C

Some of the world’s most famous musicians recently gathered in Paris and New Orleans to celebrate the first annual International Jazz Day. UNESCO( United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) recently set April 30 as a day to raise awareness of jazz music, its significance, and its potential as a unifying(联合) voice across cultures.

Despite the celebrations, though, in the U.S. the jazz audience continues to shrink and grow older, and the music has failed to connect with younger generations.

It’s Jason Moran’s job to help change that. As the Kennedy Center’s artistic adviser for jazz, Moran hopes to widen the audience for jazz, make the music more accessible, and preserve its history and culture.

“Jazz seems like it’s not really a part of the American appetite,” Moran tells National Public Radio’s reporter Neal Conan. “What I’m hoping to accomplish is that mu generation and younger start to reconsider and understand that jazz is not black and write anymore. It’s actually color, and it’s actually digital.”

Moran says one of the problems with jazz today is that the entertainment aspect of the music has been lost. “The music can’t be presented today the way it was in 1908 or 1958. It has to continue to move, because the way the world works is not the same,” says Moran.

Last year, Moran worked on a project that arranged Fats Waller’s music for a dance party, “Just to kind of put it back in the mind that Waller is dance music as much as it is concert music,” says Moran. “For me, it’s the recontextualization. In music, where does the emotion(情感) lie? Are we, as abstract as a Charlie Parker record gets us into a dialogue about our emotions and our thoughts? Sometimes we lose sight that the music has a wider context,” says Moran, “So I want to continue those dialogue. Those are the things I want to foster.”

1.Why did UNESCO set April 30 as International Jazz Day?

A.To remember the birth of jazz.

B.To protect cultural diversity.

C.To encourage people to study music.

D.To recognize the value of jazz.

2.What does the underlined word “that” in Paragraph 3 refer to?

A.Jazz becoming more accessible.

B.The production of jazz growing faster.

C.Jazz being less popular with the young.

D.The jazz audience becoming larger.

3.What can we infer about Moran’s opinion on jazz?

A.It will disappear gradually.

B.It remains black and white.

C.It should keep up with the times.

D.It changes every 50 years.

4.Which of the following can be the best title for the text?

A.Exploring the Future of jazz.

B.The Rise and Fall of jazz.

C.The Story of a jazz Musician.

D.Celebrating the Jazz Day.

Polar bears are one of the most popular animals for people. Polar bears are different from every other bear in the world. This is because polar bears have white fur. However, there are many facts about polar bears that people might not be aware of .

The skin of polar bears is black, which according to thinkquest.org allows them to absorb more heat from the sun. Polar bear fur is transparent , because it is made up of hollow guard hairs. Loc.gov explains that the reason polar bears display white fur is that when the sun hits the fur ,the hollow spaces in the hair scatter the light. Since none of the light is absorbed, the light reflected back appears white to human eyes.

Polar bears’ conservation status is considered close to extinction. Global warming is considered the main cause of the decline in polar population. Polar bears use ice floats to hunt for their food. However, these ice floats are melting so polar bears are starting to drown in the search for food ,and the food is becoming more difficult to get. Contrary to popular belief, polar bears do not eat penguins ,because polar bears are not found in the Antarctic region of the world. Polar bears are only found around the Arctic Circle. Polar bears do not drink water. They get all the water they need from the prey they eat.

FES. Gov specifies that polar bears are considered the largest land carnivores(食肉动物) in the world. The polar bear weight ranges between 700--1,500 pounds. Since the polar bear habitat is melting away, their main evolutionary advantages are fading. Polar bears are not able to use their camouflage(伪装) to find prey in habitats not covered with snow. Polar bears do not hibernate(冬眠). However, when the weather gets uncomfortable, or mothers give birth, polar bears will dig themselves a hidden home.

What can we do to help save the polar bears? We can donate to organizations like the World Wildlife Fund, reduce our carbon footprint, and send letters to politicians explaining to them that we need to set up more preserves to help save the polar bear habitat.

1.What do we know about the fur of the polar bears?

A. It absorbs more heat from the sun.

B. It is black and hollow.

C. Light can pass through it.

D. It is white actually.

2.What does “main evolutionary advantages” in Paragraph 4 refer to?

A. Hibernation habit B. The function of their fur

C. Eating meat D. Their weight

3.What do we know from the passage?

A. Polar bears face danger due to the melting of ice floats.

B. The biggest polar bears weigh about 1,000 pounds.

C. Polar bears never hibernate and do not need water.

D. Polar bears are the largest carnivores in the world.

4.Which of the following ways is NOT the measure used to protect polar bears according to the passage?

A. Donating to wildlife conservation organizations.

B. Trying our best to reduce greenhouse gases.

C. Writing letters to make people protect polar bears.

D. Setting up more polar bear conservation organizations.

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