Show Your Bones is the newest album from a musical group with an unusual name, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. The energetic music made by these rock musicians is becoming very popular in America.
A singer, a guitar player and a drummer make up the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Their rock sound is creative, unusual, and full of personality. Their music is considered an example of “indie”(short for independent) rock. Indie musicians like to protect their independence and artistic freedom. One way to do this is to avoid using major record companies. The lead singer Karen O is known for wearing wild clothing and having wild hairstyles while performing. Sometimes she even pours beer over herself and the audience. Imagine Karen O dancing around on stage as you listen to her sing the song, Phenomena.
The words in the songs on Show Your Bones are poetic and also a little strange. It is not always clear what the songs mean. In the song called The Sweets, Karen O describes colors and the motion of water. Also, she wonders about meeting someone again.
The Yeah Yeah Yeahs started playing music together in New York City.
Now Karen O has moved to Los Angeles, California. She says that she likes flying between the two cities and the band is now “bi-coastal”. Karen O also said that this album was the most difficult to make. The band was trying to find a different sound from their earlier albums. Their work seems to have been worth the effort. Critics say Show Your Bones might be one of the best albums of the year.
39. How many people are there in the Yeah Yeah Yeahs?
A. Two. B.One. C. Four. D. Three.
40. According to the passage, we know that_______.
A. Karen O usually drinks beer on stage while singing
B. The Sweets is an album made by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs
C. Karen O doesn’t sing in New York any longer
D. the group had made more than one album before Show Your Bones
41. What can we infer from the passage?
A. Most major record companies follow certain The words on
B. Show Your Bones are all difficult to understand.traditions.
C. Show Your Bones has got a lot of criticism.
D. Show Your Bones is the best-seller of the year.
42. The writer’s attitude towards the Yeah Yeah Yeahs can be best described as _______.
A. indifferent B. curious C. positive D. negative
Most of us are used to seasons. Each year, spring follows winter, which follows autumn, which follows summer, which follows spring. And winter is colder than summer. But the earth goes through temperature cycles over much longer periods than those that we experience. Between 65,000 and 35,000 years, the planet was much colder than it is now .During that time the temperature also changed a lot, with periods of warming and cooling. Ice melted during the warm periods, which made sea levels rise. Water froze again during the cold periods.
A new study from Switzerland throws light on where ice sheets(冰川)inched during the ice age. It now seems that the ice melted at both ends of the earth, rather than just in either northern or southern regions.
This surprised the researchers from the University of Bern. Scientists have long assumed(假设)that most of the ice that melted was in the Northern hemisphere(半球)during the 30,000-year long ice age. That belief was held because the North Pole is surrounded by land, while the South Pole is surrounded by the Antarctic Ocean. It is easier for ice sheets to grow on land .If surrendered by sea the ice can easily just slip into the ocean instead of building up.
The researchers used a computer model to look at ways the ice could melt and how it might affect sea levels. They compared these results to evidence of how temperatures and currents actually changed during that time. The model showed that if it was only in the Northern hemisphere that ice melted, there would have been a bigger impact(影响)on ocean currents (洋流)and sea temperatures than what actually happened. Studies suggest that melting just in the Southern hemisphere would have been impossible, too. The only reasonable conclusion, the scientists could make, was that ice melted equally in the North and the South.
It is still a mystery as to what caused the temperature changes that caused the ice to melt.The North Pole is surrounded by land ,while the South Pole is surrounded by the Antarctic Ocean. So scientists thought that .
A.most of the ice melted in the Northern hemisphere |
B.most of the ice melted in the Southern hemisphere |
C.The North Pole is colder than South Pole |
D.The South Pole is colder than North Pole |
We can learn from the passage .
A.the ice can easily just slip into the ocean |
B.volcanoes caused the ice to melt |
C.melting just in the Northern hemisphere would have been impossible |
D.researchers often use the computer models to help their research work |
The scientists are not sure.
A.how long the ice age lasted |
B.where ice sheets melted during the ice age . |
C.what caused the temperature changes |
D.what the earth is made up of |
Which of the following is NOT right ?
A.The researchers want to know how the melting of ice might affect sea levels by the computer model. |
B.Studies show ice melted equally in the North and the South during the ice age. |
C.Most of the ice melted in the Northern hemisphere(半球)during the 30,000-year long Ice age. |
D.The temperature changes caused the ice to melt. |
May : Happenings from the Past
May 5 , 1884
Isaac Murphy , son of a slave and perhaps the greatest horse rider in American history, rides Buchanan to win his first Kentucky Derby. He becomes the first rider ever to win the race three times.
May 9 , 1754
Benjamin Franklin’s Pennsylvania Gazette produces perhaps the first American political cartoon , showing a snake cut in pieces , with the words “Join or Die” printed under the picture.
May 11 , 1934
The first great dust storm of the Great Plains Dust Bowl, the result of years of drought (干旱) , blows topsoil all the way to New York City and Washington , D. C.
May 19, 1994
Jacqueline Lee Bouvier Kennedy Onassis, former first lady and one of the most famous people of the 1960s, died of cancer in New York City at the age of 64.
May 24, 1844
Samuel F. B. Morse taps (轻敲) out the first message, “What hath God wrought,” over the experimental long-distance telegraph line which runs from Washington, D. C, to Baltimore, Md.We know from the text that Buchanan is _______________.
A.Isaac’s father |
B.a winning horse |
C.a slave taking care of horses |
D.the first racing horse in Kentucky |
What is the title of the first American political cartoon?
A.Join or Die |
B.Pennsylvania Gazette |
C.What Hath God Wrought |
D.Kentucky Derby |
In which year did the former first lady Jacqueline die?
A.1934 | B.1960 | C.1964 | D.1994 |
Which of the following places has to do with (与...有关)the first telegram in history?
A. Washington, D. C.
B. New York City
C. Kentucky
D. Pennsylvania
When Denis Hennequin took over as the European boss of McDonald's in January 2004, the world's biggest restaurant chain was showing signs of recovery in America and Australia, but sales in Europe were sluggish or declining.One exception was France, where Mr.Hennequin had done a reliable job as head on the group's French subsidiary(子公式) to sell more Big Macs to his relatives, His task was to copy this success in all 41 of the European countries where anti-globalisers’ favourite enemy operates.
So far Mr.Henncquin is doing well.Last year European sales increased by 5.8% and the number of customers by 3.4%, the best annual results in nearly 15 years.Europe accounted for 36% of the group's profits and for 28 of its sales.December was an especially good month as customers took to seasonal menu offerings in France and Britain, and to a promotion in Germany based on the game of Monopoly(垄断).
Mr.Hennequin's recipe for revival(复兴) is to be more open about his company's operations, to be "locally relevant", and to improve the experience of visiting his 6.400 restaurants. McDonaId's is blamed for making people fat, exploiting workers, treating animals cruelly, polluting the environment and simply for being American.Mr.Hennequin says he wants to engage in a dialogue with the public to address these concerns.
He introduced "open door" visitor days in each country which became hugely popular.In Poland alone some 50,000 visitors came to McDonaId's through the visitors' program last year.The Nutrition Information Initiative(倡议)launched last year, put detailed Sables on McDonaId's packaging with data on calories, protein, fat, carbohy drates and salt content, "the details are also printed on tray-liners.Which of the following statement is RIGHT?
A.Denis Hennequin has been boss of McDonald since 2004. |
B.The sales of McDonald is increasing in France. |
C.Denis Hennequin tries his best to increase the sales of McDonald in the world. |
D.The nutrition information is always launched on McDonald products. |
McDonaId's is blamed in Europe for the following reasons EXCEPT.
A.making people fat | B.exploiting workers |
C.treating animals cruelly | D.earning too much |
Which of the following is not included in the McDonaId's packaging?
A.attentions | B.fat | C.protein | D.salt content |
What did Denis Hennequin do to increase the sales of McDonald in Europe?
A.He visited all the McDonaId's branches in Europe. |
B.He introduced "open door" visitor's days in each country. |
C.He had done a reliable job as head of the group's French subsidiary. |
D.He engaged in a dialogue with the public. |
A.organized | B.in disorder | C.free | D.busy |
Which is NOT TRUE according to the tips?
A.The more you sleep, the less stressed you will feel. |
B.A balanced diet will make you energetic. |
C.Regular exercise will help you feel relaxed. |
D.Everything in a mess will increase one's stress. |
What does the underlined word " procrastinate" mean?
A.ahead of time. | B.delay. |
C.give up. | D.make up. |
If your good friend invites you to do something while you are busy.what should you do so as not to increase stress?
A.You should accept the invitation. | B.You had better say "no". |
C.You should keep silent. | D.You should feel bad. |
Our listener question this week comes from Abdullahi Farah, who wants to know about the life and work of Doctor Benjamin Carson.
Doctor Carson is an internationally recognized doctor at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. He has been the director of Pediatric Neurosurgery at the hospital for twenty-five years. At the age of thirty-three, he became one of the youngest doctors in the United States to hold that position. And he was the first African-American to have that position at Johns Hopkins Hospital.
Ben Carson is known for his work as a brain surgeon for children. For example, in nineteen eighty-seven, he led a team of seventy doctors and nurses in an operation to separate two babies joined at the head. Earlier attempts by other surgeons on other babies had failed. Doctor Carson successfully performed the operation. Both babies were able to survive independently.
Doctor Carson has written four books. His first book, "Gifted Hands," tells the story of his life. Benjamin Carson was born in nineteen fifty-one in Detroit, Michigan.
As a boy, Ben was not a good student. In fact, he was the worst in his class. When his mother learned of his failing grades she asked her sons to read two library books every week. She limited the amount of time they watched television. And she told them to respect every person.
Ben Carson soon became the top student in his class. He went on to study at Yale University, one of the best universities in the country, and later to medical school at the University of Michigan.
Doctor Carson has received many awards and honors. Last year he received the nation's highest civilian honor. Former President George W. Bush presented Benjamin Carson with the Presidential Medal of Freedom at a ceremony at the White House. The passage is probably taken from _____.
A.a radio | B.a magazine | C.TV | D.a paper |
What does the word “surgeons” in paragraph 3 mean?
A.nurses | B.doctors | C.hospitals | D.points |
Benjamin Carson’s change in study was largely because of ______
A.his hard work | B.his teacher | C.his mother | D.his father |
What’s the aim to write the passage?
A.To call on us to learn from Benjamin Carson. |
B.To praise Benjamin Carson for his achievements. |
C.To show us how Benjamin Carson succeeded |
D.To introduce Benjamin Carson’s life and work |