Exchanging music over the Internet is fun and easy. Better yet, it's free, which means you don't have to pay for any more expensive music CDs. Several online file-sharing services make it easy for music lovers to exchange their favorite tunes with one another. However, this sharing of music -- a form of music piracy -- is doing harm to the music industry. Industry experts estimate that US$4.3 billion in worldwide sales was lost to music piracy last year. These lost profits could force record companies to stop producing the music of many popular artists. That would hurt both musicians and music fans alike. Music producers are puzzled about how to fight music piracy. Their efforts to fight piracy using the law have had only limited success. The music industry did win a legal victory against Napster, a famous music website. The courts ordered Napster to stop giving away copyrighted music from their site. But a number of other music-sharing networks have sprung up in its place. These new networks are made up of thousands, or even millions, of individuals. Unlike Napster, there's no one company controlling the distribution of music over each network. So it's nearly impossible to stop the illegal activities. Now people in the music industry have decided that " if you can't beat them, join them." They've begun to offer legal alternatives to online music piracy. Major music producers have given companies like Apple Computer permission to sell their music online. Apple's iTune Music Store allows computer users to legally download any song for 99 cents. Will these new measures save the music industry from piracy? That depends on whether music fans are willing to pay 99 cents fro a song that they can download illegally for free. Unfortunately, many people believe music should be free. The music industry, however, hopes to persuade these music fans to change their tune. This text is written to _ . A) discuss music piracy on the Internet B) introduce the popularity of online music C) persuade music fans to give up downloading music D) protect copyrighted music from being downloaded illegally
A
Anthony was sad. He was, as he put it, "not very bright" and couldn't win the attention of his very wealthy parents, who preferred his "clever" older brother. At age 8, Anthony was sent away to a boarding school in his native England, even though he screamed and pleaded with his parents year after year not to send him. "The thought was ,it would be good for me," he recalled. It was not. Anthony did badly in his studies, had few friends and was bullied for five years. "My teachers couldn't have had a lower opinion of me," he said. "I wasn't even smart enough to rebel. The one thing I remember from the very earliest age was the desire to write. When I was 10 years old, I remember asking my parents to get me a typewriter for my birthday because I wanted to be a writer." Now, at 55, Anthony is one of the world's most successful children's book authors. His Alex Rider series has sold more than 5 million copies,and the eighth book featuring the young spy, Crocodile Tears, has come out. The Alex Rider books tell the adventures of 14-year-old Alex Rider, an agent for the British intelligence agency M16. Anthony says he doesn't try to write for kids; it just comes out that way." I have a feeling that it has something to do with purity and simplicity. I give as little information as is necessary to describe the room, the character in the room, and get on with the action," he said. The style has also made Anthony a successful writer of television shows for adults in Britain because, he says, writing books for kids is a lot like writing television for grown-ups: In both cases, it's all about entertaining people with a good story. Now, Anthony couldn't be happier with his life. He sums up his success:"...you can be anything you want to be if you just believe in yourself. I do believe it completely." At boarding school , Anthony's teachers _ . A) often criticized him. B) showed great concern for him. C) encouraged him to be a writer. D) thought little of his ability.
D
Q: There is always a man who stands on different comers of the street in our city, holding a sign that reads "Will work for food for my family". Normally I don't have much money to help him. When my mother is with me and she sometimes makes me pull over and then she will hand him some money. Tonight, I was on my way to the store to get some milk when I saw the man. My daughter and her friend were in the car. We all felt awful that this man was standing out in the cold, wet weather. Many people had made comments that he should be able to work. I often wondered why he would stand out there rather than be in the warmth of a building, working. Well, he might not have an address, and he may need an address in order to apply for a job. Either way, I don't feel it is _ to judge. As I was sharing that feeling with my daughter and her friend, I decided that I needed to help this man. I wanted to show the girls the importance of helping others, not about worrying whether he was legitimately struggling or not. So, when we pulled over to give him some money, I said, "God bless you," and he said it back to us. But the girls and I were still concerned that he would be cold, standing out in the bad weather. So we got him a hot chocolate and a hamburger. My daughter handed them to him and l told the man that the girl wanted to help him because she was worried about him being cold. He was very sweet and appreciative. We all left with smiles, especially me, because, as we were pulling away, the girls were talking about ways they could raise money to help the man and others like him. It was the best trip I have ever made to get milk!!! What do we know about the man? A) He refused to work and begged for food on the road. B) He greatly appreciated others' help. C) He couldn't stand cold, wet weather. D) He liked to eat hamburgers and chocolates.
A: B
*Question*
As we enjoy the summer ocean waves along the beaches, we may think nervously about Steven Spielberg's Jaws and the great fear that sharks inspire in us. Yet we are happy to see global efforts to protect the declining number of sharks. The world has realized that we need the species, like sharks, to keep a balanced ecosystem. Sharks, in particular, are "in" these days. Thanks to good public policy and famous stars such as Jackie Chan and Ang Lee, killing sharks for fin soup is no longer cool. The demand for shark fins has been rising for decades, threatening sharks with extinction -- up to 100 million sharks are killed each year just for their fins. But we have started to _ the trend, particularly in many areas of the United States and overseas where restaurants once proudly provided delicious shark fins on the menu. In California, a ban on the sale and possession of shark fin soup has gone into effect this year through the efforts of Wild Aid and other organizations. Overseas marketing and public efforts featuring posters on public transportation systems and TV ads have been underway for the past few years. These efforts all show signs of success, on both the supply side and the demand side of trade in shark fins. Actually, stopping the killing of sharks is part of a broader movement to stop the killing of wild animals and the buying and selling of wildlife products. These products come from hunting elephants, tigers and rhinos, besides killing marine life. Whether it is shark fin soup or ivory piano keys, killing animals is big business. The hunting of elephants in search of ivory tusks for luxury goods has become a full-scale war. The decrease of African elephant populations is alarming. Together with international partners, the United States is leading the worldwide effort to reduce demand for high-end products that rely on killing animals. What can we infer from the passage? A) People have kicked the habit of having shark fin soup. B) Shark fins will not be available any more in restaurants. C) Global efforts have succeeded in stopping killing wild animals. D) More animals for high-end products will be saved.
**Answer**
D