Hearing live music is one of the most pleasurable experiences available to human beings. The music sounds great, but it sounds greater when you get to watch the musicians as they create it. No matter what kind of music you love, try listening to it live.
This guide focuses on classical music, a tradition that originated before recordings, radio, and the Internet, back when all music was live music. In those days live human beings performed for other live human beings, with everybody together in the same room. When heard in this way, classical music can have a special excitement. Hearing classical music in a concert can leave you feeling refreshed and energized. It can be fun. It can be romantic. It can be spiritual.
Classical music concerts can seem like snobby (高傲的) affairs full of foreign terms and unusual behavior. It can be hard to understand what’s going on. It can be hard to know how to act. But don’t worry. Concerts are no stranger than any other amusement, and the rules of behavior are much simpler and easier to understand than the stock market, football, or system software upgrades.
If you haven’t been to a live concert before, or if you’ve been confused by concerts, this guide will explain, so you can relax and enjoy the music.From Paragraph 1, we can see that the author encourages us _______.
| A．to watch the musicians to compose music |
| B．to experience the spirit of classical music |
| C．to attend live concerts and enjoy live music |
| D．to obtain pleasure from different kinds of music |
Which of the following can replace the underlined word “originated” in Paragraph 2?
| A．listened | B．started |
| C．performed | D．disappeared |
The author considers that live classical music _______.
| A．is full of foreign terms |
| B．is too difficult to understand |
| C．is stranger than other amusements |
| D．is exciting to both players and listeners |
The passage is _____ which focuses on live classical music.
| A．a review | B．a conclusion |
| C．a summary | D．an introduction |
A high school teacher once told us, "If you make one close friend in school, you will be most fortunate. A true friend is someone who stays with you for life." Experience teaches that he was right. Good friendships are just not easily formed. Why?
One reason may relate to the mobility in our society. Mr. Darrell Sifford, a news columnist, has been studying friendship for many years. He reports the thoughts of one woman on this aspect of friendships:
"She was nine, and her family had just moved to New Jersey, and she didn't know anybody. Her mother said to her," "Amelia, I know you're feeling bad because you don't have any friends. But you can fix that. Just walk across the street—I know there's a girl about your age over there—and knock on the door and ask her to be your friend."
"She added that the direct approach always worked when she was a child. But as she left childhood, she found that the simple direct approach was more and more difficult for her to follow. As an adult, Amelia longed to have friends but her hands were tied. The problem, according to her, is that society teaches us in a number of ways that direct action is not acceptable behavior. We need to be less direct to cushion ourselves against possible rejection and the fright of exposing our own helplessness."
What are some of the obstacles to friendships? According to Mr. Sifford, the greatest is the temptation (诱惑) to expect too much too soon. Deep relationships take time. Another big difficulty is the selfish tendency to think one "possesses" the other, with an almost exclusive right to his time and attention. Similarly, friendships require two-sided actions. In brief, you must give as much as you take. Finally, unless you spend reasonable time together, talking on the phone, writing letters, doing things together, friendships will not last.
Why is it so difficult to form friendships? Perhaps the answer has something to do with the impatient temperament (急躁) of some American people. It is possible, as Mr. Sifford states, that we simply do not stay in one place long enough for a true friendship to develop. However, there can be no disagreement on the need for each of us to think carefully about the kind of friendships we want. As in all interpersonal relationships, success depends on clarity of purpose, openness to others, and a willingness to experiment. What does the underlined word "obstacles" mean?
| A．Something that makes it difficult for you to do or achieve something. |
| B．Something that makes it easy for you to do or achieve something. |
| C．Something that makes it difficult for you to understand something. |
| D．Something that makes it easy for you to do or understand something. |
It can be implied that adults don't make friends in a direct approach because __________.
| A．they are afraid to be rejected by others |
| B．they are afraid to expose their rudeness |
| C．they think it is impolite behavior |
| D．their hands are tied tightly together |
In which of the following cases is it possible for you to develop true friendships?
| A．You stay in one place for long enough with your friend. |
| B．You spend all your time together with your friend. |
| C．You completely possess your friend's time and attention. |
| D．You give your friend as much as you take from him. |
The author quoted many times what Mr. Darrell Sifford said in order to __________.
| A．show respect for him |
| B．share the same opinion with him |
| C．strengthen the authority of his opinion |
| D．make some comments about friendships |
FU Yuan has been left at home with his grandparents since he was one month old. His mom and dad left to work in Fujian Province. For the past eight years, Fu has only seen his parents three times although they send home 500 yuan every two or three months.
Fu Xiaoyu, 16, has had to live alone since her grandmother passed away three years ago. Her parents do not want to renounce their jobs at a clothing factory in Guangdong Province. Nor can they afford the cost of sending her to a school in the city where they work.
These are just two of the 29 kids that 16-year-olds Huang Ruo-qing and Zhang Linna at Beijing No 4 High School talked with this summer in Guixiang Village in Sichuan Province.
What Huang and Zhang learned from their three-day visit shocked them. They wrote down all the kids' stories in a moving 40-page essay filled with statistical charts.
In the poor village with a population of 2, 118 people, 582 adults have left to find work, leaving 156 children without parents. Among these so-called left-behind kids, 88 percent of them live with their grandparents, five percent live with uncles or aunts and seven percent have to live on their own.
To Huang and Zhang's surprise, 80 percent of the children said they love going to school. Even though, some children have to walk along the hilly roads for two hours to get there.
However, for this village's students studying is not their first task. Housework, such as helping feed pigs or buffalos (水牛) and taking care of old grandparents, younger sisters or brothers, takes up a considerable amount of their time.
Despite having to work hard at home, over 65 percent of the young interviewees would prefer their parents' stay away working rather than returning to live with them.
"These kids are understanding and considerate and know how important money is for their families. Their little wishes like having dinner with their parents inspire us never to take what we have had for granted," Zhang said. Which of the following statements is NOT TRUE according to the passage?
| A．Fu Xiaoyu's parents can't earn enough money to send her to school. |
| B．Huang Ruoqing and Zhang Linna talked with 29 children this summer during their research. |
| C．Some left-behind kids live with uncles, aunts, or grandparents and others live by themselves. |
| D．More than half of the left-behind kids prefer their parents' staying away working. |
It is implied but not directly stated that __________.
| A．Fu Yuan's parents send him 500yuan every 2 or 3 months |
| B．Huang Ruoqing and Zhang Linna wrote an essay according to the left-behind kids' stories |
| C．Many left-behind kids love studying and going to school in spite of many hardships |
| D．The time that the left-behind kids spend on housework is more than that on study |
What's the exact meaning of the underlined word "renounce" in the second paragraph?
| A．keep | B．continue | C．give up | D．get |
Which of the following is the best title of the passage?
| A．Kids Are Left Alone |
| B．The True Story of Home Alone |
| C．Kids Miss Parents |
| D．Parents and Kids |
I moved into a new house in July. Since then I have met a few of my neighbors who are very nice people. For Christmas, I thought I would do something nice for each of the neighbors I knew. There were nine neighbors whom I knew by name or spoke with often when I was out in my yard. I knew which houses they lived in.
I decided to add one more to my list. This lady I decided to add lived down the street from me. I met her every morning walking to work as I drove down the street. She always smiled to me. But I had no idea who she was and which house she lived in.
I planned to make small fruit baskets and leave them on my neighbor's front porches (门廊) on Christmas Eve. I signed the cards: "Happy Holidays from 5104 Northumberland Road."
I saved the last for the friendly lady. I finally decided on a house where I met her each morning and guessed that it was hers.
My neighbors really appreciated the baskets and would tell me as they saw me in the yard or they would call, and a couple even came by to thank me.
This morning I found a small note in the mailbox. It was addressed simply: Resident, 5104 Northumberland Road.
The Thank You card really caught me by surprise. I opened it and read the message, "Thank you for the lovely fruit basket you left on our porch. It was very thoughtful. Richard Kelly passed away last week. He talked a lot about how nice it was that someone remembered him in his time of illness. He really appreciated it."
I had no idea who Richard Kelly was and that he had been seriously ill. I had left that nice lady's basket on his porch by mistake. I wanted to say sorry, but that would be wrong. I believe that Mr. Kelly Was meant to have that basket because he was dying. I hate that the nice lady did not get to receive a fruit basket on Christmas, but I believe if she knew what had happened, she would be happy. I feel pleased to have helped Richard Kelly's last days be more cheerful. How many Christmas gifts did the author intend to send?
| A．Nine. | B．Eight. | C．Ten. | D．Eleven. |
Where did the friendly lady live?
| A．She lived at the end of Northumberland Road. |
| B．Her address was 5104 Northumberland Road. |
| C．She was thought to share a house with Mr. Kelly. |
| D．The author was not sure about her address at all. |
How did the author's neighbors respond to his gifts?
| A．They liked the gifts very much and were thankful. |
| B．They were thankful that they wanted to be friends. |
| C．They all made phone calls to say "Thank You". |
| D．They all visited him by person to show gratitude. |
An Earthship is a home that is built of materials such as old tires and aluminum cans. It is the idea of a man named Michael Reynolds. Many Earthships are more or less self-sufficient because they provide their own heat, air and water. They often have gardens watered and fed by waste water. They are comfortable and ecologically friendly.
The main material used in building Earthships is tires. Tires are plentiful and can't be recycled like paper, plastic, and metal. While building supplies for most houses can be very expensive, old used tires are free.
First, the tires are packed tightly with dirt. Each full tire weighs as much as 400 pounds. The tires are then stacked like bricks. The walls are extremely strong. They also help keep an even temperature in the house (between 60 and 70 degrees) without heating and cooling systems.
The walls inside the Earthship are made of aluminum cans that are held together by cement. Then they are coated with adobe or stucco.
The roofs of Earthships are sloped so that rain and snow run into large tanks. These tanks hold all the water for the house, and pumps push the water through the pipes. Sometimes, water flows in certain areas of the house as waterfalls! Water that has been used is pumped out into the gardens where owners grow much of their own food.
In most of these houses, the southern side has huge windows that take in winter sunlight as a source of heat. Summer sun does not come in through the south windows, so it doesn't get too hot in the summer. The house also has solar panels that gather energy for lights and hot water and cooking. The Earthships have all the comforts of a regular house without the high cost of electric bills!
In a time when we are running out of energy resources, pollution is bad, and waste is piling up, Earthships are the best places to live in. For people who truly care about the environment, Earthships provide a great alternative to traditional houses. You won't be giving up any comforts, and the styles are attractive. We all hope that more and more people will build Earthships and take a huge step toward helping the environment and saving our planet. What is the main idea of this passage?
| A．Earthships are a good way to live and protect the environment. |
| B．Tanks hold water collected from rain and snow. |
| C．It's important to grow your own food in a vegetable garden. |
| D．People who live in Earthships usually live in the desert. |
Which of the following is NOT explained in the passage?
| A．How an Earthship is built. |
| B．What an Earthship is mainly made of. |
| C．Why the Earthship is so called. |
| D．How an Earthship is heated in winter. |
Which evidence best supports the idea that Earthships are environmentally friendly?
| A．They were invented by Michael Reynolds. |
| B．Water that has been used is pumped out into the garden. |
| C．They are comfortable and ecologically friendly. |
| D．The tires are packed tightly with dirt. |
Welcome to my message board!
Subject: Slimming down classics?
Mr. Handsome 2007-5-12
6: 34 AM Orion Books, which decides there is a market in creating cut-down classics (经典著作), is slimming down some novels by such great writers as L. Tolstoy, M. Mitchell and C. Bronte. Now, each of them has been whittled down to about 400 pages by cutting 30 to 40 pages percent of original, with words, sentences, paragraphs and, in a few cases, chapters removed. The first six shortened editions, all priced at £ 6.99 and advertised as great reads "in half the time", will go on sale next month, with plans for 50 to 100 more to follow. The publishing house believes that modern readers will welcome the shorter versions.
Mr. Edwards
2007-5-12
9:40 AM Well, I'm publisher of Orion Group. Thanks for your attention, Mr. Handsome.
I must say, the idea developed from a game of "shame" in my office. Each of us was required to confess (承认) to the most embarrassing blanks in his or her reading. I admitted that I had never read Anna Karenina and tried but failed to get through Gone with the Wind several times. One of my colleagues acknowledged skipping (跳读) Jane Eyre. We realized that life is too short to read all the books you want to and we never were going to read these ones.
As a leading publishing house, we are trying to make classics convenient for readers but it's not as if we're withdrawing the original versions. They are still there if you want to read them.
Ms. Weir 2007-5-12
11:35 AM I'm director of the online book club www.lovereading.co.uk
Mr. Edwards, I think your shortened edition is a breath of fresh air. I'm guilty of never having read Anna Karenina, because it's just so long. I'd much rather read two 300-page books than one 600-page book. I am looking forward to more shortened classics!
Mr. Crockatt
2007-5-12
4:38 PM I'm from the London independent bookshop Corckatt & Powell.
In my opinion, the practice is completely ridiculous. How can you edit the classics? I'm afraid reading some of these books is hard work, and that is why you have to develop as a reader. If people don't have time to read Anna Karenina, then fine. But don't read a shortened version and kid yourself it's the real thing. According to the message board, Orion Books __________.
| A．opposes the reading of original classics |
| B．is embarrassed for cutting down classics |
| C．thinks cut-down classics have a bright future |
| D．is cautious in its decision to cut down classics |
In Mr. Edwards' opinion, Orion Group is shortening classics to __________.
| A．make them easier to read |
| B．meet a large demand in the market |
| C．increase the sales of literary books |
| D．compete with their original versions |
By describing the shortened classics as "a breath of fresh air", Ms. Weir __________.
| A．speaks highly of the cut-down classics |
| B．shows her love for original classics |
| C．feels guilty of not reading the classics |
| D．disapprove of shortening the classics |
Mr. Crockatt seems to imply that __________.
| A．reading the classic works is a confusing attempt |
| B．shortening the classics does harm to the original |
| C．publishing the cut-down classics is a difficult job |
| D．editing the classic works satisfies children's needs |
How many classics are involved in the massage board?
| A．Two | B．Three | C．Four | D．Five |