Americans have contributed to many art forms, but jazz, a type of music, is one of the art forms that was started in the United States. Black Americans, who sang and played the music of their homeland, created jazz.
Jazz is a mixture of the music of Africa, the work songs the slaves sang, and religious（宗教）music. Improvisation is an important part of jazz. This means that the musicians make the music up as they go along, or create the music on the spot. This is why a jazz song might sound a little different each time it is played.
Jazz bands formed in the late 1800s.They played in bars and clubs in many towns and cities of the South, especially New Orleans. New Orleans is an international seaport, and people from all over the world come to New Orleans to hear jazz.
Jazz became more and more popular. By the 1920s,jazz was popular all over the United States. By the 1940s,you could hear jazz not only in clubs and bars, but in concert halls as well. Today, people from all over the world play jazz. Jazz musicians from the United States, Asia, Africa, South America, and Europe meet and share their music at festivals on every continent. In this way jazz continues to grow and change.What can be the best title of the passage?
| A．American Art Forms | B．The Development of Jazz |
| C．The Music of Black Americans | D．The Birthplace of Jazz |
From the text it can be inferred that_________.
| A．New Orleans is the place where jazz was first produced |
| B．the American people are all jazz lovers |
| C．jazz is merely sung by the black when working |
| D．jazz may become more popular as time goes on |
It took about _________ years to make jazz popular in the United States.
| A．200 | B．120 | C．80 | D．40 |
When I was learning calligraphy (书法), my teacher told me a story.
A calligrapher taught handwriting. One of his students who often practiced handwriting with old sheets of newspaper complained that he made very little progress though he had learned it with the calligrapher for a long time. His teacher said to him, “Try to use the best paper. Maybe you'll write better.”
The student did as he was told. It really worked. He made headway not long afterwards and felt curious. He asked his teacher about the reason. The calligrapher answered，“When you used old newspaper to practice handwriting, you would think you were writing a draft. It didn't matter if you wrote badly as old newspaper was plenty in supply. In that case you wouldn't pay much attention to it. Now you use the best paper and you'll treasure it. Each time you write you feel strongly about the rarity of chances and you'll devote to it with all your heart and soul; you'll do the handwriting much more attentively than practicing. Of course you've made rapid progress.”
Indeed, we spend our ordinary days just as they are worthless “old newspaper”．We don't care if we scrawl and waste it, thinking that it will come endlessly—the “old newspaper” is inexhaustible. In such a mood we may each day pass by opportunities but fail to catch any of them.
Life is not a military exercise but an actual war in which real weapons are used. In everyday life there's no chance for us to draft. That's because what we call “draft” actually is the answer sheet we write that cannot be changed.
Every day of our life is something new. Let us take every day as a sheet of the best paper.The calligrapher in the story told the student to write on the best paper because he thought ________.
| A．the student would practice more carefully on the best paper |
| B．it was comfortable to write on the best paper |
| C．the student had enough money to buy the best paper |
| D．the student could write more on the best paper |
The student didn't make much progress at first because ________.
| A．he didn't follow his teacher's advice |
| B．he was too poor to buy better paper to write on |
| C．he regarded his writing on old newspaper just as a draft |
| D．he was not used to the calligrapher's teaching manner |
We learn from the passage that ________.
| A．the student finally gave up |
| B．the student made rapid progress by practicing more carefully |
| C．the calligrapher was strict with his students |
| D．old newspaper is not useful |
Which of the following is true according to the passage?
| A．What teachers say is always true. |
| B．Success calls for attentiveness. |
| C．Handwriting is easy to practice. |
| D．New things are always better than old ones. |
The writer wants to tell us that ________.
| A．there are some good ways to practice handwriting |
| B．life is like old newspaper |
| C．we should learn from the student in the story |
| D．life will not give us a chance to draw a draft |
阅读表达 （满分10分）
[1]A researcher who helped make crops grow in dry land areas received the World Food Prize last week. Daniel Hillel was recognized for his work in developing what is called “micro-irrigation" or “drip irrigation." It has made farming possible in places where there is little rainfall or water.
[2]Daniel Hillel's farm near his home in Israel shows his ideas at work. “Each tree row is fed by these plastic tubes that drip water at the base of the tree." Watering plants drop by drop has changed agriculture by reducing the amount of water needed to grow crops.
[3]Farmers now depend on drip irrigation in many areas, including vineyards in Spain, onion fields in Africa, and even farms in the United States. Farmers in California grow about fifty percent of the fruits and vegetables of the continental United States. And the reason that is possible is because of these drip and micro-irrigation techniques.
[4]Daniel Hillel was born in California. After his father died, his mother moved the family to Palestine, where her parents lived. The area eventually became part of the state of Israel. Daniel Hillel got his start in dry land farming as a settler in Israel's Negev Desert in the 1950s. “The issue was efficient use of water because land is available and extensive while Water is limited."
[5]Desert farmers were not able to push water through irrigation canals to their crops the way farmers have since ancient times. So Mr. Hillel and others gave plants just what they needed, just where they needed it. The idea was to apply the water little by little. The method worked so well that soon Mr. Hillel was traveling the world, showing others _____.Why did Daniel Hillel win the World Food Prize? ( no more than15 words)
_____________________________________________________________________How did drip irrigation change agriculture? ( no more than12 words)
_____________________________________________________________________Fill in the blank in Paragraph 5 with proper words. ( no more than 5words)
_____________________________________________________________________What’s the main idea of the text? ( no more than 12 words)
________________________________________What does the underlined word “it” (Line3, Paragraph 1) probably refer to?
(no more than 3 words)
__________________________________________________________________
Clothes can make phone calls, play music, dial your pal's number, keep you warm during cold weather and operate your computer.
This is not a fantasy. A British company, called Electrotextiles, has created a wide range of clothes—clothes that have minds of their own! Scientists, working for the company, have invented a kind of fabric that can be blended (混合) with flexible electronic materials to create intelligent clothing. The results are electronic garments.
If you think the wearer has to be wired to different devices, think again. These designer clothes are wire-free, soft to touch and washable! Like any electronic device, these high-tech clothes have to be powered. Currently, a tiny nine-volt battery serves the purpose. But the researchers hope that in the near future the clothes will generate electricity by using body heat. These clothes are 100% shock proof, they say.
The Electrotextiles team has also created the world's first cloth keyboard. This keyboard can be sewn into your trousers or skirt. To use this device, you will have to sit down and tap on your lap! These “lap-tap” gadgets (器具)are all set to take over laptop computers!
Another useful garment is the shirt-cum-mobile phone. This handy invention enables drivers to chat comfortably with others at the wheel! Other popular electronic wear include the denim(牛仔布) jacket with flexible earphones sewn into the hood(风帽) and the electronic ski jacket with a built-in heater. The ski jacket is also programmed to send signals to a satellite. This technology is known as global positioning system and can be used to track lost skiers and wandering kids.
Having completed the cloth keyboard, scientists have already started to work on a new project—a necktie that can be used as a computer mouse. What is the next? Do you have any idea?The electronic garments are similar to other electronic devices in that________.
| A．they use electricity to generate power |
| B．they feel smooth and soft |
| C．they can be washed in water |
| D．they are made from flexible materials |
How will researchers improve these high-tech clothes?
| A．A tiny nine-volt battery will work. |
| B．The wearer will not get shocked. |
| C． Body heat will be used to generate electricity |
| D．They will get charged automatically. |
What does the underlined phrase “This handy invention” in Paragraph 5 refer to?
| A．The laptop computer. |
| B．The electronic ski jacket. |
| C．The shirt-cum-mobile phone. |
| D．The world's first cloth keyboard. |
If you are going on a ski adventure, which device do you need?
| A．The cloth keyboard. |
| B．The electronic ski jacket. |
| C．The necktie to be used as a mouse. |
| D．The denim jacket with earphones. |
The main purpose of the text is________.
| A．to advertise for an English company |
| B．to predict the future trend of science |
| C．to show how rapidly science develops |
| D．to introduce some intelligent clothing |
New rules for pubs and clubs, including a ban (禁令) on drinking games like the awful "dentist's chair", will be introduced in Britain this year to prevent the heavy drinking culture, which costs the country billions of pounds a year.
Other activities like "all you can drink for 10 pounds ", "women drink free" nights and speed drinking competitions will also be banned.
But, on the other hand, offers of cheap alcohol in supermarkets will not be affected, which is widely regarded as one of the main sources of Britain's problems with under-age and over-drinking.
Doctors and health experts argue that the government has failed to use its most effective weapon, the taxation(征税) of minimum price controls on alcohol.
Home Secretary Alan Johnson said that the government and the industry had a duty to act on heavy drinking." These bans have a real impact on society, not to mention the lives of those who just want to enjoy a good night out," he said.
“The dentist's chair”, where drinks are poured directly into the mouth by others, was made famous by the celebrations of footballer Paul Gascoigne at Euro '96. That game and others that promote large consumption will be banned from April and publicans (酒店老板) will have to ensure free tap water is made available to the drinkers.
The government says over-drinking costs Britain up to 12 billion pounds a year and has announced that any pubs that go against the new mandatory code (强制性规定) will face severe punishment. For instance, publicans and vendors (小贩) could lose their licenses, be fined up to 20,000 pounds ($32,750) or face six months in prison.New rules for pubs and clubs will be introduced in Britain to ban heavy drinking because ________.
| A．people drink too much without paying taxes |
| B．drinking games are infamous |
| C．drinking competitions are very crazy |
| D．drinking in the country costs too much |
Some people believe when the tough new rules come into effect, ________.
| A．supermarkets will stop selling alcohol in low prices |
| B．“women drink free” nights will not be closed |
| C．over-drinking will still not be stopped |
| D．under-age people will not continue drinking |
What is probably the most effective way to control alcohol?
| A．bans | B．education | C．force | D．taxation |
According to the passage, “the dentist’s chair” is ________.
| A．a chair for the patient whose teeth should be treated |
| B．a drinking game made famous by the celebrations of footballers |
| C．a way to advertise different types of alcohol |
| D．to be banned in October this year |
What’s the main idea of the passage?
| A．Heavy drinking will be banned in Britain. |
| B．Over-drinking will be taxed. |
| C．Drinking in Britain will be banned. |
| D．12 billion pounds is spent on drinking. |
Are morning people born or made? In my case it was definitely made. In my early 20s, I hardly went to bed before midnight, and I would always get up late the next morning.
But after a while I couldn’t ignore the high relationship between success and rising early. On those rare occasions where I did get up early, I noticed that my productivity (效率) was always higher. So I set out to become a habitual early riser. But whenever my alarm went off, my first thought was always to stop that noise and go back to sleep. Eventually some sleep research showed that my strategy was wrong.
The most common wrong strategy is this: supposing you’re going to get up earlier, you’d better go to bed earlier. It sounds very reasonable, but will usually fail.
There are two main schools (流派) of thought on sleep patterns. One is that you should go to bed and get up at the same time every day. The second school says you should go to bed when you’re tired and get up when you naturally wake up. However, I have found both are wrong if you care about productivity. If you sleep at fixed hours, you’ll sometimes go to bed when you aren’t sleepy enough. You’re wasting time lying in bed awake.
My solution is to combine both methods. I go to bed when I’m sleepy and get up with an alarm clock at a fixed time. So I always get up at the same time (in my case 5 a.m.), but I go to bed at different times every night.
However, going to bed only when I’m sleepy, and getting up at a fixed time every morning are my ways. If you want to become an early riser, you can try your own.According to the passage, the underlined phrase refers to ________.
| A．people who stay up until the next morning |
| B．people who get up early in the morning |
| C．people who feel sleepy in the morning |
| D．people whose productivity is the lowest in the morning |
Why did the author want to become a habitual early riser?
| A．Because he / she wanted to have more sleep time. |
| B．Because he / she wanted to do morning exercise. |
| C．Because he / she wanted to test which school is better. |
| D．Because he / she found that the productivity was higher. |
The author experienced all the following EXCEPT ________.
| A．going to bed after midnight |
| B．asking scholars for advice on sleeping habits |
| C．getting up early occasionally |
| D．pressing off the alarm to go on sleeping |
What’s the author’s sleep pattern?
| A．Going to bed early and getting up early. |
| B．Going to bed late and getting up late. |
| C．Going to bed when sleepy and getting up at a fixed early time. |
| D．Going to bed early and getting up late. |
The passage is mainly about ________.
| A．main schools of thought on sleep patterns | B．how to have a good sleep |
| C．wrong strategies for getting up early | D．how to become an early riser |
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