To learn an instrument such as the violin or accordion（手风琴）takes years. The job

题型：不详难度：来源：

To learn an instrument such as the violin or accordion（手风琴）takes years. The job opportunities for musicians are scarce and competition is fierce. Then why are more people than ever before paying a lot of good cash to get their children the best music teaching they can afford?
The secret lies in the influence of music on the whole person. It has been found that learning a musical instrument actually increases a per

son’s IQ over time. Different instruments and different trypes of music have varying effect, with classical music and the string family coming out on top, potentially increasing you IQ by up to 12 points!
When is a good time to start learning music? Experts have found that even the fetus（胎儿）can benefit from listening to classical music. Surround yourself and your family with good music from the first. The Suzuki Piano Method teaches children from the age of 3 years piano, with two lessons per week. From preschool, children can learn to read music and play from sheet music. Progress in learning your instrument is directly proportional（成比例的）to the amount of practicing.
Is there such a thing as an unmusical child? Shinichi Suzuki proposes that music is the native home language of all human beings and therefore nobody can be “unmusical”. Of course there are exceptional talents, compared to which others may seem to be slower learners.
Is there any benefit for adults in starting an instrument? Apart from the purely relaxing aspect, yes. Learning an instrument can earn even adults additional IQ points, and as an added benefit in improves your health by reducing your stress levels. Your social life may benefit too, if you are prepared to come out of your box and join occasions such as Ceilidhs (musical get-togethers) or arrange house concerts. It has been established that people who play instruments tend to be more emotionally balanced and more patient with themselves, others and life in general.
So go ahead, sign up for that amateur orchestra, dust off your old trombone（长号）or take your first real six-string down from the attic（阁楼）; get out there and play!
小题1:Playing which of the following musical instruments can help increase a person’s IQ most?

A．The piano

B．The violin

C．The trombone

D．The accordion

小题2:According to Shinichi Suzuki, .

A．The progress in learning an instrument depends on natural gifts

B．It is too late for an adult to start an instrument

C．Every child has a natural talent for music.

D．All people can understand and read music.

小题3:What can be inferred from the text?

A．Music can balance our life.

B．Music can improve our living conditions.

C．Playing instruments can make adults keep their IQ points.

D．Playing instruments can help us get along well with others.

小题4:By writing the text, the author mainly wants to .

A．persuade us to send our children to music schools

B．express his great interest in musical instruments

C．tell us the importance of Music in Development

D．invite us to attend Ceilidhs

答案

小题1:B
小题1:C
小题1:D
小题1:C

解析

略

举一反三

Why should I teach my children history? That sounds like a stupid question to even ask．But，as I hear different home schooling teachers discuss history，I get the idea that there may be different reasons for teaching history．Let me briefly explain the three good reasons for studying history and two bad reasons for studying history．
The major reason I see for studying history is that we can learn from the past．I believe that the world would be a much better place if more people understood the successes and failures of the past and the things that made these successes and failures．However，as the unfortunately(不幸地)true statement goes ‘‘the one thing we seem to learn from history is that we don"t seem to
learn from history”，perhaps at least in teaching history, to my children I can do a small part in changing this．
A second major reason for studying history is that it is hard to understand the current(目前的)political climate in the absence of an understanding of its historical context(背景)．We can not
even understand why we are and where we are without history，much less try to figure out where we are going or how we should get where we want to be．
I teach my children history，for one more reason．I bought a set of historical audio tapes for our children．My seven-year-old son listened to them over and over．It was my hope that he would
become inspired by the accomplishments(成就)of people like the Wright brothers to accomplish things by himself．I think that it is good that we celebrate the accomplishments of people like Martin Luther King Jr. By doing so，young people are called on to stand for the principles that he stood for and accomplish what he didn’t accomplish．I also think that by studying people like Adolph Hitler，people can learn to stand against the things that he stood for．
小题1:What message can we get from the underlined sentence in Paragraph 2 ?

A．Many people aren’t clever enough to learn well from the past．

B．Many people fail to make good use of history and make the same mistakes．

C．Many people feel it hard to understand history．

D．Many people have no interest in studying history．

小题2:In Paragraph 3，the author shows that history is useful because

A．it makes the current political situation go smoothly

B．it helps us realize the importance of historical events

C．it helps us understand why things are the way they are

D．it helps people accept the present situation where they live

小题3:Some historical figures are mentioned in the last paragraph to show____．

A．people can be inspired to do good and also learn to fight against evil

B．people may also learn from bad historical figures

C．more celebrations should be held to honor their achievements

D．today’s people can also achieve what they achieved

小题4:What would be talked about in the following paragraph?

A．How to teach history effectively．

B．Some negative reasons for studying history．

C．How to get more people to study history．

D．Some bad historical figures．

题型：不详难度：| 查看答案

Along the rivet banks of the Amazon and the Orinoco there lives a bird that swims before it can fly, flies like a fat chicken，eats green 1eaves has the stomach of a cow and has claws(爪)on its wings when young. They build their homes about 4.6m above the river，an important feature(特征)for the safety of the young．It is called the hoatzin．
In appearance，the birds of both sexes look very much alike with brown on the back and cream and red on the underside．The head is small，with a large set of feathers on the top，bright
eyes, and blue skin．Its nearest relatives are the common birds cuckoos．Its most striking feature，though，is only found in the young．
Baby hoatzins have a claw on the 1eading edge of each wing and another at the end of each wing tip．Using these four claws, together with the beak(喙)，they can climb about in the bushes,
looking very much like primitive birds must have done．When the young hoatzins have 1earned to fly，they lose their claws．
During the drier months between December and March hoatzins fly about the forest in groups of 20 to 30 birds，but in April，when the rainy season begins，they collect together in smaller living units of two to seven birds for producing purposes.
小题1:What is the text mainly about?

A．Hoatzins in dry and rainy seasons．

B．The relatives and enemies of hoatzins．

C．Primitive birds and hoatzins of the Amazon．

D．The appearance and living habits of hoatzins．

小题2:Young hoatzins are different from their parents in that——

A．they look like young cuckoos

B．they have claws on the wings

C．they eat a lot like a cow

D．they live on rivet banks

小题3:What can we infer about primitive birds from the text?

A．They had claws to help them climb．

B．They could fly long distances．

C．They had four wings like hoatzins．

D．They had a head with long feathers on the top

小题4:Why do hoatzins collect together in smaller groups when the rainy season comes?

A．To find more food．

B．To protect themselves better

C．To keep themselves warm．

D．To produce their young．

题型：不详难度：| 查看答案

A well-known manufacturer of weighing machines produced a new model.
The machine had a computer inside it, and this computer could do wonderful things: it could weigh people very accurately; it could tell them their weight in their own language; and it could tell them what they should eat to reduce their weight.
The manufacturer decided to try out his machine before he sold it to the shops.
He looked around for a good place to put it and finally decided on an airport. There were always people at an airport from many different countries.
The first person to use the machine was an Italian woman. She stood on the machine, put a coin in and waited to hear her weight.
The machine took only a second or two to weigh her, decide on her nationality and the language she spoke, and figure out what kind of food she should eat.
“Good morning, madam,” it said in perfect Italian. “Your weight is 72 kilos, three more than it should be for a woman of your height, age and nationality. This is because you have been eating too much spaghetti. I suggest you eat more fruit and vegetables. Please have a nice day”.
The second person to use the machine was a Chinese girl. She stood on the machine, put a coin in and waited to hear her weight.
“Good morning, Miss," the machine said in perfect Chinese. "Your weight is 38 kilos, exactly the correct weight for your height, age and nationality. Continue to eat what you are eating. Please have a nice day.”
The third person to use the machine was a huge Australian woman. She walked up to the machine and looked at it for a long time. At last she found the courage to stand on the machine and put a coin in. The machine spoke immediately. “Good morning. Will one of you ladies please get off?”
小题1: What could the computer do?

A．Weigh and talk to people.	B．Translate information.
C．Give them diet pills.	D．Make them lose weight.

小题2: What did the machine say to the Italian woman?

A．She was a little too light.	B．She was a little too heavy.
C．She disliked spaghetti.	D．She couldn’t speak Italian.

小题3:What did the machine say to the Chinese woman?

A．She should eat more.	B．She could speak Chinese.
C．She would have a nice day.	D．She was fine.

小题4:What did the machine suggest about the Australian woman?

A．She was unwell.	B．She was courageous.
C．She was too heavy.	D．She had dieted well.

题型：不详难度：| 查看答案

Nuclear radiation （核辐射）has a certain mystery, partly because it cannot be detected （探测）by human senses. It can’t be seen or heard, or touched or tasted, even though it may be all around us. There are other things like that. For example, radio waves are all around us but we can’t detect them or sense them without a radio receiver. Similarly, we can’t sense radioactivity without a radiation detector. But unlike common radio waves, nuclear radiation is not harmless to human beings and other living things.
At very high levels, radiation can kill an animal or human being at once by killing plenty of cells in important organs(器官). Even the lowest levels can do serious damage. There is no level of radiation that is completely safe. If the radiation does not hit anything important, the damage may not be serious. This is the case when only a few cells are hit, and when they are killed at once. Your body will replace the dead cells with healthy ones. But if the few cells are only damaged, and if they reproduce themselves, you may be in trouble. They reproduce themselves in an unusual way. They can grow into cancer. Sometimes this does not show up for many years.
This is another reason for some of the mystery about nuclear radiation. Serious damage can be done without the knowledge of the person at the time that damage has occurred. A person can be irradiated(放射治疗) and feel fine, then die of cancer five, ten, or twenty years later as a result. A child can be born weak or easy to get serious illness as a result of radiation absorbed by its grandparents.
小题1:According to the passage, the danger of nuclear power lies in .

A．nuclear mystery	B．radiation detection
C．radiation level	D．nuclear radiation

小题2:Radiation can lead to serious trouble even at the lowest level .

A．when it kills a few cells

B．because the killed cells can’t be replaced

C．if it damages a few cells

D．unless the damaged cells can reproduce themselves

小题3:What does the author want to tell us?

A．Radiation can hurt us.	B．Radiation is a subject scientists work on.
C．Radiation is a mystery.	D．Radiation is the source of cancer.

题型：不详难度：| 查看答案

In the computer age, most of us take a broadband Internet connection for granted. Whether cable or mobile broadband, today’s connections are many times faster than those in the early days. Videos play smoothly, complex websites load quickly, and files download much faster than ten years ago. And the files are much bigger too.
There’s a catch, of course. You have to live near enough to a major city to get broadband Internet. If you don’t, it’s slow dial-up access for you. And for those living really far out, there may be no Internet access at all.
Technology experts often talk about the “last mile” problem, which refers to the difficulty of bringing Internet access to remote locations. In cities and suburbs, it’s relatively easy to provide access for everyone. It is much more difficult to deliver access to those living far from cities, especially in de

veloping countries. Internet service providers, for their part, have been reluctant to provide access to sparsely(稀疏地) populated areas. The handful of Internet users they would reach wouldn’t cover the expense.
But every year, technological advancements allow of more and more Internet users. Most broadband connections today run over existing cable TV and telephone lines although these technologies aren’t available everywhere. Some companies have delivered the Internet over standard power lines. Advancements in cheaper, more efficient fiber optics cables(光纤电缆) promise to bring extremely fast Internet connections to more users.
Still, the “last mile” problem remains hard to deal with. There will always be somewhere that doesn’t have an affordable broadband connection. But someday that might not matter. If the rapid progress in cell phone technology is any indication(迹象), it may not be too long before an Internet connection simply follows you wherever you go.
小题1:The underlined part “ a catch” (in Paragraph 2) probably means “________”.

A．a rare challenge	B．a desirable plan
C．an efficient device	D．a hidden problem

小题2:What can we know from the third paragraph?

A．Internet connection has not been popular in most cities.

B．Internet service providers care about rural customers.

C．Computer is popular in developing countries.

D．It is hard to bring Internet access to users in remote areas.

小题3: Paragraph 4 mainly tells us that technological advancements ________.

A．make TV and telephone available everywhere

B．bring great change to people’s everyday life

C．make it possible for more people to use the Internet

D．bring faster Internet connections to users

小题4:What may eventually settle the “last mile” problem?

A．The broadband connection’s getting faster.

B．More and more Internet users.

C．More and more Internet connections.

D．The rapid progress in cell phone technology.

题型：不详难度：| 查看答案