Evelyn Glennie was the first lady of solo percussion (独奏打击乐器) in Scotland. In an interview, she recalled how she became a percussion soloist in spite of her disability.
“Early on I decided not to allow the _______ of others to stop me from becoming a musician. I grew up on a farm in northeast Scotland and began _______ piano lessons when I was eight. The older I got, the more my passion for music grew. But I also began to gradually lose my _______. Doctors concluded that the nerve damage was the _______ and by age twelve, I was completely deaf. But my love for music never _______ me.”
“My _______ was to become a percussion soloist, even though there were none at that time. To perform, I _______ to ‘hear’ music differently from others. I play in my stocking feet and can _______ the pitch of a note (音调高低) by the vibrations (振动) I feel through my body and through my _______. My entire sound world exists by making use of almost every ________ that I have.”
“I was ________ to be assessed as a musician, not as a deaf musician, and I applied to the famous Royal Academy of Music in London. No other deaf student had ________ this before and some teachers ________ my admission. Based on my performance, I was ________ admitted and went on to ________ with the academy’s highest honors.”
“After that, I established myself as the first full-time solo percussionist. I ________ and arranged a lot of musical compositions since ________ had been written specially for solo percussionists.”
“I have been a soloist for over ten years. ________ the doctor thought I was totally deaf, it didn’t ________ that my passion couldn’t be realized. I would encourage people not to allow themselves to be ________ by others. Follow your passion; follow your heart. They will lead you to the place you want to go.”
1.A.conditions B.opinions C.actions D.complaints
2.A.enjoying B.choosing C.taking D.giving
3.A.sight B.hearing C.touch D.taste
4.A.evidence B.result C.excuse D.cause
5.A.left B.amused C.accompanied D.disappointed
6.A.role B.decision C.promise D.goal
7.A.turned B.learned C.used D.ought
8.A.tell B.see C.hear D.smell
9.A.impression B.movement C.imagination D.recognition
10.A.sense B.effort C.feeling D.idea
11.A.dissatisfied B.astonished C.determined D.discouraged
12.A.done B.accepted C.advised D.admitted
13.A.supported B.followed C.required D.opposed
14.A.usually B.finally C.possibly D.hopefully
15.A.study B.research C.graduate D.progress
16.A.wrote B.translated C.copied D.read
17.A.enough B.some C.many D.few
18.A.However B.Although C.When D.Since
19.A.mean B.seem C.conclude D.say
20.A.directed B.attracted C.taught D.limited
Lots of people find it hard to get up in the morning, and put the blame on the alarm clock. In fact, the key to easy morning wake-up lies in resetting your body clock.1.Here’s how to make one.
● 2.In order to make a change, you need to decide why it’s important. Do you want to get up in time to have breakfast with your family, get in some exercise, or just be better prepared for your day? Once you are clear about your reasons, tell your family or roommates about the change you want to make.
● Rethink mornings. Now that you know why you want to wake up, consider re-arranging your morning activities. If you want time to have breakfast with your family, save some time the night before by setting out clothes, shoes, and bags. 3. That’s a quarter-hour more you could be sleeping if you bought a coffee maker with a timer.
● Keep your sleep/ wake schedule on weekends. If you’re tired out by Friday night, sleeping in on Saturday could sound wonderful. But compensating (补偿) on the weekends actually feeds into your sleepiness the following week, a recent study found. 4.
● Keep a record and evaluate it weekly. Keep track of your efforts and write down how you feel. After you’ve tried a new method for a week, take a look at your record. 5. If not, take another look at other methods you could try.
A.Get a sleep specialist.
B.Find the night motivation.
C.A better plan for sleep can help.
D.And consider setting a second alarm.
E.If the steps you take are working, keep it up.
F.Stick to your set bedtime and wake-up time, no matter the day.
G.Reconsider the 15 minutes you spend in line at the café to get coffee.
The International Day of Disabled Persons, an international celebration declared by the United Nations since 1992, is observed on December 3, aiming to promote an understanding of disability issues and get support for the rights of people with disabilities. The day takes place annually and focuses on a different issue each year. In South Africa, December 3 also marks the beginning of the Disability Awareness Month.
Since the first celebration, people with disabilities have gained recognition of their rights by States across the globe and of their rightful place in society. But there is still much work ahead of us to turn those legal rights into a true revolution, in which diversity is fully accepted and lived.
The estimated one billion people living with disabilities worldwide face many obstructions of inclusion in many key aspects of society. As a result, people with disabilities can’t enjoy the equal rights as normal people, which include employment, education as well as social and political participation. The right to participate in public life is essential to create stable democracies, active citizenship and reduce inequalities in society.
In many cases, people with disabilities must be able to fulfill their role in society. It is important to focus on the ability and not on the disability of an individual. It is important to note that disability is part of the human condition, and that all of us either are or will become disabled to one degree or another during the course of our lives.
By promoting empowerment, real opportunities for disabled people are created. This supports them in setting their own priorities. Empowerment involves investing in them-in jobs, health, nutrition, education, and social protection. When disabled people are empowered they are better prepared to take advantage of opportunities, and they can more readily accept their civil responsibilities.
1.What is the International Day of Disabled Persons meant for?
A.To raise money for the disabled. B.To stress the value of the disabled.
C.To make an international celebration. D.To make able-bodied people care about the disabled.
2.What does the underlined word in Paragraph 3 mean?
A.Barriers B.Chances C.Decisions D.Regrets
3.What is the main problem for disabled people?
A.Their number is too large. B.Few of them seek legal rights.
C.They can’t be fully accepted by society. D.They think poorly of their role in society.
4.What is indicated in the last paragraph?
A.The author is worried about the disabled. B.The disabled will have a brighter future.
C.What society has done is far from enough. D.The disabled must fight hard for their rights.
Some people think going to the gym takes time and effort, it often hurts, and it can be extremely boring.Most weight-related exercises are a combination of sets and reps(几次几组).In order to see any significant change from any one exercise,it will probably need to be repeated six to eight times, for a minimum of three sets, for about three months: Then there' s aerobics(有氧运动).For some, there's nothing more boring than endless miles spent running on a treadmill(跑步机).
But what if there is a way to reduce the boredom of exercise while still getting a good workout? Luckily for us, there’s virtual reality (VR).
“In the past, playing video games was a sedentary(久坐不动的) experience:,"says Jo Stauffer of the VR Heaitn-institute, but VR changes all of that.” Many, VR games are played while standing In order to play properly, the players are forced to move around swinging their arms or using their legs.After an hour of this on a regular enough basis, it's not surprising, that many people unexpectedly find themselves a little fitter .There are already a number of virtual reality games which, deliberately or not, result in their player “getting a good sweat on” if played for enough time.For example, there's a music game which forces players to shadow box(做空拳攻防练习) in order to hit the notes---that's an upper-body workout.
The benefit of VR has been noticed by one company.They want to take the whole experience into the gym. They are making a resistance machine, designed to be used in combination with a VR headset. Players challenge a virtual competitor in a series of games,which results in a 30-minute full-body workout.However, the cost of the equipment is expensive and there are safety concerns to be worked out, says J.P.Gownder from the consultancy Forrester.
Although it's early days, for those: of us who struggle to overcome the boredom of exercise,a new solution could be coming.And a world where a person can exercise and have fun at the same time might be something that many people would want-virtual or not.So don' t give up exercising.
1.What conclusion can we draw from the first paragraph?
A.Most weight-related exercises nearly have no effect.
B.Some people think exercising in the gym is difficult and tiring.
C.Running on a treadmill wont bring significant change.
D.You'd better not go to the gym because of the risk of injury.
2.Compared with video games, VR games____________.
A.bring more fun to play.
B.take people less free time.
C.are more likely to bring players health benefits.
D.are more popular with people nowadays .
3.What can we know about the resistance machine?
A.It has been widely used in the gym.
B.There are some disadvantages of it.
C.J.P. Gownder highly recommends it.
D.When using it, people need to have a partner.
4.Which is the best title for the passage?
A.Virtual exercise in the gym. B.Keep going to the gym
C.The boredom of exercise D.The popularity of VR games.
Starbuck’s founder, Howard Schultz, came up with an idea for his coffee chain while drinking espresso(浓咖啡) in a bar. He took a good product, repackaged it and globalized it. But to many Italians, the coffee served by Starbucks and other branded stores is as far away from proper Italian coffee as you can get, despite the Italian-sounding offerings on their menus.
Now, I am part-Italian and like most Italians, I think that Italy represents the height of coffee culture, against the standard by which all coffee should be measured. My Italian friends and family hate the idea of adding a little sugar juice or other things to their valuable cappuccino(卡布基诺). I have a coffee machine at home, which is to the Italian kitchen what the kettle is to the British. As far as I’m concerned, the cappuccinos, lattes(拿铁) and espressos served in branded coffee chains taste bitter, a low copy of the real thing.
You’d never ask for a latte in Italy. If you did, you’d get served a glass of milk. Coffee and espresso are the same in Italy. Then there’s the Australian “white coffee”, a halfway house between a Starbucks-style latte and a macchiato(玛奇朵). The “white coffee” has gone global so much that recently it replaced the cappuccino on Starbucks’ menu in some parts of the US.
What’s more, Italians don’t waste time around in coffee shop armchairs drinking cappuccinos while surfing the Internet. Still, when it comes to taste, Italians are trying to reclaim the ground. Part of the problem is the price of coffee. Most Italian bars will not charge more than one euro a cup, which means there isn’t the choice to purchase more high-quality coffee. Italian flavor is held back by the way the coffee is boiled.
I still think I’ll be sticking to home-made coffee from my trusted machine. And I’ll continue to drink it in the Italian way.
1.What’s the purpose of telling the story of Starbucks in Paragraph 1?
A.To introduce the topic of the passage. B.To introduce the history of Starbucks.
C.To present the standard of good coffee. D.To explain the key to the success of Starbucks.
2.In the author’s opinion, the coffee served in Starbucks and other branded stores _______.
A.contains too much sugar juice B.represents the Italian coffee culture
C.is very different from that served in the US D.cannot meet the Italian standard of good coffee
3.Italians prefer home-made coffee due to the fact that _______.
A.home-made coffee is much cheaper
B.they can produce proper Italian coffee at home
C.each family has a tradition to use the coffee machine
D.they can have access to the Internet when drinking coffee at home
Even before my father left us, my mother had to go back to work to support our family. Once I came out of the kitchen, complaining, “Mom, I can’t peel potatoes. I have only one hand.”
Mom never looked up from sewing. “You get yourself into that kitchen and peel those potatoes,” she told me. “And don’t ever use that as an excuse for anything again!”
In the second grade, our teacher lined up my class on the playground and had each of us race across the monkey bars, swinging from one high steel rod(棒) to the next. When it was my turn, I shook my head. Some kids behind me laughed, and I went home crying.
That night I told Mom about it. She hugged me, and I saw her “we’ll see about that” look. The next afternoon, she took me back to school. At the deserted playground, Mom looked carefully at the bars.
“Now, pull up with your right arm,” she advised. She stood by as I struggled to lift myself with my right hand until I could hook the bar with my other elbow. Day after day we practiced, and she praised me for every rung I reached. I’ll never forget the next time, crossing the rungs, I looked down at the kids who were standing with their mouths open.
One night, after a dance at my new junior high, I lay in bed sobbing. I could hear Mom come into my room. “Mom,” I said, weeping, “none of the boys would dance with me.”
For a long time, I didn’t hear anything. Then she said, “Oh, honey, someday you’ll be beating those boys off with a bat.” Her voice was faint. I peeked out from my covers to see tears running down her cheeks. Then I knew how much she suffered on my behalf. She had never let me see her tears.
1.Which of the following expressions can be used most suitably to describe Mom’s attitude when she made the child peel potatoes?
A.Cruel. B.Serious. C.Cold. D.Strict.
2.What does the sentence “I saw her ‘we’ll see about that’ look” in Paragraph 4 imply?
A.Mom believed every aim could be achieved if you stuck to it.
B.The race across monkey bars was not difficult enough for a child to give up.
C.Mom was determined to prove she herself was better than the teacher.
D.What the child had said brought Mom great attraction and curiosity.
3.When the child looked down at the kids, they were standing with their mouths open because ______.
A.they felt sorry for what they had done before
B.they were afraid the author might fall off and get hurt
C.they were astonished to find the author’s progress
D.they wanted to see what the author would do on the bars
4.The most probable conclusion we can draw after reading the passage is that ______.
A.the last incident was sad enough to make Mom weep
B.the child’s experience reminded Mom of that of her own
C.Mom could solve any problem except the one in the last paragraph
D.in fact Mom suffered more in the process of the child’s growth
