Last week Adele's second album, 21, sold 257,000 copies in the UK, a sales figure that would look incredible as an opening sales week for any album by any global superstar. The fact that the album was celebrating its 10th week at No.1, and that each of the previous nine weeks it had sold over 100,000 copies, makes what Adele has achieved look miraculous. The last female singer to spend that long at No.1 in the UK was Madonna in 1990 with her greatest hits compilation, The Immaculate Collection.
For Adele, the success of 21 is part of a perfect storm of talent, timing and a connection that went beyond gender, age and credibility. But what does it say about the state of the music industry? Does Adele's success signal a return to the MOR(适合大众口味的音乐) musical depression, when the likes of James Blunt dominated the charts? Her success may well lead to a great many similar acts aiming for an MOR audience, but that's more the fault of an industry desperate to recreate any kind of success by creating poor copies until the world shouts "stop now".
What seems to have set Adele apart is her apparent ordinariness, besides that incredible voice. While Gaga parades around in a dress made of meat and Beyonce orbits a world out of touch to the majority of most human beings, Adele's chain-smoking, girl-you'd-like-to-go-to-the-pub-with persona stands out. Even for a British act, her ordinariness goes against trend, with fellow Jessie J adopting a very American habit of over-emoting, talking about a "journey" and making the idea of being a pop star seem fairly difficult.
It's this universality and broad appeal that's helped her translate talent into sales. While the first single from 21, Rolling in the Deep, appealed to Radio 1 listeners and bloggers, the second single, Someone Like You, is so successful that silenced the grand O2 Arena during this year's Brit Awards. The press can write pages and pages in that there's enough of a connection of musicians – Rick Rubin worked on the album, there's a cover of the Cure, Mumford & Sons were an influence – while the gossip magazines have been excited by the fact that the album is one long break-up record, eager to find the ex.
In 1990, Madonna was a global superstar with a back catalogue of era-defining hits to her name. She was untouchable and, tellingly, unknowable. She was (and still is) a megastar, but a megastar of a different age. These days, we want to know a bit more about our artists; that they have relationship problems, walk their dog. Her selling point and appeal is precisely the fact that she exists at the point between everyday ordinariness and pop star.
For now, Adele's success should be celebrated, especially for becoming an unlikely global star on her own terms. The danger is that we're headed for a lot of fairly boring pop, a situation that led to the "birth" of Gaga a few years back. Pop goes in cycles and it feels like we're headed back towards the very middle of MOR.Adele’s achievement seems unbelievable for the reason that ____________.
| A．the sales of her second album achieved an incredible success last week in the UK |
| B．her second album ranked first in a row with the incredible average sales per week |
| C．Madonna was the last female singer in the UK to stay at No. 1 as long as she did |
| D．she is such an ordinary singer with so fascinating a voice in the music industry |
According to the author, the success of Adele’s second album __________________.
| A．to a large extent depends on her apparent talent for music |
| B．is because of her extraordinariness and the wonderful voice |
| C．lies in gift, timing and something beyond sex, age and trust |
| D．is largely due to the state of the music industry currently |
Compared with other female pop stars, what does the author think of Adele?
| A．She stands out in a totally different way from Gaga and Beyonce. |
| B．She and Madonna are contemporary megastars in music. |
| C．Only she and Madonna spent that long at No.1 in the UK. |
| D．Jessie J and she both have an American habit of expressing themselves. |
What helped Adele successfully turned her gift of singing into sales?
| A．Her musical talent. |
| B．The joint work of musicians in the album. |
| C．Her incredible voice. |
| D．Her universality and broad appeal. |
The author thinks that the current musical trend in the UK is _______________.
| A．satisfying | B．disappointing | C．dangerous | D．desperate |
If you feel at present that you don’t have enough friends in your life, one reason may be that you have let yourself become too busy to make time for the relationships you already have. Starting and keeping friendship require effort and commitment(责任，义务，承诺).
Many of us let our lives become so busy with work and other commitments that we don’t get around to scheduling time for pleasure and renewal (叙旧) with the friends, relatives and acquaintances we already have.
Making the effort to call your friends more regularly and to accept more of the invitations you receive from others can improve your social life in a hurry!
Are there any people you could call right now and be assured of a pleasant welcome? Are there people that you could depend on to help you in time of difficulty? Can you have close talks with them? Do you have fun when you are together? Are you happy to have them in your life?
If you haven’t seen much of them lately, is it because you have become too busy? Have you grown apart? Was there an argument?
If the main reason you haven’t been getting together with the people you already know is that you have gotten too busy, take a good look at how you spend your time. Compare it with your real values and priorities(优先考虑的事) in life. Is your busy lifestyle really bringing you the quality of life that you want?
If you have become too busy for friends, why has this happened? Are you seeking material joys in your life at the expense of relationships with other human beings? Have you allowed your time to be over-committed because you never say ‘‘No” to anyone? Do you insist on doing things yourself that could be delegated to others? If so, why? Do you believe that everything depends on you?
Examine whether the way you are now spending your time exactly reflects your deepest values and priorities. Make sure that you schedule enough time for the things that are truly most important to you.
If you really want to keep friends in your life, make a space in your schedule, and a space in your heart for them.In this passage the author mainly discusses ______.
| A．how to balance friendship and work |
| B．how to spend our spare time |
| C．whether we should keep friendship |
| D．whether we should invite friends to dinner |
What does the underlined word “delegated” probably mean?
| A．appointed (分派) | B．replaced | C．reduced | D．handled |
The reason why you have become too busy for friends may be the following except that ______.
| A．you spend too much time seeking material joys in your life |
| B．you feel it difficult to keep friendship |
| C．you stick to doing everything all by yourself |
| D．you never refuse whatever other people ask you to do |
Which would be the best title for the text?
| A．Too busy for Friendship? | B．Too busy with work? |
| C．How to Spend Your Time | D．How to Make New Friends |
It was the first day of school. I stood up to look around when a gentle hand touched my shoulder. I turned around to find a little old lady smiling at me. She said, “Hi handsome. My name is Rose. I’m eighty-seven years old. Can I give you a hug?”
I laughed and said, “Of course!” And she gave me a big hug. “Why are you in college at such an age?” I asked.
She jokingly replied, “I’m here to meet a rich husband, get married, and have kids and then retire and travel.”
“No seriously.”
“I always dreamed of having a college education and now I’m getting one!”
We became friends at once. Over the course of the year, Rose easily made friends wherever she went. She loved to dress up and she was happy with the attention given to her from the other students. At the end of the term we invited Rose to speak at our football banquet（宴会）. I’ll never forget what she taught us in her speech.
“We do not stop playing because we are old; we grow old because we stop playing. There are only four secrets to staying young, being happy and achieving success. You have to laugh and find humor every day. You’ve got to have a dream. When you lose your dreams, you die. We have so many people walking around who are dead and don’t even know it! There is a huge difference between growing older and growing up. If you are nineteen years old and lie in bed for one full year and don’t do one useful thing, you will turn twenty years old. If I am eighty-seven years old and stay in bed for a year and never do anything, I will turn eighty-eight. Anybody can grow older. That doesn’t take any ability. The idea is to grow up by always finding opportunity to do productive things. Have no regrets（遗憾；后悔）. The elderly usually don’t have regrets for what we did, but we regret for things we did not do.”
At the year’s end Rose finished the college degree. One week after graduation Rose died peacefully in her sleep. Over two thousand college students attended her funeral to honor the wonderful woman!While meeting Rose at the college for the first time, the author was curious about _______.
| A．her age | B．her life | C．her purpose | D．her dream |
By saying “I’m here to meet a rich husband, get married, and have kids and then retire and travel”, Rose was trying to be ___________.
| A．humorous | B．amazing | C．confident | D．smart |
What else did Rose most probably say at the football banquet?
| A．“It seems that my young days are over.” |
| B．“Don’t do much in order to stay young.” |
| C．“The people who fear death are those with regrets.” |
| D．“When we are old, we can do nothing.” |
The story of Rose in the text shows that ___________.
| A．it is good to make friends with old people |
| B．it is necessary to have a college education for old people |
| C．it is important to have a healthy body when people are getting old |
| D．it is never too late to be what you can possibly be |
The National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., is one of the world’s greatest art museums. Millions of people have entered its doors to see paintings by the world’s fine artists. But if these priceless masterpieces are to be preserved, the Gallery must protect them carefully. The Gallery’s 135-man guard force has successfully prevented them from being stolen, but protecting the paintings from nature is a greater problem.
In past times, the owners of paintings did not protect them from damaging changes in humidity（湿度）and temperature. As a result, the life of these paintings were shortened. In the National Gallery, however, humidity and temperature are carefully controlled. The building is air-conditioned in summer and heated in winter. The air-conditioning and heating system are so important to the life of the painting that the Gallery has two of each system. If one should fail, the extra one can take over.
Light is another enemy of paintings. Ultraviolet rays（紫外线）in light cause paintings to fade（褪色）. Long ago, paintings often hung in dark churches and palaces. A coat of varnish（清漆）was a protection from the weak light. But when museums took over the care of many paintings, they were often hung in brighter light than before. Soon they were in danger of fading. The damaging effects of light were increased when the museums removed the varnish coating, yellowed with age.
To protect its paintings, the National Gallery put a special kind of glass in its skylights. This glass allows visible lights to enter the building but it keeps out harmful ultraviolet rays. The Gallery has also developed new and better varnishes which help to keep paintings from fading. Thanks to these new precautions, many of the world’s greatest paintings are being well protected for future generations to enjoy.The text mainly tells us about_________________________.
| A．the guard force in the National Gallery |
| B．protecting great paintings from nature |
| C．priceless paintings of past times |
| D．the air-conditioning and heating systems in the National Gallery |
Which of the following is NOT an enemy of paintings?
| A．Varnish. | B．Temperature. | C．Light. | D．Humidity. |
The underlined word “precautions” in Paragraph 4 is closest in meaning to ____________.
| A．decorations | B．problems | C．suggestions | D．applications |
From the text we can infer that________________________.
| A．great artists painted in dark churches and palaces |
| B．you can touch these paintings while you are in the National Gallery |
| C．the care of the world’s greatest paintings is both a big responsibility and a great challenge |
| D．the guard force in the Gallery has not done a good job |
A Letter from Steve Jobs
August 24, 2011
To the Apple Board of Directors and the Apple Community,
I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come.
So I resign（辞职）as CEO of Apple. I would like to serve, if the Board feels fit, as Chairman of the Board, director and Apple employee.
As far as my successor goes, I strongly suggest that we name Tim Cook as CEO of Apple.
I believe Apple’s brightest days are ahead of it. And I look forward to watching and contributing to its success in a new role.
I have made some of the best friends of my life at Apple, and I thank you all for the many years of being able to work alongside you.
Steve
More Information:
Steve Jobs (February 24, 1955—October 5, 2011) was an American businessman, designer and inventor. He is best known as the co-founder, chairman, and CEO of Apple Inc. Unluckily, in 2003, Jobs was diagnosed（确诊）with a pancreas neuroendocrine tumor（胰腺癌）. Although the cancer was treated in the first place, he appeared thinner as his health fell. On medical leave for most of 2011, Jobs finally made a decision to resign as Apple CEO in August that year. Shortly after that, on October 5, he died. He continues to receive honors and public attention for his influence in the technology and music industries.Why did Jobs resign as CEO of Apple according to the letter?
| A．He was found seriously ill in 2003. |
| B．He felt he could no longer meet the responsibilities as a CEO. |
| C．He would like to be Chairman of the Board rather than CEO. |
| D．He was on medical leave for most of 2011. |
Which of the following statement is NOT true?
| A．After receiving the medical treatment, Jobs was in good health again. |
| B．Tim Cook was a friend and co-worker of Jobs. |
| C．People will remember and honor Jobs for his influence in the technology and music industries. |
| D．Jobs believed that Apple would have a bright future. |
What is Jobs’ mood when writing this letter?
| A．Optimistic for the company |
| B．Sorry for himself |
| C．Grateful to his friends and co-workers |
| D．All the above |
A group of teenagers: they laugh and talk over each other, dance and make faces — you wouldn’t believe they had just played on the same stage as famous American singers Kid Cudi and Eminem.
These seven kids, all under the age of 20, are members of the band Kids These Days (KTD).
Fresh out of high school, the band already has done things that most teens couldn’t even imagine. They played at festivals including the recent SXSW in Austin and Lollapalooza in their hometown, Chicago, to crowds of loyal fans.
KTD uses a mix of hip-hop, jazz, blues and classic rock to make a sound of their own.
“KTD simply mixes most, if not all of my favourite music styles,” said Kamia Jones, as Chicago high school student.“I like that they aren’t afraid to be different and that their music is real and speaks to the soul.”
The band formed two years ago. Now, as well as local fans, they are becoming popular around the world. Their facebook page is filled with supportive posts from admirers from California to Tokyo.
“It’s really strange to me that people from London, Australia and Russia... They have heard
of us and they like our music because it’s really cool feeling,” says Marcie Stewart, who plays keyboard for the band.
Despite their recent fame, KTD is a group of normal teenagers and they remain very close to one another. While talking to the reporters, they dance and make fun of each other.
When asked what advice they would give to other teen musicians, Greg Landfair, KTD’s drummer, said, “Keep your heart in it. Never lose the music and what you are doing, because that’s what you’re here for. Let the music always be first.”KTD’s music is popular among teenagers mainly because ________.
| A．it is about the strange life of teenagers |
| B．it mixes many music styles teenagers love into their music |
| C．all the band members are young and handsome |
| D．the band members dance and make fun of each other |
What do we know about KTD?
| A．They are all of the same age. |
| B．They are as famous as Kid Cudi and Eminem. |
| C．There are five members in the band. |
| D．They have fans around the world. |
According to Greg, teen musicians should___________.
| A．make music close to their lives |
| B．always think of the needs of the fans |
| C．love the music they are playing |
| D．stay close to the group member |
The author wrote this article to___________.
| A．show the kind of music teenagers love |
| B．encourage young musicians to play music |
| C．describe a special music style |
| D．introduce a successful band of teenagers |
粤公网安备 44130202000953号