prayed for a good performance that would convey her improvement. The rhythmic music before her rang in her ears. She waited anxiously for her turn. Finally, after what seemed like days, the hostess announced “Lily”.
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。
Lily had butterflies in her stomach as she stepped onto the big stage.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Lily felt very excited when the hostess asked her to make a speech.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
3 . Astrid Poghosyan, a 28-year-old Armenian violinist, now working as a helper to the president of the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, a celebrated orchestra in China's most populous city, has achieved her dream as a musician.
This summer, she has been busy making preparations for a series of in-person and online music events and cultural exchange programs, including a music festival in Shanghai and a live-streamed international violin competition. Poghosyan said she always puts all her energy into the projects in which she is involved, whether they are offline or online events, as she believes that every little effort will help her realize her music-related dreams.
Having studied and worked in China for 12 years, Poghosyan has now become a real China hand. Such a multicultural background has certainly helped her excel at her current job. "Poghosyan plays a very special role in our orchestra," said Zhou Ping, president of the orchestra. "She has lived in China for long and loves the Chinese culture, and she knows how to use the advantage of a multicultural background in her work."
For Poghosyan, the life she now leads is quite different from when she first came to China in 2009 to study violin at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. Then just 16, Poghosyan couldn't speak a word of Chinese. "And my high-school-level English wasn't of much help at that time," she said. "So I decided to learn Chinese to solve the communication problem."
As she gradually immersed (沉浸) herself in the Chinese language and culture, she also started to make Chinese friends and explore the exciting city life of Shanghai. "Since I first came to Shanghai, I have always been impressed by the kindness and friendliness of the people here," she said, "Their smiles have made me feel the warmth of the city."
1. What does Poghosyan do in China at present?| A．A hostess of a music festival. | B．A president of an orchestra |
| C．A judge of some music events. | D．An assistant of Zhou Ping. |
| A．Speed up. | B．Show off | C．Stand out. | D．Settle down |
| A．Disappointed. | B．Inspired. | C．Worried | D．Satisfied. |
| A．An Armenian's exciting academic life in Shanghai | B．The advantage of multicultural background in work |
| C．An Armenian musician realizing her dream in China. | D．The love brought to an Armenian by Chinese people. |
4 . Music influences your emotions. In turn, your emotions influence your behavior. One of these is your food intake.
Researchers at the University of Arkansas studied how music influences people when they eat in a restaurant. For the study, they used four types of music: jazz, classical, rock, and hip-hop. Their results showed that people had more appetite when they listened to jazz music while they ate.
However, another study published in Psychological Reports suggests it isn’t only increased appetite that causes people to eat more.
Besides, the study conducted by the Journal of the Academy suggests that the volume of music can also have an effect on how you eat. More specifically, the study states that, with low-volume music, you eat better because you make healthier choices. On the other hand, the study claims that music at high volume increases stimulation and stress.
For this reason, restaurants should consider the fact when thinking about the optimization of their products and services.
| A．Does music influence how you eat? |
| B．Being in a rush to eat also plays a part. |
| C．Does your emotion boost your appetite? |
| D．However, they had less appetite when listening to hip-hop. |
| E．In fact, many catering establishments have already taken action. |
| F．This could prove to be quite an interesting concept for restaurants. |
| G．This means you’re more likely to order comfort food or other unhealthy options. |
5 . Every one has a dream and those who have dreams are great. In June, a two-minute-long video,
The wide
Standing in small groups, students are
| A．featuring | B．predicting | C．scolding | D．announcing |
| A．displaying | B．rewinding | C．circulating | D．pausing |
| A．wrestles | B．walks | C．jogs | D．dances |
| A．use | B．reach | C．application | D．adaptation |
| A．focus | B．issue | C．conclusion | D．challenge |
| A．downtown | B．city | C．suburb | D．village |
| A．Abandoned | B．Stricken | C．Completed | D．Founded |
| A．purchasing | B．affording | C．awarding | D．showing |
| A．home | B．school | C．neighborhood | D．community |
| A．takes apart | B．lays out | C．pushes aside | D．burns down |
| A．sleep | B．rest | C．dinner | D．class |
| A．arrangements | B．decorations | C．preparations | D．contributions |
| A．essential | B．particular | C．avoidable | D．evident |
| A．anxious | B．concerned | C．serious | D．disappointed |
| A．practise | B．perform | C．create | D．imagine |
| A．flexibly | B．awkwardly | C．silently | D．eagerly |
| A．in relief | B．with patience | C．with hesitation | D．in surprise |
| A．appreciated | B．admired | C．adored | D．inspired |
| A．regret | B．joy | C．pain | D．responsibility |
| A．alarmed | B．benefited | C．reminded | D．promised |
6 . How do you get to Carnegie Hall(卡内基音乐厅)? "Practice, practice, practice" is the well known answer. But for some inspiring young musicians from the Afghanistan National Institute of Music in Kabul, the road to the famous concert hall was more difficult.
The Afghan Youth Orchestra(AYO) is made up of young people who study at the Afghanistan National Institute of Music. It was the first orchestra created in Afghanistan in 30 years.
Gulalai Norestani, 14, plays a traditional string instrument. Like many students. Gulalai became an orphan when her parents were killed during the ongoing war. Music is her salvation (救星) . "Music for me is a language of peace," Gulalai said. "It connects people."
Milad Yousufi, t 8, is a piano student. "Music is my life," he said. Milad also lost many of his family members during the war. When music was banned, he couldn’t even touch a piano. So as a 12-year-old boy, he started painting and drawing. "I used to draw a piano," he said. Finally, Milad was free to play a real piano. "Our dream came true," he said. "It is everyone's dream to play in Carnegie Hall."
And he has more dreams. "I have a dream to continue my education in America," he explained. "I am working hard to make that happen. Then t have a dream to come back to Afghanistan and teach and serve people."
Because of continuing limits in Afghanistan, Gulalai and Milad listen mostly to the king of classical music they played at Carnegie Hall. But Gulalai says she' s heard a bit of Jennifer Lopez and Shakira and she likes them. Milad says he has heard of Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber, but Msn' t vet had a chance to listen to them.
Before Milad went onstage that night with the band of Afghan kids who had survived a war, I asked him if he had ever experienced true peace. "No. not yet," he answered, adding, "I hope I will be able to."
Later during the performance, as he played one of Carnegie Hall’s famous grand pianos, the look of pure joy on his face convinced me that he found peace in music.
1. What is Gulalai’s opinion on music?| A．It calms her down in the war. | B．It makes people understand each other. |
| C．It is a kind of violent language. | D．It saves her from the killing at war. |
| A．To serve his country . | B．To play a real piano. |
| C．To further study. | D．To play in Carnegie. |
| A．Classical music is not played in Afghanistan. |
| B．Gulalai knows Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber well. |
| C．The music Gulalai and Milad can hear is limited. |
| D．MiNd likes Jennifer Lopez and Shakira. |
| A．Traditional Afghan Music | B．Young Musicians |
| C．A Better Performance | D．A Peace in Music |
