Living alone is hard，especially for older people.Apart from loneliness，plenty of housework also troubles them.Recently，a Canadian organization pairs older homeowners with poor college students.

College students are trying to find cheap，comfortable places to live in without getting much debt(债务).Living in the school is a choice，but it often comes with crowded bathrooms，shared bedrooms，and sometimes the price is higher than local apartments'.Toronto HomeShare noticed both of these problems and came up with a solution.

In exchange for doing some housework and providing company，students are able to live in warm，familial environments without breaking the bank.The pairings do not only benefit the older partners but also the young.For example，Nick，a 27yearold graduate student who lives with 75yearold Maureen Tara and her grownup daughter，told Toronto Life，“Coming back to Tara's family balances me out because they always make me relaxed.If I've had a hard day and I'm feeling low，there's lots of love in the air.”

Older partners need different levels of caring.Maureen has dementia(痴呆)，so her daughter hopes Nick can give a hand when she's not around.Sometimes，older roommates might have trouble bringing things in from the car or might need someone to remind them where they've put their house keys，or they might just want to talk to someone.Students who've moved to a new city，far from their families and the comfort of a homecooked meal，find a peaceful resting place away from the busyness of the university life in their living situation.

This practice already began in other cities.The emotional and practical benefits of those homeshare programs are clear.Besides，the generation gap between them can also be reduced.They might just make college graduates wonder why this wasn't a choice when they were sharing dirty double beds with other college students in school.

【语篇解读】　本文是一篇说明文。文章主要介绍了加拿大多伦多的一个组织让有房的孤独老人与手头拮据的大学生居住在一起，减少了彼此的代沟，并且对双方都有好处。

1．What made Toronto HomeShare bring up the homeshare program?

A．The wish to make more money.

B．The challenge of living alone of the old.

C．The living problems faced by college students.

D．The generation gap between the old and the young.

C　[细节理解题。根据第二段的“Toronto HomeShare noticed both of these problems and came up with a solution.”可知，这个组织在意识到了上文中大学生存在的一系列住宿问题后，提出了解决方案。]

2．What does the author use the example of college graduate Nick to show?

A．Maureen's family treats Nick kindly.

B．Those programs are popular with people.

C．Old people need young people's help and care.

D．Young people can get emotional benefit from the program.

D　[推理判断题。根据第三段的“The pairings do not only benefit the older partners but also the young.”可知，作者下文用Nick的事例表明大学生与老人住在一起大学生也得到了精神方面的好处，比如说Nick就可以时常得到放松。]

3．What does the author mainly tell readers in the text?

A．College students help old people.

B．The emotional benefits of a program.

C．Old people care about college students.

D．The old and the young benefit each other.

D　[主旨大意题。本文主要讲了加拿大多伦多某一组织让有房的孤独老人与大学生居住在一起，这样减少了代沟，而且对双方都有好处，所以文章主要讲了一个互惠互利的故事。]

The arts，especially music，should be part of every school's lessons at every grade level.Students would be much smarter if they had some musical experience.They could improve their classroom skills，like paying attention and following directions.People develop all these skills when they learn music.Making music also lets children use their imagination.It provides students with a chance to try out their own ideas.

Music not only makes children better students，but also gives them something positive to do.In a music programme，children can be part of a band instead of joining a gang (团伙).Parents can enjoy listening to their children's music instead of seeing them glued to a computer or TV screen.In a school band，students get to be part of a team.They can get along well with old friends and make new friends through music.

Music builds selfconfidence，too.It gives children a sense of achievement and success.Making music is something for them to be proud of，and it lets kids practise performing in front of audience.Music gives children an opportunity for selfexpression，and that helps develop their selfconfidence.

Once again，music is important because it can make children better students，give them something positive to do，and build their character.That is why music should be offered in every single grade in every school.

【语篇解读】　本文是一篇说明文。作者认为音乐在学生成长过程中的作用不容忽视，是每所学校每个年级都该开设的一门课程。

4．According to the passage，music could make students smarter by ________．

A．improving their classroom skills and paying attention

B．improving their classroom skills and imagination

C．improving their attention and imagination

D．letting them make music and try out their own ideas

B　[细节理解题。根据第一段第二、三句“Students would be much smarter if they had some musical experience.They could improve their classroom skills，like paying attention and following directions.”和第五句“Making music also lets children use their imagination.”可知，B项正确。]

5．What does the underlined phrase “glued to” in the second paragraph mean?

A．Unwilling to turn on.

B．Always looking.

C．Unwilling to leave.

D．Always playing.

C　[词义猜测题。画线短语所在句的句意为：父母能够享受听自己孩子(演奏)的音乐的乐趣，而不是看着他们目不转睛地盯着电脑或电视屏幕。根据语境可推知，C项为正确答案。]

6．The third paragraph mainly tells us that music could ________．

A．make children express themselves

B．bring children success

C．give children something to be proud of

D．develop children's selfconfidence

D　[主旨大意题。根据第三段首句也是段落中心句“Music builds selfconfidence，too.(音乐还能增强人的自信)”可知，D项为正确答案。]

7．What's the best title of this passage?

A．Music Is a Must as a Course at School

B．Music Builds Children's SelfConfidence

C．Music Makes Students Much Smarter

D．Learning Music and Making Music Build Children's Character

A　[标题判断题。根据第一段第一句“The arts，especially music，should be part of every school's lessons at every grade level.”和文章最后一句可知，作者建议所有学校所有年级都应开设音乐课程，故A项为最佳答案。]

Ⅱ.概要写作

阅读下面短文，根据其内容写一篇60词左右的内容概要。

Why are people colorblind？If you want to answer this question，let's say something about another question：How do we see those different colors？In our eyes，we have special kinds of cone cells(锥体细胞)that pick up the light bouncing off(反射)each splotch(斑点)of paint.They look like icecream cones，but they are much smaller.The cone cells help people see different colors.

There are long wave(波)cones，medium wave cones，and short wave cones in most people's eyes.The three kinds of cone cells pick up different light waves and tell the brain how much each of them is bouncing off each splotch of paint.And then the brain puts those messages back together again.

Colorblind people can still see some colors，but not as many as most people do.That's because the cone cells in their eyes may be different.Compared with most people，some colorblind people only have two kinds of cone cells in their eyes.Others have three kinds，but the cone cells do not pick up the same light waves as the ones in most people's eyes do.So their brains do not get the three different messages like most people's brains do.

Being colorblind is a bit like what would happen if I took away one of your tubs(桶)of paint.So you only have two tubs.You could still make some different colored splotches，but not as many as when you had three tubs.That would not be so much fun.Being colorblind is sometimes not much fun either.Some kids laugh in school when colorblind kids get their colored pencils mixed up.But being colorblind can be good，too.Colorblind people are really good at seeing things that are far away，and they are better than most people at telling things apart by their shapes.

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[参考范文]

Cone cells in most people's eyes offer help to people in seeing different colors.(要点1)The brain tells colors with the help of three kinds of cone cells，each of which is receiving different light waves.(要点 2)However，colorblind people have some problems in cone cells，which either are fewer in number or can't pick up the light waves normally.(要点 3)Although being colorblind is not a good thing，colorblind people have their own advantages in some ways.(要点4)