Individuality is the particular character, or aggregate (total) of qualities that distinguishes one person or thing from others. Many artists late in the last century were in search of a means to express their individuality. Modern dance was one of the ways some of these people sought to free their creative spirit. At the beginning there was no exacting technique, no foundation from which to build. In later years, trial, error and genius founded the techniques and the principles of the movement. Eventually, innovators (改革者) even drew from what they considered the dread ballet, but first they had to get rid of all that was academic so that the new could be discovered. The beginnings of modern dance were happening before Isadora Duncan, but she was the first person to bring the new dance to general audiences and see it accepted and acclaimed (称赞).
Her search for a natural movement form sent her to nature. She believed movement should be as natural as the swaying of the trees and the rolling waves of the sea, and should be in harmony with the movements of the Earth. Her great contributions are in three areas.
First, she began the expansion of the kinds of movement that could be used in dance. Before Duncan danced, ballet was the only type of dance performed in concert. In the ballet the feet and legs were emphasized, with virtuosity (高超技巧) shown by complex, codified positions and movements. Duncan performed dance by using her body in the freest possible way. Her dance stemmed from her soul and spirit. She was one of the pioneers who broke tradition so others might be able to develop the art.
Her second contribution lies in dance costume. She rejected ballet shoes and stiff costumes. These were replaced with flowing Grecian (希腊式的) tunes, bare feet, and unbound hair. She believed in the natural body being allowed to move freely, and her dress displayed this ideal.
Her third contribution was in the use of music. In her performances she used the symphonies of great masters including Beethoven and Wagner, which was not the usual custom.
She was as exciting and eccentric (怪异) in her personal life as in her dance.According to the passage, what did nature represent to Isadora Duncan?
| A．Something to conquer. | B．A model for movement. |
| C．A place to find peace. | D．A symbol of disorder. |
Compared to those of the ballet, Isadora Duncan’s costumes were less _________.
| A．costly | B．colorful |
| C．graceful | D．restrictive |
Which of the following is not mentioned as an area of dance that Duncan worked to change?
| A．The stage set. | B．The music. |
| C．Costumes. | D．Movements. |
We can infer from the passage that the author _________.
| A．appreciates modern dance very much |
| B．dislikes Isadora Duncan’s dance |
| C．thinks highly of individuality |
| D．knows a lot about modern arts |
Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?
| A．Artists of the Last Century |
| B．Evolution of Dance in the 20th Century |
| C．Natural Movement in Dance |
| D．A Pioneer in Modern Dance |
-Without proper planning, tourism can cause problems．For example, too many tourists can crowd public places that are also enjoyed by the inhabitants(居民) of a country. If tourists create too much traffic, the inhabitants become annoyed and unhappy. They begin to dislike tourists and to treat them impolitely. They forget how much tourism can help the country’s economy. It is important to think about the people of a destination(目的地) country and how tourism affects them. Tourism should help a country, keep the customs and beauty that attract tourists．Tourism should also advance the wealth and happiness of local inhabitants.
Too much tourism can be a problem. If tourism grows too quickly, people must leave other jobs to work in the tourism industry. This means that other parts of the country’s economy can suffer.
On the other hand, if there is not enough tourism，people can lose jobs. Businesses can also lose money. It costs a great deal of money to build large hotels, airports，air terminals, first－class roads, and other support facilities（设施）needed by tourist attractions. For example, a major international class tourism hotel can cost as much as 50 thousand dollars per room to build. If this room is not used most of the time, the owners of the hotel lose money.
Building a hotel is just a beginning．There must be many support facilities as well，including roads to get to the hotel, electricity, sewers to handle waste, and water. All of these support facilities cost money. If they are not used because there are not enough tourists, jobs and money are lost.Which of the following has most probably been discussed in the part that goes before this passage?
| A．It is very important to develop tourism. |
| B．Building roads and hotels is necessary. |
| C．Support facilities are highly important. |
| D．Planning is very important to tourism. |
Too much tourism can cause all these problems EXCEPT ________.
| A．a bad effect on other industries |
| B．a change of tourists’ customs |
| C．over－crowdedness of places of interest |
| D．pressure on traffic |
Not enough tourism can lead to ________.
| A．an increase of unemployment (失业) |
| B．a decrease (减退) in tourist attractions. |
| C．the higher cost of support facilities |
| D．a rise in price and a fall in pay. |
The underlined word “handle” in the last paragraph most probably means _________.
| A．get in |
| B．pick up |
| C．carry away |
| D．take down |
-For five days, Edmonton's Downtown Park is transformed into one huge stage where artists are able to share their talents, and where people are able to celebrate(庆祝) and enjoy themselves. Since its beginning in 1980, the Edmonton Folk Music Festival has been commemorating (纪念) the true feeling of what folk music is all about and that's the traditional togetherness that is felt when people gather to share stories and feelings through song.
This year will be the sixth year when volunteer Riedel will be offering up her time to the festival. "People coming off a busy spring and summer have a moment of relaxation," Riedel said. "It's really easy to relax, and it's great seeing family and friends have fun together." These families and friends come from all different kinds of musical tastes. People who take pleasure in Blues are there, so are people who love Bluegrass. This festival does its best to develop everyone's musical interests.
With so many years of experience, the festival has become a well-oiled machine, and does whatever it can to make attendees feel as comfortable as possible. There are free water stations throughout the venue (举办地) for people to fill up their travel cups. When people buy food, reusable dishes are given a $2 plate fee, but that is returned when the plate is brought back.
The festival has completely sold out of tickets, and in record time. But with big names such as Van Morrison and Jakob Dylan, it's easy to see how that was going to happen. There is no parking area during the festival, so using the Park & Ride system or Edmonton Transit is highly recommended. A bike lock-up area is provided and will be available Thursday until Sunday one hour before the gates open until 45 minutes after the gates close.
The Edmonton Folk Music Festival begins on Wednesday, Aug. 4 with Van Morrison playing the special donation fund (基金) concert, and will finish up on Sunday, Aug. 8.The Edmonton Folk Music Festival is held mainly to ________.
| A．gather people with different musical tastes |
| B．remind people of the real sense of folk music |
| C．exhibitive good voices of great talents in folk music |
| D．collect old stories of folk music |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．Riedel has volunteered for the festival for at least 5 years. |
| B．It's hard for people to appreciate Blues. |
| C．It costs people a little to fill up their cups from water stations. |
| D．People have to pay $2 for a plate of food. |
We can learn from the passage that ________.
| A．people can get tickets easily for the festival |
| B．the Edmonton Folk Music Festival is well organized. |
| C．driving one's own car to the festival is highly recommended |
| D．bikes are available at the festival from Wednesday to Sunday |
What would be the best title for the passage?
| A．Folk Music of Blues |
| B．One Festival for All |
| C．Festival for family Gathering |
| D．Edmonton's Downtown Park |
-There is a very special wolf that lives in Africa. They are actually called, the African wild dog, or painted dogs.
These animals live in open woodlands. or in the plains of Africa. Today, however, most of the animals can be found in eastern or southern Africa. These animals are beautiful. They have rounded ears instead of pointed like most dogs, and they have four toes (脚趾) on each of their feet, also a unique characteristic because other dogs have five. Their fur is always different from each other. The fur is usually a combination of black, brown, red, and white, and sometimes even yellow. No wonder they’re called the painted wolf.
The African wild dog is a very social animal. They live in groups and have numbers from five to about twenty. The members of a group are always very close to one another. They communicate in their own language or body language. When someone is very old or sick, the others will help, and they are willing to share the food with elders and with those who are weak, which is what we should learn from.
The family does everything together, from raising young, to sleeping together, to hunting. When they hunt, they work together using team work to kill animals that are larger than them.
They sometimes hunt farm animals. This is unfortunate, because both poachers (偷猎者), and people who own farms shoot the painted dogs who are just trying to survive.
Before, there used to be many large groups throughout the land, but now the African wild dog is very rare. They are also losing their population because of their own loss of habitat thanks to human’s farming and forest cutting.Why do African wild dogs get the name “painted dogs” ?
| A．They all have colorful fur. |
| B．The dogs in the same group are of different colors. |
| C．Artists love to paint them in different colors. |
| D．None of them has the same color. |
According to the author, what should we learn from African wild dogs?
| A．They always do everything together. |
| B．They are always very close to one another. |
| C．They help the sick, the elderly and the weak. |
| D．They communicate in their own language. |
Which of the following is NOT the reason why African wild dogs are becoming very rare?
| A．Poachers kill some of them. |
| B．They are short of food sometimes. |
| C．They are losing their habitat. |
| D．Farmers shoot some of them. |
Where could this passage probably be found?
| A．The Travelers | B．Fashion Weekly |
| C．Animal World | D．Star Magazine |
“ I’d like to be at a healthier weight , ” a friend told me . “ But we just don’t have the money to buy expensive diet foods and there isn’t enough money to join a gym .” Many people feel that way—that a healthy diet and exercise plan is out of reach because of their high cost . Don’t lose hope ! We’ll be looking at ways to make healthy choices without spending too much money .
First you don’t need to buy the expensive pre-prepared “ diet foods . ” Back in the early 1970s when I started housekeeping , 90% of the food I bought was ingredients . Very few things were preprocessed（预处理的）. Now 90% of the food you find in the store is quick food . That’s a bad thing .
Quick foods like boxed “ just add hamburger ” meals have had the fiber removed to make them faster to prepare . Take a look at the label on that box . It often has low numbers listed under “ fiber ” because fiber takes longer to digest . If the low fiber meal is digested , the result is that your body begins to store fat . Besides , your body is short of nutrients（营养物质）. You will be driven to eat more to try to make up for the low quality of the food you are eating .
And then there are the chemicals the producers add to the quick meals to make them palatable . If not , the stuff would taste like cardboard and you wouldn’t enjoy it . However , these chemicals certainly aren’t good for your health .
What’s the answer ? Buy whole ingredients and give up the expensive , low nutrition , processed foods . Do the cooking yourself and you will have control over what is in your food —and it will cost less , too .People who find it hard to get a healthier weight think .
| A．they had too much diet foods |
| B．they didn’t make a detailed plan |
| C．they have no time to do exercise in gym |
| D．they can’t afford diet foods and to exercise in gym |
The author doesn’t like quick food mainly because .
| A．it contains too much fat | B．it makes people eat less |
| C．it has low fiber | D．it takes longer to digest |
The underlined word “ palatable ” in Paragraph 4 probably means “ ”.
| A．fresh | B．delicious | C．healthy | D．simple |
The author suggests in the text that people should .
| A．control the amount of food |
| B．eat more processed foods |
| C．cook food for themselves |
| D．choose cheap ingredients |
Which of the following best shows the structure of the passage ? （①="Paragraph" 1,
②="Paragraph" 2 ,…⑤="Paragraph" 5）
| A．①/②③④/⑤ | B．①②/③④/⑤ | C．①②③/④/⑤ | D．①/②③/④⑤ |
CHOOSE YOUR VIRGINIA
Rock House Museum
Take a journey through history with a visit to the exciting museum and historic sites of Wytheville . The Rock House Museum offers glimpses into daily life in the 19th century . The museum is part of the 50 structures featured in Wytheville’s Historic Walking Tour . 540/233-3330 .
Grand Caverns
Grand Caverns is America’s oldest cave . Beautiful and massive formations . Union troops visited the caverns . Thomas Jefferson visited—you should , too ! Open weekends in March , daily April—October , 9 a.m.—5 p.m. Hour tours leave every 30 minutes . 703/249-5705 .
The News Museum
The News Museum in Arlington is the world’s only interactive（互动）museum of news . Visitors can be reporters or television newscasters , see today’s news as it happens on a block-long video news wall , and be taken behind the scenes to see how news is made . The News museum is open Wednesday through Sunday from 10 a. m.—5 p. m. You can visit www. News museum .Org .
Kenmore Plantation & Gardens
Kenmore Plantation & Gardens has over two hundred years of history from the Revolutionary War , Civil War and into the 21st century . Home of Betty Washington , George Washington’s only sister , and Patriot Col. Fielding Lewis . Explore this historic building and city block of restored gardens . Tea and ginger cookies served . 540/373-3381 .
Virginia Beach
Virginia Beach offers 11 000 hotel / motel rooms , plus cottages and campgrounds . Enjoy miles of clean beaches and a variety of family attractions . Fine restaurants , various shopping areas , exciting nightlife , and special events are offered throughout the year . 800/822-3224 .What is the author’s purpose in writing this passage ?
| A．To attract tourists to Virginia . |
| B．To encourage people to settle in Virginia . |
| C．To introduce historic sites in Virginia . |
| D．To give people a general description of Virginia . |
In what way is The News Museum different from Rock House Museum ?
| A．It is larger . | B．It is more exciting . |
| C．Visitors can act in it . | D．Visitors can see more in it . |
If you want to enjoy yourself in the evening , you may go to .
| A．The News Museum | B．Kenmore Plantation & Gardens |
| C．Grand Caverns | D．Virginia Beach |
Which of the following places is NOT open in the winter months ?
| A．The news Museum . |
| B．Grand Caverns . |
| C．Virginia Beach . |
| D．Kenmore Plantation & Gardens . |
Which of the following is NOT a fact when tourists are visiting the Virginia Beach ?
| A．Tourists can camp in the open air . |
| B．Tourists can enjoy some special events there . |
| C．Tourists can not go there in their own cars . |
| D．Tourists can enjoy themselves on the clean beach . |