A Smashing tradition: MIT Students Drop Piano

One of the highlights of the school year at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology only lasts a few seconds but has a big influence. Residents of an MIT dormitory dropped an upright piano from their roof on 26th April to celebrate the last day students can drop classes without having them appear on their college report.

About 200 onlookers watched as the piano crashed into a second piano, a baby grand, positioned on the ground six stories below for a better smash. People scrambled (爭先恐后) for souvenir pieces-keys, hammers, strings and splinters. The tradition began in 1972 at the Baker House dormitory and has been observed irregularly until 2006 when it became an annual event.

Crafton Family Comes Back Home after 7 Years at Sea

While most of us will love to go on a vacation for a week or two on a small private sailboat, without doubt, spending seven precious years on sea is something most of us will never imagine or dare to do. However, that is what an American family has done. Tom Crafton and Kathy Crafton along with their three children have traveled across the world on their 43-foot sailboat named Nueva Vida. Over the past seven years the family had sailed 30,000 miles and visited more than 20 different countries. The family has recently come back to their homeland.

_____________________________________________

Living in the limelight(聚光燈)can be difficult but as these splendid pictures show for one bear the tourist train never stops. This arctic animal loves nothing more than an audience and will even climb out of his snowy bed to give the crowd a wave. The funny poses(姿態(tài)) of the friendly polar bear were caught on camera by Swedish photographer, Hams Strand.

1.Which of the following is true about the first incident?

A. The typical style of celebration has been kept alive every year since1972.

B. Another small piano on the ground is meant to hold the falling one.

C. The students dropped the piano in celebration of their graduation.

D. The tradition became an annual event for MIT students several years ago.

2.The writer thinks Crafton family’s seven-year sailing is ______.

A. unusual B. strange C. common D. doubtful

3.What would be the best subtitle for the third incident?

A. The Limelight Makes Polar Bear Live Hard

B. Splendid Pictures of Polar Bear Attract Tourists

C. The Tourist Train Would Stop without Polar Bear

D. Polar Bear Says Hello to Tourists with a Friendly Wave

4.The passage is probably taken out of ______.

A. a novel B. a magazine C. a diary D. a report

 

1.D

2.A

3.D

4.B

【解析】

試題分析:麻省理工學(xué)生們有一件傳統(tǒng)且流行的事情:扔鋼琴。7年海上漂流終于回到了家。北極熊向游人們示以友好的波浪。

1.d irregularly until 2006 when it became an annual event.”可知這項傳統(tǒng)已經(jīng)存在很久了。故選D。

2.

3.

4.

考點:新聞類閱讀。

練習(xí)冊系列答案
相關(guān)習(xí)題

科目:高中英語 來源:2015屆福建省高二下學(xué)期期中英語試卷(解析版) 題型:閱讀理解

Blind imitation (模仿)is self-destruction. To those who do not recognize their unique worth, imitation appears attractive;to those who know their strength. Imitation is unacceptable.

In the early stages of skill or character development, imitation is helpful. When I first learned to cook, I used recipes (菜譜) and turned out some tasty dishes. But soon I grew bored. Why follow someone else’s way of cooking when I could create my own? Imitating role models is like using training wheels on a child’s bicycle; they help you get going, but once you find your own balance, you fly faster and farther without relying on them.

In daily life, imitation can hurt us if we subconsciously (下意識地) hold poor role models. If, as a child, you observed people whose lives were bad, you may have accepted their fear and pain as normal and gone on to follow what they did. If you do not make strong choices for yourself, you will get the results of the weak choices of others.

In the field of entertainment, our culture glorifies celebrities. Those stars look great on screen. But when they step off screen, their personal lives may be disastrous. If you are going to follow someone, focus on their talent, not their bad character or unacceptable behaviors.

Blessed is the person willing to act on their sudden desire to create something unique. Think of the movies, books, teachers, and friends that have affected you most deeply. They touched you because their creations were motivated by inspiration, not desperation. The world is changed not by those who do what has been done before them, but by those who do what has been done inside them. Creative people have an endless resource of ideas. The problem a creator faces is not running out of material; it is what to do with the material knocking at the door of imagination.

Study your role models, accept the gifts they have given, and leave behind what does not serve you. Then you can say,” I stand on the shoulders of my ancestors tragedies and declare victory, and know that they are cheering me on.

1.Imitation proves useful when you .

A. know you are unique

B. lose the balance of life

C. begin to learn something new

D. get tired of routine practice

2.To avoid the bad result of imitation, we should________.

A. forget daily fear and pain B. choose the right example

C. ask others for decisions D. stay away from stars

3.The trouble a creator faces is .

A. the lack of strong motivation

B. the absence of practical ideas

C. how to search for more materials

D. how to use imagination creatively

4.What is the author’s purpose in writing this passage?

A. To highlight the importance of creatively.

B. To criticize the characters of role models.

C. To compare imitation with creation.

D. To explain the meaning of success.

 

查看答案和解析>>

科目:高中英語 來源:2015屆福建省福州市高二下期末英語試卷(解析版) 題型:單項填空

By the year of 2053 there will be 487 million aged people in China, means that one third of the population will be over 60.

A. that B. which C. what D. where

 

查看答案和解析>>

科目:高中英語 來源:2015屆福建省高三上學(xué)期第一次質(zhì)量檢查英語試卷(解析版) 題型:單項填空

Only by increasing the number of doctors by 50 percent properly in this hospital.

A. can be the patients treated

B. can the patients be treated

C. the patients can be treated

D. treated can be the patients

 

查看答案和解析>>

科目:高中英語 來源:2015屆福建省高三上學(xué)期第一次質(zhì)量檢查英語試卷(解析版) 題型:單項填空

Tom always goes jogging in the morning and he usually does push-ups too to stay _____.

A. in place B. in order

C. in shape D. in fashion

 

查看答案和解析>>

科目:高中英語 來源:2015屆福建省高二下學(xué)期期中考試英語卷(解析版) 題型:單項填空

Working hard is not only a _____ of great success, but it is among the essential requirement.

A. sign B. singal C. guarantee D. expectation

 

查看答案和解析>>

科目:高中英語 來源:2015屆福建省晉江市高二下學(xué)期期末英語試卷(解析版) 題型:單項填空

If you had studied hard at that time, you ____________ a university student now.

A. would have been B. would be

C. are D. be

 

查看答案和解析>>

科目:高中英語 來源:2015屆甘肅省高二下期末英語試卷(解析版) 題型:單項填空

—What did you say to your sister? I saw her crying in the room.

— It _________ my fault. I just said hello to her when I met her, nothing else.

A. must have been B. can’t have been

C. oughBtn’t to be D. should have been

 

查看答案和解析>>

同步練習(xí)冊答案