It is winter in many parts of the world. For some areas, that means snow. Maybe even lots of snow. If you don’t have to drive in it or remove it, snow can be very beautiful. When snow covers everything around you, the world looks like a “winter wonderland”. That is the name of a very popular song about winter. Richard Smith and Felix Bernard wrote the song back in 1934. There are hundreds of recordings of this happy song.
But winter is not always such a beautiful and happy time. It’s cold outside. You try hard to keep warm. The days are darker and shorter. The sun rarely shines. The leaves on the trees are brown. It isn’t surprising that some people are sad in winter. And some people dream about being somewhere else where it’s warm and pretty—like the state of California. The Mamas and the Papas recorded this famous song “California Dreaming”.
During the 1960s, many other famous rock groups released songs about winter. Here is a poetic song by Simon and Garfunkel called “A Hazy Shade of Winter”. They sing about life and hope and possibilities.
In 1968, the group Blood, Sweat and Tears recorded this gentle, sad song about winter. They sing about a lost love and forgotten memories in “Sometimes in Winter”.
In the early 1990s, Tori Amos wrote and recorded the beautiful song called “Winter”. She enjoyed singing about winter when she was a child.
Finally, on a happier note comes this song written and recorded by Fountains of Wayne in 2003. They sing about a snowstorm in a New England town. Nothing unusual there. But instead of being sad or tense about the snow, they write a song about it.
【小题1】 The underlined sentence “For some areas, that means snow.” probably means 
_____ .

A.In some areas, when it’s winter, it must snow
B.In some areas, it often snows in winter
C.In some areas, it’s important to snow
D.In some areas, people like snow in winter
【小题2】 According to the second paragraph, winter is _____ .
A.beautiful and happyB.happy and warm
C.lovely and hopefulD.cold and sad
【小题3】Which of the songs can bring us hope of life?
A.Winter Wonderland.B.California Dreaming.
C.A Hazy Shade of Winter.D.Sometimes in Winter.
【小题4】What does the passage mainly talk about?
A.Winter in different areas.B.Different ideas about winter.
C.Songs about winter.D.Winter is cold but happy.

I’m sure you know the song “Happy Birthday”. But do you know who wrote the song and for whom it was written?
The retired professor, Archibald A. Hill in Lucasville, USA could tell us the story. Ninety-seven years ago, two of Mr. Archibald Hill’s aunts, Miss Patty Hill and Miss Mildred Hill were asked to write some songs for a book called “Song Storied for the Sunday Morning”. Miss Patty Hill and Miss Mildred Hill were both kindergarten teachers then. They loved children very much and wrote many beautiful songs for the book. One of them was the famous “Good Morning to You.” The song said, “Good morning to you, good morning to you,  children, good morning to all.” This song was very popular at that time among kindergarten children. But not many grown-ups knew it. A few years later little Archibald was born. As his aunt, Miss Patty Hill sang the song “Happy Birthday” to the melody(曲调) of “Good Morning to you” to her little nephew(侄子). She sang the song like this: Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday, Archie! Happy birthday to you!
Miss Patty Hill and her sister had never expected that this song would become so popular, but it really did. People all over the world like the song because of its simplicity in tune(曲调简单) and friendliness in words.
【小题1】Archibald A. Hill was _______.
A. English        B. American        C. Russian         D. Australian
【小题2】 Professor Archibald A. Hill was Miss Mildred Hill’s ______.
A. son        B. student       C. brother        D. nephew
【小题3】The song “Happy Birthday” has a history of _______ years.

A.97B.more than 90C.less than 90D.about 90
【小题4】 The sentence “it really did” means _______.
A.The song really became popular
B.Their wish would really come true
C.People all over the world like to listen to the song
D.Yes, but the song didn’t become popular

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