In all the world’s cultures, people sing, play instruments, and celebrate with music. It plays such an important role in our lives that all fields focus on its study, including one looking at the biology of music. Experts find that because of the way our brains process music, learning to play an instrument or just listening to music can have a wide range of benefits.
Music education has received a lot of attention. Learning to play an instrument can help children improve math, science, and language skills. One study in Canada tracked children’s IQ scores for nine months, discovering that children who studied music had the biggest test score improvements. The secret may lie in the way reading music and playing notes use several areas of the brain, increasing our ability to learn school subjects. For example, reading notes improves spatial(空间的) reasoning skills, which are helpful in solving math problems like fractions(分数).
Music is also used for medical purposes, such as the treatment of diseases which affect memories. The secret lies in the way the brain processes music. One area near the forehead, the medical prefrontal cortex, connects music with memories stored in two other areas: the amygdale and hippocampus. That’s why an old song can remind you of something that happened years ago. For patients suffering from diseases like Alzheimer’s, listening to music can help unlock buried memories by strengthening musical pathways to memories.
With the evidence of music’s benefits, it’s no wonder some countries make music study a part of their education system. People are recognizing that more than just a form of entertainment, music is also great for the brain.
1.Scientists are studying music because .
A. music can be used for medical treatment.
B. music plays a very important role in our lives
C. our brain can process music in different ways
D. music education has received a lot of attention
2.According to the Canadian study, which children increased IQscores?
A. Those who already had high IQ scores.
B. Those who always played music.
C. Those who could not play any instrument.
D. Those who studied music for a period of time.
3.Which of the following is a kind of disease?
A. Spatial reasoning.
B. Alzheimer’s.
C. The amygdale and hippocampus.
D. The medial prefrontal cortex.
4.Which can be the best title for the text?
A. Music and health B. Music and the mind
C. Music and the education D. Music and instruments
The summer holiday had come to an end before I knew it. Like any other kid, I came to a new school with a suitcase. There were six of us living in a small room about fifteen square meters. Luckily, everything went on well in the first three weeks.
A week ago, one of my roommates brought in a very large suitcase and placed it under her bed, but days later, she found something wrong with her suitcase. As we live on the ground floor, her case soon got wet. She took it out and after drying it up, she just put it on her desk because she had no other choices. I happened to be opposite her desk and her suitcase was so large that it not only occupied the whole of her desk but half of mine as well. I was very much annoyed, so I angrily pushed it forward without first talking to her about it. I pushed a bit too hard and the case fell off her desk, messing up everything it contained. On seeing this, she flew into a temper and angrily shouted at me. The quarrel started and lasted about two hours.
When I calmed down days later, I thought over the quarrel and began to see something. I should have talked to her about it first and then worked with her to find a solution to the problem. Living in a room with limited space, we should learn to get on well with one another.
【写作内容】
1．以30个词概括上文的主要内容。
2．用大约120词对“处理同学之间的矛盾”这个话题发表看法，内容包括：
1) 你喜欢寄宿学校吗？为什么？
2) 同一宿舍的同学之间常常会出现哪些问题？
3) 举例说明你或你的室友在矛盾出现后是怎么解决的。
【写作要求】
1．在作文中可以使用白己亲身的经历或虚构的故事，也可以参照阅读材料的内容但不得直接引用原文中的句子；
2．作文中不能出现真实姓名和学校名称。
你接受了一项写作任务，要为英语校报写一篇有关UFO的文章。
【写作内容】
请根据以下信息，简要介绍UFO。
名称简介 | UFO是Unidentified Flying Object 的缩写 |
世界十大未解之谜之一 | |
有关事件 | 首次目击报告在1878年的美国 |
从那以后目击报告层出不穷，有许多是虚假的 | |
人们的看法 | 来自其他行星的太空飞船 |
一种自然现象 | |
外星人 | |
研究状况 | 三分之一的国家对UFO展开研究 |
大量关于UFO的图书和期刊出版 | |
有些大学开设UFO课程 |
外星人 alien
[写作要求]
只能用5个句子表达全部内容。
[评分标准]
句子结构准确，信息内容完整，篇章连贯。
A.Media volunteer Media volunteer is helping hundreds of nonprofit groups get their stories covered in the media through the innovated strategy called “distributed work”. With a commitment of just a few minutes, volunteers can sign up to update Media volunteer’s Media Contact Database and provide media contact information to help organizations campaign for positive changes. | B.American Red cross of Greater Los Angeles The American Red Cross is the leading humanitarian organization in the world, providing relief to victims of disaster and helping people prevent and prepare for emergencies. The American Red cross of Greater Los Angeles is the second largest Red Cross Chapter in the nation and the largest on the East Coast. |
C.EF Foundation for Foreign Study EF Foundation for Foreign Study connects talented, enthusiastic high school students from around the world with caring families across the country. Together, the organization builds friendship trust that has the power to change the world. Since 1979, Ef’s team of dedicated volunteer families, local coordinators, and staff has helped over 100,000 students from nearly 40 countries participate in international exchange programs. | D.Voices for Children Voices for Children tries to ensure that abused, neglected and abandoned children who have become dependents of the San Diego County Court will have a safe and permanent home. Through its network of trained and educated volunteer Court Appointed Special Advocated --（CASAs）, Voices for Children works with key agencies, legal lawyers and community resources to identify and protect the best interests of each child inside and outside of court. |
E.Domestic Abuse Helpline For Men and Women Domestic Abuse Helpline For Men and Women （DAHMW） is dedicated to providing support and services to victims of home violence. The organization works to educate the public at large as well as those who work in the domestic field and its goal is to end home violence for all victims so that families can live in peace and safety in their homes. | F.Heart House Austin Heart House is dedicated to raising academic achievement levels for low income and at – risk children in inner cities and to encourage them to become active and contributing members of society. Heart House also has a free summer program in which children participate in fine arts classes, sports, swimming and more. The agency’s main goal is to ensure healthy, happy, and confident children. |
Laurie Scott, Kate So, Molly Morris, Patsy Wincher和Joy Perryman各自打算加入一个志愿者组织，选出符合个人需要的最佳选项。
1. Laurie Scott and her husband have just moved to Las Vegas. They are looking for a way to get connected and involved in the community. Since their son is far away from home in college, they really want a member at their house to fight off the loneliness.
2. Kate So is a teacher of 38 years who also practiced law early in her career. She enjoyed being with children, so she left law and courts behind her and became a teacher. Now she wants to use her special knowledge to protect and help those abused children.
3.As a successful real estate agent, Molly Morris is now looking for a place to get involved with local youth and inspire others in her community, but also ones that encourage her to learn and grow on her own.
4.Being a victim of home violence herself, Pasty Wincher wants to provide services to those women who suffer from the same misfortune. She wants to use her own experience to tell them how to protect themselves and create their own happiness.
5.As a busy communications major at Northern Illinois University, it isn’t easy for Joy Perryman to find a volunteer opportunity that would work out. However, she is anxious to use her energy and major related skills to help where she could.
Are GM（转基因的) foods safe for people? Can they help solve the poverty problem? They have been the subjects of a hot debate.
This debate is related to increasing challenges from rising climatic change, population growth, urbanization（城镇化), and natural resource consumption. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, food production needs to increase by 60 percent by 2050 in order to feed 9 billion people. Scientists and policymakers are searching for effective ways to gain nutritious food, for today and future. Unlike previous agricultural methods (such as the Green Revolution), GM crops are to fight food safety and poverty challenges.
The great expansion of GM crop varieties over the last two decades can be seen easily. The total area devoted to GM crops has increased 100 times from 1.7 million hectares in 1996 to 170 million hectares in 2012. Developing countries now grow more GM crops than developed countries (in terms of area), largely driven by Brazil’s rapid adoption of GM crops. China is home to about 4 percent of the total global area devoted to GM crops. Beans, corn, and cotton are main global GM crops, while China’s focus is on cotton, papaya, and poplar.
Recently, a scientific study shows that GM crops are safe for people and the environment. According to a 2010 report on the safety of GM crops by the EU, “the main conclusion to be drawn from the efforts of more than 130 research projects, covering a period of more than 25 years of research, and involving more than 500 research groups, is that biology methods, are not more risky than traditional planting technologies, for example.” Other international and national scientific bodies, such as the World Health Organization, have reached the same conclusion.
1. Nowadays, people are developing GM foods mainly to fight against______.
A. urbanization
B. population growth
C. rising climatic change
D. natural resource consumption
2. As for GM crops, what do people mainly focus on ?
A. Food production. B. Food nutrition.
C. Food safety. D. Food variety.
3. What does Paragraph 3 talk about?
A. More GM crops in developing countries.
B. Less GM crops in developed countries.
C. Rapid adoption of GM crops in Brazil.
D. The expansion of GM crop varieties of the world.
4. From a recent scientific study, we can infer that______.
A. traditional planting technologies are more risky
B. the safety of GM crops has been proved in many ways
C. the safety of GM crops was reported by the EU in 2010
D. present GM crops are safe for people and the environment
5. What’s the writer’s attitude towards GM crops?
A. Supportive. B. Opposed.
C. Unknown. D. Indifferent.
In a society such as the United States or Canada, which has many national, religious and cultural differences, people highly value individualism--the differences among people. Teachers place a lot of importance on the qualities that make each student special. The educational systems in these countries show these values. Students do not memorize all possible basic knowledge. Instead, they work individually and find answers by themselves. There is often discussion in the classroom. At an early age, students learn to form their own ideas and opinions.
In most Asian societies, by contrast, the people have the same language, history and culture. Perhaps for this reason, the educational system in much of the orient reflects society’s belief in group goals and purposes rather than individualism. Children in China, Japan and Korea often work together and help one another on assignments.
There are advantages and disadvantages of both systems of education. For example, one advantage of the system in Japan is that students there learn much more about math, physics, biology and chemistry than American students by the end of high school. They also study more hours each day and more days each year than North Americans do. The system is difficult, but it prepares students for a society that values discipline and self-control. There is, however, a disadvantage. Memorization is an important learning method in Japanese schools, yet many students say that after an exam, they forget much of the information that they have memorized.
The advantage of the educational system in North America, on the other hand, is that students learn to think for themselves. The system prepares them for a society that values creative ideas. There is, however, a disadvantage. When students graduate from school, they haven’t memorized as many basic rules and facts as students in other countries have.
1. The reason why American teachers attach much importance to individualism is that
_________.
A. they are required to do so
B. their students do not memorize information
C. the United States is a country of many cultures
D. their students work individually
2. Which of the following statements applies to Asian methods of education?
A. Each child in a classroom draws a different picture.
B. students have to find information themselves.
C. Students are prepared for a society that values discipline.
D. Teachers serve as a guide in discussion.
3. Which is NOT true according to the passage?
A. The system of education in the West is more creative than that in the East.
B. Japanese students learn much more about science than American students.
C. Canadian students are more individual than Korean students.
D. Students in North America are not so friendly as those in Asia.
4. From the facts, we can infer that ______ .
A. Asian students are more likely to do better in teamwork than American students
B. Chinese students are more hard-working in their studies than Mexican students
C. the Western educational system is much better than the Eastern educational system
D. the Eastern educational system is as difficult as the Western educational system
5. What is the best title for the passage?
A. Advantages and Disadvantages of Educational System.
B. The Value of Individualism.
C. Educational System-an Obvious Difference between the East and the West.
D. Memorization-an Important Learning Method.
