Ballet as a charming dance form has fascinated audiences for many years. It is a form of dance that combines beauty and grace to tell a story in a dance form. Generally performed in theatres, ballet has always been a favored dream of many little girls. While ballet dancers need to work very hard for many years to perform in a professional ballet company, this does not discourage the girls.
Many people think that ballet originated in France, due to the ballet steps that all have French names. However, ballet can be traced back to Italy during the Renaissance period of the 1400s. While this was really just a pioneer to the classical ballet, the dances performed in Italy during this time led to the further development of ballet in France. The first ballet company arose in France and was called The Queen's Ballet Company.
In the 1800s the romantic style of ballet appeared, thanks in part to the ballet La Sylphide. La Sylphide made much use of the toe dancing technique and brought about many changes to ballet.
All romantic ballets focused on women and this encouraged women to take on increasingly to become ballerinas. While ballet prospered in other nations, it started declining in France. The decline could be because ballet was seen as being very worldly with mythical (神话的) steps.
The shift from mythical steps to more reasonable style that could be co-related to human movements came about in the twentieth century. This was because of the many different styles of dance that were becoming increasingly popular. The change that started in the twentieth century continues to transform ballet even today where it mixes different styles of dance.
Some ballets today have even gone so far as to combine another style of dance into the ballet. In 1944 a ballet was introduced called Fancy Free that use Jazz dance with the ballet steps to create a revolutionary ballet, and it was well received.
With time, ballet has developed and changed in many forms. A ballet by professionals continues to charm audiences despite the fact that most of us cannot even dream of performing most of the steps and moves of a ballet dancer.
Why do people think ballet comes from France?
| A．Because Frenchmen introduced ballet to Italy. |
| B．Because Frenchmen created many ballet steps. |
| C．Because the ballet steps are all named in French. |
| D．Because the first ballet company was founded in France. |
When did the romantic ballet appear?
| A．In the 14th century. | B．In the 19th century. |
| C．In the 15th century. | D．In the 2lth century. |
From the last paragraph, we can know ballet becomes more_______________.
| A．reasonable | B．romantic |
| C．popular | D．professional |
The passage mainly talks about _______________.
| A．the development of classical ballet |
| B．the popularity of classical ballet |
| C．the meaning of classical ballet |
| D．the techniques of ballet dancing |
As societies develop, their members start to see things not so much according to what they need, but according to what they want. When people have enough money, these wants become demands.
Now, it' s important for the managers in a company to understand what their customers want if they are going to develop effective marketing strategies (策略). There are various ways of doing this. One way at supermarkets ( 超市), for example, is to interview(采访) customers while they're doing their shopping. They can be asked what they prefer to buy and then the results of the research can be studied. This provides information on which to base future marketing strategies. It' s also quite normal for top managers from department stores to spend a day or two each month visiting stores and mixing freely with the public, as if they were ordinary customers, to get an idea of how customers act.
Another way to get information from customers is to give them something. For example, some fast food restaurants give away tickets in magazines or on the street that permit customers to get part of their meal for nothing. As well as being a good way of attracting customers into the restaurants to spend their money, it also allows the managers to get a feel for where to attract customers and which age-groups to attract.
Another strategy used at some well-known parks such as Disneyland is for top managers to spend at least one day in their work, touring the park dressed as Mickey Mouse or something like that. This provides them with a perfect chance to examine the scene and watch the customers without being noticed.The text is designed for _______
| A．managers | B．salesmen | C．researchers | D．customers |
Which of the following can help managers get useful information?
| A．Visiting customers themselves. | B．Giving customers free food on the street. |
| C．Visiting parks as ordinary customers. | D．Asking customers questions at supermarkets. |
What does the word "this" underlined in the last sentence refer to?
| A．Visiting Disneyland. | B．Wearing attractive clothes. |
| C．Acting Mickey Mouse. | D．Dressing up and walking around. |
The main idea of the text is _________.
| A．how to do market research | B．how to develop marketing strategies |
| C．how to find out customers' social needs | D．how to encourage customers to spend more money |
How to Be a Winner
Sir Steven Redgrave
Winner of 5 Olympic Gold Medals
“In 1997 I was found to have developed diabetes (糖尿病) . Believing my career (职业生涯)was over, I felt extremely low. Then one of the specialists said there was no reason why I should stop training and competing. That was it----the encouragement I needed. I could still be a winner if I believed in myself. I am not saying that it isn’t difficult sometimes. But I wanted to prove to myself that I wasn’t finished yet. Nothing is to stand in my way.”
Karen 
Pickering
Swimming World Champion
“I swim 4 hours a day, 6 days a week. I manage that sort of workload by putting it on top of my diary. This is the key to success—you can’t follow a career in any field without being well-organized. List what you believe you can achieve. “Trust yourself, write down your goals for the day, however small they are, and you’ll be a step closer to achieving them.”
Kirsten Best
Poet ＆ Writer
“When things are getting hard, a voice inside my head tells me that I can’t achieve something. Then, there are other distractions, such as family or hobbies. The key is to concentrate. When I feel tense, it helps a lot to repeat words such as ‘calm’, ‘peace’ or ‘focus’, either out loud or silently in my mind. It makes me feel more in control and increas
es my confidence. This is a habit that can become second nature quite easily and is a powerful psychological (心理的) tool.” What does Sir Steven Redgrave mainly talk about?
| A．Difficulties influenced his career. | B．Specialists offered him medical advice. |
| C．Training helped him defeat his disease. | D．He overcame the shadow of illness to win. |
What does Karen Pickering put on top of her diary?
| A．Her training schedule. | B．Her daily happenings. |
| C．Her achievements. | D．Her sports career. |
What does the underlined word “distractions” probably refer to?
| A．Ways that help one to focus. | B．Words that help one to feel less tense. |
| C．Activities that turn one’s attention away. | D．Habits that make it hard for one to relax. |
According to the passage, what do the three people have in common?
| A．Courage. | B．Devotion. | C．Hard work. | D．Self-confidence. |
When you are little, the whole world feels like a big playground. I was living in Conyers, Georgia the summer it all happened. I was a second grader, but my best friend Stephanie was only in the first grade. Both of our parents were at work and most of the time they let us go our own way.
It was a hot afternoon and we decided to have an adventure in Stephanie’s basement. As I opened the basement door, before us lay the biggest room, full of amazing things like guns, dolls, and old clothes. I ran downstairs, and spotted red steel can. It was paint. I looked beyond it and there lay even more paint in bright colors like purple, orange, blue and green.
“Stephanie, I just found us a project for the day. Get some paintbrushes. We are fixing to paint.” She screamed with excitement as I told her of my secret plans and immediately we got to work. We gathered all the brushes we could find and moved all of our materials to my yard. There on the road in front of my house, we painted bit stripes (条纹) of colors across the pavement (人行道). Stripe by stripe, our colors turned into a beautiful rainbow. It was fantastic!
The sun was starting to sink. I saw a car in the distance and jumped up as I recognized the car. It was my mother. I couldn’t wait to show her my 
masterpiece. The car pulled slowly into the driveway and from the look on my mother’s face, I could tell that I was in deep trouble.
My mother shut the car door and walked towards me. Her eyes glaring, she shouted, “What in the world were you thinking? I understood when you made castles out of leaves, and climbed the neighbors’ trees, but this! Come inside right now!” I stood there glaring hack at her for a minute, angry because she had insulted (侮辱) my art.
“Now go clean it up!” Mother and I began cleaning the road. Tears ran down my cheeks as I saw my beautiful rainbow turn into black cement.
Though years have now passed, I still wonder where my rainbow has gone. I wonder if, maybe when I get older, I can find my rainbow and never have to brush it away. I guess we all need sort of rainbow to brighten our lives from time to time and to keep our hopes and dreams colorful. What did the writer want to do when his mother came home?
| A．To introduce Stephanie to her. | B．To prevent her from seeing his painting. |
| C．To put the materials back in the yard. | D．To show his artwork to her. |
In his mother’s eyes, the writer_______.
| A．was a born artist | B．always caused trouble |
| C．was a problem solver | D．worked very hard |
The underlined word “rainbow” in the last paragraph refers to ______.
| A．the rainbow in the sky | B．the stripes on the pavement |
| C．something imaginative and fun | D．important lessons learned in childhood |
It can be learned from the passage that parents should ________.
| A．encourage children to paint | B．value friendship among children |
| C．discover the hidden talent in children | D．protect rather than destroy children’s dreams |
Apollo
For lovers of the arts, Apollo is a truly necessary magazine．Covering the ages and the great civilizations of the world, Apollo brings you well-illustrated yet academic articles by internationally famous scholars, as well as information on exhibitions and sales．Experience five monthly issues for as little as £ 5 each．
The Guardian Weekly
The Guardian Weekly gives you a global view with articles from four of the world's most respected newspapers．Read the news from different views and draw your own conclusions on the stories shaping our world. Try it for 3 months for just £ 15．55．Plus get a free copy of The Guardian Year 2003．
New Internationalist
Full of excellent writing and photography, the N1 covers one key subject each month, from Terrorism to Poverty to Climate Change．Reporters from around the globe provide you with a comprehensive world view．PLUS: masses of fresh reports and stories to keep you up-to-date on world affairs．3 months free and free World Map．
The Week
The Week is the only weekly summary giving you the best of the British and foreign newspapers in just 35 pages．Designed to be read in just 1 hour, it provides you with everything you need and want to know．Try The Week now with 13 issues for just £ 13．75．If you decide it's not for you, just tell us within the first 6 weeks and you can get your money back．Which of the following magazines will probably provide you with articles about music and paintings?
| A．Apollo． | B．The Week． |
| C．New Internationalist． | D．The Guardian Weekly． |
It is possible that most of the readers of the four magazines are ______．
| A．men | B．women | C．children | D．grown-ups |
Which of the following would you most probably read if you want to get information from the world’s most popular newspapers?
| A．Apollo & The Week． |
| B．Apollo & New Internationalist． |
| C．The Guardian Weekly & The Week． |
| D．The Guardian Weekly & New Internationalist． |
The purpose of writing these four texts is to ______．
| A．tell the readers the latest news |
| B．get more readers to subscribe （订阅） |
| C．show the importance of the four magazines |
| D．introduce the four magazines to new readers |
Pulling heavy suitcases all day in the summer is hard work, especially when you’re a thin 14-year-old. That was me in 1940—the youngest and smallest baggage boy at New York City’s Pennsylvania Railway Station．
After just a few days on the job, I began noticing that the other fellows were overcharging passengers．I’d like to join them, thinking, “Everyone else is doing it．”
When I got home that night, I told my dad what I wanted to do．“You give an honest day’s work,” he said, looking at me straight in the eye．“They’re paying you．If they want to do that, you let them do that．”
I followed my dad's advice for the rest of that summer and have lived by his words ever since．
Of all the jobs I've had, it was my experience at Pennsylvania Railway Station that has stuck with me．Now I teach my players to have respect for other people and their possessions．Being a member of a team is a totally shared experience．If one person steals, it destroys trust and hurts everyone．I can put up with many things, but not with people who steal．If one of my players were caught stealing, he'd be gone．
Whether you’re on a sports team, in an office or a member of a family, if you can’t trust one another, there’s going to be trouble．What can be inferred about the baggage boys?
| A．They could earn much, but they had to work hard． |
| B．Many of them earned money in a dishonest way． |
| C．They were all from poor families． |
| D．They were all thin, young boys． |
What does the father's advice imply?
| A．It is wrong to give more pay to the passengers． |
| B．Don’t believe them if they are paying you more． |
| C．Don’t follow others to overcharge the passengers． |
| D．It is difficult to work hard and live as an honest boy． |
The writer can't put up with stealing because he thinks that ______．
| A．it is a totally shared experience | B．it is considered as the most dangerous |
| C．it does great harm to human relationship | D．it may lead to the loss of his sports team |
It can be concluded from the text that ______．
| A．his father's advice helped him to decide which job to take up |
| B．working in the sports team was his most important experience |
| C．he learnt much from his shared experience with his team members |
| D．his experience as a baggage boy had a great influence on his later life |