NEW YORK— The band Atomic Tom has scored an Internet hit with its self-created video to the song Take Me Out. In the video, the band members ride a New York City subway while performing entirely on iPhones, with applications linked with broadcasters(播送设备) for each instrument.
Singer Luck White says the production was a top-secret operation. “We didn’t tell anyone about this. It was completely top-secret from our family, from our friends, from management, from everybody. So the first time that people saw this video was last Friday when we put it on YouTube,”explained White.
It has been watched by more than 2 million on YouTube since debuting(首次露面) last week. “All I’ve wanted to do for the past few days is just stare at the YouTube page and keep refreshing(刷新) it to see how far it will go,” said Espiritu, the lead guitarist of the band.
“The Internet changed everything,” Espiritu said. “ It's kind of an exciting time because it forces everyone to be creative and find new ways to get your name out there.”
The idea for the video came from Espiritu’s 24-year-old brother Benjamin, who’s hoping to go to film school. “I've seen a lot of these music applications, and they’re fascinating to me,” Benjamin Espiritu said, “I thought: What would happen if iPhones took over the world? If there could actually be a band that played straight through with iPhones, what would that look like?” So they shot(拍摄) the video —with iPhones also serving as video cameras. The band also tried Union Square but were stopped during playing because they didn't have a permit.
“The YouTube views are translating into album(唱片) sales.” Espiritu said, “We’ve seen the jump.” Their album has been in the top 10 albums on iTunes.
Will their fans start cheering for iPhone-only performances? “We’ve gotten the most exposure(曝光)and the most fans that we’ve ever gotten through this, so I wouldn’t be surprised if fans are going to want to see that.” Espritu said.Who first saw the band’s video to the song Take Me Out?
A.Their friends | B.Their family |
C.The people online | D.Their management. |
What did Espiritu mean by saying “The YouTube views are translating into album sales”?
A.The YouTube views make the album sales increase. |
B.The band has translated the video on the YouTube. |
C.People need to pay for the video if they view it on the YouTube. |
D.People who have viewed the video on the YouTube should buy an album. |
What would be the best title for this text?
A.Atomic Tom’s iPhone Subway Performance |
B.Take Me Out—Atomic Tom’s New Song |
C.A Band’s Performance through YouTube |
D.A Band’s iPhone Song Take Me Out Hits Big |
A lot of grown-ups worry that spending too much time playing video games isn’t good for a kid’s health. Now some doctors have noticed that kids who bring their hand-held game players to the hospital seem less worried about being there. These patients also seem to experience less pain when they are concentrating on a superhero adventure or a car race. At the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center in Maryland, young patients are finding hospital visits easier to deal with, thanks to a test program called the Hospital-based On-line Pediatric Environment (HOPE). Patients in HOPE have a life-threatening condition where their kidneys(肾脏)no longer filter(过滤)wastes from their blood. To get their blood cleaned, these kids must be hooked up to dialysis(透析) machines at the hospital three times a week, for at least three hours each time. HOPE allows kids to play online sports, racing, and adventure games with each other. Eventually they will be able to connect with kids in other ho
spitals who are suffering from the same problem. "We want to use the power of the Internet to bring together kids who feel that they are separated by their illness, and let them know that they are not alone," said Arun Mathews, the doctor who heads the program. He loves video games himself and got the idea to connect kids all over the country. Many researchers elsewhere are testing video game programs that might help young patients. For example, nine-year-old Ben Duskin of San Francisco, who was struggling with cancer helped to design a video game where players get rid of cancer cells. That’s all great news, because doctors already know that reducing pain and worry helps patients heal faster.
64. What’s the main idea of the passage?
A. Playing video games too much is bad for kids’health.
B. Playing video games seems to be beneficial to young patients’ recovery.
C. Doctors find that reducing pain helps patients recover faster.
D. Doctors invent a game to help kids in hospitals.
65. How long will it take a patient to get his blood cleaned in a week?
A. About 3 hours. B. About 6 hours. C. About 9 hours. D. About 21 hours.
66. According to Arun Mathews, the main purpose of HOPE is to _________.
A. encourage kids to play online games
B. teach kids how to design video games
C. help kids who are suffering from illness connect with each other
D. make parents worry less about their kids playing video games too much
67. Which of the following plays the most important role in the HOPE project?
A. Music. B. The Internet. C. Novels. D. Films.
68. What can we learn from the passage?
A. Nine-year-old Ben Duskin, who has a cancer, is very brave and clever.
B. Many parents want their children to play video games because it’s good for their health.
C. Doctors are not sure whether reducing pain and worry can help the patients recover faster.
D. HOPE allows kids to play online games only with the kids in the same hospital.
Ⅳ.阅读理解(第一节共20小题,每小题1.5分,满分30分;第二节共5小题,每小题1分,满分5分。两节满分共35分)
Just because you are in a wheelchair doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the competitiveness(竞争) —the all-around fun —that playing sports offers you. More and more wheelchair users are playing sports every day —some even on a professional level. The following are just a few examples of the different choices you have.
Wheelchair basketball is a very common wheelchair sport. It was started over forty years ago as part of a medical recovery(康复) program. Over the years it has grown rapidly. Today wheelchair basketball is a professional sport that has more than 180 teams across the United States. In order to play wheelchair basketball, it is essential to have a lightweight wheelchair. Several different kinds of sports wheelchairs are on the market today just for sports fans.
Another wheelchair sport, quad rugby(橄榄球), was specifically designed for people who can’t move their arms or legs and are unable to play wheelchair basketball. It is a mixture of wheelchair basketball and ice hockey. To play the game you must have two teams of four players each.
Power soccer is another fun wheelchair sport that can be very fun and exciting. Players in power soccer must have an electric wheelchair. Two teams have two 30-minute halves to push the soccer ball over the other team’s goal line. The first team to reach the other team’s goal line most frequently wins.
Based on the sport you choose to take part in, there are several things you can buy for your wheelchair, including belts, gloves, bags for carrying things, drink holders and special back supports.
61. In which part of the newspaper will you read this passage?
A. Technology. B. Society. C. Culture. D. Health.
62 In the beginning, wheelchair basketball was started for the purpose of ______.
A. holding professional games around the US
B. spreading the sport all over the US
C. helping patients return to a normal life
D. making people want to play sports
63. What is the main idea of the passage?
A. To introduce some possible sports to wheelchair users.
B. To introduce some products to the wheelchair users.
C. To encourage wheelchair users to compete with each other.
D. To talk about the differences between these sports.
I arrived at my mother’s home for our Monday family dinner. The smells of food flew over from the kitchen. Mother was pulling out quilt(被子)after quilt from the boxes, proudly showing me their beauties. She was preparing for a quilt show at the Elmhurst Church. When we began to fold and put them back into the boxes, I noticed something at the bottom of one box. I pulled it out. “What is this?” I asked.
“Oh?” Mom said, “That’s Mama’s quilt.”
I spread the quilt. It looked as if a group of school children had pieced it together; irregular designs, childish pictures, a crooked line on the right.
“Grandmother made this?” I said, surprised. My grandmother was a master at making quilts. This certainly didn’t look like any of the quilts she had made.
“Yes, right before she died. I brought it home with me last year and made some changes,” she said. “I’m still working on it. See, this is what I’ve done so far.”
I looked at it more closely. She had made straight a crooked line. At the center of the quilt, she had stitched(缝) a piece of cloth with these words: “My mother made many quilts. She didn’t get all lines straight. But I think this is beautiful. I want to see it finished. Her last quilt.”
“Ooh, this is so nice, Mom,” I said.
It occurred to me that by completing my grandmother’s quilt, my mother was honoring her own mother. I realized, too, that I held in my hands a family treasure. It started with the loving hands of one woman, and continued with the loving hands of another.
68. Why did the author go to mother’s home?
A. To see her mother’s quilts. B. To help prepare for a show.
C. To get together for the family dinner. D. To discuss her grandmother’s life.
69. The author was surprised because __________________.
A. the quilt looked very strange. B. her grandmother liked the quilt.
C. the quilt was the best she had seen. D. her mother had made some changes
70. The underlined word “crooked” in the passage most probably means __________ .
A. unfinished B. broken C. bent D. unusual
71. Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?
A. Quilt Show B. Mother’s Home C. A Monday Dinner D. Grandmother’s Quilt
Opening week specials at Munchies Food Hall.
At the corner of Green and Brown Streets in the city
Monday 7th of January until Sunday.13rd of January 2008
|
Feast until you’re full! Come down to Monetizes time week to enjoy the special dishes on offer it all of our food outlets. Order from the following:
●Succulent chicken rice ●spicy stays beefIn 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!
For each prediction that has come true today, several 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 manufacturing 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? Probably because robots are still too expensive and clumsy. And maybe the idea of robots cooking our dinners and washing our clothes is just too weird. 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 over—looked something obvious: people’s desire for privacy. Would you want to have a video phone conversation with someone after you just step out of the shower? Probably not---it could be embarrassing! Just because a technology available 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 anymore! But a flying car remains one of the most fascinating technology ideas to capture our imagination. Keep watching the news, or perhaps the sky outside your window, to see what the future will bring.
61. The whole passage is mainly about ________________.
A. predictions that have come true. B. predictions that haven’t come true.
C. why predictions don’t come true easily. D. what technology will bring about.
62. The author of this passage won’t believe that _________________.
A. predictions needn’t consider people’s practical use of technology.
B. the future isn’t always easy to guess. C. not all past predictions have come true.
D. many of the high—tech things our parents thought we’d be using by now
simply never appeared.
63. The underlined word “weird” probably means __________.
A. wonderful B. stupid C. practical D. strange
64. What does the author think of the flying car?
A. It is too difficult to imagine. B. It is too crazy an idea.
C. It is likely to be made. D. It is often reported in the news.