As a music teacher for twenty-seven years, I have always known that music touches the soul. It can break through all kinds of barriers(障碍) to reach students in a very special way. It can be the means for each child to find their light.
A few years ago, I was blessed with the opportunity to teach pre-school students one afternoon a week. One of my most memorable students was Vanessa. She was five years old, had difficulty walking, and could not speak. We mostly sat on the floor for our music lessons and Vanessa liked to sit on my lap. One of her favorite songs was John the Rabbit. It was a call and response song where I sang the call and the students clapped two times while singing the repeating phrase, “Oh, yes!” Vanessa liked to put her hands together with mine and clap with me. We performed that song during every class, Vanessa and I clapping together. She never said or sang a word.
One day late in the school year, when the song was finished, Vanessa turned around, looked me in the eye, clapped her tiny hands two times and said the words “Oh, yes!” I opened my mouth and could not speak. Through music, we had made a connection.
Several years later, I came across Vanessa on the street in town. I stopped my car and waved to say hello. She waved back with a big smile on her face and then clapped her hands two times, mimicking(模仿) the song we had performed in our music class. This precious little girl, through her connection with music, left an impression on me that will last forever.
Every child has the ability to learn and grow. It is up to us educators to discover the way to reach each and every one of our students. We all must find each child’s light.The author thinks music________.
| A．can make children calm down |
| B．Can connect heart to heart |
| C．Is difficult for pre-school students |
| D．Is a good means to find a job |
According to the second paragraph, Vanessa________.
| A．Got used to singing songs |
| B．Was too shy to speak |
| C．Was the youngest in the class |
| D．Enjoyed the author’s classes |
When Vanessa spoke the words “Oh, yes!”, the author felt________.
| A．Surprised | B．Happy | C．Frightened | D．Satisfied |
What can we infer from the last two paragraphs?
| A．The author has been in touch with Vanessa for several years. |
| B．Vanessa became as healthy as other children. |
| C．The song made a deep impression on Vanessa. |
| D．Being a good educator became Vanessa’s dream. |
A “blogger” is a person who writes on an Internet computer Web site called a “blog”. The word “blog” is a short way of saying web log, or personal Web site. Anyone can start a blog, and they can write about anything they like.
There are millions of blogs on the Internet today. They provide news, information and ideas to many people who read them. They contain links to other Web sites. And they provide a place for people to write their ideas and react to the ideas of others.
A research company called Peruse has studied more than 3,000 Web logs. It says that blogs are most popular with teenage girls. They use them to let their friends know what is happening in their lives. The study also says that more than 100,000 bloggers stopped taking part in the activity after a year.
However, some people develop serious blogs to present political and other ideas. For example, the Republican and Democratic parties in the southern state of Kentucky recently started their own blogs. And American companies are beginning to use blogs to advertise their products.
At the same time, some long-standing blogs have ended. Last week, blogging leader Dave Winner closed his free blog service, weblogs.com. He says the site became too costly to continue. He started the blog four years ago, and thousands of people had written on it.
One blog that is still going strong is called Rebecca’s Pocket. It involves much useful information for readers. Rebecca Blood created the Web site in 1999. She wrote about the history of blogs on the site. That article led to a book called “The Weblog Handbook”. It has been translated into four languages so far.
Ms Blood says Rebecca’s Pocket gets about 30,000 visitors a month. She writes about anything and everything----politics, culture and movies. She recently provided medical advice. And she wrote about how to prevent people from stealing money from online bank accounts.The text is written mainly to ____
| A．introduce an Internet computer Web site called “blog” |
| B．introduce a way of reading on blogs |
| C．tell readers about blogs |
| D．tell readers how to write blogs |
From the text we can learn that blogs cover almost everything except __ _.
| A．different ideas |
| B．medical advice |
| C．advertisements |
| D．account codes |
According to this passage , which of the following is NOT true?
| A．Politicians don’t use blogs at all |
| B．A lot of bloggers no longer write or read blogs |
| C．Those who like to use blogs are mostly teenage girls |
| D．Dave Winer closed his “weblogs.com” because of money shortage |
The reason why Rebecca’s Pocket is still going strong is that____
| A．it was created by a woman |
| B．it provides plenty of useful information and advice |
| C．it is about the history of books |
| D．it has editions in at least four different languages |
A Charlotte, N.C., man was charged with first-degree murder of a 79-year-old woman whom police said he scared to death. In an attempt to evade policemen after a bank robbery, the Associated Press reports that 20-year-old Larry Whitfield broke into the home of Mary Parnell. Police say he didn’t touch Parnell but that she died after suffering a heart attack that was caused by terror. Can the guy be held responsible for the woman’s death? Prosecutors(公诉人) said that he can under the state’s murder rule, which allows someone to be charged with murder if he or she causes another person’s death while committing or fleeing from a severe crime like robbery—even if he or she doesn’t kill someone on purpose.
But, medically speaking, can someone actually be frightened to death? We asked Martin Samuels, chairman of the neurology department at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.
Absolutely, no question about it.
The body has a natural protective method called the fight-or-flight response(战或逃反应), which was originally described by Walter Cannon，the chairman of Harvard University’s physiology department from 1906 to 1942. If, in the wild, an animal is faced with a life-threatening situation, the autonomic nervous system responds by increasing heart rate, increasing blood flow to the muscles, and slowing digestion, among other things. All of this increases the chances of succeeding in a fight or running away from an aggressive beast. This process certainly would be of help to primitive humans. However, in the modern world there is obvious decline of the fight-or-flight response.
The autonomic nervous system uses the chemical messenger to send signals to various parts of the body to activate the fight-or-flight response. This chemical is toxic in large amounts; it damages the organs such as the heart, lungs, liver and kidneys. It is believed that almost all sudden deaths are caused by damage to the heart. There is almost no other organ that would fail so fast as to cause sudden death. Kidney failure, liver failure, those things don’t kill you suddenly.
By the way, any strong positive or negative emotions such as happiness or sadness can cause the same result. There are people who have died in intercourse or in religious passion. There was a case of a golfer who hit a hole in one, turned to his partner and said, “I can die now”, and then he dropped dead. For about seven days after the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon there was an increase of sudden cardiac death among New Yorkers.Why the Charlotte, N.C., man was charged?
A. Because he threatened the policemen to kill an old woman.
B. Because he caused an old woman’s terror and she died.
C. Because he beat an old woman and caused her heart attack
D. Because he murdered an old woman while robbing a bank. What is Martin Samuels’ attitude to the possibility of being frightened to death?
| A．Approval. | B．Disapproval. | C．Doubtful. | D．Indifferent. |
Which of the following about the fight-or-flight response is true?
A. The fight-or-flight response was raised and proved by Martin A. Samuels.
B. It is a natural protective method that can’t be found in all creatures but humans.
C. The ancient humans had a superior fight-or-flight response than modern ones.
D. The fight-or-flight response is beneficial to both our actions and organs. What activity can we infer is less likely to damage the organs?
| A．Winning a big lottery. | B．Missing a dead family. |
| C．Watching a horror movie. | D．Listening to a sweet song. |
The purpose of the passage is_________.
| A．to explain why people will die of a heart attack |
| B．to offer some advice on protecting us from heart failure |
| C．to compare different kinds of feelings to cause a death |
| D．to show strong emotions can cause a sudden death |
When I was growing up, I had an old neighbor named Dr. Gibbs. He didn’t look like any doctor I’d ever known. He never yelled at us for playing in his yard. I remember him as someone who was a lot nicer than most of the adults in our community.
When Dr. Gibbs wasn’t saving lives, he was planting trees. His house sat on ten acres, and his life’s goal was to make it a forest.
The good doctor had some interesting theories concerning plant care and growth. He never watered his new trees, which flew in the face of conventional wisdom. Once I asked why. He said that watering plants spoiled them so that each successive tree generation would grow weaker and weaker. So you have to make things rough for them and weed out(淘汰) the weaker trees early on. He talked about how watering trees made for shallow roots, and how trees that weren’t watered had to grow deep roots in search of moisture. I took him to mean that deep roots were to be treasured.
So he never watered his trees. He planted an oak and, instead of watering it every morning, he beat it with a rolled-up newspaper. Smack! Slap! Pow! I asked him why he did that, and he said it was to get the tree’s attention.
Dr. Gibbs passed away a couple of years after I left home. Every now and again, I walked by his house and looked at the trees that I’d watched him plant some twenty-five years ago. They’re extremely tall, big and robust since they have deep roots now. However, the trees in my garden trembled in a cold wind although I had watered them for several years.
It seems that adversity(逆境) and suffering benefit these trees in ways comfort and ease never could. I stood there deep in thought.
Every night before I go to bed, I check on my two sons. I stand over them and watch their little bodies, the rising and falling of life within. I often pray for them. Mostly I pray that their lives will be easy. But I think that it’s time to change my prayer(祷词) because now I know my children are going to encounter hardship.According to Dr. Gibbs’ theories, trees will become weaker if they _________.
| A．are lack of care | B．are watered | C．are weeded out | D．are beaten |
According to Para.3 and Para.4, we can infer that Dr. Gibbs’ motto(座右铭) may be .
| A．“Seeing is believing” | B．“Put everything in proper use” |
| C．“Practice makes perfect” | D．“No pain, no gain” |
The underlined word robust in Para.5 most probably means _________.
| A．strong | B．strange | C．deep | D．old |
Which of the following may be the author’s best prayer for his two sons now?
| A．I wish them strong wings, with which they can fly higher and touch the sky. |
| B．I wish them nice fortune so that they can meet people like Dr. Gibbs in the future. |
| C．I wish them deep roots into the earth since the rains fall and the winds blow often. |
| D．I wish them great shades under the tree since the sunlight is always sharp and bitter. |
Which of the following can be the best title of this passage?
A Nice Doctor B. The Deep Roots C. Adversity and Suffering D. My Childhood Memory
Would you like to be a king or queen? To have people waiting on you hand and foot? Many Americans experience this royal treatment every day. How? By being customers. The American idea of customer service is to make each customer the center of attention. Need proof? Just listen to the commercials. Most of them sound like the McDonald’s ad: “We do it all for you.” Actually, not all stores in America roll out the red carpet for their customers. But wherever you go, good customer service means making customers feel special.
People going shopping in America can expect to be treated with respect from the very beginning. Most places don’t have a “furniture street” or a “computer road” which allow you to compare prices easily. Instead, people often “let their fingers do the walking” through the store hot lines. From the first “hello”, customers receive a satisfying response to their questions. This initial contact can help them decide where to shop.
When customers get to the store, they are treated as honored guests. Customers don’t usually find store clerks sitting around watching TV or playing cards. Instead, the clerks greet them warmly and offer to help them find what they want. In most stores, the clear signs that label each department make shopping a breeze. Customers usually don’t have to ask how much items cost, since prices are clearly marked. And unless they’re at a flea market or a yard sale, they don’t bother trying to bargain.
When customers are ready to check out, they find the nearest and shortest checkout lane. But as Murphy’s Law would have it, whichever lane they get in, all the other lanes will move faster. Good stores open new checkout lanes when the lanes get too long. Some even offer express lanes for customers with 10 items or less. After they pay for their purchases, customers receive a smile and a warm “thank you” from the clerk. Many stores even allow customers to take their shopping carts out to the parking lot. That way, they don’t have to carry heavy bags out to the car. By quoting (引用) the McDonald’s ad: “We do it all for you”, the author intends to_______.
| A．suggest that customers believe what commercials say deeply |
| B．show readers the American idea on good customer service |
| C．express all the stores pay much attention to the customers |
| D．persuade readers to choose the stores with ads correctly |
In the USA, what may you do at first if you want to do some shopping?
| A．To visit a professional street with lots of similar stores. |
| B．To compare prices in many shops in the same street. |
| C．To make phone calls and get better shopping choices. |
| D．To receive other customers’ answers to the questions. |
The underlined words “a breeze” in Para.3 most probably means _________.
| A．an easy job | B．a trouble | C．a funny thing | D．a boring task |
Which of the followings shows American stores offer convenience to customers in this passage?
| A．The store clerks don’t usually sit around watching TV or playing cards. |
| B．Some stores offer price bargain to the customers like a yard sale. |
| C．The clerks give customers a smile and a warm “thank you” after paying. |
| D．Some stores open new checkout lanes when the lanes are crowded. |
Which of the following can be the best title of this passage?
| A．Customer Service in America | B．Excellent Stores in America |
| C．Shopping Rules in America | D．Being King or Queen in America |
“Any time! Any where! Decades ago there was no such thing” – “Communication”.
Then, September 7th 1987, the global system for mobile communication or GSM was born. And international agreements that laid out the standards, regulations and practices gave rise to a global mobile phone industry.
To be honest, the world’s first mobiles were not so attractive and the range of effectiveness wasn’t very good. But they became a must-have among those wealthy people who could afford that. However, by advantage of GSM which has many different elements to it, we can all enjoy the ability to go around the world in 217 countries, land in that country and know that a phone would work.
There are other cell phone systems using different technology in the world. The majority of the United States and parts of South America have been using something called CDMA which is very rare in Europe. In some Asian countries like China, GSM and CDMA both exist at the same time. But the GSM Association claims 85% of the global mobile phone market. They estimated there are now about 2.5 billion different users who make more than 7 trillion minutes of calls everyday, and that’s not all.
20 years later, the mobile phone is so much more than just a phone. You can use it to send text messages, take pictures, show video, even surf the internet.
“The phone itself is involved from just being a communication tool, to be a tool for round-the-clock connectivity, you can not live without it even in a minute.” Mobile consultant Nick Lane also points out with so many customized styles and features, your mobile phone will become a symbol of you.
Where will the global mobile phone industry be in another 20 years? Certainly, there will be more connections than better coverage. As for where else technology will take us, one can only imagine.According the passage, we can know that GSM is ____________.
| A．a global-used mobile phone | B．a global mobile phone industry |
| C．a global mobile phone association | D．a global mobile communication system |
It’s most difficult to find a CDMA mobile phone in ____________.
| A．the United States | B．South America | C．Europe | D．China |
From this passage, we can infer that ____________.
| A．as soon as the first mobiles appeared, they became popular and many people have one |
| B．with a GSM mobile phone, you can make a phone call in most parts of the USA |
| C．there are only two cell phone systems in the whole world: GSM and CDMA |
| D．most of the mobile phone users in the world now are using the GSM mobile phone |
By pointing out “your mobile phone will become a symbol of you”, what does Nick Lane want to tell us about the mobile phone in the future?
| A．You can have a mobile phone with the unique look and functions as you like. |
| B．Others can find us without any difficulties if we carry our mobile phone. |
| C．The mobile phone can be used as a permit when you enter some places. |
| D．The mobile phone we carry can show others how wealthy we are. |
What does the writer feel about the GSM development in the following 20 years?
| A．Satisfied. | B．Worried. | C．Confident. | D．Confused. |