Did Steve Jobs kill the music industry? That’s the question on many people’s lips since rock star Jon Bon Jovi accused the Apple boss of personally destroying the music industry.Bon Jovi centers his criticism on how he believes music downloading has robbed young people of what he calls the “beauty of buying an album”. “Kids today have missed the beauty of taking your pocket money and making a decision based on the jacket (封面), not knowing what the record sounded like,” he said.
But far from killing the industry, many young people today think Jobs has been a blessing (带来幸运的人), offering you instant, and selective access to a whole world of music.
Keith Staskiewicz at Enthertainment Weekly speaks for the feelings of many music lovers. He believes listening to MP3s rather than records or CDs “just save money” and doesn’t “remove the sense of discovery they get from new music”. Staskiewicz also argues that it’s wrong to blame Jobs and Apple for destroying anything. “Change is just part of the business,” Staskiewicz said. “No doubt in 50 years, Justin Bieber will complain about how kids don’t listen to ipods anymore.”
For now, though, it appears that music downloading is set to continue for the near future.
According to Summer Redstone, chairman of media company Viacom, iTunes has “resurrected(复兴) the music industry by creating a legal, affordable purchasing system for fans”.
But recent surveys suggested that, despite the “legalizing(合法化)” of music downloading through sites like iTunes, young people are still choosing to download music illegally. A report by Jupiter Research suggested that illegal downloading sites are used three times as much as legal ones. The problem, according to its analyst Mark Mulligan, is how today’s youth grow up viewing music as something they can get for free.
He said, “Unless the musci industry can shift these consumers while they are young away from free consumption to paid music formats(格式), they may never develop music purchasing behavior and the recording industry could suffer long-term harm.”
1.Which one is TRUE about young people nowadays?
A．They are music lovers and are willing to save money to enjoy music.
B．The majority of them download music through legal sites like iTunes.
C．They are most likely to go back to the store to buy albums in the near future.
D．They are robbed of the change of enjoying music by Apple.
2.According to Mark Mulligan, the best solution to the problem of illegal music downloading is to_______.
A．legalize music downloading through sites like iTunes
B．help young people get used to paying for music
C．offer young people instant and selective access to a variety of music
D．create an affordable purchasing system for fans
3.What is the main point of the article?
A．How Steve Jobs and Apple destroyed the music industry.
B．Why young people prefer downloading music to buying albums.
C．The problem of illegal downloading of music.
D．Different opinions on effects of music downloading.
The human body has hundreds of muscles. The three types are skeletal(骨骼的) muscles, smooth muscles and cardiac, or heart muscles. Each kind of muscle has a special job to do.
The skeletal muscles are attached to the bones; they actually hold the skeleton together. Strong cords, called tendons(肌腱), help connect these muscles to the bones. Skeletal muscles give us strength and allow us to move in many ways. If you look at skeletal muscles through a microscope, you will see that it has bands of fibers that look like stripes(条纹). These stripes are called striations. Skeletal muscles usually move because the brain has sent a conscious message to them telling them what to do. This is called voluntary movement.
Another type of muscle is smooth muscle. Unlike skeletal muscle, smooth muscle does not have striations. This is found in organs such as the stomach, the bladder(膀胱), the lungs and the eyes. Smooth muscles are smaller than the skeletal muscles and they move involuntarily. The brain tells these muscles what to do, but we aren’t even aware of it. For example, we don’t have to think about breathing or digesting food. The smooth muscles just do their jobs automatically. For this reason smooth muscles are sometimes called involuntary muscles.
Like smooth muscle, cardiac muscle also works involuntarily. It is a very thick muscle that is found only in the walls of the heart. Its job is to pump blood out of the heart and into blood vessels called arteries(动脉). The arteries help carry the blood to all parts of the body. When the cardiac muscles relax, they let blood back into the heart. Cardiac muscles have striations, just like skeletal muscles do.
1.When we _______, the job is done by smooth muscles.
A．close our eyes B．kick a ball C．hug our friends D．lift a suitcase
2.Skeletal muscles and heart muscles are alike because_______.
A．both can move voluntarily
B．both are thick muscles
C．both are bigger than smooth muscles
D．both have stripes called striations
3.Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
A．Heart muscles are very important because they give us strength and allow us to move.
B．The heart of human beings completely consists of heart muscle.
C．The skeletal muscles are connected to the bones by tendons.
D．Smooth muscle does its work without receiving message from the brain.
I’ve often had difficulty remembering names. Proper nouns seldom found easy purchase in my brain unless I consciously repeat them over and over again. Needless to say, when people leave my life their names are often soon forgotten. This can have some embarrassing consequences.
Five or six years after high school graduation, I was reading carefully the shelves of a local auto supply shop when I noticed someone familiar enter the store. I knew him. He was in my graduation class and although he was not a good friend of mine, we had shared many classes and knew each other well. I began to feel an increasing sense of foreboding（预感）and quickly hid behind the nearest shelving unit. I should have known his name. How many times had I heard it during class role call? How many conversations had we had in the hallways?
I easily remembered his surname, “Ricca”. His was a large, well know family in the town of my childhood. I couldn’t have just acknowledged him using his surname. I might as well have admitted forgetting his name, which was not a choice. One’s name is important to every person’s identity. Not remembering an old acquaintance’s name is similar to forgetting your wife’s favourite flower, an embarrassing mistake of the highest order.
I quickly ran through the alphabet (字母表), a strategy I developed for just such an occasion. Abe? No, Adam, Andy, Bob? No, Bill? Yes! Bill sounded right. Of course, his name is Bill. I confidently made my way around the shelves and spoke to him as he was studying some cans of motor oil.
“Bill, how are you doing?”, I said offering him my hand which he took with a friendly shake. We talked a bit, some amusing remarks about our college experiences and such. I took his hand again, said how good it was to see him and gave him a happy wave, calling him by name again, as I left.
I was so pleased that I avoided yet another awkward encounter(相遇) that I could feel a big smile on my face as I paid the cashier and exited the store. As I marched merrily across the parking lot, an awful thought came into my mind. John, his name is John! Where did Bill come from? Was that one of my brothers? The sudden realization of what I did made me stop in my tracks. My head dropped when I realized my mistake. There was no way Mrs. Ricca would name one of her sons “Bill”. “Billerica” was the name of a town just north of Boston.
1.Which one can show the charge of the writer’s feelings?
a. guilty b. anxious c. embarrassed d. happy e sure
A．a-d-b-e-c B．d-e-b-a-c C．c-b-e-d-a D．b-c-d-e-
2.According to the passage, which statement is NOT sure?
A．Forgetting your wife’s favourite flower is a very serious mistake.
B．It is common to call an old acquaintance his given name.
C．The writer was in his twenties when he met John in the store.
D．John and the writer studied in the same college.
3.The underlined word “acknowledge” probably means “ ” here.
A．accept B．greet C．thank D．admit
4.We can infer from the passage that _______.
A．The writer must have experienced such embarrassment many times
B．The writer had difficulty remembering names because he was getting old
C．Running through the alphabet was always an effective way of remembering an acquaintance’s name for the writer
D．Mrs. Ricca would have named one of her sons “Bill” if Billerica was not the name of a town north of Boston
In order to tell what I believe, I must briefly introduce some of my personal history.
The turning point of my life was my decision to give up a promising business career and study music. My parents, sharing my love of music, _16_____ of it as a profession. This was understandable in view of the family __17____. My grandfather had taught music for nearly forty years and earned barely enough to __18____ for his large family. My father often said it was only the hardheaded thriftiness of my grandmother that helped the family live a life. As a(an) __19___ of this example in the family, my mention of music as a profession carried with it a picture of an existence with __20____ financial rewards. My parents insisted upon college instead of a conservatory of a career of music, and so finally I went to college quite happily.
Before my graduation from Columbia, the family met with severe financial problems and I felt it my duty to __21____ college and take a job. Thus was I started a business career – which I always think of as the wasted years.
Now I do not for a moment mean to disparage business. My whole point I is that it was not for me. I went into it for __22___, and apart from the satisfaction of being able to help the family, money is all I got out of it. It was not enough. I felt that life was passing me by. From being merely dissatisfied I became really ___23___. I knew what I wanted is to save enough to __24____ and go to Europe to study ___25__. I used to get up at dawn to practice before I left for “downtown”, disappointing my poor mother by eating a hurried breakfast at the last minute. I continued to make money, and finally, bit by bit, saved enough to __26____ me to go abroad. And, by now, the family didn’t need my help any longer. I ended my business career, feeling like a man released from prison, and sailed for Europe. I stayed four years, worked harder than ever and ___27___ every minute of it.
“Enjoyed” is too mild a word. I walked on air. I really lived. I was a __28____ man and I was doing what I loved to do and what I was meant to do.
If I had stayed in business, I might be a __29____ man today, but I do not believe I would have made a success of living. I would have given up all those inner satisfactions, which money can never buy.
When I broken away from business, it was against the advice of all my friends and family. Most of us are so accustomed to the association of success with money__30___the thought of giving up a good income for an idea seemed rather crazy. If so, all I can say is “Ah! It’s great to be crazy.”
1. A．thought B．disapproved C．agreed D．disagreed
2. A．background B．experience C．tradition D．belief
3. A．offer B．support C．provide D．give
4. A．expectation B．intention C．cause D．consequence
5. A．certain B．uncertain C．sure D．ensured
6. A．enter B．join C．leave D．apply
7. A．interest B．dreams C．money D．hope
8. A．painful B．excited C．embarrassed D．cheerful
9. A．drop B．satisfy C．live D．quit
10. A．music B．medicine C．economy D．Business
11. A．let B．make C．encourage D．enable
12. A．spent B．enjoyed C．wasted D．used
13. A．free B．wealthy C．creative D．enthusiastic
14. A．strong B．successful C．wealthy D．satisfied
15. A．it B．which C．that D．as
_______ he is always studying hard is well known ____ us all.
A．How, to B．What, to C．That, to D．Whether, by
I believe ______ you have done your best and _____ things will improve .
A．that.\ B．\.\ C．what, that D．\.that
