Last week Adele's second album, 21, sold 257,000 copies in the UK, a sales figure that would look incredible as an opening sales week for any album by any global superstar. The fact that the album was celebrating its 10th week at No.1, and that each of the previous nine weeks it had sold over 100,000 copies, makes what Adele has achieved look miraculous. The last female singer to spend that long at No.1 in the UK was Madonna in 1990 with her greatest hits compilation, The Immaculate Collection.
For Adele, the success of 21 is part of a perfect storm of talent, timing and a connection that went beyond gender, age and credibility. But what does it say about the state of the music industry? Does Adele's success signal a return to the MOR(适合大众口味的音乐) musical depression, when the likes of James Blunt dominated the charts? Her success may well lead to a great many similar acts aiming for an MOR audience, but that's more the fault of an industry desperate to recreate any kind of success by creating poor copies until the world shouts "stop now".
What seems to have set Adele apart is her apparent ordinariness, besides that incredible voice. While Gaga parades around in a dress made of meat and Beyonce orbits a world out of touch to the majority of most human beings, Adele's chain-smoking, girl-you'd-like-to-go-to-the-pub-with persona stands out. Even for a British act, her ordinariness goes against trend, with fellow Jessie J adopting a very American habit of over-emoting, talking about a "journey" and making the idea of being a pop star seem fairly difficult.
It's this universality and broad appeal that's helped her translate talent into sales. While the first single from 21, Rolling in the Deep, appealed to Radio 1 listeners and bloggers, the second single, Someone Like You, is so successful that silenced the grand O2 Arena during this year's Brit Awards. The press can write pages and pages in that there's enough of a connection of musicians – Rick Rubin worked on the album, there's a cover of the Cure, Mumford & Sons were an influence – while the gossip magazines have been excited by the fact that the album is one long break-up record, eager to find the ex.
In 1990, Madonna was a global superstar with a back catalogue of era-defining hits to her name. She was untouchable and, tellingly, unknowable. She was (and still is) a megastar, but a megastar of a different age. These days, we want to know a bit more about our artists; that they have relationship problems, walk their dog. Her selling point and appeal is precisely the fact that she exists at the point between everyday ordinariness and pop star.
For now, Adele's success should be celebrated, especially for becoming an unlikely global star on her own terms. The danger is that we're headed for a lot of fairly boring pop, a situation that led to the "birth" of Gaga a few years back. Pop goes in cycles and it feels like we're headed back towards the very middle of MOR.Adele’s achievement seems unbelievable for the reason that ____________.
| A．the sales of her second album achieved an incredible success last week in the UK |
| B．her second album ranked first in a row with the incredible average sales per week |
| C．Madonna was the last female singer in the UK to stay at No. 1 as long as she did |
| D．she is such an ordinary singer with so fascinating a voice in the music industry |
According to the author, the success of Adele’s second album __________________.
| A．to a large extent depends on her apparent talent for music |
| B．is because of her extraordinariness and the wonderful voice |
| C．lies in gift, timing and something beyond sex, age and trust |
| D．is largely due to the state of the music industry currently |
Compared with other female pop stars, what does the author think of Adele?
| A．She stands out in a totally different way from Gaga and Beyonce. |
| B．She and Madonna are contemporary megastars in music. |
| C．Only she and Madonna spent that long at No.1 in the UK. |
| D．Jessie J and she both have an American habit of expressing themselves. |
What helped Adele successfully turned her gift of singing into sales?
| A．Her musical talent. |
| B．The joint work of musicians in the album. |
| C．Her incredible voice. |
| D．Her universality and broad appeal. |
The author thinks that the current musical trend in the UK is _______________.
| A．satisfying | B．disappointing | C．dangerous | D．desperate |
Aquatic Adventures!
Help Us Get Ready for Showtime!
Trainer Program
What does it take to work with seals or sea lions? Find out with Atlantis Marine World’s Trainer Program and go behind the scenes with our Marine Mammal staff and:
﹒Learn how we train our animals and help train our sea lions to learn how to paint
﹒Go into the seal exhibit with trainers
﹒Join in a seal training period - and get to pet and feed one of our harbor seals
﹒Help prepare food for seals
﹒Attend our Sea Lion Show
﹒Get a kiss from sea lion, Java – and take home a photo
Summer Adventure Days – Camp! Atlantis Style!
Our camp program adds interactive excitement to your child’s summer vacation. Children ages 3 to 14 discover the wonders of the sea environment through age – appropriate activities.
Pirate Snorkel Adventure
Yo-ho-ho, this is a whole lot of fun! Join us this summer for our interactive Pirate Snorkel Adventure and help Captain Poseidon locate missing treasure. While searching our lake, don’t miss tropical fish from all around the world. When you’re done, you’ll walk away with some booty （战利品） of your own – a ＄2.00 game card and a pirate eye patch (海盗眼罩) featuring our very own Jolly Poseidon!
Smooth Sailing: Taste Long Island Wine Cruise Now Accepting Reservations!
Experience the magic of Taste Long Island, a Saturday evening wine and cheese cruise aboard the Atlantis Explorer Tour Boat. Featuring local wines, this adventure along the Peconic River is a relaxing way to enjoy both beautiful scenery and fine wines. Guests 21 and older only. Members and Green Key Cardholders enjoy 25％ off. If you attend Atlantis Marine World’s Trainer Program, you can _____.
| A．watch the performance of sea lions. | B．learn how to paint sea lions. |
| C．get a chance to kiss sea lions. | D．help prepare a seal exhibit. |
The activities in Summer Adventure Days are divided according to ____.
| A．children’s hobby. | B．children’s age. |
| C．the price. | D．the type of sea animals |
In which activity will you get something as a reward?
| A．Atlantis Marine World’s Trainer Program. | B．Summer Adventure Days. |
| C．Pirate Snorkel Adventure. | D．Smooth Sailing. |
What is special about Smooth Sailing?
| A．Guests under 21 cannot be accepted. |
| B．It provides famous wines from all over the world. |
| C．Guests usually get a discount. |
| D．It doesn’t accept bookings. |
In the United States you will find yourself being urged from every page of every newspaper and every television station to buy all kinds of goods.
Not only is there a wide range of prices for goods in America, there is also a wide range in the quality of goods offered for sale. Unlike some countries,
Americans generally pay the price of a product without question, instead of trying to get a lower price by bargaining. However, there are many “sales” in the United States, during which time stores will lower their normal prices. This may all be very confusing to visitors. How are you going to know how to “get your money’s worth” when you shop? Perhaps the best advice is: Don’t hurry. Visit various stores and determine the quality of goods. Read the advertisements so that you can compare prices.
There is a great variety of shops in the United States, ranging from very large stores called “department stores” to very small shops. There are “discount houses” offering goods at low prices, and “dime stores” specializing in a wide range of inexpensive items.
Most department stores in large cities carry better quality products at higher prices. However, they offer the shoppers great convenience since they contain such a wide variety of products.
If convenience isn’t as important to you as price, you may want to shop in discount houses. These stores have nearly as great a variety of goods as department stores, but offer lower prices. They can do so for several reasons. They don’t offer the same services to buyers that department stores do; there may be fewer sales people; and the store probably doesn’t deliver purchases.
Another popular shop is the “dime store”. No longer selling many things for five or ten cents, these stores got their name in the last century when it was decided that a small profit on a great quantity of goods would be better than a large profit on fewer sales. Dime stores specialize in a wide variety of inexpensive items and today, prices range from a quarter or 50 cents up to several dollars.The passage is mainly about______
| A．American hospitality. | B．the life of Americans. |
| C．American stores. | D．the business of Americans. |
Why can discount houses offer goods at lower prices compared with department stores?
a. They have fewer employees.
b. They have larger quantities of goods.
c. They offer fewer services.
d. They don’t provide delivery service.
| A．a b c | B．a b d | C．a c d | D．b c d |
What’s special about dime stores?
| A．They sell lots of goods at a small profit. |
| B．They make big profits by selling some goods. |
| C．They provide goods with a price lower than 50 cents. |
| D．They provide goods ranging from bargains to expensive ones. |
Where can we most probably read this passage?
| A．In a research paper. | B．In a science report. |
| C．In a geography book. | D．In a travel magazine. |
Anthony was sad. He was, as he put it, “not very bright” and couldn’t win the attention of his very wealthy parents, who preferred his “clever” older brother. At age 8, Anthony was sent away to a boarding school in his native England, even though he screamed and pleaded with（恳求）his parents year after year not to send
him. “The thought was ,it would be good for me,” he recalled.
It was not. Anthony did badly in his studies, had few friends and was bullied for five years. “My teachers couldn’t have had a lower opinion of me,” he said. “I wasn’t even smart enough to rebel. The one thing I remember from the very earliest age was the desire to write. When I was 10 years old, I remember asking my parents to get me a typewriter for my birthday because I wanted to be a writer.”
Now, at 55, Anthony is one of the world’s most successful children’s book authors. His Alex Rider series has sold more than 5 million copies，and the eighth book featuring the young spy, Crocodile Tears, has come out.
The Alex Rider books tell the adventures of 14-year-old Alex Rider, an agent for the British intelligence agency M16.
Anthony says he doesn’t try to write for kids; it just comes out that way.“ I have a feeling that it has something to do with purity and simplicity. I give as little information as is necessary to describe the room, the character in the room, and get on with the action,” he said.
The style has also made Anthony a successful writer of television shows for adults in Britain because, he says, writing books for kids is a lot like writing television for grown-ups: In both cases, it’s all about entertaining people with a good story.
Now, Anthony couldn’t be happier with his life. He sums up his success:“…you can be anything you want to be if you just believe in yourself. I do believe it completely.”Which of the following is true of Anthony?
| A．He was the beloved child of his family. |
| B．Although he is successful, he isn’t very happy. |
| C．He places more emphasis on the characters’ behavior in his stories. |
| D．Studying in a boarding school proved a good choice for him. |
At boarding school , Anthony’s teachers_____________.
| A．often criticized him. | B．showed great concern for him. |
| C．encouraged him to be a writer. | D．thought little of his ability. |
What would be the best title for the passage?
| A．Anthony’s popular books—Alex Rider series |
| B．Alex Rider, a popular character |
| C．Anthony, a successful children’s book author |
| D．Special writing style |
What advice does Anthony give to readers?
| A．Confidence is the key to success. | B．Hardship teaches valuable lessons. |
| C．Internet is the best teacher. | D．Failure is the mother of success. |
What will power your house in the future? Nuclear, wind, or solar power? According to scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US, it might be leaves –but artificial ones.
Natural leaves are able to change sunlight and water into energy. It is known as photosynthesis (光合作用). Now researchers have found a way to imitate this seemingly simple process.
The artificial leaf developed by Daniel Nocera and his colleagues at MIT can be seen as a special silicon chip (硅片) with catalysts (催化剂). Similar to natural leaves, it can split water into hydrogen and oxygen when put into a bucket of water. The hydrogen and oxygen gases are then stored in a fuel cell (电池), which uses those two materials to produce electricity, located either on top of a house or beside the house.
Though the leaf is only about the shape of a poker card, scientists claimed that it is promising to be an inexpensive source of electricity in developing countries. “One can imagine villages in India and Africa not long from now purchasing an affordable basic power system based on this technology,” said Docera at a conference of the American Chemical Society.
An artificial leaf is not a new idea. The first artificial leaf was invented in 1997 but was too expensive and unstable for practical use. The new leaf, by contrast, is made of cheap materials, easy to use and highly stable. In laboratory studies, Nocera showed that an artificial leaf prorotype (原型) could operate continuously for at least 45 hours without a drop in activity.
The wonderful improvements come from Nocera’s recent discovery of several powerful new, inexpensive catalysts. These catalysts make the energy transformation (转换) inside the leaf more efficient with water and sunlight. Right now, the new leaf is about 10 times more efficient at carrying out photosynthesis than a natural one. Besides, the device can run in whatever water is available; that is, it doesn’t need pure water. This is important for some countries that don’t have access to pure water.
With the goal to “make each home its own power station” and “giving energy to the poor”, scientists believe that the new application could be widely used in developing countries, especially in India and rural China.Which of the following order correctly shows how the artificial leaf is used to produce electricity?
a. artificial leaves split water into hydrogen and oxygen
b. the hydrogen and oxygen gases are stored in a fuel cell
c. the artificial leaves are put in water
d. the fuel cell uses hydrogen and oxygen to produce electricity
| A．cbad | B．cabd | C．bcad | D．cadb |
Which of the following statements about new artificial leaves is TRUE according to the article?
| A．They are inexpensive but unstable. |
| B．They are as efficient at carrying out photosynthesis as natural leaves. |
| C．They can work only in pure water. |
| D．They need several catalysts to help them work efficiently. |
The aim of the scientists at MIT in developing the new artificial leaves is to .
| A．build-up more power stations in the world |
| B．provide cheaper energy for developing countries |
| C．offer people in developing countries access to pure water |
| D．gain a deeper understanding of the photosynthesis process |
What is the main point of the article?
| A．Introduction to the history of artificial leaves. |
| B．An invention copying photosynthesis. |
| C．Giving energy to the poor. |
| D．A mixture of water power and solar energy. |
As China becomes increasingly urbanized (城市化), it has to find space for its urban and
rural citizens as both groups become increasingly integrated. Experts suggest a possible model
way may be “re-inventing” a “garden city”.
China’s mega-cities are bursting at the borders and the country is now undergoing the quickest and biggest urbanization in the history of mankind. It is estimated that by 2025, China will have 400 million more people living in its cities, raising its urban population to 900 million. Besides, new satellite towns are mushrooming on the urban fringes while city ring roads are rippling outwards into the countryside at amazing speed. Satellite maps collected by Professor Joshua Bolchover at the University of Hong Kong bring the problem sharply into focus. They track the changing rural-urban framework in the past 30 years, and suggest that cities are cruelly destroying surrounding rural land and rapidly reducing the amount of arable（可耕种的）land, which gives way to new residential blocks, new industrial zones, new financial centers and the other inevitable signs and signatures of economic growth.
This, however, is not sustainable growth pattern, especially when China has the world’s largest population to feed. So concerned urban planners are starting to note the social and physical effects of diaspora（大移居）when replaced rural communities are forced into the cities.
On the other hand, a trend of thought is gradually taking shape and this is the concept of the “garden city”, a combination of country and city that is being proposed by architects and city planners. Hua Li, from Tao Architects, is among the many professionals with such a voice. His argument is supported by a long-term study on this subject. As Hua says, the answer is to preserve patches of productive farmland within urban boundaries. Less transportation means we have fresh agricultural products at lower costs and less carbon emission in the city. And urban farmland can also be showcased for agricultural tourism and education.
The concept is already practiced at the grassroot level. Agriculture has gone into the air, up to roof and balcony in some communities in the cities. It’s common to see organic “hanging garden” on the roof of some traditional courtyard home. According to some people, the rooftop project translate to tangible (=" practical)" benefits, such as safe, nutritious vegetables, a cooler home in summer. Some say thanks to the tomatoes they plant that are natural insect killers, there’re fewer mosquitoes. Apart from these, it also contributes to better bonding with neighbors. Zhang, a doctor in Beijing, began creating his hanging garden five years ago. Since his garden became home to 30 kinds of vegetables and fruit --- all enough to feed his family, neighbors have enjoyed dropping by for a relaxing chat or just to see how well the lovely vegetables and fruit are doing.
Although people like Zhang are still rare and the greening of roof space with vegetables and fruit takes skill and energy, with more positive media exposure and advanced technology there is the prospect that garden city will become common practice in the near future. By then, cities will no longer look so gray when seen from the satellites.What is the purpose of paragraph 2?
| A．To show the experts’ concern about the increase of population. |
| B．To persuade people into supporting economic growth in cities. |
| C．To explain the reasons for the change of rural-urban framework. |
| D．To inform the readers of the consequences of quick urbanization. |
In Hua Li’s opinion, a combination of country and city will __________.
| A．benefit the environment and lower living costs |
| B．become a project that needs a long-term study |
| C．lead to more rural communities being replaced |
| D．attract more farmers to take tours in cities |
Zhang is mentioned (Paragraph 5) to show that __________.
| A．he achieves his dream to own a hanging garden |
| B．hanging gardens are becoming more popular |
| C．the garden contributes to a better neighborhood |
| D．he is a pioneer to practise the gardening concept |
As for the concept of the “garden city”, the writer feels_________.
| A．desperate | B．hopeful | C．disappointed | D．concerned |