LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Pop giant Michael Jackson, who took to the stage as a child star, died on Thursday, TMZ website reported. He was 50.
There was no official confirmation of the reported death and spokespersons for Jackson could not be reached for comment. "We’ve just learned Michael Jackson has died," TMZ said. "Michael suffered a cardiac（心脏的） arrest earlier this afternoon at his Holmby Hills home and paramedics were unable to revive him. We’re told when paramedics arrived Jackson had no pulse and they never got a pulse back," the entertainment site said. It added, "A source tells us Jackson was dead when paramedics arrived."
Earlier, the Los Angeles Times said the singer had been rushed to a Los Angeles-area hospital by fire department paramedics who found him not breathing when they arrived at the singer’s home.The newspaper said paramedics performed perfectly at the scene before taking him to the UCLA Medical Center hospital. Jackson had been due to start a series of comeback concerts in London on July 13 running until March 2010. The singer, whose hits included "Thriller" and "Billie Jean," had been rehearsing in the Los Angeles area for the past two months. The shows for the 50 London concerts sold out within minutes of going on sale in March.
His lifetime record sales tally is believed to be around 750 million, which, added to the 13 Grammy Awards he received, makes him one of the most successful entertainers of all time. There were concerns about Jackson’s health in recent years but the promoters of the London shows, AEG Live, said in March that Jackson had passed a 4-1/2 hour physical examination with independent doctors.
【小题1】What does the underlined word paramedics probably mean?

London: What could possibly he wrong with planting trees? The benefits are obvious: they firm the soil, absorb extra water and take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.
However, it now turns out that planting trees could add to global warming. Tree roots do a great job of keeping soil firmly on the ground and out of the wind's power. The problem is that some of those dust clouds play an important part in taking in carbon dioxide.
Huge dust storms blow out over the oceans from dry parts of North Africa and central Asia. Tons of dust are lifted and left as a thin film over the ocean surface.
Dust from China is carried east and left in the Pacific Ocean. If a tree-planting program there is successful and the dust supply reduced, the final result may be that less carbon dioxide gets locked away in the ocean.
Andy Ridgwell, an environmental scientist from the University of East Anglia, has spent the past few years studying dust and says his work shows clearly the complexity of the system and the importance of not working uselessly with it without understanding the results. For this reason the need is to focus on cutting carbon dioxide giving off rather than dealing with the land surface aimlessly.
An American scientist, Robert Jackson, has shown that when native grassland areas are occupied by trees, carbon is lost from the soil. "We are studying why the soil carbon disappears, but one theory is that trees do a lot more of their growing above ground compared to grasses, so less carbon goes directly into the soil from trees. " said Jackson.
In wet areas of the world, the gain from trees absorbing carbon dioxide above ground seems to be outweighed by the loss of carbon from the soil below ground.
Countries that plan to combat global warming by planting trees may have to think again. Solutions to environmental problems are often more complex than they first appear, and understanding the Earth's climate is a very great challenge.
64. People usually hold the opinion that _______.
A. huge dust storms can destroy carbon dioxide
B. huge dust storms can destroy the oceans on the earth
C. planting trees could reduce global warming
D. planting trees is the only way to control huge dust storms
65. Andy Ridgwell, the environmental scientist, believes that _______.
A. environmental problems are more complex than expected
B. trees shouldn't have been planted in dry places
C. dust plays a more important part than trees
D. carbon dioxide is harmful to everything
66. Robert Jackson's experiment proves that _______.
A. carbon can turn grass into dust
B. trees hold more carbon than grass
C. less carbon can make trees grow faster
D. grassland areas should be covered by forests
67. The underlined word "combat" in the last paragraph means _______.
A. learn about        B. give up              C. live with          D. fight against

LONDON: What could possibly be wrong with planting trees? The advantages are obvious; they  firm the soil, soak up (摄取) extra water and take carbon dioxide (二氧化碳) out of the atmosphere.
However, it now turns out that planting trees could add to global warming.
Tree roots do a great job of keeping soil firmly on the ground and out of the wind’s power. The problem is that some of those dust clouds play an important part in soaking up carbon dioxide.
Huge dust storms blow out over the oceans from dry parts of North Africa and central Asia. Tons of dust are lifted and left as a thin film over the ocean surface. The dust fuels oceanic life.
Dust from China is carried east and left in the Pacific Ocean. If a tree-planting programme there is successful and the dust supply reduced, the net result may be that less carbon dioxide gets locked away in the ocean.
Andy Ridgwell, an environmental scientist from the University of East Anglia, has spent the past few years studying dust and says his work “shows clearly the complexity of the system and the importance of not tinkering(粗劣地修补) with it without understanding the results. For this reason there is the need to focus(集中) on cutting carbon dioxide giving off rather than monkeying (瞎弄) about with the land surface.”
An American scientist, Robert Jackson, has shown that when native grassland areas are invaded(侵入) by trees, carbon is lost from the soil. “We are studying why the soil carbon disappears, but one theory is that trees do a lot more of their growing above ground compared to grasses, so less carbon goes directly into the soil from trees, ” says Jackson.
In wet areas of the world, the gain from trees absorbing carbon dioxide above ground seems to be outweighed(超过) by the loss of carbon from the soil below ground. Countries that plan to combat global warming by planting trees may have to think again.
Solutions(解决办法) to environmental problems are often more complex than they first appear, and understanding the Earth’s climate is a very great challenge.
60．People usually hold the opinion that________
A．huge dust storms can destroy carbon dioxide
B．huge dust storms can destroy the oceans on the earth
C．huge dust storms can’t do anything beneficial for man
D．planting trees is the only way to control huge dust storms
61．Andy Ridgwell, the environmental scientist, believes that ________ .
A．dust plays a more important part than trees
B．trees shouldn’t have been planted in dry places
C．carbon dioxide is harmful to everything on the earth
D．environmental problems are more complex than expected
62．Robert Jackson’s experiment proves that________   .
A．grassland areas should be covered by forests
B．trees hold more carbon than grass
C．carbon can turn grass into dust
D．less carbon can make trees grow faster
63．The underlined word “combat” in the last paragraph means_______ .
A．learn about      B．fight against     C．live with   D．give up 

Jackson has been out of work for a long time.So he wants to             a job in this factory.

A.prepare for

B.wait for

C.care for

D.apply for

On March 5, 2009, Michael Jackson stood in front of crowds of fans. Before screaming fans, he pronounced with pumping arms: “This is it!”
A few months later, Jackson was dead. With the late pop star’s return to radio, television and the cultural events, Forbes judges that Jackson has made $90 million since his death June 25. This figure is based on his royalties（版税） from album sales, radio play, rights to his name and royalties from his stock in the Sony/ATV music catalog (编目权).
Jackson’s music was his most easily-seen source in the last months. “Nothing increases the value of an artist than death ... an untimely death,” says Barry Massarsky, a music industry economist.
The music’s immediate value was clear. Since June, Jackson has sold more than 5.9 million albums in the U.S. and another 4.5 million overseas. In the first weeks after his death, there were 5.6 million single downloads across North America, Europe and Australia. Jackson recently has three of the top 20 best-selling albums of the year in the US, according to Nielsen SoundScan. His 2003 hits album Number Ones is the best seller of the year, beating Taylor Swift’s Fearless.
More than 500,000 Jackson ringtones and 100,000 music videos were sold. In the week following his death, songs by The Jackson 5, The Jacksons and Michael were played over 100,000 times on the radio, according to Nielsen BDS.
Jackson’s estate（遗产）will likely see more money by the end of this year, as it has rights to some of the profits from This Is It as well as the two-disc album of the same name. The estate will share 90% of the film profits with AEG.
Ticket sales from an exhibit opening in London will also contribute a likely profit. Hundreds of Jackson’s personal belongings－his L.A. Rolls Royce etc－will remain on show for three months at the O2 for fans willing to shell out $25 for a view.
The pop singer bought ATV Publishing, for $47.5 million in 1985. Ten years later, he sold the catalog to Sony for $95 million and took a 50% stock in Sony/ATV, which is now worth about $1.7 to $2 billion. So he still owned half the Sony/ATV catalog at his death.
Jackson’s future earning potential is based on his stock in valuable music and as well as the value of his image（肖像）. As many musicians, actors and artists before him, Jackson’s fame could have a long tail on the market with allowable products, advertising and entertainment events.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
【小题1】What do Barry Massarsky’s words in Paragraph 3 imply?