【文章內(nèi)容簡介】 or useful in getting university places or jobs. Instead, it was usually only those parents who played instruments that encouraged their children to follow suit. This contrasted with research carried out by other academics in America, he said. ―Middleclass parents in the US appear to associate cultural practice with other benefits, such as developing specific characteristics and paving the way for educational success. Middleclass families are often marked by a pattern of ?concerted cultivation‘, where parents anize musiccentered activities for their children, often in addition to schoolbased musical practice.‖ Researchers had owed this to parental anxiety over the declining fortunes of educated Americans. These parents have bee increasingly worried about providing their children with skills and abilities enabling them to stand out from their pe titors in the job market. By contrast, for British respondents, no such connection was made between what is considered as an overbearing parenting style and future educational or career possibilities. The parents interviewed here did not connect music with usefulness but rather they focused on the value of music as a family tradition and, to a lesser extent, as something valuable in its own right. One Scottish parent, a chemist by profession, said during the interviews, ―We‘ve got two learning musical instruments. If we think it‘s worthwhile, we try and encourage them, but we wouldn‘t force them.‖ A housewife said, ―My son‘s just turned five and I want him to do the guitar because his uncle does it, but it‘s up to him.‖ In some UK families, said Dr. Reeves, ―music was even believed to be an obstacle to educational success, or at least secondary to it.‖ 32. What do British parents think of music learning? A. Useful for job application. B. Helpful for character building. C. Beneficial to further education. D. Worthwhile as a family tradition. 33. What does the underlined word ―this‖ in Paragraph 4 refer to? A. Cultural practice. B. Educational success. C. Concerted cultivation. D. Schoolbased musical practice. 34. What can be inferred from the text? A. The future of American kids is not promising. B. American parents hardly link music with success. C. Music learning is a personal choice for British kids. D. British parents show little concern about education. 35. What is the text mainly about? A. Reasons for British music preference. B. British and American parenting styles in music education. C. Americans‘ attitude towards music learning. D. Differences between British and American parents. 第二節(jié) (共 5小題；每小題 2分，滿分 10分 ) 根據(jù)短文內(nèi)容，從短文后的選項(xiàng)中選出能填入空白處的最佳選項(xiàng)。選項(xiàng)中有兩項(xiàng)為多余選項(xiàng)。 When lining up at the checkout counter, the lines next to us always seem to be moving faster than the one we are standing in. Now The New York Times has put together the research to give you an understanding of the math and psychology (心理 ) of queuing. 36 It‘s important to pick someone with a full cart. Every person requires a fixed amount of time to greet and clear out of the lane. And that amount of time is an average of 41 seconds per person. 37 Do the math. If there are five people ahead of you, each with 10 items in their carts, the waiting time will be 355 seconds. But if there is only one person ahead of you, with 50 items in the cart, the waiting time is 191 seconds. 38 For example, four bottles of the same milk will definitely go faster than four pletely different items. In some places, there may just be one line leading to several checkout counters. The person at the head of the line goes to the next available counter. This is known as a ―serpentine line (蛇形排隊(duì) )‖. You should always choose it. 39 In fact, around 90 percent of people are righthanded, which means they tend to naturally go to the right. 40 It will give you a better chance of finding a faster line. A. There are different ways to tell which customers will move faster. B. It has also offered tips on picking the fastest line. C. Even if one of the cashiers is slow, it won‘t hold up an entire line. D. So a better understanding of waiting can make it a bit more bearable (可承受的 ). E. As a result, heading to the opposite direction helps. F. The items in their carts are also important. G. By contrast, the time that each item takes to be rung up is only three seconds. 第三部分 語言知識(shí)運(yùn)用（共兩節(jié)，滿分 45分） 第一節(jié) 完形填空（共 20小題；每小題 ，滿分 30分） 閱讀下面的短文，從短文后各題所給的 A、 B、 C和 D四個(gè)選項(xiàng)中，選出可以填入空白處的最佳選項(xiàng)，并在答題卡上將該項(xiàng)涂黑。 I had never had a birthday party before, so at my ―ripe old‖ age, I decided to throw one for myself. About 20 people 41 that they were ing. I had a low 42 , but I spent more than usual on 43 and plates. I sat, I waited, and, although all of my friends had said they were ing, no one 44 ! The 45 was supposed to start at noon. Here it was, 4:00 pm, and still, no one was here. The expensive cake was 46 。 the food on the barbecue was burnt beyond 47 . I tried really hard not to cry, deciding to 48 some wonderful things that I did have and read Chicken Soup. 49 , I heard a roar of an engine, just outside my front door. Mr. Kenny, obviously, did everything he could to arrive. I cried in his arms, saying, ―I‘m not 50 of anything!‖ He 51 away my tears, held me tight, and said the 52 words: ―I will ALWAYS be your friend!‖ As we sat outside, laughing and talking, I felt I was truly 53 by God despite so many 54 and diff