Musicians are said to have better language skills and scientific studies have backed that up. But it’s not clear why that might be the case.
Now, a study of 74 Chinese kindergarteners suggests six months of piano lessons can heighten the brain’s response to changes in pitch (声调). And kids who got piano lessons were also better at telling apart two similar-sounding Mandarin (普通话) words, which contained different consonants (辅音), than were students who got extra reading training or who went through regular kindergarten.
Mandarin is a tonal language — the famous example is the word ma which can mean mother or horse depending on its pitch. So might musical training translate better to Mandarin than it would to English?
Yeah, it’s possible that this influenced the results, said Robert Desimone, a neuroscientist (神经科学家) at the McGovern Institute at MIT. But he says other studies do back up the fact that music lessons benefit language learners, even in countries without tonal languages. “And what our study added on top of that was some idea of the neural basis for those benefits.”
And if you don’t own a piano, don’t despair. The reading group actually did just as well on many measures as the piano group. “Reading’s pretty good actually. We don’t mean to disvalue reading instruction.”
More important, he says, was to show piano wasn’t actually worse than reading for these kills... thus perhaps encouraging cash-strapped schools to bring their music programs alive.
1.Which of the following is true according to the article?
A. It’s obvious why musicians have better language skills.
B. Musicians tend to be better language learners.
C. Reading works better than a piano for language skills.
D. Music lessons are greatly valued in money-tight schools.
2.What does the underlined part in paragraph 3 mean?
A. Musical training makes Mandarin easier than English to understand.
B. Musicians translate Mandarin better than English.
C. Musical training contributes better to learning a tonal language than a non-tonal one.
D. Musical lessons help English learners more than Mandarin learners.
3.From what column of the magazine might the article be taken?
A. Sports. B. Entertainment.
C. Education. D. Economy.
4.What may be the best title of the article?
A. Musicians Are Smarter
B. Reading Helps Language Learning
C. Benefits of Language Learning
D. Piano Lessons Tune Up Language Skills
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has issued a recommendation about how much juice children should consume. In general, the recommendations might be less than what you are currently giving your child.
An AAP policy statement issued in 2001 recommended no juice for children younger than 6 months of age, 4-6 ounces of juice daily for children aged 1-6, and 8-12 ounces for children 7 or older.
Those recommendations have now been revised partly due to considerable concern about increasing weight and teeth problems.
The new AAP recommendation is that fruit juice should not be provided at all to children under I year of age, instead; water and cow’s milk are preferred as primary liquid sources for children after weaning (断奶).
The new recommendations also lower the amount of juice for older children. Children aged 1-3 can have 4 ounces of 100% juice daily, children aged 4-6 4 to 6 ounces, and children 7 or older 8 ounces.
The AAP says there is no role for juice during the first year of life, and that expensive juice products designed specially for infants (new-born babies) are not of value. They note that juice should not be given as a means of soothing an upset child.
This doesn’t mean that the AAP is against fruit. In fact, they recommend that whole fruit be provided and encouraged for children.
One big advantage of whole fruit is that whole fruit contains fiber. It also contains some protein.
Children aged 4-6 should be offered fruit that has a lot of fiber, such as apples, pears, berries, or oranges. They can also have juice that has fiber in it. Children 7 and older should get a total of 2 to 2 1/2 servings of fruit per day.
1.Which of the following words can replace “soothing” in paragraph 6?
A. Annoying. B. Calming.
C. Refreshing. D. Teasing.
2.What may account for the AAP’s issuing the new recommendation?
A. People’s health is put at risk from taking too much juice.
B. Juice products are proved of little value.
C. Whole fruit is gaining popularity among kids.
D. None of the above.
3.We know from the passage that ________.
A. water and cow’s milk are a better choice for infants’ health than juice.
B. juice contains more nutrients necessary for health than whole fruit.
C. the more expensive juice products are, the more value they have.
D. the earlier children take juice in their first year, the healthier they’ll become.
4.What is the passage mainly about?
A. Advantages of whole fruit over juice.
B. Harm done to children who take juice
C. The amout of juice children can take
D. The time when children can take juice.
My first performance in front of an audience was coming up soon.
I tried as hard as I could to remain calm, but my heart was racing. I stared down at my sweat-covered, shaking hands.
I looked up again at the audience realizing that these were real people. They were not just my mum and dad, who would say, “Good job!” even if I messed up the entire piece.
What if I had the wrong music? What if I played the wrong notes?
As it turned out, I was never able to answer these questions because the spotlight was waiting for me. I grasped my hands tightly together, drying off the sweat.
Slowly I walked to the mud-brown piano in the center of the room. It contained 88 demanding keys, which were waiting impatiently to be played. swallowed the golf-ball-sized lump (隆起部分) in my throat and sat down Slowly, I opened the music. Next, I rested my still shaking hands on the ivory (象牙色的) keys.
As my fingers played across the keys, I was becoming more unsure of my preparation for this moment. But the memory of my years of training came flooding back. I knew that I had practiced this piece so many times that I could play it backwards if requested.
Although at one point I accidentally played two keys instead of the intended one, I continued to move my fingers automatically.
My eyes burned holes into the pages in front of me. I was not going to lose my concentration. To keep this to myself, I leaned forward and focused carefully on the music.
When I came to the end of the page, a warning went off inside my head: DONT MAKE A MISTAKE WHEN YOU TURN THE PAGE!
Needless to say, I obeyed myself with all my heart and mind. And, proud of my “page-turning skill”, I finished the rest of the piece without making a single mistake.
After the final note died away, a celebration went into action inside my head. I had finished. I had finished. I had mastered the impossible.
1.How did the author feel while on stage before the performance?
A. Over the moon. B. On pins and needles.
C. As cool as a cucumber. D. Hot under the collar.
2.We learn from the passage that ________.
A. the author had never performed in public before
B. the author didn’t make a single mistake while playing
C. the author’s parents were present at the performance
D. the author hadn’t made full preparations for the performance
3.What did the author mean by saying “My eyes burned holes into the pages in front of me.”?
A. He/She tried to fix his/her eyes on the pages.
B. He/She wanted to tear the pages into pieces.
C. He/She lost his/her interest in the pages.
D. He/She was dissatisfied with his/her performance.
4.The author successfully finished the performance because of ________.
A. the warning inside the head B. the wonderful “page-turning skill”
C. the encouragement from his/her parents D. the timely adjustment
What’s on?
Electric Underground
7:30 pm—1:00 am Free at the Cyclops
Do you know who’s playing in your area? We’re bringing you an evening of live rock and pop music from the best local bands. Are you interested in becoming a musician and getting a recording contract? If so, come early to the talk at 7:30 pm by Jules Skye, a successful record producer. He’s going to talk about how you can find the right person to produce you music.
Gee Whizz
8:30 pm—10:30 pm Comedy at Kaleidoscope
Come and see Gee Whizz perform. He’s the funniest stand-up comedian on the comedy scene. This joyful show will please everyone, from the youngest to the oldest. Gee Whizz really knows how to make you laugh! Our bar is open from 7:00 pm for drinks and snacks.
Simons Workshop
5:00 pm—7:30 pm Wednesdays at Victoria Stage
This is a good chance for anyone who wants to learn how to do comedy. The workshop looks at every kind of comedy, and practices many different ways of making people laugh. Simon is a comedian and actor who has 10 years’ experience of teaching comedy. His workshops are exciting and fun. An evening with Simon will give you the confidence to be funny.
Charlotte Stone
8:00 pm-11:00 pm Pizza World
Fine food with beautiful jazz music; this is a great evening out. Charlotte Stone will perform songs from her new best-selling CD, with James Pickering on the piano. The menu is Italian, with excellent meat and fresh fish, pizzas and pasta (面食). Book early to get a table. Our bar is open all day, and serves cocktails, coffee, beer, and white wine.
1.The only place available at midnight is ________.
A. Cyclops Theatre B. Kaleidoscope
C. Victoria Stage D. Pizza World
2.At Victoria Stage, you ________.
A. would be entertained a lot by some comedians
B. might spend a whole day with Simon
C. could learn how to entertain people
D. would become an expert in teaching comedy
3.We know that in Pizza World, ________.
A. people can enjoy rock and pop music
B. people can receive a CD by Charlotte Stone
C. food from all over the world is served
D. a table reservation is necessary
阅读下面短文，根据其内容写一篇60词左右的内容概要。
High school exit tests are tests that students must pass to graduate from high school. In the last few years. however, a number of states in America have dropped them. Although some states still use them for diplomas, the number is down from a high of 27 states during the testing craze promoted by No Child Left Behind (NCLB).
The appearance of this phenomenon is small wonder. Researches clearly show that exit tests have little positive effects on students. A 2014 report found exit testing was associated with lower graduation rates, negatively affected labor market outcomes, and, most alarmingly, produced a 12.5 percent increase in incarceration( 监禁)rates. Exit exams, the study concluded, had tended to add little value for most students.
Exit testing relies on the following assumptions. One is that standardized testing can serve as a kind of “quality control”for high school graduates, guaranteeing that graduates are college ready.The other is that they have predicting value for future success in academic situations.
But there is little evidence. The tests don't exactly measure what they pretend to measure. For example, qualities such as intelligence, academic ability, college readiness are not determined.Those that should be developed in all young people, like responsibility, critical thinking,and empathy (移植),are not measured,either.Even supporters of exit tests have acknowledged that they don't offer reliable data.
Thus, more and more people are suggesting that exit test scores ought to be just one component of the high school diploma. Schools should consider many other records including credits earned, courses taken,activities, service, projects and other elements of academic accomplishment so that students can be evaluated flexibly. In other words, exit test scores should never be the only criterion for high school diplomas.
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假定你是李华，校学生会主席。加拿大某高中部分学生将于下周来你校交流学习，请你代表学校给他们的领队Alan发邮件明确接机事宜，内容包括:
1.核实到达时间；
2.明确接机位置；
3.告知辨认方式。
注意:
1.词数80左右；
2.可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
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