For the most part, you are probably only exposed to the music that is played on your favorite radio stations and TV shows, music Web sites, 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）, discovering artists and types of music that you’re not familiar with. Who knows, 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, did you know that rock ‘n’ roll originated（起源）from the blues, and that the blues began as a form of musical expression for African Americans during slavery（奴隶制度）？Did you know that most hip-hop is heavily influenced by early rhythm 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 note of the samples the performers used to create the songs. There is a possibility that the artist 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 for a small fee.
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（欠）it to yourself to make an effort to listen to and learn about them.

1. 1.

   The main topic of this passage is _____.

   1. A.
      creating music
   2. B.
      performing music
   3. C.
      enjoying your favorite music
   4. D.
      learning about music
2. 2.

   What music did African Americans use to express their feelings of being slaves ?

   1. A.
      Rock ‘n’ roll.
   2. B.
      The blues.
   3. C.
      Hip-hop.
   4. D.
      Jazz.
3. 3.

   How can you learn about culture and history through music ?

   1. A.
      By writing down the names of the music.
   2. B.
      By creating music from older songs yourself.
   3. C.
      By caring about what is being expressed in music.
   4. D.
      By keeping a record of fees after downloading songs online.
4. 4.

   By saying the underlined sentence in the last paragraph, the author probably means that _____.

   1. A.
      you should try harder to learn about music
   2. B.
      you should return something to music
   3. C.
      you should borrow music CDs from others
   4. D.
      you should buy music CDs yourself

For many people today, reading is no longer relaxation. To keep up their work they must read letters, reports, trade publications, interoffice communications, not to mention newspapers and magazines: a never-ending flood of words. In  1  a job or advancing in one, the ability to read and comprehend  2   can mean the difference between success and failure. Yet the unfortunate fact is that most of us are   3   readers. Most of us develop poor reading  4    at an early age, and never get over them. The main deficiency   5  in the actual stuff of language itself ——words. Taken individually, words have  6   meaning until they are strung together into phrases, sentences and paragraphs.    7  , however, the untrained reader does not read groups of words. He laboriously reads one word at a time, often regressing（退回） to  8    words or passages. Regression, the tendency to look back over   9  you have just read, is a common bad habit in reading. Another habit which  10   down the speed of reading is vocalization—sounding each word either orally or mentally as  11    reads.

　　To overcome these bad habits, some reading clinics use a device called an  12  , which moves a bar (or curtain) down the page at a predetermined（预先确定的） speeD．The bar is set at a slightly faster rate  13   the reader finds comfortable, in order to “stretch” him. The accelerator forces the reader to read fast,    14  word-by-word reading, regression and subvocalization（默读）practically impossible. At first  15  is sacrificed for speeD．But when you learn to read ideas and concepts, you will not only read faster,   16    your comprehension will improve. Many people have found  17   reading skill drastically improved after some training. 18  Charlce Au, a business manager, for instance, his reading rate was a reasonably good 172 words a minute  19   the training, now it is an excellent 1,28 words a minute. He is delighted that how he can   20  a lot more reading material in a short period of time.  

1．  A．applying B．doing       C．offering   D．getting

2．  A．quickly    B．easily       C．roughly    D．decidedly

3．  A．good       B．curious    C．poor        D．urgent

4．  A．training   B．habits      C．situations        D．custom

5．  A．lies   B．combines        C．touches    D．involves

6．  A．some       B．a lot        C．little        D．dull

7．  A．Fortunately     B．In fact      C．Logically        D．Unfortunately

8．  A．reuse       B．reread      C．rewrite     D．recite

9．  A．what        B．which      C．that D．if

10．A．scales      B．cuts C．slows       D．measures

11．A．some one        B．one   C．he    D．reader

12．A．accelerator      B．actor        C．amplifier D．observer

13．A．then        B．as     C．beyond    D．than

14．A．enabling B．leading    C．making    D．indicating

15．A．meaning B．comprehensionC．gist    D．regression

16．A．but   B．nor   C．or     D．for

17．A．our   B．your        C．their        D．such a

18．A．Look at    B．Take        C．Make       D．Consider

19．A．for   B．in     C．after        D．before

20．A．master     B．go over     C．present     D．get through

A great many people are disappointed because of unrealistic expectations.

Walking up to a department store’s  1   counter, an attractive young woman said, “I want to buy this material for a new dress. How much does it cost?”

“Only one  2   per yard,” replied the smirking (自鸣得意的) male clerk.

Not to be taken back by the funny words, the woman said, “That’s fine! I’ll take ten yards.”

With  3  written all over his face, the clerk hurriedly  4  out and wrapped the cloth, and then held it out teasingly, leaning forward to receive his “   5   ”.

The woman got the package quickly from the clerk and pointed to a little old  6  standing beside her. “Grandpa will pay the bill instead of me,” she  7 .

He was no doubt disappointed. But in the course of living, many people are  8 when others do not  9  their expectations. In order to be happy, some expectations must be dropped. These three particular  10  and unhealthy expectations are some of the main causes:

       1. Expect too much  11 .When others say, “Thank you,” or in any way to show their gratitude, be happy. It is a gift!

       2. Expect others to make you happy. They simply cannot do that. Make yourself happy and  12   your joy with others.

       3. Expect not to be  13 . At times, people will simply not come through for you in the way you need.  14   them and move on.

Get rid of these three unrealistic expectations and you can begin to expect more  15   right away!

A week ago, I had the great pleasure of reading an e-book, When Money Talks, Listen! By Rich Ezzo．It took only about an hour to read.

   When I first received a copy, I thought it was a Get Rich Quick type of publication．Nothing is wrong with Get Rich Quick, but my mind just doesn’t chase after dreams of wealth．I think that if God ever wants me to be rich, he knows where to find my purse.

   When I began reading When Money Talks, Listen!, I was overjoyed to find that Rich Ezzo isn’t money hungry either．He, too, is hungry far more important than money．

Since I love this e-book so much, why wait a week to write the review? Simple．I wanted to see if the effect it had on me was a keeper．After reading the last word of the e-book, I totally agreed with the subtitle which promised to forever change the way we thought about money．I had so many thoughts running around my mind that I had to install(安装) a stoplight to stop some while others made their way into the picture, then I yielded(让路) them as a few ones arrived in town．I had a mental traffic jam, which only goes to show how slow the traffic usually is．

   It has been a week and the effect is the same．I truly do look at money differently and have even done a few things differently this week．This is an e-book you’ll want to read, I promise．I often recommend books to my daughter, and this is one that I didn’t just “suggest”---I left it open at the bottom of the computer and told each one, “Read it, you’ll love it.”

   I would never point someone in a direction I wouldn’t go myself．I urge you to visit the author’s website, Myster Money, and to download the e-book．You won’t regret it.

The author wrote this passage to _________　

       A．strongly recommend an e-book.

　    B．show the author's attitude to money.

　    C．introduce the general idea of an e-book.

　    D．point out Rich Ezzo isn't money hungry.

According to the passage, a Get Rich Quick type of publication ______.

       A．is what the author really cares for

       B．deals with how to make money

       C．is also an e-book written by Rich Ezzo

       D．is more popular than e-books

The author didn't write the review as soon as he finished reading the book because________．

　    A．he was too excited to write anything

　    B．he was not sure whether he did well

　    C．he had to wait for Rich Ezzo's permission

　    D．he wondered if the book would have long influence on him

By saying the underlined sentence in Paragraph 4, the author probably __________.

　    A．shows that the book brought him many new thoughts

　    B．shows how bad the traffic is in town

　    C．describes the difficulty in understanding the book

　    D．explains it's hard to change one's attitude to money

Which of the following is supported by the passage?

      A．The author had known Rich Ezzo before.

　    B．The author hasn't dreamed of getting rich immediately.

　    C．The author always prefers e-books to paper books.

　    D．The author likes Get Rich Quick-type of publications.

A Fan of Dae Jang Geum 《大长今》影迷

Dae Jang Geum (《大长今》) is a hot new Korean TV series. Because of this series, my personal status and living standard have been greatly ___1__. My girlfriend used to cook every evening. Well, now she does nothing but ___2__ in front of the TV when she’s not __3__, and commands me, “You — go to make some instant noodles. Come and watch the play and just imagine we are enjoying Korean __4___.”

She also swears to __5__ all Korean dishes in Dae Jang Geum. So she orders me to __6__ the TV and record any details of Jang Geum’s cooking. But when she presented her version of Korean food, it is like the dog-meal. “You can __7__ get things done if you find the right tools”, my girlfriend blamed her clumsy (笨拙的) kitchen performances on __8__. So I decided to __9__ her a new kitchen knife. In a store, she became unusually __10__ when making her selection. She finally picked one that was __11__ Jang Geum’s. To prove that her slow knife skill was due to the blunt (钝的) knives, she __12__ her cutting. As a result, she hurt her fingers three times. Fortunately the knife is not __13__ the salesman boasts.

My girlfriend is a fan of Jang Geum’s Korean __14__. Not only did she talk about the dress every day, she also threatened to change my tie into a __15__ like the one on Jang Geum’s dress. Finally, I lost my patience and took her to a maternity shop (孕妇专卖店) where I recommend (推荐) one suit to her, “Do you think it looks like a Korean dress?” __16__, my future parents-in-law just happened to be shopping at the time. They were __17__ when they saw what we were doing.

The Dae Jang Geum series __18__ realizing the ambition of the youth. However, it fails to realize my girlfriend’s. __19__ being engaged in her work or study, she simply sits on the sofa every night, staring at the TV, a bag of chips in her hand. This situation has __20_ even though the series is now over.

A. increased       B. degraded           C. depressed                 D. raised

A. stand             B. lie                  C. seat                          D. sit

A. at work          B. at table              C. on leave                   D. on business

A. fruit               B. vegetables         C. dishes                      D. cakes

A. eat                 B. learn                C. cook                        D. perform

A. stand for               B. go by             C. pass by                     D. stand by

A. easily            B. hardly               C. difficultly                 D. carefully

A. her forks        B. her spoons         C. her knives                D. her pans

A. buy                B. borrow              C. lend                         D. fetch

A. careless         B. alert                 C. patient                     D. modest

A. better than     B. the closest shape of   C. sharper than              D. taken from

A. speeded up   B. slowed down            C. brought down           D. improved

A. as fast as       B. as dull as                  C. as slow as                 D. as sharp as

A. diet style       B. dish flavor                      C. dressing style           D. cooking style

A. inside pocket B. butterfly knot         C. pretty collar              D. long belt

A. Coincidently        B. Disappointedly          C. Fortunately        D. Excitedly

A. very puzzled        B. pretty satisfied   C. very pleased         D. pretty shocked

A. shoots at             B. aims at                    C. directs at          D. works at

A. In spite of           B. Because of               C. Instead of               D. In case of

A. changed little       B. turned a lot       C. developed a little      D. improved a lot