show in Britain. So what's the secret?

　　"We get lots of bands to perform live in the studio，" says producer Chris Cowey."That just doesn't happen on other shows."

　　Chris starts planning the programme over a week before it goes out. His first job is to decide which bands to have on the show. When the chart of the top twenty songs is produced on Sunday, Chris can start to book the bands.

　　Monday starts with Chris meeting his sound, lighting and camera workers. They listen to each song and plan the show. Tuesday is paperwork day. There are booking to make sure of letters to answer and lots of phone calls to make. The show is on Thursday. Bands arrive at the studio from 10 o'clock in the morning and start practicing. Tonight's presenter, Jo Whiley, practices too.

　　First the bands go to make­up. Judy and Issy are the make­up artists."We see the stars with no make­up on, looking terrible，" says Issy. Then the bands go to the costume department where Marianne dresses the stars.

　　Back in the studio things are happening. The audience are practicing their dance moves! It takes over two hours to record the whole programme, then Chris edits it all night long. The final version is exactly 29 minutes long.

　　1．What makes Top of the Pops still the most popular in Britain?

　　A．The live performances in the studio.

　　B．The jobs carefully done by the workers of the TV station.

　　C．The great fame of the bands.

　　D．The large numbers of pop fans in Britain.

　　2．When the bands receive the invitations to the performance, ________.

　　A．they must decide on the songs

　　B．they don't have to decide what songs they will perform

　　C．the songs that will be performed haven't been decided on

　　D．they have no idea what songs they will perform

　　3．The underlined word "costume" in Paragraph 6 probably means "________"．

　　A．make­up B．stage

　　C．studio D．clothes

　　4．Which is the proper title for the passage?

　　A．More Popular, More Successful

　　B．A Stage for Pop Stars

　　C．Go Backstage of Top of the Pops

　　D．A Popular Live Band

　　B

　　Listening to music can help me focus better. Since I discovered it two years ago, I've used music to get through boring work or to focus creatively. I've found that it can make even the dullest jobs enjoyable and help clear mental blocks to creativity.

　　I first noticed the good effects of music while playing video games. It was a few days before Christmas in 2008 and I was playing online video games. My parents had just given me a new MP3, so I decided to listen to music through the headphones while I played. After a few minutes I noticed a great change in my style of play. I was playing more naturally. The music relaxed me, and, to a certain extent, distracted me from the game, allowing my subconscious (潜意识的) talent to come through. The music also helped me block out the outside world. With those headphones on I was like a machine, moving from one task to the next without unnecessary thoughts or actions.

Music can also have a great effect on mood. If I'm in a bad mood at work, I'll listen to some of Bob Marley's and get down to business. It always takes my mind off what I'm doing and makes