Forget Miami, Los Angeles and New York.

Forget Miami, Los Angeles and New York. – The next big Latin music explosion is on its way in secondary markets across the United States, and the numbers are there to back it up. Among all categories, Latin music was the only one registering growth in 2005. From tiny Vero Beach in northern Florida to Des Moines, Iowa, in the heart of the Midwest, from Charlotte, N.C．to Salt Lake City, Latin music sales are skyrocketing.

Wilson says there are two major reasons for the increase. One is simply the Hispanic(来自说西班牙语国家的) population's increase in specific areas, which encourages stores to carry Latin product for the first time. Second, and perhaps more important, is the fact that major companies－whether dealing in music or not－are addressing the Latin consumer at a corporate level, creating Latin departments and hiring Latin ad agencies. One of Handleman's suburban Detroit stores, for example, has expanded its Latin section four times in the last two years. Cities like Milwaukee and Des Moines are now stocking Latin product.

Besides, it also results from economic development. It goes something like this: more often than not, a city or country with a seemingly important Hispanic population will suddenly expand its construction or offer affordable housing to those working in larger, neighboring cities. This attracts lower-income workers, many of whom are Latin. Small shops and groceries begin to stock a small selection of music. When the Latin population numbers reach a critical mass, the local mass merchant, if there is one, begins stocking the product. Sooner or later, a local radio station follows; first AM, then FM. Sometimes it's a cable TV show or a small TV station.

Of course, there are other driving forces that should not be forgotten, for example, regional Mexican music.

 

As I was reading a recent story in Slate on 20-somethings complaining about how the economy was ruining their life plans, I couldn’t help but think the 20-somethings sounded like a bunch of spoiled (宠坏) children who grew up expecting everything to be ea

As I was reading a recent story in Slate on 20-somethings complaining about how the economy was ruining their life plans, I couldn't help but think the 20-somethings sounded like a bunch of spoiled (宠坏) children who grew up expecting everything to be easy for them. As a 20-something myself, I certainly share their disappointment: my husband and I probably won't be able to buy a house until we're in our 40s, and we too are burdened by student loans(贷款). But why should it be any different? Being young persons in America, shouldn't they take up all of the challenges and opportunities that this country offers?

Consider some of these views shared in the Slate story: Jennifer, 29, owner of a two-bedroom apartment with her husband, worries that she won't be able to have children for at least a decade because they can't afford to buy a house yet.

I read that, and I thought, what planet is she living on where you need to own a house in order to have kids? Has she ever visited a developing country, or even downtown areas in this one? Home ownership is a luxury(奢华), not a fertility requirement.

A 26-year-old in the story despairs(绝望) that he can't afford to get a Ph.D. in literature. Well, that sounds a bit like expressing disappointment that no one will pay you to write poetry on the beach in Thailand for five years.

Yes, it's sad that these young people feel so lost. But I think the problem is their extremely high expectations, not economic reality. Beth Kobliner, author of Get a Financial Life: Personal Finance in Your Twenties and Thirties, says that she thinks people's expectations are slowly adjusting, but today's 20-somethings grew up at a time when everyone's wealth appeared to be expanding. Their parents probably saw their home values rise along with their investments.(投资) "So you have people who have grown up in an environment where people had great expectations of what living well means," says Kobliner.

This recession(衰退) will certainly play a role in forcing those expectations into more realistic group. In the meantime, it seems a lot better for our mental health to focus on being grateful－for our one-bedroom apartments, for living in modern cities, or perhaps just for being able to eat three meals a day－than on longing for some kind of luxury life.

64．What makes the author think the 20-somethings sound like a bunch of spoiled children?

       A．They expect everything to be easy for them.

       B．They complain that the economy is spoiling their life plans.

       C．They are reluctant (不愿) to face all of the challenges.

       D．They are burdened by student loans.

65．The underlined word "fertility" in Paragraph 3 probably means        .

       A．baby production                             B．pleasant

       C．baby comfort                                D．essential

66．What's the author's attitude towards the 20-somthings with high expectation in Paragraph 5?

       A．Intolerant.           B．Negative.             C．Unbelieving.         D．Understanding.

67．What is the best title for this passage?

       A．How Young People Afford to Continue Their Study

       B．Why Young People Can't Afford to Buy a House

       C．When Young People's High Hopes Create Despair

       D．What the 20-somethings' High Expectations Are

 

Do you know who invented the slide – fastener, or rather, the zipper (拉链)?

   Do you know who invented the slide – fastener, or rather, the zipper (拉链)? No one thought of anything like the zipper until Whitcomb Judson came along. Judson's slide-fastener was an out-of-blue invention. No one knows what gave him the idea．No one even knows much about him, except that he was a mechanical engineer living in Chicago and that he patented other inventions to do with a street railway system and motorcars.

Judson invented the first zipper in 1891. This ingenious little device looks very simple, and the principle behind it is simple, too; yet it took a lot of years, together with another inventor to make the zipper really practical.

The zipper had to be produced cheaply, because no one would pay a lot of money for it．Judson invented a machine to mass-produce his slide-fastener．But the machine was terribly complicated and kept on breaking down. So in 1905 Judson invented a new fastener, the C-curity, which was easier to manufacture. Clothing manufacturers, however, were not the least bit interested in trying out the fasteners, so the only way Judson could get them on to the market was by letting pedlars（小贩）sell them from door to door．Moreover, the C-curity fastener was clumsy and had a bad habit of bursting open at inconvenient times.

Then a young Swedish engineer called Sundback came to work for Judson's struggling company. He thought hard and decided that the interlocking parts needed to be much smaller to give the fastener greater flexibility and to stop it bursting open．After several attempts, Sundback invented a really practical fastener in 1913. It is in all important ways the same as the one we use today.

Clothing manufacturers still refused to use the fastener. But in 1918 an inventor showed the American army a flying suit he had invented．It happened to use the slide-fastener．The army put the suit through such tough tests that it disintegrated(分裂)---all except the fastener! A Navy officer happened to see the tests, and Judson's unknown little company got an order for ten thousand fasteners．Later, Judson's invention was used in the manufacture of rubber galoshes（橡胶套鞋） by a big company. They called the galoshes `Zippers´. This is how the slide-fastener got it s popular name.

56．What does the sentence "Whitcomb Judson's slide-fastener was an out-of-blue invention" in the first paragraph mean?

       A．That it was blue in color.                      B．That it was totally unexpected.

       C．That it was excellent in quality.              D．That it was not practical.

57．How many years did it take for a really practical zipper to be invented?

     A．22                  B．18                 C．19                D．13

58．What do we know about Whitcomb Judson according to the passage?

     A．It took Judson a lot of years to invent the first zippers.

     B．Judson, together with Sundback invented a really practical fastener in 1913.

     C．Judson invented a lot of things, not only including zippers but also a street railway system and motorcars.

     D．People know little about Whitcomb Judson except a few facts.

59．What is the writer's purpose of writing the passage?

       A．To tell us how the zipper works.

       B．To give a brief introduction about the inventors of the zipper.

       C．To give us information about the invention of the zipper.

       D．To argue who the real inventor of the zipper was.

Are middle school students too young to be on TV shows?

Are middle school students too young to be on TV shows?

At present there are more and more teen talent shows on the TV screen . Are middle school students too young to be on TV shows? Some students think so. In their opinion, teenagers haven't formed their own style of performance yet. Just imitating others' voice and actions is not the real art of singing and performing. It's reported that some young girls are too absorbed in "star dream", thus ignoring their study. What's more, such TV shows take up too much time and energy. As middle school students, they should concentrate on their study at present. However, other students think it right for teenagers to show their talents of art. TV shows like "Super Voice Girls" provide students with an opportunity to participate in social activities, where they can gain rich experience, which will surely contribute a lot to their future musical career. As we all know, different people have different dreams. It's very important for them to grasp the chance and try to make their dreams come true.

Personally, important as study is, it is not the only thing we can do. We should have a wide range of opportunities to develop our abilities. We may as well show our qualities to people when possible.

 He was the baby with no name. Found and taken from the north Atlantic 6 days after the sinking of the Titanic in 1912, his tiny body so moved the salvage (救援) workers that they called him "our baby." In their home port of Halifax, Nova Scotia, people collected money for a headstone in front of the baby's grave (墓), carved with the words: "To the memory of an unknown child." He has rested there ever since.

  But history has a way of uncovering its secrets. On Nov. 5, this year, three members of a family from Finland arrived at Halifax and laid fresh flowers at the grave. "This is our baby," says Magda Schleifer, 68, a banker. She grew up hearing stories about a great-aunt named Maria Panula,42, who had sailed on the Titanic for America to be reunited with her husband. According to the information Mrs. Schleifer had gathered, Panula gave up her seat on a lifeboat to search for her five children -- including a 13-month-old boy named Eino from whom she had become separated during the final minutes of the crossing. "We thought they were all lost in the sea," says Schleifer.

  Now, using teeth and bone pieces taken from the baby's grave, scientists have compared the DNA from the Unknown Child with those collected from members of five families who lost relatives on the Titanic and never recovered the bodies. The result of the test points only to one possible person: young Eino. Now, the family sees: no need for a new grave. "He belongs to the people of Halifax," says Schleifer. "They've taken care of him for 90 years."

  Adapted from People, November 25, 2002

56. The baby travelled on the Titanic with his___________.

 A. mother B. parents C. aunt D. relatives

57. What is probably the boy's last name?

 A. Schleiferi B. Eino. C. Magda. D. Panula.

58. This text is mainly about how______________.

 A. the unknown baby's body was taken from the north Atlantic

 B. the unknown baby was buried in Halifax, Nova Scotia

 C. people found out who the unknown baby was

 D. people took care of the unknown baby for 90 years

B

Super smart chimps

   In a memory-based competition between you and a chimp, who do you think would win? If you put yourself on top, you might want to guess again.

   In a test that challenged participants to remember numbers, a young chimp performed better than Japanese college students.

   Here's how the test worked: at Kyoto university in Japan, human students and chimpanzee participants sat in front of a computer. Different combinations of five numbers, all ranging from 1 to 9, appeared at random places on the screen.

   The numbers stayed on the screen for less than a second. In the first test, for example, participants saw the numbers for 650 milliseconds (about two- thirds of a second)Then each number was replaced by a white square. Participants had to touch the squares in numerical order, based on the numbers that had been there a moment before.

   In this test, the students touched the boxes in the correct order about 80%of the time. A young chimp named Ayumu performed equally well.

   During a harder test, participants were only able to see the numbers for 210 milliseconds.

   This time, students only managed to put the boxes in the correct order about 40% of the time. But Ayumu still managed to select the boxes in the right order nearly 80% of the time.

   Some people have what's called a "photographic memory", which allows them to remember a surprising number of details after just a quick glimpse of something. Ayumu's memory might work in a similar way, says lead researcher Tetsuro Matsuzawa.   The chimp's young age might have something to do with his impressive performance, too. In previous tests, the Japanese researchers found that young chimps performed better than their mothers.

   The scientists are interested to know whether Ayumu loses his strong memory as he ages. They already know that young children sometimes have sharp memories that work photographically, but they typically lose this ability over time.

59. Researchers carried out the test to find out_____.

   A. who has a better memory, human or chimps

   B. whether young chimps have a better memory than the older ones

   C. what makes chimps better at remembering numbers

   D. how humans can remember numbers when they only see them briefly

60. The underlined word "random"in paragraph 3 means _____.

   A.in order     B.without aim    C.automatically    D.purposefully

61. How was the test carried out?

   a. The numbers stayed on the screen for less than a second.

   b. The winner was the participant who finished the tasked with higher rate of

     correct answers.

   c. Each number was replaced by a white square.

   d. Different combinations of five numbers, all ranging from 1 to 9, appeared at

     random places on the screen.

   e. Participants had to touch the squares in numerical order.

   A. acdeb     B. bcdea     C. adceb     D.daceb

62. Researchers are not certain whether ______.

   A. humans lose their strong memory as they age

   B. chimps lose their strong memory as they age

   C. young chimps can remember numbers in less time than their mums

   D. kids can remember numbers in less time than their mums

C

     On September 22nd, 2007, Jay Brunkella, a police officer in the Rogers Park district in Chicageo, was shot during a drug arrest and died. Shortly afterwards his fellow officer Ken Knapcik, a 20-year veteran（老警官）of the force ,returned home after work to find a note from his 15-year-old daughter on the dining table.

    Dad—This poem is directly from my heart .I love you so much! It scares and amazes me that you go out every day and risk everything to provide us with all that we have. I wrote to express how much I love you and how much lost I'd be without you—Laura. P. S.: Let's be careful out there.

    Titled "The Ultimate Cop", Laura's poem was dedicated "To all the cops in the world who have daughters who love them with all their hearts. And especially to my dad". It was about a police-officer's daughter who saw on the night-time news that her father had been shot. Part of the poem: "Daddy, my Daddy ,can you hear me cry? Oh, God, I need my Daddy; please don't let him die."

    Ken Knapcik stood alone as he read the poem. "It took me several minutes. He said. "I'd get through part of it and have to stop before I could go on .I was weeping. She had never told me she was scared." He took the poem to work the next day and showed it to his fellow officers. "I've never seen so many grown men cry. Some couldn't finish it."

    Knapcik Keeps Laura's poem in the pocket of his police jacket .He takes it with him every time he leaves the house for a new shift. "I don't want to be out there without it ," he said , "I'll probably carry it with me forever."

63．Laura wrote the poem________.

    A．in memory of her father who was shot in the drug arrest

    B．to show her great sorrow in losing her father

    C．to show her respect to all the cops who lost their lives

    D．to tell officer Ken Knapcik how much she loved him

64．All the officers cried because _____________.

    A．Jay Brunkella was shot and died

    B．They were greatly touched by the poem

    C．the poem was so sad that they couldn't hold back their tears

    D．they thought of their dangerous life

65．Knapcik keeps Laura's poem in his pocket_________.

    A．totreasure his daughter's love and to value his own life

    B．to keep it from missing

    C．because he can't go out without it

    D．to mourn over the death of officer Jay Brunkella

66．Which of the following is the best title for the passage?

    A．Poem for a cop                 

    B．An officer's death

    C．Daughter's love                                 

    D．Love my job, love my daughter

D

A gentle breeze blew through Jennifer's hair. The golden red sun was setting. She was on the beach, looking up at the fiery (火红的) ball. She was amazed by its color, deep red in the middle, softly fading into yellow. She could hear nothing but the waves and the seagulls flying up above in the sky.

The atmosphere relaxed her. After all she had been through, this was what she needed. "It's getting late," she thought, "I must go home. My parents will be wondering where I am."

    She wondered how her parents would react, when she got home after the three days she was missing. She kept on walking, directing herself where she spent every summer holiday. The road was deserted. She walked slowly and silently. Just in a few hundred meters she would have been safe in her house.

    It was really getting dark now. The sun had set a few minutes before and it was getting cold, too. She wished she had her favorite sweater on— it kept her really warm. She imagined having it with her. This thought disappeared when she finally saw her front door. It seemed different. Nobody had taken care of the outside garden for a few days. She was shocked: her father was usually so strict about keeping everything clean and tidy, and now... It all seemed deserted. She couldn't understand what was going on.

    She entered the house. First, she went into the kitchen where she saw a note written by her father. It said, "Dear Ellen, there is some coffee ready. I went looking." Ellen was her mother but — where was she? On the right side of the hallway was her parents' room. She went in. Then she saw her. Her mother, lying on the bed, was sleeping. Her face looked so tired, as if she hadn't slept for days. She was really pale. Jennifer would have wanted to wake her up but she looked too tired. So Jennifer just fell asleep beside her. When Jennifer woke up, something was different... she wasn't in her mother's room and she wasn't wearing the old clothes she ran away in. She was in her snug bed in her pajamas (睡衣).

    It felt so good being back home. Suddenly she heard a voice, "Are you feeling better now, dear? You know you got us very, very scared."

67. What does "This thought" in the fourth paragraph refer to?

   A. The idea of going back home.                    

B. Her anxiety about her parents.

C. The feeling of being warm in her favorite sweater.   

D. The feeling of getting back home safely.

68. Her father didn't take care of the garden because _______.

   A. he was busy looking for her          B. he had to look after his wife

C. he was not strict in his job           D. he no longer enjoyed working there

69. How did Jennifer probably feel when she came back home?

   a. worried  b. crazy  c. tired  d. disappointed  e. shocked  f. excited 

A. a, b, c           B. a, c, e            C. b, c, e            D. d, e, f

70. What can we conclude from this passage?

A. In fact Jennifer's mother had been sick for days.

B. As Jennifer walked towards home, she became increasingly scared.

C. When she found the garden deserted, she realized she got cross.

D. Having experienced a lot outside, Jennifer felt home was really warm and safe 

  for her.