Music has often been used in movies to create mood and add dimension to the images which the audience sees on the screen. One man who is famous for his ability to write powerful and highly effective music for movies is John Williams. Mr. Williams has been writing music for movies since 1960, but he is perhaps best known for his award-winning scores for movies such as Jaws, Star Wars, and Schindler's List. Before he began writing music for the movies, Mr. Williams dreamed of being a concert pianist. He studied at both the University of California, Los Angeles and Juilliard School. During the 1950s, Mr. Williams was into jazz and he worked in New York City with many jazz artists. Later, he moved back to Los Angeles where he continued to play the piano for jazz musicians. He also got a job writing music for television shows. It was this television job that led him into movies.

Throughout the 1960s, Mr. Williams wrote the music that can be heard in more than 20 movies. Most of these movies were light comedies. Then, in 1975, the director of the movie Jaws, Steven Spielberg, hired Mr. Williams. The director thought that Mr. William's music added so much to the scary （引起恐慌的）scenes of the movie that he insisted on working with Mr. Williams in all of his future movies. Other directors and Hollywood film studios also demanded to work with Mr. Williams, and his career as a composer of movie soundtracks took off. Many of these movies have soundtracks that are still available in music stores today. They include The Deer Hunter, Raiders of the Lost Ark, ET, and Jurassic Park.

In 1980, Mr. Williams had another chance to expand his musical experience. He was chosen to be the new conductor for the Boston Pops Orchestra when Arthur Fiedler retired. Mr. Williams gladly accepted the position because it only required that he conduct the orchestra during the summer. This left him free to continue writing music for the movies during the rest of the year. Mr. Williams conducted the Boston Pops for more than 12 years before he decided to retire and write music full-time. Along with the many movie music scores he has written, Mr. Williams has also written two symphonies, a flute concerto, and a violin concerto. Up to now, Mr. Williams has written music for more than 60 movies. It is no wonder that he is today's most famous Hollywood composer.

69. What is John Williams most famous for?

A. Conducting.                 B. Making movies.

C. Playing jazz.                 D. Writing music for movies.

70. What happened to Mr. Williams in 1975?

A. He began writing music for movies.      B. He moved to Hollywood.

C. He worked with Steven Spielberg.        D. He worked for the Boston Pops.

71. Which of the following things has Mr. Williams not done?

A. Conducted an orchestra.              B. Directed a movie.

C. Played jazz piano.                   D. Writing classical music.

People living on parts of the south coast of England face a serious problem. In 1933, the owners of a large hotel and of several houses discovered, to their surprise that their gardens had disappeared overnight. The sea had eaten into the soft limestone cliff (悬崖) on which they had been built. While ex??perts were studying the problem, the hotel and several houses disappeared altogether, sliding down the cliff and into the sea.

Erosion (侵蚀) of the white cliffs along the south coast of England has always been a problem but it has become more serious in recent years. Dozens of homes have had to be aban??doned as the sea has crept farther and farther inland. Experts have studied the areas most affected and have drawn up a map for local people, forecasting the year in which their homes will be eaten up by the hungry sea.

Angry owners have called on the Government to erect sea defenses to protect their homes. Government surveyors have pointed out that in most cases, this is impossible. New sea walls would cost hundreds of millions of pounds and would merely make the waves and currents further along the coast, shifting the problem from one area to another. The danger is likely to continue, they say, until the waves reach an inland ar??ea of hard rock, which will not be eaten as limestone is. Mean??while, if you want to buy a cheap house with an uncertain fu??ture, apply to a house agent in one of the threatened areas on the south coast of England. You can get a house for a knock??down price but it may turn out to be a knockdown home.

What is the cause of the problem that people living on parts of the south coast of England face?

A. The rising of the sea level.

B. The experts’ short of knowledge.

C. The washing-away of limestone cliff.

D. The disappearance of hotels, houses and gardens.

The erosion of the white cliffs in the south of England ________.

A. will soon become a problem for people living in central England

B. has now become a threat to the local residents

C. can be stopped if proper measures are taken

D. is quickly changing the map of England

The experts’ study on the problem of erosion can ________.

A. warn people whose homes are in danger

B. provide an effective way to slow it down

C. help to its eventual solution

D. lead to its eventual solution(www.nmet168.com)

It is not feasible to build sea defenses to protect against erosion because ________.

A. house agents along the coast do not support the idea

B. it is too costly and will endanger neighboring areas

C. the government is too slow in taking action

D. they will be easily knocked down by waves and currents

请阅读下列短文，从每题 所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该选项的标号涂黑。

A

  One morning more than thirty years ago. I entered the Track Kitehen, a reandeant where everyone from the humblest (卑微的) to the most powerful came for breakfast. I noticed and empty chair next to an elderly. Unshaven man, who looked somewhat  disheveled. He was wearing a worn-out hat and was alone, I asked if I might join him. He agreed quietly and I sat down to have my breakfast.

  We cautiously began a conversation and spoke about a wide range of things. We never introduced ourselves. I was concemed that he might are no money and not be able to afford something to eat. So as I rose to go back to the counter and buy a second cup of coffee , I asked.

  “ May I get you something ? ”

  “ A coffee would he nice . ”

  Then I bought him a cup of coffee. We talked more, and he accepted another cup of coffee. Finally, I rose to leave, wished him well, and beaded for the exit. At the door I met one of my friends. He asked.

  “ How did yountre to know Mr.Galbreath? ”

  “ XXX ? ”

  “ The man you were sitting with. He is chairman of the Board of Churchill Downs. ”

  I could hardly believe it . I was buying, offering a free breakfast, and feeling pity for one of the world’s richest and most powerful men ! ”

  My few minutes with Mr. Galbreath changed my life. Now I try to treat everyone with respect .no matter who I think they are, and to meet another human being with kindness and XXX.

56. wint ar underhand word “dishevcled mean?

  A.ybtendly

  B.unndy

  C.centle

  D.kned

57.The author beght coffce for the old man because ______.

  A.he wought the old man was poor

  B.he wanted to start a conserstion

  C.he intended to how his politeness

  D.he would like to thank the old man

58.How did the auther probably feel after he talked with his friend?

  A.Proud

  B.Pitiful

  C.Surpricd

D.Rectful

59.What is the inegge mainly expressed in the story?

  A.we should learn to he generous

  B.It is honorable to help those in need.

  C.People in high postans are not like what we expect[来源:学&科&网Z&X&X&K]

  D.We should avoid judging people by their appearances.

Romantic comedies have long been regarded as the perfect movie for a first date. But according to a study, romantic comedies such as Bridget Jones's Diary and Notting Hill could be bad for your love life.

Rather than being harmless entertainment, 'rom-coms' give people unrealistic and potentially unhealthy expectations about real-life relationships, scientists say.

Researchers found that those who watched romantic comedies were more likely to believe in predestined love (缘份) than those who preferred other kinds of movie.

They were also more likely to believe that perfect relationships happen instantly, and were less likely to believe that couples need to work at relationships.

Watching just one romantic comedy is enough to sway people's attitudes to romantic love, they found.

Dr Bjarne Holmes, who led the research, said: "We are not killing joys -- we are not saying that people shouldn't watch these movies. But we are saying that it would be helpful if people were more aware and more critical of the messages in these films. The problem is that while most of us know that the idea of a perfect relationship is unrealistic, some of us are still more influenced than we realize."

For the first part of the study, Dr Holmes and colleagues at the Family and Personal Relationships Laboratory at Heriot Watt University, Edinburgh, studied 40 box office hits from 1995 to 2005.

Most of those comedies described couples falling instantly in love and promoted the idea of fate --the belief that there is just one perfect companion out there, they found.

"There's a belief of destiny and couples in romantic comedies immediately understand each other," said Dr Holmes. "If you think that's how things are, you are setting yourself up to be disappointed."

In a second study, Dr Holmes asked around 100 student volunteers to watch Serendipity -- the 2001 romantic comedy starring Kate Beckinsale and John Cusack, while 100 watched a David Lynch drama.

In a questionnaire after the film ended, students watching the rom-com were far more likely to believe in fate and destiny than those who had watched the 'straight' film.

72. According to the passage if you are fond of watching romantic comedies, you ____.

A. are more likely to believe in future love

B. must be influenced by films

C. may expect a perfect relationship in your love life

D. may fall instantly in love with one of your classmates

73. The underlined word "destiny" most probably means __     .

A. fate             B. love            C. beauty          D. romance

74. The purpose of Dr Bjame Hohnes' research is __     .

A. to promote the idea of fate

B. to ask us to keep away from romantic comedies

C. to show how romantic comedies have influence on our life

D. to remind us of the negative effect of watching romantic comedies

75. It is implied in the passage that        .

A. watching comedies is harmful to a stable marriage

B. it is necessary for couples to work at their relationship

C. couples falling instantly in love end up with an unhappy marriage

D. we should watch more 'straight' films instead of romantic comedies

In spite of the uncertainty of the economy, the movie industry has been stricken by a box-office outburst. Suddenly it seems as if everyone is going to the movies, with ticket sales this year up 17.5 percent, to $1.7 billion.
And it is not just because ticket prices are higher. Attendance has also jumped, by nearly 16 percent. If that pace continues through the year, it would amount to the biggest box-office increase in at least two decades.
Americans, for the moment, just want to hide in a very dark place. People want to forget their troubles, and they want to be with other people. Helping feed the outburst is the mix of movies, which have been more audience-friendly in recent months as the studios have tried to adjust after the discouraging sales of more serious films.
As she stood in line at the 18-screen Bridge theater complex here on Thursday to buy weekend tickets for “Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience,” Angel Hernandez was not thinking much about escaping reality. Instead, Ms. Hernandez, a Los Angeles parking lot attendant and mother of four young girls, was focused on one very specific reality: her wallet.
“Spending hundreds of dollars to take them to Disneyland is ridiculous right now,” she said. “For $60 and some candy money I can still be a good mom and give them a little fun.”
A lot of parents may have been thinking the same thing Friday, as “Jonas Brothers” sold out more than 800 theaters, and was expected to sell a powerful $25 million or more in tickets.
The film industry appears to have had a hand in its recent good luck. Over the last year or two, studios have released movies that are happier, scarier or just less
depressing than what came before. After poor results for a rush of serious dramas built around the Middle East, Hollywood got back to comedies.
【小题1】Which of the following is not a reason for the improvement of the movie industry?