Since the 1950s, most of the stars of pop music have come from Britain and America. Howver, in the last ten years, when many different kinds of music have established themselves on the pop scene, more and more stars have come from other countries.
Pop music changes all the time and new stars appear and become famous. For a musician to stay popular and still produced good, original music over a long period of time, is a sign of true star.
Most stars start their careers in a simple way---- playing in unknown night clubs or dance-hall where people want to dance to the music, not listen to it. They may have continued doing this for many years untill they get a “break”---- a chance to perform in a well –known place or get a recording contract. To become a star is the aim of every singer or musician and the dream of many a pop-crazy teenager.
However a group or star makes it to the top, they can be sure that their lives will change once they are successful. Ordinary teenagers living at home with their parents may suddenly find themselves rich enough to buy their own houses. An established superstar may be able to buy several.
Despite the large amount of money that are earned, life at the top is not easy for many stars.. The pop scene is hard work and many stars need to spend a lot of time away from home. For a lot of them, this means they have no home life and their personal relationships suffer. Despite great public success, life at the top can be very lonely.Since the 1950s,most of the stars of pop music have come from______.
| A．America | B．America and Britain |
| C．America and Europe | D．other countries |
According to the passage， a “break” may mean a chance to ______.
| A．perform in a well-known concert | B．get a recording contract |
| C．play in dance-halls | D．meet a lot of pop-crazy teenagers |
If a star becomes successful,.he ______ according to the passage.
| A．will live at home with their parents |
| B．will have an easy life because of the larger amount of money earned |
| C．may have a happy home life and good person relationships |
| D．may have a lonely life |
Over many years, there has been an increase in the population of towns in many countries, as millions of people have moved from the villages in search of better jobs and facilities (设施), in the hope of getting a higher standard of living. This development has led to huge expansions of towns both upwards into the sky and outwards into the surrounding countryside. In spite of all the efforts of governments and private businesses, many areas still suffer from a serious shortage of housing.
Now, a new idea has been put forward which will utilize (利用 vt.) areas which have no other obvious commercial potential (商业潜能). These are the ponds, small lakes, disused docks (码头), and other areas of water, many of which can be found near, or even in the suburbs (郊区) of big towns.
A new style of construction has been designed which will provide a house for less than half the cost of the normal building. The main saving is, of course, the land, because the new houses will float on water. There will be no need for foundations; instead the house will be built on a frame (框架) made of steel which is expected to cost about ￡5,000. Above this the builders will make a house with two, three, or four bedrooms and all the usual modern conveniences, as well as a roof garden. Each house will be joined to the main services supplying water, g
as, and electricity and they will have a vacuum sewage disposal (真空污水处理) system. All the servic
e links will have enough flexibility (灵活性) to allow for small differences in the water level caused by wet a
nd dry periods of weather.
The first houses to be built are expected to cost between ￡20,000 and ￡30,000 according to size and it is already clear that there is a very good potential market for the new system. As the cost is comparatively low, young people and common citizens would like to buy. So many people have moved into towns because _______．
| A．they enjoy the facilities |
| B．they expect to live a better life |
| C．they expect to get better jobs |
| D．there is a shortage of jobs in villages |
What is the main advantage of the new idea?
| A．It will help relieve（缓解）the housing shortage. |
| B．It will utilize disused areas of water. |
| C．It will provide jobs. |
| D．It will help the suburbs. |
The new houses will be built on_______．
| A．waterside areas | B．a stone foundation |
| C．lakes and rivers | D．a steel frame |
The price of the new houses will _______．
| A．encourage private and government builders |
| B．attract ordinary people in the towns to buy |
| C．vary in different areas according to the policy |
| D．help the housing market in the countryside |
Sydney 2005-01-01 08:33 --- mother of two, Jillian Searle, had to choose between her children when she made a life-or-death decision.
Swept up by mountainous tsunami（海啸）waves at a Thai resort ( 旅游胜地), she couldn't hold on to both her young sons and survive. Fighting to stay above the waters, she had to choose which one would have to take his chances in the swirling torrent ( 漩流 ).
“I knew I had to let go of one of them and I just thought I’d better let go of the one that's the older,” she told Sky News Television in a report broadcast on Thursday. She said she was accompanied by the two boys, Lachie, 5, and two-year-old Blake, and their father, Brad, who had watched the drama helplessly from their first-floor hotel room, when the waves struck. “and I was screaming, trying to find him, and we thought he was dead,” she told reporters on arrival back in Australia.
Lachie was found alive about 2 hours later clinging (扳住) to a door and, looked uninjured as his mother spoke to reporters.
British surfer ( 冲浪运动员) Martin Markwell is also a lucky man. He had always dreamed of catching that perfect wave-- but when it finally came along, it was a nightmare (噩梦). He was on his surfboard when he was swept up by a tsunami wave.
“It was really terrible because I was surfing. I was really surfing on a wave I wasn't supposed to be on.” he said. “As an experienced surfer, when I saw the wave come, I realized something was wrong, but I couldn't escape because my surfboard was tied to my ankle（脚踝）.”
His wife Vicki and son Jake looked on in horror from a hotel balcony (阳台) as he crashed towards the shore. Luckily, he stayed atop his board until he reached the hotel, jumped off and got to safety as the ocean rolled back to feed a much larger tsunami wave on its way. The family regrouped and ran to safety just minutes before a giant tsunami wave 10 meters high. When the waves struck, the father Brad _______.
| A．reported the disaster to Sky News Television |
| B．was watching a drama on TV in the hotel |
| C．tried to find his son lost in the waters |
| D．watched things going on, unable to do anything |
The underlined word “him” in the third paragraph refers to _______.
| A．an old man | B．Lachie | C．Brad | D．Blake |
It's not true that Lachie and Martin _______.
| A．were both accompanied by their family when the disaster happened |
| B．both survived from the high waves when tsunami struck |
| C．were both travelers from Europe on holiday in Thailand |
| D．were both alive owing to their proper judgment and determination |
The best title of this news story would be_______.
| A．Narrow escape | B．Disaster caused by tsunami |
| C．Exciting surfing experience | D．Struggle against tsunami |
Today, roller skating is easy and fun. But a long time ago, it wasn't easy at all. Before 1750, the idea of skating didn't exist. That changed because of a man named Joseph Merlin. Merlin's work was making musical instruments. In his spare time he liked to play the violin. Joseph Merlin was a man of ideas and dreams. People called him a dreamer.
One day Merlin received an invitation to attend a fancy dress ball (化装舞会). He was very pleased and a little excited. As the day of the party came near, Merlin began to think how to make a grand entrance at the party. He had an idea. He thought he would get a lot of attention if he could skate into the room.
Merlin tried different ways to make himself roll. Finally, he decided to put two wheels under each shoe. These were the first roller skates. Merlin was very proud of his invention and dreamed of arriving at the party on wheels while playing the violin.
On the night of the party Merlin rolled into the room playing his violin. Everyone 
was astonished to see him. There was just one problem. Merlin had no way to stop his roller skates. He rolled on and on. Suddenly, he ran into a huge mirror that was hanging on the wall. Down fell the mirror, breaking to pieces. Nobody forgot Merlin's grand entrance for a long time!
The text is mainly about _______.
| A．a strange man |
| B．an unusual party |
| C．how roller skating began |
| D．how people enjoyed themselves in the 18th century |
People thought Merlin was a dreamer because he _______.
| A．often gave others surprises | B．was a gifted musician |
| C．invited the roller skates | D．was full of imagination |
Merlin put wheels under his shoes in order to _______.
| A．impress the party guests | B．arrive at the party sooner |
| C．test his invention | D．show his skill in walking on wheels |
What is the main point the writer is trying to make in the last paragraph?
| A．The roller skates needed further improvement. |
| B．The party guests took Merlin for a fool. |
| C．Merlin succeeded beyond expectation. |
| D．Merlin got himself into trouble. |
I shall never forget the night，a few years ago，when Marion J．Douglas was a student in one of my adulteducation classes. He told us how tragedy had struck at his home，not once，but twice. The first time he had lost his fiveyearold daughter. He and his wife thought they couldn’t bear that first loss；but，as he said，“Ten months later，God gave us another little girl and she died in five days.”
This double bereavement was almost too much to bear. “I couldn’t take it，” this father told us，“I couldn’t sleep，eat，rest or relax. My nerves were entirely shaken and my confidence gone. ”At last he went to doctors；one recommended sleeping pills and another recommended a trip，but neither helped. He said，“My body felt as if it was surrounded in a vice (大钳子)，and the jaws of the vice were being drawn tighter and tighter.” The tension of grief (悲伤)—if you have ever been paralyzed (使瘫痪) by sorrow，you know what he meant.
“But thank God，I had one child left—a fouryearold son. He gave me the solution to my problem. One afternoon as I sat around feeling sorry for myself，he asked，‘Daddy，will you build a boat for me？’ I was in no mood to build a boat；in fact，I was in no mood to do anything. But my son is a persistent little fellow！I had to give in. Building that toy boat took me about three hours. By the time it was finished，I realized that those three hours spent building that boat were first hours of mental relaxation and peace that I had had in months！I realized that it is difficult to worry while you are busy doing something that requires planning and thinking. In my case，building the boat had knocked worry out of the ring. So I determined to keep busy.”
“The following night，I made a list of jobs that ought to be done. Scores of items needed to be repaired. Amazingly，I had made a list of 242 items that needed attention. During the last two years I have completed most of them. I am busy so that I have no time for worry.”
No time for worry！That is exactly what Winston Church ill said when he was working eighteen hours a day at the height of the war. When he was asked if he worried about his huge responsibilities，he said，“I am too busy. I have no time for worry.”The underlined word “bereavement” in the second paragraph refers to________.
| A．having lost a loved one |
| B．having lost a valuable article |
| C．having lost a profitmaking business |
| D．having lost a wellpaid job |
Marion felt his body as if it was caught in a vice because________.
| A．he couldn’t earn enough money to support his family |
| B．he was suffering from sleeplessness disease |
| C．he couldn’t get out of mental pressure |
| D．he felt tired of adulteducation classes |
Marion made a list of over 200 items that needed to be repaired because________.
| A．he hadn’t been able to spare time to mend them |
| B．he wanted to kill his free time by repairing them |
| C．the items had actually been broken and needed attention |
| D．repairing the items helped crowd wor ry out of his mind |
At the end of the passage，the author wrote about Winston Churchill in order to________.
| A．prove that he followed Churchill’s example |
| B．support his student’s solution to his problem |
| C．show that he was successful in his career |
| D．clarify how his conclusion was reached |
The first field season is now over at the hut village of the workmen who built the tombs in the Valley of the Kings. However，the archaeologists working on the excavation(挖掘)have found that they still have a great deal to do. The sun, the wind and tourists have left their mark on the village, originally discovered by Bernard Bruyhre in 1935．
“From our modern perspective，it is upsetting to see how the village was first excavated and then left to be destroyed. Passers-by have used the huts as rubbish dumps and restrooms,”says Jaana Toivari—Viitala, a teacher at the University of Helsinki.“Fortunately, while we still have some surface cleaning to do, conservation are off to a good start.”
The hut village offers rare insight into everyday life in ancient Egypt.
“In the early twentieth century，archaeologists were only interested in the tombs of kings. The workmen’s huts they discovered were seen as a neces
sary evil in the quest for the real treasures.”
“Now several international research groups on different excavations are examining everyday life and work in the Valley of the Kings. This seems to be a trend in archaeology right now.” Toivari-Viitala says．
Her research group wants to find out why the hut village was built on the slope of a mountain，halfway between the construction site and Deir-el-Medina. They are also interested in how many workers lived in the village at a time, when they lived there, and what their role was in the construction work.
“Comparing the names found in the village and in Deir-el-Medina provides useful information．Judging from the construction methods，settlement in the village can be divided into two separate periods: the initial settlement and a later one.”
For the time being，much is up to guessing, but Toivari-Viitala believes that the coming four field seasons, three months each, will see results.
“The working conditions are not nearly as difficult as I thought they would be. The cool winds in the mountains nicely alleviate the heat.”
The research group working on the “Workmen’s huts in the Theban mountains” project is planning to return to the Valley of the Kings in October..
What does the passage mainly talk about? ________
| A．The hut village in the Valley of the Kings. |
| B．The excavation of the tombs in the Valley. |
| C．The archaeologists working on the excavation. |
| D．Everyday life and work in the Valley of the Kings. |
.
Which of the following is NOT true of the hut village according to the passage? _______
| A．It has been damaged a lot. | B．It can tell us something about ancient Egypt. |
| C．It has attracted archaeologists’ attention. | D．It has a lot of real treasures somewhere in it. |
.
What’s the new trend in archaeology right now acco
rding to Toivari-Viitala?
| A．Being interested in the tombs of kings． |
| B．Examining everyday life and work in the Valley of the Kings. |
| C．Using the huts as rubbish dumps and restrooms． |
| D．Guessing what the result will be beforehand． |
We can infer from the passage that__________.
| A．people know little about the hut village by now |
| B．the workmen’s huts were not discovered until very recently |
C．the research group wor king on the workmen’s huts will suffer a lot |
| D．the hut village is much more valued by archaeologists than the tombs |
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