The best alternative title for the passage will be______. A: A Study of Weed Communities B: The Importance of Studying How Plants Live in Communities C: How Herbicides May Affect Farm Land D: Weed Control by Means of Herbicides

J. Bill and Royce planned to weed the field using an old burning tire.

Mud from the bottom of the pond can be used to ________ the crops. A: sow B: irrigate C: fertilize D: weed

Some will water the apple trees,______will weed the cotton fields. A: another B: the other C: the others D: other

Though many candidates are applying for the vacancy, we have to ______ the list to three. A: weed B: winnow C: surrogate D: draw

Beyond Baby Mozart, Students Who Rock David Bornstein 1 Music education hasn’t changed fundamentally since the 1970s. Students are still taught to read notation so they can recite compositions that they would never listen to on their MP3 players or play with friends. The four “streams” in music education— orchestra, chorus, marching band and jazz band — have remained constant for four decades, while a third generation is growing up listening to rock and pop music. Many children quit before making progress with an instrument, then regret it as adults. Playing music enriches life. That’s why so many adults wish that they could play an instrument, particularly guitar or piano,which are ideally suited for playing with others. The question is: Why do schools teach music in a way that turns off so many young people rather than igniting their imagination? At a time when educators are desperate to engage students and improve school cultures, can we do a better job of harnessing the power of music to get kids excited about school? 2 The experience of an organization called Little Kids Rock suggests the answer is a resounding yes — provided we change the way music is taught. Little Kids Rock has helped revitalize music programs in over a thousand public schools and served 150,000 children, most of them from low-income families. The organization has distributed 30,000 free instruments, primarily guitars, and trained 1,500 teachers to run music classes in which students quickly experience the joys of playing their favorite songs, performing in bands, and composing their own music. Along the way, the organization is working to institute a fifth stream in American music education: popular music. 3 The key to Little Kids Rock is that it teaches children to play music the way many musicians learn to play it — not by notation, but by listening, imitation and meaningful experimentation. “The knowledge you need to get started playing rock music is very limited,” explains Dave Wish, the founder of Little Kids Rock.“In high school, my friend Paul taught me a couple of chords and, boom, my life was changed forever. Making music is as much a physical act as it is a cognitive act.” On the first day of class, Little Kids Rock teachers place guitars in the hands of their students and get them practicing chords that will enable them to play thousands of songs. The kids decide what songs they want to learn and the class is off and running. Their progress is remarkable.Within a year, eight- and nine-year-olds are playing electric guitar, bass guitar, drums and keyboards, and giving concerts, even performing their own songs. And the effect is predictable: the children can’t get enough of it. 4 Little Kids Rock’s trainings frequently attract many more applicants than available slots. Teachers volunteer their time to attend trainings, which are often held over weekends. The trainings are popular because they provide simple and practical methods to get high levels of participation from students. Little Kids Rock bears similarity to the Suzuki method, which also stresses learning by ear (initially) over reading musical notation. Wish also draws from language acquisition theory and applies it to music. But the big distinction is that Little Kids Rock places a lot of emphasis on improvisation and composing, which are rarely encouraged in traditional music education. 5 We do a disservice to children when we force them in school to learn jazz or classical music because we think it’s good for them. Too often, rather than creating an entry point for a life of music appreciation, this approach tends to weed out those who don’t make an immediate connection with the music, or don’t have parents who force them to stickit out. Getting children excited by teaching them to play the music they love doesn’t mean they’ll be stuck listening to three chord songs their whole lives. If children make a durable connection with music, it’s more likely that over time, their musical tastes will evolve. 6 One of the biggest advantages that music offers is the ability to inspire students who are otherwise bored or demoralized by school. “I’ve had students start coming back to school because of this program,” said Allan Adkison, a Little Kids Rock instructor. Elaine Thomas, who heads up music for the Dallas Independent School District, added: “One of the best things is that the teachers discover a new side of their students. They see kids become successful who weren’t before.” 7 And the connection the kids make seems to last. Erik Herndon, a Little Kids Rock instructor at the Jean Childs Young Middle School in Atlanta, told me: “I’m just starting to see kids go on to college and a lot of them are sticking with it. One kid said to me, ‘I keep playing my guitar, but now when I listen to music I hear all the parts of it.’ That’s the whole idea: to promote that lifelong love of the music, rather than feeling that we killed it out of them.” Reading Comprehension 1. Music education hasn't changed fundamentally since .