Text 1
Millions of families sat down in their living rooms one evening last August to watch a live Madonna Concert from France, telecast on the cable network Home Box Office. Because Madonna. is such a huge international star--and because the telecast was heavily promoted and aired in prime time on a weekend--millions of children certainly watched with their parents.
What happened on all those screens was that Madonna repeatedly used the one obscene word that has been routinely barred from the public airwaves.
We live in an anything - goes age, so the show’ s witless and purposely vulgar content was not surprising. The language itself was nothing that has not been heard in movies or on cable - TV comedy specials. The surprising thing was that so few parents called HBO to object. A spokesperson for the network said the complaints" were not by any stretch of the imagination overwhelming"--and that the Madonna con cert was the highest - rated original entertainment program in the network’ s history. Apparently, America’ s parents have totally given up hope that they can control what their children are exposed to on TV.
My point isn’ t, really, about Madonna.. Though I don’ t happen to find her calculated outrage particularly interesting she is free to make her money anyway she chooses. Marginally talented singers have been packaging rebellion for decades, and it always seems to sell, especially to young people. Madonna has done a very good job marketing her product.
What is most troubling is that her product appeared in America’ s homes during prime time on a Sunday, and people seemed to think it was no big deal. Television, in a way that now seems quaint, was once considered almost sacred ground when it came to certain material-precisely because children were watching. But the country has been so beaten down by a lessening of public standards that obscenities can be telecast to millions of families without causing even a ripple of protest.
What of the argument (that parents should just turn off the TV if they don’ t like the programming) It’ s valid--but there was no warning before Madonna launched into her first rapid - fire round of obscenities. Although the telecast was promoted as being live, it actual ly was taped hours before. The network knew what it was sending out. Yet it did so without deletions or an advisory notice at the beginning of the show. This was "a creative decision," HBO says.
Those children will hear worse in their lifetimes--they probably already have. To telecast a concert like Madonna’ s is no longer considered particularly controversial. But to wonder publicly about the wisdom of it--to say that delivering such a performance to the nation’ s children is wrong—that is considered controversial. To say it is wrong is to seem out of step with the rest of the world. But it is wrong. It is dead wrong.

The writer seems to think that （）

A:Madonna is a respectable international star B:Madonna is not popular among adults C:public standards on TV has dropped D:television is a sacred ground in USA

Music comes in many forms; most countries have a style of their own. (1) the turn of the century when jazz was born, America had no prominent (2) of its own. No one knows exactly when jazz was (3) ,or by whom. But it began to be (4) in the early 1900s. Jazz is America’s contribution to (5) music. In contrast to classical music, which (6) formal European traditions, jazz is spontaneous and free-form. It bubbles with energy, (7) the moods, interests, and emotions of the people. In the 1920, jazz (8) like America. And (9) it does today. The (10) of this music are as interesting as the music (11) . American Negroes, or blacks, as they are called today, were the jazz (12) . They were brought to the Southern states (13) slaves. They were sold to plantation owners and forced to work long (14) . When a Negro died his friends and relatives (15) a procession to carry the body to the cemetery. In New Orleans, a band often accompanies the (16) . On the way to the cemetery the band played slow, solemn music suited to the occasion. (17) on the way home the mood changed. Spirits lifted. Death had removed one of their (18) , but the living were glad to be alive. The band played (19) music, improvising on both the harmony and the melody of the tunes (20) at the funeral. This music made everyone want to dance. It was an early form of jazz.

Read the following text. Choose the best word (s)for each numbered blank and mark A,B,C or D on ANSWER SHEET 1.5（）

A:classical B:sacred C:light D:popular

Music comes in many forms; most countries have a style of their own. (1) the mm of the century when jazz was born, America had no prominent (2) of its own. No one knows exactly when jazz was (3) , or by whom. But it began to be (4) in the early 1890s. Jazz is America’ s contribution to (5) music. In contrast to classical music, which (6) formal European traditions, jazz is spontaneous and free-form. It bubbles with energy, (7) the moods, interests, and emotions of the people: In the 1920s jazz (8) like America. And (9) it does today. The (10) of this music are as interesting as the music (11) . American Negroes, or blacks, as they are called today, were the jazz (12) .They were brought to the Southern states (13) slaves. They were sold to plantation owners and forced to work long (14) When a Negro died his friends and relatives (15) a procession to carry the body to the cemetery. In New Orleans, a band ,often accompanied the (16) On the way to the cemetery the band played slow, solemn music suited to the occasion. (17) on the way home the mood changed. Spirits lifted. Death had removed one of their (18) , but the living were glad to be alive. The band played (19) music, improvising on both the harmony and the melody of the tunes (20) at the funeral. This music made everyone want to dance. It was an early form of jazz.

11（）

A:classical B:sacred C:light D:popular

A:classical B:sacred C:light D:popular

Music comes in many forms; most countries have a style of their own. (56) the mm of the century when jazz was born, America had no prominent (57) of its own. No one knows exactly when jazz was (58) , or by whom. But it began to be (59) in the early 1900s. Jazz is America’s contribution to (60) music. In contrast to classical music, which (61) formal European traditions, jazz is spontaneous and free in form. It bubbles with energy, (62) the moods, interests, and emotions of the people. In the 1920s jazz (63) like America, and (64) it does today. The (65) of this music are as interesting as the music (66) . American negroes, or blacks, as they are called today, were the jazz (67) . They were brought to Southern States (68) slaves. They were sold to plantation owners and forced to work long (69) . When a Negro died his friends and relatives (70) a procession to carry the body to the cemetery. In New Orleans, a band often accompanied the (71) . On the way to the cemetery the band played slow, solemn music suited to ’the occasion. (72) on the way home the mood changed. Spirits lifted. Death had removed one of their (73) , but the living were glad to believe. The band played (74) music, improvising(即兴表演) on both the harmony and the melody of the tunes (75) at the funeral. This music made everyone want to dance. It was an early form of jazz.

60（）

A:classical B:sacred C:popular D:light

阅读下面的短文，文中有15处空白，每处空白给出了4个选项，请根据短文的内容从4个选项中选择1个最佳答案。

A:scarce B:sacred C:abundant D:extractive

Music comes in many forms; most countries have a style of their own. At the turn of the last century, (51) jazz was bona, America had no prominent (52) of its own. No one knows exactly when was invented or by whom. But it began to be (53) in the early 1890s. Jazz is America’s contribution to (54) music. In contrast to classical music, which (55) formal European traditions, jazz is spontaneous and free in form. It bubbles with energy, (56) the moods, interests, and emotions of the people. In the 1920s’ jazz (57) like America. And so it does today. The (58) of the music are as interesting as the music itself. American Negroes, or blacks, as they are called today, were the jazz pioneers. They were brought to the Southern states (59) slaves. They were sold to plantation owners and forced to work long hours. When a Negro died, his friends and relatives (60) a procession to carry to body to the cemetery. In New Orleans, a band often accompanied the (61) . On the way to the cemetery the band played slow, solemn music, suited to the occasion. (62) on the way home the mood changed. Spirits lifted. Death had removed one of their numbers, but the living were glad to be (63) . The band played (64) music, improvising on both the harmony and the melody of the tunes (65) at the funeral. This music made everyone want to dance. It was an early form of jazz.

A:classical B:sacred C:popular D:serious

? ?下面有3篇短文，每篇短文后有5道题，每题后面有4个选项。请仔细阅读短文，并根据短文回答其后面的问题，从4个选项中选择1个最佳答案。
{{B}}第一篇{{/B}}

? ?In the art of the Middle ages, we never encounter the personality of the artist as an individual; rather it is diffused (普及的) through the artistic genius of centuries embodied (具体表达) in the rules of religious art. Art of the middle Ages is first a sacred(神的，zōng jiāo 的) script, the symbols and meanings of which were well settled. The circular halo placed vertically (神学,神性). By bare feet, we recognize God, the angels, Jesus Christ and the apostles (使徒), but, for an artist to have depicted the Virgin Mary with bare feet would have been tantamount (等价的) to heresy (异教). Several concentric, wavy lines represent the sky, while parallel lines water or the sea. A tree, which is to say a single stalk with two or three stylised leaves, informs us that the scene is laid on earth. A tower with a window indicates a village, and, should an angel be watching from the battlements, that city is thereby identified as Jerusalem. Saint Peter is always depicted with curly hair, a short beard, and a tonsure, while Saint Paul has always a bald head and a long beard.
? ?A second characteristic of this iconography is obedience (服从，顺从) to a sacred mathematic. "The Divine Wisdom," wrote Saint Augustine, "reveals itself everywhere in numbers," a doctrine attributable to the neo-Platonists who revived the genius of Pythagoras. Twelve is the master number of the Church and is the product of three, the number of the Trinity, and fours, the number of material elements. The number seven, the most mysterious of all numbers, is the sum of four and three. There are the seven ages of man, seven virtues, seven planets. In the final analysis, the seven-tone scale of Gregorian music is the sensible embodiment of the order of the universe. Numbers also require a symmetry. At Charters, a stained glass window shows the four prophets, Isaac, Ezekiel, Daniel, and Jeremiah, carrying on their shoulders the four evangelists, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
? ?A third characteristic of this art is to be a symbolic language, showing us one thing and inviting us to see another. In this respect, the artist was called upon to imitate God, who had hidden a profound meaning behind the literal and wished nature itself to be a moral lesson to man. Thus, every painting is an allegory. In a scene of the final judgment, we see the foolish virgins at the left hand of Jesus and the wise at his right, and we understand that this symbolizes those who are lost and those who are saved. Even seemingly insignificant details carry hidden meaning: The lion in a stained glass window is the figure of the Resurrection.
? ?These, then, are the defining characteristics of the art of the Middle Ages, a system within which even the most mediocre talent was elevated by the genius of the centuries. The artists of the early Renaissance broke with tradition at their own peril. When they are not outstanding, they are scarcely able to avoid insignificance and banality in their religious works, and, even when they are great, they are no more than the equals of the old masters who passively followed the sacred rules.

The primary purpose of the passage is to ______.

A:explain why artists of the Middle Ages followed the rules of a sacred script B:discuss some of the important features of the art of the Middle Ages C:contrast the art of the Middle Ages with that of the Renaissance D:explain why the Middle Ages had a passion for order and numbers