Glynis Davis:

I first piled on the pounds when I was in the family way and I couldn’t lose them afterwards. Then I joined a slimming club. My target was 140 pounds and I lost 30 pounds in six months. I felt great and people kept saying how good I looked. But Christmas came and I started to slip back into my old eating habits. I told myself I’d lose the weight at slimming classes in the new year… but it didn’t happen. Instead of losing the pounds, I put them on. I’d lost willpower and tried to believe that the old bag of fish and chips didn’t make any difference — but the scales don’t lie.

Roz Juma:

To be honest, I never weigh myself any more. I’ve learnt to be happy with myself. It seemed to me that I would feel sorry about every spoonful of tasty food that passed my lips. My idea is simple. You shouldn’t be too much thinking about food and dieting. Instead, you should get on with life and stop dreaming of a super thin body. This is obviously the size I’m meant to be and, most of all, I’m happy with it.

Lesley Codwin:

I was very happy at winning Young Slimmer of the year. I’d look in the mirror unable to believe this slim lady was me! That might have been my problem — perhaps from then on I didn’t pay any attention to myself. Winning a national competition makes everything worse, though. Because you feel the eyes of the world are fixed upon you. I feel a complete failure because I’ve put on weight again.

Ros Langfod:

Before moving in with my husband Gavin, I’d always been about 110 pounds, but the pleasant housework went straight to my waist and I put on 15 pounds in a year. Every so often I try to go on a diet… I’m really good in a few days, then end up having the children’s leftovers or eating happily chocolate — my weakness. I’d like to be slim, but right now my duty is the children and home. I might take more exercise when my kids are older.

1.What do you think the four women were talking about?

A．Different diets they prefer.

B．Their life after marriage.

C．Tex books for students.

D．Their own slimming matter.

2.Where are these short passages most likely to be taken from?

A．Talks on the air.

B．Advertisements on the wall.

C．Books in a library.

D．Magazines for children.

3.What does the underlined word “scales” possibly mean?

A．The coach in the slimming club.

B．Some tool to measure weight.

C．Glynis Davis’ dear husband.

D．The salesperson in a food shop.

4.Which of the following best describes each of the four women’s attitudes towards slimming?

① Glynis Davis        a. I put on weight soon after I got married.

② Roz Juma            b. Frame doesn’t necessarily mean success.

③ Lesley Codwin       c. Facts speak much louder than words.

④ Ros Langfod         d. I like myself as I am, and to be what you are.

A．①-a; ②-d; ③-b; ④-c                   B．①-c; ②-b; ③-d; ④-a

C．①-c; ②-d; ③-b; ④-a                   D．①-a; ②-b; ③-c; ④-d

DJs (disc jockeys) are the people who play and present music on the radio, or in nightclub. A VJ (video jockey) is a person who introduces music videos on television.

VJs were first seen on television in the early 1980s when MTV went on the air. As MTV caught on, and the audience for music videos expanded, a variety of other music video channels started broadcasting. In addition to rock music, there were channels for people who were into alternative kinds of music, such as country music, light rock, and R & B, and all of these channels needed VJs. By the 1990s, international music video channels like Channel V in Asia and VIVA in Europe had started.

The VJs for the new international stations had to be chosen carefully. Although some VJs did shows focused on small audiences and showed mostly local content, other VJs presented shows for international viewers. These VJs, and the material they presented, needed to be popular in several different cultures.

One successful international VJ in Asia is Asha Gill. She is from Malaysia, but parents and grandparents are from India, France, and England. She speaks three languages and has fans across Asia, from Japan to the United Arab Emirates.

Another VJ who has made a big hit in Asia is Lili. She is actually a computer-animated VJ on MTV Asia. An actress wearing special computer equipment makes Lili move like a puppet. The actress also talks for Lili, and her shows can be seen in five languages.

When asked what makes a good video jockey, many successful VJs have given similar answers. To be a good VJ you need to know a lot about music, you need to be funny, and you can’t be shy.

1.What is the reading mainly about?

A. how to become a VJ                    B. the most popular VJ today

C. the differences between DJs and VJs       D. some general information about VJs

2.What kind of music did the first VJ probably introduce?

    A. classical            B. rhythm and blues      C. rock and pop         D. country    

3.What do Channel V and VIVA have in common?

    A. They are both owned by MTV.

    B. They are music video channels in Asia.

    C. They do not use VJs to introduce the music.

    D. They have viewers in more than one country.

4.Which is NOT true about Asha Gill?

    A. She speaks more than one language.           B. Her family were all born in Malaysia.

    C. She’s popular in quite a lot of Asian countries. D. She is a successful VJ.

5. Which of the following does the passage NOT mention as being important for someone who wants to be a VJ?

    A. speak many different languages             B. listen to a lot of music

    C. talk easily with different people             D. being able to make people laugh

For a song to become popular, people need to hear it. In order for people to hear it, the program directors at radio stations have to play it on the air. A song’s popularity is directly related to how often it is played. That is a big responsibility for program directors. How do they decide what gets played and what doesn’t?
In the past, disc jockeys(音乐节目支持人) decided what music was played on the radio. These DJs had an ear for music and an understanding of what their audience wanted to hear. Today, that is all changing. Most major radio stations are owned by a few large national businesses. The decision of what gets played on the radio is made by executives(主管) who have little or no interest in music. They do, however, know how to run a business, and they know what sells. So, the music industry designs and creates pop entertainers, and executives in the radio industry make sure that their music is played on the radio. This explains why you do not often hear anything new and fresh on the radio. The executives do not want to give air time to music that has not been tested on the market. It is too risky. They prefer to go with music that they already know will sell. They know it will sell because it sold last week and last month and last year. They just have to change it a little.
One of the most criticized(批评)practices in the music industry is the practice of “payola”. This is when record companies pay radio stations to play the music of a given artist. This practice makes many people lose trust in the music industry and is therefore against the law. A radio station can accept money in exchange for air time of a song, but they have to make clear that the song is being played because its air time was paid for. They cannot present the song as if it were part of the normal play schedule.
Payola affects both artists and audiences. The artists who work with small record companies that cannot pay a lot of money to radio stations have a much harder time getting exposure. It creates an unfair playing field. Music lovers suffer because they are not able to hear all the music that is available.
67. According to the passage, most major radio stations belong to _______.
A. national businesses    B. program directors     C. pop entertainers        D. record companies
68. “Payola” is the practice of ________.
A. artists paying radio stations to play their songs
B. record companies buying air time for certain music
C. radio station paying record company for new songs
D. program directors deciding what music gets played
69. Who can make the largest profits from payola?
A. Disc Jockeys.    B. The given artists.     C. Business executives.      D. Program directors.
70. It can be concluded from the passage that the author _______.
A. has a positive attitude towards the practice of “payola”
B. is dissatisfied with the present situation in music industry
C. is calling for a change in the normal play schedule
D. thinks that the radio stations are doing the right thing

七选五（共5小题；每小题2分，共10分）

根据短文内容，从短文后的七个选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。

The band that wasn’t

Have you ever wanted to be part of a band as a famous singer or musician? Have you ever dreamed of playing in front of thousands of people at a concert, at which everyone is clapping and appreciating your music? Do you sing karaoke and pretend you are a famous singer like Song Zuying or Liu Huan? To be honest, a lot of people attach great importance to becoming rich and famous.      1    

Many musicians meet and form a band because they like to write and play their own music. They may start as a group of high-school students, for whom practising their music in someone's house is the first step to fame. Sometimes they may play to passers-by in the street or subway so that they can earn some extra money for themselves or to pay for their instruments.      2      Of course they hope to make records in a studio and sell millions of copies to become millionaires!

     3      It was called the Monkees and began as a TV show. The musicians were to play jokes on each other as well as play music, most of which was based loosely on the Beatles. The TV organizers had planned to find four musicians who could act as well as sing. They put an advertisement in a newspaper looking for rock musicians, but they could only find one who was good enough. They had to use actors for the other three members of the band.

     4      So during the broadcasts they just pretended to sing. Anyhow their performances were humorous enough to be copied by other groups. They were so popular that their fans formed clubs in order to get more familiar with them. Each week on TV, the Monkees would play and sing songs written by other musicians. However, after a year or so in which they became more serious about their work, the Monkees started to play and sing their own songs like a real band. Then they produced their own records and started touring and playing their own music.     5     . The band broke up about 1970, but happily they reunited in the mid-1980s. They produced a new record in 1996, with which they celebrated their formal time as a real band.

A. In the USA they became even more popular than the Beatles and sold even more records.

B. The Monkees’ television show stayed on the air for years after the group broke up. .

C. However, there was one band that started in a different way.

D. But just how do people form a band?

E. Later they may give performances in pubs or clubs, for which they are paid in cash.

F. Most of us probably have our favorite performers, stars or bands, but many of us also want to discover new sounds and rhythms.

G. As some of these actors could not sing well enough, they had to rely on other musicians to help them.

DJs (disc jockeys) are the people who play and present music on the radio, or in nightclub. A VJ (video jockey) is a person who introduces music videos on television.
VJs were first seen on television in the early 1980s when MTV went on the air. As MTV caught on, and the audience for music videos expanded, a variety of other music video channels started broadcasting. In addition to rock music, there were channels for people who were into alternative kinds of music, such as country music, light rock, and R & B, and all of these channels needed VJs. By the 1990s, international music video channels like Channel V in Asia and VIVA in Europe had started.
The VJs for the new international stations had to be chosen carefully. Although some VJs did shows focused on small audiences and showed mostly local content, other VJs presented shows for international viewers. These VJs, and the material they presented, needed to be popular in several different cultures.
One successful international VJ in Asia is Asha Gill. She is from Malaysia, but parents and grandparents are from India, France, and England. She speaks three languages and has fans across Asia, from Japan to the United Arab Emirates.
Another VJ who has made a big hit in Asia is Lili. She is actually a computer-animated VJ on MTV Asia. An actress wearing special computer equipment makes Lili move like a puppet. The actress also talks for Lili, and her shows can be seen in five languages.
When asked what makes a good video jockey, many successful VJs have given similar answers. To be a good VJ you need to know a lot about music, you need to be funny, and you can’t be shy.
【小题1】What is the reading mainly about?