Once in a blue moon, there is one on New Year's Eve. Revelers ringing in 2010 will be treated to a so-called blue moon. According to popular definition, a blue moon is the second full moon in a month. But don't expect it to be blue - the name has nothing to do with the color of our closest celestial neighbor. A full moon occurred on December 2. It will appear again on Thursday in time for the New Year's countdown. The New Year's Eve blue moon will be visible in the United States, Canada, Europe, South America and Africa. For partygoers in Australia and Asia, the full moon does not show up until New Year's Day, making January a blue moon month for them. A full moon occurs every 29.5 days, and most years have 12. On average, an extra full moon in a month - a blue moon - occurs every 2.5 years. The last time there was a lunar double take was in May 2007. New Year's Eve blue moons are rarer, occurring every 19 years. The last time was in 1990; the next one won't come again until 2028. "Blue moons have no astronomical significance," said Greg Laughlin, an astronomer at the University of California. "'Blue moon' is just a name in the same sense as a 'hunter's moon'(a full moon in octorber) or a 'harvest moon,'" Laughlin said in an e-mail. The popular definition of blue moon came about after a writer for Sky & Telescope magazine in 1946 misinterpreted the Maine Farmer's Almanac and labeled a blue moon as the second full moon in a month. In fact, the almanac defined a blue moon as the third full moon in a season with four full moons. If you are in China, in which month can you see the blue moon? A) December, 2009 B) November, 2009 C) January, 2010 D) February, 2010
C
(Question)
We are not born doubting ourselves.We learn to do it.In fact,we are usually taught to doubt ourselves.We can learn some ways that allow us to become more accepting of ourselves.Following are two behaviors that might explain the reasons why you can't move towards greater self-acceptance. One thing that might cause you not to accept yourself is over--generalizing about something you've done that you don't like.For example,if you fail a test you might generalize and say,"I'm really a stupid person.''When you do this you are making a statement about all of you all of the time and not just about this one situation at this time.Instead,you might decide that your grade on this test in this subject at this time was indeed poor,and then go on to decide what you want to do about your poor grade,if anything.Getting stuck in over--generalizing discourages you from taking steps that might allow you to do better on the next exam and to build an expectation of future failure. Having standards that are impossibly high is a second way you can not accept yourself.It may not come as a surprise to you that most of us are more demanding of ourselves than we are of others.We don't know why we can tolerate the fact that other people fail, that they aren't always kind,that they've done things they aren't proud of,but we have difficulty accepting those on ourselves.The need to be perfect is another way to set yourself up for failure and strengthen the feeling that you are not acceptable.We all make mistakes.Accepting less than perfection simply means recognizing the limitations natural in being born a human being.Learn to value who you are rather than who you could become.Wouldn't it be overpowering if we always had to do what we imagine we could do? Nobody has the time and energy to do all of that.We must make choices about what we will seek and do them the best we can under the conditions,which aren't always ideal.by the way. From the passage we can learn that _ . A) over-generalizing might cause you not to accept yourself B) over-generalizing might encourage you to expect the future C) we can tolerate the fact that we've done things we aren't proud of D) we can feel that we are perfect when we set ourselves up for success
(Answer)
A
Ques: When students and parents are asked to rate subjects according to their importance, the arts are unavoidably at the bottom of the list. Music is nice, people seem to say, but not important. Too often it is viewed as mere entertainment, but certainly not an education priority .This view is shortsighted. In fact, music education is beneficial and important for all students. Music tells us who we are. Because music is an expression of the beings who create it, it reflects their thinking and values, as well as the social environment it came from. Rock music represents a lifestyle just as surely as a Schubert song. The jazz influence that George Gershwin and other musicians introduced into their music is obviously American because it came from American musical traditions. Music expresses our character and values. It gives us identity as a society. Music provides a kind of perception that cannot be acquired any other way. Science can explain how the sun rises and sets. The arts explore the emotional meaning of the same phenomenon. We need every possible way to discover and respond to our world for one simple but powerful reason: No one way can get it all. The arts are forms of thought as powerful in what they communicate as mathematical and scientific symbols. They are ways we human beings "talk" to each other. They are the language of civilization through which we express our fears, our curiosities, our hungers, our discoveries, and our hopes. The arts are ways we give form to our ideas and imagination so that they can be shared with others. When we do not give children access to an important way of expressing themselves such as music, we take away from them the meanings that music expresses. Science and technology do not tell us what it means to be human. The arts do. Music is an important way we express human suffering, celebration, the meaning and value of peace and love. So music education is far more necessary than people seem to realize. What is the main idea of the passage? A) Music education deserves more attention. B) Music should be of top education priority. C) Music is an effective communication tool. D) Music education makes students more imaginative. '
Ans: A
Ques: I suddenly heard an elephant crying as though frightened. Looking down, I immediately recognized that something was wrong, and ran down to the edge of the near bank. There I saw Ma Shwe with her three-month-old calf struggling in the fast-rising water, and it was a life-and-death struggle. Her calf was floating and screaming with fear. Ma Shwe was as near to the far bank as she could get, holding her whole body against the rushing water, and keeping the calf pressed against her huge body. Every now and then the rushing water would sweep the calf away. There was a sudden rise in the water and the calf was washed clean over the mother's body and was gone. Ma Shwe turned quickly to reach it and pressed the calf with her head and trunk against the rocky bank. Then with a huge effort, she picked it up in her trunk and tried until she was able to place it on a narrow shelf of rock. Just at this moment, she felt back into the river. If she were carried down, it would be certain death. I knew, as well as she did, that there was one spot where she could get up the bank, but it was on the other side from where she had put her calf. While I was wondering what I could do next,I heard the sound of a mother's love.Ma Shwe had crossed the river and got up the bank and was making her way back as fast as she could,roaring all the time,but to her calf it was music. How did the calf feel about the mother elephant's roaring? A) It Was a musical note. B) It was a sign of danger. C) It was a call for help. D) It was a great comfort
Ans:
D