阅读下面短文, 掌握其大意, 然后从1-25各题所给的四个选项中, 选出一　　 个最佳答案。　　

　　 　　 　　 　　

    A photographer is a person who takes photos as a business or an art. It is often thought that his work is not only full of 1 but is very safe as well, and no one can imagine how 2 his work 3 .

　　 　　 　　 　　

　　     Two photographers were 　　 4 through a thick forest in Alaska, 5 at capturing (capture 抢拍) the wild-life on film. As there was nothing interesting to take pictures of, they were feeling 6 when they 　　 7 sightof a brown bear that had caught a large fish by a quiet brook. The wild beast found them too, and stood on its 　　 8 legs to get 9 sight of the two men. While doing this, the bear made a wonderful pose (n. 姿势) for the two 10 photographers.

　　 　　 　　 　　

　　    Suddenly the bear 11 at them, while the two men kept right on taking photos of the 12 beast. As the beast was 　　 13 very fast towards them, one of the men turned around right away and rushed to a tall tree nearby. He 14 to the top of the tree as quickly as he could. The other man, who could not climb a tree, 　　 15 lay down on the ground, pretending 16. When the bear 　　 17 over him and snuffed (vt.嗅) him all over, the man shut his eyes tightly, 18 his breath and 19 make any　　 movement. While all this was going on, the man in the tree was 20 pictures of the 　　 21 scenes. After a while, the bear went away 22, because bears 　　 23 dead men.

　　 　　 　　 　　

　　    When all was safe, the photographer in the tree came down and said to his friend, "The same story 24 was told in Aesep's Fables (伊索寓言) has just happened to us, and I 　　 25 no chances to take the photos of the wonderful scenes!"　　 　　 　　 　　

 

　　 　　 　　

1. A. happiness    B. glad    C. sadness    D. pleasure

[    ]

2. A. interesting    B. dangerous    C. useful    D. important

[    ]

3. A. sometimes is    B. always is    C. is usually    D. usually is

[    ]

4. A. running    B. riding    C. travelling    D. driving

[    ]

5. A. good    B. wanting    C. planning    D. aiming

[    ]

6. A. sorry    B. satisfied    C. comfortable    D. helpless

[    ]

7. A. lost    B. caught    C. were in    D. were out of

[    ]

8. A. fore    B. left    C. right    D. hind

[    ]

9. A. a different    B. the same    C. a better    D. better

[    ]

10. A. mad    B. funny    C. happy    D. excited

[    ]

11. A. stared    B. jumped    C. shouted    D. looked

[    ]

12. A. pleased    B. angry    C. worried    D. funny

[    ]

13. A. rolling on    B. jumping up    C. drawing on    D. running out

[    ]

14. A. climbed    B. reached    C. jumped    D. walked

[    ]

15. A. slowly    B. immediately

C. after some delay    D. after some time

[    ]

16. A. to be dead　　 B. to die

C. to be dying    D. to have died

[    ]

17. A. bent    B. sat    C. lay    D. took

[    ]

18. A. took    B. held    C. was out of    D. taking

[    ]

19. A. daren't　　　　  B. tried not to

C. not trying to    D. not tried to

[    ]

20. A. busy to take    B. ready to take

C. busy taking　　 D. worth taking

[    ]

21. A. strange    B. beautiful    C. famous    D. exciting

[    ]

22. A. excitedly    B. disappointedly (失望地)   

    C. gladly　　   D. sadly

[    ]

23. A. never eat　　  B. don't like   

    C. never touch    D. never tend

[    ]

24. A. as     B. that    C. which    D. what

[    ]

25. A. got    B. had    C. found    D. lost

　　 　　

In the past ten years, America’s National Basketball Association (NBA) has grown increasingly dependent on the rest of the world to supply players.

    When Michael Jordan and Larry Bird won gold in Barcelona in 1992, the Americans were praised for teaching the world how to play basketball. This season, however, 20 percent of NBA rosters^① will be filled by non-Americans. NBA commissioner David Stem happily embraces the trend. On a visit to Paris in October, Stern outlined his vision for the future, which is likely to see Europe hosting NBA games by 2010.

    The NBA is now planning to take China by storm.

    “Our experience in China has been that it is going to be explosive in its growth,” said Stern. The strategy^② in China is television. “We’ve made 14 deals in China with local and national networks on cable and satellite.” The success of Chinese centre Yao Ming has paved the way for the NBA marketing blitz in China. The NBA, which is broadcasted in more than 200 countries in 42 languages, will put that to the test in October 2004 when the Houston Rockets play two pre-season games against the Sacramento Kings in Beijing and Shanghai. The NBA knows that it needs a global market to compensate for tough times on home soil.

“It doesn’t matter where the players come from, all the NBA teams now know that they have to scout^③ internationally,” said Terry Lyons, the NBA’s vice-president of international public relations. “It has increased the level of competition here.” As Frenchman Tony Parker and Argentine Emanuel Ginobili showed in winning championship rings with the San Antonio Spurs last season, many people can earn the respect of their American peers. Others, such as the Houston Rockets’ Chinese centre Yao Ming — number one draft pick in 2002 — and the Detroit Pistons’ 18-year-old Serb Darko Milicic — number two overall in this year’s draft — are icons^④in-waiting. It is the ultimate^⑤ revolution — the rest of the world teaching the US how to play basketball.

Notes:

roster  n. 花名册

strategy  n. 战略，策略

scout  vt. 寻找，觅得

icon  n. 偶像

ultimate  adj. 最后的，根本的

Choose the best answers according to the above:

According to the report,       ___.

A. Michael Jordan is still playing a very important role in NBA

B. the part played by the foreign players in NBA will be great

C. Yao Ming is to play two pre-season games in NBA

D. European countries will host the 2004 NBA games

The underlined phrase “take China by storm” has the meaning of       ___.

A. NBA intends to make China its “marketing center”

B. NBA is planning to set up some training centers in China

C. there’ll be a big storm when NBA comes to China to play against the Sacramento Kings

D. the NBA’s live basket games will be broadcasted on all the TVs in China

. What seems to be the biggest change that is happening to NBA?

A. NBA is expecting more foreign players to join the league.

B. China’s rapid development in sports affects NBA.

C. Yao Ming has taken the place of Michael Jordan.

D. The NBA will stop teaching the world how to play basketball.

When the writer talked of “home soil”, he was referring to        __.

A. farms in the States             B. native Americans 

C. the NBA training center         D. the USA

Which of the following can be used as the best title for the passage?

A. The Non-American Basketball Players    B. NBA Is Coming to China

C. The Foreign Ties That Bind the NBA      D. NBA Is Making Big Progress

Japanese scientists have taken the first photographs of one of the most mysterious creatures in the deep ocean — the giant squid^①.

Until now the only information about the behavior of the creatures which measure up to 18 meters (59 feet) in length has been based on dead or dying squid washed up on shore or captured^② in commercial fishing nets.

But Tsunemi Kubodera, of the National Science Museum, and Kyoichi Mori of the Ogasawara Whale Watching Association, both in Tokyo have captured the first images of Architeuthis attacking bait^③ 900 meters below the surface in the cold, dark waters of the North Pacific. “We show the first wild images of a giant squid in its natural environment,” they said in a report in the journal Proceedings B of the Royal Society.

Little is known about the creatures because it has been so difficult to locate and study them alive. Large ships and specialist equipment, which is costly, are needed to study deep sea environments.

The Japanese scientists found the squid by following sperm whales, the most effective hunters of giant squid, as they gathered to feed between September and December in the deep waters off the coast of the Ogasawara Islands in the North Pacific. They used a remote long-line camera and depth logging system to capture the giant squid in the ocean depths.

The most dramatic character of giant squids is the pair of extremely long tentacles^④, distinct from the eight shorter arms. The long tentacles make up to two-thirds of the length of the dead specimens^⑤ to date. The giant squid appear to be a much more active meat-eating animals than researchers had thought.

Notes:

① squid  n. 鱿鱼

② capture  vt. 捕获

bait  n. 鱼饵

tentacle  n. 触角，触须

specimen  n. 标本，样本

The passage mainly tells us that ________.

      A. Scientists captured a giant squid alive

      B. Scientists captured a giant squid on camera

      C. giant squids are special meat-eating animals

      D. giant squids mainly live in the deep sea

According to the passage, we can infer that the word “Architeuthis” should refer to ________.

      A. a scientist        B. the sperm whale       C. a big ship      D. the giant squid

Which of the following about giant squids is TRUE?

      A. They like living the cold and deep waters.

      B. They mainly feed on the dead fish.

      C. They like playing, using their tentacles.

      D. They have only eight arms around the mouth.

According to the passage, the scientists located the giant squid ________.

      A. through a remote long-line camera

      B. by using depth logging system

      C. by following sperm whales

D. by using the bait to attract them

假如你叫李华，你的加拿大笔友James想了解一下参加2008年全国中学生英语夏令营的有关信息，请你根据下面的海报给他写一封信，谈谈有关情况和活动意义，并邀请他参加你们的活动。

Welcome to Our English Summer Camp 2008

*营址：青岛

*活动时间：2008年7月底，共4天。

*参加人员：

1．全国中学生英语能力竞赛获奖者。

2．中国、美国，英国和澳大利亚的英语教师。

*活动内容：

1．举行英语演讲比赛；

2．观看学生表演；游览青岛风景名胜；

3．交流英语学习经验。

Come on, Join us!

注意：

1．信必须包括以上提供的内容要点，可以适当增减细节，使内容连贯；

2．词数100左右；信的开头已给出，不记入总词数；

3．参考词汇：全国中学生英语能力竞争NEPC；交流：vt. Exchange

Read first and then discuss the questions.

　　Where did jazz originate? What musical, social, and cultural ingredients (n. 成分, 因素) combined to form jazz? These questions, and their respective answers, are important for the student of jazz history to investigate.

　　Jazz is the only indigenous American art form and it is truly a cultural product of the United States. Western and African musical culture were the seeds of jazz, but America was the soil where jazz grew and prospered (V．成功, 兴隆, 昌盛). Jazz is neither a music of Blacks nor the music of Whites, but jazz is actually a blending of a variety of traditions, heritages, and philosophies (n. 哲学, 哲学体系) .

　　During the early history of America, slavery was a standard social practice. Slaves were forcibly brought from Africa to America. While in America, the displaced African’s (including African musicians who brought their musical traditions and talents with them) would learn from already established Western musical theories and performance practices. At the same time, Western musicians would learn African (Eastern) musical theories and performance practices from the African musicians.

　　Primitive (原始的) African culture places a great emphasis on music, much more so than Western societies. Music is an important aspect (n. 方面) of many of the day-today activities of the primitive African societies. As a primitive musical expression, early African music placed a great emphasis on rhythmic (adj. 节奏的, 合拍的) activity with a more simple use of melody (n. 悦耳的音调) and harmony (n. 协调, 融洽). African rhythms are quite complex and very advanced, yet the melodies and harmonies are simple. This strong emphasis on musical tradition and usage was brought with the African populations during their forced exile of slavery to America.

　　While in America, these new Black Americans still expressed themselves through their musical traditions. Since they were in America, their old musical traditions could not be reproduced exactly for many reasons, including not being allowed to use traditional African instruments. To understand a comparable situation, let us assume (vt. 假定, 设想) that we have a fictional American rock band who are forcibly taken to a foreign country. While in slavery, the rock musicians still desire to create their music. Unfortunately, their new “owners” give them permission to perform their rock music, but the rock band is not allowed to use any electric guitars, an electric bass, a drum set, keyboards, or any type of electronic instruments. This would cause quite a problem for the rock band, but if they have a strong enough desire to create their music, they would have to find a way to do so with the resources (instruments etc. ) that were available to them. This imaginary (adj. 假想的, 想象的) scenario (剧情概要, 或是某一特定情节) was exactly what the African musicians faced as slaves in America.

　　Along with finding new instruments, the African musicians were being exposed to the Western musical culture. This exposure was a vital essence to the evolution of jazz. These new Western melodic, harmonic, rhythmic, and aural traditions affected the African musicians tremendously. Of course, White musicians were also being affected by what they head from the African musicians. As time passes, the give and take between the African and Western musical traditions would blossom into what would be called Jazz.

　　To this day, elements that started with the African slaves can still be heard in jazz and rock. One example still in use is the African “call and response” method of early African songs. In a call and response, the soloist sings a portion of a melody while the group responds afterwards (much like a musical question and answer) .

　　Another example is “pitch-bending”. During the advent of jazz, the musicians would bend pitches for expressive purposes. This bent pitch catches our ears because the ear does not know where the pitch will actually end up, thus creating a musical surprise. Countless jazz and rock musicians use this technique today. Listen to a rock lead-guitar solo and count all the pitch-bends utilized. Most of today's synthesizers even have a pitch-bend device built in.

　　The roots of jazz are from African and Western musical traditions blended together. Over a period of many years, these traditions exchanged musical qualities and slowly evolved into jazz. The African emphasis on rhythm combined with Western theoretical musical thought created a new music for all musicians and audiences to enjoy. As the jazz musical tree grew, other sub-styles of music grew from the trunk of jazz. Music styles such as Rhythm and Blues (n. 节奏和布鲁斯) Soul, Funk, Rap, and Rock and Roll are all descendants (n. 子孙, 后裔, 后代) of jazz and the jazz heritage.

Questions For Discussion:

1．Does Jazz come from Africa?

2．Does Jazz come from Blues?