Today, we talk to an up-and-coming (有前途的) erhu player, Lee Hang, from Hong Kong. He’ll play with the Hong Kong Orchestra (管弦乐队) next Sunday in a special concert by young Chinese musicians.

Interviewer: Thank you for talking to us, Lee. You must be very excited.

Lee: Yes, I am. This is the first time that I’ve played with such a famous orchestra and in front of so many people. They’re expecting about 4,000 people.

Interviewer: Does that scare you?

Lee: To be honest, yes. I haven’t slept much in the last few days. But my teacher told me I wouldn’t take it seriously enough if I wasn’t scared. That helped a lot.

Interviewer: Tell me about why you started playing the erhu.

Lee: My parents took me to piano and violin lessons. I quite liked them but they had to force me to go sometimes. One night, I saw a documentary about Yo Yo Ma, the famous Chinese American cello(大提琴) player. He talked about his love of Chinese instruments and we should follow our interests. I always enjoyed listening to Chinese instruments like the erhu and guzheng. That inspired me to learn the erhu. My parents were glad that I was playing something I actually liked.

Interviewer: What do your friends think of you playing a Chinese instrument?

Lee: Well, a lot of my classmates think playing things like the erhu isn’t cool. I don’t care. It makes me happy. I got a letter from Yo Yo, saying how much he admired me and that he’d like to meet me next time when he’s in Hong Kong. They thought that was pretty cool!

Interviewer: And what does the future hold for you?

Lee: I’d like to study music in a university in China then hopefully play in orchestras. My ambition is to bring the beautiful sound of the erhu to all the corners of the world.

Interviewer: Well, if anyone can, it’s you. Thanks for talking to me, Lee. Good luck.

Lee: Thanks.

What will Lee Hang do next Sunday?

A. He will have an interview. 

B. He will talk to a newspaper reporter.

C. He will play a Chinese musical instrument at a concert.

D. He will study in a university in China.

Lee _______ because of the concert.

A. hasn’t been sleeping well    B. hasn’t been sleeping 

C. will meet 4000 people       D. has been afraid of his teacher

Lee started playing the erhu ________ a film about Yo Yo Ma.

A. before seeing   B. while seeing   C. after seeing    D. to copy

Lee likes playing the erhu _______ the piano and violin.

A. less than   B. as much as   C. more than    D. because his parents like

Lee’s friends thought _______ was great.

A. getting a letter from a famous musician     B. writing a letter to a famous musician

C. playing Chinese musical instruments       D. seeing Yo Yo Ma in Hong Kong

The lights dimmed,the musical hall grew quiet and out walked the conductor (指挥) shiny and white and 4 feet and 3 inches tall.

ASIMO, a robot designed by Honda Motor Co., met its latest challenge Tuesday evening: Conducting the Detroit Symphony (底特律交响乐团), in a performance of “The Impossible  Dream” from “Man of La Mancha”.

“Hello, everyone,” ASIMO said to the audience in a childlike voice, then waved to the orchestra. As it conducted, it perfectly mimicked (模仿) the actions of a conductor,

nodding its head at various sections and gesturing with one or both hands. ASIMO took a final bow to excited shouts from the audience. Later, cellist Yo-Yo Ma joined ASIMO onstage to receive an award for his efforts in music education.

Honda spokeswoman Alicia Jones says it is the first time ASIMO has conducted an orchestra, and it may be the first time any robot has conducted a live performance. But ASIMO has its  limits. ASIMO's engineers programmed the robot to mimic Charles Burke, the Detroit Symphony's education director, as he conducted the piece in front of a pianist about six months ago. But it can't respond to the musicians.

“It's not a communicative device. It simply is programmed to do a set of gestures,” said Leonard Slatkin, the orchestra's musical director. “If the orchestra decides to go faster, there's nothing the robot can do about it. Hopefully, I keep that under control.”

But several musicians also said ASIMO was more realistic than they expected. “The movements are still a little stiff (僵硬的), but very humanlike, much better than I thought,” Hutchinson said.

1.What's the audience's response to ASIMO's performance?

A.Disappointed.

B.Moved.

C.Excited.

D.Astonished.

2.Whose conducting was ASIMO made to copy?

A.Yo-Yo Ma's.

B.Charles Burke's.

C.Leonard Slatkin's.

D.Alicia Jones's.

3.We can learn from the passage that ASIMO ________.

A.was designed and trained by Yo-Yo Ma

B.can communicate with the audience freely

C.only performs according to the designed programs

D.can change its conducting style freely

4.What would be the best title for this passage?

A.Detroit Symphony gives a good performance

B.Honda robot conducts Detroit Symphony

C.“The Impossible Dream” from Detroit Symphony

D.Cooperation between Honda and Detroit Symphony

 

完形填空。
     Years ago, in a small fishing village in Holland, a young boy taught the world about the rewards of unselfish
service.
     Because the entire village lived on fishing, a volunteer rescue team was needed in case of emergency. One
night, the winds   1  , the clouds burst and a strong storm overturned a fishing boat at sea. The crew in
trouble   2   the SOS. The captain of the rescue rowboat team   3   the alarm and the villagers   4   in the town
square overlooking the sea. When the team started their rowboat fought their way through the wild waves, the
villagers waited   5   on the beach, holding lamps to   6   the way back.
     An hour later, the rescue boat reappeared through the fog and the   7   villagers ran to greet them.
Falling   8   on the sand, the volunteers reported that the rescue boat could not hold any more   9   and they had
to leave one man behind. Even one more passenger would have surely  10  the rescue boat and all would have
been lost. 
      11 , the captain called for another volunteer team to  12  the survivor. Sixteen -year-old Hans stepped
forward. His mother grabbed his arm, crying, "please don't go. Your father  13  in a shipwreck (船只失事) 10
years ago and yo ur elder brother, Paul, has been lost  14  for three weeks. Hans, you are all I have left."
     Hans replied, "Mother, I have to go.  15  everyone said I can't go, let someone else do it? Mother, this time
I have to do my duty. When the call for service  16 , we all need to take our turn and do our part. Hans kissed
his mother, joined the team and  17  into the night."
     Another hour passed, which seemed to Hans' mother like a century.  18  the rescue boat dashed through the
fog with Hans standing up in the bow.  19  his hands, the captain called, "did you find the lost man?"  20  able
to control himself, Hans excitedly cried back, "Yes, we found him. Tell my mother it's my elder brother, Paul!"
(     )1. A. stilled        
(     )2. A. set about        
(     )3. A. sounded         
(     )4. A. gathered         
(     )5. A. nervously        
(     )6. A. hope            
(     )7. A. promising       
(     )8. A. uncomfortable    
(     )9. A. villagers       
(     )10. A. pushed          
(     )11. A. Anxiously     
(     )12. A. look after      
(     )13. A. died            
(     )14. A. in the fire     
(     )15. A. How about       
(     )16. A. comes          
(     )17. A. appeared        
(     )18. A. Therefore        
(     )19. A. Making          
(     )20. A. Hardly          
B. screamed    
B. sent out     
B. set          
B. followed     
B. angrily      
B. light        
B. hoping       
B. exhausted    
B. sailors      
B. pulled       
B. Strangely    
B. look for     
B. pulled       
B. at sea       
B. What for     
B. goes         
B. disappeared      
B. Firstly      
B. Keeping      
B. Only         
C. stopped        
C. came up with  
C. took           
C. fought           
C. fearfully      
C. expect        
C. cheering       
C. disturbed      
C. captains       
C. overturned     
C. Unexpectedly      
C. lookout       
C. went           
C. on strike     
C. What if         
C. flies          
C. came            
C. when          
C. Showing         
C. Seldom      
D. calmed          
D. took over      
D. made            
D. struggled         
D. happily         
D. try             
D. standing         
D. painful          
D. passengers                    
D. settled          
D. Doubtfully        
D. look on          
D. interrupted      
D. in the war    
D. What with        
D. climbs           
D. went              
D. Finally        
D. Cupping           
D. Always       
完形填空。

     Learning experiences happen to us throughout our lives.Not long ago,I had one that I
 would like to__1__.I was going to Marblehead with my sailboat team.The team was racing 
down the highway at 85 mph__2__,we realized we were__3__.Luckily,we saw a rest area 
ahead?.I had a brand-new (崭新的)$20 bill.I was so__4__ because I had never had that 
kind of cash before.But spending it on__5__seemed like throwing it away.We all rushed into 
the pizza line.__6__I got a pizza and a drink,and walked to my table.About halfway through
 the meal,I__7__I had not actually handed any money to the cashier.I had just__8__out,and
 nobody had noticed.I felt terrible.?
     My conscience(良心)opened its mouth and swallowed me in one big bite.I couldn’t__9__
over it.I just couldn’t go back to the cashier and__10__for my stolen pizza.I was so upset 
that I __11__ to give myself the pleasure of an ice cream for __12__that someone would 
say,“Hey,Jeff,why don’t yo u use the change __13__ the pizza instead of that nice,new $20 
bill?” I was not __14__of my cash now.?
     For the next two years,whenever I was __15__of the “pizza incident”,I would say to 
myself,“Don’t think about it...”?
     I have learned two things from this __16__.Maybe I was a fool for __17__in to my 
conscience,and being too stupid to appreciate a __18__pizza.But the real lesson is that even 
if you get away from what you have done your conscience will __19__ up with you.?
     This reflects the saying,“A coward (懦夫)dies a thousand deaths,a hero dies one.” I was
 a coward and have felt terrible about that incident at least a thousand times.If I had been a 
“__20__” and gone back to pay for the pizza,I would have felt a little uncomfortable about 
it only once,or maybe twice.

(     )1.A.say
(     )2.A.as
(     )3.A.lost
(     )4.A.excited
(     )5.A.rest
(     )6.A.Luckily
(     )7.A.thought
(     )8.A.walked
(     )9.A.look
(     )10.A.ask
(     )11.A.refused
(     )12.A.hope
(     )13.A.into
(     )14.A.sure
(     )15.A.warned
(     )16.A.experience
(     )17.A.turning
(     )18.A.free
(     )19.A.make
(     )20.A.coward

B.talk
B.while
B.tired
B.eager?
B.food
B.Finally?
B.recognized?
B.left
B.get
B.pay
B.wanted
B.surprise
B.with
B.upset
B.reminded
B.experiment?
B.taking
B.cheap
B.wake
B.fool

C.share
C.then
C.hungry
C .satisfied
C.travel
C.immediately
C.noticed
C.worked
C.turn
C.apologize
C.hoped
C.anger
C.for
C.proud
C.thought
?C.story
C.handing
C.plain
C.catch
C.loser

D.explain?
D.when?
D.anxious?
D.encouraged?
D.drink?
D.Actually ?
D.realized ?
D.found?
D.think
D.send?
D.meant
D.fear?
D.from?
D.pleased
D.told?
D.mistake
D.giving?
D.delicious
D.put
D.hero

   Parents need to be good role models to help their children make sensible financial decisions, according to Adam Hancock and hs team, from East Caronlina University in the US. Their work highlights that parents who argue about finances contribute to increasing credit card debt among their children during their students years. Their work is published online in Springer's Journal of Family and Economic Issues.

   Credit card debt among college students has been a growing concern for researchers and policymakers over the last decade. In addition, there is growing concern among educators that more students are dropping out of school, not because of academic failure, but because of financial reasons, and credit card especially. Hancock and colleagues' study is the first to examine how parental interactions, and financial knowledge and attitudes may have a cumulative effect(累积效应)on the number of credit cards students own and their level of credit card debt.

   The researchers analyzed data for 420 undergraduate students from seven different American universities, who took part in the College Student Financial Literacy Survey. According to the online survey, nearly two-thirds of students had a credit card, and nearly a third had more than one. Those students who reported that their parents argued about finances were more likely to have more than two cards than the students whose parents who did not argue about finances.

In terms of debt, those students who had two or more credit cards were nearly three times more likely to report having credit card debt over $500.

The researchers conclude, "It is clear that the influence of parents cannot be neglected. Researchers, educators and policymakers should work in finding effective ways to increase the positive financial behaviors fo college students. We need to help students learn financial skills and establish healthy financial attitudes at earlier ages to prevent poor financial habits from taking root."

31. In Adam Hancock's research, student's credit card debt is related to their _________.

   A.knowledge            B.concerns           C.school            D.parents

32. When college students have credit card debt, they may ________.

   A.quit school                                B.fail in their exams  

   C.study financial knowledge                    D.have more credit cards

33. What can we infer from Paragraph 3?

   A. More than 400 students i a university took the survey.

   B. The survey was conducted with the paper questionnaire.

   C. Nearly all the students in this survey have credit cards.

   D. Students have fewer cards if their parents argue more.

34. If you have two or more credit cards, you are more likely to ________.

   A.get wealthy           B.have argument       C.buy more things   D.become in debt

35. As a student, what can yo learn from the passage?

   A. We need to turn to our parents when we have credit card debt.

   B. We should build correct financial attitudes when we are young.

   C. We shouldn't have credit cards so that we can avoid argument.

   D. We can have more credit cards to make life more comfortable.

                                      

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