When students and parents are asked to rate subjects according to their importance, the arts are unavoidably at the bottom of the list. Music is nice, people seem to say, but not important. Too often it is viewed as entertainment, but certainly not an education priority(优先). This view is shortsighted. In fact, music education is beneficial and important for all students.
Music tells us who we are, because music is an expression of the beings who create it, it reflects their thinking and values, as well as the social environment it came from. Rock music represents a lifestyle just as surely as does a Schubert song. The jazz influence that George Gershwin and other musicians introduced into their music is obviously American because it came from American musical traditions. Music expresses our character and values. It gives us identity as a society.
Music provides a kind of perception (感知) that cannot be acquired any other way. Science can explain how the sun rises and sets. The arts explore the emotive (情感的) meaning of the same phenomenon. We need every possible way to discover and respond to our world for one simple but powerful reason: No one way can get it all.
The arts are forms of thought as powerful in what they communicate as mathematical and scientific symbols. They are ways we human beings “talk” to each other. They are the language of civilization through which we express our fears, our curiosities, our hungers, our discoveries, our hopes. The arts are ways we give form to our ideas and imagination so that they can be shared with others. When we do not give children access to an important way of expressing themselves such as music, we take away from them the meanings that music expresses.
Science and technology do not tell us what it means to be human. The arts do. Music is an important way we express human suffering, celebration, the meaning and value of peace and love.
So music education is far more necessary than people seem to realize.
1.According to Paragraph 1, students ____ .
A. regard music as a way of entertainment
B. disagree with their parents on education
C. view music as an overlooked subject
D. prefer the arts to science
2.In Paragraph 2, the author uses jazz an example to_________ .
A. compare it with rock music
B. show music identifies a society
C. introduce American musical traditions
D. prove music influences people’s lifestyles
3.According to the passage, the arts and science__________.
A. approach the world from different angles
B. explore different phenomena of the world
C. express people’s feeling in different ways
D. explain what it means to be human
4.What is the main idea of the passage?
A. Music education deserves more attention.
B. Music should be of top education priority.
C. Music is an effective communication tool.
D. Music education makes students more imaginative.
A motivational strategy that parents can employ with their kids, is to frame tasks and responsibilities in the context of what the end benefit is for them. I call this strategy WIIFM
(“What’s in it for me?”).
When a teen can combine an understanding of WIIFM with a sense of passion about achieving a goal, barriers will start to fall away. At our teen summer camps, we arrange an event near the end of the 10-day session that helps campers identify an important life goal and mentally break through their biggest barrier to achieving the goal.
We pass around 12-by-12-inch pine boards. We tell campers that this activity is not about breaking a piece of wood. It’s about how you can get what you want in your life. It’s about breaking barriers to grab on to your goals.
They have the power to break through any barrier. It has nothing to do with body size or physical condition. The skinniest, smallest teens will break through the board almost as easily as the big ones.
We talk to the campers about the reasons they might have had for not reaching their goals in the past. Maybe they got lazy and decided it wasn’t worth the effort. Maybe they failed and let their fear of failure hold them back. But this exercise is about putting the past where it belongs. Today is about making new choices.
By this point in the program, we ask them to think of the goal they’ve set for themselves and write their goals on the boards. Then they write the possible obstacles which may hold them back on the opposite sides. An inch of pine now stands between them and their dreams.
The facilitators and their teammates gather around. The support is strong. One by one, they break through the barriers and grab their goals! All around us teens are laughing, crying, hugging, and holding up the broken pieces of their boards. The confidence shown on their faces is beautiful.
While arranging such an activity in one’s home is almost unrealistic for parents, the value of helping a teen break through a personal barrier simply by being there as moral support can not be overestimated. More help for parents in the form of videos and articles is available at our website, in our blogs and in a monthly e-newsletter.
1.The 12-by-12-inch pine boards are used as _________________.
A. materials to test one’s muscles
B. signs of goals in one’s life
C. assessments to show one’s progress
D. symbols of barriers in one’s life
2.We can learn from the passage that through the event the campers _________.
A. become hard-working B. get moral support
C. gain confidence D. set right goals
3.Which is the best title for the passage?
A. The Power of WIIFM B. What’s in It for Me
C. The Importance of Goals D. Motivational Strategies
4.The passage is intended for _____________.
A. teens B. parents C. campers D. Tutors
My house is made out of wood, glass and stone. It is also made out of software.
If you come to visit, you’ll probably be surprised when you come in. Someone will give you an electronic PIN （个人身份号码）to wear. This PIN tells the house who and where you are. The house uses this information to give you what you need. When it’s dark outside, the PIN turns on the lights nearest you, and then turns them off as you walk away from them. Music moves with you too. If the house knows your favorite music, it plays it. The music seems to be everywhere, but in fact other people in the house hear different music or no music. If you get a telephone call, only the nearest telephone rings.
Of course, you are also able to tell the house if you want something. There is a home control console (控制台), a small machine that turns things on and off around you.
The PIN and the console are new ideas, but they are in fact like many things we have today. If you want to go to a movie, you need a ticket. If I give you my car keys, you can use my car. The car works for you because you have the keys. My house works for you because you wear the PIN or hold the console.
I believe that ten years from now, most new homes will have the systems that I’ve put in my house. The systems will probably be even bigger and better than the ones I’ve put in today.
I like to try new ideas. I know that some of my ideas will work better than others. But I hope that one day I will stop thinking of these systems as new, and ask myself instead, “How will I live without them?”
1.What does the passage mainly discuss?
A. How to develop a new system. B. The function of the PIN.
C. A home for the future. D. Easy life in the future.
2.What’s the purpose when the writer wrote the fourth paragraph?
A. To let readers know why his ideas are new.
B. To let readers know how special his house is.
C. To explain the importance of the PIN and the console.
D. To explain more easily what the functions of the PIN and the console are.
3.What is the writer most likely to be according to the passage?
A. An IT expert. B. A famous doctor.
C. An idealist D. An experienced teacher.
As a teenager, I felt I was always letting people down. I was rebellious(叛逆)on the outside, on the inside I wanted people to .
Once I left home to hitchhike(搭便车)to California with my friend Penelope. The trip wasn’t , and there were many times I didn’t feel safe. One situation in particular me grateful to still be alive. When I returned home, I was different—not so outwardly sure of myself.
I was happy to be home. But then I noticed that Penelope, who was with us, was wearing my clothes. And my seemed to like her better than me. I wondered if I would be if I weren’t there. I told my mom, and she explained that Penelope was a lovely girl, no one could me. I pointed out, “She is more patient and is neater than I have ever been.” My mom said these were wonderful , but I was the only person who could fill my . She made me realize that even with my , —and they were many—I was a loved member of the family who couldn’t be replaced.
I became a searcher, who I was and what made me unique. My of myself was changing. I wanted a solid base to start from. I started to resist pressure to in ways that I didn’t like any more, and I who I really was. I came to feel much more that no one can ever take my place.
Each of us a unique place in the world. You are special, no matter what others say or what you may think. So about being replaced. You be.
1.A. and B. but C. as D. for
2.A. leave B. replace C. receive D. like
3.A. easy B. hard C. fun D. long
4.A. made B. kept C. left D. forced
5.A. playing B. eating C. staying D. travelling
6.A. family B. friends C. relatives D. neighbors
7.A. loved B. mentioned C. cared D. missed
8.A. since B. as C. while D. unless
9.A. scold B. compare C. replace D. match
10.A. qualities B. girls C. people D. times
11.A. character B. role C. task D. form
12.A. faults B. advantages C. manners D. pities
13.A. looking at B. looking back C. seeking out D. giving up
14.A. picture B. view C. sense D. advice
15.A. think B. learn C. change D. act
16.A. hated B. celebrated C. wished D. expected
17.A. sure B. doubtful C. happy D. lonely
18.A. takes B. catches C. seizes D. holds
19.A. talk B. forget C. care D. argue
20.A. mustn’t B. shouldn’t C. can’t D. needn’t
_____ you didn’t know the rules shouldn’t be an excuse for your failure to report.
A. That B. What C. Because D. How
— Did a letter come for me this morning?
— Yes. _____ came for you.
A. That B. It C. One D. The letter
