未分类题

The Westlife story really began way back in December 1996 when the three original members of Westlife were performing in a local production of the musical GreasE.Shane Filan, Klan Egan and Mark Feehilly were all born and bred in Sligo, a small town a few hours west of the Republic of Ireland’s capital city, Dublin. During breaks the three would get together and sing covers of some of their favorite songs including Boyz Ⅱ Men’s I Make Love To You. The reaction to their singing was so positive that they decided to form. a band as soon as they had finished their exams at school. This they duly did and on July 3 1997 they formed I.O.U.
The boys organized concerts in the area and even produced their own CDs to sell locally. This local success led to an appearance on TV that was to prove extremely important. Among the viewers who saw the trio perform. in a children’s hospital was Boyzone’s manager, Louis Walsh. Soon after Shane’s mother contacted him about I.O.U. and found he had been desperately trying to get in contact with them.
Louis Walsh decided to hold auditions to recruit two new members in Jude of 1998. This is when Nicky Byme and Bryan McFadden, two Dublin boys and friends entered the picturE.A quick name change and Westside was born. Yes, WESTSIDE.This was to be the quintet’s name until they discovered another band already using the name and a final change to Westlife was called for, The final link in the chain was Ronan Keating, Boyzone’s lead singer, who at Louis Walsh’s request joined him to help and nurtured this raw talent. His experience proved an invaluable help.
The next step was to secure a record deal. The band organized a showcase in Dublin and soon reprentatives of every, major record label were offering the bewildered boys contracts. In October 1998 Westlife signed to RCA, a label that had a proven track record with the successful marketing of both Take That and Five,
Barely had the ink on the contract dried when they headed out on tour as part of the Smash Hits Show, which led to them winning the Best New Tour Act in December 1998 (this was an award Boyzone themselves had won in 1994 which seemed like a pretty good omen).
Styled by Kenny Ho, who was responsible for The Spice Girls image, Westlffe’s first single Swear It Again was released in March 1999. In their native Ireland it went straight to number one and became the biggest selling debut single in the history of the Irish charts. A month later Swear It Again repeated the feat in the UK, staying at number one for two weeks and following on from Boyzone’s dominance of the UK top spot. This success was soon matched all around Europe, Asia, Australia and New ZealanD.They look set to repeat their success now in the USA.A tour throughout the States has meant Swear It Again is rapidly climbing the Billboard charts. This is the good news the boys needed as Bryan McFadden recently suffered nervous exhaustion and had to miss some shows while recuperating back in Ireland with his family, blot only that but Ronan Keating’s solo plans have forced him to give up his co-managing duties due to lack of timE.More good news, though, is they have recently recorded with Mariah Carey and are due to begin work on their second album.
Before the I.O.U. was formed, its members were
A.neighbors.
B.classmates.
C.co-performers.
D.playmates.

A.O.U.
B.O.U.
C.
D.
E.
F.
Before
G.O.U.
H.neighbors.
B.classmates.
C.co-performers.

【参考答案】

C
解析：推断题。首先要明白I.O.U。的成员是指第2句中提到的Shane Filan，Kian Egan an......

(↓↓↓ 点击下方‘点击查看答案’看完整答案 ↓↓↓)

<上一题目录下一题>

热门试题

未分类题

Is there any evidence that the standard of English as a foreign language has improved in the years since the Second World War? Naturally, as it is the world language, more and mere people are taught it and use it. But do they speak it or write it or understand it better than their patents' or grandparents' generations?Have standards declined? There is no objective way of answering this question. Tests of the traditional sort— compositions, pr6cis writing, and so on—have always been subjective, so they cannot be used to judge whether people have got better or not over the years. But so-called objective tests are useless as a measure of progress too. They have not been used consistently in the same 'concentration' over the period they have been in use, so there is no way of comparing exams 'now' and 'then'. Moreover, usually in the form. of multiple choice questions, they do not, by and large, test the things that really count in mastering a languagE.Even comprehension is a partly 'creative' activity in real life, as we have to think of possible meanings for ourselves rather than have them suggested for us from outsidE.And people can be trained in the techniques of multiple choice, while others fail the tests because they have been led astray precisely by their 'suggestive' nature, so they are not really objective at all. We are left with only personal impression to go on.My own is that, if anything, standards have declined somewhat in the last thirty or forty years, despite all the new theories, tools and techniques that have been developeD.I am not alone in this judgment In Sweden, for instance, Professors Johannes Hedberg and Gu.slav Kofien, two of the most experienced workers in the field; have on several occasions drawn attention to the lack of progress in the teaching of foreign languages since the late fifties. Yet Sweden is a sophisticated society with extremely high educational and academic standards, and very concerned not to be cut off from the rest of the worlD.If such a country cannot achieve advances in the study of foreign languages, it is unlikely that many, if any, others have done so.Japan is another community where remarkably little progress has been made in the learning of English. It is probably as important for Japan as for Sweden to master that language, and there is much academic effort put into linguistic research of various kinds. Yet the average standard of language learning is abysmally low, particularly for such a highly literate and educated society. This is no doubt in part the result of a vicious circle: many of the professors of English at Japanese universities are themselves incapable of speaking or writing or even understanding the language well.Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?A.Multiple choice questions are objective because people cannot be trained any techniques.B.Sweden emphasizes the teaching of English without paying attention to other countries.C.We have to depend on our own impression to judge the English standards.D.Compositions are useful to test people's English ability because people have to write out their viewpoints.

A.B.slav
C.
D.
Which
E.Multiple
F.
B.Sweden
G.
C.We
H.
D.Compositions

未分类题

The trade and investment relationship between the European Union and the United States is the most important in the worlD.Despite the emergence of competitors, Europe and America are the dynamo of the global economy.This economic relationship is a foundation of our political partnership, which we all know has been through a difficult patch. The identity of interest between Europe and America is less obvious than during the cold war. But while the trans-Atlantic relationship is becoming more complex, that does not make it less important. As European commissioner for trade, I do not agree that European and American values are fundamentally diverging, or that our interests no longer coincidE.We still share a belief in democracy and individual freedoms, and in creating opportunity and economic openness. We face the same security challenges. We look ahead to shared global problems: poverty, migration, resource crises, climate changE.We need commitment and vision to redefine our relationship. I want to see a stronger and more balanced partnership -- one in which Europe is more united, more willing to take its role in global leadership and one where the United States is more inclined to share leadership with EuropE.We need to find ways to complement each other, not compete in the political arenA.We will not achieve either side of this equation without the other. Europe needs to build stronger foreign policies and to be ready to act on the world stagE.But equally, the body language we see from America has a huge impact on how Europeans view the partnership. Our common interest requires a strong Europe, not a weak and divided onE.I hope that the United States will reinforce its historical support for European integration.I am fortunate now to take over an area of policy in which Europe is highly effective: tradE.Our top trade priority on both sides of the Atlantic must be to put our weight behind the multilateral Doha development agendA.Concluding this negotiation in a way that lives up to its ambition will bring enormous benefits.Collectively, we took a major step in reaching the framework agreement in Geneva last July, following the lead taken by the E.U. on agriculture export subsidies. We now look to the United States and others to follow that lead, and we need to accelerate work in other areas -- on industrial tariffs and services -- to achieve a balanced result.The Doha round of talks differs from any other in its focus on development. Europe and the United States must ensure that poorer countries are fully engaged and derive benefits. But the issues we need to tackle to stimulate growth and innovation in trans-Atlantic trade are not those on the Doha agendA.Our markets are relatively open and highly developeD.We need to concentrate on removing regulatory and structural barriers that inhibit activity. This is about cutting international red tapE.Our regulatory systems and cultures are different, but that is where real gains can be madE.As E.U. trade commissioner I want to develop an ambitious but practical trans-Atlantic agendA.I am not inclined to set rhetorical targets or launch lofty initiatives. I want a set of achievable goals.Work on trans-Atlantic deregulation will also contribute to the central goal of the new European Commission: promoting growth and jobs in EuropE.I am not naivE.I am not turning a blind eye to the inevitable disputes in trans-Atlantic tradE.They are relatively small as a proportion of total trade, but they make the headlines. They reflect the huge volume of our trade and investment flows. That is gooD.They also reflect our readiness to settle disputes in the World Trade Organization. That is also gooD.The WTO is the best example of effective multilateralism that the world has so far inventeD.I hope we will work together to uphold it. If multilateralism is to be worthwhile, it has to be efA.machineB.powerC.sourceD.center

A.B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
G.
H.
I.
J.
K.machine
B.power
C.source