To learn an instrument(乐器) such as the violin or accordion（手风琴）takes years. The job opportunities for musicians are scarce and competition is fierce. Then why are more people than ever before paying a lot of good cash to get their children the best music teaching they can afford?

The secret lies in the influence of music on the whole person. It has been found that learning a musical instrument actually increases a person’s IQ over time. Different instruments and different trypes of music have varying effect, with classical music and the string（弦乐） family coming out on top, potentially increasing you IQ by up to 12 points!

When is a good time to start learning music? Experts have found that even the fetus（胎儿）can benefit from listening to classical music. Surround yourself and your family with good music from the first. The Suzuki Piano Method teaches children from the age of 3 years piano, with two lessons per week. From preschool, children can learn to read music and play from sheet music. Progress in learning your instrument is directly proportional（成比例的）to the amount of practicing.

Is there such a thing as an unmusical child? Shinichi Suzuki proposes that music is the native home language of all human beings and therefore nobody can be “unmusical”. Of course there are exceptional talents, compared to which others may seem to be slower learners.

Is there any benefit for adults in starting an instrument? Apart from the purely relaxing aspect, yes. Learning an instrument can earn even adults additional IQ points, and as an added benefit in improves your health by reducing your stress levels. Your social life may benefit too, if you are prepared to come out of your box and join occasions such as Ceilidhs (musical get-togethers) or arrange house concerts. It has been established that people who play instruments tend to be more emotionally balanced and more patient with themselves, others and life in general.

So go ahead, sign up for that amateur orchestra, dust off your old trombone（长号）or take your first real six-string down from the attic（阁楼）; get out there and play!

1.Playing which of the following musical instruments can help increase a person’s IQ most?

A．The piano         B．The violin          C．The trombone      D．The accordion

2.According to Shinichi Suzuki,             .

A．The progress in learning an instrument depends on natural gifts

B．It is too late for an adult to start an instrument

C．Every child has a natural talent for music.

D．All people can understand and read music.

3.What can be inferred from the text?

A．Music can balance our life.

B．Music can improve our living conditions.

C．Playing instruments can make adults keep their IQ points.

D．Playing instruments can help us get along well with others.

4.By writing the text, the author mainly wants to        .

A．persuade us to send our children to music schools

B．express his great interest in musical instruments

C．tell us the importance of Music in Development

D．invite us to attend Ceilidhs

5.There are many benefits for the adult to learn instruments, which of the following is NOT RIGHT?

A．Feeling relaxed.                        B．Earn additional IQ points.

C．Improve your health.                     D．Show your talents

 What a table!I’ve never seen such a thing before. It is _______ it is long.

A. half not as wide as                                B. wide not as half as

C. not half as wide as                                D. as wide as not half

We need to make better use of our resources. In developing countries we have more than enough, if we are less wasteful in our ways. Fortunately, we can improve. The challenge lies not so much with ‘technical fixes’ but with our approach to our world around us. In the recent past we were in a “Wild West” economy, supposing that there would always be enough resources. Now we know there are no new Earth to explore and exploit; one image to illustrate this is to think of Earth as a spaceship, where most materials have to be recycled. For us, “moving on” will be a case of leaving behind the throwaway society and advancing to a conserver society.
To qualify as citizens of a conserver society, we must change traditional attitudes and thinking. We need to recognize that there is not very often such a thing as “waste”, rather, there are materials which sometimes end up in the wrong place. The change has already begun. The European steel industry reuses scrap（废弃的）metal, resulting in an energy saving of up to 50% . Recycling a glass container saves only 18%; but, in parts of the United States, a citizen buying a bottle of soda or beer now pays a deposit against return of the empty bottle.
If all drink containers in the USA were to be reused, the annual saving would be 0.5 million tons glass, plus about 50 million barrels of oil used in production processes. In Japan, OPEC promoted an increase in recycling of raw materials from 16% to 48% in just five years. In Norway, the price of a new car includes a disposal cost element of about 100 dollars, redeemable（可换成现款的）when the junked car is turned in at an approved receiving center.
Major new businesses are trying to exploit waste chemicals and oil. The Chinese claim to reuse 2.5 million tons of scrap iron and at least one million tons of waste paper each year. In the main, the conserver society depends on the commitment of individuals. But they can be encouraged by government incentive(鼓励) and punishment, which should apply at least as strongly to industry and other commercial interests.
73  Which of the following best expresses the meaning of “a conserver society” in the second paragraph?
A. A wasteful society.
B. A society which thinks of  ways of recycling waste materials.
C. A society which keeps everything.
D. A society which saves electricity.
74  In the last paragraph, the author suggests governments _______.
A. depends on individuals to find ways of conserving energy.
B. find ways of encouraging those industries and individuals who conserve energy and of punishing those who don’t.
C. depend on companies to find ways of saving energy and rewarding workers
D. help establish businesses that will exploit waste materials
75  In this passage the author _______.
A. explains that meaning of the “Wild West” economy
B. tells us what recycled materials are.
C. teaches us how to recycle materials.
D. recommend a change in our use of resources strongly

 Never before in our country_____.  
     A. has such a thing happened           B. such a thing has happened
     C. has so a thing has happened          D. so a thing has happened

完形填空(共20小题；每小题1.5分，满分30分)

    阅读下面短文，从短文所给各题的四个选项(A，B，C和D)中，选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

One spring afternoon five years ago, Jimmy Liao was crying in the hall of Taipei’s Sherwood Hotel, Life seemed  36  . The people who laughed as they walked past were taking their   37  for granted, just as he  38  himself. Now, however, he felt  39  —and he couldn’t even show his disappointment in his  40  .

    Seeking more personally satisfying  41  , he had just left a successful job as a commercial artist when it seemed that fate（命运）played a cruel  42  on him. It was at this time that he developed cancer and was  43  to work. But that moment in the hotel was a turning point for Jimmy. He began to  44  the fact that there is no such a thing as fate, only  45  . Since then, he has published several imaginative, illustrated（带插图的）books.

    According to Jimmy, you are  46  you choose to be. You can give up or you can work to be a happier person. Jimmy realized that, while the world  47  seems unfair, your choice can change your life.

    This idea can be   48  in Jimmy’s books, where his characters show the powerlessness they feel   49  making their choices. The message that goes with Jimmy’s drawings, however, is 50 .

Though the world may make us feel small, we must be  51  . Everything will be all right for us—as it is for the“small people”in Jimmy’s books—if we make choices that are   52  for us.

    In spite of his new  53  and wealth, Jimmy prefers working  54  at home with his wife and daughter. He spends his mornings drawing. To Jimmy, living a life as he chooses means much more than money and fame could  55  .

1.A．unhappy        B．unusual          C．unfair           D．uneasy

2.A．health     B．wealth           C．happiness            D．illnesses

3.A．ought to       B．had to           C．needed to            D．used to

4.A．ashamed        B．disappointed     C．helpless         D．endless

5.A．crying     B．painting         C．imagination      D．consideration

6.A．home       B．condition            C．situation            D．work

7.A．game       B．trick                C．role             D．part

8.A．unable     B．impossible       C．unfit                D．difficult

9.A．understand B．face             C．refuse           D．recognize

10.A．failures      B．efforts          C．choices          D．interests

11.A．that          B．what             C．which            D．whoever

12.A．always        B．seldom           C．sometimes        D．usually

13.A．found     B．drawn            C．written          D．accepted

14.A．after         B．about            C．with             D．before

15.A．powerful      B．hopeful          C．useful           D．successful

16.A．great             B．strong           C．brave            D．equal

17.A．scientific            B．basic                C．right                D．simple

18.A．product           B．fame             C．name         D．job

19.A．rapidly           B．separately       C．slowly           D．quietly

20.A．offer             B．gain             C．gather           D．earn