1. Why does Tony ask for a recommendation?
| A．He loves rock music. |
| B．He is planning a birthday treat. |
| C．He wants to have fun with friends. |
| A．They can be expensive. | B．They currently cost less. | C．They have probably sold out. |
On Nov.18, 1995, Itzhak Perlman, the violinist, came to give a concert on stage at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center in New York City.
If you have ever been to a Perlman concert, you know that getting on stage is no small achievement for him. He was stricken with polio(小儿麻痹) as a child, and so he has braces on both legs and walks with the aid of two crutches. To see him walk across the stage one step at a time, painfully and slowly, is an awesome sight. Then he sits down, slowly, puts his crutches on the floor, undoes the clasps on his legs, tucks one foot back and extends the other foot forward. Then he bends down and picks up the violin, puts it under his chin, nods to the conductor and proceeds to play.
By now, the audience is used to this practice. They remain silent while he undoes the clasps on his legs. They wait until he is ready to play.
But this time, something went wrong. Just as he finished the first few bars, one of the strings on his violin broke. You could hear it snap - it went off like gunfire across the room.
I here was no mistaking what that sound meant.
People who were there that night thought to themselves: “We figured that he would have to get up, put on the clasps again, pick up the crutches and limp his way off stage -to either find another violin or else find another string for this one.”
But he didn’t. Instead, he waited a moment, closed his eyes and then signaled the conductor to begin again. The orchestra began, and he played from where he had left off. And he played with such passion and such power and such purity as they had never heard before.
Anyone knows it is impossible to play a symphonic work with just three strings. But that night, he was seen modulating, changing, and recomposing the piece in his head. He was detuning the strings to get new sounds they had never made before.
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。
When he finished, there was an awesome silence in the room.
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He has prepared all his life to make music on a violin of four strings.
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1.你喜欢的音乐；
2.音乐给你带来的好处。
注意：
1.词数80左右；
2.可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
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Once there lived a girl named Melanie. The little girl was living with a dream. She wanted to be a ballet dancer. Her body was very flexible and she had a strong will power. Melanie’s parents never knew of the great dancing skills their daughter had until one day, they saw the little girl dancing with the beautiful steps of a ballerina.
“Isn’t it strange? Melanie is dancing so well without any formal training!” the mother said.
“We must give her ballet lessons to help her improve her skills,” her father said.
The following day, Melanie’s parents took her to a local dance training school. The teacher asked Melanie to dance. The little girl was happy and showed some of her favorite dance steps. However, the teacher didn’t seem interested in her performance.
“That’s OK. You can leave now!”the teacher said.
Melanie was shocked to hear this. So were her parents. They couldn’t believe their ears.
“The girl is common. She does not have the possibility to become a ballerina, ”the dance teacher said. “Don’t let her waste her time dreaming of becoming a dancer.”
Disappointed, Melanie and her parents returned home. Tears rolled down Melanie’s face. Her dreams were broken within a matter of minutes. Without confidence, Melanie never attempted to dance again. She completed her studies and went on to become a teacher in school.Life was good and she kept herself busy with family and work. However, whenever she happened to pass the school’s ballet room, memories of childhood dreams danced before her eyes.
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。
One day, the ballet teacher in her school was late.
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“What a performance, Melanie! You are a true ballerina!” said the ballet teacher entering the classroom.
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As a single mother, I’ve never doubted my daughter Jane’s dream to be a singer on the stage. At an early age, she was crazy about singing. Whenever she had a chance, she would sing to her heart’s content. Her sweet and charming voice tended to get people around attracted to her songs.
Living in a small city, I took several odd jobs, determined to do everything in my power to support her. Soon after Jane attended school, her music teacher Mary noticed her talent by chance and volunteered to give her some guidance on how to sing. Jane practiced so hard that before long she made great progress in singing.
Unfortunately, one noon a year later, Jane was crossing the street when a careless driver knocked her down. She was rushed to hospital. When I hurried there, the doctor told me that my daughter would probably not stand on her own feet. I froze with shock, feeling as if I had been thrown into a dark world. Weak and dizzy, I was about to fall to the ground when someone took hold of me.
It was Mary, who got the news and raced here. She comforted me, saying firmly, “Grace, Jane needs you. You must stay calm and strong.” I nodded. Having calmed down, I entered the ward with Mary.
That night, Jane recovered her consciousness (知觉) and opened her eyes. Holding her hand, I said, “My dear, everything would be fine.” Mary comforted her gently, “I know you are a strong girl, Jane. Don’t worry. We’ll be standing by you.” I was heartbroken to see tears streaming down Jane’s cheeks.
After two months, we returned home from hospital. Her teachers and friends frequently visited her. Jane eventually accepted the fact that she would have to get around in a wheelchair. Never did she refer to the subject of singing again. I knew she was a nice and understanding girl, who was afraid that talking about her original dream would upset the two of us.
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。
One day, however, Mary came with good news.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________When the host announced it was Jane’s turn, she was wheeled onto the stage.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________If you want to sing together with hundreds of other people while at home alone, you can join a virtual choir. Anyone can take part in a virtual choir from anywhere—all you need is a video camera and
The virtual choir was the idea of award-winning composer and
In 2009, Whitacre received a video of a girl who was singing one of
7 . A researcher at Ben-Gurion University conducted the first study of hand-clapping songs, uncovering a direct link between those activities and the development of important skills in children and young adults, including university students.
“We found that children in the first, second and third grades who sing these songs prove skills absent in children who don’t take part in similar activities,” explains Dr. Idit Sulkin. “We also found that children who naturally perform hand-clapping songs in the yard during break have neater handwriting, write better and make fewer spelling errors.” As part of the study, Sulkin went to several elementary school classrooms and engaged the children in either a board of education conducting music appreciation program or hand-clapping songs training — each lasting a period of 10 weeks.
“Within a very short period of time, the children who until then hadn’t taken part in such activities caught up in their cognitive abilities to those who did,” she said. But this finding only surfaced for the group of children undergoing hand-clapping songs training. The result led Sulkin to conclude that hand-clapping songs should be made a necessary part of education for children aged 6 to 10, for the purpose of motor and cognitive training.
During the study, Dr. Sulkin interviewed school and kindergarten teachers, visited their classrooms and joined the children in singing. Her goal was to figure out why children are fascinated by singing and clapping up until the end of third grade, when these entertainments are abruptly abandoned and replaced with sports. “This fact explains a developmental process the children are going through,” Dr. Sulkin observes. “The hand-clapping songs appear naturally in children’s lives at the age of 7, and disappear at the age of 10.”
Sulkin says that no in-depth, long-term study has been conducted on the effects that hand-clapping songs have on children’s motor and cognitive skills. However, the relationship between music and intellectual development in children has been studied extensively, causing countless parents to obtain a “Baby Mozart” CD for their children.
1. What conclusion does Dr. Sulkin make?| A．Hand-clapping songs training is short. |
| B．Kids with hand-clapping songs training write well. |
| C．Kids with hand-clapping songs training are smarter. |
| D．Hand-clapping songs should be part of kid education. |
| A．At the age of 6. | B．At the age of 7. |
| C．At the age of 8. | D．At the age of 10. |
| A．To help their kids develop better. | B．To support their kids’ dream. |
| C．To satisfy their kids’ hobby. | D．To let their kids sleep well. |
| A．Hand-clapping songs’ effect on adults. | B．Shortcomings on hand-clapping songs. |
| C．Sulkin’s growth in the musical home. | D．Songs from “Baby Mozart” CDs. |
8 . Want to experience an English village ? Ensure to look out for morris dancing. It is a folk dancing that dates back to the 15th century
Men and women wearing old-fashioned clothing dance in the streets of towns and villages across the country during the holiday periods.Some groups carry heavy black sticks which they bash(敲击) against each other while they dance. Other groups wave handkerchiefs(手帕) in the air when they perform. The dances are usually performed near a pub so that when they are over, the dancers and audience can sing some traditional folk songs over a pint of beer. The festivities will often continue long into the night, by which point most people are too drunk to think about performing again!
Morris dancing is a great English tradition but it’s facing a big crisis( 危机). As the years go by, fewer and fewer young people are joining morris dancing groups. The dancers are getting older and older and if nothing is done to change this trend, the tradition will die out within the next few decades.
If you’ve ever had the fortune to see morris dancing, you may understand why teenagers aren’t rushing to sign up. Putting it clearly, it’s not exactly the coolest thing for an 18-year-old to be doing! Why dress up in bells and funny clothes when you could be going clubbing? Or playing sport? Or doing anything else?
However, it would be a great shame to lose such a fun part of England’s history and culture. It’s important to look after some traditions and customs especially when it’s something as harmless and happy as morris dancing. So here’s a toast(祝酒)to the next generation of would-be morris dancers!
1. What can we learn about morris dancers?| A．They sing songs about beer |
| B．They beat each other with black sticks. |
| C．They offer handkerchiefs to the audience. |
| D．They usually drink beer after the performance |
| A．It may disappear in future | B．All the dancers are too old |
| C．It is hard for people to learn. | D．Nothing can be done to develop it. |
| A．The young are busy with other things. |
| B．The young think morris dancing is boring. |
| C．The young have all kinds of interests in life. |
| D．The young always like doing the coolest things. |
| A．Morris dancing brings fun to people. |
| B．England has rich history and culture |
| C．Morris dancing should be passed down. |
| D．Some traditions are harmless to be passed down. |
9 . A young woman sits down at the piano. Her long flowing brown hair frames a friendly face. And then she begins to sing. Her unexpectedly mature voice attracted everyone in the room. This is Norah Jones, award-winning singer and songwriter.
Norah Jones was born on March 30, 1979, in New York City. She is the daughter of the legendary Rxdyi Shankar, a very famous guitar player; but Norah was brought up entirely by her mother Sue. At 4 years old, she and her mother moved to the Dallas suburb, Texas. Her earliest musical influence came from her mother’s extensive LP collection. She began singing in church choirs at age five, took piano lessons two years later, and briefly played alto saxophone in junior high.
In the course of serving customers and laying tables in a fast restaurant, Jones soon started a band in which she was a lead singer, of course, and played piano as well. In October 2000, the band ambitiously brought a demo to EMI Blue Note Records.
At a meeting with Blue Note president Bruce in the following year, Jones played her three-song tape, hoping to earn a break. Bruce was so impressed with this young girl’s talents that he signed her on the spot. After a year of work, Norah Jones released her debut album, Come Away with Me. Norah Jones has already sold 2.6 million copies of the album, which is 10 times more than any album in Blue Note history. Despite the lack of advertisement, her album was inching its way up the music charts while the debut single Don’t Know Why was climbing up the Adult Top 40 Chart.
The singer already enjoyed a success at the Grammy Awards in 2003, where she picked up five trophies in the major categories(Album of the Year, Record of the Year Trophy for Don’t Know Why, Best New Artist, Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for Don’t Know Why, and Best Pop Vocal Album). It’s clear that this was only the beginning for Miss Jones.
1. What motivated Jones’ interest in music when young?| A．Her childhood experience. | B．Her mother’s preference in music. |
| C．Her participation in church choirs. | D．Her mother’s extensive LP collection. |
| A．Work as a waitress. | B．Study in a high school. |
| C．Play the piano for customers. | D．Compose songs for a band. |
| A．In 2000. | B．In 2001. | C．In 2002. | D．In 2003. |
| A．It was composed by Jones. | B．It sold well through advertisement. |
| C．It hit the top in the Adult Top 40 Chart. | D．It won several awards in the Grammy Awards in 2003. |
10 . 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. |
