The Japanese have a genius for dreaming up small, useful and fun machines. You must have used or at least heard of Sony’s walkman, Nintendo or Sega’s video games, and Bandai’s Tamagotchi. And how about karaoke, invented by Daisuke Inoue?

Daisuke, who? Not many people have heard of him, and he never made much money from his invention. But anyone who has ever experienced the thrill of singing karaoke in front of a crowd has Mr.Inoue to thank…

 Daisuke Inoue is an easygoing man with a quick smile. He was born in the suburbs of Osaka in 1940. At Osaka Technical High School he took up the drums, because he says, “All you have to do is hit them.” Before long he was making money as a drummer in a Hawaiian band that played in the old dance-halls left behind by American soldiers.

By 1970, he and six partners were playing in the clubs of nearby Kobe, accompanying middle-aged businessmen who wanted to sing traditional Japanese country and even army songs. His friends, Inous says, could all read music and so they could pick up the latest tunes (曲调). He, on the other hand, had to rely on memory and play by following the lips of the singer as they moved. “Out of 108 club musicians in Kobe,” he says. “I was the worst! And the clients (顾客) in my club were the worst singers!”

One client, president of a small steel company, was especially fond of Inoue’s slow, follow-along style. It made the president’s bad, out-of–time singing sound much better. One evening he wanted Inoue to play for him on a trip to a hot spring resort (胜地). The boss wanted to sing Frank Nagai’s Leaving Haneda Airport on a 7:50 Flight for his friends. But Inoue was unable to leave his job.

To help out his most loyal client, he decided to provide him with a tape. Inoue wouldn’t be there, but the singer would still have his accompaniment. Karaoke was born. 

1. Daisuke Inoue took up the drums at high school because _______.

  A. they were his favorite musical instruments

  B. he knew they would help him make money

  C. he thought they were easy to learn

  D. it was easy for a drummer to find a job

2. What does the underlined word “they” stand for?

  A. His partner      B. His friends    C. The latest tunes    D. The singer’s lips

3. From this passage we know Daisuke Inoue was ______.

  A. an outstanding musician            B. not quite good at music

  C. a good singer and dancer           D. good at inventing things

4. Why did the president like Inoue’s playing so much?

  A. Because Inoue followed his singing.

  B. Because Inoue played very well.

  C. Because he had got used to Inoue’s fast, exciting style.

  D. Because Inoue was an easy-going man with a quick smile.

Are some people born clever, and others born stupid? Or is intelligence developed by our environment and our experiences? Strangely enough, the answer to both these questions is yes. To some extent our intelligence is given us at birth, and no amount of special education can make a genius out of a child born with low intelligence. On the other hand, a child who lives in a boring environment will develop his intelligence less than one who lives in rich and varied surroundings. Thus the limits of a person's intelligence are fixed at birth, but whether or not he reaches those limits will depend on his environment. This view, now held by most experts, can be supported in a number of ways.

It is easy to show that intelligence is to some extent something we are born with. The closer the blood relationship between two people, the closer they are likely to be in intelligence. Thus if we take two unrelated people at random from the population, it is likely that their degrees of intelligence will be completely different. If on the other hand we take two identical twins they will very likely be as intelligent as each other. Relations like brothers and sisters, parents and children, usually have similar intelligence, and this clearly suggests that intelligence depends on birth.

Imagine now that we take two identical twins and put them in different environments. We might send one, for example, to a university and the other to a factory where the work is boring. We would soon find differences in intelligence developing, and this indicates that environment as well as birth plays.

This conclusion is also suggested by the fact that people who live in close contact with each other, but who are not related at all, are likely to have similar degrees of intelligence.

1.Which of these sentences best describes the writer's point in Paragraph 1?

A. To some extent, intelligence is given at birth.

B. Intelligence is developed by the environment.

C. Some people are born clever and others born stupid.

D. Intelligence is fixed at birth, but is developed by the environment.

2. It is suggested in this passage that_______.

A. unrelated people are not likely to have different intelligence

B. close relations usually have similar intelligence

C. the closer the blood relationship between people, the more different they are likely to be in intelligence

D. people who live in close contact with each other are not likely to have similar degrees of intelligence

3.Brothers and sisters are likely to_______.

　 A. have similar intelligence             B. have different intelligence

　 C. go to the same university             D. go to the same factory

4.The best title for this article would be_______.

A. On Intelligence　                B. What Intelligence Means

C. We Are Born with Intelligence        D. Environment Plays a Part in Developing Intelligence

"Genius" is a complicated concept, _    _ many different factors.

A．involved          B．involving          C．to involve         D．being involved

LONDON—Life for Cathy Hagner and her three children is set to permanent(永久的) fast-forward.

Their full school day and her job as a lawyer's assistant are busy enough. But Hagner also has to take the two boys to soccer or hockey or basketball while dropping off her daughter at piano lessons or Girl Scout Club.

Often, the exhausted family doesn't get home until 7 pm. There is just time for a quick supper before homework. In today's world, middle-class American and British parents treat their children as if they are competitors racing for some finishing line.

Parents take their children from activity to activity in order to make their future bright. It seems that raising a genius has become a more important goal than raising a happy and well-balanced child.

"Doctors across the country are reporting a growing number of children suffering from stomachaches and headaches due to exhaustion and stress," says child expert William Doherty of the University of Minnesota.

Teachers are dealing with exhausted kids in the classroom. It's a very serious problem. Many children attend after-school clubs by necessity. But competitive pressures also create an explosion of activities. They include sports, language, music and math classes for children as young as four.

"There is a new parenting trend under way which says that you have to tap all your child's potential at a young age; otherwise you will let him down,” says Terry Alter, a Cambridge-based child and adolescent psychiatrist （青少年精神病专家）

"It isn't entirely new: there have always been pushy parents. But what was previously seen as strange behaviour is now well accepted."

1.From the second paragraph of this passage we can find that ______.

2.British parents, as the writer described in this passage, _____.

3.The writer's opinion about after-school clubs is that ______.

4.The last paragraph tells us that in Britain ______.

第二节  读写任务（共1小题；满分25分）            阅读下面的短文，然后根据

以下的任务和写作要求，写一篇150词以上的英语短文。

   【写作内容】  本篇文章叙述的是 “假如我又回到了童年，我就会有各种各样的设想” 这样一个主题。请阅读下面这篇文章后，简明扼要地复述这篇文章的基本内容以及本篇文章的主旨大意；然后根据这篇文章所叙述的各种各样的情况，结合现实生活，用120词以上就“If I were a boy again, …”为标题，谈一谈假如你又回到了童年，你的设想又是什么呢？

If I were a boy again, I would practise my perseverance（毅力） more often, and never give up a thing because it was hard or inconvenient. If we want light, we must conquer(战胜) darkness. Perseverance can sometimes equal genius（天赋） in its results. If I were a boy again, I would school myself into a habit of attention; I would let nothing come between me and the subject in hand. I would remember that a good skater never tries to skate in two directions at once. The habit of attention would become part of our life if we began early enough. If I were to live my life over again, I would pay more attention to the cultivation（培养）of the memory. I would strengthen that skill by every possible way, and on every possible occasion. It takes a little hard work at first to remember things accurately; But memory soon helps itself, and gives very little trouble. It only needs early cultivation to become a power.

【写作要求】    

1．作文中可使用自己的亲身经历或虚构的故事，也可以参照阅读材料的内容,但不得直接引用原文中的句子； 

2．文中不能出现真实姓名和学校名称。

【评分标准】概括准确、语言规范、内容合适，篇章连贯。

If I were a boy again, …

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