How similar are language and music
Language is part of our daily lives, no matter where we live m the world. 1. Both language and music play a huge role in our culture and here are some of their similarities.
·Both language and music have a writing system.
In English we record language using the alphabet, which is a collection of letters. Similarly, we use notes to keep a record of music. Musicians read notes and create meaning in the form of music. 2. By writing pieces of text or music, we are able to share experiences through time. We can read the ideas or hear the composition of someone who lived hundreds of years ago.
·3.
You can make a good guess at where someone is from by listening to the language they use. In the same way, we know that styles of music are different around the world, giving us the opportunity to explore many different cultures through their music and providing us with music for every situation.
·Both share emotion.
4. Of course you may be able to see it in my face, but you will know for sure through my word’. Similarly, music can sound angry, sad or happy. Music can show you exactly how the composer was or is feeling, and allows us to share in that emotion. When you feel happy, you might want to sing and dance to a happy song to celebrate your happiness. 5. I think we have all used music to express or process our emotions, often combining it with language in the form of song lyrics.
A. Both are expressive.
B. Both vary with culture.
C. How do you know that I am angry
D. We use language to express our thoughts.
E. So just as you read English, you can read music.
F. Similarly, music is part of many people’s lives.
G. In contrast, you probably also listen to sad music when you are feeling down.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
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1.Which would you prefer if you are a sports - lover?
A. Wildlife holidays. B. Cultural journeys.
C. Polar expeditions. D. Activity holidays.
2.What can a tourist do during a
A. Appreciate ancient buildings. B. Watch lovely animals.
C. Get closer to nature. D. Have extreme sports.
3.What is the purpose of this text?
A. To introduce ways of relaxation. B. To recommend different holidays.
C. To share traveling experience. D. To give advice on traveling.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
Every day, Americans throw away 500 million plastic straws, enough to circle the Earth twice. They are almost never recycled, and simply contribute to the great problem of plastic pollution; eight million tons of plastic is dumped into the oceans every year.
Plastic straws are now the target of a growing movement to reduce their use. Possibly the first of such campaigns, Be Straw Free was started in 2011 by Milo Cress, who was only nine years old at the lime.
“I noticed that whenever I ordered a drink at a restaurant, it would usually come with a straw in it, and I don’ I usually need a straw,” he said. “This seemed like a huge waste. Straws are made of oil, a precious and finite resource. Is making single - use plastic straws, which will be used for a matter of minutes before being tossed away, really what we want to do with this resource?”
Cress started asking restaurants in Burlington, Vermont, where he lived at the time, to stop providing straws automatically to customer and make them optional instead. Many agreed and his request made ripples (涟漪) nationwide. The restaurants that make the switch report a reduction in the number of straws they use between 50 and 80%.
The anti - straw sentiment has crossed borders into the UK, where straws have been included in a government plan to ban ail plastic waste by 2042.
Last year large pub chain Wetherspoons announced that it would replace plastic straws with paper alternatives across 900 outlets. After the announcement, many smaller chains and pubs across the country followed suit. According to Wetherspoons CEO John Hutson, the move will save 70 million plastic straws a year and the reaction from patrons has been “very positive”.
Offering alternatives or making plastic straws optional, rather than banning them completely, is a common trait among these campaigns. “There are many other viable alternatives to single - use plastic drinking straws that are less harmful to the environment, wildlife and humans,” said Jackie Nunez, founder of The Last Plastic Straw.
1.What can we learn from Paragraph 1?
A. Plastic straws are too costly to produce.
B. All plastic straws are dumped into the sea.
C. Plastic straws are too small to be recycled.
D. Plastic straws cause great pollution.
2.What did Milo Cress ask his local restaurants to do?
A. To make plastic straws optional.
B. To stop the use of plastic straws.
C. To charge the use of plastic straws.
D. To reject the request for plastic straws.
3.What is the Wetherspoons’ effort to reduce the use of plastic straws?
A. To ban the use of plastic straws.
B. To close some of its outlets.
C. To offer customers alternatives.
D. To seek the government’s support.
4.What is the Wetherspoons customers’ attitude towards the move?
A. Uncaring. B. Favorable.
C. Ambiguous. D. Disapproving.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
Nowadays there is less and less contact between the old and the young. There are many reasons for this, but the result is the same: increasing numbers of children without grandparents and old people who have no contact with children. And more old people who are lonely and feel use- less, along with more and more families with young children who desperately need more support. It’s a major problem in many societies.
That’s why intergenerational programmes, designed to bring the old and the young together, are growing in popularity all over the world, supported by UNESCO and other local and international organisations. There are examples of successful initiatives all over the world. Using young people to teach IT skills to older people is one obvious example. Using old people as volunteer assistants in schools is another, perhaps reading with children who need extra attention.
One successful scheme in France is combining a residential home for the elderly with a creche/nursery school in the same building. The children and the residents eat lunch together and share activities such as music, painting, gardening and caring for the pets which the residents are encouraged to keep. In the afternoons, the residents enjoy reading or telling stones to the children and, if a child is feeling sad or tired, there is always a kind lap to sit on and a cuddle (依偎). There are trips out and birthday parties too.
The advantages are enormous for everyone concerned. The children are happy because they get a lot more individual attention and respond well because someone has lime, for them. They also learn that old people are not different or frightening in any way. And of course, they see illness and death and learn to accept them. The residents are happy because they feel useful and needed. They are more active and more interested in life when the children are around and they take more interest in their appearance too. And the staff are happy because they see an improvement in the physical and psychological health of the residents and have an army of assistants to help with the children.
1.What is the social problem talked about in Paragraph 1?
A. A generation gap. B. Caring for children.
C. Intergenerational contact. D. The support for the aged.
2.What do the programmes mentioned in Paragraph 2 aim to do?
A. Make the old take care of children.
B. Help the old people learn new things.
C. Encourage the young to care for the old.
D. Increase contact between the old and the young.
3.What is special about the scheme in France?
A. Joining an elderly house with a kindergarten.
B. Hiring old people as child - care workers.
C. Helping children face misfortunes bravely.
D. Using children to accompany the old.
4.In which aspect does the scheme benefit the old?
A. It builds up their strength.
B. They live a healthier life.
C. It creates a family atmosphere.
D. They are closer to their relatives.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
As self — driving cars come closer to being common on American roads, much of the rhetoric (说辞) promoting them has to do with safety. About 40,000 people die on U. S. roads every year, and driver errors are linked to more than 90 percent of crashes. But many of the biggest advocates of autonomous vehicles aren’t car companies looking to improve the safety of their existing products. Huge backing for self - driving technologies is coming from Silicon Valley giants like Google and Apple.
Those of us who have studied the relationship between technology and society tend to look more carefully at the motivations behind any technological push. In this case, it’s clear that in addition to addressing safety concerns, Silicon Valley firms have a strong incentive (动机) to create a new venue for increasing the use of their digital devices. Every minute people spend on their mobile phones provides data - and often money - to tech companies.
At present, digital devices and driving are in conflict: There are serious, often fatal, consequences when drivers use smartphones to talk or to text. Regulators and safety advocates look to resolve dial conflict by banning phone use while driving - as has happened in virtually every state. But the tech companies are taking a different approach. The obvious answer for Silicon Valley is creating an antomobile in which continuous cellphone use no longer poses a threat to anyone.
In recent years, the amount of time adults spend on their mobile devices has grown rapidly. At the moment, it’s around four hours a day for the average adult in the U. S. However, that rapid growth is likely to slow down as people run out of time that ’ s available for them to use their devices. Unless, of course, there’s a new block of time that suddenly opens up. The average American now spends about 48 minutes in a car every day, a sizable opportunity for increased cellphone use.
So as the public conversation around autonomous cars highlights the safety advantages, don’t forget the tech industry ’ s powerful desire for more profits, which goes well beyond simply saving us from ourselves.
1.Who are responsible for most traffic accidents in America?
A. Car companies. B. Tech companies.
C. Drivers. D. Self - driving cars.
2.What is Silicon Valley’s motive for promoting self - driving technologies?
A. To make more money. B. To reduce traffic accidents.
C. To limit the use of digital devices. D. To support car companies.
3.What is the present - day solution to the conflict between digital devices and driving?
A. Teaching people traffic rules. B. Improving self-driving technologies.
C. Fixing digital devices in cars. D. Banning phone use while driving.
4.What does the underlined phrase “a new block of time” possibly refer to?
A. The working time. B. People’s spare time.
C. The time spent in the car. D. The time spent on mobile devices.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
As a child I was always good at drawing and art. I won ____, got constant attention, and even saw my face in the ____ and on television because of my natural ability to ____.
Most people who ____ to come across something that they are good at are ____ to take it and run with it. Of course, my life was no ____. From teachers, to principals, to family members, ____ seemingly had a ton of advice to give me in regards to art.
All the while, my true desire was ____. I entered poetry, essay, and short - story contests and ____ them all. It was such a contrast from my artistic ____ experience! It was so bad that I ____ a good friend of mine who told me once, “If you are so good at drawing why do you even care about writing? ____ drawing!”
Though well intended, eighteen years later I’m ____ I didn’t take his words to heart. Years went by with me still writing and still occasionally entering ____.It wasn’t until my first year in college that I finally got honorable ___ in a poetry contest. As a writer I’ve truly ____.
I’m sure there are things in your life that are ____ and yet, rewarding. Endurance (忍耐), especially when it comes to things you truly love is ____. Take some time to devote some more ____ to the “thing” that didn’t come ____ and see what happens.
1.A. praise B. awards C. supports D. success
2.A. street B. school C. newspaper D. book
3.A. draw B. act C. learn D. show
4.A. want B. mean C. agree D. happen
5.A. encouraged B. invited C. developed D. permitted
6.A. perfect B. different C. similar D. lucky
7.A. everyone B. who C. that D. no one
8.A. art B. fixing C. writing D. music
9.A. won B. ignored C. missed D. lost
10.A. interest B. competition C. career D. talent
11.A. had B. made C. found D. met
12.A. Give up B. Take in C. Stick to D. Put away
13.A. glad B. sorry C. sad D. sure
14.A. training B. contests C. articles D. trouble
15.A. appearance B. change C. mention D. name
16.A. forgot B. regretted C. expected D. grown
17.A. challenging B. beautiful C. appealing D. hopeful
18.A. meaningless B. popular C. essential D. painful
19.A. consideration B. energy C. money D. education
20.A. young B. bad C. usual D. easy
难度: 简单查看答案及解析
The ancient wisdom of Confucius is timeless. His thinking 1. (lead) the Chinese for thousands of years. However, English teaching seems to be one place 2. his wisdom is forgotten.
I came to China 6 years ago, and quickly saw the plight (困境) of so many students 3. (struggle) to learn English. They know a lot “about” English,4. they never master the language. They learned far more grammar than students in Western cultures and almost no oral training. They were made 5. (recite) sentences and passages from their books. Their teachers were spending 90% of the class talking to them “about” English in Chinese.
All effective language teaching in the world is built 6. the basis of oral language. Students who excel in English are those that follow the wisdom of Confucius: they use language!
They use it primarily by speaking and listening,7. (eventual) supplemented (补充) by reading and writing. Every language is taught by gaining speaking competence long before grammar, reading and writing 8. (introduce).
Chinese students work so hard.9. they learned English with correct spoken instructions and classroom practice, they would have the 10. (high) English scores in the world and they would conquer English.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
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处语言错误，每句中最多有两处。错误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。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
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。
I don’t remember exact how old I was when I began to ride a bike. I only remembered how I practiced riding a bike in early years. When I first successfully rode a bike, that remains a vivid memory, my brother helped me with holding the back seat of the bike while I was riding. “Wow, I did it!”, cried I, as soon as he noticed I was riding without his hands hold it! I learnt quickly, and soon, even though my feet were not touching the ground, but I was able to cycle around six kilometer a day to school! It’s so lovely to remember which happened at that time.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
假定你是李华，在获悉Perfect English 英文报社将举行国际中学生"中华传统文化"（Chinese traditional culture）征文比晒活动后，你想写信请你的美国朋友Peter参加．信的内容包括：
1．主题：中华传统文化知识；
2．活动时间：2017年7月1日-31日；
3．投稿邮箱： CTCcompetition@perfectenglish．com．
注意：1．词数100左右；
2．可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯．
Dear Peter，
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Yours，
Li Hua．
难度: 中等查看答案及解析