No other band has had the same influence in the world as the Beatles. Over eight years and more than a dozen albums, four young men from Liverpool, Eng-land—John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Star changed popular music and culture forever.
People in the UK became crazy about the Beatles in late 1963. The phenomenon was called “Beatlemania” by the British press. The term referred to the young women seen screaming at the band's concerts. Beatlemania came to North America in early 1964，and the band's popularity spread across much of the world.
Within five years, the Beatles' music changed greatly from their simple early hits like “ She Loves You” and “I Want to Hold Your Hand”.
The band wrote their own songs, explored new ways to create music and strived for high quality in every album they released.
However, with their popularity came criticism. The press criticized the band as symbols of the 1960s youth culture, which celebrated freedom from traditional family roles.
In 1970，Paul McCartney announced he was leaving the Beatles, and the group quickly came to an end.
In the 1970s, fans hoped for a reunion, but the group decided to follow their own careers with different degrees of success.
Fans lost hope with a tragedy. John Lennon was murdered in New York in 1980. The“word” Beatlemania" refers to __________ in thepassage.
| A．being most crazy |
| B．the band's popularity |
| C．young women's screaming |
| D．bothA and C |
Which of the following is not true according to the passage?
| A．Beatlemania first appeared in the UK. |
| B．The band came to an end when John Lennon was murdered. |
| C．Th0e four members of the Beatles were from Liverpool, England. |
| D．The youth culture in the 1960s celebrated freedom from traditional family roles. |
The press that criticized the Beatles may probably __________.
| A．be unable to understand their music |
| B．hate freedom too much |
| C．envy the popularity of the band |
| D．hope for freedom |
From the passage, we can infer that the writer __________.
| A．introduces the band to readers, both from their achievements and from their ending |
| B．feels it a pity that the reunion failed |
| C．thinks that no other band as the Beatles has ever created popular music |
| D．doesn't like the Beatles, early hits “She Loves You" and “I Want to Hold Your Hand" |
Carmen Arace Middle School is situated in the town of Bloomfield，but four years ago it faced many of the same challenges as inner—city schools nearby：low scores in standardized tests and dropping enrollment（入学率）of students．Then the hard-driving headmaster, Delore Bolton，persuaded her school to shake up the place by buying a laptop computer for each student and teacher to use in school and at home．For good measure，the board provided wireless Internet access at school．Total cost :$5 million．
Now an hour before classes start，every seat in the library is taken by students eager to get online．The teacher talks about rocks as students view them at a colorful website，after school students on buses pull laptops from backpacks to get started on homework．Since the computers arrived，scores in state tests are up 35％and the enrollment increases by 20％．
Indeed，school systems in rural areas are eager to follow Carmen Arace Middle School’s example．Angus King，the state governor, has proposed using$50 million from an unexpected budget to supply computers for students．
However, the school is seeking federal grant money to expand the laptop program．In the meantime，most of the problems have been worked out．Some students use computers to visit unauthorized websites，but teachers have the ability to track where students have been and restrict them．“That is the worst when they disable you” says a boy．The habit is rubbing off on parents．“I taught my mom to use e-mail．”says the honorable girl．“And now she is taking computer classes．I’m so proud of her!’’By introducing the laptop program, Delore Bolton has.
| A．shaken the belief of both teachers and students |
| B．witnessed a remarkable improvement in students’ test scores and enrollment |
| C．spent more time visiting unauthorized websites with the laptop program |
| D．changed class-room teaching in public schools |
Students are limited when they get online because．
| A．they view lessons at a colorful website |
| B．they will waste an awful lot of money |
| C．they visit unauthorized website sometimes |
| D．they are disabled students |
From the passage we learn that.
| A．the laptop program also has a positive influence on parents |
| B．the laptop program in urban schools is forbidden by parents |
| C．students only visit the school website in Carmen Arace Middle School |
| D．students generally like the idea of having their online activities tracked |
What is the passage mainly about?
| A．Middle schools are faced with challenges today. |
| B．A school with high enrollment can do well． |
| C．Computers are of importance in modern education． |
| D．Laptops can help improve students’ school performance． |
In the future your automobile will run on water instead of gas! You will be able to buy a supercomputer that fits in your pocket! You might even drive a flying car!
Not all past predictions have been proven wrong. A few of them have been surprisingly accurate. Some great thinkers predicted the arrival of the credit card, the fax machine and even the internet years before they happened. But for each prediction that has come true, some others have missed by a mile. Many of these predictions didn’t consider how people would want to use the technology, or if people really needed it in their lives or not. Let’s look at some predictions from the not-too-distant past.
Robot Helpers
Where’s the robot in my kitchen? Nowhere, of course. And he’s probably not coming anytime soon. Robots do exist today, but mostly in factories and other working environments.Back in the 1950s, however, people said that by now personal robots would be in most people’s homes.So why hasn’t it happened? Maybe because robots are still too expensive and clumsy. And probably the idea of robots cooking our dinners and washing our clothes is just too strange. At home we seem to be doing fine without them.
Telephones of tomorrow
In 1964 an American company introduced the video telephone. They said by the year 2000 most people would have a video phone in their homes. But of course the idea hasn’t caught on yet. Why? The technology worked fine, but it overlooked something obvious: people desire for privacy. Would you want to have a video phone conversation with someone after you just stepped out of the shower? Probably not--it could be uncomfortable! Just because technology doesn’t always mean people will want to use it.
And finally, how about that crazy prediction of the flying car? It’s not so crazy any more! But a flying car remains one of the most wonderful technology ideas to catch our imagination. Keep watching the news or perhaps the sky outside your window to see what the future will bring..The passage mainly deals with______.
| A．predictions that can catch our imagination |
| B．predictions that haven’t come true |
| C．new technology can benefit our life |
| D．predictions that have come true |
According to the passage, which of the following statements is NOT true?
| A．Technology doesn’t always mean people will want to use it. |
| B．Predictions don’t need to consider people’s practical use of the technology. |
| C．Not all the high-tech things people thought we’d be using by now are widely used |
| D．High-tech things are not always convenient to people’s life. |
Robot Helpers haven’t been used in most people’s homes because______.
| A．using the kind of robots at home is simply a waste of time and money |
| B．the kind of robots hasn’t been developed yet |
| C．people find it difficult to control the kind of robots |
| D．the kind of robots won’t bring people practical use |
How does the writer find the flying car?
| A．It is too difficult to imagine. |
| B．It is too crazy an idea to realize. |
| C．It is likely to appear in the future. |
| D．It has been the focus of the news. |
Heroes of Our Time
A good heart
Dikembe Mutombo grew up in Africa among great poverty and disease. He came to Georgetown University on a scholarship（奖学金） to study medicine — but Coach (教练) John Thompson got a look at Dikembe and had a different idea. Dikembe became a star in the NBA, and a citizen of the United States. But he never forgot the land of his birth, or the duty to share his fortune with others. He built a new hospital in his old hometown in the Congo. A friend has said of this good-hearted man: “Mutombo believes that God has given him this chance to do great things.”
Success and kindness
After her daughter was born, Julie Aigner-Clark searched for ways to share her love of music and art with her child. So she borrowed some equipment, and began filming children’s videos (录像) in her own house. The Baby Einstein Company was born, and in just five years her business grew to more than $20 million in sales. And she is using her success to help others — producing child safety videos with John Walsh of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Julie says of her new program: “I believe it’s the most important thing that I have ever done. I believe that children have the right to live in a world that is safe.”
Bravery and courage
A few weeks ago, Wesley Autrey was waiting at a Harlem subway station with his two little girls when he saw a man fall into the path of a train. With seconds to act, Wesley jumped onto the tracks, pulled the man into the space between the rails (铁轨), and held him as the train passed right above their heads. He insists he’s not a hero. He says: “We have got to show each other some love.”What was Mutombo praised for?
A. Being a star in the NBA.
B. Being a student of medicine.
C. His work in the church.
D. His willingness to help the needy.What did the Baby Einstein Company do at its beginning?
| A．Produce safety equipment for children. |
| B．Make videos to help protect children. |
| C．Sell children’s music and artwork. |
| D．Look for missing and exploited children. |
Why was Wesley Autrey praised as a hero?
| A．He helped a man get across the rails. |
| B．He stopped a man from destroying the rails. |
| C．He protected two little girls from getting hurt. |
| D．He saved a person without considering his own safety. |
Dress codes cause us arguments
The first day of school is always a chaotic(混乱的) time. For many students in the US, this year was even more so. It was all due to one extra school policy. They are now required to wear clothes that meet a new standardized dress code(规范).
According to the handbooks of all high schools in Allentown, Pennsylvania, students must wear short or long sleeve polo shirts and khaki(卡其色的) or black pants. Skinny jeans, leggings(紧身裤), and open toe shoes are not allowed.
Allentown schools are not alone. Overall, about 57 percent of American public schools now have a “strict dress code”, up from more than 47 percent a decade earlier, said USA Today.
Some students don’t mind wearing a similar attire(服装) every day. “It takes away the daily fashion show and helps level the playing fields a little bit with the haves and have-nots,” longtime school safety consultant Ken Trump told USA Today.
But others aren’t happy, claiming that uniforms rob students of individuality(个性).
While school uniforms have been a popular topic to discuss recently in the US, however, in the UK there are much fewer questions about them-they are a tradition.
School uniforms in England were first introduced during the reign(统治) of King Henry VIII in the 16th century. They became popular following the Elementary Education Act of 1870. The UK Department of Education’s website states: “The Department strongly encourages schools to have a uniform as it can…contribute to the beliefs of a school and set the correct tone.
The uniform is now a strong part of school culture in the UK. Schools sometimes even have “Mufti”(便服) days on which students can wear their own clothes if they make a small donation(捐赠) to charity.
However, the tradition does not mean that school uniforms are popular there.
Many “children hate them”, according to Aisha on the BBC Newsround website. Ask UK students why they wear a school uniform and their answer will mostly likely be, “because we have to”.We can infer from the first three paragraphs that ________.
| A．there is a strict standardized dress code in most American public schools |
| B．the high schools in Allentown, Pennsylvania have the strictest dress code in the US |
| C．there has been a growing trend of strict dress codes in US high schools in the last decade |
| D．the new standardized dress code in Allentown’s high schools was put forward by teachers and parents |
We can learn from the article that students’ attitudes towards dress codes are _____
| A．negative | B．divided |
| C．supportive | D．doubtful |
What does paragraph 7 mainly talk about?
| A．The popularity of school uniforms in the UK. |
| B．The history and tradition of school uniforms in the UK. |
| C．The benefits of promoting school uniforms in the UK. |
| D．The UK Department of Education’s requirements on school uniforms. |
According to the article, on Mufti days, students in some UK schools ______.
| A．are required to make a donation to charity |
| B．can vote to choose their own school uniforms |
| C．can wear their own clothes if they contribute to charity |
| D．are allowed to wear whatever they like for the morning |
“Indeed,” George Washington wrote in his diary in 1785, “some kind of fly, or bug, had begun to eat the leaves before I left home.” But the father of America was not the father of bug. When Washington wrote that, Englishmen had been referring to insects as bugs for more than a century, and Americans had already created lightning-bug(萤火虫). But the English were soon to stop using the bugs in their language, leaving it to the Americans to call a bug a bug in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
The American bug could also be a person, referring to someone who was crazy about a particular activity. Although fan became the usual term, sports fans used to be called racing bugs, baseball bugs, and the like.
Or the bug could be a small machine or object, for example, a bug-shaped car. The bug could also be a burglar alarm, from which comes the expression to bug, that is, “to install (安装) an alarm”. Now it means a small piece of equipment that people use for listening secretly to others’ conversation. Since the 1840s, to bug has long meant “to cheat”, and since the 1940s it has been annoying.
We also know the bug as a flaw in a computer program or other design. That meaning dates back to the time of Thomas Edison. In 1878 he explained bugs as “little problems and difficulties” that required months of study and labor to overcome in developing a successful product. In 1889 it was recorded that Edison “had been up the two previous nights discovering ‘a bug’ in his invented record player.”We learn from Paragraph 1 that ___________.
| A．Americans had difficulty in learning to use the word bug |
| B．George Washington was the first person to call an insect a bug |
| C．the word bug was still popularly used in English in the nineteenth century |
| D．both Englishmen and Americans used the word bug in the eighteenth century |
What does the word “flaw” in the last paragraph probably mean?
| A．Explanation. | B．Finding. |
| C．Origin. | D．Fault. |
The passage is mainly concerned with__________.
| A．the misunderstanding of the word bug |
| B．the development of the word bug |
| C．the public views of the word bug |
| D．the special characteristics of the word bug |