For the most part, you are probably only exposed to the music that is played on your favorite radio stations, TV shows, and music websites, or the music that your friends and family members enjoy. While you probably know a lot about your favorite type of music, it can be a rewarding experience to enlarge your horizons( 眼界 )if you are trying to discover artists and types of music that you’re not familiar with. You might discover you like certain types of music you never even considered.

Have you ever wondered about the history and influences of your favorite types of music? For example, do you know that rock and roll originated ( 起源 )from blues, and that blues began as a form of musical expression for African Americans during slavery? Do you know that most hip-hop is heavily influenced by early rhythm of blues and jazz?

There are many fun ways to learn about different musical styles and their historical roots. For example, if you like hip-hop, listen to some of your favorite CDs and take notes of the samples the performers used to create the songs. There is a possibility that the artists used parts of older songs to create the music. You can go to the library or online to learn more about the artists and listen to more of their music by checking out CDs from the library or downloading songs online.

You can learn so much about culture and history just by paying attention to different types of music and what is being expressed in the songs . There are so many different styles of music to learn about, and you owe it to yourself to make an effort to listen to and learn about them.

1.The main topic of this passage is_________.

A. creating music

B. learning about music

C. enjoying your favorite music

D. performing music

2.What music did African Americans use to express their feelings during slavery?

A. Rock and roll B. Hip-hop.

C. Blues. D. Jazz.

3.How can we learn about culture and history through music?

A. By caring about what is being expressed in music.

B. By creating music from older songs ourselves.

C. By writing down the names of the music.

D. By keeping a record of songs after downloading them online.

4.What does the underlined part in the last paragraph mean?

A. You should return something to music.

B. You should try harder to learn about music.

C. You should borrow music CDs from others.

D. You should buy music CDs yourself.

The first time she saw Bryce Loski, she flipped. The first time he saw Juli Baker, he ran. For six years of living close by, they had played the same game of cat-and-mouse (Juli was the cat; Bryce was the unfortunate mouse).

For years Juli dreamed of one thing: her first kiss from the boy. Nothing else seemed to matter. But when Juli’s favorite sycamore tree is threatened by developers, things begin to change. She begins to see things and places and people in a different light. Things, for years, she thought to be important, become things she can live without; and people she thought to be the center of her universe, become nothing more than a star in a faraway galaxy.

Things begin changing with Bryce also. It all begins with the eggs…which then cause a domino effect of changes with his relationships with his best friend, his father, the Bakers and, ultimately, Juli.

I had seen this book on the shelf at bookstores for years, but never bothered to pick it up because it looked to be another book from Jerry Spinelli (not exactly my favorite author in the world) and so, continually, I would walk past it without giving it a second glance. If by chance I had picked it up, I most likely would not have read it, since the summary on the back didn’t seem too appealing. It wasn’t until a couple of weeks ago that I heard about Flipped the movie. I read an interview with Callan McAuliffe (the actor who portrays Bryce) and thought that Flipped was a romance right up my alley; cute, innocent and as far from Jane Austin as you could get. After reading the interview and a summary of the movie, I found the plot-line to be somewhat appealing and a definite breath of fresh air opposed to the dark material I have been recently reading and writing. I found the book a few days later in a Goodwill bookstore and finished it in three days.

The story isn’t what you would consider deep…it isn’t shallow and pointless either…I guess you could say it’s the perfect balance of life-lessons and innocence.

You read about Bryce and Juli (each from their own points of view) and how, throughout six years, their lives and views and opinions change and develop. Flipped is somewhat of a coming of age story about two kids learning to see life from the other’s point of view and learning that growing up isn’t about staying the same, but changing; changing likes and dislikes; changing friends and crushes and views on family.

Uniquely written, every other chapter showing the same scenes and events, only from the other’s point of view, you see how the saying, “Two sides to every story,” is true. You are able to see both Juli and Bryce’s reasons for doing what they do and saying what they say…not just what the other sees.

It will be interesting to see how this writing style comes into play in the movie. Overall I thought this story was incredibly cute and light-hearted, although it didn’t entirely meet my expectations. Especially the ending. I felt as though it ended quite abruptly and that there was more story that needed to be told.

But even with that, after having taken a step back and taken my mind off of Flipped, I find the story has stuck with me and stayed in the back of my mind, making me highly anticipate seeing this book turned to a film. I understand why it has been so popular for almost two decades and am looking forward to seeing Flipped on the big screen soon.

1.According to Paragraphs 1 and 2, what is the relationship between Juli Baker and Bryce Loski?

A. Lovers. B. Neighbors.

C. Daughter and father. D. Sister and brother.

2.What has happened to Juli after her favorite sycamore tree is endangered?

A. Bryce Loski has become an insignificant figure in her life.

B. Things and people around her have changed beyond recognition.

C. She has come to realize that she is the center of the universe.

D. The sycamore tree is nothing more than a star in faraway galaxy.

3.Which of the following sentences best expresses the essential information in the underlined sentence in Paragraph 4?

A. After reading the interview with Callan, the author confirmed his pervious attitude to Flipped.

B. After reading the interview with Callan, the author was deep impressed by his story of romance.

C. It was the interview with Callan that made the author realize that it was a book to his taste.

D. It was the performance of Callan that inspired the author to read the original work.

4.According to Paragraph 6, what is the theme of Flipped?

A. Generation gap. B. Growing pains.

C. Forever love. D. Changing lifestyles.

5.In the author’s opinion, Flipped doesn’t provide us readers with ________.

A. a happy ending for Juli and Bryce B. limited appeal for re-appreciation

C. much space for individual imagination D. a smooth ending to the whole story

6.The passage is mainly about ________.

A. a beautiful love story between Juli Baker and Bryce Loski

B. a cute and innocent love story that you shouldn’t miss

C. how an amazing movie was adapted from a love story

D. how a summary prevents readers from moving forward

Half a century ago, Japan built the world’s first high-speed rail network—a network that remains the gold standard in train travel today. Currently the country is now helping Texas build its own bullet train, a potential game-changer for transportation in the state.

When it launched on October 1, 1964, the world’s first high-speed rail network was known as the “super-express of dreams.” The first line in Japan’s now world-famous shinkansen network was built against all odds, in the face of fierce public opposition, technical difficulties and astronomical costs.

Half a century ago, the system was far humbler. In 1964, the first track was a 320-mile-long link between Tokyo and Osaka that reduced the trip from six-and-a-half hours (on conventional trains) to three hours and 10 minutes, traveling at a maximum speed of 200 miles per hour. For the first time, workers could get to meetings in one city during the day and be back home drinking a beer in the local pub that night.

Not only did the train expand mobility profoundly, but also businesses appeared around the major stops as a growing emphasis on productivity swept across Japan. Today, the shinkansen network has 1,487 miles of track, with more set to open in the coming years. It seems that everything the shinkansen touches turns to city, and regions that are off the beaten track, so to speak, benefit greatly from the economic jumpstart brought by the train. New shinkansen lines are often proceeded by aggressive marketing campaigns promoting tourism in those areas, a strategy that seems to work.

Despite its astronomical costs, it actually has saved more. Today, over 350,000 annual trips transport tens of millions of passengers all over Japan with efficiency—the average delay time is less than a minute. A research report titled 30 Years of High-Speed Railways: Features and Economic and Social Effects of The Shinkansen by Hiroshi Okada, estimates that the economic impact from the shinkansen train network, based on the time saved from faster travel, is approximately ¥500 billion ($4.8 billion USD) per year. Okada stresses that the cultural impact is also significant, a shinkansen offers people living far from urban centers “easy access to concerts, exhibitions, theaters, etc., enabling them to lead fuller lives.”

Japan has a plan, known as the One-Day Travel Initiative. Its goal: regardless of where you are in Japan, it should only take you three hours to get to the nearest major regional city (Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Sapporo or Fukuoka). The planned impact of this hyper-mobility is to discourage the tide of migration toward urban centers, like Tokyo, and encourage decentralization.

1.The underlined phrase in Paragraph 2 probably means “________”.

A. opposed to traditional belief s B. despite some major barriers

C. based on impractical fantasies D. in spite of poor planning

2.According to Okada, what benefit does a shinkansen bring to people living far from urban centers?

A. Saving more travelling time. B. Creating massive employment.

C. Enjoying a more colorful life. D. Accumulating vast wealth.

3.What is the main purpose of the One-Day Travel Initiative?

A. To promote even distribution of population.

B. To advocate urban lifestyle among migrants.

C. To satisfy the increasing needs of urban centers.

D. To include more citizens in urban centers.

Newborns begin to develop language skills long before they begin speaking. And, compared to adults, they develop these skills more quickly. People have a hard time learning new languages as they grow older, but babies have the ability to learn any language easily.

For a long time, scientists have tried to explain how such young children can learn the complicated grammatical rules and sounds of a language. Now, researchers are getting a better idea of what’s happening in the brains of the tiniest language learners. This new information might help kids with learning problems as well as adults who want to learn new languages. It might even help scientists who are trying to design computers that can communicate like people do.

Most babies go “ma ma” by 6 months of age, and most children speak in full sentences by age 3. For many years, scientists have wondered how the brains of young children figure out how to communicate using language. With help from new technologies, scientists are now finding that babies begin life with the ability to learn any language. They get into contact with other people, listen to what they say and watch their movements very closely. That is why they quickly master the languages they hear most often.

Studies show that, up to about 6 months of age, babies can recognize all the sounds that make up all the languages in the world. Starting at around 6 months old a baby’s brain focuses on the most common sounds it hears. Then, children begin responding only to the sounds of the language they hear the most.

In a similar way older babies start recognizing the patterns that make up the rules of their native language. For example, English children who are about 18 months old start to figure out that words ending in “-ing” or “-ed” are usually verbs, and that verbs are action words.

1.The new research in the second paragraph can be helpful in _____.

A. finding successful language learners

B. teaching kids with learning problems

C. designing human-shaped computers

D. improving babies’ language ability

2.The researchers found out that babies learn a language mainly by _____.

A. repeating the words of other people

B. remembering the full sentences they hear

C. hearing and closely watching others speak

D. figuring out the meaning of different sounds

3.The purpose of the text is to _____.

A. discuss

B. educate

C. inform

D. entertain

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