In all the world’s cultures, people sing, play instruments, and celebrate with music. It plays such an important role in our lives that all fields focus on its study, including one looking at the biology of music. Experts find that because of the way our brains process music, learning to play an instrument or just listening to music can have a wide range of benefits.
Music education has received a lot of attention. Learning to play an instrument can help children improve math, science, and language skills. One study in Canada tracked children’s IQ scores for nine months, discovering that children who studied music had the biggest test score improvements. The secret may lie in the way reading music and playing notes use several areas of the brain, increasing our ability to learn school subjects. For example, reading notes improves spatial(空间的) reasoning skills, which are helpful in solving math problems like fractions(分数).
Music is also used for medical purposes, such as the treatment of diseases which affect memories. The secret lies in the way the brain processes music. One area near the forehead, the medical prefrontal cortex, connects music with memories stored in two other areas: the amygdale and hippocampus. That’s why an old song can remind you of something that happened years ago. For patients suffering from diseases like Alzheimer’s, listening to music can help unlock buried memories by strengthening musical pathways to memories.
With the evidence of music’s benefits, it’s no wonder some countries make music study a part of their education system. People are recognizing that more than just a form of entertainment, music is also great for the brain.Scientists are studying music because .
A.music can be used for medical treatment. |
B.music plays a very important role in our lives |
C.our brain can process music in different ways |
D.music education has received a lot of attention |
According to the Canadian study, which children increased IQscores?
A.Those who already had high IQ scores. |
B.Those who always played music. |
C.Those who could not play any instrument. |
D.Those who studied music for a period of time. |
Which of the following is a kind of disease?
A.Spatial reasoning. |
B.Alzheimer’s. |
C.The amygdale and hippocampus. |
D.The medial prefrontal cortex. |
Which can be the best title for the text?
A.Music and health | B.Music and the mind |
C.Music and the education | D.Music and instruments |
B
I love charity(慈善) shops and so do lots of other people in Britain because you find quite a few of them on every high street.The charity shop is a British institution, selling everything from clothes to electric goods, all at very good prices.You can get things you won’t find in the shops anymore.The thing I like best about them is that your money is going to a good cause and not into the pockets of profit-driven companies, and you are not damaging the planet, but finding a new home for unwanted goods.
The first charity shop was opened in 1947 by Oxfam.The famous charity’s appeal to aid postwar Greece had been so successful it had been flooded with donations(捐赠物).They decided to set up a shop to sell some of these donations to raise money for that appeal.Now there are over 7,000 charity shops in the UK.My favourite charity shop in my hometown is the Red Cross shop, where I always find children’s books, all 10 or 20 pence each.
Most of the people working in the charity shops are volunteers, although there is often a manager who gets paid.Over 90% of the goods in the charity shops are donated by the public. Every morning you see bags of unwanted items outside the front of shops, although they don’t encourage this, rather ask people to bring things in when the shop is open.
The shops have very low running costs: all profits go to charity work.Charity shops raise more than £110 million a year, funding(资助)medical research, overseas aid, supporting sick and poor children, homeless and disabled people, and much more.What better place to spend your money? You get something special for a very good price and a good moral sense.You provide funds to a good cause and tread lightly on the environment.
45.The author loves the charity shop mainly because of _______.
A.its convenient location B.its great variety of goods
C.its spirit of goodwillD.its nice shopping environment
46.The first charity shop in the UK was set up to ____.
A.sell cheap productsB.deal with unwanted things
C.raise money for patients D.help a foreign country
47.Which of the following is TRUE about charity shops?
A.The operating costs are very low. B.The staff are usually well paid.
C.90% of the donations are second-hand. D.They are open twenty-four hours a day.
48.Which of the following may be the best title for the passage?
A.What to Buy a Charity Shops.
B.Charity Shop: Its Origin & Development.
C.Charity Shop: Where You Buy to Donate.
D.The Public’s Concern about Charity Shops.
第二部分阅读理解(共两节,满分45分)
第一节:阅读下列短文,然后从A、B、C、D四个选项中,选出最佳选项。(共20小题;每小题2分,满分40分)
A
My husband, Tom, is a born shopper. He loves to look at things and to touch them. He likes to compare prices between the same things in different stores. He would never think of buying anything without looking around in several stores. I, on the other hand, am not a shopper. I regard shopping as boring and unpleasant. If I like something and can afford it, I buy it immediately. I never take a time to look around for a good sale or a better deal (交易). Of course my husband and I never go shopping together. Doing shopping together would be too painful for both of us . When it comes to shopping, we go our separate ways.
Sometimes I ask my son Jimmy to buy some food in the shop not far from our home. But he is always absentminded. This was his story.
One day I said to him , “ I hope you won’t forget what I have told you to buy.” “No,” said Jimmy. “ I won’t forget . You want three oranges, six eggs and a pound of meet.”
He went running down the street to the shop. As he ran , he said to himself over and over again , “ Three oranges , six eggs and a pound of meat.”
In the beginning he remembered everything but he stopped several times. Once he saw two men fighting outside a clothes shop until a policeman stopped them. One of them was badly hurt. Then he stopped to give ten cents to a beggar. Then he met some of his friends and he played with them for a while. When he reached the shop, he had forgotten everything except six eggs.
As he walked home, his face became sadder and sadder. When he saw me he said, “ I’m sorry , mum . I have forgotten to buy oranges and the meat . I only remembered to buy six eggs , but I’ve dropped three of them.”
41. The husband loves shopping because _______.
A. he has much money
B. he likes the shops
C. he likes to compare the prices between the same items
D. he has nothing to do but do shopping
42. The wife doesn’t like shopping because _______.
A. she has no money B. she has no tome
C. she doesn’t love her husband D. she feels it boring to go shopping
43. They never go shopping together because _________.
A. their ways of shopping are quite different B. they hate each other
C. they needn’t buy anything for the family D. they don’t have time for it
44. Jimmy didn’t buy what his mother wanted because _________.
A. the shop was closed that day B. the policeman stopped him
C. he forgot some of them D. he gave all the money to the beggar
E
When we Americans shop at the grocery stores today, we don’t seem to be surprised at the sight of strawberries in the winter or perfect tomatoes from Holland. In the space of a generation, we’ve become accustomed to eating food that’s never grown roots in local soil. In fact, most produce(农产品) grown in the United States travels an average of 1,500 miles before it gets sold.
Trucking, shipping and flying in food from around the country and the globe has a very bad effect on the environment and on public health. Take grapes for example. Every year, nearly 270 million pounds of grapes arrive in California, most of them shipped from Chile to the Port of Los Angeles. Their 5,900-mile journey in cargo ships and trucks gives off 7,000 tons of global warming pollution each year, and enough air pollution to cause dozens of asthma(哮喘) attacks and hundreds of missed school clays in California.
The way we eat has a great influence on the health of the planet. By choosing to eat lower on the food chain, and focusing on local and organic(有机的) produce, we can reduce global warming and air pollution, avoid poisonous chemicals, support local farmers and enjoy fresh, tasty food.
People are rediscovering the benefits of buying local food. How your food is grown, stored, transported, processed and cooked can all influence how it affects climate and the environment. Transportation-related influences are particularly important for imported foods. NRDC calculated the transportation influences of importing fresh produce and wine widely consumed in California. They directly compared the climate and air quality influenced by importing these foods instead of growing and consuming them in California. Their analysis shows that—all else being equal—locally grown foods are a better choice.
72. From the passage we can learn that most produce sold at the grocery stores in the US .
A. is grown by local farmers B. is from foreign countries
C. comes from far away D. is out of season
73. What would be the effect of transportation of foods?
A. It pollutes the foods during the transportation.
B. It makes the cost of the foods much higher.
C. It makes the foods less fresh and tasteless.
D. It causes air pollution and global warming.
74. Which of the following may have a bad effect on the health of the planet?
A. Eating higher on the food chain. B. Eating locally grown foods.
C. Eating more organic produce.D. Eating fresh and tasty foods.
75. The main purpose of the passage is .
A. to help the local farmers grow and sell their produce
B. to tell people that imported foods are less healthy
C. to warn people of the harmfulness of food transportation
D. to get local people to reject the imported foods
D
“You’re going to the United States to live? How wonderful! You’re really lucky!”
Does this sound familiar? Perhaps your family and friends said similar things to you when you left home. But does it seem true all the time? Is your life in this new country always wonderful and exciting? A great many facts show that it’s not easy for newcomers to adjust to life in a new culture. They have to experience culture shock.
What causes culture shock? Maybe the weather is unpleasant. Perhaps the customs are different. Perhaps the public service systems such as the telephone, post office, or transportation are difficult to figure out and you make mistakes. The simplest things seem difficult. The language may be difficult. The food may seem strange to you. If you don’t look similar to the natives, you may feel strange. You may feel as ff everyone is watching you. In fact, you are always watching yourself.
Everyone experiences culture shock in some form or another. But culture shock comes as a surprise to most people. A lot of the time, the people with the worst culture shock are the people who never had any difficulties in their own countries. They were active and successful in their community(社区). They had hobbies or pastimes which they enjoyed. When they come to a new country, they do not have the same positions or hobbies as they already had in their countries. They find themselves without a role, almost without an identity. They have to build a new self-image.
Culture shock produces a feeling of disorientation(晕头转向), which may be homesickness, imagined illness, or even paranoia(偏执症). When people feel the disorientation of culture shock, they sometimes feel like staying inside all the time. They want to protect themselves from the unfamiliar environment. They want to create an escape within their room to give themselves a sense of security. This escape does solve the problem of culture shock for the short term, but it does nothing to familiarize the person more with the culture. Familiarity and experience are the long-term ways to settle the problem of culture shock.
67. Who is the passage mainly for?
A. The family and friends of those who came to the US.
B. Those who have got rid of culture shock.
C. People who have just moved to a foreign country.
D. People who can easily adjust their life in the US.
68. The underlined part “you are always watching yourself’” (in Paragraph 3) means .
A. you are always feeling homesick
B. you are always worried too much about yourself
C. you are always looking at yourself in the mirror
D. you are always nervous about meeting other people
69. Which of the following would be a case of culture shock for newcomers?
A. They have trouble using public telephones.
B. Their positions or hobbies stay the same.
C. They are active and successful in the new community.
D. They have got used to the life in the new country.
70. Which of the following may cause newcomers to lack a sense of security?
A. A new identity. B. Local food.
C. A new serf-image. D. Strange environment.
71. The best way for the newcomers to overcome culture shock is .
A. to stay inside to protect themselves
B. to make a study of the new hobbies
C. to adapt themselves to the new environment
D. to ask people for help when having difficulties
C
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Josh Stover
Ph: (403) 982-1107 Fax: (403) 982-1107
E-mail: jstover@ awardwindoors.com
www. Awardwindowsanddoors.com
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64. According to the ads, the two companies are both expert at .
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B. persuading people to want what have already been built
C. building windows that help save your energy costs
D. building your doors completely to your taste
65. The two ads are most probably about .
A. managing money matters B. environmental protection
C. architecture stylesD. home improvement & design
66. If you prefer comfort as well as energy efficiency, you can .
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B. call (403) 720-8055 or visit www.allweatherwindows.com
C. call at All Weather Windows or Award Windows & Doors
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