A Tchaikovsky concerto（协奏曲）is what made Romel Joseph fall in love with the violin.

He learned how to play in Haiti, where he was born, but a Fulbright scholarship brought him to the United States, and he finally earned a master’s degree, reports CBS News reporter Katie Couric. Music had changed his life. He wanted to do the same for the children of Haiti.

Joseph built a school in Port-au-Prince nearly 20 years ago. He was on the third floor when suddenly “It was like boom boom boom and everything just opened,” Joseph said. “And the next thing I knew I was on the ground.”

Blind since birth, Joseph tried to feel his way out, but was pinned（夹）beneath heavy concrete（混凝土）. He remained trapped for 18 hours. He prays that his new wife, seven months pregnant（怀孕的）, will be found.

He is now being treated at Miami’s Jackson Memorial Hospital for two injured legs and an arm.

Joseph wonders if he’ll ever play the violin again. He can feel sensation（知觉）in his fingertips. He said, “If you were to give me a violin and if I didn’t have to fold the fingers, I would be able to play.”

Joseph’s daughter Victoria spent three terrifying days unsure of her father’s fate. For her, having him home is the sweetest music.

“Can you imagine your dad not being able to play the violin?” Couric asked.

“No, I can’t,” Victoria Joseph said. “But I will love him all the same if he can’t.”

Romel doesn’t know how many of his 300 students died in the quake. As he waits for news about his wife, Romel Joseph is already planning a return to Haiti to rebuild the school and continue teaching there.

“We can save two children, 20, 200, 300, 500 through education and music, and these children will make a difference,” Romel Joseph said.

54．Romel began to like music ________.

A. because he was blind since birth

B. after he had listened to a famous piece of music

C. when he got a scholarship to study in America

D. since he was born in Haiti

55．From what Romel said in Paragraph 6, we can infer that he was ________.

A. upset        B. fearful          C. excited          D. optimistic

56．To Victoria, the best thing is ________.

A. to see her father recover from the injury quickly

B. to listen to her father playing the sweetest music

C. to play the violin as well as her father

D. to be sure that her father could play the violin

57．Why does Romel want to go back to Haiti?

A. To save his students from the earthquake.

B. To change the life of children by teaching music.

C. To find out how seriously his school was damaged.

D. To look for his wife who is pregnant.

58．Which of the following is the best title for the passage?

A. Music education: keep your creativity alive

B. A great blind musician and his students

C. Haiti earthquake: a story of a music teacher

D. How did some Haiti earthquake victims survive

When women sit together to watch a movie on TV, they usually talk simultaneously (同时地) about a variety of subjects, including children, men, careers and what’ s happening in their lives. When groups of men and women watch a movie together, the men usually end up telling the women to shut up. Men can either talk or watch the screen — they can’t do both —and they don’ t understand that women can. Besides, women consider that the point of all getting together is to have a good time and develop relationships — not just to sit there like couch potatoes staring at the screen.

During the ad breaks, a man often asks a woman to explain the plot and tell him where the relationship between the characters is going. He is unable, unlike women, to read the subtle body language signals that reveal how the characters are feeling emotionally. Since women originally spent their days with the other women and children in the group, they developed the ability to communicate successfully in order to maintain relationships. For a woman, speech continues to have such a clear purpose: to build relationships and make friends. For men, to talk is to relate the facts.

66．While watching TV with others, women usually talk a lot because they________.

A. are afraid of awkward silence with their families and friends

B. can both talk and watch the screen at the same time

C. think they can have a good time and develop relationships

D. have to explain the plot and body language to their husbands

67．After a vacation with her girlfriend, a woman would talk to her again on the phone for hours in order to________.

A. experience the happy time again

B. keep a close tie with her

C. recommend her a new scenic spot

D. remind her of something forgotten

68．What does the author want to tell us most?

A. Women’s brains are better organized for language and communication.

B. Women love to talk because they are more sociable than men.

C. Men do not like talking because they rely more on facts.

D. Social conditioning is not the reason why women love talking.

69．Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?

A. Women Are Socially Trained to Talk

B. Talking Maintains Relationships

C. Women Love to Talk

D. Men Talk Differently from Women

A black hole is created when a large star burns out. Like our sun, stars are unbelievably hot furnaces(熔炉) that burn their own matter as fuel. When most of the fuel is used up, the star begins to die.

The death of a star is not a quiet event. First there is a huge explosion. As its outer layer is blasted off into space, the dying star shines as brightly as a billion suns.

After the explosion gravity pulls in what’s left of the star. As the outside of the star sinks toward the center, the star gets smaller and smaller. The material the star is made of becomes tightly packed together. A star is so dense that a teaspoon of matter from it weighs billion of pounds.

The more the star shrinks, the stronger the gravity inside it becomes. Soon the star is very tiny, and the gravity pulling it in is unbelievably strong. In fact, the gravity is so strong that it even pulls light into the star! Since all the light is pulled in, none can go out. The star becomes black when there is no light. Then a black hole is born!

That’s what we know about black holes. What we don’t know is this: What happens inside a black hole after the star has been squeezed into a tiny ball? Does it keep getting smaller and smaller forever? Such a possibility is hard to imagine.

But if the black hole doesn’t keep shrinking, what happens to it? Some scientists think black holes are like doorways to another world．They say that as the star disappears from our universe, it goes into another universe. In other words a black hole in our universe could turn into a “white hole” in a different universe. As the black hole swallows light, the white hole shines brightly — somewhere else. But where? A different place, perhaps, or a different time — many years in the past or future.

Could you travel through a black hole? Right now, no. Nothing we know of could go into a black hole without being crushed．So far the time being, black hole must remain a mystery.

Black holes are a mystery—but that hasn’t stopped scientists from dreaming about them. One scientist suggested that in the future we might make use of the power of black holes. They would supply all of Earth’s energy needs, with plenty to spare. Another scientist wondered if a black hole could some day be used to swallow earthly waste—a sort of huge waste disposal (处理) in the sky!

When the star begins to die ______.

       A．there is no fuel left in it        B．its outer layer goes into space first

       C．a huge explosion will happen        D．it doesn’t give off light any longer

Which of the following doesn’t help produce a black hole?

       A．The gravity inside the star is very strong.

       B．The light can’t go out of the star.

       C．The star becomes smaller and smaller

       D．The dying star shines very brightly.

The black hole ______.

       A．continues becoming smaller and smaller all the time

       B．goes into another universe and becomes a white hole

       C．can pull in everything we know of in the world

       D．will appear at another place at a different time

The author mainly intended to tell us _____.

       A．A New Scientific Discovery: Black Holes

       B．How Black Holes Came Into Being

       C．What Black Holes Are

       D．Travel Through A Black Hole

A black hole is created when a large star burns out．Like our sun, stars are unbelievably hot furnaces （熔炉） that burn their own matter as fuel．When most of the fuel is used up, the star begins to die.

The death of a star is not a quiet event．First there is a huge explosion．As its outer layer is blasted off into space, the dying star shines as brightly as a billion suns.

After the explosion, gravity pulls in what’s left of the star．As the outside of the star sinks toward the center, the star gets smaller and smaller．The material the star is made of becomes tightly packed together．A star is so dense that a teaspoon of matter from it weighs billions of pounds.

The more the star shrinks, the stronger the gravity inside it becomes．Soon the star is very tiny, and the gravity pulling it in is unbelievably strong．In fact, the gravity is so strong that it even pulls light into the star! Since all the light is pulled in, none can go out．The star becomes black when there is no light．Then a black hole is born!

That’s what we know about black holes．What we don’t know is this : What happens inside a black hole after the star has been squeezed into a tiny ball? Does it keep getting smaller and smaller forever? Such a possibility is hard to imagine.

But if the black hole doesn’t keep shrinking, what happens to it? Some scientists think black holes are like doorways to another world．They say that as the star disappears from our universe, it goes into another universe．In other words, a black hole in our universe could turn into a “white hole” in a different universe．As the black hole swallows light, the white hole shines brightly — somewhere else．But where? A different place, perhaps, or a different time  — many years in the past or future.

Could you travel through a black hole? Right now, no．Nothing we know of could go into a black hole without being crushed．So for the time being, the black hole must remain a mystery.

    Black holes are a mystery — but that hasn’t stopped scientists from dreaming about them．One scientist suggested that in the future we might make use of the power of black holes．They would supply all of Earth’s energy needs, with plenty to spare．Another scientist wondered if a black hole would some day be used to swallow earthly waste — a sort of huge waste disposal（处理） unit in the sky！

1．When the star begins to die, ______

       A．there is no fuel left in it                   B．its outer layer goes into space first

       C．a huge explosion will happen               D．it doesn’t give off light any longer

2．Which of the following doesn’t help produce a black hole?

       A．The gravity inside the star is very strong．

       B．The light can’t go out of the star.

       C．The star becomes smaller and smaller．

       D．The dying star shines very brightly.

3．The black hole ______.

       A．continues becoming smaller and smaller all the time

       B．goes into another universe and becomes a white hole

       C．can pull in everything we know of in the world

       D．will appear at another place at a different time

4．The best title for this passage is _______.

       A．What Are Black Holes

       B．Travel through a Black Hole

       C．How Do Black Holes Come into Being

       D．A New Scientific Discovery: Black Holes