For a 400-year-old art form, operas had a bad fame: overweight actresses singing the words which are hard to understand in one of those romance languages you were supposed to learn in high school. And with tickets costing as much as $ 145 a performance, opera goers also have a certain appearance in people’s mind: rich, well-dressed and old.
But now opera companies around the country are loosening their ties and kicking off their shoes in an attempt to bring the opera to the audience. It needs to keep it alive, the young and not-so-rich.
Opera producers have found that to attract this crowd, they need to make the opera closer to common people. That means no formal suits, old-styled theatre or band-breaking ticket prices. And because young people don’t or won’t come to the opera, companies are bringing the opera to them, giving performances in such unusual places as parks, lib
raries and public schools.
The Houston Grand Opera’s choice is the public library, where it performs “mobile operas”, shortened versions (剧本) of child-friendly operas. This summer’s production is Hansel & Gretel. By performing smaller versions of large productions, producers are able to make people interest
ed while keeping costs at a reasonable level. The San Francisco Opera, which will be celebrating its 75th anniversary this year, is staging Cinderella free of charge, keeping costs down by employing students from its Young Artists’ Training Program. Which is the main idea of this passage?
| A．Opera is famous for its long history. |
| B．Opera is only for rich people. |
| C．Opera companies are trying to keep opera alive. |
| D．Young people are not interested in opera. |
The underlined part in paragraph 2 means ______.
| A．breaking up the old rules | B．changing the formal suits |
| C．making the audience at ease | D．advertising themselves |
Opera companies prefer to perform smaller versions because .
| A．they can be performed in public libraries |
| B．short versions are easy to perform |
| C．it is hard to find long versions |
| D．they can make people interested |
The San Francisco Opera Company employs student actors in order to ______.
| A．attract young people | B．reduce the cost |
| C．celebrate its 75th anniversary | D．make Cinderella popular |
What can you infer from the passage?
| A．The tickets for operas are very expensive at present. |
| B．Operas are performed in a difficult language difficult to understand. |
C．Operas are not so popular an art form today. |
| D．Students enjoy performing operas very much. |
American researchers found females are the more talkative sex because of a special “language protein(蛋白质)” in the brain.
The study, conducted by neuroscientists （神经学家）and psychologists from the University of Maryland, concluded that women talked more because they had more of the Foxp2 protein. The research, published in the Journal of Neuroscience, found that higher levels were found among humans that were women but in rats that were males. Their findings came after it was previously claimed that ladies speak about 20,000 words a day—over 13,000 more than men. “This study is one of the first to report a sex difference in the expression of a language-associated protein in humans or animals,” said Prof Margaret McCarthy, who led the study. In their study, the researchers attempted to determine what might make male rats more vocal（能发出声音或语言的） than their female friends.
They separated four-day-old rats from their mothers and then counted the number of times they cried out in the “ultrasonic（超声波的） range”, the frequencies higher than humans can hear, over five minutes. While both sexes called out hundreds of cries, the males called out twice as often, they found. But when the pups幼崽were returned to their mother’s cage, she fussed over her sons first. Tests conducted on the parts of the brain known to be associated with vocalcalls showed the male pups have up to twice as much Foxp2 protein as the females. The researchers then increased the production in the brains of female pups and reduced it in males. This led to the female rats crying out more often and their mothers showing more interest to them. In contrast, males became less “talkative”.
The researchers then tested samples from ten children, aged between three and five, which showed that females had up to 30 per cent more of the Foxp2 protein than males, in a brain area key to language in humans.
“Based on our observations, we assume higher levels of Foxp2 in girls and higher levels of Foxp2 in male rats is an indication that Foxp2 protein levels are associated with the more communicative sex,” said Prof McCarthy.
“Our results imply Foxp2 as a component of the neurobiological basis of sex differences in vocal communication in mammals.”From the second paragraph, we can learn that ________.
| A．women always speak more words than men |
| B．men and male rats have low levels of language protein |
| C．women and male rats have similar levels of Foxp2 |
| D．McCarthy isn’t the first to find females more talkative |
The underlined phrase “fussed over” in the third paragraph probably means______.
| A．paid attention to | B．related to | C．put pressure on | D．counted on |
The researchers carried out the experiments on rats in order to _______.
| A．test which part of the brain is key to language in rats and humans |
| B．prove the levels of Foxp2 protein in humans and rats are different |
| C．determine the reason why female rats are more talkative than male rats |
| D．discover the association between Foxp2protein and vocal communication |
Which of the following can be the best title for the passage ?
| A．Tests on humans and rats | B．Why women are the talkative sex |
| C．Sex differences in fussed over | D．Foxp2 protein determines oral ability |
Hundreds of secondary schools are using a controversial reward scheme which “bribes” (贿赂)pupils with iPods and DVD players to turn up in classes and do homework.
Almost one million schoolchildren have been issued with supermarket-style reward cards which allow them to collect good-behavior “points” and cash them in for prizes.
Schools taking part in the “Vivo Miles” scheme are spending several thousand pounds a year in an attempt to cut truancy (逃学) and promote achievements. The prizes are ultimately funded by the taxpayer, through school budgets. Nearly 500 secondary schools, one in six, have decided to take part in the scheme, which is intended to replace old-style rewards such as stickers and golden stars.
But the extent of rewards being offered in schools brought a warning that a generation of children is growing up expecting to be rewarded at every stage. Many youngsters are collecting points for ordinary achievements such as remembering to bring their PE kit and wearing the correct uniform.
Under the scheme, teachers award Vivo points—worth 1 penny each—according to the school’s policy. Schools typically spend￡4 to￡6 on prizes per pupil each year, although some commit considerably more. Most pupils accumulate between 400 and 600 Vivos a year. Vivo Miles insists it is “pretty rare” for a pupil to accumulate enough points to buy an iPod, which requires 3,100 Vivos.
But Chris McGovern, chairman of the Campaign for Real Education, said the scheme amounted to “bribery”. “It misleads children into thinking anything which requires effort has to have a special reward,” he said. “This ‘all must have prizes’ view is damaging to children in the long-term.” The scheme amounted to an “admission of failure” by schools. He said. “It shows a school has failed to convince children education is important.”The “Vivo Miles” scheme is aimed at ______________.
| A．increasing the income of the school |
| B．encouraging students to perform well at school |
| C．inviting more students to attend the school nearby |
| D．encouraging parents to donate to the school |
Those who oppose the “Vivo Miles” scheme think ______________.
| A．it helps control the problem of truancy |
| B．it teaches children the importance of saving |
| C．it will mislead children about efforts and rewards |
| D．it’s not easy to get more than 600 Vivos a year |
What’s the writer’s attitude towards the scheme?
| A．Supportive. | B．Opposed. | C．Unconcerned. | D．Objective. |
Winning the lottery (彩票) is not the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow for many past winners. Sad stories do exist in large numbers for the past lottery winners and that's why some financial experts say "70 percent of lottery winners will squander away (乱花) winning within a few years." Some end up losing all within two years, family relationships destroyed or even worse.
Wayne Schenk was an old soldier diagnosed with lung cancer. When he won a million dollars in a lottery he thought his troubles were over and he would get the advanced medical treatment that might save his life. But Lottery officials refused to pay him the total sum in a single payment and they said they could not make an exception to the regulations. When Schenk died in 2007, he'd only received one payment of $34,000.
Another lottery winner, Billy Bob Harrell, Jr. killed himself two years after winning 31 million dollars in the Texas lottery in 1997.He'd spent large amounts of money and given large amounts away, but he didn't end me expected peace that should have come with the freedom of money.
Other lottery winners have ended up in prison for crimes. Many suffer bankruptcy (破产) after the big jackpot (头奖) is spent and given away, including some of the eight people who won the 365 million Powerball in 2006.
The examples given paint a sad picture of what can happen if you win a big lottery jackpot, but fortunately, these examples don't tell the stories of all jackpot winners.What is the main idea of the first paragraph?
| A．Most lottery winners use up money quickly. |
| B．Most lottery winners don't really end up well. |
| C．Winning lottery means relationships destroyed. |
| D．Financial experts are against the lottery industry. |
Why did lottery officials refuse to give Wayne Schenk the million dollars in one payment?
| A．He was diagnosed with lung cancer. |
| B．He was unwilling to give away his money. |
| C．They had to observe the official rules. |
| D．They didn't want to disturb his peace. |
The author supports his main idea by ____.
| A．giving examples | B．making comparisons |
| C．listing numbers | D．listing reasons |
In the following paragraph, the author will probably talk about_____.
| A．advice given by financial experts |
| B．happy stories of the lottery winners |
| C．conclusion drawn by the author |
| D．regulations about lottery winning |
There are two basic ways to see growth: one as a product, the other as a process. People have generally viewed personal growth as an external（外部的） result or product that can easily be identified and measured. The worker who gets a promotion, the student whose grades improve, the foreigner who learns a new language--- all these are examples of people who have measurable results to show for their efforts.
By contrast, the process of personal growth is much more difficult to determine, since by definition it is a journey and not the specific signposts or landmarks along the way. The process is not the road itself, but rather the attitudes and feelings people have, their caution or courage, as they go through new experiences and unexpected obstacles. In this process, the journey never really ends; there are always new ways to experience the world, new ideas to try, new challenges to accept.
In order to grow, to travel new roads, people need to have a willingness to take risks, to be faced with the unknown, and to accept the possibility that they may “fail” at first. How we see ourselves as we try a new way of being is essential to our ability to grow.
These feelings of insecurity and self – doubt are both unavoidable and necessary if we are to change and grow. If we do not face and overcome these internal fears and doubts, if we protect ourselves too much, then we cease to grow. We become trapped inside a shell of our own making.A person is generally believed to achieve personal growth when______..
| A．he has given up his smoking habit |
| B．he has made great efforts in his work |
| C．he is interested in making anything new |
| D．he has tried to determine where he is on his journey |
In the author’s eyes, one who views personal growth as a process would______.
| A．judge his ability to grow from his own achievements |
| B．succeed in climbing up the social ladder |
| C．face difficulties and take up challenges |
| D．aim high and reach his goal each time |
When the author says “a new way of being” (para. 3), he is referring to _____.
| A．a new way of taking risks |
| B．a new approach to experiencing the world |
| C．a new system of adapting to change |
| D．a new method of finding ourselves |
For personal growth, the author may not support __________.
| A．curiosity and more chances |
| B．being quick in self – adaptation |
| C．open – minded to new experiences |
| D．avoidance of internal fears and doubts |
The New York Aquarium (水族馆) offers a diverse collection and nice viewing experience for all our guests. Whether you’re observing penguins on their rocky coastline home or swimming underwater, looking at a coral reef (珊瑚礁) under the water, or cheering on California sea lions at the theater, you’ll find plenty to see and do during your visit. Your underwater adventure is waiting for you! This summer, head out to Coney Island to learn about the underwater world at the New York Aquarium.
Just off the Coney Island in Brooklyn, the New York Aquarium features more than 300 marine (海洋的) species, such as dolphins and seals. Meet some of our mammals and fish, and learn about their natural history, biology, and cultural roles.
| Hours |
|
| Summer hours May 28 – Sept. 5 |
10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. , Monday–Friday 10:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. , Weekends & Holidays |
| Fall hours Sept. 6 – Nov. 6 |
10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. , Monday–Friday 10:00 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. , Weekends & Holidays |
| Winter hours Nov. 7 – Mar. 31 |
10:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. , Daily |
| Spring hours Apr. 1– May 27 |
10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. , Monday–Friday 10:00 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. , Weekends & Holidays |
Total Experience Ticket
Adult $18.00
Child (Ages 3-12)$14.00
Senior (65+) $15.00
Groups (at least ten visitors) $8.00
﹡Includes admission to our 4-D Theater Plus General Admission.
﹡Children under 3 years old are free!
﹡To receive the group rate, you must make a reservation at least two weeks in advance of your group’s visit. Please call 718-741-1818.
Friday Afternoon Special
Admission on Fridays beginning at 3:00 p.m. is by donation. Suggested donation is $13 for adults, $9 for children, and $10 for seniors. Every dollar you give supports our work in caring for animals at the aquarium.
Aquarium Parking
Car $13.00
Bus $13.00
Please note:
﹡Due to rising costs, the Wildlife Conservation Society reserves the right to change all fees without notice.
﹡All Aquarium buildings and exhibits are wheelchair-accessible.
﹡For further information, please call 718-265-3454.Which animal can’t visitors probably see at the New York Aquarium?
| A．Penguins. | B．Pandas. | C．Dolphins. | D．Seals. |
Six adults (including a man of 68) and two children (aged 2 and 10) are going to visit the New York Aquarium on Sunday. They will have to pay ______________ at least.
| A．$144 | B．$133 | C．$64 | D．$119 |
The donation is used to ______________.
| A．help the poor people |
| B．help to save the endangered animals in the wild |
| C．care for animals at the aquarium |
| D．help the disabled visitors |
Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．You can visit the New York Aquarium at 5:30 p.m. on Christmas. |
| B．A visitor in a wheelchair can get around at the New York Aquarium. |
| C．Visitors can enjoy free parking service on Friday. |
| D．To enjoy the group rate, visitors must make a reservation at least two weeks in advance by sending an e-mail. |