School is much more than a place where students gather to learn. For children, school is their first opportunity for social development and introduction to people outside of their family unit Lessons learned in school go beyond mathematics and language arts. Students learn to develop individual interests and find other people who share their interests.

Music is one of the ways like-minded children come together. When many people talk about the benefits of music education, they're quick to point out all of the numerous and measurable results 0f music education: many studies show the positive impact music programs can have on children in other areas of study.

Dr. Laurel Trainor, a professor of psychology, at McMaster University, has said young children who take music lessons show different brain development and improved memory compared to children who do not receive musical training. Stanford University researchers have found that musical training improves how the brain processes the spoken word, a finding that researchers say could lead to improving the reading ability of children who have dyslexia and other reading problems.

Furthermore, in an analysis of data on more than 25 ,000 secondary school students, researchers at the United States Department of Education found that students who report consistent involvement in instrumental music during middle school and high school perform significantly belter in mathematics.

There are many reasons why music education can help to make a child a better student, but there also being involved in music is also a social endeavor that can set the course for lifelong friends and help create social groups that last through school and beyond. Music education breeds familiarity during a school career ,when going from class to class or from school to school every year can be nerve wracking and unfamiliar.

1.What is the function of the first paragraph?

A. To show school is the place for students to learn.

B To stress the importance of learning knowledge

C To lead to the main topic of the passage

D To explain what the author really thinks of

2.According to the researchers, we can know that .

A. music lovers tend to use their brain in wise way

B music training can cure children of many diseases

C learning music is beneficial to students' performance in mathematics

D senior students disliked attending music lessons

3.What does the underlined word "dyslexia" mean?

Having difficulty with reading

B Receiving training for music

Gaining knowledge from learning

D Losing the ability to read music

4.It can be concluded from the passage that .

A. music can ensure you have lot of close friends

B changing schools is a bad experience for everyone

C music does offer social and understanding benefits

D few schools really focus on music education

Baths and bathing have long been considered of medical importance to man. In Greece there are the ruins of a water system for baths built over 3,000 years ago. The Romans had warm public baths. In some baths, as many 3,000 persons could bathe at the same time.

Treating disease by taking bathing has been popular for centuries. Modern medical bathing first became popular in Europe and by the late 1700’s has also become popular in the United States.

For many years frequent bathing was believed to be bad for one’s health. Ordinary bathing just to keep clean was avoided, and perfume was often used to cover up body smells!

By the 1700’s doctors began to say that soap and water were good for health. They believed that it was good for people to be clean. Slowly, people began to bathe more frequently. During the Victorian Age of the late 19th century, taking a bath on Saturday night became common.

In the United States ordinary bathing was slow to become popular. During the 18th and early 19th centuries, many Americans were known as “The Great Unwashed!” In one American city, for example, a person was only allowed to take a bath every thirty days! That was a law!

Frequency of bathing today is partly a matter of habit. People know that bathing for cleanliness is important to health. Doctors know that dirty bodies increase the chance of diseases. As a result, in the United States, people generally bathe often. Some people bathe once a day at least. They consider a daily bath essential to good health.

1.In the 18th century doctors believed that being clean was _______.

A. unimportant B. good for health

C. harmful D. popular

2.During the Victorian Age _______.

A. the Americans ever took a bath every thirty days

B. frequent bathing was avoided

C. people used perfume to cover up body smells after bathing

D. the British people generally took a bath once a week.

3.The passage is mainly about _______.

A. bathing in the USA

B. the good points and bad points of bathing

C. the history of bathing

D. the modern medical bathing

It is now February 7, 2035. The search engine TalkTalk will be open to the public next week and this service will soon be something beyond your imagination. For the first time you can not only talk to the search engine, but you can discuss with it what you are looking for.

For example, if you want to know more about the oil price, TalkTalk asks if you want to know the current oil price, the development of the oil price, or news related to the oil price. You say that you want to read news about it and TalkTalk then directs you to your source, or lets you have the latest news related to the oil price in order from the most respectable sources.

Compared with other search services that use a certain algorithm (程序) to provide data from a search, the artificial intelligence (人工智能) behind TalkTalk is said to easily spot if a certain source is aiming to cheat the searcher. TalkTalk also judges and stores every given reply and discussion, to learn how to give correct answers. TalkTalk is also set to answer questions directly where there is a definite answer. How well this will work in the long run is yet to be seen, but thousands of people have tested TalkTalk and the quality is really good.

The first talking search engine saw the light of day more than 30 years ago and was called Speegle. It could read the results from a written search on the Internet, and was mostly for blind people.

So far, TalkTalk cannot read the information from a certain source to you by phone, if it is not freely available. There are currently talks to find an arrangement for this, but it would most likely be difficult because of copyright(版权).

TalkTalk is available over the Internet and also by phone, even though it only speaks English. There are no plans to add other languages in the near future, most likely because it will cost a lot of money. When you are tired of asking TalkTalk all your questions, just ask, “Where is TalkTalk?” and you will get an answer that will make you leave it with a smile on your lips.

1.The example in Paragraph 2 is given to show .

A. how to use the search engine TalkTalk

B. how to search for news on the Internet

C. the oil price is a very hot issue currently

D. TalkTalk has a very high intelligence

2.The advantage of TalkTalk is that it can .

A. be available wherever you go

B. tell if a certain source is reliable

C. read the search results for you

D. offer different kinds of search results

3.What can be inferred from the text?

A. TalkTalk can read all the information online.

B. TalkTalk will speak other languages soon.

C. TalkTalk may have a bright future.

D. TalkTalk is very expensive.

4.What would be the best title for the text?

A. Hello, TalkTalk

B. Where is TalkTalk

C. TalkTalk is improving

D. Development of search engines

5.In which part of a future newspaper can you read the text?

A. Opinion. B. Culture.

C. Lifestyle. D. Technology.

Horton

At first glance, there is little in Horton to attract people. The other nearby towns have much more to offer: Bradfield has its river and historic buildings, while Newtown has shops and entertainment. The buildings of Horton look dirty and unloved. For shops, there is a small supermarket, a few bargain shops, a bakery which, strangely, does not sell bread and a florist which has one stand of sad-looking flowers. Even so, Horton has several advantages over its neighbouring towns.

Firstly, it has a country park. Four thousand years ago, this was an important fort. There are no historic remains here now, but there are wonderful views over the countryside. On sunny weekends you can often see kids out with their parents, kicking balls or flying kites.

There aren’t many job opportunities in Horton, and the roads to nearby cities aren’t really fast, but there are excellent rail links. You can be in London in an hour and a half, and other cities are less than an hour away. That means that parents can earn a good salary and still get home in time to spend the evenings with their families. Houses in Horton aren’t pretty, but they’re functional and cheap. The streets are quiet and safe, and there are plenty of parks and playgrounds. It has a library, three primary schools and a secondary school, St. Mark’s. It is friendly and offers a wide range of subjects and activities to children of all abilities and backgrounds. The town also has a swimming and a sports centre, and the community halls hold regular clubs and events for people of all ages.

1.What is the writer’s main purpose?

A. To explain what tourists can do in Horton.

B. To explain why Horton is a good place to live in.

C. To explain why Horton is not as pleasant as other towns.

D. To describe the history of Horton.

2.Which part of Horton does the writer find disappointing?

A. the shops B. country park

C. transport links D. the schools

3.Which of the following is NOT the advantage of Horton?

A. plenty of parks and playgrounds

B. historical buildings

C. the quiet and safe streets

D. functional and cheap houses

4.What advantages does Horton bring to workers?

A. There are plenty of jobs available in the town.

B. You can drive to nearby cities in a short time.

C. You can get to several cities quickly by train.

D. Working conditions are better here than in other towns.

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