Wearing a big hat and playing a guitar, a country music singer is using his rising and falling voice to tell the audience about his love, hope and loss. Few people could avoid getting caught up in his feelings.
This is the appeal（魅力）of country music, which speaks to the basic emotions of human life. Throughout the 20th century, it has grown into one of the most original and lasting American musical forms.
Country music's roots are in the songs of the American South, brought over by early immigrants(移民) from England. Those songs expressed the hardships of rural life and deep religious beliefs. In the 1920s, country music came into being as its first recordings were made. Early stars like Jimmy Rodger, known as "The Father of Country Music", and the Carter Family established its strong traditions － good song-writing, singing and playing.
Much of this music was written for and brought to the American public through the cowboy films of the 1930s and 1940s. It was widely popular then and many singers turned up on stage wearing Western fringe and cowboy hats.
In the 1950s, the country music recording industry was set up in Nashville and moved away from its rough roots. But singers like John Denver, with his hit track "Take Me Home, Country Roads", insisted on the originality and emotions of "real" country music.
Younger artists in the 1990s turned to older country styles and mixed t3vhem with elements of rock 'n' roll. Steve Earle, with his song "The Devil's Right Hand", is typical of this so-called "another country music".
Country music continues to speak to Americans of all ages and backgrounds. And it gives the nation an identity（独特性）.
Unlike pop music, country music was American, and only American. During its development, it continued to emphasize that "American" element and sounded completely different from its English ancestors. It may even be said that its sound and story tell the history of the United States. Which of the following is the typical image(形象) when a country music singer performs?
| A．Wearing a big hat and playing a guitar. |
| B．Using the rising and falling voice. |
| C．Telling about his love, hope and loss. |
| D．Singing for those working in the fields. |
Which of the following statements about country music is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．Country music was created by immigrants from England. |
| B．Country music comes from South American songs. |
| C．John Denver was known as "The Father of Country Music" |
| D．Country music that belongs to pop music was American, and only American. |
The underlined expression “getting caught up in” probably means_________.
| A．become interested or involved in |
| B．becoming fashionable or popularin |
| C．become caught in |
| D．breaking away from |
The author mentioned Jimmy Rodger, John Denver and Steve Earle to __.
| A．tell us the stage singing style of country music |
| B．show the process of the development of country music |
| C．attract the audience's attention to country music |
| D．introduce some famous stars to readers |
When did Country music begin to turn into a stage art？
| A．In the 1920s | B．In the 1940s | C．in the 1950s | D．in the 1990s |
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Educational Camps 2010
★21st Century Princess Program: 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday through Friday, July 23-27. For girls 12-15. Girls learn hair care, good manners and the importance of inner beauty. Homewood Suites by Hilton, 2001 E. Highland Ave., Phoenix. $495. www. homewoodsuites. hilton.com. (623) 848-1844.
★Barrow Institute Summer Camp: 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, July 23 through Aug. 3. For ages 12-14. Activities include exploring laboratories and researching the effectiveness of treatments and medicines. July 23-27 for beginning students, and July 30-Aug. 3 for advanced students. Barrow Neurological Institute, 350 W. Thomas Road, Phoenix: $195-$220: www. thebni, com. (602) 716-2028.
★Digital Kids World Summer Camp: 9 a.m.--4 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, July 30 through Aug. 17. For kids 6-14. Choose from a variety of technical classes, such as comic book design and video game design. Morning and afternoon camps held in weekly sessions (一段时间). Digital Kids World, 5070 N. Central Ave., Phoenix. $150 weekly for kids 6-9; $225 weekly for kids 10-14. www. digitalkidsworld, com. (602) 445-3925.
★Kids Advanced College Program: Mondays through Thursdays, July 30 through Sept. 19. For ages 8-14. Classes include lively computer design, engineering and writing. Prices and times vary. Paradise Valley Community College, 18401 N. 32nd St., Phoenix. $99--$379. www.pvc.maricopa.edu. (602) 787-6804.
★Camp Zoo: Mondays through Fridays, July 30 through Aug. 13. For ages 4-14. Younger kids work with smaller animals, basic care giving and art projects, while older children explore animal medicine. Morning afternoon, evening and full-day sessions available. Phoenix Zoo, 455 N. Galvin Parkway, Phoenix. $153-$280 per week. www. phoenixzoo.org. (602) 273-1341.
64. According to the passage, these activities are mainly intended for _________.
A. college students B. teachers C. parents D. children
65. If Mary, aged 12, wants to learn how to behave well, which of the following will she choose?
A. Barrow Institute Summer Camp.B. 21st Century Princess Program.
C. Digital Kids World Summer Camp. D. Kids Advanced College Program.
66. Which of the following can offer you information about animals and animal medicine?
A. (602) 716-2028. B. www. digitalkidsworld. com.
C. (602) 273-1341. D. www.pvc.maricopca.edu.
67. According to the passage, we know that __________.
A. all these activities are held in the same city
B. 21st Century Princess Program lasts the longest
C. the price of Camp Zoo is the highest per week
D. Kids Advanced College Program is popular with plant lovers
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Once upon a time, there was a seed and because he was only a seed, nobody cared to notice him. Thus, feeling kind of inferior, the seed gave no importance to his existence.
Then one day, a wind picked him up and threw him on an open field under the hot sun. He wanted to know why. But instead of any answer, he was provided with rain besides sunlight, sometimes small and sometimes heavy.
Time flew and years later he saw a traveler sitting by his side. "Thank God for this. I really need some rest," he heard the traveler say.
"What are you talking about?" the seed soon asked. He thought the man was making fun of him. Sure, he had seen many people sitting by his side but no one ever spoke to him like that.
"Who's this?" the man was surprised.
'It's me. The seed."
"The seed?" the man looked at the big tree. "Are you kidding me? you're no seed. You're a big tree?
"Really?"
"Yes! Why do you think people come here? To feel your shade!"
A moment passed before the traveler's words touched the chord (心弦) in him. The seed, now a great tree, smiled for the first time in his life. Years of sufferings from the sun and the rain finally made sense to him.
"Oh! That means I'm not a small seed anymore! I didn't die unnoticed but was born to help people with tiredness. Wow! Now that's a life worth a thousand gems (宝石)!"
60. What does the underlined word "inferior" (in Paragraph 1) probably mean?
A. Not funny. B. Not weak. C. Not good. D. Not interesting.
61. The seed thought the man sitting by his side was laughing at him because _______.
A. the man didn't think the seed was important
B. the seed never thought he could be noticed
C. the man was talking about God with him
D. the man really wanted some rest near him
62. When the seed first heard that he had been a big tree, he felt _______.
A. disappointed B. excited C. doubtful D. satisfied
63. The passage mainly tells us that ________.
A. every life is of some value B. one's existence is in need of a finder
C. life goes on no matter what happens D. failure is the mother of success
.
第三部分：阅读理解（共20小题，每小题2分，共40分）
My grandmother Myra is very dedicated woman. Once she sets her mind on something, then there's no stopping her. In this case, that's a good thing because to do what she did requires extreme dedication.
She was born in Montreal, Canada. Her mother died of cancer in her forties and her father wasn't very supportive of her and her younger sister. Because of this, my grandmother became extremely close with her sister Rhea.
Early in her life, my grandmother was a little fat and she was picked on for it. Because she missed her mother so much, she turned to food for false love. Throughout the years she became more overweight. Like most people, my grandmother was not happy with her weight, but she never really did anything about it either. She had a close friend who once told her that she needed to do something about her weight if she didn't want to die. Her extra weight caused her to have health problems. She had a stroke and heart problems and spent many years in a wheelchair. My grandmother decided to join Weight Watchers and follow their plan, She started to see improvement. After a little while she completely refused to eat all fatty foods and sweets.
In the end she was very satisfied. She dropped over two hundred pounds and didn't need her wheelchair anymore. Because of the experience she went through, she helps other people to slim down. Also because she knows how it feels to be overweight, she's now a nutrition counselor (营养顾问). She knows more about food's effect on health than anyone I know.
My grandmother taught me an extremely useful lesson. Because of her dedication and perseverance (毅力), I've learned that no matter how tough a situation looks or how impossible it seems, do have a try.
56. According to the passage, the author's grandmother is such a woman EXCEPT that ________.
A. she is a person with a strong will
B. she has a close relationship with her sister
C. she is dedicated
D. she was unkind to her father
57. The underlined phrase "Weight Watchers" is most probably the name of ________.
A. a group of overweight people
B. an organization which helps people lose weight
C. a doctor who operates on patients
D. a supermarket selling all fatty foods and sweets
58. The meaning of the underlined sentence in the last paragraph is closest to "_________".
A. Where there is a will, there is a way
B. Actions speak louder than words
C. The best fish swims near the bottom
D. Take a pain for a pleasure all wise men can
59. From the passage, we can infer that _________.
A. the author's grandmother was a teacher
B. the author admired her grandmother very much
C. the author's grandmother worked in Weight Watchers later
D. the author's grandmother hated her father very much
.
Have you ever been at a meeting while someone was making a speech and realized suddenly that your mind was a million miles away? You probably felt sorry and made up your mind to pay attention and always have been told that daydreaming is a waste of time.
“On the contrary,” says L. Giambra, an expert in psychology, “daydreaming is quite necessary. Without it, the mind couldn’t get done all the t
hinking it has to do during a normal day. You can’t possibly do all your thinking with a conscious（有意识）mind. Instead, your unconscious mind is working out problems all the time. Daydreaming then may be one way that the unconscious and conscious states of mind have silent dialogues.”
Early experts in psychology paid no attention to the importance of daydreams or even considered them harmful. At one time daydreaming was thought to be a cause of some mental illnesses. They did not have a better understanding of daydreams until the late 1980s. Eric Klinger, a professor of psychology, is the writer of the book Daydreaming. Klinger says, “We know now that daydreaming is one of the main ways that we organize our lives, learn from our experiences, and plan for our futures. Daydreams real
ly are a window on the things we fear and the things we long for in life.”
Daydreams are usually very simple and direct, quite unlike sleep dreams, which may be hard to understand. It’s easier to gain a deep understanding of your life by paying close attention to your daydreams than by trying to examine your sleep dreams carefully. Daydreams help you recognize the difficult situations in your life and find out a possible way of dealing with them.
Daydreams cannot be predicated（预料）. They move off in unexpected directions which may be creative and full of ideas. For many famous artists and scientists, daydreams were and are a main source of creative energy.
72．The writer of this passage considers daydreams__________.
A．hard to understand B．important and helpful
C．harmful and unimportant D．the same as sleep dreams
73．The writer quoted（引用）L. Giambra and Eric Klinger to__________
A．point out the wrong ideas of early experts B．list two different ideas
C．support his own idea D．report the latest research on daydreams
74．Which of the following is TRUE?
A．An unconscious mind can work all the problems out.
B．Daydreaming can give artists and scientists ideas for creation.
C．Professor Eric Klinger has a better idea than L. Giambra.
D．Early experts fully understood what daydreams were.
75．What is the main difference between daydreams and sleep dreams?
A．People have daydreams and sleep dreams at different times.
B．Daydreams are the result of unconscious mind while sleep dreams are that of conscious mind.
C．Daydreams are more harmful.
D．Daydreams are more helpful in solving problems.
.
Here are some advertisements taken from a newspaper.
(1)
Dear Drew Carter,
Your first year on this earth has been a pleasure ride for all of us. We love you!
Love,
Dad and Mom and many friends
(2)
Lawlis—Clarke
The Doctors Virgil and Marjorie Lawlis are pleased to announce the engagement（订婚）of their daughter Diana Susan to Mr. Robert Brent Clarke, son of Mr. and Mrs. James Clarke of Herford, Texas.
A spring wedding is planned in Houston.
(3)
Isbell—Foss
Mr. And Mrs. Davis K. Isbell announce the marriage of their daughter Dang to Mr. Stanley Foss, son of Mrs. John Sipe of Ada, Minnesota.
The wedding will be early April at Abiding Love Lutheran Church.
(4)
Story—Kurio
Miss Stephanie Story and Mr. Warren Kurio married on February 5, at half past seven o’clock in the evening at Highland Park Presbyterian Church in Dallas, Texas. The bride（新娘）is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs, Herbert Brule Story Jr. of Dallas. The groom（新郎）is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Gerald Stanley Kurio of Austin.
68．What would be the best title for the first advertisement?
A．We Love You B．Happy 1st Birthday C．One Year Old D．Our One-Year-Old Son
69．Lawlis and Clarke are going to get married .
A．in a church B．where Clarke’s parents live
C．against their parents’ will D．to Lawlis’s parents’ joy
70．Who got or will get married in spring?
A．Not only Lawlis and Clarke but also Isbell and Foss.
B．Neither Lawlis and Clarke nor Isbell and Foss.
C．Either Isbell and Foss or Story and Kurio.
D．Neither Lawlis and Clarke nor Story and Kurio.
71．Who are now a married couple?
A．Lawlis and Clarke. B．Dand Isbell and Foss.
C．Story and Kurio. D．The text doesn’t say.