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　　Today it costs a few cents to buy a comb (梳子) for your hair. But 300 years ago, the comb was costly. It was then an important part of a person's wealth (财富). Records show that pirates(海盗)made it a point to take combs of the people on board any ship they robbed.

　　How old are combs? Some combs, made of bone, have been found at the sites(遗址)of early humans. This would place the comb's age at about 9,000 years. Even these combs were made to look pretty. They had shapes of animals carved(雕刻)on them.

　　The best combs of all were the ones that were used in church. Some of these combs were covered with gold. For a long time, it was a custom (习俗) in the Greek (希腊的) Church to comb a priest's (牧师)hair before all the people.

　　The comb is special to the Japanese. The Japanese women are known for the way they put up their thick, long, black hair. They hold their hair in place with combs. Some Japanese people feel that throwing away a comb will bring bad luck. Also, it is bad luck to pick one up. But a comb received as a parting gift is felt to bring good luck. The comb is supposed to make all the paths(道路)straight. This is because it makes one's hair straight.

　　It is not often that we stop to think about the history of things we use all the time. But if we did stop to think for a minute, then we would find that everything has its own history.

1．This passage is mostly about ________.

[　　]

A．the Japanese combs

B．gold-plated combs

C．the history of combs

D．the cost of combs

2．The first paragraph shows that combs ________.

[　　]

A．had different shapes

B．were expensive

C．could be very pretty

D．were interesting

3．A costly comb is one that is ________.

[　　]

4．The main idea of the passage is that ________.

[　　]

A．throwing away or picking up a comb will bring you bad luck

B．the comb's age is 9, 000 years

C．in its history, the comb went from rare and expensive to common and inexpensive

D．three hundred years ago, the comb was an important part of a person's wealth

I think the most terrible thing in life for my little brother is getting up in the morning. He is almost sick when my mother calls, "Herbert! It's seven o'clock! Get up!" Herbert answers, "I'm coming!" and goes right back to sleep. I'm not at all like my brother. I don't like to go to bed at night but I don't mind getting up in the morning. I usually wake up before my mother calls me. I jump out of bed and go into the bathroom to take a shower. I get dressed, brush my teeth, comb my hair, and get ready to go downstairs for breakfast as soon as my mother calls. But not Herbert. He just sleeps. A military band (军乐队) in our bedroom could not wake him up. I call him and say, "Get up! Mum will be up here to pull you out of bed if you don't get up immediately!" But he just sleeps. After calling a few more times my mother has to come upstairs and pull Herbert out of bed. It's that way every day with my little brother. Perhaps some day he'll learn to get up on time, but I really don't think so.

1.The most terrible thing in life for my little brother is going to school.

2.I'm not like my brother because I like to go to bed early at night and get up early in the morning.

3.I usually jump out of bed and go into the bathroom for a shower before my mother calls.

4.When mother calls, Herbert doesn't answer and remains in bed.

5.My mother often has to go upstairs and pull Herbert out of bed as he refuses to get up.

Hip hop or rap (说唱） music as it is also called, started on the street and in the clubs of the New York City in the 1970s . But today many countries have their own kind of  hip hop music . This kind of music comes from reggae, disco and funk music . Rapping means speaking to the  rhythm of the music, and it is an important part of the music . People rap to express how they feel about their lives and problems .

Rapping in class.

Would you like to rap in class? Well actually, hip pop music is played in more than 10,000 schools in the USA .Why ? There is a new school program called “ Flocabulary ”in which teachers use texts and hip hop CDs to help teach different school subjects . The words of the songs are just what students are studying . This makes learning easy and fun . Students and teachers are excited about the positive results it has had on exam marks . One teacher said, “ I’ve used hip hop songs in class, and I have never seen my students so crazy about history ! You can't imagine how well they imagine how well they remember what I teach ! We even try to write our own songs . ”

Whose idea was Flocabulary?

Blake Harrison, a high school student, was the first person to come up with the idea of Flocabulary . The word “ Flocabulary ” comes from the word “ flow ” and “ vocabulary ” . “ Flow ” is a rap word for “ style ”,or the way a rapper says the words of a song . “ Vocabulary ” means the words you have to learn in a language . How did he get the idea ? Well, he realized he could remember the words of a hip hop song very easily . So,why not make lessons into songs ? Today together with Alex Rappaport, a song writer, Blake produces hip hop songs for maths, science and literature (文学）. They are now used in schools with great success .

1.Rap music started  _____ in New York city .

A．in the 1970s                           B．In a high school

C．in the 19 th century .                     D．In a music class .

2.From the passage, we can learn “ Flocabulary ” is a program to _____ .

A．Write rap music .                       B．Sing a song by talking

C．Remember the words of a song .            D．help teach some school subjects.

3.The underlined word  positive  in paragraph 2 most probably means _____ 

A．bad              B．good             C．final              D．direct

4.Blake Harrison has produced hip hop songs for school subject EXCEPT _____ .

A．maths            B．science           C．history            D．literature