Last week Adele's second album, 21, sold 257,000 copies in the UK, a sales figure that would look incredible as an opening sales week for any album by any global superstar. The fact that the album was celebrating its 10th week at No.1, and that each of the previous nine weeks it had sold over 100,000 copies, makes what Adele has achieved look miraculous. The last female singer to spend that long at No.1 in the UK was Madonna in 1990 with her greatest hits compilation, The Immaculate Collection.
For Adele, the success of 21 is part of a perfect storm of talent, timing and a connection that went beyond gender, age and credibility. But what does it say about the state of the music industry? Does Adele's success signal a return to the MOR(适合大众口味的音乐) musical depression, when the likes of James Blunt dominated the charts? Her success may well lead to a great many similar acts aiming for an MOR audience, but that's more the fault of an industry desperate to recreate any kind of success by creating poor copies until the world shouts "stop now".
What seems to have set Adele apart is her apparent ordinariness, besides that incredible voice. While Gaga parades around in a dress made of meat and Beyonce orbits a world out of touch to the majority of most human beings, Adele's chain-smoking, girl-you'd-like-to-go-to-the-pub-with persona stands out. Even for a British act, her ordinariness goes against trend, with fellow Jessie J adopting a very American habit of over-emoting, talking about a "journey" and making the idea of being a pop star seem fairly difficult.
It's this universality and broad appeal that's helped her translate talent into sales. While the first single from 21, Rolling in the Deep, appealed to Radio 1 listeners and bloggers, the second single, Someone Like You, is so successful that silenced the grand O2 Arena during this year's Brit Awards. The press can write pages and pages in that there's enough of a connection of musicians – Rick Rubin worked on the album, there's a cover of the Cure, Mumford & Sons were an influence – while the gossip magazines have been excited by the fact that the album is one long break-up record, eager to find the ex.
In 1990, Madonna was a global superstar with a back catalogue of era-defining hits to her name. She was untouchable and, tellingly, unknowable. She was (and still is) a megastar, but a megastar of a different age. These days, we want to know a bit more about our artists; that they have relationship problems, walk their dog. Her selling point and appeal is precisely the fact that she exists at the point between everyday ordinariness and pop star.
For now, Adele's success should be celebrated, especially for becoming an unlikely global star on her own terms. The danger is that we're headed for a lot of fairly boring pop, a situation that led to the "birth" of Gaga a few years back. Pop goes in cycles and it feels like we're headed back towards the very middle of MOR.
【小题1】Adele’s achievement seems unbelievable for the reason that ____________.

阅读下面的短文,掌握其大意, 然后从1-15各题所给出的A、B、C、D项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

Once a young man was in deep love with a girl. This man folded 1,000 pieces of paper cranes (纸鹤) as a gift to his girl. Although he was a small branch manager in a company, and his __1__ didn’t seem too bright, they were very __2__ together until one day, his girl told him she was going to Paris and would never come back. She also told him that she couldn’t see any future for both of them, “so let’s go our own __3__ from now on…” The young man was __4__, but he agreed. When he regained his __5__, he worked hard day and night, just to make something out of himself. Finally with all the __6__ work, this man set up his own __7__.

One rainy day, while this man was __8__, he saw an elderly couple sharing an umbrella in the rain, walking to somewhere. He __9__ that they were his ex-girlfriend’s (前女友)parents, so he drove slowly beside the couple, wanting them to find him in his expensive car and to know that he had his own company, car, etc.

To the man’s surprise, the couple were walking towards a cemetery (墓地). He got out of his car and followed them. And there he saw his ex-girlfriend — a photograph of her __10__ as sweetly as ever at him from her tombstone, and those precious paper cranes in a glass bottle! He walked over and asked the couple why this had happened. They explained that __11__ she did not leave for France at all. She fell ill with cancer. In her heart, she had believed that he would __12__ some day. She didn’t not want her __13__ to be his barrier(障碍). Therefore, she chose to leave him. She asked her __14__ to put his paper cranes beside her, because if the day comes when fate brings him to her again he can take some of those back with him.

The man just cried __15__. He was heartbroken once again.

阅读下面的短文,掌握其大意, 然后从1-15各题所给出的A、B、C、D项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
Once a young man was in deep love with a girl. This man folded 1,000 pieces of paper cranes (纸鹤) as a gift to his girl. Although he was a small branch manager in a company, and his __1__ didn’t seem too bright, they were very __2__ together until one day, his girl told him she was going to Paris and would never come back. She also told him that she couldn’t see any future for both of them, “so let’s go our own __3__ from now on…” The young man was __4__, but he agreed. When he regained his __5__, he worked hard day and night, just to make something out of himself. Finally with all the __6__ work, this man set up his own __7__.
One rainy day, while this man was __8__, he saw an elderly couple sharing an umbrella in the rain, walking to somewhere. He __9__ that they were his ex-girlfriend’s (前女友)parents, so he drove slowly beside the couple, wanting them to find him in his expensive car and to know that he had his own company, car, etc.
To the man’s surprise, the couple were walking towards a cemetery (墓地). He got out of his car and followed them. And there he saw his ex-girlfriend — a photograph of her __10__ as sweetly as ever at him from her tombstone, and those precious paper cranes in a glass bottle! He walked over and asked the couple why this had happened. They explained that __11__ she did not leave for France at all. She fell ill with cancer. In her heart, she had believed that he would __12__ some day. She didn’t not want her __13__ to be his barrier(障碍). Therefore, she chose to leave him. She asked her __14__ to put his paper cranes beside her, because if the day comes when fate brings him to her again he can take some of those back with him.
The man just cried __15__. He was heartbroken once again.

Keving Rogers used to be my boss.At that time he always told us to sell more.As soon as I could,I left his shop and got a new job in another place.The last time I saw Rogers was more than ten years ago.At least that’s what I thought.But now I am not so sure.

I was on my way to my office in the centre of town.There is a small park nearby,which I sometimes walk through after lunch.The park was almost empty except for a shabby-looking man on one of those benches（凳子）.The man looked about fifty years old and was wearing an old gray coat.It was cold and windy,and he was trembling(哆嗦).

“It’s a long time since I had a meal.Can you help me?”he said.There was something about his voice that sounded familiar.I gave him a few pennies.As he went past me I looked at his face closely.I wondered where I had seen him before.Then it suddenly came to me.Could it possibly be…? No!Impossible,I thought.I watched him walking away.He was the same height as Rogers but looked a lot thinner than I remembered.

Yesterday I ran into someone who had worked for Rogers at the same time as I did,and had stayed on longer.I started telling him about the man I had seen in the park.”For a moment I thought it was our old boss.But it couldn’t have been.Rogers must be the head of a company now.”I said.

My ex-workmate shook his head,”I thought you knew.” “Knew?Knew what?What are you talking about?”

“Rogers was sent to prison six years ago.He’s probably been out by now.For all I know he is sleeping on park benches and begging money from passers-by.”

1.Where did the writer last meet Rogers?

2.Which of the following happened first?

3.The sotry doesn’t mention anything about______.

4.The reason why the man was trembling was that______.

Once a young man was in deep love with a girl. This man folded 1,000 pieces of paper cranes (纸鹤) as a gift to his girl. Although he was a small branch manager in a company, and his __1__ didn’t seem too bright, they were very __2__ together until one day, his girl told him she was going to Paris and would never come back. She also told him that she couldn’t see any future for both of them, “so let’s go our own __3__ from now on…” The young man was __4__, but he agreed.

When he regained his __5__, he worked hard day and night, just to make something out of himself. Finally with all the _6__ work, this man set up his own __7__.

One rainy day, while this man was __8__, he saw an elderly couple sharing an umbrella in the rain, walking to somewhere. He __9__ that they were his ex-girlfriend’s (前女友)parents, so he drove slowly beside the couple, wanting them to find him in his expensive car and to know that he had his own company, car, etc.

To the man’s surprise, the couple were walking towards a cemetery (墓地). He got out of his car and followed them. And there he saw his ex-girlfriend —a photograph of her  __10__   as sweetly as ever at him from her tombstone, and those precious paper cranes in a glass bottle! He walked over and asked the couple why this had happened. They explained that __11__ she did not leave for France at all. She fell ill with cancer. In her heart, she had believed that he would __12_ some day. She didn’t want her __13__ to be his barrier(障碍). Therefore, she chose to leave him. She asked her __14__ to put his paper cranes beside her, because if the day comes when fate brings him to her again he can take some of those back with him.

The man just cried __15__. He was heartbroken once again.

1.                A．appearance     B．salary          C．future    D．apartment

2.                A．worried        B．regret          C．happy    D．sensitive

3.                A．futures         B．ways           C．goals D．courses

4.                A．excited         B．mad           C．puzzling  D．heartbroken

5.                A．confidence      B．position         C．independence D．freedom

6.                A．main           B．beautiful        C．hard D．heavy

7.                A．office          B．family          C．studio    D．company

8.                A．running        B．driving         C．walking   D．wandering

9.                A．recognized      B．noticed         C．understood    D．memorized

10.               A．glaring         B．talking         C．smiling    D．crying

11.               A．fortunately      B．recently        C．difficultly  D．actually

12.               A．come          B．make          C．succeed   D．suffer

13.               A．illness          B．heart          C．cranes    D．sadness

14.               A．husband        B．parents         C．friends    D．son

15.               A．heatedly        B．hardly          C．excitedly  D．sadly