Music died here last spring, or rather, it was killed by members of the school committee who ignored the importance of music and drama as part of the high-school curriculum.

The committee decided that teaching students how to take a standardized test is more important than a curriculum in which students can explore their interests in the arts as well as academics. Because the school system is running out of funding, it needs to make sure that students pass the mastery test or even more money will be lost. If students fail the state standardized test, it is not the fault of drama and music classes— they are failing because the “ academic” classes are not sufficient.

It is painful to think of how many students will be discouraged from singing, acting, and playing instruments because school programs are no longer offered. Many families cannot afford private music lessons, and many potential musicians and artists may not find their calling if they are not exposed to it in school. The fact that the school committee thinks the arts are not worth the investment will certainly make some students believe the arts are not worth their time or support and the cycle will continue.

Teaching for a test does not shape students into complete, well rounded people. It blocks the natural sense to create and express feelings through art— there is more to life than the analytical thinking that math and English provide. What happens after a test? Sure, a student might graduate, but they will have limited knowledge — certainly not a good preparation for the real world.

1.Music and drama are not included in the high-school curriculum mainly because________.

A．the school committee pays no attention to them

B．the school is afraid of losing financial support

C．the students are not interested in both of them

D．the state standardized test is more important.

2.Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A．The sufficiency of the classes determines students’ performance in the mastery test

B．students can be musicians and artists only if they can afford private music lessons

C．The school committee completely influences students’ attitude towards the arts

D．Quite a few students are discouraged from music and art in today’s school system.

3.We can learn that music and art can ________.

A．make students round-shaped people in future

B．provide students with analytical thinking

C．motivate students in creativity and expression

D．prevent students graduating from high school

4.The best title of the passage can be ________.

A．Who Killed Music and Drama?

B．Can Curriculum Go Without Music?

C．Why is Music So Important?

D．How To Prepare For the Real World?

 

閱讀下列短文，從每題所給的四個選項中(A、B、C和 D)中，選出最佳選項，并在答題卡上將該項涂黑。
A
Most of us feel upset if we miss just one meal, and if we try to go without food for 12 hours we would really be uncomfortable. But there are some people who seem able to “fast” for very long periods.
Various records are claimed for long fast, but in most cases there is no medical proof and so the records are doubtful. One South African woman claimed that she lived for 102 days on nothinig but water and soda water.
There are great differences among living things in the ability to survive without food. For example , a tick（扁虱）, which lives on animals, may survive a whole year. Warm-blooded animals use up their stores of food in the body more quickly.
In fact, the smaller and more active the animal, the more quickly it uses up its reserves. A small bird starves to death in about five days, a dog in about twenty. In general, we can say that a warm-blooded creature will die when it has lost about half its normal weight.
This matter of weight is important. Man and other creatures live in a state of metabolic equiplibrium（新陳代謝的平衡）which means maintaining the body weight once a certain point has been reached. This regulation of body weight is done by thirst, hunger, and appetite.
When your blood lacks nutritional materials, this registers（記錄）in the hunger center of the brain and you feel “hungry”. The body is crying out for any kind of fuel(food). And it is our appetite that sees to it hat we chooose a mixed diet, which is the kind the body needs.
【小題1】According to this passage, a man will die _________.

A．when a certain point in losing weight has been reached.

B．when his blood lacks nutritional material

C．when his normal weight is lost

D．when he goes without food for more than 12 hours

【小題2】The word “fast” in Paragraph 1 can best be replaced by ________.

A．eat no food	B．live merely on water and soda water
C．live on nothing	D．remains alive for a long time without food

【小題3】A tick can survive much longer than a bird because ________.

A．a(chǎn) tick lives on animals	B．a(chǎn) tick is much smaller
C．a(chǎn) bird is more active	D．both B and C

【小題4】A person feels hungry _________.

A．if he doesn’t choose a mixed diet

B．because his body cries out for food

C．when soemthing is wrong with regulation of body weight

D．if there are not enough nutritional in his blood

【小題5】From the passage we can infer that the author ________.

A．believes the South African woman very firmly

B．does not believe the South African woman at all

C．is not certain whether the South African woman’s claim was true.

D．is doubtful whether there was such a South African woman

A great many people are disappointed because of unrealistic expectations.

Walking up to a department store’s  1   counter, an attractive young woman said, “I want to buy this material for a new dress. How much does it cost?”

“Only one  2   per yard,” replied the smirking (自鳴得意的) male clerk.

Not to be taken back by the funny words, the woman said, “That’s fine! I’ll take ten yards.”

With  3  written all over his face, the clerk hurriedly  4  out and wrapped the cloth, and then held it out teasingly, leaning forward to receive his “   5   ”.

The woman got the package quickly from the clerk and pointed to a little old  6  standing beside her. “Grandpa will pay the bill instead of me,” she  7 .

He was no doubt disappointed. But in the course of living, many people are  8 when others do not  9  their expectations. In order to be happy, some expectations must be dropped. These three particular  10  and unhealthy expectations are some of the main causes:

       1. Expect too much  11 .When others say, “Thank you,” or in any way to show their gratitude, be happy. It is a gift!

       2. Expect others to make you happy. They simply cannot do that. Make yourself happy and  12   your joy with others.

       3. Expect not to be  13 . At times, people will simply not come through for you in the way you need.  14   them and move on.

Get rid of these three unrealistic expectations and you can begin to expect more  15   right away!

A. computer	B. cloth	C. receptionist	D. clothes
A. kiss	B. pay	C. dollar	D. yuan
A. happiness	B. enjoyment	C. expectation	D. courage
A. measured	B. carried	C. broke	D. burst
A. budget	B. payment	C. reward	D. money
A. guard	B. man	C. sculptor	D. scholar
A. smiled	B. begged	C. waved	D. thought
A.encouraged	B. disappointed	C. annoyed	D. surprised
A. live up to	B. go against	C. go without	D. hope for
A. reasonable	B. proper	C. unimportant	D. unrealistic
A. profit	B. kiss]	C. appreciation	D. disappointment
A. spare	B. share	C. make	D. control
A. put down	B. let down	C. taken down	D. thrown down
A. Forgive	B. Punish	C. Blame	D. Praise
A. happiness	B. encouragement	C. excitement	D. pride

Workplaces all over the UK are preparing for Christmas and all the traditions and customs that come with it. But will this Christmas be a cause of happiness and celebration, or of disappointment and embarrassment?

At this time of year, colleges show their appreciation of each other by doing a “Secret Santa”. Secret Santa involves people who work together buying gifts for each other without saying who they are from.

Co-workers all write their names on pieces of paper, then organize a lottery in which each worker picks a colleague’s name at random. He then has to buy a present for that colleague, usually on a small budget of five or ten pounds.

Since the givers are unknown, the quality of presents can vary greatly. In an Internet survey of Secret Santa presents, the gifts that people received range from tickets to the opera to an air freshener for a car.

Another common workplace tradition is the office Christmas party, at which workmates put on their best clothes and enjoy lots of free wine.

Most parties go without a hitch, but sometimes the alcohol cause party-goers to behave in a way that they later regret.

The BBC invited people to share their most embarrassing Christmas office party stories, and received hundreds of funny ones. For example, a man split his trousers while dancing; a drunken lady spent the whole night with the edge of her dress folded into her pants, and later looked at photos that proved it at work.

But the funniest story must be that of Stuart Vanies, who got so drunk that he put his boss’s head into the toilet. Unsurprisingly, he was fired the very next day.

1. How many Christmas traditions are mentioned?

A．One.

B．Two.

C．Three.

D．Four.

2. We learn from this article that for Christmas ____________________.

A．few people buy presents for their colleagues in Britain

B．British workers write their names on the presents they give their colleagues

C．people usually give their colleagues presents of high quality

D．British workers buy their presents based on an agreed budget

3.The underlined phrase “without a hitch” in the sixth paragraph means _______________.

A．quite smoothly	B．without a result
C．with some difficulty	D．quite unexpectedly

4.The examples in the last two paragraphs are to ______________________.

A．show that most British people enjoy drinking wine

B．a(chǎn)dvise readers not to drink wine at parties

C．prove that funny things often happen at office Christmas parties

D．criticize the bad habits of the British

 

Checks have largely taken the place of money as a means of    36   , for they are widely accepted everywhere.   37    this is very   38    for both buyer and seller, it should not be forgotten that checks are not real money: they are quite   39   in themselves. A shop-keeper runs a certain  40  when he accepts a check and he is quite   41   his rights if, on occasion, he   42   to do so. People do not always know this and are   43    if their good faith is called in question. A wealthy friend of mine told me he had an extremely   44   experience.

One day he decided to buy a particularly fine pearl necklace at a famous jewelry shop which keeps a large__45  of precious stones and asked if he could pay   46   check, the assistant said that this was quite  47  . But the moment my friend signed his name, he was invited into the manager’s office. The manager was very polite, but he explained that someone   48   exactly the same name had presented them with a worthless check not long ago. My friend got very angry at it and said he would buy a necklace   49  . When he got up to go, the manager told him that the police would arrive at any moment and he had better stay   50   he wanted to get into serious trouble. Sure enough the police arrived, __51 to my friend for the   52  ,  but explained that a person who had used the same name as his  53   for a number of recent robberies. Then the police asked my friend to    54    out a note which had been used by the thief in a number of shops. The note read, “I have a gun in my pocket, ask no questions and give all the money in the safe.” Fortunately, my friend’s handwriting was quite__55__ the thief’s. He was not only allowed to go without further delay, but to take the pearl necklace with him.

1.A. change              B. exchange                     C. trade                              D. business 

2.A. Because                      B. If                                    C. Though                    D. Since

3.A. favourite             B. popular                        C. profitable                        D. convenient

4.A. dangerous                  B. priceless                      C. unimportant                   D. valueless

5.A. chance                        B. risk                                C. opportunity       D. danger

6.A. within                            B. out of                    C. without              D. beyond

7.A. refuses                        B. agrees                          C. fails                                  D. hates

8.A. unhappy            B. ashamed                      C. shocked                      D. puzzled

9.A. uninteresting    B. unreasonable             C. unforgettable                 D. unpleasant

10.A. amount                     B. accident                       C. stock                                D. number

11.A. in                                B. by                                  C. with                             D. on

12.A. in need             B. in common                  C. in use                     D. in order

13.A. used                          B. with                              C. named                             D. by

14.A. anywhere                 B. somewhere                 C. somewhere else            D. everywhere

15.A. unless                        B. otherwise           C. if                              D. whether

16.A. coming              B. sticking                        C. apologizing            D. checking

17.A. manner             B. behavior                      C. inconvenience               D. treatment

18.A. responsible              B. answered                    C. charged                          D. blamed

19.A. copy                          B. read                              C. take                                  D. bring

20.A. unlike                        B. different                      C. dissimilar                         D. dislike