In the early times, the music industry was terrified of taping (用磁带录音), thinking that customers would just copy music, or record from the radio. But that never really happened, at least not enough to cause any real hardship to anyone in the music business.

The same argument arose over technologies like MiniDiscs and recordable CDs. But the thing that terrified the music industry more than anything else was the arrival of services like Napster, which allowed people to share music over the Internet without costing them anything. The music industry was shocked; it saw people exchanging (交换) digital copies that didn’t degrade (削弱) the quality with each transfer, something that stopped tapes being a huge threat.

But it wasn’t the Internet that killed the music industry. In fact, everything is still looking optimistic for many musicians. Taylor Swift has had a good year, and her latest album is likely to make her very wealthy indeed. There is always going to be public demand for music.

However, the technology will simply destroy the record company. The reason is simple. Record companies are a man in the middle that simply doesn’t need to exist anymore. The same way we buy our flights direct, and do our shopping online and have things delivered from Amazon instead of going to a local shop. We have always been willing to enjoy cost reductions at the expense of the middleman, and the record companies are that kind of middleman.

What does the record industry offer? Well, surprisingly little these days. It used to be the case that record companies would go and find new talents. Of course this still happens, but more likely is that an artist will be discovered by the public through YouTube, or even from friends on Facebook or Twitter. Record companies also used to have an important role in producing the music. But countless artists are making their own way through software or any of the other amazing music apps, without any help from the record companies.

   A lot of people say math is not their strong suit. One New Jersey parent wants to help change that. Laura Overdeck grew up with numbers. She always helped measure ingredients（食材）when her mother baked，and she learned about angles from her father. She went on to major in astrophysics（天体物理学）in college. Overdeck wanted her own children to be good at math，too.“And when our first child was about two，we just started giving her a math problem every night，”Overdeck said. The problem was usually a story，involving animals，cars or candies that let the kid count.“Our third child started，at age two，yelling that he wanted his own math problem because he saw his brother and sister doing it. And we thought，‘Wow，we have a household where math is the popular thing at bedtime，’”Overdeck said.

In February，Overdeck set up Bedtime Math，an Internet website where she posts daily puzzles for children. Overdeck is particularly keen to hook（吸引）children on numbers before they go to school. So why introduce little ones to math so early？

Sian Beilock，an expert on performance anxiety，says the more fun and familiar math is early on，the less likely children will feel nervous when they start to learn math in school.“My lab has shown recently that kids as early as first grade report feeling anxious about doing math，”Beilock said.

“You can hear totally educated adults say，‘You know I’m just not that good at math.’or‘I’m kind of afraid of math.’And that’s a totally acceptable thing for a well-educated person to say，but you never hear them say，‘Well，you know，I’m just not that good at reading.’，”Overdeck said. She wants children and their parents to become as fluent in numbers as they are in Harry Potter.

   With the development of modern science and technology，the functions of cellphones have changed greatly.【小题1】 The only difference may be that they fit in your pocket and you pay by the minute to use them.Some of the things a cellphone can do for you will be available this year：

Surf at speed

Cellphones that let you use the Web have been around for years.So，what’s new？ Well，faster thirdgeneration (3G) networks that let you surf at anywhere.【小题2】 Possible choices are from IJG Electronics VX 8000 and Motorola V1150.Listen as you go.

【小题3】 There is no doubt that it is about to change.Sony Ericsson’s new W8001 can hold around 150 songs in its 500 MB memory.And Samsung’s SPHV5400 even comes with a 1.5GB hard drive.Mobile phones may eventually replace mini MP3 players，especially for teens.

Camera cellphones are not new either but most of them have limitations： around 1­megapixel (百万像素).However new technology has made 2­megapixel units more common，and 3­megapixel units are showing up soon.Some 2­megapixel models，like Sony Ericsson’s K7501，offer limited zoom and focus controls.【小题4】 Portable TV.

You say you like “watching TV”？ That’s what Samsung MMA700 wants to give you.The new model lets users watch popular TV programmes for a fee.Other choices are Nokia’s 6620， Sanyo’s MM740 and NEC’s N940.【小题5】

The above are just a handful of what you’ll see in the coming months.Further down the road，your mobile phone may play a host of other roles，such as mobile credit card，position locator and so on.So what is there that a cellphone can’t do？

China Daily is an English language daily newspaper 【小题1】 in Beijing, China.

China Daily 【小题2】 all the usual sections (版面) of a newspaper, 【小题3】 Home News — news about China, International News —news from 【小题4】, Business News, Travel News and Sports News.

There are 【小题5】 pictures and a weather report every day. Every Saturday there is a section about things to do at the weekend and the TV 【小题6】 in the coming week.

Many foreigners like to read this newspaper. It is also popular with students. Sun Yao, a student in Beijing, said, “I like reading China Daily. Learning new words and useful expressions can make great 【小题7】 to my progress in English. Besides, I enjoy learning about new things from 【小题8】 to sports and music.”

   The newspaper has been a part of our daily life for several centuries. It has been a way for the public to be informed of _____ events that are occurring around the world. Newspapers have _____ great changes over the course of history. Some of the _____ newspapers date back to Ancient Rome where important announcements (公告) were carved in stones and placed in highly populated areas, _____ in this way citizens could be informed of the announcements.

For centuries, many changes have _____ The biggest one was the use of the printing press. This change _____ the production of the newspaper, and the number of papers available to the public greatly increase    D. At the same time the change made it _____ for people to purchase one. These developments led to a (n) _____ in the newspaper industry where several different newspapers started to appear in big _____ , publishing morning, afternoon and evening editions. These papers ______ readers news, the weather and other features that informed and ______ them.

Over the course of time, however, newspaper costs continued to rise and the number of newspaper buyers continued to ______ This led to a vast reduction in the number of newspapers and newspaper editions at every market. ______ , with the increase in the use of ______ , the public no longer needed the newspaper for its source of ______ Other media such as radio, television and the Internet started to ______ the paper as an information source.

In recent years, newspapers and other media have ______ to the changing technology environment by starting to offer ______ editions to cater to (满足需要) the needs of the public. In the future, more ______ will be surely paid to the Internet, social media and other electronic methods. However, the newspaper and the industry ______ have a place in the world.