The composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s remarkable musical talent was apparent even before most children can sing a simple nursery rhyme. Wolfgang’s older sister Maria Anna (who the family called Nannerl) was learning the clavier, an early keyboard instrument, when her three-year-old brother took an interest in playing. As Nannerl later recalled, Wolfgang “often spent much time at the clavier picking out thirds (三度音), which he was always striking, and his pleasure showed that it sounded good.” Their father Leopold, an assistant concertmaster at the Salzburg Court, recognized his children’s unique gifts and soon devoted himself to their musical education.
Born in Salzburg, Austria, on January 27, 1756, Wolfgang had composed his first original work by age five. Leopold planned to take Nannerl and Wolfgang on tour to play before the European courts. Their first venture was to nearby Munich where the children played for Maximillian III Joseph, elector of Bavaria. Leopold soon set his sights on the capital of the Hapsburg Empire, Vienna. On their way to Vienna, the family stopped in Linz, where Wolfgang gave his first public concert. By this time, Wolfgang was not only a skilled harpsichord player, but he had also mastered the violin. The audience at Linz was amazed by the six-year-old, and word of his genius soon traveled to Vienna. In a much attended concert, the Mozart children appeared at the Schonbrunn Palace on October 13, 1762. They completely attracted the emperor and empress.
Following this success, Leopold received a lot of invitations for the children to play, for a fee. Leopold seized the opportunity and booked as many concerts as possible at courts throughout Europe. A concert could last three hours, and the children played at least two per a day. Today, Leopold might be considered the worst kind of stage parent, but at the time, it was not uncommon for prodigies to make extensive concert tours. Even so, it was an exhausting schedule for a child who was just past the age of needing an afternoon nap.
A good title for this passage would be ________.
| A．Classical Music in the Eighteenth Century: An Overview. |
| B．Stage Parents: A Historical Point of View. |
| C．Mozart: The Early Life of a Musical Genius. |
| D．Mozart: The Short Career of a Musical Genius. |
What was the consequence of Wolfgang’s first public appearance?
| A．He attracted the emperor and empress of Hapsburg. |
| B．Word of Wolfgang’s genius spread to the capital. |
| C．Leopold set his sights on Vienna. |
| D．Invitations for the miracle children to play poured in. |
Each of the following statements about Wolfgang Mozart is directly supported by the passage except ________.
| A．Mozart’s father made full use of his children’s talent |
| B．Maria Anna was also talented in music |
| C．Wolfgang’s childhood was devoted to his musical career |
| D．Wolfgang preferred the violin to other instruments |
The word “prodigies” in the last paragraph probably means “________”.
| A．unusually talented people | B．strict parents |
| C．greatest composers | D．generous people |
It was once thought that air pollution affected only the area immediately around large cities with factories and/or heavy automobile traffic. Today, we know that although these are the areas with the worst air pollution, the problem is actually worldwide. On several occasions over the past decade, a heavy cloud of air pollution has covered the entire eastern half of the United States and led to health warnings even in rural areas away from any major concentration of manufacturing and automobile traffic. In fact, the very climate of the entire earth may be affected by air pollution. Some scientists feel that the increasing concentration of carbon dioxide in the air resulting from the burning of fossil fuels (coal and oil) is creating a “greenhouse effect" - holding in heat reflected from the earth and raising the world's average temperature. If this view is correct and the world's temperature is raised only a few degrees, much of the polar ice cap will melt and cities such as New York, Boston, Miami, and New Orleans will be under water.
Another view, less widely held, is that increasing particulate (废气排往空中而形成的微粒、颗粒) matter in the atmosphere is blocking sunlight and lowering the earth's temperature ─ a result that would be equally disastrous. A drop of just a few degrees could create something close to new ice age and would make agriculture difficult or impossible in many of our top farming areas. At present we do not know for sure that either of these conditions will happen (though one recent government report prepared by experts in the field concluded that the greenhouse effect is very likely). Perhaps, if we are very lucky, the two tendencies will offset each other and the world's temperature will stay about the same as it is now.As pointed out at the beginning of the passage, people used to think that air pollution ______.
| A．caused widespread damage in the countryside |
| B．affected the entire eastern half of the United States |
| C．had damaging effects on health |
| D．existed merely in urban and industrial areas |
As far as the greenhouse effect is concerned, the author ______.
| A．shares the same view with the scientists |
| B．is uncertain of its occurrence |
| C．rejects it as being ungrounded |
| D．thinks that it will destroy the world soon |
The underlined word “offset" in Para. 2 could best be replaced by______.
| A．slip into | B．make up for | C．set up | D．catch up with |
This passage is mainly concerned with ______.
| A．the greenhouse effect | B．the burning of fossil fuels |
| C．the potential effect of air pollution | D．the possibility of a new ice age |
When you are little, the whole world feels like a big playground. I was living in Conyers, Georgia the summer it all happened. I was a second grader, but my best friend Stephanie was only in the first grade. Both of our parents were at work and most of the time they let us go our own way.
It was a hot afternoon and we decided to have an adventure in Stephanie’s basement. As I opened the basement door, before us lay the biggest room, full of amazing things like guns, dolls, and old clothes. I ran downstairs, and spotted red steel can. It was paint. I looked beyond it and there lay even more paint in bright colors like purple, orange, blue and green.
“Stephanie, I just found us a project for the day. Get some paintbrushes. We are fixing to paint.” She screamed with excitement as I told her of my secret plans and immediately we got to work. We gathered all the brushes we could find and moved all of our materials to my yard. There on the road in front of my house, we painted bit stripes (条纹) of colors across the pavement (人行道). Stripe by stripe, our colors turned into a beautiful rainbow. It was fantastic!
The sun was starting to sink. I saw a car in the distance and jumped up as I recognized the car. It was my mother. I couldn’t wait to show her my masterpiece. The car pulled slowly into the driveway and from the look on my mother’s face, I could tell that I was in deep trouble.
My mother shut the car door and walked towards me. Her eyes glaring, she shouted, “What in the world were you thinking? I unde
rstood when you made castles out of leaves, and climbed the neighbors’ trees, but this! Come inside right now!” I stood there glaring hack at her for a minute, angry because she had insulted (侮辱) my art.
“Now go clean it up!” Mother and I began cleaning the road. Tears ran down my cheeks as I saw my beautiful rainbow turn into black cement.
Though years have now passed, I still wonder where my rainbow has gone. I wonder if, maybe when I get older, I can find my rainbow and never have to brush it away. I guess we all need sort of rainbow to brighten our lives from time to time and to keep our hopes and dreams colorful. What did the writer want to do when his mother came home?
| A．To introduce Stephanie to her. |
| B．To prevent her from seeing his painting. |
| C．To put the materials back in the yard. |
| D．To show his artwork to her. |
In his mother’s eyes, the writer_______.
| A．was a born artist | B．always caused trouble |
| C．was a problem solver | D．worked very hard |
The underlined word “rainbow” in the last paragraph refers to ______.
| A．the rainbow in the sky |
| B．the stripes on the pavement |
| C．something imaginative and fun |
| D．important lessons learned in childhood |
It can be learned from the passage that parents should ________.
| A．encourage children to paint |
| B．value friendship among children |
| C．discover the hidden talent in children |
| D．protect rather than destroy children’s dreams |
Most Chinese people these days
know what it is like to have an “English teacher”, since almost all pupils study English from their third year. Usually that first English teacher will be a young and lovely lady in primary school. But my first English teacher is no other than my father. Looking back, I can see that, when I was only a little girl, he created an English environment by providing me with flashcards（识字卡），fun English- language toys and even dolls which can sing English songs! My interest in English had certainly been awakened（唤起） when I began to learn English at school. Just imagine, he went a step further and a
sked me to learn New Concept English by myself! I was confused and even angry. I could not understand why a father could be so strict with his little girl. All the same, he never gave up and he gently insisted that I follow through with his idea. At first, I read stories with tears and I actually hated them because they were too difficult for me. In the end, I came to love the funny stories and, to be honest, my father was always there with a helping hand. I am sure that my English would never have got so far without his support. And that’s why my father is not only my first English teacher but also my lifelong teacher. He is the one who awoke my interest, who gave me confidence and who offered me much needed help.Most pupils in China begin to learn English________.
| A．in primary school | B．from parents | C．at three years old | D．at home |
The underline part ‘no other than my father’ in the passage probably means________.
| A．like my father | B．not my father | C．my father himself | D．not only my father |
From the whole passage we can see that________.
| A．the girl preferred playing to learning English |
| B．the girl hates her father because he was strict |
| C．the girl is very thankful to her father |
| D．the father gave up after knowing his daughter could not understand |
Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
| A．The girl’s father is her first English teacher. |
| B．The girl had been interested in English before going to school. |
| C．The girl’s father was always ready to help her with her English. |
| D．The girl could have learned English well by herself without her father. |
What would be the best title for the passage?
| A．How I learned English at school |
| B．My father---my first and lifelong English teacher |
| C．The relationship between my father and I |
| D．I’ve made progress in English learning |
American is the country on the move. In unheard of numbers, people of all ages are exercising their way to better health. According to the latest figures, 59 percent of American adults exercise regularly—up 12 percent from just two years ago and more than double the figure of 25 years ago. Even non-exercisers believe they would be more attractive and confident if they were more active. It’s hard not to get the message. The advantages of physical fitness are shown on magazine covers, postage stamps, and television ads for everything from beauty soaps to travel books. Exercise as a part of daily life did not catch on until the late 1960s when research by military doctors began to show the good points of doing regular physical exercises. Growing publicity(宣传) for races held in American cities helped develop a strong interest in the ancient sport of running. Although running has leveled off in recent years as Americans have discovered equally helpful and sometimes safer-forms of exercise.
As the popularity of exercise continues to increase, so does scientific evidence (根据) of its health benefit. The key to fitness is exercising the major muscle group strongly enough to almost double the heart rate and keep it doubles for 20 to 30 minutes at a time. Doing such physical exercises three times or more a week will greatly improve physical health in about three months. According to the essay, what was the percentage of American adults doing regular physical exercises two years ago?
| A．About 70%. | B．Nearly 60 | C．Almost 50%. | D．More than 12%. |
A growing interest in sports didn’t developed until______________.
| A．25 years ago | B．two years ago | C．the late 1960s | D．now |
Which of the following if the cl
osest in meaning to underlines phrase “leveled –off”?
| A．became very popular | B．stopped being popular |
| C．reached its lowest level in popularity | D．stopped increasing in number |
It can be learnt from the passage that the good points of exercise___________.
| A．are to be proved | B．are to be further studied |
| C．are supported by scientific evidence | D．are self- evident |
Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?
| A．Different Forms of exercise | B．Exercise——The Road to Health |
| C．Scientific Evidence of Health Benefit | D．Running——A Popular Form of Sport |
What makes one person more intelligent than another? What makes one person a genius, like the brilliant Albert Einstein, and another person a fool? Are people born intelligent or stupid, or is intelligence the result of where and how you live? These are very old questions and the answers to them are still not clear.
We know, however, that just being born with a good mind is not enough. In some ways, the mind is like a leg or an arm muscle. It needs exercise. Mental (done with the mind) exercise is particularly important for young children. Many child psychologists (心理学家) think that parents should play with their children more often and give them problems to think about. The children are then more likely to grow up bright and intelligent. If, on the other hand, children are left alone a great deal with nothing to do, they are more likely to become dull and unintelligent.
Parents should also be careful with what they say to young children. According to some psychologists, if parents are always telling a child that he or she is a fool or an idiot, then the child is more likely to keep doing silly and foolish things. So it is probably better for parents to say very positive (helpful) things to their children, such as “That was a very clever thing you did.” or “You are such a smart child.” The words “intelligent” and “brilliant” in the first paragraph probably mean _______ while “dull” in the second paragraph means ________.
| A．bright and splendid; slow in thinking and understanding | B．pretty and handsome; ordinary-looking |
| C．great and important; common | D．hopeful and helpful; careless |
According to the context we can guess that a genius is ________ while an idiot is ________.
| A．a normal person; a funny person | B．a strong person; a weak person |
| C．a highly intelligent person; a foolish or weak-minded person | D．a famous person; an ordinary person |
A person ________ is more likely to become a genius.
| A．whose parents are clever | B．often thinking about difficult problems |
| C．often helped by his parents and teachers | D．born with a good brain and putting it into active use |
It is better for parents ________.
| A．to praise and encourage their children more often | B．to be hard on their children |
| C．to leave their children alone with nothing to do | D．to give their children as much help as possible |
Which of the following is NOT true according to the article?
| A．Parents play an important part in their children’s growth. |
| B．The less you use your mind the duller you may become. |
| C．Intelligence is obviously the result of where and how you live. |
| D．What makes a person bright or stupid is still under discussion. |