You have probably heard of the Mozart effect. It’s the idea that if children or even babies listen to music composed by Mozart, they will become more intelligent. A quick Internet search reveals plenty of products to assist you in the task. Whatever your age there are CDs and books to help you taste the power of Mozart’s music, but when it comes to scientific evidence that it can make you more clever, the picture is more mixed.
The phrase “the Mozart effect” was made up in 1991, but it was a study described two years later in the journal Nature that sparked real media and public interest about the idea that listening to classical music somehow improves the brain. It is one of those ideas that sound reasonable. Mozart was undoubtedly a genius himself; his music is complex and there is a hope that if we listen to enough of it ,we’ll become more intelligent.
The idea took off, with thousands of parents playing Mozart to their children, and in 1998 Zell Miller, the Governor of the state of Georgia in the US, even asked for money to be set aside in the state budget so that every newborn baby could be sent a CD of classical music. It was not just babies and children who were exposed to Mozart’s music on purpose, even an Italian farmer proudly explained that the cows were played Mozart three times a day to help them to produce better milk.
I’ll leave the debate on the impact on milk yield to farmers, but what about the evidence that listening to Mozart makes people more intelligent? More research was carried out but an analysis of sixteen different studies confirmed that listening to music does lead to a temporary improvement in the ability to handle shapes mentally, but the benefits are short-lived and it doesn’t make us more intelligent.
What can we learn from paragraph 1?
| A．Mozart composed many musical pieces for children. |
| B．Children listening to Mozart will be more intelligent. |
| C．There are few products on the Internet about Mozart’s music. |
| D．There is little scientific evidence to support Mozart effect. |
Why did many people believe in the idea of Mozart Effect?
| A．Because a study described it in the journal Nature. |
| B．Because Mozart himself was a genius. |
| C．Because Mozart’s music is enjoyable. |
| D．Because Mozart’s music makes people relaxed. |
The underlined sentence in paragraph3 suggests that .
| A．people were strongly against the idea |
| B．the idea was accepted by many people |
| C．Mozart played an important part in people’s life |
| D．the US government helped promote the idea |
What is the author’s attitude towards the Mozart effect?
| A．Favorable | B．Objective |
| C．Doubtful | D．Positive |
What would be the best title for the passage?
| A．Listening to Mozart , necessary? | B．What music is beneficial? |
| C．What is the Mozart effect? | D．To be or not to be? |
At one time, computers were expected largely to remove the need for paper copies of documents (文件) because they could be stored electronically. But for all the texts that are written, stored and sent electronically, a lot of them are still ending up on paper.
It is difficult to measure the quantity of paper used as a result of use of Internet-connected computers, although just about anyone who works in an office can tell you that when e-mail is introduced, the printers start working overtime. "I feel in my bones this revolution is causing more trees to be cut down," says Ted S
mith of the Earth Village Organization.
Perhaps the best sign of how computer and Internet use pushes up demand for paper comes from the high-tech industry itself, which sees printing as one of its most promising new markets. Several Internet companies have been set up to help small businesses print quality documents from a computer. Earlier this week Hewlett-Packard Co. announced a plan to develop new technologies that will enable people to print even more so they can get a hard copy of a business document, a medical record or just a one-line e-mail, even if they are nowhere near a computer. As the company sees it, the more use of the Internet the greater demand for printers.
Does all this mean environmental concerns (环境问题) have been forgotten? Some activists suggest people have been led to believe that a lot of dangers to the environment have gone away. " I guess people believe that the problem is taken care of, because of recycling (回收利用) " said Kelly Quirke, director of the Rainforest Action Network in San Francisco. Yet Quirke is hopeful that high-tech may also prove helpful. He says printers that print on both sides are growing in popularity. The action group has also found acceptable paper made from materials other than wood, such as agricultural waste. The growing demand for paper in recent years is largely due to ________.
| A．the rapid development of small businesses |
| B．the opening up of new markets |
| C．the printing of high quality copies |
| D．the increased use of the Internet |
Environmentalists believe one possible way of dealing with the paper situation is ________.
| A．to encourage printing more quality documents |
| B．to develop new printers using recycled paper |
| C．to find new materials for making paper |
| D．to plant more fast-growing trees |
Hewlett-Packard Co. has decided to develop new technologies because _______.
| A．people are concerned about the environment |
| B．printers in many offices are working overtime |
| C．small companies need more hard copies |
| D．they see a growing market for printers |
The Americans believe that anybody can become President of the United States. In a recent Hollywood comedy(喜剧), that is exactly what happens.
Dave Kovic, played by Kevin Kline, is a kind-hearted man who runs a business that finds people jobs. He leads a typical(典型的) American way of life, except for one thing－he looks exactly like the President, Bill Mitchell. In fact, the only thing that makes him different from the nation’s leader is that he is very nice!
The president has started using look-alikes during some public appearances. Dave is offered a chance to “serve his country” by becoming one. However, things go wrong. The President becomes very ill and Dave ends up acting as the President forever.
Director Ivan Reitman, who made the popular and successful comedies like Twins, Ghostbusters and Legal Eagles, could have gone for easy laughs by making fun of the American government. Instead, Dave is an attractive comedy about an ordinary man in extraordinary situations. Kevin Kline gives a double performance as Dave and the President, and Sigourney Weaver is at her best as his First Lady. The love story that develops between her role and Dave is a real classic(经典).
The film is 100% American. However, if you’ve ever felt that anybody could do a better job running the country than the people in power, then you’ll enjoy Dave!What is the purpose of the text?
| A．To tell the reader about the American government. |
| B．To discus the Americans’ ideas about the President. |
| C．To make a comparison between Dave and other films. |
| D．To introduce a new film to the reader. |
Who plays the role of the President in the film?
| A．Sigourney Weaver. | B．Kevin Kline. |
C．Bi ll Mitchell. |
D．Ivan Reitman. |
The underlined word “one” in the 3rd paragraph refers to _____.
| A．the President | B．the director | C．an actor | D．a look-alike |
Which of the following is best supported by the text?
| A．The author makes fun of the President. |
B．The author thinks highly of the fi lm. |
| C．The author is a fan of Hollywood comedies. |
| D．The author wishes to become the American President. |
Photographs are everywhere. They decorate the walls of homes and are used in stores for sales of different goods. The news is filled with pictures of fires, floods, and special events. Photos record the beauties of nature. They can also bring things close that are far away. Through photos, people can see wild animals, cities in foreign lands, and even the stars in outer space. Photos also tell stories.
Reporting the news through photos is called photojournalism. At times photojourn
alists tell their stories through a single picture. At other times, they use a group of pictures to tell a story. Each picture is like a chapter in a book, which can do more than record the facts. It can also be a strong force for social change.
Jacob Riis was among the first photojournalists. He took pictures of parts of New York City where the poor lived. Riis believed that poverty caused crime, and he used photos to help him prove his point. A few years later, the photos of small children working in factories by Lewis Hine shocked the public. Hine’s pictures helped bring about laws to protect such children.
Hundreds of pictures may have to be taken in order to get one or two really good photos. It takes science to have the photo come out clearly and art to make a photo that has a good design and expresses feeling. Photojournalists make an actual record of what they see. A photo, however, can be both a work of art and an actual record. It can record an important event as a beautiful or exciting picture.
As historical and artistic documents(文献), photos can become more important over time. Today photojournali
sts still have their pictures appear in newspapers and magazines. They also publish them in books and on the Internet.The underlined word “They” in the first paragraph refers to .
| A．beauties | B．photos | C．goods | D．events |
The photos of the small children by Hine show us that photos .
| A．are also works of art | B．are popular ways of reporting news |
| C．often shock the public | D．can serve as a force for social change |
What can we learn from the passage?
| A．News with pictures is encouraging. |
| B．Photos help people improve their life. |
| C．News photos mean history in a sense. |
| D．People prefer reading news with pictures. |
The text is mainly about .
| A．telling the story through picture | B．decorating the walls of homes |
| C．publishing historical papers | D．expressing feeling through pictures |
In the 1930s, a lot of people in the USA were out of work. Among these people was a man named Alfred Butts. He always had an interest in word games and so, to fill his time, he planned a game which he called ‘Lexico’. However, he was not completely satisfied with the game, so he made a number of changes to it and, in time, changed its name from ‘Lexico’ to ‘Alph’ and then to ‘Criss Cross’. He wanted to make some money from his new ga
me but he didn't have any real commercial success.
In 1939, Butts happened to meet a man called Jim Brunot who showed an interest in the new game. The two men worked together on developing the game and in 1948 it was offered for sale in the United States under its new name —‘Scrabble’.
At first, it didn't sell very well. In the first year it sold just 2,250 sets and by 1951 it had only reached 8,500 sets a year.
Then, in 1952 the manager of Macy's department store in New York, Jack Strauss, happened to play ‘Scrabble’ while he was on holiday. He thought it was a wonderful game and, when he went back to work after his holiday, he insisted that Macy's should stock（储备）the game and make an effort to call the public's attention to it.
As a result, ‘scrabble’ became a big success in the United States
and it soon spread to Australia and then to other English-speaking countries.The text is mainly about .
| A．‘Lexico’ | B．three men | C．a word game | D．Alfred Butts |
Alfred Butts invented the game ‘Lexico’ .
| A．to make himself famous |
| B．to make spelling simpler |
| C．when he was out of work and looking for a job |
| D．when he was playing word games to pass the time |
Who made ‘Scrabble’ popular?
| A．Alfred Butts. | B．Jack Strauss. |
| C．Alfred Butts and Jim Brunot. | D．Jack Strauss and Jim Brunot. |
When did Alfred Butts first put his game on the market?
| A．In 1939. | B．In 1948. |
| C．Before 1939. | D．Between 1939 and 1948. |
Much meaning can be conveyed, clearly, with our eyes, so it is often said that eyes can speak.
Do you have such kind of experience? In a bus you may look at a stranger, but not too long. And if he is sensing that he is being stared at, he may feel uncomfortable.
The same is in daily life. If you are looked at for more than necessary, you will look at yourself up and down to see if there is anything wrong with you. If nothing goes wrong, you will feel angry toward other’s stare at you that way. Eyes do speak, right?
Looking too long at someone may seem to be rude and aggressive. But things are different when it comes to stare at the opposite sex. If a man glances at a woman for more than 10 seconds and refuses to avert his gaze, his intentions are obvious. That is, he wishes to attract her attention, to make her understand that he is admiring her.
However, the normal eye contact for two people engaged in conversation is that the speaker will only look at the listener from time to time; in order to make sure that the listener does pay attention to hat the former is speaking, to tell him that he is attentive.
If a speaker looks at you continuously when speaking, as if he tries to dominate you, you will feel disconcerted. A poor liar usually expose s himself by looking too long at the victim, since he believes the false ides that to look straight in the eye is a sign of honest communication.
In fact, continuous eye contact is confined to lovers only, who will enjoy looking at each other tenderly for a long time, to show affection that words cannot express.
Evidently, eye contact should be done according to the relationship between two people and specific situation. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．It is always very rude and aggressive to look at others for a long time. |
| B．One’s feelings can be shown through their eyes. |
| C．If a stranger looks at you for some time, he must be attracted at you.. |
| D．If you are stared at by a stranger, you must look very awkward. |
How can we tell if someone possibly lying?
| A．If he looks at you directly in the eye for too long. |
| B．If he looks at you occasionally. |
| C．If he looks honest. |
| D．If he looks attentive. |
What is suggested if you ate talking to others?
A. You’d better look at the listener all the time.
B. You are advised to try to dominate the listeners.
C
. You are supposed to look at the listeners from time to time.
D. You should not make eye contact with listeners.If two persons exchange eye contact gently for long, what is probably their relationship?
| A．Father and son. | B．Strangers. | C．Lovers. | D．Teacher and student. |
Where can we read this passage?
| A．In a textbook. . | B．In a science journal. | C．In a magazine. | D．In a psychology report. |
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