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 .
【小题1】Rap music started  _____ in New York city .

1Read the passage and fill the blanks with proper words (在短文的空格内填入适当的词，使内容通顺，每空格限填一词，首字母已给)

The Empire State Building(帝国大厦) has held a special place in the hearts of Americans since it was completed in 1931.It r___1__ more than 443 metres into the sky. For more than forty years , it was the tallest building in the world.

It has one hundred and three levels and six thousand five hundred windows. Visitors can ride in one of seventy-three elevators that take them from the b__2__ to very near the top of the building. Some of these elevators are very fast, reaching the eightieth floor in only forty-five seconds.

The heads of government of almost every n__3__ in the world have visited the Empire State Building. These important people are just a few of million who have ridden to the observation area near the top of the building each year. From there, visitors can see almost all of New York City. They can see the view a __4__ the Hudson River into the state of New Jersey. They can see ships in the East River.

Even if you have never visited New York, there is a good chance for you to see the Empire State Building. It has been photographed c __5__ times. It has even played parts in movies. One is about a huge ape(猿)that escapes and climbs to the top of the building. The movie is “King Kong”(金刚). It was made in 1933. The Empire State Building also appeared in the love story “An Affair to Remember”(金玉盟).Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr play a man and a woman who meet and fall in love on a ship. They are looking at the New York City skyline from the ship when they plan a future meeting.

 More recently, in “Sleepless in Seattle(西雅图未眠夜)”，two people in love agree to meet at the Observation Deck on Valentine’s Day(情人节). B__6__ do arrive, but one is a little later. They almost m __7___each other.

In the early nineteen seventies, the Empire State Building lost its place as the tallest building in New York. People in the city then had the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center to look up to. Tragically that all changed on the morning of September 11,2001. Terrorists hijacked(劫持) passenger airplanes into the Twin Towers and destroyed them. The Empire State Building again has become the city’s tallest building.

Dick lived in England. One day in January he said to his wife, "I'm going to fly to New York next week because I've got some work there." "Where are you going to stay there?" his wife asked. "I don't know yet." Dick answered. "Please send me your address from there in a telegram (电报)," his wife said. "All right," Dick answered.

 He flew to New York on January 31st and found a nice hotel in the center of the city. He put his things in his room and then he sent his wife a telegram. He put the address of his hotel in it.

 In the evening he didn't have any work, so he went to a cinema. He came out at nine o'clock and said, "Now I'm going back to my hotel and have a nice dinner."

 He found a taxi (出租车) and the driver said, "Where do you want to go?" But Dick didn't remember the name and address of his hotel.

 "Which hotel are my things in?" he said, "And what am I going to do tonight?" But the driver of the taxi did not know. So Dick got out and went into a post office. There he sent his wife another telegram, and in it he wrote, "Please send me my address at this post office."

 Choose the right answer

1.Dick flew to New York because ___.

A. he went there for a holiday

B. he had work there

C. he went there for sightseeing (观光)

D. his home was there

2.Why did his wife want a telegram from him?

A. Because she didn't know his address yet

B. Because she wanted to go to New York, too

C. Because she might send him another telegram

D. Because she couldn't leave her husband by himself in New York

3.Where did Dick stay in New York?

A. In the center of the city.    B. In a hotel.

C. In a restaurant.            D. At his friend's house.

4.Who would send him the name and address of his hotel?

A. The manager (经理) of his hotel.    B. The police office.

C. The taxi driver.                  D. His wife.

5.Which of the following is not true?

A. Dick stayed at a nice hotel in the center of the city.

B. Dick didn't work on the first night of his arrival.

C. Dick forgot to send his wife a telegram.

D. Dick wanted to go back to his hotel in a taxi.