Louis Armstrong had two famous nicknames (绰号). Some people called him Bagamo. They said his mouth looked like a large bag. Musicians often called him Pops, as a sign of respect for his influence (影响) on the world of music .
Born in 1901 in New Orleans, he grew up poor, but lived among great musicians. Jazz was invented in the city a few years before his birth. Armstrong often said,” Jazz and I grew up together.”
Armstrong showed a great talent (天赋) for music when he was taught to play the cornet (短号) at a boy’s home. In his late teens, Armstrong began to live the life of a musician. He played in parades, clubs, and on the steamboats that traveled on the Mississippi River. At that time, New Orleans was famous for the new music of jazz and was home to many great musicians. Armstrong learned from the older musicians and soon became respected as their equal.
In 1922 he went to Chicago. There, the tale of Louis Armstrong began. From then until the end of his life, Armstrong was celebrated and loved wherever he went. Armstrong had no equal when it came to playing the American popular song.
His cornet playing had a deep humanity (仁爱) and warmth that caused many listeners to say, “Listening to Pops just makes you feel good all over.” He was the father of the jazz style (风格) and also one of the best-known and most admired people in the world. His death, on July 6, 1971, was headline news around the world.
【小题1】Armstrong was called Pops because he _______________.

A.looked like a musicianB.traveled to play modern music
C.showed an interest in musicD.was a musician of much influence
【小题2】The third paragraph is developed ________________.
A.by timeB.by examplesC.by spaceD.by comparison
【小题3】Which statement about Armstrong is true?
A.His tale began in New Orleans.
B.His music was popular with his listeners.
C.He was born before jazz was invented.
D.He learned popular music at a boy’s home.
【小题4】Which would be the best title for the text?
A.The Father of the Jazz StyleB.The Making of a Musician
C.The Spread of Popular MusicD.The Invention of the Jazz Music

Edgar felt quite excited at the thought of his first swim of the summer. With the sun shining down so strongly, the sea was certain to be warm enough. He walked quickly along the sea-front towards the steps that led on to the sands. He smiled cheerfully at the passersby. He had just smiled and raised his hat to an elderly lady when a man with a camera caught his arm and stopped him. Edgar heard a little buzzing noise from the camera.

“Your photograph, sir, in glorious colour in just one moment if you please,” said the man in one breath. Then the buzzing stopped, and he held the photograph in his hand and was waving it to and fro. In a

moment he handed it over, and Edgar saw the bright blue splash of his shirt half filling the picture.

“Seventy pence, sir,” the man said. “It’s the bargain of your holiday.”

“Seventy pence,” Edgar repeated, mildly. “For this?” He stared at the photographer.

“They’re normally eighty-five, sir, but for a single subject I make a cut-price offer. It’s the best value you’ll get in Chadwell.”

“You’ll have to make a better offer,” Edgar said. It was a good photo though, he thought, so bright and clear. His hat was held high, and he was smiling broadly at the old lady, whose arm and handbag came into a lower corner. He had had no idea that he was being snapped. He thought he was really quite a good-looking chap.

“That’s as good as any studio job that would cost you pounds,” said the cameraman. “It’s better in a way because it’s so natural. Only seventy pence, sir.”

“I’ve never paid so much for a snap in my life. It simply isn’t worth that kind of money. It’s not as if I need the thing. Look, I’ll give you twenty-five.”

 “No, I can’t do that. Each of these instant colour shots costs me 50p — that’s the price of the blank frame, so you see…”

“Criminal, criminal,” Edgar broke in. “You want a profit of forty per cent. Well, not at my expense, I’m afraid. I’ll give you your 50p and that’s that.”

“Let me see, then.” The man suddenly took the photograph out of Edgar’s hand. “I can’t waste any more time with you. It’s 70p or I keep it.”

 “Keep it,” Edgar said. He turned, looked out to the sea, and then walked quickly away.

1.Why do you suppose Edgar was in Chadwell?

A. It was his hometown.

B. He was there on holiday.

C. He was in the making of a film.

D. He was there to have his photograph taken.

2.Edgar smiled at and raised his hat to the lady because ________.

A. he thought he recognized her

B. he wanted the photograph to be amusing

C. she was having her photograph taken

D. he was feeling excited and cheerful

3. The photographer lowered his price to 70p because __________.

A. Edgar wanted to bargain for the photo

B. Edgar couldn’t afford to pay the normal price

C. Edgar was the only person in the photo

D. there was only one copy of the photo

4.What did Edgar think of the photo?

A. He thought it made him look like a criminal.

B. He liked it but thought it was too dear.

C. It annoyed him because he hadn’t expected it.

D. He thought it was a bargain at the price.

5.We can infer from the passage that _______ .

A. Edgar was an indifferent but good-looking man

B. Edgar smiled at the photographer because he was being photographed

C. the photographer was actually a criminal

D. Edgar didn’t buy the snap at length.

 

Obama Still Smokes in Secret

US President Barack Obama has just made life more difficult for cigarette makers. He has just signed a law that will set tough new rules for the tobacco industry. The new law gives the US Food and Drug Administration the power to strictly limit the making and marketing of tobacco products.

At a White House signing ceremony Monday, Obama said that he was among the nearly 90% of smokers who took up the habit before their 18 th birthday.

Obama, who has publicly struggled to give up smoking, said he still hadn’t completely kicked the habit. Every now and then he still smokes in secret.

“As a former smoker I struggle with it all the time. Do I still smoke sometimes? Yes. Am I a daily smoker, a constant smoker? No.” Obama said at a news conference.

“I don' t do it in front of my lads.I don ?t do it in front of my family.I would say that I am 95% cured, but there are times when I mess up, " he said.

"Once you go down this path, it' s something you continually struggle with, which is exactly why the law is so important.The new law is not about me, it' s about the next generation of kids coming up.What we don ' t want is kids going down that path," he said.

         Nearly 20% of Americans smoke and tobacco use kills about 440,000 people a year in the United States due to cancer, heart disease, and other serious diseases.

1.The new law makes life difficult for              .

A.Obama

B.tobacco industry

C.White House

D.US Food and Drug Administration

2.What do we know about Obama?

A.He no longer smokes

B.He still smokes as usual

C.He began to smoke at eighteen

D.He is trying hard to give up smoking

3.According to the passage, Obama is most concerned about           

A.children       B.officials

C.his family        D.businessmen

 

The Making of a Surgeon

How does a doctor recognize the point in time when he is finally a “surgeon”? As my year as chief resident (进修医生) drew to a close, I asked myself this question  36  more than one occasion.

The answer, I concluded, was  37 .When you can say to yourself, “There is no surgical patient I cannot treat competently, treat just  38  or better than any other surgeon”-- then, and not until then, you are  39  a surgeon.I was  40  that point.

41  , for example, the emergency situations that we met almost every night.The first few months of the year I had  42  the ringing of the telephone.I knew it meant another critical decision to be  43 .Often, after I had told Walt or Larry what to do in a particular   44  , I'd have trouble getting back to sleep.I'd  45  all the facts of the case and, often, wonder  46  I had made a poor decision.More than once at two or three in the  47  , after lying awake for an hour, I’d get out of   48  , dress and drive to the hospital to see the patient myself.It was the only  49  I could find the   50  of mind I needed to relax.

Now, in the last month of my residency,  51  was no longer a problem.Sometimes I still couldn’t be sure of my decision, but I had learned to  52  this as a constant problem for a surgeon.I knew that with my knowledge and experience, any decision I'd made was bound to be a  53  one.It was a nice feeling.

This all sounds conceited (自负的) and I guess it is --  54  a surgeon needs conceit.He needs it to encourage him in trying moments when he's bothered by the  55  and uncertainties that are part of the practice of medicine.He has to feel that he's as good as and probably better than any other surgeon in the world.Call it conceit -- call it self-confidence; whatever it was, I had it.

1.

A.at

B.in

C.on

D.for

 

2.

A.self-service

B.self-centered

C.self-reliant

D.self-confidence

 

3.

A.as good as

B.as well as

C.as far as

D.as long as

 

4.

A.indeed

B.maybe

C.perhaps

D.even

 

5.

A.waiting

B.standing

C.lying

D.nearing

 

6.

A.Let

B.Take

C.Have

D.Get

 

7.

A.valued

B.avoided

C.feared

D.enjoyed

 

8.

A.made

B.applied

C.included

D.developed

 

9.

A.condition

B.state

C.occasion

D.situation

 

10.

A.retell

B.review

C.revise

D.remind

 

11.

A.if

B.why

C.how

D.when

 

12.

A.evening

B.day

C.morning

D.afternoon

 

13.

A.flat

B.bed

C.house

D.apartment

 

14.

A.means

B.approach

C.method

D.way

 

15.

A.peace

B.trouble

C.sorrow

D.excitement

 

16.

A.driving

B.reviewing

C.sleeping

D.lying

 

17.

A.expect

B.accept

C.respect

D.inspect

 

18.

A.critical

B.poor

C.sound

D.difficult

 

19.

A.but

B.or

C.so

D.and

 

20.

A.confidence

B.conceit

C.solutions

D.doubts

 

Violin prodigies (神童), I learned, have come in distinct waves from distinct regions. Most of the great performers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries were born and brought up in Russia and Eastern Europe. I asked Isaac Stern, one of the world’s greatest violinists the reason for this phenomenon. “It is very clear,” he told me. “They were all Jews and Jews at the time were severely oppressed and ill-treated in that part of the world. They were not allowed into the professional fields, but they were allowed to achieve excellence on a concert stage.” As a result, every Jewish parent’s dream was to have a child in the music school because it was a passport to the West.

Another element in the emergence of prodigies, I found, is a society that values excellence in a certain field to nurture (培育) talent. Nowadays, the most nurturing societies seem to be in the Far East. “In Japan, a most competitive society, with stronger discipline than ours,” says Isaac Stern, children are ready to test their limits every day in many fields, including music. When Western music came to Japan after World War II, that music not only became part of their daily lives, but it became a discipline as well. The Koreans and Chinese as we know, are just as highly motivated as the Japanese.

That’s a good thing, because even prodigies must work hard. Next to hard work, biological inheritance plays an important role in the making of a prodigy. J. S. Bach, for example, was the top of several generations of musicians, and four of his sons had significant careers in music.

1.  Jewish parents in Eastern Europe longed for their children to attend music school because ________.

A. it would allow them access to a better life in the West

B. Jewish children are born with excellent musical talent

C. they wanted their children to enter into the professional field

D. it would enable the family to get better treatment in their own country

2.  Nurturing societies as mentioned in the passage refer to societies that ________.

A. are highly motivated in the education of music

B. treasure talent and provide opportunities for its full development

C. encourage people to compete with each other

D. promise talented children high positions

3.Which of the following contributes to the emergence of musical prodigies according to the passage?

A. a natural gift.                        B. extensive knowledge of music.

C. very early training.                   D. a prejudice-free society.

4.  Which of the following titles best summarizes the main idea of the passage?

A. Jewish Contribution to Music       B. Training of Musicians in the World

C. Music and Society                  D. The Making of Music Prodigies

 

 

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