PopularmusicinAmericaiswhateve-优题课

I really hadn’t meant to yell at them. But that grey afternoon saw it just as my son and daughter were making a terrible mess on the floor in the kitchen.
With a tiresome report to write, I felt bothered at my desk. Suddenly, it occurred to me that my kids were at fault. A voice inside me insisted that I do something quickly.
“Ok, you two here, but what an awful thing you are attempting!” I was shouting angrily. I made for them, while it became evident that the boy wanted no part of me. “Get away from us!” he shouted back, there being an expression of support from his sister.
All of a sudden, I found the fault in myself. Quickly I shaped my hands into pincers and crawled towards them, “Crabby Daddy is here. Ha, Ha, Ha, he likes to yell at children, and then eat them!” My son continued to keep me away, but now he was laughing and crying at the same time. My mission to repair the damage caused by my yelling seemed to work well. Still, I regretted not having controlled myself first in a right way.
Need I let them know how badly they were acting by blaming? This is a lesson that serves myself. It only shows just how to get rid of something (ill-feelings, responsibility…) by blaming others. It’s not my “best self”.
We have to search for our “best self” when with our children. They don’t need perfect parents, but they do need parents who are always trying to get better. Here, I am reminded of the words of a great thinker. “When a man lives with God, his voice shall be as sweet as the murmur of the book…” Then, in our lifetime, couldn’t we always speak to our kids in such a sweet voice since most of us consider them as the most precious in the world? And before we reach this level, what should we do when we come across various difficult cases with our children?
The author couldn’t help yelling at his kids this time probably because________.

A．the weather was so unpleasant	B．he was tired of his boring work
C．the kids didn’t ask him to join them	D．a Daddy has his right to do so

Which of the following made the author aware of his fault?

A．No obvious reason.

B．The boy’s yelling back.

C．His self-awareness.

D．The girl’s shouting back.

According to the passage, the author will _____ in another similar situation.

A．play a crab again like this time

B．apologize to kids in a sincere way

C．avoid blaming kids in a hurry

D．beat them up about such things

What will the writer go on to write about in the next paragraph(s)?

A．How to behave ourselves properly when kids are at fault.

B．How to play with our children in a more interesting way.

C．How to deal with the housework with children around us.

D．How to persuade children to do what they are told to.

What does “the boy wanted no part of me” in the third paragraph mean?

A．The boy was happy because I loved them.

B．The boy was curious because I wanted to help them.

C．The boy was very happy for I was angry.

D．The boy didn’t want me to join them.

Before she appeared on the reality show(真人秀) Britain’s Got Talent, Susan Boyle was just an ordinary middle-aged British woman. Now all this is going to change.
She lives in a house with her cat Pebbles in a tiny Scottish town. Because of learning difficulties, she doesn’t have much education. But what she does have is a very good voice. As a kid, she sang in church and choirs and school plays. For a living, she sang at local pubs.
When she took the stage on April 10^th her hair was untidy and her clothes seemed just one step up from rags. The audience laughed at her.
But then she opened her mouth. A few bars into the song and the laughing audience went silent. A beautiful voice was singing I Dreamed a Dream from the musical Les Miserables. Everyone was amazed. At the end of her song, the audience jumped to their feet and applauded wildly.
Almost overnight, Susan became a household name. She won fans and millions of admirers. Her online videos have drawn over 85.2 million hits.
Susan’s story proved the truth of an old saying: “Never judge the book by its cover.” Susan may look ordinary, and doesn’t have much dress sense, but she can certainly sing.
Susan’s fans admire her courage, as much as they do her voice. She has experienced mockery and many disappointments, but her love for music has kept her going, which is worth anyone’s respect.
According to the passage, Susan Boyle _______.

A．is a famous young actress

B．became famous after a show

C．used to be a good student

D．is good at dancing and has millions of admirers

The underlined phrase “just one step up from” in the third paragraph probably means______.

A．far from	B．close to
C．different from	D．the same as

The audience jumped and applauded wildly because__________.

A．her hair was untidy and her clothes seemed just one step up from rags

B．she looked very funny

C．she sang so well that everyone was amazed

D．she made a foolish mistake in the end

Susan Boyle has many fans now because of _______.

A．her beautiful face

B．her knowing how to dress

C．her good education

D．her beautiful voice and courage

The passage is mainly about___________.

A．how to win fans

B．how to sing well

C．a woman’s sudden success

D．a woman’s simple life

Talk about happiness
We should not hesitate too much during the first half of our lives, while we should not regret at what we’ve done during the other half. We should seize every opportunity to find a way out in our lives, for it goes off swiftly. We should say something urgent slowly, something serious clearly, something small humorously and something unsure cautiously. We should never say something that did not happen, something that you cannot do, something that does harm to others, and something that is disgusting. We should tell others our happiness on specific occasions and should not tell anyone our unhappiness. Do not easily say something about others. We should follow our own heart and interest, and fulfill what we should do instead of merely paying lip service and looking forward to the future.
Everyone is longing for a happy life, but owning wealth does not necessarily mean owning happiness. To truly reach happiness, we need to know how to get on with others. So we need to understand what happiness is really about and achieve what we desire.
We need to know and understand happiness before we finally get it. A smart man must know to do something good even though it may be small, and not to do something evil even though it may be tiny in the course of socializing. As long as we keep a kind heart and do everything morally and legally, we can live a peaceful life. But if we keep an evil heart and do whatever we want, we are indeed digging a tomb for ourselves. A smart man knows to learn a lesson from his falls, for he knows that every setback is a precious experience leading to happiness in the future. He will not waste his time in criticizing others. Instead, he tends to spend more time seeking his own happiness. He knows to keep a heart of conscience and not to spread others’ mistakes. He also knows to think before he leaps so that he will not feel regretful afterwards. Moreover, he knows to tolerate others, so he can naturally lead a happy life.
Without happiness, one will feel terribly miserable, for he always insists that he has done the right thing all the time and that others often do wrong to him. He blames every mistake on others or the environment instead of reflecting on himself, which keeps him farther and farther away from happiness. A celebrity once said, “Nobody intends to make mistakes. One makes mistakes because of his ignorance.” Therefore, if someone makes mistakes, we need to care about him, forgive him and enlighten him by setting a good example to him instead of losing temper and hating him. Otherwise, we are also ignorant like him, for we also make a stupid mistake that leads us farther from happiness.
In order to possess a happy life, we need to know more about others, about the society, about our culture and history. We should be patriotic(爱国的), obey the law and realize our own responsibility, and then we will definitely have a happy life.

Title	Talk about happiness
Wise actions in life	●Do things without_______and never regret at anything . ●Seize every opportunity to do the things we should. ●Avoid saying or doing what we are not________ about. ●Don’t comment on others easily.
Things about happiness we should________ in mind	●Getting on well with others is necessary. ●Doing good things with a kind heart may make us live ________. ●Knowing future happiness_______ from precious experiences learned from every setback. ●Thinking twice before action and tolerating others can ________ to a happy life.
Reasons for lack of happiness	●He blames everything wrong on others or the ________, not himself. ●His ________ results in making mistakes, which keeps him farther away from happiness
________on how to possess happiness	●We should care about the people who make mistakes instead of losing temper and set an example to them. ●We should have a rich ________ of society, culture, history and others. ●We should obey the law and shoulder our own responsibility.

As we drove along, my spirits went up again, and I turned, with pleasure, to the thought of the new life which I was entering. But though it was not far past the middle of September, the heavy clouds and strong north-easterly wind combined to make the day extremely cold; and the journey seemed a very long one, so that it was nearly one o’clock before we reached the place of our destination. Yet when we entered the gateway, my heart failed me, and I wished it were a mile or two farther off. For the first time in my life I must stand alone: there was no retreating now. I must enter that house, and introduce myself among its strange people. But how was it to be done? True, I was near nineteen; but, thanks to the protecting care of my mother and sister, I well knew that many a girl of fifteen, or under, was gifted with a more womanly address, and greater ease and self-possession, than I was. Yet, anyway. I would do very well, after all; and the children, of course, I should soon be at ease with them.
"Be calm, be calm, whatever happens," I said within myself; and truly I was so fully occupied in steadying my nerves and keeping down the rebellious beat of my heart that when I was admitted into the hall and into the presence of Mrs. Bloomfield, I almost forgot to answer her polite greeting; and it afterwards struck me that the little I did say was spoken in the tone of one half-dead or half-asleep.
With due politeness, however, she showed me my bedroom, and left me there to take a little refreshment for a little while and led me into the dining-room. Some beefsteaks and potatoes were set before me; and while I dined upon these, she sat opposite, watching me (as I thought) and trying to keep something like a conversation— consisting chiefly of commonplace remarks. In fact, my attention was almost wholly absorbed in my dinner: not from appetite, but from the toughness of the beefsteaks, and the numbness of my hands.
“I have had so little time to attend to their education myself, but I think they are clever children, and very willing to learn, especially the little boy; he is, I think, the flower of the flock— a generous, noble-spirited boy, one to be led, but not driven, and remarkable for always speaking the truth.” “His sister Mary Ann will require watching,” continued she, “but she is a very good girl on the whole, though I wish her to be kept out of the nursery as much as possible, as she is now almost six years old, and might acquire bad habits from the nurses. I have ordered her bed to be placed in your room, and if you will be so kind as to look after her washing and dressing, and take charge of her clothes, she needs to have nothing further to do with the nursery maid.”
I replied I was quite willing to do so; and at that moment the children entered the room. Tom Bloomfield was a well-grown boy of seven. Mary was a tall girl, for her age of six, somewhat dark like her mother. The second sister was Fanny, a very pretty little girl, looking little younger than Mary. The remaining one was Harriet, a little broad, fat, merry, playful thing of scarcely two, whom I had more desire for than all the rest — but with her I had nothing to do.
Which of the following statements best describes how the writer felt when she entered Mrs. Bloomfield's home?

A．She was nervous, dissatisfied with her manners but still confident.

B．She was cold, hungry but eager to see all the children in the family.

C．She was frightened, nervous and regretful about her decision.

D．She was calm, confident and very happy with all the family.

What job would the writer take in Mrs Bloomfield's home?

A．A nursery maid.

B．A house cleaner.

C．A home cook.

D．A family teacher.

Which of the following was TRUE according to the passage?

A．The writer had some difficulty with her lunch because of the tough food and the cold.

B．The delicious food took the writer's attention away from Mrs. Bloomfield’s words.

C．All the children were well educated before the writer came to the family.

D．All the children in the family were looked after by Mrs Bloomfield herself.

From the passage, we can infer that ___________.

A．Mrs Bloomfield would treat the writer kindly and help her a lot

B．The youngest girl Harriet would be the writer’s favorite student

C．the writer would take on more responsibilities than she should

D．Tom Bloomfield would be the cleverest of all the children

Death Valley, one of America’s great national parks, is a place of strange and silent beauty. As beautiful as this place is, its name provides evidence of very real danger. Death Valley is a land of beautiful yet dangerous extremes. There are mountains that reach more than 3,000 meters into the sky. There is a place called Badwater that is the lowest area of land in the Western Hemisphere. If there were water there, it would be 86 meters below the level of the ocean.
Death Valley can be dangerously cold during the winter months. Storms in the mountains can produce sudden flooding on the floor of the Valley. The air temperature during the summer has been as high as 57℃. The sun can heat the ground so that the temperature of the rocks and soil can be as high as 74℃. The extreme heat of Death Valley has killed people in the past. It will continue to kill those who do not honor this extreme climate. Death Valley does not forgive those who are not careful.
Death Valley is a good example of the violence of nature. It contains evidence of several ancient volcanoes that caused huge explosions. Evidence of one of these explosions is called Ubehebe Crater. The explosion left a huge hole in the ground almost a kilometer and a half wide.
In many areas of Death Valley it is easy to see where the ground has been pushed up violently by movement deep in the Earth. This movement has created unusual and beautiful rock formations. Some are red. Others are dark brown, gray, yellow or black. Other areas of rock look as if some huge creature violently broke and twisted the Earth to create unusual, sometimes frightening shapes.
In other parts of Death Valley there are lines in the rock that show clearly that this area was deep under an ocean for many thousands of years. Much of the Valley is flat and extremely dry. In fact, scientists believe it is the driest place in the United States.
Death Valley, part of the Great Mojave Desert, is a huge place. It extends more than 225 kilometers across the southern part of California, and across the border with Nevada.
Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?

A．The water in Badwater is 86 meters below the level of the ocean.

B．The highest air temperature in summer can reach as high as 74℃.

C．The ground has been pushed up violently by explosions of volcanoes.

D．There might have been marine lives living in Death Valley.

Why were some people killed by Death Valley?

A．Because they didn’t respect Death Valley and thus they were punished.

B．Because it is extremely hot in summer and dangerously cold in winter.

C．Because they were not careful enough to take with them what they needed.

D．Because several volcanoes erupted and caused huge explosions.

The underlined word “twisted” in Paragraph 4 most possibly mean ______.

A．bent and turned	B．created and developed
C．built and shaped	D．changed and ruined

The purpose of the article is to _______.

A．encourage people to visit Death Valley, a beautiful national park in America

B．warn people not to visit Death Valley because it is quite dangerous there

C．introduce to us readers a special national park in America, Death Valley

D．raise money for the protection of Death Valley because it is in danger now

A．Western Music	B．Popular Music
C．History of Music	D．American Music