One of the most famous buildings in the United States is Carnegie Hall, the home of classical and popular music concerts in New York. Carnegie Hall is known not just for its beauty and history, but also for its amazing sound. It has been said that the hall itself is an instrument. It takes the music and makes it larger than life.
Carnegie Hall is named after Andrew Carnegie, who paid for its construction. He was a wealthy man who also gave a lot of money to schools and public libraries. Construction on Carnegie Hall began in 1890 and the official opening night was on May 5, 1891.
The hall was owned by the Carnegie family until 1924 when it was sold to Robert E. Simon. The building became very old and in 1960, the new owner made plans to destroy it and build an office block. Isaac Stem led a group of people who fought to save Carnegie Hall and finally, the city of New York bought it for $5 million. It was then fixed up between 1983 and 1995.
In 1986, people realized that Carnegie Hall had never kept proper records of its history. Advertisements and stories in newspapers about how Carnegie Hall needed help to recover its history led people to send in old concert programmes and information from all over the world. Over 12,000 concert programmes were received and with these it was possible to make a proper record of Carnegie Hall’s concert history.
Carnegie Hall is actually made up of several different halls, but the Main Hall, now called the Isaac Stern Hall, is the most famous. Most of the greatest performers of classical music since the time the hall was built have performed in the Main Hall, and its reception areas are decorated with signed photographs of these musicians. The hall itself can hold an audience of 2,804 in five levels of seating. Visitors to the top level have to climb up 105 steps to get there!
Because the best and most famous musicians of all time have played at Carnegie Hall, it is the dream of most musicians who want to be great to play there. This has led to a very old joke which is now part of Carnegie Hall’s history. Question: “How do I get to Carnegie Hall?” Answer: “Practise, practise, practise.”
【小题1】What do music lovers expect in Carnegie Hall?

阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、和D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

     One of Britain’s bravest women told yesterday how she helped to catch suspected police killer David Bieber --- and was thanked with flowers by the police. It was also said that she could be in line for a share of up to ￡30,000 reward money .

     Vicki Brown , 30 , played a very important role in ending the nationwide manhunt . Vicki , who has worked at the Royal Hotel for four years , told of her terrible experience when she had to steal into Bieber’s bedroom and to watch him secretly. Then she waited alone for three hours while armed police prepared to storm the building.

      She said : “ I was very nervous . But when I opened the hotel door and saw 20 armed policemen lined up in the car park I was so glad they were there.”

The alarm had been raised because Vicki became suspicious of the guest who checked in at 8 pm the day before New Year’s Eve with little luggage and wearing sunglasses and a hat pulled down over his face. She said : “ He didn’t seem to want to talk too much and make any eye contact.” Vicki, the only employee on duty , called her boss Margaret , 64 , and husband Stan McKale, 65 , who phoned the police at 11 pm.

Officers from Northumbria Police called Vicki at the hotel in Dunston , Gateshead , at about 11:30 pm to make sure that this was the wanted man . Then they kept in touch by phoning Vicki every 15 minutes.

“ It was about ten to two in the morning when the phone went again and a policeman said ‘ Would you go and make yourself known to the armed officers outside ?’ My heart missed a beat .”

Vicki quietly showed eight armed officers through passages and staircases to the top floor room and handed over the key.

“ I realized that my bedroom window overlooks that part of the hotel , so I went to watch . I could not see into the man’s room , but I could see the passage . The police kept shouting at the man to come out with his hands showing . Then suddenly he must have come out because they shouted for him to lie down while he was handcuffed(带上手铐).”

1.Vicki became suspicious of David Bieber because ____________ .

A. he looked very strange

B. the police called her

C. he came to the hotel with little luggage

D. he came to the hotel the day before New Year’s Eve

2.Vicki’s heart missed a beat because __________ .

A. the phone went again

B. she could be famous

C. she saw 20 policemen in the car park

D. she would lead the policemen to catch the man

3.David Bieber was most probably handcuffed in ____________.

A. Vicki’s bedroom     B. the street       C. the passage       D. the yard

4.How long did the whole event probably last from the moment Bieber came to the hotel to the arrival of some armed officers ?

A. About 6.       B. About 8.         C. About 11.         D. About 14

—Look! How long ______ like this?

—More than 20 days! It’s usual here that rain pours without stopping in May.

A．did it rain                             B．is it raining

C．has it been raining                       D．doesn’t rain

—Look! How long ______ like this?
—More than 20 days! It’s usual here that rain pours without stopping in May.

Apple Inc co-founder and former CEO Steve Jobs, counted among the  greatest American CEOs of his generation, died on Wednesday at the age of 56,  after a years-long and highly public battle with cancer. Mourners gathered outside his house in Palo Alto, California, and Apple stores around the world.                         
Steve Jobs made technology fun. As tech leaders, they're really happy if they have one hit in their life. Steve Jobs has the Apple II, the Mac, the iPod, the iPhone, the iPad and Pixar.
Steve Jobs was a college dropout. He was adopted by a machinist and his wife, an accountant. They supported his early interest in electronics. He and his friend Steve Wozniak started Apple Computer—now just called Apple—in 1976. They stayed at the company until 1985. That year, Steve Wozniak returned to college and Steve Jobs left in a dispute with the chief executive.
Mr. Jobs then formed his own company, called NeXT Computer. He rejoined Apple in 1997 after it bought NeXT, He helped remake Apple from a business that was in bad shape then to one of the most valuable companies in the world today. However, Steve Jobs stepped down as Apple's chief executive in August, 2011 because of his health. He died a day after the company released a new iPhone version that met with limited excitement. Steve left behind a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple.
President Obama said in a statement: by building one of the planet's most successful companies from his garage, Steve Jobs showed the spirit of American ingenuity (独创性). By making computers personal and putting the Internet in our pockets, he made the information revolution not only accessible but intuitive (直觉的) and fun.
The fact that he was able to redesign American commerce top to bottom and across is really astonishing. He probably will be considered an industrial giant on the scale of Thomas Edison and Henry Ford, so one of the greatest of all time. Steve Jobs not only revolutionized technology, he also revolutionized American business. Steve Jobs was remembered as a " great visionary and leader" and a marketing genius.
【小题1】What does the underlined word "dispute" in Paragraph 3 probably mean?