Hip hop or rap (说唱 ） music as it is also called,started on the street and in the clubs of the New York City in the 1970s . But today many countries have their own kind of hip hop music . This kind of music comes from reggae, disco and funk music . Rapping means speaking to the rhythm of the music, and it is an important part of the music . People rap to express how they feel about their lives and problems .

Rapping in class.

Would you like to rap in class ? Well actually,hip pop music is played in more than 10,000 schools in the USA .Why ? There is a new school program called “ Flocabulary ”in which teachers use texts and hip hop CDs to help teach different school subjects . The words of the songs are just what students are studying . This makes learning easy and fun . Students and teachers are excited about the positive results it has had on exam marks . One teacher said, “ I’ve used hip hop songs in class, and I have never seen my students so crazy about history ! You can't imagine how well they imagine how well they remember what I teach ! We even try to write our own songs . ”

Whose idea was Flocabulary?

Blake Harrison, a high school student, was the first person to come up with the idea of Flocabulary . The word “ Flocabulary ” comes from the word “ flow ” and “ vocabulary ” . “ Flow ” is a rap word for “ style ”,or the way a rapper says the words of a song . “ Vocabulary ” means the words you have to learn in a language . How did he get the idea ? Well, he realized he could remember the words of a hip hop song very easily . So,why not make lessons into songs ? Today together with Alex Rappaport, a song writer, Blake produces hip hop songs for maths, science and literature (文学 ）. They are now used in schools with great success .

53. Rap music started _____ in New York city .

A. in the 1970s　　　　　　　　 B. In a high school　

C.in the 19 th century .　　　　　 D. In a music class .

54. From the passage, we can learn “ Flocabulary ” is a program to _____ .

A. Write rap music .　　　　　　　 B. Sing a song by talking .　

C. Remember the words of a song .　 D. help teach some school subjects .

55. The underlined word positive in paragraph 2 most probably means _____

A. bad　　　　　 B. good　　　 C. final　 D direct

56. Blake Harrison has produced hip hop songs for school subject EXCEPT _____ .

A. maths　　　　 B. science　　　　 C. history　　　　 D. literature

Have you ever complained (抱怨) why life is so tiring? Does the sky sometimes　 36 dark to you? Are your lessons sometimes not successful? Well, friends, cheer up and　 37　 all the time. If you see the world with your warm heart, you will find the whole world smiling to you.

On a sunny morning, you plan to have a walk to relax yourself. Just before you go out, it 　38 starts to rain. Maybe you would feel very sad and start to complain about the weather. But dear friends, why　 39 sit down and listen to the free concert that the nature brings you? And with the timely rain, crops(庄稼) in the fields will grow better and farmers will have a good harvest (收成).

40　 everyone wants to succeed in what he tries to do, life isn’t a bed of roses. It’s very common to meet difficulties on the way to success.　 41　 difficulty isn't terrible. The real terrible thing is that we are afraid of it. Difficulty is 42　 a spring (弹簧). If you are 　43　 , it will be strong. So when you meet difficulties, don't give up. Instead, you should face them with a smile.

Attitude 　44　 everything. With an optimistic (乐观的) attitude, life is easy and 45 . If you want to be happy, try to remember these five easy rules. Free your heart from hate; Free your mind from worries; Live an easy life; Give more; Expect less. The quickest way to receive happiness is to smile, the fastest way to lose it is to complain.

36. A. seem B. seems C. seemed

37. A. cry B. smile　 C. complain

38. A. suddenly B. finally　 C. hardly

39. A. don't　 B. not　 C. didn’t

40. A. But B. For　 C. Although

4l. A. In fact B. From early on　 C. For example

42. A. unlike　 B. likes　 C. like

43. A. powerful B. weak　 C. confident

44. A. decides 　 B. deciding　 C. to decide

45 A. please　 B. pleased　　 C. pleasant

Three kids have been learning chemistry for only a few months. But they have already begun to challenge (挑战) a world famous scientist!

   Li Weichi, Huang Runling, and Xiao Yan are from Zhongshan Huaqiao Middle School in Guangdong. They have just found a red cabbage that could be a new kind of acid-base indicator (酸碱指示剂). They want it to take the place of litmus (石蕊) paper.

"We've learnt to think of and ask questions about life by ourselves," said Li, "We work well with each other."

   British scientist Robert Boyle discovered the use of litmus paper over 300 years ago. Now it is used widely in experiments all over the world.

   But when the kids did some experiments in class last winter, they saw that the litmus paper didn’t turn very blue with base matter. It's hard to get a clear result.

  Will there be a better indicator than litmus paper? The three kids decided to try and find out!

    How? They went to collect over 40 plants in parks, gardens and markets. Then they ground (研磨) leaves, flowers and stems (茎) to get the pigments (色素) from them.

   The kids mixed pigments with acid and base. They spent months watching carefully to see which paper showed the best colour change. They decided it was the litmus paper!

"It's our first scientific journey, Huang said, "But it makes me want to try harder."

1. Whom did the three kids want to challenge?

A. Their chemistry teacher.     B. Their headmaster.

C. Robert Boyle              D. Thomas Edison

2. From the text, a red cabbage is a kind of ____.

A. plant　　B. animal　　C. paper　　D. liquid

3.What is widely used as the acid-base indicator now?

A. red cabbage              B. litmus paper

C. any plant                D. any flower 

4.The story mainly tells us ____.

A. how to make litmus paper    B. about the three kids' spirit

C. scientists were wrong        D. the kids are heroes

 

Jane was a nurse. When she came to our house with some beautiful flowers in her hand, she smiled and said, “I’m here to help your mother to get well and to cook meals for you. I think we’re going to have a good time together.” 

She looked older to us though her age was about the same as our mother’s. She was not pretty. But she was kind and good. Then she gave us a good meal. After our mother became ill, we never ate such a good one. My brothers and I liked her before we finished the meal.

Our family moved to Australia not long ago. It was difficult for us to live a good life in the new place. Soon our mother became ill and she was in bed.

Every morning father went out to the forest, and worked all day hard as he could. Of course, we tried to help our parents. I cleaned the house and cooked our meals. My older brother learned to grow vegetables.

My two younger brothers were too young to work. Sometimes we went to school. When father came home on that day, he was surprised. Our mother was sleeping peacefully in the bed cleaned by Jane, and there were some beautiful flowers on the table. He said to Jane, “I have no money. I’m sorry I can’t pay you.” Jane said, “Don’t mind, I’m glad to help you. I don’t take money from people who are not happy.”

1. Why was mother ill?　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 

A. Life was hard.

B. The weather was bad for a long time.

C. There were too many children in the family.

D. She was always ill.

2. From the passage, we can know that there are　　    children in the family. 

A. 2　　    B. 3　　   C. 4　　　　 D. 5

3. Where did they live?　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　   

A. In Australia.　　　　   B. In a city in Australia.

C. They just left Australia.  D. The writer didn’t tell us.

4. Why did Jane come to the family?　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 

A. To make money because she was poor.   

B. To help them.

C. She knew their mother very well.

D. To cook meals for the children.

5. We can learn the following from the passage except　　    .　　   

A. Jane was much younger than the writer’s mother

B. the writer’s family was not rich

C. Jane came to the family with some beautiful flowers

D. Jane helped the family for nothing