A Smashing tradition: MIT Students Drop Pi

题目内容：

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 (争先恐后) 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.

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Living in the limelight（聚光灯）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(姿态) of the friendly polar bear were caught on camera by Swedish photographer, Hams Strand.

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

A．unusual

B．strange

C．common

D．doubtful小题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小题4:The passage is probably taken out of ______.

A．a novel

B．a magazine

C．a diary

D．a report

最佳答案：

小题1:D

小题2:A

小题3:D

小题4:B

答案解析：

麻省理工学生们有一件传统且流行的事情：扔钢琴。7年海上漂流终于回到了家。北极熊向游人们示以友好的波浪。

小题1:细节理解题。由“The tradition began in 1972 at the Baker House dormitory and has been observed irregularly until 2006 when it became an annual event.”可知这项传统已经存在很久了。故选D。

小题2:细节理解题。由“ without doubt, spending seven precious years on sea is something most of us will never imagine or dare to do. ”可知这是人们一般难以想象和敢于做的，因此觉得很不平常。unusual不寻常的；strange陌生的；common平凡的；doubtful怀疑的。故选A。

小题3:主旨大意题。第三段讲了北极熊如何向游人们表示友好。选D最佳。

小题4:主旨大意题。这是一篇新闻报道，因此摘自报纸杂志。a novel 一篇小说；a magazine一本杂志； a diary一篇日记； a report一份报告。故选B。

考点核心：

新闻报道类阅读的概念：

阅读理解的选材明显地呈现出关注实际生活的趋势，这种趋势与当前基础教育改革的目标是一致的，而中学生学习语言的根本目标与基础教育学会求知，学会做事，学会合作，学会做人的目标是一致的，真实新颖的选材对基础英语教学课程改革具有重要的反作用。