Q: Known during development as Xbox Next, Xenon, Xbox 2, Xbox FS or NextBox, the Xbox 360 was conceived in early 2003. In February 2003, planning for the Xenon software platform began, and was headed by Microsoft's Vice President J Allard. That month, Microsoft held an event for 400 developers in Bellevue, Washington to recruit support for the system. Also that month, Peter Moore, former president of Sega of America, joined Microsoft. On August 12, 2003, ATI signed on to produce the graphic processing unit for the new console, a deal which was publicly announced two days later. Before the launch of the Xbox 360, several Alpha development kits were spotted using Apple's Power Mac G5 hardware. This was because the system's PowerPC 970 processor running the same PowerPC architecture that the Xbox 360 would eventually run under IBM's Xenon processor. The cores of the Xenon processor were developed using a slightly modified version of the PlayStation 3's Cell Processor PPE architecture. According to David Shippy and Mickie Phipps, the IBM employees were "hiding" their work from Sony and Toshiba, IBM's partners in developing the Cell Processor. Jeff Minter created the music visualization program Neon which is included with the Xbox 360.

Answer the following questions:
1. when was the xbox 360 created?
2. what did they call it before completion?
3. when did planning begin?
4. what was the software called?
5. who was the president?
6. what about the vice president?
7. where was an event held?
8. why?
9. who else joined microsoft?
10. from where?
11. what was his title there?
12. who was going to do graphics?
13. when was that agreed?
14. how were the processors made?
15. what was it?
16. what would it eventually run on?
17. why?
18. who were they hiding the project from?
19. why?
20. who said this?
A: 1. early 2003
2. Xbox Next, Xenon, Xbox 2, Xbox FS or NextBox
3. February 2003
4. Xenon
5. unknown
6. J Allard
7. Bellevue, Washington
8. to recruit support for the system
9. Peter Moore
10. Sega of America
11. president
12. ATI
13. August 12, 2003
14. using a slightly modified version of the PlayStation 3's Cell Processor
15. PPE architecture
16. IBM's Xenon processor.
17. unknown
18. Sony and Toshiba
19. they were IBM's partners in developing the Cell Processor
20. David Shippy and Mickie Phipps
Q: J-pop (often stylized as J-POP; "jeipoppu"; an abbreviation for Japanese pop), natively also known simply as pops, is a musical genre that entered the musical mainstream of Japan in the 1990s. Modern J-pop has its roots in traditional Japanese music, but significantly in 1960s pop and rock music, such as The Beatles and The Beach Boys, which led to Japanese rock bands such as Happy End fusing rock with Japanese music in the early 1970s. J-pop was further defined by new wave groups in the late 1970s, particularly electronic synth-pop band Yellow Magic Orchestra and pop rock band Southern All Stars.

Eventually, J-pop replaced "kayokyoku" ("Lyric Singing Music", a term for Japanese pop music from the 1920s to the 1980s) in the Japanese music scene. The term was coined by the Japanese media to distinguish Japanese music from foreign music, and now refers to most Japanese popular music.

The origin of modern J-pop is said to be Japanese-language rock music inspired by the likes of The Beatles. Unlike the Japanese music genre called "kayokyoku", J-pop uses a special kind of pronunciation, which is similar to that of English. One notable singer to do so is Keisuke Kuwata, who pronounced the Japanese word "karada" ("body") as "kyerada". Additionally, unlike Western music, the major second ("sol" and "la") was usually not used in Japanese music, except art music, before rock music became popular in Japan. When the Group Sounds genre, which was inspired by Western rock, became popular, Japanese pop music adopted the major second, which was used in the final sounds of The Beatles' song "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and The Rolling Stones' song "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction". Although Japanese pop music changed from music based on Japanese pentatonic scale and distortional tetrachord to the more occidental music over time, music that drew from the traditional Japanese singing style remained popular (such as that of Ringo Shiina).

Answer the following questions:
1. What is the topic today?
2. What is it abbreviating?
3. What did it replacing?
4. What 's another name for that type of music?
5. What is the subject's place of origin?
6. Yes, but what type of music?
7. What band was an inspiration?
8. Who mispronounced "body" in her native tongue?
9. What is unlike Western music?
10. Name one song which adopted the major second?
11. By what group?
A: 1. J-pop
2. "jeipoppu"
3. "Lyric Singing Music"
4. "kayokyoku"
5. Japan
6. in 1960s pop and rock music
7. The Beatles
8. Keisuke Kuwata
9. the major second was usually not used
10. "I Want to Hold Your Hand"
11. The Beatles
Q: Olympic torch relay planned route Beijing, April 27--The Beijing 2008 Olympic Torch Relay will cover the greatest area and include the largest number of people. The plans were announced on Thursday night. The planned route would last 130 days and travel 137 000 km. First Nobel Prize winner to donate to Hope School Chinanews, Beijing, May 10--Professor Dannel Chee Tsui, in the USA, signed the agreement to donate 350 000yuan to his home town to build a Hope Primary School in China. Bill Gates receives Tsinghua honorary doctorate Beijing,April 20--Bill Gates, chairman of global IT giant Microsoft, received an honorary doctorate when he visited China's famous Tsinghua University on Thursday. Big Shaolin kung fu center to be built in Russia Chinanews, Beijing, April 27--China and Russia have signed a letter of intent ( )on the building of a Shaolin kung fu center in Russia. It will be the first of its kind in Russia,and also the biggest overseas kung fu center when it is completed.

Answer the following questions:
1. when is the Olympic torch relay planned ?
2. where ?
3. what will it cover ?
4. and incluse ?
5. when was it anounced ?
6. how many days will it last ?
7. and travel ?
8. what did bill gates receive ?
9. who signed a letter of intent ?
10. when ?
11. what country ?
12. will it be the first of its kind ?
A:
1. April 27
2. Beijing
3. greatest area
4. largest number of people
5. Thursday night
6. 130 days
7. 137 000 km.
8. Tsinghua honorary doctorate
9. China and Russia
10. April 27
11. Russia
12. yes