IS IT TIME TO GET MP3?
Your computer has been playing music for years, one CD at a time. Now hundreds of songs can be stored in your PC (personal computer) if they’re in the MP3 format.
What is it?
MP3 compresses music into small computer friendly files. You access MP3 music several ways : Music can be downloaded from websites that have converted vast music libraries into MP3. Or you can prerecord CDs into your PC and convert songs in minutes into MP3. Once MP3 music is on your PC’s hard drive, you can play it through your computer’s speakers, “burn” it onto blank CDs or exchange MP3 files with friends using E-mail.
How much?
Software needed to play and convert MP3 music is often free. It comes preinstalled on most new computers or can be downloaded from many websites, including MP3. com. Some MP3 sites are free. Just type “MP3 sites” into any search engine. The popular MP3 players start at around $50and can hold hundreds of songs. A blank CD on which you can record music costs about a dollar.
Advantages
MP3 turns your home PC into a tape recorder. Tiny MP3 players are the size of a card, making it easy to take hundreds of songs with you.
Disadvantages
You may find that music at many sites is limited. And some only allow you to listen rather than download offerings. Others let you download music that then can’t be copied to MP3 players. And a growing number of new CDs make it impossible to copy songs to a computer.
1.How can you get MP3 music?
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A．By turning your home PC into a tape recorder |
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B．By taking your own music or songs with you |
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C．By copying songs to a PC through the speakers. |
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D．By downloading from websites which have converted music libraries into MP3. |
2.Which is NOT true to the passage?
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A．Software needed to play and convert MP3 music is often free of charge. |
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B．MP3 music can be with friends by e-mail. |
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C．MP3 music can be downloaded for free at any site. |
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D．A greater number of new CDs make it possible to copy songs to a computer. |
3.The underlined word “burn” probably means_____.
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A．fire |
B．change |
C．download |
D．play |
4.How much will you pay for a MP3 player?
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A．Free of charge. |
B．Free downloading. |
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C．At least fifty dollars. |
D．About a dollar. |
In the early part of the twentieth century, racism was widespread in the United States. Many African Americans were not given equal opportunities in education or employment. Marian Anderson (1897-1993) was an African American woman who gained fame as a concert singer in this climate of racism. She was born in Philadelphia and sang in church choirs during her childhood. When she applied for admission to a local music school in 1917, she was turned down because she was black. Unable to attend music school, she began her career as a singer for church gatherings. In 1929, she went to Europe to study voice and spent several years performing there. Her voice was widely praised throughout Europe. Then she returned to the US in 1935 and became a top concert singer after performing at Town Hall in New York City.
Racism again affected Anderson in 1939. When it was arranged for her to sing at Constitution Hall in Washington, DC, the Daughters of the American Revolution opposed it because of her color. She sang instead at the Lincoln Memorial for over 75 000 people. In 1955, Anderson became the first black soloist to sing win the Metropolitan Opera of New York City. The famous conductor Toscanini praised her voice as “heard only once in a hundred years”. She was a US delegate to the United Nations in 1958 and won the UN peace prize in 1977. Anderson eventually triumphed over racism.
1.According to this passage, what did Marian Anderson do between 1917 and 1929?
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A．She studied at a music school. |
B．She sang for religious activities. |
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C．She sang at Town Hall in New York. |
D．She studied voice in Europe. |
2.Toscanini thought that Marian Anderson .
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A．had a very rare voice |
B．sang occasionally in public |
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C．sang only once in many years |
D．was seldom heard by people |
3.Anderson’s beautiful voice was first recognized .
A. at the Lincoln Memorial B. in Washington, DC.
C. in Europe D. at the United Nations
4.This passage shows that Anderson finally defeated racism in the US by
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A．protesting to the government |
B．appealing to the United Nations |
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C．demonstrating in the streets |
D．working hard to perfect her art |
Chinese people are now spending more time surfing the net than watching TV, according to results of a survey by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) published Thursday.
The survey, of citizens of five Chinese cities, found that 79 percent of interviewees use the internet for information, and 55.1 percent to read news on the internet. About 63 percent of the interviewees use e-mail. The average times spent surfing the net and watching TV were 2.73 hours and 1.29hours, respectively.
Only 10.4 percent reported use the internet primarily to send and receive email; 65.9 percent read online news; 62.2 quite often play games on-line. More and more people have taken an interest in the entertainment opportunities online. Up to 56.5 percent of interviewees quite often download music, and 53.5 percent get entertainment messages from the internet.
Yet the survey found that television is still the dominant mass medium. Seventy-nine percent of interviewees choose to watch TV to get information, and another 75 percent take newspapers as important as TV.
Five major web sites in the Chinese language, namely Sina, Sohu, Netease, Baidu and Yahoo are still ranked top ones by web users, and those that voted for Sina as the best among them were 30.9 percent.
Authorized statistics showed that web users in China have already exceeded 100 million, second to that of the United States.
1.Which of the following is not true?
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A．Chinese people are now spending more time surfing the net than watching TV. |
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B．There are more Chinese people using the internet for information compared with those reading news on the internet. |
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C．There are more people using e-mail compared with those searching information on the internet. |
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D．There are more people using e-mail compared with those reading news on the internet. |
2.The survey shows that .
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A．Only 10.4% reported use the internet to send and receive email. |
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B．Less than half of the people use the internet for enter fain-ment. |
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C．All of the people reported like to play games on-line. |
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D．Most of the people reported read online news. |
3.Which will you choose if you want to chat with your friends on the internet?
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A．TV |
B．Sina |
C．telephone |
D．QQ |
4.The underlined word “exceeded” means .
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A．increased to |
B．increased by |
C．risen |
D．decreased |
The British people are famous for being quite reserved(保守的). We are known around the world for having the biggest "personal 1 "? the distance between us and the person we are 2 to. I have 3 been more aware of this than over the last month, since I arrived in China. Getting used to Chinese colleagues 4 close by me and even placing their hands on my arm is proving quite 5 . My natural British reaction is to 6 back and move away, even though I realize it is a friendly gesture by the Chinese person.
I have 7 many people holding hands or putting their arms around each other as they walk along the streets of Beijing. This would rarely be seen in the UK , even between very close friends.
And 8 at someone in Britain is considered very 9 . But here, I find myself being stared at often. It 10 me long to realize this was not rude in China, but a 11 of curiosity.
I visited Datong last week, where the local people are 12 used to Westerners. An elderly woman couldn't believe her 13 when she saw me. And 14 feel offended(使不舒服) by her staring at me, I was 15 to see her smile back when I said "Nihao."
When I visited one of Datong's middle schools to talk about English Weekly, the students asked me to 16 their copies of the newspaper. And one girl at the Yungang Grottoes asked to have her picture taken with me. I 17 like a celebrity(名人)!
I have 18 over the last month how true it is that the British are very 19 . We can learn a lot about 20 from China's culture and habits. And I am learning more every day.
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Please go and _____________________ a good meal. We shall have the honor of Mr. White’s saying for supper.
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A．prepare for |
B．prepare |
C．get ready for |
D．have |
As you can see, the number of cars on our roads _____________ rising these days.
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A．was keeping |
B．keep |
C．keeps |
D． were keeping |
