I needed to buy a camera, one that was simply good at taking good snaps (快照). So I went on the net, spent 15 minutes reading product reviews on good websites, wrote down the names of three top recommendations (推荐) and headed for my nearest big camera store. There in the cupboard was one of the cameras on my list. And it was on special offer. Oh joy. I pointed at it and asked a salesgirl, “Can I have one of those?” “Do you want to try it first?" she said. It didn’t quite sound like a question. “Do I need to?” I replied. “There’s nothing wrong with it?” “No, no. But you should try it,” she said encouragingly. “Compare it with the others.”
I looked across at the others: shelves of similar cameras placed along the wall, offering different prices. With so many models to choose from, it seemed that I would have to spend hours weighing X against Y, always trying to consider Z and possibly H at the same time. But when I had finished, I would still have only the same two certainties that I had entered the store with: first, soon after I carried my new camera out of the shop, it would be worth half what I paid for it; and second, my wonderful camera would very quickly be replaced by a new model.
But something in the human soul whispers that you can beat these traps (陷阱) by making the right choice. In the end, I agreed to try the model I had chosen. The salesgirl seemed a kind girl. So I let her take out my chosen camera from the cupboard, show how it took excellent pictures of my fellow shoppers... and when she started to introduce the special features, I cut in to ask whether I needed to buy a carry-case and a memory card as well.
Why do we think that new choices still offer us anything new? Perhaps it is because they offer a chance to avoid facing the fact that our real choices in this culture are far more limited than we would like to imagine.
小题1:The salesgirl insisted that the writer should ______.

A．try the camera to see if there was anything wrong with it

B．compare the camera he had chosen with the others

C．get more information about different companies

D．trust her and stop asking questions

小题2:What does the writer mean by “it would be worth half what I paid for it”?

A．The camera was not good.

B．He should get a lower price.

C．The camera would soon fall in value.

D．The price of the camera was too high.

小题3:The writer decided to try the model he had chosen because he ______.

A．knew very little about it

B．didn’t trust the salesgirl any more

C．wanted to make sure he chose the best one

D．wanted to take pictures of his fellow shoppers

小题4: It can be inferred from the passage that in the writer’s opinion, ______.

A．salespersons are not always very kind

B．people waste too much money on cameras

C．cameras have become an important part of our daily life

D．we don’t actually need so many choices when buying a product

Sam Higgins was a famous photographer. He travelled all over the world, taking photos for magazines and newspapers. He had photographs of earthquakes, forest fires, floods, even wars. If something interesting happened, Sam went to photograph it. His photographs won many prizes and he earned a lot of money.
He was a married man and his wife often asked him to take her with him, but he always refused. “I travel for work, not for pleasure,” he told her. “You won’t enjoy yourself, and I won’t have time to look after you. Sometimes there’s not even anywhere to stay and I have to sleep outside. I often don’t have a good meal or a bath for days. You won’t like it”
“Sam, I’m not a child,” his wife argued. “I can look after myself. Please, take me with you next time you go overseas.”
Sam did not say anything but he thought about it, and when he was asked to go to Africa he said, “You can come to Africa with me if you want to. I’ve got to take photographs of the wildlife there. It should be interesting and not too uncomfortable. We’ll be staying with a ranger(森林管理员) ”
His wife was very excited, and at first she had a very enjoyable time.
Then one day, Sam went off to find some lions to photograph. His wife went with him, but before long they became separated(分开). They came to a fork on the way, and she walked down one way while he walked down the other. Then Sam heard her screaming. He ran back to the fork on the way and saw her running forward him. A huge lion was chasing her. Quickly Sam took out his camera and pointed it at his wife and the lion. Then he shouted, “Slow down, woman. I can’t get you both in the picture.”
小题1:Sam Higgins made his money by             .
A. travelling           B. appearing in many magazines            C. taking photos
小题2:He never took his wife with him because             .
A. he thought she didn’t enjoy it.                
B. his wife refused to go with him  
C. he thought his work was dangerous.
小题3:When Sam ran back and saw his wife, he             .
A. tried to save her   
B. was too frighten to save her  
C. wanted to take a wondul picture.
小题4:What does “fork” mean in this passage ?
A.a place where a road divides into two parts
B. a tool used for digging(挖) the ground
C. an instrument used for lifting food to the mouth.
小题5:We can infer(推断) that          .
A. Sam was crazy about photography         
B. Sam didn’t love his wife at all
C. Sam’s wife was very beautiful