Popular music in America is what every student likes. Students carry small radios with earphones and listen to music before class, after class, and at lunch. Students with cars buy large speakers and play the music loudly as they drive on the street.
Adult drivers listen to music on the car radio as they drive to work. They also listen to the news about sports, the weather, and the life of American people. Most of the radio programmers are music.
Pop or popular music singers make much money. They make a CD or tape which radio stations use in many places. Once the popular singer is heard all over the country, young people buy his or her tapes. Some of the money from these tapes goes to the singer. Wherever the singer goes, all the young people want to meet him or her. Now the singer has become a national star.
There are other kinds of music that are important to Americans. One is called folk music. It tells stories about the common life of Americans. Another is called western or country music. This is started by cowboys who would sing at night to the cows they were watching. Today, any music about country life and the love between a country boy and his girl is called western or country music.This passage mainly talks about ____.
| A．American music | B．American popular music |
| C．three sorts of music | D．popular music singers |
The first three paragraphs mainly tell us ____.
| A．that Americans like popular music |
| B．that popular music is an important kind of music in America |
| C．how to become a national star as a pop singer in America |
| D．popular music in America is what every student like |
In American, as a pop singer, if you want to become a national star, you’ll have to ____.
| A．earn a lot of money |
| B．make a radio stations use your CDs or tapes |
| C．make many CDs or tapes |
| D．make all the young people love you and what you sing |
Why do we call the sounds of birds, whales and insects songs? Because something about what we hear seems to have beauty, and some mellifluous (动听的) structure that touches us more than any possible message. Though for many years science has cautioned against hearing too much of what we humans would like to hear when we are trying to understand animal sounds, the musicality in some sounds is now starting to have an effect on the science of animal communication itself.
Many specific animal sounds express aggression(进攻), warning, or food, but such practical explanations are tough to apply to the long songs. Some whale songs can go on for up to 24 hours. The usual explanation for birdsong is that the birds are singing to attract mates or to announce the limits of their area. But the audience is not always evident for these long love songs, which have many of the elements related to human music: rhythm, melody (旋律), themes, repeating patterns, organization, variety, interest — all adding up to something humans have found beautiful for thousands of years. “Birds taught man,” wrote Roman poet and philosopher (哲学家) Lucretius, “and taught them songs before their art began.”
What is the scientific value of such sounds? The advantage of hearing music in nature and trying to reach out to nature through music is that though we don’t fully understand it, it is so accessible.
Music refuses explanation, but it clearly expresses something deep and important, which humans can’t live without. Finding music in the sound of birds, whales and other animals makes the farther frontiers(边缘) of nature see much closer to us.The underlined phrase “cautioned against” in Paragraph 1 probably means “_______”.
| A．warned against |
| B．fought against |
| C．been filled with |
| D．been satisfied with |
According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true?
| A．We call the songs of birds’ sounds because there is beauty that sounds pleasant to the ears. |
| B．It is believed that birds are singing to attract mates or to warn the limits of their areas. |
| C．The songs of a bird really carry an emotional message such as “aggression and caring”. |
| D．It is not very long for people to know that birdsong does have something beautiful. |
By saying “Birds taught man”, what did Lucretius mean?
| A．People teach rhythm, melody, themes, repeating patterns to birds. |
| B．Birds can teach people how to go on singing a song up to 24 hours. |
| C．Human music has, in fact, come from the sounds of birds in nature. |
| D．Humans learned something beautiful from the sounds of many animals. |
From the passage we know that music in nature ________.
| A．can’t be explained at all |
| B．is very easy to pick up and listen to |
| C．can’t be understood at all |
| D．is of no scientific value |
With another invention in use, viewers will be also able to watch TV while walking to the office, taking a bus or simply waiting in line for lunch.
A Beijing-based company named Innofidei Inc. claims to have developed the first mobile TV chip for the market, which can change hundreds of thousands of mobiles into micro-TVs.
With this chip, people can receive TV signals on their phones and watch programs without any time or space limitations.“As long as the handset terminal（接收终端设备） has a colored screen and a battery, our chip can turn it into a mobile TV,” said Meng Fei, director of Innofidei’s business development department. The chip can be placed into a cell phone, a PDA, an MP4, a digital camera or even a laptop. He said that this, together with plans by China’s state broadcaster, would ensure the 2008 Games lives up to its promise as a “People’s Olympics”.
“Our chips are cheap so that cell phones with them will not be much different in price from regular phones,” Meng said. “CCTV will offer some free channels during the Games, so people can enjoy the Olympics for free.”
SARFT（国家广播电影电视总局） is planning to build a regional test network in Beijing and hopes to start trials as soon as possible. The goal is to deploy CMMB (部署中国移动多媒体广播) on a national level by the first half of 2008.
Innofidei is now busy selling their chips to cell phone makers so that the new generation of phones reaches the market in early 2008.
“Our invention successfully combines the good points of the two best-selling consumer products in history—TV sets and cell phones, ” said Meng. “In the near future, soccer fans won’t be tearing their hair out because they are stuck in traffic and missing the chance to see their favorite team’s play.”
Local baseball fans, meanwhile, will be able to draw comfort from the knowledge that—both at the Olympics and afterwards—their teams will be playing on a field designed to help recycle water.Which of the following CANNOT be turned into a mobile TV according to the passage?
A. A cell phone.B. A PDA.
C. An MP3. D. A laptop.Which of the following would possibly happen with the invention of the chip?
A. Sports fans watch Olympic Games on cell phones in 2008.
B. People watch video CDs on the MP4.
C. A game addict plays 3D games on a PDA.
D. Listening to news broadcast on radio.We can infer from the passage that _______.
| A．we cannot buy a mobile TV before the 2008 Olympic Games. |
| B．soccer fans will be angry when they miss the chance to see a TV program. |
| C．the baseball field will play a part in helping recycle water. |
| D．the invention of the chip successfully combines TV sets and cell phones. |
The best title for this passage would be “_______”.
| A．A new invention for Olympics |
| B．A new generation of cell phones |
| C．Watching live games on TV for free |
| D．People’s Olympics |
Michael is the kind of guy you love to hate. He is always in a good mood and always has something positive to say.
One day I went up to Michael and asked him, “I don’t get it. You can’t be positive all the time. How do you do it?” Michael replied, “Each morning I wake up and say to myself ‘Mike, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or you can choose to be in a bad mood.’ I choose to be in a good mood. Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it. Every time someone comes to me complaining（抱怨） I can choose to accept their complaining or I can point out the positive side of life. I choose the positive side of life.”
I often thought about that when I made a choice about life. Several years later, Michael was involved in a serious accident, falling off 60 feet from a communica－tion tower. After l8 hours of operation, and weeks of intensive care, Michael was re－leased from the hospital with rods placed in his back.I asked him what had gone through his mind as the accident took place.
“The first thing that went through my mind was the well being of my soon-to-born daughter,” Michael replied. “Then, as I lay on the ground, I remembered I had two choices: I could choose to live or I could choose to die. In the operation room, I told the doctors and nurses, ‘I’m choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead’.”
Michael lived, thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude.The underlined sentence in Paragraph 1 really means that Michael is a person ______.
| A．people would fall in love with |
| B．people would easily get tired of |
| C．people would envy for his positive life attitude |
| D．people wouldn’t take seriously |
Each time something bad happens, Michael chooses to ______.
| A．be in a good mood |
| B．learn from it |
| C．complain about it |
| D．ignore the negative side of it |
From the passage we can infer that ______.
| A．most people manage to lead a positive life at any time |
| B．most people can’t lead a positive life at any time |
| C．only Michael can be so positive |
| D．the author is always a sad person |
If you feel at present that you don’t have enough friends in your life, one reason may be that you have let yourself become too busy to make time for the relationships you already have. Starting and keeping friendship requires effort and commitment.
Our lives let many of us become so busy with work and other things that we don’t get around to scheduling time for pleasure and renewal（叙旧）with the friends, relatives and acquaintances we already have.
Making the effort to call your friends more regularly and accept more of the invitations you receive from others can improve your social life quickly!
Are there any people you could call right now and are assured of a pleasant welcome? Are there people that you could count on to help you in time of difficulty? Can you have close talks with them? Do you have fun when you are together? Are you happy to have them in your life?
If you haven’t seen most of them lately, is it because you have become too busy? Have you lived apart? Was there an argument?
If the main reason you haven’t been getting together with the people you already know is that you have got too busy, take a good look at how you spend your time. Compare it with your real values and priorities（优先考虑的事）in life. Is your busy lifestyle really bringing you the quality of life that you want?
If you have become too busy to have time for friends, why has this happened? Are you seeking material joys in your life at the expense of relationships with other human beings? Have you allowed your time to be over-committed because you never say “No” to anyone? Do you insist on doing things by yourself that could be delegated to others? If so, why? Do you believe that everything depends on you?
Examine whether the way you are now spending your time accurately reflects your deepest values and priorities. Make sure that you schedule adequate time for the things that are truly most important to you.
If you really want to keep friends in your life, make space in your schedule and in your heart for them.In this passage the author mainly discusses ____.
| A．how to balance friendship and work |
| B．how to spend our spare time |
| C．whether we should keep friendship |
| D．whether we should invite friends to dinner |
Which of the following doesn’t indicate a good relationship?
| A．You have someone to count on when you are in trouble. |
| B．You have someone to have close talks with. |
| C．You have fun when you are with someone. |
| D．You feel depressed with others in life. |
.What does the underlined word “ delegated ” in Paragraph 7 probably mean?
| A．declined | B．replaced | C．appointed | D．handled |
What is the most important feature of the writing style of the passage?
| A．Offering arguments | B．Raising questions |
| C．Making comparisons | D．Giving examples |
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 (人造的) 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 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，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 Nocera at a conference of the American Chemical Society.
The 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 prototype (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 and inexpensive catalysts. These catalysts make the energy transformation 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 “give energy to the poor”，scientists believe that the new technology could be widely used in developing countries，especially in India and rural China.Which of the following orders 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．c, a, b, d | B． c, b, a, d |
| C．b, c, a, d | D． c, a, d, b |
The purpose of the scientists at MIT in developing the new artificial leaf 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 |
The main idea of this passage is ________.
| A．an introduction to the history of artificial leaves |
| B．a mixture of water power and solar energy |
| C．giving energy to the poor |
| D．an invention copying photosynthesis |