Music is not just a set of sounds and rhythms. Its influence on the brain is much deeper than any other human experience. Keep on reading to know all those amazing powers of music.
A recent study suggests that preterm (早产的) babies appear to experience less pain and feed more when listening to music. Experts led by Dr. Manoj Kumar of the University of Alberta, Canada, found that music had a beneficial effect on reducing pain for preterm babies experiencing painful medical tests. It also appeared to benefit full-term babies during operations.
Many people experiencing brain damage have speech and movement-related problems. Music can help recover from brain injuries. As a different and effective treatment, doctors often advise such patients to listen to good music to improve the parts of the brain responsible for these two functions. When people with neurological (神经的) disorders hear a musical beat, it helps them to regain a balanced walk.
Though music cannot make deafness disappear, it really can stave off the loss of hearing. There was an experiment involving 163 people where 74 were musicians. Participants were asked to pass some listening tests. Musicians heard the sounds better than non-musicians, and this difference gets clearer with age. This means that a 70-year-old musician hears better than a 50-year-old non-musician, even in a noisy environment.
Besides, music mends a broken heart. It is not about a thrown-away love, but about a heart attack. The matter is that music can help people recover from a heart attack or heart operation by reducing blood pressure, slowing down the heartbeat rate, and reducing anxiety. Listening to the quality music produces positive emotions, improves the movement of blood, and expands blood vessels, thus, promoting quick recovery of the whole cardiovascular (心血管的) system.
1.How does music affect preterm babies?
A. It helps reduce their pain.
B. It helps develop their potential in music.
C. It helps improve their hearing systems.
D. It helps repair their neurological systems.
2.What does the underlined phrase “stave off” in Paragraph 4 mean?
A. Lead to
B. Increase
C. Prevent
D. Break into
3.Why can music mend a broken heart?
A. It has a positive effect on human body systems’ work.
B. It can help people prevent diseases caused by anxiety.
C. It helps make a person feel optimistic about life.
D. It can help patients recover in a slow way.
4.What may be the best title for the text?
A. Who can benefit from music
B. The best time to listen to music
C. The way to choose quality music
D. How music affects our mind and body
In 2010 I left the United States for the first time to fly over 9,000 miles to Uganda, a country in recovery from civil war. I was going there to help the local kids learn soccer.
As I played soccer with some kids, the sun burned my skin. I took many breaks to drink from my water bottle before realizing I was the only one who did that. All the energetic children running around never stopped to get water. After looking around, I realized there was NOWHERE for them to get water, and there was no well or water pump in sight.
I asked a man who was traveling with us why the kids didn’t ever stop to drink water. He told me that they would have to walk all the way to the pump in the next village and they didn’t want to miss out on playing soccer with a real ball. The kids seemed happy but it was not fair that to get a drink of water meant they would miss out on such a rare occurrence of playing with an actual soccer ball.
When I got home, I spoke with other people about kids in Uganda. They told me to do something to help them. That sounded like a great idea, but how? I spoke with my friends about helping kids in Uganda. We decided that we could try to solve their most urgent problem—water. And we decided to organize soccer camps to collect money.
It has been three years since our first camp and we have successfully run two more and funded two water filtration (净化) systems as well as 60 water pumps for farmers. We have been able to improve the health of thousands of Ugandans.
1.The kids didn’t drink water while playing soccer, because ______.
A. they didn’t feel thirsty at all
B. they couldn’t get any nearby
C. they were too poor to afford bottled water
D. they were not allowed to drink water during the play
2.How did the author most probably respond after hearing that man’s explanation?
A. She was unwilling to stay there anymore.
B. She decided to buy water for the kids at once.
C. She felt very proud of her own life.
D. She felt very sad for the kids.
3.What can we learn from the passage?
A. We should fully enjoy what we have.
B. We can make a difference to others’ life.
C. We should be grateful for what we receive.
D. We can change our lives through hard work.
Directions: Write an English composition in 80-100 words according to the instructions given below in Chinese.
最近你了解到班级中有些同学从不吃早餐；有些同学虽然吃早餐，但营养不均衡。明天的英语课轮到你进行课前英语小演讲。请你针对这一现象以“健康早餐”为主题写一份演讲稿。（注意:不得使用真实姓名和学校名称。）
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Directions: Translate the following sentences into English, using the words given in the brackets.
1.过去我们全家常常晚饭后去散散步。 (used to)
2.饮食习惯接近西方人的亚洲人更容易出现体重方面的问题。 (whose)
3.我觉得你用手机就能拍出差不多的效果， 根本用不着去买昂贵的照相机。 (effect)
Directions: Read the passage carefully. Then answer the questions or complete the statements in the fewest possible words.
Collector’s Corner
People collect a wide variety of things, from the obvious ones like stamps or coins, to the less common ones, such as beer bottles. Some collector’s spend hours looking through junk shops and build a collection for a few pence per object, while other collectors might spend thousands of pounds on antiques, fine china or rare paintings.
Some people collect for money, but most people do it for fun. Collecting is basically illogical. If you simply want to listen to Elvis Presley’s first record, you can get a copy at most record shops. A collector, however, will want to own an original 1955 disc, and will be willing to pay for it.
What makes an item valuable? Rarity(罕见) and conditions are the most important factors. A coin or stamp which is worth hundreds in perfect condition might be worth only pence in average or poor conditions.
What should you collect? Most collectors begin acquiring things which interest them, and as the collection grows, knowledge of the subject grows. If you want your collection to grow in value, it is probably best to avoid things which are sold especially for collectors. Nearly everybody who buys a set of new coins or stamps will keep them in perfect condition, so that the new coins or stamps will never become rare. The most valuable items are often things which were widely available, but which were usually thrown away after use, such as Coca-Cola bottles or toy cars. An interesting collection can be started very cheaply.
(Note: Answering the questions in NO MORE THAN TEN WORDS.)
1.What are the two reasons why people collect things according to the passage?
2.What makes a collection valuable?
3.If you want your collection to grow in value, you’d better collect things which __________.
Directions: Read the following passage. Fill in each blank with a proper sentence given in the box.Each sentence can be used only once. Note that there are two more sentences than you need.
Does Failure Really Exist?
If you believe you have failed, then you have. If you believe you don’t have the ability to succeed, then you don’t. 1. The moment you decide to give up or stop working toward your goals, failure is born.
2.
Most people give themselves an out without even realizing it. They are willing to work hard on reaching their goals, but only until the things get too rough or their energy dies down. Don’t do that! Instead, make up your mind to make your goal happen, no matter what!
3.
It’s a good idea to set a general timeline, but remember that something will be beyond your control. You can never say exactly when your goal will be reached. If you lock yourself into a given timeline, you might make yourself feel like a failure! Instead, get a general idea of when you’d like your goal to be completed. Then take it one day at a time and focus on making progress instead of reaching the finish line in as little time as possible.
4.
Difficulties mean only one thing: it’s not time for your goal to be completed yet. That’s it! It doesn’t mean you failed; it doesn’t mean you’re weak; it doesn’t mean you’ll never achieve your goals. It simply means you have not done enough yet. You’ve got to keep moving forward and find a way over, around, or through the difficulties.
