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 program, children can be part of a band instead of joining a gang  . Parents can enjoy listening to their children's music instead of seeing them _ 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 self-confidence, too. It gives children a sense of achievement and success. Making music is something for them to be proud of, and it lets kids practice performing in front of an audience. Music gives children an opportunity for self-expression, and that helps develop their self-confidence. 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. 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, direction and imagination D) learning music, making music and trying out their own ideas
B

Dubai boasts  that it has just built a "new global landmark"---the Dubai Tower, which stands 512.1 meters high now and has just become the tallest building in the world. The Dubai Tower now _ Taiwan's Taipei 101, which is 508 meters tall, and has 141 storeys, more than any other building in the world. The Dubai Tower, being built by South Korea's Samsung Corporation and scheduled for completion next year, is one of a series of great projects taking shape in Dubai. The final projected height of the tower has remained a secret since the project was launched in January 2004; however, it is rumored that the tower will be more than 700 meters tall and have more than 160 storeys. The Dubai Tower has become the tallest building in the world in just 1,276 days, leaving behind other tall buildings. The Dubai Tower will house 30,000 apartments in addition to the world's largest shopping mall. It is the centerpiece  of the 20-billion-dollar venture. Another venture gradually emerging across the desert sands is Dubailand, a series of multi-billion-dollar projects claimed to be the Middle East's very own Orlando. Dubai also paid 100 million dollars to buy the Queen Elizabeth II, one of the world's superb cruise liners , which it plans to turn into a luxury floating hotel. Faced with decreasing oil wealth, the Western-oriented emirate  has raced to turn itself into a business and leisure hub and it aims to more than double the number of tourists to 15 million by 2015. Which building was the tallest in the world before the Dubai Tower began to be built? A) Dubai land B) Orlando C) Taiwan's Taipei 101 D) The Twin Towers
C

People have been painting pictures for at least 30,000 years. The earliest pictures were painted by people who hunted animals. They used to paint pictures of the animals they wanted to catch and kill. Pictures of this kind have been found on the walls of caves in France and Spain. No one knows why they were painted there. Perhaps the painters thought that their pictures would help them to catch these animals. Or perhaps human beings have always wanted to tell stories according to pictures. About 5,000 years ago, the Egyptians and other people in the Near East began to use pictures as kind of writing. They drew simple pictures or signs to represent things and ideas, and also to represent the sounds of their language. The signs these people used became a kind of alphabet. The Egyptians used to record information and to tell stories by putting picture writing and pictures together. When an important person died, scenes and stories from his life were painted and carved on the walls of the place where he was buried. Some of these pictures are like modern comic strip stories. It has been said that Egypt is the home of the comic strip. But, for the Egyptians, pictures still had magic power. So they did not try to make their way of writing simple. The ordinary people could not understand it. By the year 1,000 BC, people who lived in the area around the Mediterranean Sea had developed a simpler system of writing. The signs they used were very easy to write, and there were fewer of them than in the Egyptian system. This was because each sign, or letter, represented only one sound in their language. The Greeks developed this system and formed the letters of the Greek alphabet. The Romans copied the idea, and the Roman alphabet is now used all over the world. These days, we can write down a story, or record information, without using pictures. But we still need pictures of all kinds: drawing, photographs, signs and diagrams. We find them everywhere: in books and newspapers, in the street, and on the walls of the places... Which of the following statements is TRUE? A) The Egyptian signs later became a particular alphabet. B) The Egyptians liked to write comic strip stories. C) The Roman alphabet was developed from the Egyptian one. D) The Greeks copied their writing system from the Egyptians.

A