阅读理解Directions: There are 4 passages in this part. Each passage is followed by some questions orunfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A, B, C and D. You shoulddeicide the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet with a single linethrough the center.Passage ThreeNowadays if you ask most people what “rap” means, they’re likely to state that it’s the reciting of rhymes to the best of music. It’s a form of expression that has its roots deep, in ancient African culture and oral tradition. Throughout history here in America there has always been some form of verbal skills involving rhymes within the Afro-American community. School yard rhyme, prison “jail house’ rhymes and double Dutch jump rope’ rhymes are some of the names and ways that various forms of rap have manifested.Rap caught on because it offered young urban New Yorkers a chance to freely express themselves. This was basically the same reason why any of the verbal or rhyme games manifested themselves in the past. More importantly, it was an art form that anyone can use. One did not need a lot of money or expensive resources to rhyme. One didn’t have to invest in lessons, or anything like that. Rapping was a verbal skill that could be practiced and improve to perfection at almost anytime.Rap also became popular because it offered unlimited challenges. There were no real set rules, except to be original and to rhyme on time to the beat of music. Anything was possible. One cou1d make up a rap about the man in the moon or someone else. The final goal was to be regarded as being good by one’s peers. The praises and positive approval a rapper received put him or her on a par with any other urban hero (sports star, tough guy, comedian, etc.), which was another special attraction.Finally, rap, because of its inclusive aspects, allowed one to accurately and efficiently add their personality. If you were laid back, you could rap at a slow pace. If you were too much active, you could rap at a fast pace. No two people rapped the same, even when reciting the same rhyme. There were many people who would try and emulate someone’s style, but even that represented a particular personality.Rap continues to be popular among today’s urban youth for the same reasons it was a draw in the early days: it is still a form of self-expression capable of winning positive approval from one’s peers. Because rap has evolved to become such a big business, it has given many kids the false illusion that it is a quick escape from the harshness of inner city life. There are many kids out there under the belief that they need to do is write a few fresh rhymes arid they’re off to the good life.

阅读理解Directions: There are 4 passages in this part. For each of them there are four choices marked A., B., C. and D. You should decide on the best choice.Passage 4The danger of misinterpretation is greatest, of course, among speakers who actually speak different native tongues, or come from different cultural backgrounds, because cultural difference necessarily implies different assumptions about natural and obvious ways to be polite.Anthropologist Thomas Kochman gives the example of a white office worker who appeared with a bandaged arm and felt rejected because her black fellow worker didn’t mention it. The doubly wounded worker assumed that her silent colleague didn’t notice or didn’t care. But the co-worker was purposely not calling attention to something her colleague might not want to talk about. She let her decide whether or not to mention it, being considerate by not imposing. Kochman says, based on his research, that these differences reflect recognizable black and white styles.An American woman visiting England was repeatedly offended—even, on bad days, enraged—when the British ignored her in setting in which she thought they should pay attention. For example, she was sitting at a booth in a railway-station cafeteria. A couple began to settle into the opposite seat in the same booth. They unloaded their luggage; they laid their coats on the seat; he asked what she would like to eat and went off to get it; she slid into the booth facing the American. And throughout all this, they showed no sign of having noticed that someone was already sitting in the booth.When the British woman lit up a cigarette, the American had a concrete object for her anger. She began ostentatiously looking around for another table to move to. Of course there was none; that’s why the British couple had sat in her booth in the first place. The smoker immediately crushed out her cigarette and apologized. This showed that she had noticed that someone else was sitting in the booth, and that she was not inclined to disturb her. But then she went back to pretending the American wasn’t there, a ruse in which her husband collaborated when he returned with their food and they ate it.To the American, politeness requires talk between strangers forced to share a booth in a cafeteria, if only a fleeting “Do you mind if I sit down?” or a conventional, “Is anyone sitting here?” even if it’s obvious no one is. The omission of such talk seemed to her like dreadful rudeness. The American couldn’t see that another system of politeness was at work. By not acknowledging her presence, the British couple freed her from the obligation to acknowledge theirs. The American expected a show of involvement; they were being polite by not imposing.An American man who had lived for years in Japan explained a similar politeness ethic. He lived, as many Japanese do, in extremely close quarters—a tiny room separated from neighboring rooms by paper-thin walls. In this case the walls were literally made of paper. In order to preserve privacy in this most un-private situation, his Japanese neighbor with the door open, they steadfastly glued their gaze ahead as if they were alone in a desert. The American confessed to feeling what I believe most American would feel if a next-door neighbor passed within a few feet without acknowledging their presence—snubbed. But he realized that the intention was not rudeness by omitting to show involvement, but politeness by not imposing.The fate of the earth depends on cross-cultural communication. Nations must reach agreements, and agreements are made by individual representatives of nations sitting down and talking to each other—public analogues of private conversation. The processes are the same, and so are the pitfalls. Only the possible consequences are more extreme.

阅读理解Passage 2 Once a circle missed a wedge

阅读理解Passage 2 Nowadays, a cellphone service is available to everyone, everywhere

阅读理解Text 2 By almost any measure, there is a boom in Internet-based instruction

阅读理解Text 4 Do you find getting up in the morning so difficult that its painful? This might be called laziness, but Dr

阅读理解The Meaning of the 21st Century At the start of the 21st century, 【A1】 humankind finds itself on a non-sustainable coursethe course that, unless it is changed, could lead to grand scale catastrophes

阅读理解Passage Three On the River Tome, 124 miles north of the Arctic Circle, sits the Icehotel， the original large-scale, frozen destination hotel

阅读理解Text 1 Scientists have devised a way to determine roughly where a person has lived using a strand of hair, a technique that could help track the movements of criminal suspects or unidentified murder victims

阅读理解Personality is, to large extent, inherentA-type parents usually bring about A-type offspring

阅读理解If someone says to you Our car has broken down, your reaction may simply be to feel sorry

阅读理解Passage 2 College brings together people from all walks of life

阅读理解Text 4 The topic of cloning has been a politically and ethically controversial one since its very beginning

阅读理解Passage 1 Smartphones may soon displace some of the estimated 1 billion credit and debit cards in American wallets

阅读理解Passage 4 The kids are hanging out

阅读理解In many traditional cultures, women and girls tend to wear more beautiful clothing than men

阅读理解Passage 2 This book is written expressly for students in an attempt to present the material that is most useful and interesting to them

阅读理解Passage 2 What might driving on an automated highway be like? The answer depends on what kind of system is ultimately adopted

阅读理解Passage 2 I dont ever want to talk about being a woman scientist again

阅读理解Throughout the nations more than 15,000 school districts, widely differing approaches to teaching science and math have emerged