Public schools in Washington, D.C. provide students with musical instruments for free. When something goes wrong with an instrument, Charles West and Larry Jernigan do the repairs. Both men approach their work with a passion . For them, it's important that students have a joyful experience with music. The two have worked together for almost 20 years. This year alone, they've fixed about 450 instruments. Both men are musicians and music lovers, so learning to do repairs came naturally. "I have been a musician all my life." says West. "I played in an orchestra here in the city. I majored in music in college. I played in an army band." Jernigan's musical interests are varied. "I was formerly trained in the piano and guitar. The alto sax, and the flute, I picked up while working here." In addition to fixing instruments, the two also go to schools to instruct teachers and students on how to make minor repairs on their own. West believes if children start early and stay concerned with music, it enriches other areas of their lives. "I see that in other kids. I see it in myself. I have seen it hundreds of times and it works," he says. "They learn teamwork. They learn patience and respect." But West has concerns about the future of music in the electronic age. "This instant age has taken away from the sit-down, the patience. And to learn to play an instrument, it takes patience, it takes diligence, it takes time." Being able to enjoy music on the job is one of the benefits of the job. Both men agree their best rewards are the students' performances. According to West, what can people learn from music? A) Teamwork and patience. B) The value of time. C) The truth of society. D) Diligence and confidence.
A
According to the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, global temperatures have risen by approximately 0.6degC in the past century, caused mainly by emissions of greenhouse gases produced by human activities,such as the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation.Temperatures are to increase between 1.6degC and 5.8degC in the next century, accompanied by sea level rise and an increase in the frequency of extreme weather events. The best available evidence suggests that climate changes since the 1970s may already be causing over 150,000 deaths annually, and that greenhouse gas emissions would increase disease burdens in the coming decades.The risks are concentrated in the poorest population, who have contributed least to the problem. The Kyoto Protocol is signed by 128 nations,and commits the participating industrialized countries to cutting emissions of greenhouse gases by over 5% below 1990 level by the period of 20082012. "Over 600 thousand people died in weatherrelated disasters in the 1990s.Temperature and rainfall influence the rates of diseases and infections including malaria,and malnutrition,which together cause over 3.5 million deaths a year.The Kyoto Protocol is the first step towards protecting the climate system,which exerts such a strong influence on our health",said Dr Kerstin Leitner,Assistant DirectorGeneral for Sustainable Development and Healthy Environments. While acting to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, it is also essential to protect vulnerable communities from the effects of climate changes.WHO works to promote measures such as protection from malaria and other climate sensitive diseases, and reliable access to clean water and sanitation, for people in the most vulnerable developing countries.Increasing disease control efforts will also help to protect current and future generations from the impacts of greenhouse gas emissions. Which of the following is true? A) Weatherrelated disasters caused over 3.5 million deaths. B) The climate system has a deep impact on human health. C) The members of the Kyoto Protocol are all industrialized countries. D) The poorest population are to blame because they contribute least to the problem.
B
Q: Tourism probably started in Roman times. Rich Romans visited friends and family who were working in another part of the Roman Empire. But when the empire broke down,this kind of tourism stopped. In the early 17th century, the idea of the "Grand Tour" was born. Rich young English people sailed across the English Channel .They visited the most beautiful and important European cities of the time, including Paris in France, and Rome and Venice in Italy. Their tours lasted for two to four years, and the tourists stayed a few weeks or months in each city. The "Grand Tour" was an important part of young people's education--but only for the rich. In the 18th century, tourism began to change. For example, people in the UK started to visit some towns, such as Bath to" take the waters". They believed that the water there was good for their health. So large and expensive hotels were built in these towns. In the 19th century, travel became much more popular and faster. When the first railways were built in the 1820s, it was easier for people to travel between towns, so they started to go for holidays by the sea. And some started to have holidays in the countryside as cities became larger, noisier and dirtier. Traveling by sea also became faster and safer when the first steamships were built. People began to travel more to far away countries. The 20th century saw cars become more and more popular among ordinary people. Planes were made larger, so ticket prices dropped and more people used them. Thus tourism grew. In 1949, Russian journalist Vladimir Raitz started a company called Horizon Holidays. The company organizes everything--plane tickets, hotel rooms, even food--and tourists pay for it all before they leave home. The package tour and modern tourist industry was born. The first travel agency in China was set up as early as 1949.But tourism did not take off until 1978.In 2002,the industry was worth 500 billion yuan and became an important part of China's social development. Modern tourism was born _ . A) in 1949 B) in Roman times C) in the early 17th century D) in the 19th century
A: A
(Question)
Imagine you're in a dark room, running your fingers over a smooth surface in search of a single dot the size of this period, How high do you think the dot must be for your finger to feel it? Scientists have determined that the human finger is so sensitive it can detect a surface bump just one micron(l0-6m)"high. The human eye, by contrast, can't tell anything much smaller than100 microns.No wonder we rely on touch rather than eyesight when faced with a new roll of toilet paper. Biologically, touch is the mother of all sensory systems.It is an ancient sense in evolution: even the simplest single-celled living things can feel when something brushes up against them and will respond by moving closer or pulling away. It is the first sense aroused during a baby's development and the last to weaken at life's peak. Patients in a deep coma who seem otherwise lost to the world will show skin reaction when touched by a nurse. "Touch ,is so central to what we are that we almost cannot imagine ourselves without it," said Chris Dijkerman."It's 'not like eyesight, where you close your eyes and you don't see anything. _ .It's always there." Long ignored in favor of the sensory heavyweights of eyesight and hearing, the study of touch lately:: has been gaining new concern among scientists.They're exploring the effects of recently reported false touch impressions, of people being made to feel as though they had three arms, for example, with the hope of gaining the true understanding of how the mind works. Others are turning to touch for more practical purposes: to build better touch screen instruments and robot hands, a more well-rounded virtual life.. "There's a fair amount of research into new ways of offloading information onto our sense of touch," said Lynette Jones. "To have your cell phone buzzing (making a low sound) as opposed to ringing turned out to have a lot of advantages in.some situations." Touch is our most active sense, our means of seizing the world and experiencing it 'first hand. Dr.Susan Lederman pointed... In the view of _ , movement is needed when we want to know something by touching. A) the author B) Chris Dijkerman C) Lynette Jones D) Susan Lederman
(Answer)
D