1 . Seba Stephens is only 10 years old, but he’s a very talented musician. Seba and his family live in Memphis, Tennessee — a place famous for _________. He grew up with music all around, but he _________ loved the drumming of Stewart Copeland from the band The Police.

Before he turned three, he wanted drums for his birthday. His parents weren’t _________, but after seeing him play the drums at a local music store, they _________ he was serious. They bought him a(n) _________ drum kit. “He didn’t stop playing — ever,” says his dad, Everett.

But soon Seba grew _________. He couldn’t get his drum kit to make the sounds he heard Mr. Copeland making. It was a _________ for the family: Good instruments were worth _________. His parents bought him a professional drum kit and _________ him up for lessons. He faced __________ — some related to his size. “I couldn’t see over my drum set.” he says. __________ , Seba learned extremely quickly and needed a higher level of training.

In 2020, Everett got special __________ for Seba to join a summer music program at Berklee as an 8-year-old. After the intense summer, Seba asked his parents to home-school him so that he could __________ going to Berklee during the school year. Through Seba’s __________, last May, Seba became the youngest person ever to receive a professional __________ from Berklee. The certificate is equal to about four college-level classes.

1.

A．scenery

B．architecture

C．music

D．culture

2.

A．suddenly

B．hardly

C．especially

D．absolutely

3.

A．scared

B．worried

C．happy

D．sure

4.

A．doubted

B．realized

C．agreed

D．suggested

5.

A．junior

B．professional

C．advanced

D．special

6.

A．excited

B．guilty

C．patient

D．upset

7.

A．moment

B．lesson

C．chance

D．choice

8.

A．setting aside

B．giving away

C．paying for

D．laying out

9.

A．held

B．picked

C．raised

D．signed

10.

A．challenges

B．blame

C．debates

D．competition

11.

A．Therefore

B．However

C．Instead

D．Otherwise

12.

A．encouragement

B．comment

C．permission

D．attention

13.

A．continue

B．stop

C．avoid

D．mind

14.

A．trials

B．efforts

C．observations

D．attitudes

15.

A．honor

B．position

C．experience

D．certificate

3 . 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 greater negative effect on task performance and concentration.

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. Which word can be used to replace the underlined word “distracting” in paragraph 2 ?

A．Worrying.

B．Exciting.

C．Interesting.

D．Relaxing.

2. What can we learn from the small study?

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.

3. What do Taj and Danela have in common?

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.

4. Which of the following can be the best title for the text?

A．Should Students Listen to Music?	B．Does Music Help Concentration?
C．Is Music Related to Reading?	D．Can Music Change Mood?

4 . For some people, music is no fun at all. About 4% of the population is what scientists call “amusic”. People who are amusics are born without the ability to enjoy musical notes. Amusic people often cannot tell the differences between two songs.

As a result, songs sound like noise to an amusic. Many amusics compare the sound of music to pieces of metal hitting each other. Life can be hard for amusics. In fact, most people cannot understand what it feels like to be an amusic. Just going to a restaurant or a shopping centre can be uncomfortable or even painful. That is why many amusics have to stay away from places where there is music. Besides, this can result in social loneliness. “I used to hate parties,” says Margaret, a seventy-year-old woman who only recently discovered that she was an amusic. By studying people like Margaret, scientists are finally learning how to identify this unusual condition.

Scientists say that the brains of amusics are different from those of people who can enjoy music. The difference is complex, and it is not connected with poor hearing. Amusics can understand other non-musical sounds well. They also have no problem understanding common speeches. Scientists compare amusics to people who just can’t see certain colours.

Many amusics are happy when their condition is finally diagnosed (诊断). For years, Margaret felt embarrassed about her music problem. Now she knows that she is not alone. That makes it easier for her to explain. “When people invite me to a concert, I just say ‘No, thanks. I’m an amusic,’” says Margaret.

1. What do we know about amusics?

A．They like music.	B．They are born unable to enjoy music.
C．They don’t like music.	D．They have poor hearing.

2. Why is life hard for amusics mainly?

A．They know they cannot enjoy music.

B．They hate parties, restaurants or shopping centres.

C．They try to stay at the places full of music.

D．It may be hard for them to integrate into the community.

3. What causes amusics to be different from most people according to scientists?

A．Their lack of ability to see colours.	B．Their poor hearing.
C．Their brains.	D．Their problems with speech.

4. What is the main idea of the passage?

A．Some people’s inability to enjoy music.	B．Some people’s musical ability.
C．Amusics’ strange behaviour.	D．The diagnosis and treatment of amusics.

6 . 听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。
1. What did the speakers see?

A．A ballet.

B．A concert.

C．A film.

2. What made the woman fall asleep?

A．The hot weather.

B．The quiet music.

C．The boring performance.

7 . When I was a teenager, my dad wasn’t terribly interested in the music I liked. To him, it just sounded like “______ ”, while he referred to the music he listened to as“______ .” As I’ve grown older, I’ll often hear people of my age say things like “they just don’t make _____ music like they used to.”

Luckily, my ______ as a psychologist has given me some insights into this puzzle. We know that musical tastes begin to ______ when we’re teenagers. By the time we’re in our early 20s, these tastes get locked into place pretty firmly.

In fact, studies have found that by the time we turn 33, most of us have ______ listening to new music. Meanwhile, those familiar songs released when you’re in your early teens are likely to remain quite ______ among your age group for the rest of your life. There could be a biological ______ for this. There’s evidence that the brain’s ability to make subtle distinctions between different chords, rhythms and melodies gets ______ with age. So to older people, less ______ songs might all “sound the same”.

But I believe there are some simpler ______ for older people’s dislike of newer music-the “mere exposure effect”. It means that the more we’re ______ to something, the more we tend to like it.

Psychology research has shown that the emotions that we ______ as teens seem more intense than those that come later. We also know that intense emotions are ______ with stronger memories and preferences. All of this might explain why the songs we listen to during this period become so memorable and beloved.

So there’s ______ wrong with your parents because they don’t like your music. In a way, it’s all part of the natural order of things.

1.

A．prayer

B．puzzle

C．noise

D．poetry

2.

A．beautiful

B．strange

C．boring

D．significant

3.

A．enough

B．brief

C．unique

D．good

4.

A．certificate

B．honor

C．background

D．attitude

5.

A．change

B．form

C．disappear

D．reduce

6.

A．stopped

B．continued

C．appreciated

D．practiced

7.

A．modern

B．unchanged

C．silent

D．popular

8.

A．expression

B．evaluation

C．explanation

D．experiment

9.

A．uplifted

B．poorer

C．sensitive

D．sharper

10.

A．different

B．distressing

C．familiar

D．cheerful

11.

A．examples

B．excuses

C．statements

D．reasons

12.

A．opposed

B．devoted

C．adapted

D．exposed

13.

A．experience

B．share

C．illustrate

D．release

14.

A．compared

B．associated

C．combined

D．expressed

15.

A．something

B．nothing

C．everything

D．anything

10 . 阅读下面短文, 在空白处填入1个适当的词或括号内单词的正确形式。

Ge Zhichen’s livestreams on Tiktok have attracted thousands of viewers to learn about Suzhou Pingtan,     1     traditional storytelling and music art form. Ge is a 26-year-old inheritor (传承人) of Pingtan.

    2     (originate) in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, Suzhou Pingtan is performed in the Wu dialect popular in the Jiangnan region. In 2006, Suzhou Pingtan     3     (list) as a national intangible cultural heritage.   

Ge never considered becoming an inheritor in his childhood. “When I was 16, my father used a white lie to trick me     4     attending a Pingtan school,     5    I gradually became fascinated by Pingtan,” he said. Pingtan faces a unique challenge: being understood. “The Wu dialect makes Pingtan stand out but also makes it inaccessible to a wider audience,” Ge said.

“Since I can’t change the Wu dialect, I start by singing and then    6    (careful) explain each part, guiding people    7     (develop) an interest in Pingtan.”

This approach worked. Compared to offline     8     (perform) that only receive around 100 people, Ge’s livestreams     9     (see) up to 20, 000 viewers so far.

Ge believes that another problem with Pingtan is the lack     10    a “hit.” He is currently creating his own original Pingtan songs. “I’m trying to combine well-known stories to create a ‘hit’ that keeps classic charm while appealing to young people.”