1．Carol Vaness，the well-known American opera singer，was born in San Diego and began her professional performance in San Francisco．She has sung at many of the major opera houses in the world．Unlike other world-famous male opera singers （Luciano Pavarotti，Placido Domingo and Marcello Giordani），she was particularly known for her Mozart operatic roles．
At the Metropolitan Opera in New York City where she often sings，Carol's voice must be loud enough to be heard by four thousand people．It must reach every person in the theater，without a microphone，even when she's singing softly．The reason Carol can project her voice that far is the way she breathes．
"When you breathe，it's like a swimmer taking a deep breath before going underwater，"Carol explains．"You have to take a lot of air into your lungs．"
According to Carol，the main difference between pop singing and opera is"how you breathe，how much air you take in，and how you control it coming out．Regular singing is more like speaking，and it's a lot softer．
Ever since she started piano lessons at the age of ten，Carol has loved music．As she got older，she decided to become a music teacher．When she went to college，she took singing lessons as part of her studies．Her voice teacher discovered that nineteen-year-old Carol had an exceptionally beautiful soprano（女高音） voice-the highest singing voice for women．
Today，Carol performs throughout the United States and Europe and she has song for almost twenty years．But she has never forgotten where she started singing in the first palace．"Put your heart into your singing and enjoy it，"says Carol，"because singing is a great joy．That's why I sing．In fact，that's why everybody sings．"
24．What is the best title for this passage？A
A．An Opera Star
B．The Way an Opera Star Sings
C．Opera Singing and Pop Singing
D．Singing without a Microphone
25．Which statement is true？D
A．A pop singer breathes more deeply than an opera singer when he or she sings．
B．Opera singing is more like speaking．
C．A pop singer takes in much more air than an opera singer when singing．
D．An opera singer breathes differently from a pop singer when singing．
26．From the passage you can conclude all the following EXCEPT thatC．
A．Carol once learned to play the piano
B．Carol has been singing opera for 20years or so
C．Carol worked as a music teacher
D．Carol is popular with Americans and Europeans．
分析 文章大意：文章介绍了美国著名的歌剧歌手Carol Vaness，在很大的歌剧院里即使没有话筒她也可以高声歌唱．根据凯罗尔，流行歌曲和歌剧的主要区别是如何控制气息．凯罗尔在美国和欧洲演出，她已经唱了将近二十年了，她始终觉得歌唱很美好很享受．
解答 24．A 主旨大意题．文章介绍了美国著名的歌剧歌手Carol Vaness在很大的歌剧院里即使没有话筒她也可以高声歌唱，因此答案选A．
25．D 推理判断题．根据文章的第四段According to Carol，the main difference between pop singing and opera is"how you breathe，how much air you take in，and how you control it coming out．Regular singing is more like speaking，and it's a lot softer．可知一个歌剧歌手在歌唱时与一个流行歌手唱歌有不同的呼吸，因此答案选D
26．C 推理判断题．根据文章的描述可知，Carol Vaness并未担任音乐老师，因此答案选C．
点评 本题是人物故事类阅读理解．这类题材的阅读理解是高考经常考到的题材，它注重考查考生整体把握文章大意的能力，在做题时要根据题目充分考虑上下文语境，做出正确的判断．
