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In the late nineteenth century, ^5,000 pianos were sold in the United States each year and, with over half a million youths learning to play the instrument, there was a huge demand for sheet music (活页乐谱).Indeed the demand was so huge that publishers rushed to enter the profitable market.During the last fifteen years of the century, many publishers began to set up shops in New York, the center for the production of the musical arts
By the turn of the nineteenth century many important publishers had their offices on 28th Street between Broadway and 5th Avenue, and this Is the area that became known as Tin Pan Alley.It was here that publishers adopted new, aggressive business practices and marketing techniques to achieve great sales.
How it became to be known by that name is unclear, but the general opinion is that it is down to a visiting journalist by the name of Monroe Rosenfeld.He described the area as being drowned in the noise coming from the producers' offices, sounding as though hundreds of people were hitting tin pans(锡锅).He used it several times in his newspaper articles in the early twentieth century and the term stuck.With time this name was popularly embraced and many years later it came to describe the U.S.music publishing industry in general.
The start of Tin Pan Alley is usually dated to about 1885,.but the end of Tin Pan Alley is less clear-cut .Some date it to the start of the Great.Depression in the 1930s when the phonograph(留声机) and radio replaced sheet music, as the driving force of American popular music, while others consider Tin Pan Alley to have continued into thel950s when earlier styles of American popular music were upstaged (抢风头) by the rise of rock & roll.
There's a plaque(纪念匾牌)on the sidewalk on 28th Street in honor of the influence of Tin Pan Alley on American popular culture, but the buildings that were home to the legendary Tin Pan Alley publishers and songwriters are up for sale and may be torn down to make room for modern high-rise buildings.
What.is the passage mainly about ?                     

A.American popular music.
B.Tin Pan Alley's future。
C.American music Industry.
D.The history of Tin Pan Alley.

In the early 20th century.Tin Pan Alley was used to refer to ____.

A.the American popular culture. B.the American printing media
C.the American rock-music center D.the American music publishing industry.

In the nineteenth century, the driving force of American popular music was:____.

A.rock & roll B.sheet music
C.country music D.phonographs and radios

When visiting Tin Pan Alley , Rosenfeld probably felt it was ____.

A.very noisy B.very quiet C.wide D.narrow

We can learn from the passage that ______.

A.the term " Tin Pan Alley" was perhaps first used by Rosenfeld.
B.the old shops of Tin Pan Alley will be well protected.
C.Tin Pan Alley got its name in the early nineteenth century.
D.there were once some factories in Tin Pan Alley
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Scientists who discovered a new way of generating electricity from water say they may have come across an alternative source of clean energy to rival wind and solar power.
The breakthrough, which scientists say is the first new way to generate electricity in 160 years, could lead to batteries that use water instead of poisonous substances.
The scientists made the discovery when they were investigating what happens when tap water is forced through extremely narrow glass tubes. Water squeezed down the tubes, each of which was narrower than a tenth the thickness of a human hair, generating a small electric current that ran the length of the tube. To produce a larger electric current, the team tried forcing water through a glass water filter(滤水器)that contained thousands of narrow channels lined up side by side. “When we took a syringe(注射器)of water and squeezed it through the filter, we got enough power to light a light bulb,” said Larry Kostiuk of the University of Alberta in Canada. “The harder you push the syringe, the more electric current you get.”
The current is produced because of an effect in the glass tubes. When they are filled with water, positively charged ions(阳离子)fixed in the tubes are washed away, leaving a slight negative charge on the glass surface. When water is then forced along the tube, the surface repels negatively charged ions in the water while positively charged ions are attracted down the tube. The result is a net flow of positively charged ions that sets up an electric current.
According to Dr Kostiuk, no one has ever thought to use water to produce electricity in this way. “The last time someone came up with a way of generating electricity was Michael Faraday in 1839,” he said. “So this is the first new way of generating electricity in 160 years, which is why we are so excited about it.”
Dr Kostiuk says water batteries might one day be used to power mobile phones and calculators, but admitted that the engineering challenges might make other applications more realistic. “You’d need to be sure it wouldn’t leak, and you’d need to make sure it wouldn’t freeze,” he said.
More likely would be to install the electricity-generating devices where water is already being pumped, such as at city water filtration sites, he said. “It could compete with wind and solar power,” he added.
What does the passage mainly want to tell us about?

A.A kind of solar power discovered by scientists.
B.A kind of new energy source found in tap water.
C.The breakthrough to generate electricity 160 yeas ago.
D.A kind of new battery invented without poisonous substances.

The underlined word “repels” in Paragraph 4 is closest in meaning to _________.

A.rejects B.identifies C.attracts D.rebels

Why were the scientists extremely happy about their new discovery?

A.They were the first to find a new way to produce electricity.
B.They could make an electric current to light a light bulb.
C.Their discovery could be used to invent water batteries.
D.Their discovery was made 160 years earlier than Faraday’s.

What can we infer about potential water batteries?

A.They must be used to power mobile phones and calculators.
B.They have some possible disadvantages like water leaking.
C.They would be needed greatly at city water filtration sites.
D.They would be better than wind and solar power.

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The voucher mentioned in the passage _______.

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What is the main advantage of the service from TextbookRental.ca?

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What can be learned about the activity of renting textbooks launched by TextbookRental.ca?

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In Africa, listening is a guiding principle .It’s a principle that’ been lost in the constant chat of the Western world .From my own past experience , I noticed how much faster I had to answer a question during a TV interview .It is as if we have completely lost the ability to listen .We talk and talk , and we end up frightened by silence .
Everywhere, people on the African continent write and tell stories. Even the nomads(流浪者)who still live in the Kalahari Desert are said to tell one another stories on their daylong wanderings, during which they search for roots and animals to hunt.
A number of years ago I sat down on a stone bench outside the Teatro Avenida in Maputo, Mozambique, where I worked as an artistic consultant. It was a hot day, and we were taking a break, hoping that a cool gentle wind would move past. Two old African men were sitting on that bench, but there was room for me, too. In Africa people share more than just water. Even when it comes to shade, people are generous.
I heard the two men talking about a third old man who had recently died. One of them said, “I was visiting him at his home. He started to tell me an amazing story about something that had happened to him when he was young. But it was a long story. Night came, and I decided that I should come back the next day to hear the rest. But when I arrived, he was dead.”
The man fell silent. I decided not to leave that bench until I heard how the other man would respond to what he’d heard. Finally he, too, spoke. “That’s not a good way to die—before you’ve told the end of your story.”
What separates us from animals is the fact that we are storytelling creatures and we can listen to other people’s dreams, fears, joys, sorrows, desires and defeats—and they in turn can listen to ours.
Many people make the mistake of confusing information with knowledge. They are not the same thing. Knowledge involves the interpretation of information. Knowledge involves listening.
Many words will be written on the wind and the sand, or end up in store. But the storytelling will go on until the last human being stops listening. Then we can send the great record of human out into the endless universe.
Who knows? Maybe someone is out there, willing to listen…
From the very beginning of the passage, we can know Europeans ________.

A.actually lose the ability to listen
B.seldom chat constantly with each other
C.feel frightened when they are alone and silent
D.tend to talk more and listen less

It can be inferred from the passage that if you are in Africa, you will _______.

A.suffer hot weather and lack of water
B.be certainly helped when in trouble
C.often hear the stories told by strangers
D.have no choice but to listen during a talk

According to the last three paragraphs, we can know _________.

A.no one knows exactly why Africans are willing to listen
B.information is hard to understand without interpretation
C.listening makes the difference between information and knowledge
D.the existence of humans’ recordings totally depends on the way of storytelling

The passage mainly talks about __________.

A.the experience of the author
B.the art of listening in Africa
C.the importance of storytelling
D.the life styles of Africans

A recent study suggests that teens’ relationship with parents, friends and teachers may have a lot to do with why they don’t get a good night’s sleep.
David Maume, a sociologist and sleep researcher, analyzed federal health data, which interviewed 974 teenagers when they were 12, and then again at 15. He found that family dynamics (动态) have much to do with how well kids sleep. Teens, who had warm relations with their parents and felt like they could talk to them or their parents were supportive of them, tended to sleep better. However, families that were going through a divorce or a remarriage tended to affect teens’ sleep.
And problems at school also affected teens’ sleep. Feeling safe at school and having good relations with teachers tended to promote better sleep. As did good relationships with friends. Kids who took part in sports or other positive social activities or shared similar academic goals with their friends were also more likely to get a good night’s sleep.
These add up to what makes lots of sense: a general feeling of well-being helps teens sleep. If we’re happy and contented, we’re much more likely to sleep better than if we’re sad and anxious.
Now, of course, teens can hardly resist being drawn to their computers and social networking. Maume also found that when parents were strict not only about bedtime, but also about limiting technology, kids slept better. It’s a finding that seems obvious, but parents really do matter when it comes to health habits of their teenagers.
Clearly, teenagers aren’t getting 9 to 10 hours a night, which puts them at risk for all the consequences of lack of sleep, including poor academic performance, colds and stress.
What is the passage mainly about?

A.Teens’ sleep is linked to their relationship with people around them.
B.Lack of adequate sleep puts teens at risk of many bad consequences.
C.Modern technology has something to do with teens’ sleep problems.
D.It is necessary for teens to join in sports and positive social activities.

According to Maume’s analysis, who will probably have a poor night’s sleep?

A.Teens who feel like talking with their parents.
B.Teens who have friends sharing their dreams.
C.Teens who feel contented about themselves.
D.Teens who lack a sense of security at school.

Para 5 functions as .

A.a comparison B.an introduction C.a conclusion D.an addition

Parents are supposed to when their kids are growing up.

A.continue their broken marriage
B.allow children to decide when to sleep
C.limit teens’ using new technology
D.force teens to have 10 hours’ sleep daily

“iPhone 5”, the tallest thing to happen to iPhone since iPhone

We don’t want to change your phone, we want to make you say, “Wow, that is a bigger change than I expected”. “iPhone 5” is a result of that desire to surprise.
It’s been completely redesigned. For the first time ever, we’ve increased the size of display (显示) by making the screen taller but not wider.
You can see more of your content without the need to scroll. We are making scrolling the thing of the past. It is more comfortable to use and reduces tiredness from scrolling when you read long documents.
Even with the larger display, it is the thinnest iPhone we ever built. To achieve the design this tall, we have to look at it and completely redesign the architecture inside. It’s 18% thinner and 79.5% taller than the previous iPhone. It makes everything you do on “iPhone5” easier. No more hidden menus, no confusing gestures. Everything is right at your fingertips.
The panorama feature (全景拍照) is simply awesome. The ultra HD (超高清) widescreen display lets you get your entire shot in a single snap (快门). You can also use its creative design for picture stabilization.
With an iPhone this tall, reception of signals has never been better. And of course, all your favorite applications are still available. In fact you will find your old favorites also benefit from the new experiencing handsome ultra HD widescreen. We found while many previous iPhone owners were using Facetime, they only used it for the faces. That’s why we are introducing Bodytime. With its ultra HD widescreen display, Bodytime lets you see a person’s entire body.
It took all of our learning and all of our thinking to realize something so simple, so clear, and yet so tall.
And I wish your pocket were tall enough to hold such a perfect invention!
How is the screen of “iPhone 5” different from the previous ones?

A.Wider. B.Taller. C.Easier. D.Thinner.

What does the underlined word “scroll” probably mean?

A.Update the webpage. B.Download new documents.
C.Refresh the content. D.Move the content upward.

What can we infer about “iPhone 5” from the passage?

A.It is really necessary for you to hide menus.
B.The reception of signals is bad due to its length.
C.Bodytime is popular with previous iPhone owners.
D.New applications of “iPhone 5” are unbelievable.

“iPhone 5” is introduced in a(n) ________ way in this passage.

A.humorous B.objective C.scientific D.serious

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