It’s been claimed that playing a musical instrument makes you smarter．
New research suggests that regularly playing a musical instrument changes the shape and power of the brain, and may be used in therapy (疗法) to improve cognitive (认知) skills．
Experts say there is growing evidence that musicians have brains that are structurally and functionally different from those of non-musicians, especially in the areas of the brain used in processing (处理信息)
The parts of the brain that control motor skills, the storage of audio information, hearing and memory become larger and more active when a person learns how to play an instrument and can apparently improve the alertness (警觉) and planning．
Lutz Jancke, a psychologist at the University of Zurich, said, “Leaning to play a musical instrument has great benefits and can increase IQ by seven points in both children and adults．We found that even people over the age of 65, after four or five months of playing an instrument for an hour a week, had strong changes in the brain.” The parts of the brain that control hearing and memory, and the part that controls the hands, among others, all become more active.
“Of course music isn’t the only answer, but I do believe that it should be used in addition to other things.”
Mr．Jancke also said that learning a musical instrument could also make it easier to learn foreign languages and make one more sensitive to understanding the emotions of others．“So not on
ly does this make it easier to pick up other languages and have a better memory of one’s own, we have also seen musicians are able to pick out exactly what others are feeling just by the tones of their voices—sympathy, disappointment, that kind of things.”
He added, “Several studies indeed show that playing music increases memory and language skills, but more research is needed.”
1．What is the passage mainly about?
A．How to use musical instruments.
B．How music affects the brain.
C．How playing music makes people smarter.
D．The development of research into music.
2．Compared wi
th non-musicians, __________.
A．musicians are better at foreign languages
B．musicians are more active in sports
C．musicians have stronger emotions
D．musicians’ brains work differently in proce
ssing
3．Which of the following is NOT a benefit of playing an instrument?
A．It makes it easier for one to pick up foreign languages.
B．It allows one to show his feelings more exactly to others．
C．It gives one a better memory in one’s own language．
D．it makes one understand others’ feelings better．
4．From Luz Jancke we lean that _________．
A．playing an instrument benefits children more than adults
B．playing an instrument has no benefits for people over 65
C．some studies show playing music can increase memory
D．he will do more research into brain development and music
A
George had stolen some money, but the police had caught him and he had been put in prison. Now his trial was about to begin, and he felt sure that he would be found guilty and sent to prison for a long time.
Then he discovered that an old friend of his was one of the members of the jury at his trial. Of course, he did not tell anybody, but he managed to see his friend secretly one day. He said to him, "Jim, I know that the jury will find me guilty of having stolen the money. I cannot hope to be found not guilty of taking it —— that would be too much to expect. But I should be grateful to you for the rest of my life if you could persuade the other members of the jury to add a strong recommendation for mercy to their statement that they consider me guilty."
“Well, George,”answered Jim. “I shall certainly try to do what I can for you as an old friend, but of course I cannot promise anything. The other eleven people on the jury look terribly strong-minded to me.”
George said that he would quite understand if Jim was not able to do anything for him, and thanked him warmly for agreeing to help.
The trial went on, and at last the time came for the jury to decide whether George was guilty or not. It took them five hours, but in the end they found George guilty, with a strong recommendation for mercy.
Of course, George was very pleased, but he did not have a chance to see Jim for some time after the trial. At last, however, Jim visited him in prison, and George thanked him warmly and asked him how he had managed to persuade the other members of the jury to recommend mercy.
"Well, George," Jim answered, "as I thought, those eleven men were very difficult to persuade, but I managed it in the end by tiring them out. Do you know, those fools had all wanted to find you not guilty!"56. We are told that George expected Jim to help _____.
| A．prove him innocent | B．him turn over a new leaf |
| C．lighten his punishment | D．him escape from prison |
57. Which of the following is true about Jim?
| A．He covered up George's guilt. |
| B．He persuaded the jury to set George free. |
| C．He told the jury that George was indeed guilty. |
| D．He recommended severe punishment to give George a lesson. |
58. The passage suggests that _____.
| A．it was due to Jim that George was found guilty |
| B．Jim did not do exactly what George asked him to do |
| C．Jim asked his colleagues to recommend mercy |
| D．Jim persuaded the jury to lighten George's punishment |
59. The title for this passage is ______.
| A．Illegal or Not? | B．Guilty or Not? |
| C．Merciful or Not? | D．Answerable or Not? |
根据短文内容，从短文后的七个选项中选出能填放空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。
A great life doesn’t happen by accident. It is the result of allocating (分配) your time, energy ,thoughts ,and hard work towards what you want your life to be . Stop setting yourself up for stress and failure, and start setting up your life to support success and ease. It is the result of using what you get in a creative and thoughtful way, instead of just what comes next .___76___.
S---Simplify. A great life is the result of simplifying your life. People often misinterpret what simplify means. It’s not a way to remove work from your life .__77__ . In order to create a great life , you will have to make room for it in yours first.
E---Effort. A great life is the result of your best effort. Creating it requires that you make some adjustments. It may mean re-evaluating how you spend your time ,or choosing to spend your money in a different way. Life will reward your best effort.
C---Create priorities.(首要事情).A great life is the result of creating priorities .It’s easy to spend your days just responding to the next thing that gets your attention, instead of intentionally using the time ,energy and money you have in a way that’s important to you .__78__.
R---Remove distractions. A great life is the result of removing distractions. __79__. Removing distractions can be a difficult concept to many people ,since they haven’t really considered that there is another way to live. Find ways to free up your mental energy for things that are more important to you.
T---Thoughts. __80___.Your belief in the outcome will directly determine how successful you are. Motivated people have specific goals and look for ways to achieve them. Believing there is a solution to the same old problems you encounter year after year is vitally important to creating a life that you love.
| A．When you focus on simplifying your life ,you free up energy and time for the work that you enjoy and the purpose for which you are here. |
| B．A great life is the result of having reserves ---reserves of things ,time, space ,energy and money. |
| C．Today ,right now , is the right day to start to take a step in the direction of your heart’s desires. |
| D．Up to 75% of your mental energy can be tied up in things that stop your concentrating. |
E. Now please use “secrets” to fit your own needs and style ,and start creating your own great life today.
F. A great life is the result of controlling your thoughts so that you accept and allow for the possibility that it actually can happen to you !
G. Focus on removing the obstacles that get in the way of you making sure you are honoring your priorities.
Spring is a wonderful season to celebrate rebirth and new life. The long, cold winter is over. The weather is warmer and sunnier. The trees again have leaves and the flowers are blooming. The season represents hope, joy and beauty. At this time, many people think of this classical music piece — Spring, which shows happiness. Italian composer Antonio Vivaldi wrote it in the seventeen hundred.
However, not all songs about spring are happy. This song written and sung by K.D. Lang is about dreaming of spring in cold dark places. She recorded I Dream of Spring in 2008.
Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein wrote It Might as Well Be Spring for the movie State Fair in 1945. Frank Sinatra sings it. It is a feeling of restlessness or excitement brought on by the coming of spring. Richard Rodgers also wrote Spring Is Here, this time with Lorenz Hart. Ella Fitzgerald sings this song about feeling lonely during this season.
Frank Loesser wrote the sad song, Spring Will be a Little Late This Year. Why has the season been delayed? Because the singer’s lover has left her. Sarah Vaughn released(发行) her version of the song in 1953.
By now you may be thinking, “Enough with the sad songs, already!” Ok, then how about a cowboy song? Gene Autry was one of America’s most famous singing cowboys. He recorded When It’s Springtime in the Rockies in 1937.
And finally, we’ll leave you with a sunny song called Up Jumped Spring. Freddie Hubbard wrote this jazz song in 1977 and Billy Taylor Trio performs it. If you are in a bad mood, you’d better listen to _____.
| A．Up Jumped Spring | B．I Dream of Spring |
| C．Spring Is Here | D．Spring Will be a Little Late This Year |
It Might as Well Be Spring is a song that ______.
| A．is also called State Fair | B．is sung by Ella Fitzgerald |
| C．has a lonely feeling | D．was written by two people |
According to the passage, which of the following is TRUE?
A. Most songs about spring are written by Italian composers.
B. K.D. Lang was good at writing happy songs.
C. Sarah Vaughn sang the song Up Jumped Spring first.
D. Gene Autry was a famous cowboy singer before K.D. Lang. Which of the following songs was first written or recorded?
| A．Spring. |
| B．I Dream of Spring. |
| C．When It’s Springtime in the Rockies. |
| D．Spring Will be a Little Late This Year. |
What’s the purpose of the author to write the passage?
| A．Introduce some songs about spring. |
| B．Introduce some wonderful music. |
| C．Introduce some famous singers. |
| D．Express his/ her love to spring. |
It was Molly’s job to hand her father his brown paper lunch bag each morning before he headed off to work.
One morning, in addition to his usual lunch bag, Molly handed him a second paper bag. This one was worn and held together with staples (订书钉) 。
“Why two bags?” her father asked. “The other is something else,” Molly answered. “What’s in it?” “Just some stuff. Take it with you.”
Not wanting to discuss the matter, he put both bags into his briefcase, kissed Molly and rushed off. At midday he opened Molly’s bag and took out the contents: two hair ribbons(丝带), three small stones, a plastic dinosaur, a tiny sea shell, a small doll, and 13 pennies… The busy father smiled, finished eating, and swept the desk clean into the wastebasket, Molly’s stuff included.
That evening, Molly ran up behind him as he read the paper. “Where’s my bag?” “What bag?” “The one I gave you this morning.” “I left it at the office. Why?” “I forgot to put this note in it,” she said. “And, besides, Daddy, the things in the sack are the things I really like — I thought you might like to play with them. You didn’t lose the bag, did you, Daddy?” “Oh, no,” he said, lying. “I just forgot to bring it home. I’ll bring it tomorrow.” While Molly hugged her father’s neck, he unfolded the note that read: “I love you, Daddy.” Molly had given him her treasures — all that a 7-year-old held dear.
Love in a paper bag, and he missed it — not only missed it, but had thrown it in the wastebasket. So back he went to the office. Just ahead of the night janitor(看门人), he picked up the wastebasket. He put the treasures inside and carried it home carefully. The bag didn’t look so good, but the stuff was all there and that’s what counted.
After dinner, he asked Molly to tell him about the stuff in the sack. It took a long time to tell. Everything had a story or a memory.
“Sometimes I think of all the great times in this sweet life,” he thought.
We should all remember that it’s not the destination that counts in life, but the journey. That journey with the people we love is all that really matters. It is such a simple truth but it is so easily forgotten.Why did Molly give her father a second bag?
| A．She didn’t want to keep the things in the bag. |
| B．She hoped those things would bring happiness to her father. |
| C．She wanted to remind her father of the stories behind the things. |
| D．She enjoyed playing with her father. |
How did father deal with the bag after he opened it?
| A．He kept it in the drawer. |
| B．He took it back home. |
| C．He threw it into the wastebasket. |
| D．He put it on his table. |
After father heard what his daughter said, he felt_____.
| A．regretful | B．surprised | C．sad | D．satisfied |
Which of the following is the most suitable title of the passage?
| A．An important journey | B．Two bags |
| C．Father and daughter | D．Love in a paper bag |
During the school year many parents take on the role of driver as they drive their children from one lesson to another .Understandably so. Many of us want our children to have a little taste of everything, from organized sports to music, dance and more. But we can overdo it, leaving our children feeling a little burnt out, and according to parent educator Diane Loisie ,it’s their school work which suffers the most. “After school, if they’re busy in a number of sporting events, besides they need to do their homework, then the time they’ll feel sleepy is in the classroom. Your child needs free time. So if you’re filling up that after school time, then it’s during the day that they’re going to be taking a break.”
Professor Claire McDermott agrees that there’s a lot to be gained from sometimes putting those scheduled lessons and activities away. “Relaxing time is important for children. It’s time just to do the things they want to do. A child can go up to their room, or they can play around. It doesn’t look like productive time; parents certainly wouldn’t be saying ‘Wow, are they ever learning things now?’ But this relaxing time gives both the body and the brain just a wonderful chance to relax after a day. It helps a child prepare for sleep, but it also helps to understand the learning that’s gone on that day.”
It’s hard to prevent signing our kids up for some activities and lessons. After all, many of us want our children to have a head start in life and the chance to join in great activities in the arts or sports is a part of that. However, Loisie feels that in the long run most children feel better with just a few key activities because it gives them an opportunity to master them. “When we get our children in too many activities because we want our children to experience everything, then what we’re doing is setting them up not to be good at one thing or gaining a skill.” So choose your children’s activities wisely. It may be one of the best things you’ve ever done for your kids… and for the family drivers!What is the biggest disadvantage for children to attend too many lessons after school?
| A．They can get bored easily about everything. |
| B．They might have no time to do the homework. |
| C．They might not pay much attention to learning. |
| D．They cannot easily focus on learning during the day. |
What should we think of children’s playing around aimlessly?
| A．It is productive. | B．It is helpful. | C．It is a bad habit. | D．It is a waste of time. |
Why should parents limit the activities our children attend?
| A．Because children have no time. |
| B．Because children cannot learn many things. |
| C．Because children do not have enough sleep. |
| D．Because children cannot focus on too many activities. |
What is the main idea of this passage?
| A．Don’t be children’s drivers after school. |
| B．Choose activities for your children wisely. |
| C．Make your children learn as much as possible. |
| D．Let children learn something from various subjects. |
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