3. How much expense does Neil Young pay for a performance?

　　 A. $10,000　　　　　 B. $ 18,000

　　 C. $32,000　　　　　 D. $38,000

2. What makes most of the rock stars successful in making money?

　　 A. Luck　　　　　　 B. A wonderful performance

　　 C. Their own music　 D. Ability

1. This passage is mainly about　 ___________.

　　 A. the success of a rock star

　　 B. The way rock stars live

　　 C. Rich rock stars　

　　 D. The admirers of rock stars

2. The volcano is one of the most surprising frightening forces of nature.　 Maybe you have seen pictures of these “fireworks” of nature.　 Sometimes when a volcano erupts, a very large wall of melted rock moves down the side of a mountain.　 It looks like a “ a river of fire.”

　　 (1)The underlined word “erupts” means　 ______　 .

　　 A. moves down　　　 B. breaks away

　　 C. builds up　　　　　 D. suddenly throws out lava

　　 答案：D

[高考点拨]

　　 Around the world young people are spending unbelievable sums of money to listen to rock music.　 Forbes Magazine reports that at least fifty rock stars have incomes between two millions dollars per years.

　　 “It doesn’t make sense.” Says Johnny Mathis, one of the older music millionaires, who made a million dollars a year when he was popular, in 1950s.　 “ Performers aren’t worth this kind of money.　 In fact, nobody is.”

　　 But the rock stars’ admires seems to disagree.　 Those who love rock music spend about two billion dollars a year fro records.　 They pay 150 million to see rock stars in person.

　　 Luck is a key word for explaining the success of many.　 In 1972 one of the luckiest was Kon Mclean, who wrote and sang “American Pie”.　 Mclean writes his own　 music, so he earns an additional two cents on every single record of the song.

　　 Neil Young who performs in torn blue jeans, sometimes sings to an audience of 10,000, each of whom has paid five dollars for a ticket.　 After paying expenses, Young leaves with about $18,000 in his blue jeans at the end of an evening.

　　 How do the rock stars use their money ? What do they do when the money starts pouring in like water?　 Most of the young stars simply show the money around . England’s Elton John gave someone a 38,000 Rolls Royce car and bought himself 5,000 pairs of eyeglasses, then lighted up and spelt E-L-T-O-N.　

　　 Many rock stars live like Grace Slick and Jefferson Airplane.　 Those performers return from a tour, pay their bills, and buy new toys.　 Then when they need money again, they do another tour.　 They save no money and live from hand to mouth.

　　 In the end the rock stars’ life is unrewarding.　 After two or three years riches and fame are gone.　 Left with his memories and his tax problems, the lonely ex-performer spends his remaining years trying to attract strangers.　 New stars have arrived to take his place.

1. In the 19^th century thousands of Indians were cruelly driven from their won good land and taken to reservations. Often these reservations were hundreds of miles away from their real home.　 Today a large number of North American Indians still live on reservations.

　　 (1)The word　 “ reservations” in the passage is probably　 _____　 .

　　 A. a piece of land set apart for the black people to live on

　　 B. a piece of land set apart for the North American Indians to live on

　　 C. a place for the people who break the law to live in

　　 D. a place for tourists from all over the world to live in

　　 答案： B

3. People probably take part in dangerous sports nowadays because _____ .

　　 A. they have a lot of free time　 　　　　B. they can go to hospital if they are injured

　　 C. their lives lack excitement　　 　　　　D. they no longer need to hunt for food

　　 答案：1. A　 2.A　 3. C

2. More and more people today are ______　 .

　　 A. trying activities such as bungee jumping

　　 B. climbing the highest mountains

　　 C. coming close to death in sports

　　 D. looking for adventures such as exploring unknown places

1. A suitable title for the text is _______　 .

　　 A. Dangerous Sports:　 What and Why　　　 B. The Boredom of Modern Life

　　 C. Bungee Jumping: Is It Really Dangerous?　 D. The Need for Excitement