Young musicians in African countries are creating a new kind of pop music. The tunes and the rhythms of their music combine African traditions with various forms of music popular today, such as hip-hop, rap, rock, jazz, or reggae. The result is music that may sound familiar to listeners anywhere in the world, but at the same time is distinctly African. It is different also in another way: Many of the songs are very serious and they deal with important social or political issues inAfricatoday.

    Eric Wainaina is one of these African musicians. He grew up inNairobi,Kenya, in a family of musicians. As a teenager, he listened to pop music from theUnited States, and later he moved toBostonto study at the Berklee College of Music. Now he has produced a CD inKenya. Eric"s most popular song, "Land of ‘A Little Something’” is aboutKenya"s problem of bribery, or paying others for illegal favors. He wants people to listen to his songs and think about how to makeKenyaa better place to live.

    Another musician who writes serious songs is Witness Mwaijaga fromTanzania. Her own experiences have helped her understand the suffering of many African women. At the age of fifteen she lost her home, but she was luckier than other homeless young people. She could make a living by writing songs and singing on the street. By the time she was eighteen years old, she had become a star. Her songs are written in rap or hip-hop style about the problems that she sees inTanzania, especially AIDS and the lack of rights for women ¹.

    Baaba Maal, fromSenegal, also feels that pop music must go beyond entertainment. He says that inSenegal, storytellers have always been important people. In the past, they were the ones who kept the history of their people alive. Baaba believes that songwriters now have a similar responsibility. They must write about the world around them and help people understand how it could be better. The words of his songs are important, in fact. They speak of peace and cooperation among Africans, as well as the rights of women, love for one" s family, and saving the environment ².

    One ofSouth Africa"s most popular musicians is Brenda Fassie. She is sometimes compared to Madonna, the American pop star, because she likes to shock people in her shows. But she also likes to make people think. She became famous in the 1980s for her simple pop songs against apartheid. Now that apartheid has ended, her songs are about other issues in South African culture and life. To sing about these, she uses local African languages and a new pop style called kwaito.

    In recent years, people outside ofAfricahave also begun to listen to these young musicians. Through music, the younger generation of Africans are connecting with the rest of the world and, at the same time, influencing the rest of the world. 

词汇： 

reggae /"regei/ n. 瑞格舞（西印度群岛的舞曲）

bribery ["braɪbərɪ] n. 行贿，贿赂

apartheid [əˈpɑ:tˌhaɪt, -ˌheɪt] n. 种族隔离

注释：

1. Her songs are written in rap or hip-hop style about the problems that she sees in Tanzania,especially AIDS and the lack of rights for women.她用嘻哈和说唱的风格写歌，歌曲的内容是坦桑尼亚的各种问题，特别是艾滋和女性权利的缺失。

2. They speak of peace and cooperation among Africans, as well as the rights of women, love forone"s family, and saving the environment.他倡导在非洲要和平与协作，同时也包括妇女权利、热爱家庭和保护环境。

This passage is about how African pop music is

A:usually about love and romance B:more serious than most pop music C:popular with young people in Africa D:mostly written just for entertainment

Inj．（）。

A:注射剂  B:溶液剂  C:片剂  D:糖浆剂  E:软膏剂

Pushbike Danger
Low speed bicycle crashes can badly injure -- or even kill -- children if they fall onto the ends of the handlebars (车把). So a team of engineers is redesigning it to make it safer.
Kristy Arbogast, a bioengineer at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia in Pennsylvania, began the project with her colleagues. The cases they reviewed about serious abdominal (腹部的) injuries in children in the past 30 years showed that more than a third were caused by bicycle accidents, "The task was to identify how the injuries occurred and come up with some countermeasures," she says.
By interviewing the children and their parents, Arbogast and her team were able to reconstruct many of the accidents and identified a common cause for serious injuries. They discovered that most cases occur when children hit an obstacle at slow speed, causing them to topple (摇摆) over. To maintain their balance the children turn the handlebars through 90 degrees -- but their momentum (冲力) forces them into the end of the handlebars. The bike then falls over and the other end of the handlebars hits the ground, pushing it into their abdomen (腹部).
The solution the group came up with is a handgrip (握柄) fitted with a spring and damping (减速) system. The spring absorbs up to 50 per cent of the forces transmitted (传递) through the handlebars in an impact. The group hopes to commercialize the device, which should add only a few dollars to the cost of a bike. "But our task has been one of education because up until now, bicycle manufacturers were unaware of the problem," says Arbogast.

A:why the children and their parents were interviewed, B:how serious abdominal injuries occur, C:when the children turn the handlebars. D:what stops bicycle accidents.

Pushbike Peril
Low speed bicycle crashes can badly injure — or even kill — children if they fall onto the ends of the handlebars so a team of engineers is redesigning the humble handlebar in a bid to make it safer.
Kristy Arbogast, a bioengineer at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia in Pennsylvania, began the project with her colleagues after a study of serious abdominal injuries in children in the past 30 years showed that more than a third were caused by bicycle accidents. "the task was to identify how the injuries occurred and come up with some countermeasures." she says.
By interviewing the children and their parents, Arbogast and her team were able to reconstruct many of the accidents and identified a common mechanism responsible for serious injures. They discovered that most occur when children hit an obstacle at a slow speed, causing them to topple over. To maintain their balance they turn the handlebars through 90 degrees — but their momentum forces them into the end of the handlebars. The bike then falls over and the other end of the handlebars hits the ground, ramming it into their abdomen.
The solution the group came up with is a handgrip fitted with a spring and damping system. The spring absorbs up to 50 per cent of the forces transmitted through the handlebars in an impact. The group hopes to commercialize the device, which should add only a few dollars to the cost of a bike. "But our task has been one of education because up until now, bicycle manufacturer were unaware of the problem," says Arbogast.
The team has also approached the US Consumer Product Safety Commission to try to persuade manufacturers to adopt the new design a decision is expected later this year.

A:why the children and their parents were interviewed B:when the children turn the handlebars through 90 degrees C:what causes the children to topple over D:how serious injuries occur

? ?下面有3篇短文，每篇短文后有5道题，每道题后面有4个选项。请根据文章的内容，从每题所给的4个选项中选择1个最佳答案。
{{B}}第一篇{{/B}}

A:why the children and their parents were interviewed, B:how serious abdominal injuries occur, C:when the children turn the handlebars. D:what stops bicycle accidents.

第一篇 Pushbike Danger Low speed bicycle crashes can badly injure——or even kill——children if they fall onto the ends of the handlebars(车把)．So a team of engineers is redesigning it to make it safer Kristy Arbogast，a bioengineer at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia in Pennsylvania， began the project with her colleagues．The cases they reviewed about serious abdominal(腹部的) injuries in children in the past 30 years showed that more than a third were caused by bicycle accidents．”The task was to identify how the injuries occurred and come up with seine countermeasures，”she says By interviewing the children and their parents，Arbogast and her team were able to reconstruct many of the accidents and identified a common cause for serious injuries They discovered that most cases occur when children hit an obstacle at slow speed，causing them to topple f摇摆)over．To maintain their balance the children turn the handlebars through 90 degrees—but their momentum(冲力)forces them into the end of the handlebars．The bike then falls over and the other end of the handlebars hits the ground，pushing it in to their abdomen(腹部)． The solution the group came up with is a handgrip (握柄)fitted with a spring and damping(减速)system. The spring absorbs up to 50 per cent of the forces transmitted(传递)through the handlebars in all impact．The group hopes to commercialize the device，which should add only a few dollars to t}le cost of a bike．“But our task has been one of education because up until now．bicycle manufacturers were unaware of the problem，”says Arbogast． Paragraph 3 mainly discusses

A:why the children and their parents were interviewed B:how serious abdominal injuries occur. C:when the children turn the handlebars D:what stops bicycle accidents

Pushbike Peril
Low speed bicycle crashes can badly injure — or even kill — children if they fall onto the ends of the handlebars. So a team of engineers is redesigning the humble handlebar in a bid to make it safer.
Kristy Arbogast, a bioengineer at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia in Pennsylvania, began the project with her colleagues after a study of serious abdominal injuries in children in the past 30 years showed that more than a third were caused by bicycle accidents. "The task was to identify how the injuries occurred and come up with some countermeasures," she says.
By interviewing the children and their parents, Arbogast and her team were able tog reconstruct many of the accidents and identified a common mechanism responsible for serious injuries. They discovered that most occur when children hit an obstacle at a slow speed, causing them to topple over5. To maintain their balance they turn the handlebars through 90 degrees — but their momentum forces them into the end of the handlebars. The bike then falls over and the other end of the handlebars hits the ground, ramming it into their abdomen6.
The solution the group came up with is a handgrip fitted with a spring and damping system. The spring absorbs up to 50 per cent of the forces transmitted through the handlebars in an impact. The group hopes to commercialize the device, which should add only a few dollars to the cost of a bike. "But our task has been one of education because up until now, bicycle manufacturers were unaware of the problem," says Arbogast.
The team has also approached the US Consumer Product Safety Commission to try to persuade manufacturers to adopt the new design. A decision is expected later this year.

A:why the children and their parents were interviewed. B:when the children turn the handlebars through 90 degrees. C:what causes the children to topple over. D:how serious injuries occur.

A:why the children and their parents were interviewed B:how serious abdominal injuries occur. C:when the children turn the handlebars D:what stops bicycle accidents

A:find serious health problem before they have any symptoms. B:help one treat serious health problems and recover more quickly. C:help the doctor determine your health problems more accurately. D:give you advice on how to prevent some serious health problems.

{{B}}第三篇{{/B}}

A:why the children and their parents were interviewed. B:when the children turn the handlebars through 90 degrees. C:what causes the children to topple over. D:how serious injuries occur.