This may be music to your ears.Researchers P. Jason Rentfrow and Samuel Gosling

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This may be music to your ears.
Researchers P. Jason Rentfrow and Samuel Gosling gave 3,500 people a personality quiz. Then they asked them to name their favorite kind of music. “We found that the musical style people like are closely linked to their personalities,” Gosling says.
RAP/HIP-HOP
Known for their quick speech, some rappers can say more than 700 syllables (音节) a minute!
If you like rap/hip-hop, you are energetic and have a way with words. You put a fresh spin on things, whether it’s new moves on the dance floor or your hip style.
CLASSLCAL
In the 18^th century, classical musicians were like rock stars. Beethoven and Mozart, for example, played in packed concert halls.
If you like classical, you are open to new ideas and like debating with friends. Creative and imaginative, you can easily spend many hours scrapbooking, writing or painting.
COUNTRY
Country music came from the folk songs of English, Scottish, and Irish settlers of the southeastern United States.
If you like country, you express your opinions well, which makes you the ideal class president or team captain. Traditional and loyal, you enjoy spending time with your family.
POP
Pop music is designed to appeal to (吸引) almost everyone, and it does. Each year, the industry brings in about 30 billion dollars!
If you like pop, you are attractive to your friends. You can make big things happen, like planning for a huge party or inspiring your team to victory.
ROCK
In the 1950s, rock music created a brand-new culture. Teenagers, for the first time, had an identity separate from adults and children.
If you like rock, you are a risk-taker who never accepts no for an answer. You rise to any challenge, like doing very well in a big exam or landing the lead in the school play.
If these personality profiles don’t match you, that’s OK. These are just for fun.
小题1:What does the underlined part “You put a fresh spin on things” mean in the passage?

A．You can express your idea in a clever way that makes it seem better than it really is.

B．You have the ability to attract others’ attention.

C．You are always willing to communicate with others.

D．You are willing to express your thoughts to others all the time.

小题2:If you like pop music, .

A．you are traditional and prefer to stay with your family

B．you are easy to accept new ideas

C．you are welcome and your friends all like to be with you

D．you have a quick speech and can say 30 words in a minute

小题3:We can know from this passage that .

A．in the 18^th century, classical musicians were like pop stars

B．country music came from the old songs of the Native Americans

C．pop music is liked by the largest number of people in the world

D．everyone can find his personality in this passage

小题4:What’s the main idea of the passage?

A．When music came into being.

B．What your favorite music says about you.

C．Some basic information about music.

D．How to like music.

答案

小题1:A
小题2:C
小题3:C
小题4:B

解析

试题分析：文章是介绍通过调查研究发现人们对音乐类型的爱好反映了一个人的性格。
小题1:句意理解题。通过上文“Known for their quick speech”及“have a way with words”可知此种性格的人善于表达自己。选A
小题2:细节理解题。从文中倒数第四段第一句：“如果你喜欢流行音乐，你对你的朋友很有吸引力。”可知选C。
小题3:推理判断题。从第五段第一句可知A错误；从第七段可知乡村音乐不是起源于土著美国人的民歌，故B错误；从文章的最后一段可知D错误；从第九段第一句Pop music is designed to appeal to (吸引) almost everyone, and it does.可知C正确。
小题4:主旨大意题。第一段即揭示主题，且第二段Gosling提到通过调查研究发现人们对音乐类型的爱好反映了一个人的性格，故选B

举一反三

It is hard to imagine that such a small country，the size of Indiana with the population of Alaska，tucked in the Himalaya Mountains，accessible only by two airplanes，is the “Happiest Country’’ in the world and has one of the fastest growing GDP’S in the world．This country is Bhutan，“Land of the Thunder Dragon”，which is located in South Asia and is encompassed by India，China，and Nepal．
Bhutan is the last standing Buddhist Kingdom in the World and，until recently，has preserved much of their culture since the l7th century by avoiding globalization and staying isolated from the world．Internet，television，and western dress were banned from the country up until ten years ago．Over the past ten years globalization has begun to change in Bhutan，but things remain perfectly balanced．
Bhutan is the only country in the world that has a ‘GNH’，which refers to “Gross National Happiness．’’The process of measuring GNH began when Bhutan opened up to globalization．It measures people’s quality of life，and makes sure that “material and spiritual development happen together．”Bhutan has done an amazing job of finding this balance．Bhutan has continually been ranked as the happiest country in all of Asia，and the eighth Happiest Country in the world according to Business Week．In 2007，Bhutan had the second fastest growing GDP in the world，at the same time as maintaining their environment and cultural identity．
In 2008，in Bhutan’s first democratic election，28-year-old Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wang Chuck was elected president of Bhutan．He promises to “maintain a stance （立场)of protection against the worst aspects of globalization，maintaining the ‘Gross National Happiness’．”But Jigme himself is no stranger to globalization．He attended high school at Phillips Academy and university at Wheaton College and then graduated from Oxford．
小题1:The underlined word “encompassed’’ in the first paragraph most probably means __________ .

A．covered	B．surrounded
C．separated	D．guarded

小题2:Why is Bhutan regarded as “the happiest country”?

A．Because it changes its policy and begins to open up．

B．Because it uses “GNH” to measure its achievement．

C．Because it stresses both material and spiritual development．

D．Because it has the second fastest growing GDP in the world．

小题3:What Can we infer from the last paragraph?

A．The election in Bhutan is far from satisfactory．

B．Globalization has influenced Bhutan’s religion．

C．Jigme’s educational background will cause distrust．

D．People in Bhutan will continue living a happy life．

小题4:Which of the following shows the structure of the passage?

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How words came into being is unknown. All we assume（推测）is that some early men invented certain sounds, in one way or another, to express thoughts and feelings, actions and things, so that they could talk with each other. Later they agreed upon certain signs, called letters, which could be put together to show those sounds, and which could be written down. Those sounds, whether spoken or written in letters, are called words.
The power of words, then, lies in their associations - the things they bring up to our minds. Words become filled with meaning for us by experience; and the longer we live, the more certain words bring back to us the happy and sad events of our past; and the more we read and learn, the more the number of words that mean something to us increases.
Great writers are those who not only have great thoughts but also express these thoughts in words which have powerful effects on our minds and feelings. This clever use of words is what we call literary style（文体）. Above all, the real poet is a master of words. He can express his meaning in words which sing like music and which by their position and association can move men to tears. We should therefore learn to choose our words carefully and use them correctly, or they will make our speech silly and common.
小题1:We learn from the text that language might have begun with

A．actions

B．expressions

C．sounds

D．signs

小题2:What is mainly discussed in Paragraph 2?

A．The relation of human experience with words.

B．The gradual change and development of words.

C．The learning of new words.

D．The importance of old words.

小题3:In the last paragraph, what does the author suggest that we should do?

A．Associate with listeners.	B．Make musical speeches.
C．Learn poems by heart.	D．Use words skillfully.

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You may not be aware, but digital currency (货币) is a big part of the Internet world. QQ Coins can buy you accessories (配饰) for your QQ images. More importantly, a new digital currency, Bitcoin, is bringing the world’s commerce online.
If you’re traveling, you can spend Bitcoins at restaurants and hotels listed at BitcoinTravel.com. In China, Bitcoins can be used to buy goods at about 134 online shops on Taobao. And at a café named 2^nd Place in Beijing, you can even buy fresh coffee with Bitcoins.
So what makes Bitcoin so attractive to investors?
First of all, the Bitcoin system is not controlled by anyone. One central authority cannot make policies to change the value of Bitcoins. The fixed amount of Bitcoins also means they cannot lose value through inflation(通货膨胀), as all forms of paper money have done over time.
In addition, accounts in the Bitcoin system are anonymous and transparent. Users can set up an account easily and track every Bitcoin. All of these features seem to make Bitcoins immune(有免疫力的) from loss, but that is not entirely true.
“The value of Bitcoins can vary wildly as no central government makes the price of them steady. If the value drops suddenly, investors cannot get any compensation(赔偿),” Zhao Qingming, a senior researcher at China Construction Bank, told China Economic Weekly. And Bitcoins, unlike company shares, are not backed by any tangible funds, which also adds to their risk.
While China will not recognize the digital currency anytime soon, Xinhua said, lawmakers and officials at a hearing on Nov. 18 in the US made positive comments about Bitcoin.
Ben Bernanke, outgoing chairman of the Federal Reserve, told the Washington Post that “these types of creations, such as Bitcoin… may hold long-term promise, particularly if its system promote a faster, more secure and more efficient payment system.”
小题1:Bitcoin is ______.
A. actually exactly like QQ Coins
B. only used online
C. a new currency used both online and in real life
D a country’s new digital currency.
小题2:We can use Bitcoin to buy the following things except ______.

A．online goods	B．goods at 134 online shops on Taobao
C．books in physical shops	D．coffee at a café named 2^nd Place

小题3:What is the disadvantage of Bitcoin?

A．the value of it can rise and fall wildly.

B．It cannot lose value through inflation.

C．Every bitcoin in your account can be followed.

D．It can even be used at some specific restaurants and hotels.

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“Long time no see” is a very interesting sentence．When I first read this sentence from an American friend’s email，I laughed．I thought it was a perfect example of Chinglish．
Obviously，it is a word-by-word literal translation of the Chinese greetings with a ruled English grammar and structure! Later on，my friend told me that it is a standard American greeting．I was too thrilled to believe her．Her words could not convince me at all．So I did a research on google．com．To my surprise，there are over 60 thousand web pages containing “Long time no see．” This sentence has been widely used in emails，letters，newspapers，movies，books，or any other possible places．Though it is sort of informal，it is part of the language that Americans use daily．Ironically，if you type this phrase in Microsoft Word，the software will tell you that the grammar needs to be corrected．
Nobody knows the origin of this Chinglish sentence．Some people believe that it came from Charlie Chan’s movies．In the 1930s，Hollywood moviemakers successfully created a world wide famous Chinese detective named “Charlie Chan” on wide screens．Detective Chan likes to teach Americans some Chinese wisdom by quoting Confucius．“Long time no see” was his trademark．Soon after Charlie Chan，“Long time no see” became a popular phrase in the real world with thanks to the popularity of these movies．
Some scholars refer to America as a huge pot of stew．All kinds of culture are mixed in the stew together，and they change the color and taste of each other．American Chinese，though a minority ethnic（少数民族的成员） group in the United States，is also contributing some changes to the stew! Language is usually the first thing to be influenced in the mixed stew．
You can have some other examples than adoptions from Chinese，such as pizza from Italian，susi from Japanese，and déjà vu from French etc．There is a long list! Americans do not just simply borrow something from others．They will modify it and make it their own，so you would not be surprised to find a tofu and peanut butter hamburger in a restaurant，or to buy a bottle of iced Chinese green tea with honey in a grocery store．Since Americans appreciate Chinese culture more and more nowadays，I believe more Chinese words will become American English in the future．In this way the American stew keeps adding richness and flavor．
小题1:The writer himself felt surprised at ______．

A．the Chinglish expression “Long time no see”

B．“Long time no see” used as standard American English

C．so many literal translation of the expressions used in America

D．finding out Americans use the expression every day

小题2:The word “stew” in the 4^th paragraph probably means ______．

A．mixture literature	B．Confucius’ words
C．a kind of cooked dish	D．American changing cultures

小题3:According to the passage，it can be inferred that ______．

A．detectives translate the phrase “Long time no see”

B．Hollywood made “Long time no see” popular

C．the huge pot of stew greatly affects all kinds of languages

D．cultures can be changed in the huge pot of stew

小题4:The main idea of the passage is that ______．

A．some Chinese expressions are introduced into English

B．you’ll not be surprised at a tofu in a restaurant in America

C．some American expressions can be used in China

D．American English keep being enriched from different cultures

小题5:According to the passage，which of the following statements is not true?

A．Informal language sometimes doesn’t go with grammar and structure．

B．Languages are always ruled by grammar and structure．

C．“Long time no see” has been used in at least four media mentioned in the passage．

D．There are four languages mentioned to be adopted in the American stew．

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A World of Color
No matter where you go, colors are everywhere! And while the colors may be the same, their meanings change depending on the country.

Colors		Different Meanings
Green		Green means “hope” in Ecuador. In the U.S., it’s a symbol of money and concern for the environment.
Purple		Purple is worn by kings and queens in Europe, while in Thailand, it’s worn by women whose husbands have died.
	Black		Black is the traditional color of mourning(哀悼) in the West. But on the Pacific islands of Melanesia, it’s a symbol of beauty and speed.
	White		White is considered a pure color and is worn at weddings in America. In parts of Asia, however, white is worn to funerals(葬礼) as a sign of winter, when everything is dead.
	Red		Red means “beautiful” in Russia, but in South Africa, it’s the color of mourning. In the United States, a bride would be criticized(批评) for wearing a red gown. In India or China, though, brides often wear red as a symbol of good fortune.

Colors mean different things in different countries. No matter what the meaning is, color adds interest to our lives and makes them brighter.
小题1:In the US if you prefer the color_____, it will probably show that you are concerned about the environment.

A．green

B．purple

C．black

D．white

小题2:How many colors mentioned in the passage can be used as a sign of mourning?

A．Five.

B．Four.

C．Three.

D．Two.

小题3:If a bride is wearing a red gown in the wedding, she must come from_____.

A．Thailand

B．America

C．India

D．South Africa

小题4:Which is true according to the passage?

A．White stands for purity in China.

B．An American bride will wear a red gown on the wedding.

C．Black is a symbol of beauty and speed in the west.

D．Purple is worn by kings and queens in Europe

小题5:What can we infer from the passage?

A．All the colors have different meanings in different countries.

B．From country to country, people view colors differently.

C．All the brides from China prefer to wear white gowns.

D．White is considered a pure color and often worn to funerals.

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