Although Zhang Bichen, a 25-year-old songstress with a powerful yet delicate voice, took the crown of this year’s The Voice of China, runner-up Parhat Halik, 32, seems to have impressed more of the audience with his husky(沙哑的), natural and, most of all, distinguished sound.
Despite his unmistakable voice, Parhat Halik’s music is also special. Generally, it’s rock — but influenced and mixed by different styles within the genre. Read on and find out where Halik’s music gets its inspiration.
Blues rock
Representative artists: Guns N’ Roses, The Rolling Stones, John Maye
Blues rock combines improvisation (即兴创作) with rock ’n’ roll style. It began to develop in the mid-1960s in Britain and the US, when rock bands such as the Rolling Stones experimented with music from older African-American blues musicians. It borrows the idea of instrumental combo（小型乐队）from blues but is played at a faster tempo and louder volume, distinguishing it from the blues. The sound is created with the electric guitar, piano, bass and drums.
As the root for several contemporary rock styles, such as heavy metal and hard rock, blues rock had a rebirth in the early 2000s, with artists including John Mayer and The Black Keys.
Folk rock
Representative artists: Bob Dylan, Simon & Garfunkel, The Byrds
As the name indicates, folk rock is a genre combining elements of folk music and rock music. Also developed in the mid-1960s, folk rock was pioneered by the US band The Byrds, who began playing traditional folk music and Bob Dylan-penned material with rock instruments, in a style heavily influenced by The Beatles and other British bands.
The genre was most popular among teenagers and college students at the time, because it includes both rock ’n’ roll’s free spirit and the more serious, culturally authentic and socially aware sounds of folk music.
Soft rock
Representative artists: Bryan Adams, Eagles, Elton John, James Blunt
Compared to hard rock’s loud and aggressive nature, soft rock, or light rock, uses the techniques of rock music to compose a softer and less threatening sound. Derived from folk rock, it uses acoustic instruments（原声乐器）and puts more emphasis on melody and harmony.
Although the genre gets quite a bad name among hardcore rock fans, who see it as “wimpy”(软弱无力), it doesn’t mean soft rock is without merit (优点). Soft rock songs often deal with themes like romantic relationships and everyday life in a thoughtful and complex way hard rock simply couldn’t.Which of the artists playing traditional folk music and Bob Dylan-penned material with rock instruments first?
| A．The Beatles. | B．The Byrds |
| C．Eagles. | D．Guns N’ Roses. |
We can learn from the passage that ______________.
| A．the Rolling Stones ignored African-American musicians’ work |
| B．soft rock focus more on melody and culture awareness |
| C．blues rock gained a second birth in the 2000s |
| D．all the three rock styles developed in America |
What is hardcore rock fans’ attitude towards soft rock?
| A．They quite admire it. |
| B．They can hardly tolerate it. |
| C．They are indifferent to it. |
| D．They misunderstand it. |
What’s the main purpose of the text?
| A．To help readers become rock ’n’ roll artists |
| B．To inform the readers of the result of The Voice of China |
| C．To introduce some common rock music to the readers |
| D．To offer the readers some suggestions of composing rock music |
If you go into the woods with your friends, stay with them. If you don’t, you may get lost. If you do get lost, this is what you should do.
Sit down and stay where you are. Don’t try to find your friends — let them find you. You can help them to find you by staying in one place.
There is another way to help your friends or other people nearby to find you. Give them a signal by shouting or whistling three times. Stop. Then shout or whistle three times again. Any signal given three times is a call for help. You will be helped by others.
Keep up the shouting or whistling, always three times together. When people hear you, they will know that you are not just making noise for fun. They will let you know they have heard your signal. They will give two shouts, two whistles or two gunshots. When a signal is given twice, it is an answer to a call for help.
If you don’t think that you will get help before night comes, try to make a little house and cover up the holes with branches with lots of leaves and grass. What should you do if you get hungry or need to drink some water? You should have to leave your little branch house to look for a brook. Don’t just walk away. Pick off small branches and drop them as you walk so that you can find your way back.
The most important thing to do when you are lost is — stay in one place.How do you let people believe that you are not just making noise for fun?
| A．Stop now and then. |
| B．Go on shouting or whistling. |
| C．Shout over and over at the top of voice. |
| D．Shout or whistle three times once a while. |
If nobody answers you after your signal, what should you do then?
| A．Give two gunshots. | B．Shout louder. |
| C．Stop shouting. | D．Make a house. |
If you feel thirsty when you are lost in the forest, what should you do?
| A．Go and find a brook. |
| B．Light a fire and make yourself some tea． |
| C．Go to find a brook and leave marks behind you. |
| D．Find something to hold the water. |
What’s the best title for the passage?
| A．What Do Three Shots And Two Shots Mean In A Forest |
| B．How To Find Your Friends When You Are Lost In The Woods |
| C．What To Do If You Get Lost In A Forest |
| D．The Most Important Thing To Do Is To Stay In One Place |
Have you ever noticed advertisements which say “Learn a foreign language in 6 weeks, or your money back! From the first day your pronunciation will be excellent. Just send…” and so on? Of course, it never happens quite like that. The only language that is easy to learn is one’s mother tongue. And think how much practice that gets! Before the Second World War people usually learnt a foreign language in order to read the literature of the country.
Now speaking a foreign language is what most people want. Every year millions of people start learning one. How do they do it? Some people try at home, with books and records of tapes; some use radio or television programmes; some use computers and network; others go to evening classes. If they use the language only 2 or 3 times a week, learning it will take a long time, like learning a foreign language at school. A few people try to learn a language fast by studying for 6 or more hours a day. It is clearly easier to learn the language in the country where it is spoken.
However, most people cannot afford this, and for many it is not necessary. They need the language in order to do their work better. For example, scientists and doctors chiefly need to be able to read books and reports in the foreign language. Whether the language is learnt quickly or slowly, it is hard work. Machines and good books will help, but they cannot do the student’s work for him. According to some advertisements, you ______.
| A．have to pay your money if you cannot master a foreign language in 6 weeks |
| B．needn’t pay you money if you cannot learn a foreign language in 6 weeks |
| C．must pay your money if you cannot master a foreign language in 6 weeks |
| D．will be paid much money if you cannot learn a foreign language in 6 weeks |
Now most people try to learn a foreign language in order to ______.
| A．read the literature of the country |
| B．read books and reports |
| C．do their work better |
| D．go to foreign countries |
Learning a foreign language is a hard job ______.
| A．only for scientists and doctors |
| B．only for the students at school |
| C．for those people at home |
| D．for most people |
Americans won’t live without cars! Each year there is an increasing number of cars on roads and streets, as millions of new cars are produced．One of every six Americans work at putting together the parts of cars, driving trucks, building roads or filling cars with gas．
Most Americans find it hard to think what life would be without a car．However, some have realized the serious problem of air pollution by cars．The polluted air is poisonous and dangerous to health．
One way to get rid of the polluted air is to design a new car that does not pollute．That’s what several large car factories are trying to do．But to build the new car is easier said than done．Progress in this field has been slow．
Another way is to take place of the car engine by something else．Engineers are now working on some new cars．Many makers believe that it will take years to develop a practical model that pleases man．
To prevent the world from being polluted by cars, we’ll have to make some changes in the way many of us live．Americans, for example, have to cut down the number of their cars they are encouraged to travel and go to work by bike．Riding a bike is thought to help keep the air clean．
But this change does not come easily．A large number of workers may find themselves with no jobs if a car factory closes down．And the problem of air pollution would become less important than that of unemployment．Large car factories are trying to build a clean car, ．
| A．which is clean itself |
| B．which is used to clean streets |
| C．which does not pollute the air |
| D．which is easier to make |
If the number of cars is cut down, the most serious problem in American workers is ．
| A．to have no work to do | B．to keep the air clean |
| C．to get a better life | D．to go to work by bike |
What is the conclusion of the writer?
| A．Bicycling is the only way out． |
| B．The number of ears must be cut down. |
| C．Cars bring us nothing but serious problems. |
| D．Cars bring us not only a better life but serious problems |
When Geoff Marcy was 14, his parents bought him a telescope. Every night, he would go onto the roof outside his window to see the wonders of the sky.
“What excited me most was whether there were planets in other solar systems where life might exist,” he says. “I decided to try to find planets orbiting other stars like our Sun.”
And he did. “My fellow researcher, Paul Butler, and I found our first planet in 1995,” Dr. Marcy says. “We worked for ten years without finding anything! But we stuck with it and our patience paid off.”
Since then, the two scientists have discovered 65 of the more than 100 planets found orbiting other stars. Dr. Marcy and Dr. Butler also spotted the first “family” of three planets. In June 2002 they announced another discovery: a Jupiter-like planet orbiting star 55Cancri.
At first, the two researchers found only planets that orbit close to stars. Recently, the scientists found planets farther out. The planet orbiting 55Cancri is a major breakthrough: it is the first sighting of a large gas planet about same distance from the star as Jupiter is from the Sun.
Why is this important? Scientists think that life on Earth may exist because of two special features in our solar system. The first is Jupiter. “Because it’s so big, Jupiter pulls comets and asteroids(小行星), or they all come and hit the Earth.” Dr. Marcy explains. “Without Jupiter, life on Earth would likely have been destroyed.”
A second feature is that Earth is a rocky planet where liquid water, which is necessary for life, can exist. Unlike gas planets, rocky planets like Earth have surfaces where water can gather in pools and seas, which may support life. A huge space exists between the Jupiter-like planet and two other planets that lie close to 55Cancri. Is there an Earth-like planet in the space, too small for us to notice? If so, says Dr. Marcy, “We would have two striking similarities to our solar system: a Jupiter-like planet and an Earth-like planet. And there may be life!”What can we learn about Dr. Marcy from the passage?
| A．He is fond of watching Jupiter. |
| B．He is from a scientist family. |
| C．He dislikes working with Paul Butler. |
| D．He is interested in finding life in outer space. |
Which of the following is true of the recent discovery?
| A．The planet is not as protective as Jupiter. |
| B．The planet is close to star 55Cancri. |
| C．The planet proves to be a gas planet. |
| D．The planet is as large as Jupiter. |
Dr. Marcy and Dr. Butler began to find new planets in ____.
| A．1995 | B．1985 | C．2002 | D．1981 |
Dr. Marcy thinks that life may exist in the 55Cancri system because ____.
| A．he has found the system similar to the solar system. |
| B．he has discovered an Earth-like planet there. |
| C．he has discovered a rocky planet there. |
| D．he has found signs of life in the system |
My students often tell me that they don’t have “enough time” to do all their schoolwork. My reply is often a brief “You have as much time as the president.” I usually carry on a bit about there being twenty-four hours in the day for everyone, and suggest that “not enough time” is not an acceptable explanation of not getting something done.
Once in graduate school, I tried to prove to one of my professors by saying that I was working hard. His answer to me was, “That’s irrelevant (无关的). What’s important is the quality of your work.” Since then I have had time to think carefully about the “hard worker” dodge (诀窍), and I have come to some conclusions — all relevant to the problem of how much time we have.
If you analyze the matter, you can identify two parts of the problem: There is, of course, the matter of “time”, which we can think of as fixed. Then there is the problem of “work” during that time. But, as my professor suggested, it’s not how hard one works but the quality of the product that’s important.
That led me to a new idea: the quality of the work. That concept is perhaps best explained by a sign I once saw on the wall in someone’s office: “Don’t work harder. Work smarter.” There is a lot of sense in that idea.
If you can’t get more time, and few of us can, the only solution is to improve the quality of the work. That means thinking of ways to get more out of the same time than we might otherwise get. That should lead us to an analysis of our work habits. Since “work” for students usually means “homework”, the expression “work habits” should be read as “study habits”.
Then, as a smart student, you will seek to improve those skills that you use in study, chiefly reading and writing. If you learn to read better and write better, there are big benefits that pay off in all your studies.From the passage, we know that the author is probably ______ .
| A．a poet | B．an educator |
| C．a novelist | D．an engineer |
We can infer from the 2nd paragraph that we students still _____ .
| A．have enough time |
| B．can meet the president |
| C．get everything done well |
| D．should accept the explanation |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．The author’s students make good use of their time to do all their homework. |
| B．The author tried to tell the professor that he/she (author) had done a good job. |
| C．You can’t improve the quality of the work if you can’t get more time. |
| D．You’ll try to improve your skills in reading and writing if you’re a clever student. |
What’s the passage mainly about?
| A．Students don’t have enough time. |
| B．Don’t work harder; work smarter. |
| C．No one can get more time. |
| D．Read better and write better. |