Paracutin was born in Mexico in February, 1943. At the end of one week Paracutin was 500 feet high, and it is now over 9,000 feet high. Today Paracutin is asleep.

What is Paracutin? It was the first volcano(火山) in the world which was seen from its birth right up to the present day. On February 20, 1943, a peasant and his wife set out to work in their corn fields from the Mexican village of Paracutin. They were surprised to find the earth warm under their feet. Suddenly they heard noises deep in the earth and a small hole appeared in their field. In the afternoon there was a sudden loud noise and stones were thrown high in the air. The peasants ran from the field and turned to watch. They saw the birth of a volcano.

Large quantities of stone and lava(岩浆) broke out and a little hill began to form. By evening this hill was 100 feet high and hot ashes(灰烬) were falling on the village. At night the strong light of the hot lava lit up the countryside. The trees near the village were killed and the villagers had to leave their houses. When the village was destroyed, its name was given to the volcano. The news quickly reached Mexico City, far to the east. Many people came to watch the scene. The volcano grew and grew for ten years and hundreds of square miles of forest were destroyed. Then Paracutin went to sleep.

1.Paracutin was once the name of  .

A. a peasant B. a village

C. an old mountain D. a Mexican

2.Which of the following statements is NOT true?

A. Paracutin is not active now.

B. Paracutin is the first volcano in the world.

C. Paracutin did not exist until the early 1940s.

D. It took Paracutin 10 years to grow to its present size.

3.What was destroyed in the growing up of the volcano?

A. The little hill of stone.

B. The villagers living close by.

C. The forest and fields around Paracutin.

D. The Mexican peasant and his wife.

4.In this passage the writer is trying to  .

A. tell us an interesting happening

B. explain a scientific theory

C. make us believe something

D. make up an interesting story

5.What can we learn about volcanoes from this passage?

A. New volcanoes may appear in places where people do not expect them to be.

B. Volcanoes are always growing.

C. Volcanoes are active from time to time.

D. New volcanoes are active for only ten years.

Commercial advertisement was once thought of as a technique of the marketers to inform the potential buyers about the availability of certain products. It was seen more as a medium to inform the buyers rather than persuade them to buy. The present day marketers see advertisement as a medium to damage the image of their competitors and their products. This indeed, is an undesirable and an immoral practice. Instead of speaking about their own products, these marketers speak about the drawbacks (often without any basics) of the competing products.

People watching TV advertisements would notice that there has always been an advertisement war between the marketers of different consumer goods. A few such cases are given below.

1.Parachute Coconut Oil vs. V.V.D. Gold

Sometime back, the producer of V.V.D Gold Coconut Oil claimed in their TV advertisement that only their products were superior and the one sold in blue colour bottles (the reference was to Parachute coconut oil) was suitable only for un-natural hair.

2.Tata Salt vs. Captain Cook

Tata salt was first iodised (碘处理) salt marketed by an Indian Company. It has been enjoying a good and steady market. Captain Cook, another producer of iodised salt, who entered the market later, had to adopt some strategy to get control of the market. The TV advertisement of Captain Cook stressed on ‘Free flow’ of their salt when transferred to a container. The producer of Tata Salt retaliated (报复) by saying that the claim of Captain Cook was a trick and those who were quality conscious should deal with it with caution.

3.Pepsi vs. Coca Cola

Coca Cola was selected as the official soft drink for the Wills World Cricket 1996. When the cricket series was on, the marketers of Pepsi constantly advertised on TV. Their advertisement gave the idea that the cricketers preferred only Pepsi and as a matter of fact there was nothing official about it.

4.Horlicks vs. Complan

Sometime back, the TV advertisement of Complan, a health drink directly attacked Horlicks, which has been in the market for several decades. The claim of Complan was that their brand (which according to them was Brand C) has a higher percentage of ingredients compared to Brand H (reference was nothing but to Horlicks).

The above examples clearly show how the technique of advertisement is misused by some marketers to ruin the image of their competitors. This, certainly, is not a healthy trend.

Any marketer should only speak about his products and not about his competitors’ products. The awareness of consumers has certainly increased over the years and they are no longer easily taken in. There are many consumer products like salt, oil, shaving blades etc. But one thing for sure is that offering the same product in a different container will not make the product different.

Mass media like Radio, Television and newspaper should not allow advertisements that tell lies. Legal regulations, in this regard, should also be made stricter.

Comparison of the past and the present

In the past

A technique mainly used for offering_________

At present

A trick used as a means of unfair _______

Unhealthy trend of the _______ of advertisement

_______

Products

Wrong _______

V.V.D. Gold

No product of the kind could _______it.

Captain Cook

Captain Cook stressed on their “free flow” when their product was put into a container.

Tata Salt

Tata salt warned consumers to be_______.

Pepsi

Too much advertisement on TV seemed to say that Pepsi was the cricketers’ _______.

Complan

Complan claimed that their product was much

_______in ingredients.

Solutions

●Only products of their own are allowed to be ________ in the advertisement.

●Stricter laws should be made to protect every producer’s and consumer’s benefits.

Popular Music

Popular music is also called pop. It is any type of music that a large number of people ______. It is different from folk (民间的) music, which is the ______ music and songs of common people. It's ______ different from classical (古典的) music, which is often more formal or artistic.

There are many types of popular music, ______ rock, country, rap, rhythm and blues (or R&B), the blues and jazz.

It is very ______ for popular music to be popular for only a short time. New songs regularly ______ hit songs. Even ______ of popular music lose popularity. The styles of big band, soul, and disco are no longer as popular as they once were. ______, some songs and styles have remained popular for ______.

Popular music developed out of many styles of religious (宗教的), folk, and classical music. In the 1800s concert bands and traveling musical groups brought ______ music to more and more people.

In the late 1800s and early 1900s the United States became a(n) ______ center of popular music. Songwriters in New York City wrote many popular songs, ______ African Americans created jazz and other new forms of popular music.

In the early 1900s phonograph records (留声机唱片) appeared, so people could ______ music in their homes. ______the first radio stations began playing popular songs.

Rock and roll, a mixture of country and blues music, ______ in the 1950s. It became wildly popular with young people. Rock is ______ the best?known form of popular music.

In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, radio, television, movies, and the Internet ______ popular music to grow and to change. These ______ made it possible for millions of people to hear a single ______ at the same time. They also helped to ______ popular music into the huge business that it is today.

1.A. try B. enjoy C. share D. remember

2.A. quiet B. light C. serious D. traditional

3.A. also B. never C. just D. already

4.A. except for B. because of C. such as D. instead of

5.A. interesting B. common C. difficult D. terrible

6.A. improve B. influence C. control D. replace

7.A. players B. writers C. types D. concerts

8.A. However B. Besides C. Moreover D. Anyhow

9.A. days B. weeks C. months D. years

10.A. folk B. popular C. classical D. religious

11.A. safe B. strange C. important D. unusual

12.A. and B. but C. since D. so

13.A. create B. record C. turn up D. listen to

14.A. Once B. Soon C. Recently D. Finally

15.A. changed B. continued C. increased D. appeared

16.A. still B. only C. again D. even

17.A. taught B. expected C. helped D. warned

18.A. examples B. inventions C. advantages D. activities

19.A. word B. answer C. notice D. song

20.A. make B. bring C. introduce D. add

After years of heated debate, gray wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park. Fourteen wolves were caught in Canada and transported to the park. By last year, the Yellowstone wolf population had grown to more than 170 wolves.

Gray wolves once were seen here and there in the Yellowstone area and much of the continental United States, but they were gradually displaced by human development. By the 1920s, wolves had practically disappeared from the Yellowstone area. They went farther north into the deep forests of Canada, where there were fewer humans around.

The disappearance of the wolves had many unexpected results. Deer and elk populations — major food sources (来源) for the wolf – grew rapidly. These animals consumed large amounts of vegetation (植被), which reduced plant diversity in the park. In the absence of wolves, coyote populations also grew quickly. The coyotes killed a large percentage of the park’ s red foxes, and completely drove away the park’ s beavers.

As early as 1966,biologists asked the government to consider reintroducing wolves to Yellowstone Park.They hoped that wolves would be able to control the elk and coyote problems.Many farmers opposed the plan because they feared that wolves would kill their farm animals or pets.

The government spent nearly 30 years coming up with a plan to reintroduce the wolvers. The U.S.Fish and Wildlife Service carefully monitors and manages the wolf packs in Yellowstone.Today,the debate continues over how well the gray wolf is fitting in at Yellowstone.Elk,deer,and coyote populations are down,while beavers and red fores have made a comeback.The Yellowstone wolf project has been a valuable experiment to help biologists decide whether to reintroduce wolves to other parts of the country as well.

1.What is the text mainly about?

A. Wildlife research in the United States.

B. Plant diversity in the Yellowstone area.

C. The conflict between farmers and gray wolves.

D. The reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone Park.

2.What does the underlined word “displaced” in paragraph 2 mean?

A. Tested. B. Separated. C. Forced out. D. Tracked down.

3.What did the disappearance of gray wolves bring about?

A. Damage to local ecology. B. A decline in the park’s income.

C. Preservation of vegetation. D. An increase in the variety of animals.

4.What is the author’s attitude towards the Yellowstone wolf project?

A. Doubtful. B. Positive. C. Disapproving. D. Uncaring.

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