All the Chinese are looking forward to our country's first______to land on the moon after the successful trip of Chang'e to it.
| A．practice | B．purpose | C．attempt | D．act |
（2014届陕西省西工大附中高三第六次模拟英语试卷）
More than a century ago, the composer and bandleader John Philip Sousa warned that technology would destroy music, who said, “These talking machines are going to ruin the artistic development of music in this country. When I was a boy … in front of every house in the summer evenings you would find young people together singing the songs of the day or the old songs. Today you hear these terrible machines going night and day. We will not have a vocal cord (声带) left.”
Music has greatly changed in the past hundred years, which has been everywhere in our world: rivers of digital melody flow on the Internet or on disc; MP3 players with forty thousand songs can be put in a back pocket or a purse. Yet, for most of us, music is no longer something we do ourselves, or even watch other people do in front of us. It has become a radically virtual medium, an art without a face.
Ever since Edison invented the phonograph cylinder(留声机), people have been assessing what the medium of recording has done for and to the art of music. Sousa was a spokesman for the party of doom; in the opposite corner are the utopians(乌托邦), who argue that technology has not imprisoned music but liberated it. Before Edison came along, Beethoven’s symphonies could be heard only in select concert halls. Now the recordings carry the man from Bonn to the corners of the earth. Glenn Gould, after renouncing live performance in 1964, predicted that within the century the public concert would disappear into the electronic air.
Having discovered much of my favorite music through LPs and CDs, I am not about to join Sousa’s party. Modern urban environments are often so soulless or ugly that I’m grateful for the humanizing touch of electronic sound. But neither can I accept Gould’s slashing futurism. I want to be aware of technology’s effects, positive and negative. Fortunately, scholars and critics have been methodically exploring this terrain for many decades, trying to figure out exactly what happens when we listen to music with no musicians in the room.
The first paragraph is intended to .
| A．defend an argument | B．make a prediction |
| C．criticize an attitude | D．summarized a viewpoint |
The author’s attitude towards the recorded music may best be described as .
| A．dissatisfied | B．defensive | C．optimistic | D．objective |
The underlined word “terrain” in the last paragraph most nearly means .
| A．region | B．subject | C．land | D．distinction |
The primary purpose of the passage is to .
| A．explain different attitudes of scholars and critics |
| B．defend the view of one group from the criticism of another |
| C．advocate an unexpected solution to a pressing problem |
| D．present the key issues in an ongoing debate |
(2013·湖南，C)
It's such a happylooking library, painted yellow, decorated with palmtree stickers and sheltered from the Florida sun by its own roof. About the size of a microwave oven, it's pedestrianfriendly, too, waiting for book lovers next to a sidewalk in Palm Beach Country Estates, along the northern boundary of Palm Beach Gardens.
It's a library built with love.
A year ago, shortly after Janey Henriksen saw a Brian Williams report about the Little Free Library organization, a Wisconsinbased nonprofit that aims to promote literacy and build a sense of community in a neighborhood by making books freely available, she announced to her family of four, “That's what we're going to do for our spring break！”
Son Austin, now a 10thgrader, didn't see the point of building a library that resembles a mailbox. But Janey insisted, and husband Peter unwillingly got to work. The 51yearold owner of a ship supply company modified a small wooden house that he'd built years earlier for daughter Abbie's toy horses, and made a door of glass.
After adding the library's final touches (装点), the family hung a signboard on the front, instructing users to “take a book, return a book，” and making the Henriksen library, now one of several hundred like it nationwide and among more than 2,500 in the world, the only Little Free Library in Palm Beach County.
They stocked it with 20 or so books they'd already read, a mix of science fiction, reference titles, novels and kids' favorites. “I told them, keep in mind that you might not see it again，” said Janey, a stayathome mom.
Since then, the collection keeps replenishing (补充) itself, thanks to ongoing donations from borrowers. The library now gets an average of five visits a day.
The project's best payoff, says Peter, are the thankyou notes left behind. “We had no idea in the beginning that it would be so popular.”
In what way is the library “pedestrianfriendly”？
| A．It owns a yellow roof. |
| B．It stands near a sidewalk. |
| C．It protects book lovers from the sun. |
| D．It uses palmtree stickers as decorations. |
Janey got the idea to build a library from ________.
| A．a visit to Brian Williams |
| B．a spring break with her family |
| C．a book sent by one of her neighbors |
| D．a report on a Wisconsinbased organization |
The library was built ________.
| A．by a ship supply company |
| B．on the basis of toy horses |
| C．like a mailbox |
| D．with glass |
What can we infer about the signboard?
| A．It was made by a user of the library. |
| B．It marked a final touch to the library. |
| C．It aimed at making the library last long. |
| D．It indicated the library was a family property. |
The passage tells us that the users ________.
| A．donate books to the library |
| B．get paid to collect books for the library |
| C．receive thankyou notes for using the library |
| D．visit the library over 5 times on average daily |
(2013·福建，D)
Pride and Prejudice for the Modern Woman
Let us imagine how Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen's most famous work, might be updated, 200 years on.
Austen's popularity is rooted in her intelligence. But today she would certainly have had a very different life, as would her characters. Here's my own suggestion...
It is a truth finally and universally acknowledged that a single woman with brains deserves to have equal opportunities to men, however disadvantaged she may feel by sexism.
“My dear husband，” said his hopeful wife one day, “have you heard that the local store, standing empty for so long, is taken over by a bright young businesswoman？”
Her dull and indifferent (漠不关心的) husband replied that he had not.
“But it is, it is，” she replied excitedly.
Mr DullHusband made no reply.
“Don't you want to know her plans？” she cried with some impatience.
“Well, clearly you think it matters to your silly little head. .. so I'd better listen.”
“Well, my dear, the rumour (传言) is that she has already set up a string of successful businesses in northern England, though_how_a_woman_can_know_anything_about_that_is_beyond_me. She will move in herself next month.”
“What is her name？”
“Bingley.”
“Is she married or single？”
“What a question! And none of your business. But her coming will be a fine thing for our five boys.”
“How so? How can it possibly affect them？”
“My dear love; those lazy boys need something to wake them up. There are bound to be jobs going.”
“Is that her point in settling here? Surely as a woman she has simply taken a fancy to the place.”
“Nonsense, my love, how little you've noticed the world has changed. She's got a firstrate degree and some sort of business qualification, I'm told. She surely needs one of our boys! Perhaps you might give her a call.”
“Me? No. Perhaps you can take an interest. You still have your looks, after all. She may even offer you a job.”
“Oh, that's not likely. These new chances belong to the younger generation. But now you mention it, I think I'll go along all the same.”
And Mrs Bennet went along. That was 10 years ago. She is now managing director of a FTSElisted company.
... It would remain the case, of course, that Mrs Bennet would be one of very few women on the company board, that her salary would be lower than her male colleagues, her bonus of a more “female” dimension and her lifespan (年限) among the city's business leaders shorter than theirs. Still, she'd no doubt have enjoyed Davos—and might even have hobnobbed (攀谈) with influential figures.
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．Austen was born 200 years ago. |
| B．Austen rewrote Pride and Prejudice. |
| C．Austen's success lies in her wisdom. |
| D．Austen's updated work gains popularity. |
The underlined part in the passage suggests that Mrs Bennet ________.
| A．had mixed feelings of admiration and surprise about Bingley |
| B．felt kind of worried and doubtful about Bingley |
| C．was extremely anxious to meet Bingley |
| D．had a great curiosity about Bingley |
In the eyes of Mrs Bennet, Bingley surely needed one of their boys to ________.
| A．get married to |
| B．work for her |
| C．help her move in |
| D．take over her store |
What does the writer intend to tell us?
| A．Women with brains can also be as successful as men. |
| B．Women have to pay a high price for success. |
| C．A judgment must be made free from prejudice. |
| D．Sex discrimination still exists nowadays. |
（2012江西卷）He seems to be giving the impression that he didn’t enjoy himself in Paris. , he had a wonderful time.
| A．Above all | B．What’s more | C．As a result | D．On the contrary |
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