For the most part, you are probably only exposed to the music that is played on your favorite radio stations and TV shows, music Web sites, or the music that your friends and family members enjoy. While you probably know a lot about your favorite type of music, it can be a rewarding experience to enlarge your horizons (眼界), discovering artists and types of music that you’re not familiar with. Who knows, you might discover you like certain types of music you never even considered.
Have you ever wondered about the history and influences of your favorite types of music? For example, did you know that rock ’n’ roll originated (起源) from the blues, and that the blues began as a form of musical expression for African Americans during slavery(奴隶制度)? Did you know that most hip-hop is heavily influenced by early rhythm blues and jazz?
There are many fun ways to learn about different musical styles and their historical roots. For example, if you like hip-hop, listen to some of your favorite CDs and take note of the samples the performers used to create the songs. There is a possibility that the artist used parts of older songs to create the music. You can go to the library or online to learn more about the artists and listen to more of their music by checking out CDs from the library or downloading songs online for a small fee.
You can learn so much about culture and history just by paying attention to different types of music and what is being expressed in the songs. There are so many different styles of music to learn about, and you owe (欠) it to your-self to make an effort to listen to and learn about them.
【小题1】The main topic of this passage is _______.

It may seem to be a hard task to trace back the history of rap music, though you often see the informal music associated with highly informal dance style. As far as the origin of rap music is concerned, most people agree that it is from Afro-American and Latino Street culture of New York City. Not only in this city but in the surrounding areas there is the influence of African people and their culture.
Rap is a vocal (口头的) style in which the performer speaks rhythmically and in rhyme, generally to a beat. The term of rap music is the same with hip-hop music typically-consisting of a rhythmic vocal style called rap. If we see it carefully, then we will definitely notice that the music usually is sung at higher pitches (调). Most of the time rap music is associated with chorus. Though rap music was primarily an American music style with African influence over its music and lyrics, recently it has been spread to almost the entire world.
There is hardly any country or nation where rap music cannot be seen in some form or another, and it is one of the most popular music styles among the youngsters. However, when it comes to its history, it is believed that hip-hop or rap music started in the early 1970s，and gained much popularity throughout the world during the late 1970s and early 1980s.
The history of rap music and hip-hop music is full of controversies (争议) and bans, as the lyrics sometimes relate to drugs and crime; even most famous pop stars and hip-hop musicians and singers were found to be associated with the controversies in their life. For that reason, no matter how popular this music style was or still is, it has always had a bad reputation in the eyes of mainstream society.
【小题1】The passage is mainly about _____.

阅读下列材料，从所给的六个选项（A、B、C、D、E和F）中，选出符合各小题要求的最佳选项，选项中有一项是多余选项。

注意：选E在答题卡上同时涂黑A和B，选F在答题卡上同时涂黑C和D。

以下是几个国际节日的简要介绍。

A.  Wharfedale Festival of Performing Arts

West Yorkshire, the United Kingdom

Young people are invited to compete in this art festival with classes covering speech, guitar, dance, poetry and short story writing, and so on. The previous year's winners are invited back to perform again at a special concert. With a long and well-known history behind it, this well-attended competition is a kind of forerunner of popular television talent contests such as Pop Idol.

B. Sydney Writers' Festival         Sydney, Australia

   Held at Sydney's Wharf 4/5, the annual Sydney Writers' Festival is the biggest literary event of its kind in Australia and one of the biggest book fairs in the world. Attracting a mix of authors, poets, editors, publishers and book lovers, this is a great event at which people can look through thousands of titles while enjoying workshops, book reading and seminars.

C. Flipside Festival         Singapore  

    As part of the Singapore Arts Festival Outreach Programme, Flipside aims to reach a much wider audience with three weeks of lively, fun street performances. Flipside promises to bring out the adventurous side of you with a combination of physical theatre and mind games as well as free outdoor performances such as music performances from local singers.

D. Hay Festival         Hay on Wye, the United Kingdom

   The little market town, Hay, has a population of 1500 and no fewer than 39 bookshops. It bills itself as the world's first and most distinguished book town, and is, therefore, a perfect place for a literary festival. The festival is a celebration of great writing. There are events including film screenings and musical concerts and the bookshops remain open throughout.

E. Bergen International Festival          Bergen, Norway

    Founded in 1953, the Bergen International Festival presents an impressive cast of outstanding international artists in the fields of music, ballet, opera and other performing arts. More than 120 events take place in late May to early June, which is a time of beautiful spring weather. The main festival venue is the Grieg Hall while the smallest and most unusual is an old trolley bus with seating for just 33 people.

F. Nuits Sonores        Lyon, France

  Held each May, this relatively new festival brings together some of the biggest club DJs from around the world. The focus is on electronic dance music, but it also embraces all musical forms ranging from hip hop to jazz. For those that want to see daylight hours after a hard night clubbing, there is a wide variety of cultural events during the day ranging from special festival food                          programmes to films.

下面是几个人物的简要介绍，请匹配他们感兴趣的节日。

1.tin, a famous writer, likes to find as many chances as possible to attend literary events around the world. Martin hopes to make friends with editors and book lovers.

2.Kelly is crazy about music, especially electronic dance music. She would like to go to a festival where she can enjoy different musical forms. She also has a strong interest in films.

3.As an outgoing girl, Victoria is very fond of performing arts. She hopes to take part in some performing art festivals to challenge and improve herself, and as a way to prepare for future television talent contests.

4.Simon is in search of a festival in North Europe with a long history where he can appreciate great international performing arts, especially ballet and opera.

5.Chris is a university student who majors in music. He'd like to watch some local street music performances. He is also very interested in physical theatre and mind games.

阅读下列材料，从所给的六个选项（A、B、C、D、E和F）中，选出符合各小题要求的最佳选项，选项中有一项是多余选项。
注意：选E在答题卡上同时涂黑A和B，选F在答题卡上同时涂黑C和D。
以下是几个国际节日的简要介绍。
Wharfedale Festival of Performing Arts
West Yorkshire, the United Kingdom

Young people are invited to compete in this art festival with classes covering speech, guitar, dance, poetry and short story writing, and so on. The previous year’s winners are invited back to perform again at a special concert. With a long and well-known history behind it, this well-attended competition is a kind of forerunner of popular television talent contests such as Pop Idol.
B. Sydney Writers’ Festival        Sydney, Australia

Held at Sydney’s Wharf 4/5, the annual Sydney Writers’ Festival is the biggest literary event of its kind in Australia and one of the biggest book fairs in the world. Attracting a mix of authors, poets, editors, publishers and book lovers, this is a great event at which people can look through thousands of titles while enjoying workshops, book reading and seminars.
C. Flipside Festival        Singapore  

As part of the Singapore Arts Festival Outreach Programme, Flipside aims to reach a much wider audience with three weeks of lively, fun street performances. Flipside promises to bring out the adventurous side of you with a combination of physical theatre and mind games as well as free outdoor performances such as music performances from local singers.
D. Hay Festival        Hay on Wye, the United Kingdom

The little market town, Hay, has a population of 1500 and no fewer than 39 bookshops. It bills itself as the world’s first and most distinguished book town, and is, therefore, a perfect place for a literary festival. The festival is a celebration of great writing. There are events including film screenings and musical concerts and the bookshops remain open throughout.
E. Bergen International Festival         Bergen, Norway

Founded in 1953, the Bergen International Festival presents an impressive cast of outstanding international artists in the fields of music, ballet, opera and other performing arts. More than 120 events take place in late May to early June, which is a time of beautiful spring weather. The main festival venue is the Grieg Hall while the smallest and most unusual is an old trolley bus with seating for just 33 people.
F. Nuits Sonores       Lyon, France

Held each May, this relatively new festival brings together some of the biggest club DJs from around the world. The focus is on electronic dance music, but it also embraces all musical forms ranging from hip hop to jazz. For those that want to see daylight hours after a hard night clubbing, there is a wide variety of cultural events during the day ranging from special festival food                          programmes to films.
下面是几个人物的简要介绍，请匹配他们感兴趣的节日。
【小题1】tin, a famous writer, likes to find as many chances as possible to attend literary events around the world. Martin hopes to make friends with editors and book lovers.
【小题2】Kelly is crazy about music, especially electronic dance music. She would like to go to a festival where she can enjoy different musical forms. She also has a strong interest in films.
【小题3】As an outgoing girl, Victoria is very fond of performing arts. She hopes to take part in some performing art festivals to challenge and improve herself, and as a way to prepare for future television talent contests.
【小题4】Simon is in search of a festival in North Europe with a long history where he can appreciate great international performing arts, especially ballet and opera.
【小题5】Chris is a university student who majors in music. He’d like to watch some local street music performances. He is also very interested in physical theatre and mind games.

I believe in leaving work at five o’clock. In a nation with such a strict work ethic(道德规范) , this is considered strange. Working only 40 hours a week? I just don’t know many people who punch out (打卡下班) at five o’clock anymore.

My father tried to teach me the importance of hard work, long hours and devotion to a career. But then there are the things he taught me unintentionally, like when he arrived home from work for the last time and crawled up the stairs.

My father, a self-employed sales trainer, was that sick, that tired. His body was wracked with liver cancer, and he suffered the effects of a diabetic ulcer（糖尿病）. Despite all this, he insisted on traveling a long way to give a lecture. He probably earned a lot of money that day, but he paid the price. He returned to the hospital soon afterwards and was dead within three months, aged just 58.

It’s been 10 years since I saw my father come home that night and since then, I’ve thought a lot about work. I’ve decided something: I will never crawl up the stairs exhausted. As much as I love my job as a newspaper reporter, I will never work myself into the ground, physically or emotionally. Not taking my work home didn’t come easily to me at first. After all, I am my father’s daughter. In college, I was the girl who sat on the library steps each morning, waiting for the doors to open. I even dreamt about schoolwork.

My dad once told me he was unable to just gaze at a sunset; he had to be doing something as he looked at it—writing, reading, playing chess. You could say he was a success: He was a published author, an accomplished musician, fluent in many languages. That’s an impressive list, but the thing is I want to gaze at sunsets. I don’t want to meet a deadline during them or be writing a column at the same time, or glance at them over the top of a book.

This raises the question: If I leave work at five o’ clock to watch the sunset, what are the consequences? Do I risk not reaching the top of my profession? Maybe, because honestly, knocking off after eight hours probably won’t earn me the best promotion. But hey, leaving work at five o’ clock means I eat dinner with my family. I get to hop on my bike and cycle through the streets of my hometown when there is no traffic.

And I get to take in a lot of sunsets. That’s got to be worth something.

1.Which of the following about the author’s father is true?

A. He set a good example to his daughter.

B. He tried to force his values on his daughter.

C. He gained much pleasure from his work.

D. He achieved great success at the expense of his health.

2.What does the author mean by saying “Not taking my work home did not come easily at first” in Paragraph 4?

A. There was so much work to do.    

B. All her colleagues took work home.

C. She was educated to be a workaholic.

D. She wanted a promotion in her work.

3.What’s the author’s attitude toward promotion?

A. She doesn’t care about it at all.

B. She is eager to get promoted

C. She thinks it’s for the ambitious people

D. Getting promoted at all costs is not worthwhile

4. This text is developed________.

A. by giving examples                         B. by making comparisons

C. by describing process                       D. by order of time

5. What does the writer intend to tell us?

A. To praise his father’s diligence

B. To ask us to take time off work to enjoy life

C. To complain about the strict work ethic

D. To stress the importance of hard work