Listening to music can help me focus better. Since I discovered it two years ago，I've used music to get through boring work or to focus creatively. I've found that it can make even the dullest jobs enjoyable and help clear mental blocks to creativity.

I first noticed the good effects of music while playing video games. It was a few days before Christmas in 2005 and I was playing online video games. My parents had just given me a new MP3，so I decided to listen to music through the headphones while I played. After a few minutes I noticed a great change in my style of play. I was playing more naturally. The music relaxed me，and，to a certain extent，distracted me from the game，allowing my subconscious(潜意识的)talent to come through. The music also helped me block out the outside world. With those headphones on I was like a machine，moving from one task to the next without unnecessary thoughts or actions.

Music can also have a great effect on mood. If I'm in a bad mood at work，I'll listen to some of Bob Marley's and get down to business. It always takes my mind off what I'm doing and makes me a happier person. The same is true for classic rock. One summer，I did a boring job collecting bottle openers by hand. Without a radio playing classic rock in the background，I would have hated life.

Listening to music with relaxing rhythms and a positive message helps you forget your work and think happy thoughts. But the results you see will depend heavily on your personal tastes. Experiment with the types of music you listen to during certain tasks. By trial and error you'll finally discover your best choice.

I'm always looking for new concentration aids，so I'd love to know what type of music works best for me.

1. We can infer that the passage was written in ________.

A. 2005　  　B. 2006　　  C. 2007　 　D. 2008

2. The author first discovered the effects of music ________.

A. from his parents  B. by chance

C. at work         D. when he was a child

3. Which of the following statements is NOT an effect of music for the author?

A. It helps him block out the outside world.

B. It arouses his subconscious talent.

C. It helps his mind relax.

D. It makes him work without any thought.

4. The author mentions the experience of collecting bottle openers in Paragraph 3 to ________.

A. tell us that life is dull

B. drove that music affects mood

C. tell us how to seek happiness

D. tell us bad mood can affect work

5. In order to get the greatest effect of music，you are advised to ________.

A. listen to some of Bob Marley's

B. only choose relaxing music

C. test all kinds of music

D. listen to classic rock

完形填空

A Brother Like That

　　A friend of mine named Paul received an auto－mobile from his brother as a Christmas present. 1 Christmas Eve when Paul came out of his office, a boy was walking around the shiny new car, 2 it. “Is this your car, Mister?” he asked.

　　Paul nodded. “My brother gave it to me for Christmas.” The boy was 3 . “You mean your brother gave it to you and it didn't cost you 4 . Boy I wish…” He hesitated.

　　Of course Paul knew what he was going to wish for. He was going to 5 he had a brother like that. But what the boy said moved Paul a lot.

　　“A wish,” the boy went 6 , “That I could be a brother like that.”

　　Paul looked at the boy in astonishment, then he added, “Would you like to take a 7 in my automobile?”

　　“Oh yes, I'd love that.”

　　After a short ride, the boy turned and with his eyes shining, said, “Mister, would you mind 8 in front of my house”

　　Paul 9 a little. He thought he knew what the boy wanted. He wanted to show his neighbors that he could ride home 10 a big automobile. But Paul was wrong 11 . “Will you stop where those two steps are?” the boy asked.

　　He ran up the steps. Then in a little 12 Paul heard him coming back, but he was not coming fast. He was carrying his little crippled(残废的) 13 . He sat him down on the bottom step and pointed to the car.

　　There she is, Buddy, just like I told you 14 . His brother 15 it to him for Christmas and it didn't cost him a cent. And 16 day I'm going to give you 17 just like it… then you can see for yourself all the pretty things in the Christmas windows that I've been trying to tell you 18 .

　　Paul got 19 and lifted the boy to the front seat of his car. The 20 older brother climbed in beside him and the three of them began a memorable holiday ride. That Christmas Eve, Paul learned what Jesus meant when he had said：“It is more blessed to give…”

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Doreen Sykora is now a junior at McGill University. She had a difficult time when she first began college. She said, “I was always well prepared for my examinations. But when I go into class to take the exam, I would fall apart. I could just blank out because of nervousness and fear.” Hitoshi Sakamoto, an anthropology(人类学) student at Temple University in Tokyo reports similar experiences.

These two young students were experiencing something called test anxiety. Because a student worries and is stressed(加压力于) about a test, his or her mind does not work as well as it usually does. The student cannot write or think clearly because of the severe tension and nervousness.

Now there are special university courses to help students. In these courses, advisors and psychologists try to help students by teaching them to manage test anxiety. Such a course helps students learn to live with stress and not fail because of it. First students take a practice test to measure their worry level. If the tests show that their stress level is high, the students can take a short course to manage the fear. These courses teach students how to relax their bodies. They get training to become calm in very tense situations. By controlling their nervousness, they can let their minds work more easily. Learned information then comes out without difficulty on a test.

Doreen Sykora saw immediate results after taking such a course. She now has enthusiasm about the relaxation methods. “Mostly, what I do is imagine myself in a very calm place. Then I imagine myself picking up a pencil. I move slowly and carefully. I breathe easily and let all the tension out. With each breath, more worry leaves me. It really works too. My grades have improved greatly! I’m really doing well at McGill now. This relaxation method works not only on examinations, but it has improved the rest of my life as well.”

For Hitoshi in Tokyo, the results were much the same. He is enjoying school a lot more and learning more.

1. What is the similarity between Doreen Sykora and Hitoshi Sakamoto?

A. They are students from the same university.

B. They failed in all the examinations.

C. They both had experiences of test anxiety.

D. They both had the same poor studying habits.

2. The phrase “blank out” in Paragraph 1 refers to “_______.”

A. lose interest in the exam           B. refuse to take the exam

C. get an extra paper                  D. be unable to think clearly

3. What’s the purpose of some special university student-help courses?

　　A. To help students to reduce test anxiety.   

　　B. To show a stress level experienced by students.

　　C. To learn more knowledge about test anxiety.

　　D. To have a better understanding of test anxiety.

The evidence for harmony may not be obvious in some families. But it seems that four out of five young people now get on with their parents, which is the opposite of the popularly held image(印象)of unhappy teenagers locked in their room after endless family quarrels.

　　An important new study into teenage attitudes surprisingly shows that their family life is more harmonious than it has ever been in the past.” We were surprised by just how positive today’s young people seen to be about their families,” said one member of the research team.” They’re expected to be rebellious(叛逆的) and selfish but actually they have other things on their minds; they want a car and material goods, and they worry about whether school is serving them well. There’s more negotiation(商议) and discussion between parents and children, and children expect to take part in the family decision-making process. They don’t want to rock the boat.”

　　So it seems that this generation of parents is much more likely than parents of 30 years ago to treat their children as friends.” My parents are happy to discuss things with me and willing to listen to me,” says 17-years-old Daniel Lazall.”I always tell them when L’m going out clubbing. As long as they know what I’m doing, they’re fine with it.” Susan Crome,who is now 21,agrees.”Looking back on the last 10 years, there was a lot of what you could call negotiation. For example, as long as I’d done all my homework, I could go out on a Saturday night. But I think my grandparents were a lot stricter with my parents than that.”

　　Maybe this positive view of family life should not be unexpected. It is possible that the idea of teenagers rebellion is not rooted in real facts. A researcher comments,” Our surprise that teenagers say they get along well with their parents comes because of a brief period in our social history when teenagers were regarded as different beings. But that idea of rebelling and breaking away from their parents really only happened during that one time in the 1960s when everyone rebelled. The normal situation throughout history has been a smooth change from helping out with the family business to taking it over.”

1.What is the popular images of teenagers today?

A．They worry about school

B．They dislike living with their parents

C．They have to be locked in to avoid troubles

D．They quarrel a lot with other family members

2.The study shows that teenagers don’t want to ___

A．share family responsibility

B．cause trouble in their families

C．go boating with their family

D．make family decisions

3.Compared with parents of 30 years ago, today’s parents___.

A．go to clubs more often with their children

B．are much stricter with their children

C．care less about their children’s life

D．give their children more freedom

4.According to the authour,teenage rebellion____.

A．may be a false belief                     B．is common nowadays

C．existed only in the 1960s                 D．resulted from changes in families

5.What is the passage mainly about?

A．Negotiation in family                     B．Education in family

C．Harmony in family                       D．Teenage trouble in family