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
When baby turtles first come out of eggs, they head to the sea by nature. The beach surface goes down, which is one directional clue they follow. Another is light: The horizon (地平线) over the sea is brighter than the horizon over land.
But lights from towns and beach developments can confuse the baby turtles. The sky shining above a city can mislead them to wander. And particularly bright lights can draw them away from the sea.
You’d think the extra time crawling (爬行) might wear out baby turtles, which need energy once they get in the water to swim for about a day to get to their destination in the sea. In a normal trip from nests to waves, the babies build up chemicals that show they have been pushing themselves.
Some researchers took the baby turtles to a lab, where they ran on a treadmill and swam in a tank while their blood and breathing were monitored. The finding is surprising: even after hours of crawling, the turtles were fine by all measures and swam as well as turtles that didn't have an extra crawling period.
The reason is that they often stop while crawling if they are doing U for a long time, unlike the disturbed trip they make when heading straight to the water. So misled turtles are not worn out.
But the misleading lights are still a problem for the babies. The longer they spend on the beach wandering, the more they are exposed to natural enemies. They can also end up losing their lives in the heat of the sun.
1.What attracts the baby turtles away from the sea?
A.Bright lights. B.Vast beaches.
C.Buildings in cities. D.Noises from towns.
2.What does the underlined word “they” refer to in paragraph 3?
A.Chemicals. B.Nests.
C.Waves. D.Baby turtles.
3.Why don’t the baby turtles feel exhausted after long crawling?
A.They travel by night. B.Their trip is undisturbed.
C.They take frequent breaks. D.They are refreshed by city lights.
4.What may happen to the baby turtles exposed to misleading lights?
A.They are in great danger.
B.They avoid their natural enemies.
C.They will wander on the beach for a while.
D.They are more likely to find the destination.
The bus screamed to a stop in Nazareth, Israel. Five Australian backpackers boarded and struck up a conversation with me. They asked typical travelers’ questions—where was I going and why was I traveling alone? My plan was to travel with a friend of a friend, I explained, but when I called her that morning, she didn’t pick up and I had no other way to reach her. My stomach was in knots, but I decided to head out anyway, thinking I might run into her if I traveled to Tiberius, where we had planned to go together.
“Why don’t you travel with us?” one of the backpackers offered. They were experienced adventurers who would work for a few months, save, then travel for as long as they could. Their current plan was to explore the Middle East and Europe in three months while working in London.
It seemed risky to travel with strangers, but my instinct said yes. For the next two weeks, I explored Israel with the backpackers and learned to trust my instincts in all types of new and interesting situations. When they hook a ride, I took the bus, but when they wanted to steal into the King David Hotel’s swimming pool, I led the way. The world opened up to me because I chose to travel alone. I joined complete strangers, who become close friends. Years later, one couple from the backpacking group even flew from Sydney to Phoenix to be in my wedding. The trip was such a special experience that it gave me confidence in all areas of my life. Since then, I’ve backpacked alone across South Africa, sky-dived from 12,000 feet in New Zealand and even moved across the U.S. with no job lined up.
On my third day wandering in Israel with my new friends, I bumped into the woman I was supposed to meet. Though I was happy she was all right, I was grateful she hadn’t picked up the phone.
1.By “My stomach was in knots” (in paragraph 1), the author most likely means that she was ______.
A.sick of riding on a bumpy bus B.nervous of meeting strangers
C.upset about the sudden change D.sorry about the impractical plan
2.Which of the following best describes the backpackers the author met?
A.Courageous but disrespectful. B.Jobless and poorly educated.
C.Warmhearted and trustworthy. D.Homeless but lighthearted.
3.The author’s sixth sense told her that ______.
A.she would get along with the backpackers B.it might cause trouble to have a swim
C.she ought to stay away from the backpackers D.it could add excitement to get a free ride
4.What can be inferred from the passage?
A.Most of the backpackers became the author’s lifelong friends.
B.The author gathered the courage to be a fulltime backpack traveler.
C.The woman missed the phone call with the purpose of traveling alone.
D.The author considered it the best decision of her life to travel on her own.
Every man dreams of having a good car. With luxury cars, like Bentley, Lamborghini and Rolls-Royce, going into the world of SUVs, if you have deep pockets, you will be spoilt for choice.
◆Lamborghini Aventador SVJ
Using a new aerodynamic system allows it to set a car lap record of 6: 44 97 at Nurburgring, one of the longest and most challenging circuits in the world. Plus, carbon fiber can be seen everywhere, which makes the car strong and lightweight. There’re only 900 being built and you’11need to cough up $517, 770 to buy one.
◆Aston Martin DBX
The DBX is Aston Martin’s maiden SUV product. It features a choice of two gas engines—a 4.0-liter V8 from Mercedes and a 5.2-liter V12 from its own. The price is predicted to be around $250, 000.
◆Audi E-tron
Being an eco-friendly motoring. it is an all-electric SUV that makes up for its rather ordinary appearance with design, luxury and technology. At the front and back are electric motors which insure progress is rapid. In addition to plenty of storage space, the Audi E-tron provides side cameras instead of side mirrors and air suspension that adapts to the terrain (地 形). Hand over $74, 800 and it’s yours.
◆Tesla Roadster
Tesla Roadster will turn most heads, Zero to 60 in 1.9 seconds means it will leave most cars for dust. The top speed is 250 mph, which is also unheard of for most cars—let alone an a11-electric one. Having advanced autonomous driving systems and a huge touchscreen for surfing the Internet, it won’t make you regret for paying $200, 000.
1.What’s special about Lamborghini Aventador SVJ?
A.It offers two gas engines. B.It is an all-electric SUV.
C.It uses lightweight materials. D.It has the most challenging circuit.
2.Which car is suitable if you want one with adaptable air suspension?
A.Lamborghini Aventador SVJ. B.Aston Martin DBX.
C.Audi E-tron. D.Tesla Roadster
3.Which of the following does Tesla Roadster provide?
A.Self-driving systems. B.A gas-saving engine.
C.Side cameras. D.Much storage space.
阅读下面材料，根据其内容和所给段落开头语续写两段，使之构成一篇完整的短文。续写的词数应为150左右。
There was something in the elderly woman’s grace that caught my eye. Although slow and unsure of her steps, the woman moved with deliberation (从容), and there was no hesitation in her gestures.
It was a few years ago, and I had taken a part - time holiday - season job in a video. store at the local shopping mall. From inside the store, I could see the people outside rushing by.
The elderly woman entered the store, along with her daughter, who was displaying a serious case of impatience, rolling her eyes, sighing and checking her watch every few seconds. I guessed if she had possessed a rope, she would have fastened it to her mother to drag her along to keep step with the rush of other shoppers.
The elderly woman separated from her daughter and began to seek through the DVDs on the nearest shelf. After the slightest hesitation, I walked over and asked if I could help her find something. The woman smiled up at me and showed me a title written on an old piece of paper.
Rather than rush off to locate the DVD for the woman, I asked her to walk with me so I could show her where she could find it. Looking back, I thought I wanted to enjoy her company for a moment.
Something about her deliberate movements reminded me of my own mother, who’d passed away the previous Christmas. I missed my mom and still felt regretful about the moments when I’d used my impatience to make her life unhappy.
As we walked along the back of the store, I introduced its floor plan: old television shows, action movies, cartoons, science fiction. The woman seemed glad of the unrushed company and casual conversation.
We found the DVD and she thanked me, saying that it was the one she’d enjoyed when she was her daughter’s age. Unwillingly, I accompanied her to the cash register, realizing I had to return the elderly woman to her daughter, who was still tapping her foot at the front of the store.
Paragraph 1: As the elderly woman was waiting in the queue at the cash register, I walked over to her daughter. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 2: Together they made their way toward the store’s exit. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
假定你是李华，得知北京2022年冬奥会正在招募英语服务志愿者，请写一封申请信，内容包括：
1. 表达兴趣；
2. 自身优势；
3. 希望获准。
注意：1. 词数80左右；
2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
To Whom It May Concern,
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Yours,
Li Hua
