Reading Comprehension

Read the following passages, and choose. the best answer that can answer the question.

　　Americans have contributed(做出贡献) to many art forms, but jazz, a type of music, is one of the art form that was started in the United States. Black Americans, who sang and played the music of their homeland, created jazz. Jazz is a mixture of the music of Africa, the work songs, the slaves songs and religious(宗教) music. Improvisation(即兴创作) is an important part of jazz. This means that the musicians make the music up as they go along, or create the music on the spot. This is why a jazz song might sound a little different each time it is played. Jazz bands formed in the late 1800s. They played in bars and clubs in many towns and cities of the south.

　　Jazz became more and more popular. By the 1920s, jazz was popular all over the United States. By the 1940s, you could hear jazz not only in clubs and bars, but in concert halls as well. Today, people from all over the world play jazz. Jazz musicians from the United States, Asia, Africa, South America, and Europe meet and share their music at festivals on every continent. In this way jazz continues to grow and change.

1．Which of the following is TRUE?

[　　]

A．Jazz is now popular all over the world.

B．Jazz is now a kind of religious music.

C．Jazz is now only played in bars and clubs.

D．Jazz is now played a little different sometimes.

2．From the passage it can be inferred that ________.

[　　]

A．New Orleans is the place where jazz was first produced

B．The American people are all jazz lovers

C．Jazz is merely sung by the black

D．Jazz may become more popular as time goes on

3．It took about ________ years to make jazz popular in the United States.

[　　]

4．The underlined word “created” in the first paragraph can be replaced by ________.

[　　]

5．What can be the best title of this passage?

[　　]

A．American Art Forms

B．The Development of Jazz

C．The Music of Black Americans

D．The Birthplace of Jazz

I had the meanest mother in the world. While other kids ate candy for breakfast, I had to have eggs and toast. Others had cokes and candy for lunch while I had to eat a sandwich. As you can guess, my supper was different from the other kids’. But at least I was not alone in my suffering. My sister and two brothers had the same mean mother as I did.

My mother insisted on knowing where we were at all times. She had to know who our friends were and what we were doing. We had to wear clean clothes every day. Other kids always wore their clothes for days. We reached the height of disgrace(丢脸) because she made our clothes herself, just to save money.

The worst is yet to come. We had to be in bed by 9:00 each night and up at 7:45 the next morning. So while my friends slept, my mother actually had the courage to break Child Labor Law. She made us work. I believed she lay awake all night thinking up mean things to do to us. Through the years, our friends’ report cards had beautiful colors on them, black for passing, red for failing. My mother, however, would merely be content with black marks. None of us was allowed the pleasure of being a dropout.

She forced us to grow up into educated and honest adults. Using this as a background, I’m now trying to bring up my three children. I’m filled with pride when my children think I am mean because now I thank God every day for giving me the meanest mother in the world.

1.From the passage we can learn that the writer’s mother was          .

2.Which of the following things did the writer hate to do most?

3.It can be inferred from the passage that        .

4.The passage was written in a        tone.

5.Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?

       ……

This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations. But one that's on my mind tonight’s about a woman who cast her ballot in Atlanta. She is a lot like the millions of others who stood in line to make their voice heard in this election, except for one thing: Ann Nixon Cooper is 106 years old.

She was born just a generation past slavery; a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky; when someone like her couldn't vote for two reasons, because she was a woman and because of the color of her skin.

And tonight, I think about all that she's seen throughout her century in America: the heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the times we were told that we can't, and the people who pressed on with that American creed: Yes we can.

At a time when women's voices were silenced and their hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach for the ballot. Yes we can.

When there was despair in the Dust Bowl and depression across the land, she saw a nation conquer fear itself with a New Deal, new jobs, a new sense of common purpose. Yes we can.

When the bombs fell on our harbor and tyranny threatened the world, she was there to witness a generation rise to greatness and a democracy was saved. Yes we can.

She was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in Birmingham, a bridge in Selma, and a preacher from Atlanta who told a people that "we shall overcome." Yes we can.

A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a world was connected by our own science and imagination. And this year, in this election, she touched her finger to a screen, and cast her vote, because after 106 years in America, through the best of times and the darkest of hours, she knows how America can change. Yes we can.

America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there’s so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves, if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made? 

(From Obama’s victory speech, 2008 )

56. What can be inferred from the passage?

A. Ann Nixon Cooper was once a slave.              B. Ann Nixon Cooper is a black woman.

C. Ann Nixon Cooper knows Obama and his family very well.

D. Ann Nixon Cooper contributed much to the changes of America.

57. What does the underlined part“cast her ballot”in the first paragraph probably mean?

A. expressed her happiness                                B. worked for Obama

C. voted in the election                                     D. celebrated the victory

58. What message does this part of Obama’s speech mainly send?

A. Ann Nixon Cooper has experienced the best time and the darkest hours of America in the last century.

B. America has undergone great development in the last century and is looking forward to more great changes.

C. Ann Nixon Cooper has witnessed the development and democracy of America.

D. This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations.

Hurry up! The black clouds ______that it is going to rain soon.