For some people, music is no fun at all. About four percent of the population is what scientists call “amusic.” People who are amusic are born without the ability to recognize or reproduce musical notes(音调). Amusic people often cannot tell the difference between two songs. Amusics can only hear the difference between two notes if they are very far apart on the musical scale.
As a result, songs sound like noise to an amusic. Many amusics compare the sound of music to pieces of metal hitting each other. Life can be hard for amusics. Their inability to enjoy music set them apart from others. It can be difficult for other people to identify with their condition. In fact, most people cannot begin to grasp what it feels like to be amusic. Just going to a restaurant or a shopping mall can be uncomfortable or even painful. That is why many amusics intentionally stay away from places where there is music. However, this can result in withdrawal and social isolation. “I used to hate parties,” says Margaret, a seventy-year-old woman who only recently discovered that she was amusic. By studying people like Margaret, scientists are finally learning how to identify this unusual condition.
Scientists say that the brains of amusics are different from the brains of people who can appreciate music. The different is complex, and it doesn’t include defective hearing. Amusics can understand other nonmusical sounds well. They also have no problems understanding ordinary speech. Scientists compare amusics to people who just can’t see certain colors.
Many amusics are happy when their condition is finally diagnosed(诊断). For years, Margaret felt embarrassed about her problem with music. Now she knows that she is not alone. There is a name for her condition. That makes it easier for her to explain. “When people invite me to a concert, I just say, ‘No, thanks. I’m amusic.’” says Margaret. “I just wish I had learned to say that when I was seventeen and not seventy.”
1. Which of the following is true of amusics?
A. Listening to music is far from enjoyable for them.
B. They love places where they are likely to hear music.
C. They can easily tell two different songs apart.
D. Their situation is well understood by musicians.
2. According to paragraph 3, a person with “defective hearing” is probably one who _________.
A. dislikes listening to speeches
B. can hear anything nonmusical
C. has a hearing problem
D. lacks a complex hearing system
3. In the last paragraph, Margaret expressed her wish that __________.
A. her problem with music had been diagnosed earlier
B. she were seventeen years old rather than seventy
C. her problem could be easily explained
D. she were able to meet other amusics
4. What is the passage mainly about?
A. Amusics’ strange behaviors.
B. Some people’s inability to enjoy music.
C. Musical talent and brain structure.
D. Identification and treatment of amusics.
In a nation with a one-child policy, it’s understandable for parents to worry over whether they are petting their children. Are the children as truly weak as expected?
The concern has been brought into a hit reality TV series — Hunan TV’s Dad!
Where Are We Going? and Zhejiang TV’s First Time In Life. In both, children as young as three have become new public figures(人物). In the show First Time In Life，children chosen from ordinary families are given small tasks to finish by themselves；the ongoing Dad show centers on five fathers and their children who are forced to live a simple life in poor villages, far outside their comfortable city life.
Though they have different family backgrounds, how they behave in the new environments has drawn the attention of the public.
In Dad! Where Are We Going?, the five-year-old daughter of former Olympic diving champion Tian Liang cries and hides behind her father when they arrive at a rural village. In First Time In Life, a young girl in Tianjin cries after being asked by her father to go out alone to buy eggs and a pancake.
In the eyes of some people, these kids always depend on others, and the reason is that their parents give them too much love. But television viewers and parents were encouraged when the crying Tianjin girl finally returned holding the pancake, and Tian’s daughter finally began to take care of her younger friends and learned to ask for help from people she didn’t know.
The father of the Tianjin girl felt “delightfully shocked” and said. “She used to
be well taken care of by her mother or grandmother. Now she has the courage to do it all by herself. ”
The shows have led many parents to change how they raise their children. Shanghai mother Liang Jing said she would try to “give some training” to her shy son, asking him to tidy up his toys. Lin Yi, a parenting expert in Beijing, said giving kids a chance to do things for themselves helps to raise their sense of success, which carries benefits all through their lives. ”
1. What draws the people’s attention in the programs?
A. How the children behave in the new environments.
B. Where the children are from.
C. What the kids’ family background is like .
D. How old the children are.
2. What is Tian Liang’s daughter expected to do in the show?
A. Go out to buy something alone.
B. Live in a poor village with her father.
C. Make friends with strange people.
D. Hide in a safe place out of danger.
3. It can be known from the underlined words “delightfully shocked” that .
A. father is more important than mother in a family
B. children should be given a chance to depend on themselves.
C. parents should give the child a safe environment
D. the children are as weak as parents expected
Linda Evans was my best friend—like the sister I never had. We did everything together: piano lessons, movies, swimming, horseback riding.
When I was 13, my family moved away. Linda and I kept in touch through letters, and we saw each other on special time—like my wedding(婚礼) and Linda’s. Soon we were busy with children and moving to new homes, and we wrote less often. One day a card that I sent came back, stamped “Address (地址) Unknown. ” I had no idea how to find Linda.
Over the years, I missed Linda very much. I wanted to share (分享) happiness of my children and then grandchildren. And I needed to share my sadness when my brother and then mother died. There was an empty place in my heart that only a friend like Linda could fill.
One day I was reading a newspaper when I noticed a photo of a young woman who looked very much like Linda and whose last name was Wagman —Linda’s married name. “There must be thousands of Wagmas,” I thought, but J still wrote to her.
She called as soon as she got my letter. “Mrs Tobin!” she said excitedly, “Linda Evans Wagman is my mother. ” Minutes later I heard a voice that I knew very much, even after 40 years, laughed and cried and caught up on each other’s lives. Now the empty place in my heart is filled. And there’s one thing that Linda and I know for sure: We won’t lose each other again!
1. The writer went to piano lessons with Linda Evans _______.
A. at the age of 13
B. before she got married
C. after they moved to new homes
D. before the writer’s family moved away
2. They didn’t often write to each other because they _______.
A. got married
B. had little time to do so
C. didn’t like writing letters
D. could see each other on special time
3. There was an empty place in the writer’s heart because she _______.
A. was in trouble
B. didn’t know Linda’s address
C. received the card that she sent
D. didn’t have a friend like Linda to share her happiness or sadness
4. The writer was happy when she _______.
A. read the newspaper
B. heard Linda’s voice on the phone
C. met a young woman who looked a lot like Linda
D. wrote to the woman whose last name was Wagman
5. They haven’t kept in touch _______.
A. for about 40 years
B. for about 27 years
C. since they got married
D. since the writer’s family moved away
Billy’s favorite color is orange. But he can’t see what orange looks like. Billy is blind.
A month after he was born, his mother noticed that his eyes weren’t quite as big as a normal baby’s.”Billy would never be able to see.” the doctor told his mother. After that Billy’s mother began talking to him, describing things she saw outside the window. She described everything to him.
Billy does not only depend on his mother’s descriptions to learn about the world around him. He sees with his ears and his hands, too. He has perfect hearing. When people make phone calls, he can tell the numbers they dial(拨).
Billy loves computer science. He began teaching himself computer programming when he was just seven years old. His dream school would be Stanford University. He gets top grades in his classes, making that a real possibility.
“You can’t let excuses get in the way of your dreams, and if you do that you can’t move forward and reach your goals, “said Billy.
1.From the passage, we know that_____________.
A. Billy can’t hear. B. Billy can’t see.
C. Billy can’t walk. D. Billy can’t talk.
2.How did Billy’s mother help him?
A. By teaching him how to draw.
B. By asking teacher for advice.
C. By describing everything to him.
D. By sending him to his dream school.
3.When did Billy begin teaching himself computer programming?
A. When he was7 years old.
B. When he was in Seven Grade
C. When he was high school
D. When he was at university
现在，照顾老年人成了一个突出的社会问题。你公司顺应社会需求，适时推出了家用机器人。该机器人的主要功能有：
1． 在固定的时间做饭，时间可按需调整；
2． 陪老人聊天、下棋、做运动等；
3． 及时处理突发事件。如老人病时，拨呼救电话等。
请根据以上内容写一个发言稿，在新闻发布会上向大家推荐公司的这一新产品。
注意：1．词数为120左右；2．内容可适当发挥，以使行文连贯；3．短文开头已为你写好，不计入总词数。 参考词汇：突出的，显著的 prominent
假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文，请你修改你同桌写的以下作文。文中共有10处错误，每句中最多有两处，每处仅涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号（^），并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线（\）划掉。
注意：1. 每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
2. 只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。
Patience is of great important in our daily life. Once I waited a bus to come at a stop. 30 minutes past, but no bus came. Both upset and annoyed, I decided to walk on feet. But no sooner had I left when the bus arrived. I thought if I had waited for one more minute, I would have caught it. If I chose to take a next bus, I would have to wait for other 30 minutes. Only then do I realize my problem. Being impatient will possibly waste all the effort that we have put it in. Now whenever I am close to lose my patience, I’ll think of this experience.
