Popular music in America is what every student likes.Students carry small radios with earphones and listen to music before class, after class, and at lunch.Students with cars buy large speakers and play the music loudly as they drive on the street.
Adult drivers listen to the car radio as they drive to work.They also listen to the news about sports, the weather, and the life of American people.Most of the radio programmes are music.
Pop or popular music singers make much money.They make a CD or tape which radio stations use in many places.Once the popular singer is heard all over the country, young people buy his or her tapes.Some of the money from these tapes goes to the singer.Wherever the singer goes , all the young people want to meet him or her.Now the singer has became a national star.
There are other kinds of music that are important to Americans.One is called folk music.It tells stories about the common life of Americans.Another is called western or country music.This was started by cowboys who would sing at night to the cows when they were watching.Today, any music about country life and the love between a country boy and his girl is called western or country music.
【小题1】________  kinds of music are mentioned in the passage?

Popular music in America is what every student likes.Students carry small radios with earphones and listen to music before class, after class, and at lunch.Students with cars buy large speakers and play the music loudly as they drive on the street.

Adult drivers listen to the car radio as they drive to work.They also listen to the news about sports, the weather, and the life of American people.Most of the radio programmes are music.

Pop or popular music singers make much money.They make a CD or tape which radio stations use in many places.Once the popular singer is heard all over the country, young people buy his or her tapes.Some of the money from these tapes goes to the singer.Wherever the singer goes , all the young people want to meet him or her.Now the singer has became a national star.

There are other kinds of music that are important to Americans.One is called folk music.It tells stories about the common life of Americans.Another is called western or country music.This was started by cowboys who would sing at night to the cows when they were watching.Today, any music about country life and the love between a country boy and his girl is called western or country music.

1.________  kinds of music are mentioned in the passage?

A．Two              B．Four             C．Three            D．Five

2.When pop singers _________, they will become national stars.

A．make much money                      B．make a CD or tape

C．are loved by all the young people           D．are wanted to sing on the radio

3.From the passage we know that country music is about ________

A．common life about Americans              B．country life and love story

C．life of cowboys                         D．school life in America

4.Which of the following is true according to the passage?

A．Most students in America like popular music

B．Students with cars in America like to listen to music while driving

C．Adult drivers in America listen to music all the time while driving.

D．Everyone in America wants to meet pop sing

Think of some of your favorite singers. When you listen, they can make you happy or sad, peaceful or angry. They can make you relax or want to get up and dance. Gifted singers have the power to affect us in many ways — emotionally, physically and mentally.

But becoming a great singer isn’t as easy as listening to one. It takes practice, devotion and strong lungs! Just ask the well-known American opera（歌剧）star Carol Vaness.

At the Metropolitan Opera in New York City where she often sings, Carol’s voice must be loud enough to be heard by four thousand people. It must reach every person in the theater, without a microphone, even when she’s singing softly. The reason Carol can project her voice that far is the way she breathes.

“When you breathe, it’s like a swimmer taking a deep breath before going underwater, ” Carol explains. “You have to take a lot of air into your lungs.”

According to Carol, the main difference between pop singing and opera is “how you breathe, how much air you take in, and how you control it coming out. Regular singing is more like speaking, and it’s a lot softer. When I sing for children, they’re often surprised by how the vibrations strike their ears — like waves on a beach, ” Carol says. “In opera, the air doesn’t just go out of your mouth — it vibrates in your chest, the way a guitar vibrates when it’s played.”

Ever since she started piano lessons at the age of ten, Carol has loved music. As she got older, she decided to become a music teacher. When she went to college, she took singing lessons as part of her studies. Her voice teacher discovered that nineteen-year-old Carol had an exceptionally beautiful soprano voice – the highest singing voice for women.  

Carol decided to make opera her goal, not only because she loved to sing but also because she loved the drama. Opera is a play in which the characters sing the words instead of speaking them. The stories of opera can be tragic or comical. They can be personal stories about two people falling in love or grand stories about kings and queens who lived long ago. As the characters in an opera sing, the emotions(情感) expressed by words and music come to life.

Today, Carol performs throughout the United States and Europe and she has song for almost twenty years. But she has never forgotten where she started singing in the first palace.

“Put your heart into your singing and enjoy it,” says Carol, “because singing is a great joy. That’s why I sing. In fact, that’s why everybody sings.”

According to the passage, the Metropolitan Opera in New York City _____.

A. is a five-story building                B. can seat 4,000 people

C. has no microphone in it                D. can project the singer’s voice

What is the best title for this passage?

A. Opera Singing and Pop Singing          B. The Way an Opera Star Sings

C. An Opera Star                        D. Singing without a Microphone

Which statement is true?

A. A pop singer breathes more deeply than an opera singer when he or she sings.

B. Opera singing is more like speaking.

C. A pop singer takes in much more air than an opera singer when singing.

D. An opera singer breathes differently from a pop singer when singing.

From the passage you can conclude all the following EXCEPT that _____.

A. Carol once learned to play the piano              

B. Carol worked as a music teacher

C. Carol has been singing opera for 20 years or so     

D. Carol is popular with Americans and Europeans

The sentence “Put your heart into your singing” in the last paragraph means  “_____”.

A. devoting yourself to singing         B. taking trouble to sing

C. singing happily                   D. trying your best to sing  

Everyone wants to be a pop star. When I was a kid, I wanted to be a pop star.   71    You get to sing and dance and make voices. People are willing to pay you tons of money and, of course, many fans love you. It’s a perfect life; what could be the problems?

  72   And one of the biggest problems is “crazy” fans who live their idols (偶像) too much. Andy Lau, the Hong Kang superstar, experienced that last year. A fan was so crazy about Andy that she persuaded her parents to spend all their money and travel to Hong Kang to meet him. Andy is a nice man so he met the girl and talked with her for a few minutes.

That should have been the end of the story, but it wasn’t!   73   In despair (绝望), the father jumped into the sea and said it was because Andy Lau had made him poor and had made his daughter a “crazy” fan. It’s a very sad story and it shows what can happen when ordinary people become crazy pop fans.

We like famous persons, and we enjoy listening to them.   74   And some people think that, since they love the pop star, the pop star should love then back.. That’s crazy!   75   They have their own families and friends. Their job is to entertain us, not to love us. So, don’t be a “crazy” fan, be a good fan, and just appreciate the joy, the happiness and the excitement that your favorite pop star bring you.

A. Well, clearly, there are lots of problems.

B. Sometimes we think we know them as well as we know our closest friends.

C. It seems like the coolest job in the world.

D. The family had spent all their money to meet Andy and they had no money to return home.

E. They hated the superstar.

F. Pop stars have their own personal lives.

G. In fact, there is no difficulty in becoming a pop star.

Think of some of your favorite singers. When you listen, they can make you happy or sad, peaceful or angry. They can make you relax or want to get up and dance. Gifted singers have the power to affect us in many ways—emotionally, physically and mentally.

       But becoming a great singer isn’t as easy as listening to one. It takes practice, devotion and strong lungs! Just ask the well-known American opera（歌剧）star Carol Vaness.

       At the Metropolitan Opera in New York City where she often sings, Carol’s voice must be loud enough to be heard by four thousand people. It must reach every person in the theater, without a microphone, even when she’s singing softly. The reason Carol can project her voice that far is the way she breathes.

       “When you breathe, it’s like a swimmer taking a deep breath before going underwater,” Carol explains. “You have to take a lot of air into your lungs.”

       According to Carol, the main difference between pop singing and opera is “how you breathe, how much air you take in, and how you control it coming out. Regular singing is more like speaking, and it’s lot softer. When I sing for children, they’re often surprised by how the vibrations strike their ears—like waves on a beach, ”Carol says. “In opera, the air doesn’t just go out of your mouth—it vibrates in your chest，the way a guitar vibrates when it’s played.”

       Ever since she started piano lessons at the age of ten, Carol has loved music. As she got older, she decided to become a music teacher. When she went to college, she took singing lessons as part of her studies. Her voice teacher discovered that nineteen-year-old Carol had an exceptionally beautiful soprano voice-the highest singing voice for women.

       Carol decided to make opera her goal, not only because she loved to sing but also because she loved the drama. Opera is a play in which the characters sing the words instead of speaking them. The stories of opera can be tragic or comical. They can be personal stories about two people falling in love or grand stories about kings and queens who lived long ago. As the characters in an opera sing, the emotions（情感）expressed by words and music come to life.

       Today, Carol performs throughout the United States and Europe and she has song for almost twenty years. But she has never forgotten where she started singing in the first palace.

       “Put your heart into your singing and enjoy it,” says Carol, “because singing is a great joy. That’s why I sing. In fact, that’s why everybody sings.”

1.According to the passage,  the Metropolitan Opera in New York City      .

       A．is a five-story building                         B．can seat 4,000 people                   

       C．has no microphone in it                        D．can project the singer’s voice

2.What is the best title for this passage?

       A．Opera Singing and Pop Singing            B．The Way an Opera Star Sings        

       C．An Opera Star                                     D．Singing without a Microphone

3.Which statement is true?

       A．A pop singer’s lungs are usually stronger than those of an opera singer’s          

       B．Opera singing is more like speaking.     

       C．A pop singer takes in much more air than an opera singer when singing.

       D．An opera singer breathes differently from a pop singer when singing.

4.From the passage you can conclude all the following EXCEPT that      .

       A．Carol once learned to play the piano     

       B．Carol worked as a music teacher           

       C．Carol has been singing opera for 20 years or so                     

       D．Carol is popular with Americans and Europeans