"Yes, but what did we use to do before there was television?" How often we hear statements like this! Television hasn't been with us all that long, but we are already beginning to forget what the world was like without it. Before we admit the one-eyed monster into our homes,  we never found it difficult to occupy our spare time. We used to enjoy civilized pleasures. For instance, we used to have hobbies, we used to entertain our friends and be entertained by them, we used to go outside for our amusements to theaters, cinemas, restaurants and sporting events. We even used to read books and listen to music and broadcast talk occasionally. All that belongs to the past. Now all our free time is regulated by the "goggle-box". We rush home or gulp down（吞咽）our meals to be in time for this or that program. We have even given up sitting at table and having a leisurely evening meal, exchanging the news of the day. A sandwich and a glass of beer will do-anything providing it doesn't interfere with the program. The monster demands and obtains absolute silence and attention. If any member of the family dares to open his mouth during a program, he is quickly silenced.

The whole generations are growing up addicted to the telly (television). Food is left uneaten, homework undone and sleep is lost. The telly is universal pacifier（抚慰者）．It is now standard practice for mother to keep the children quiet by putting them in the living-room and turning on the set.It doesn’t matter that the children will watch rubbishy commercials or violence－so long as they are quiet.

There is little limit to the amount of creative talent available in the world. Television consumes vast quantities of creative work. That is why most of programs are bad:  it is impossible to keep pace with the demand and maintain high standards as well. When millions watch the same programs,  the whole world becomes a village, and society is reduced to the conditions which obtain in preliterate（无文字的）communities. We become completely dependent on the two most primitive media of communication: pictures and the spoken word.

Television encourages passive enjoyment. We become content with secondhand experiences. It is so easy to sit in our armchairs watching others working. Little by little, television cuts us off from the real world. We got so lazy; we choose to spend a fine day in semi-darkness, glued to our sets, rather than go out into the world itself. Television may be a splendid medium of communication, but it prevents us from communicating with each other. We only become aware how totally irrelevant television is to real living when we spend a holiday by the sea or in the mountain, far away from civilization. In quiet, natural surroundings, we quickly discover how little we miss the repetitive oppression of King Telly.

1.According to this passage, which of the following statements is NOT true?

A．We used to have hobbies and go to theaters and sporting events.

B．We have a leisurely evening meal and exchange the news when we watch TV.

C．We quickly finish our meals so as to be in time for TV programs.

D．We are usually silent and attentive in front of TV.

2. The main idea of the second paragraph is to show that_____.

A．children are very noisy

B．TV is full of rubbishy commercials or violence

C．television disturbs our sleep

D．the whole generations are fascinated with TV

3.Which is the best title for this passage?

A．Television Encourages Passive Enjoyment

B．Television Is Doing Irreparable（不能挽回的）harm

C．Television Is a Universal Pacifier

D．We Can't Live Without TV

4.This passage is an article of_____.

A．narration	B．description
C．criticism	D．argumentation

 

Free energy is everywhere around us. There are many ways to make and collect energy from various sources like sun, wind and water. People also realize that everyday stuff can be a source of energy too. For example, riding a bike, running or just walking, etc. We simply have to change our way of thinking if we want to change the world.

So comes the idea of solar roadways. Are they the road of future? Why use roads just for driving and collecting tolls (过路费)? Why don’t we use them for collecting energy?

The US Department of Transportation recently awarded $100,000 to Solar Roadways to build the first ever Solar Road Panel. So how do these future roads work?

The Solar Road Panels will contain embedded (嵌入的) LEDs which “paint” the road lines from beneath to provide safer nighttime driving as well as to give drivers instant instructions such as detour (绕行) ahead. The road will be able to sense wildlife on the road and can warn drivers to “slow down”. There will also be embedded heating elements in the surface to prevent snow and ice buildup, providing safer winter driving.

Replacing asphalt (沥青) roads and parking lots with Solar Roadway Panels will be a major step toward stopping climate change. Fully electric vehicles will be able to recharge along the roadway and in parking lots, finally making electric cars practical for long trips.

We just can’t wait to see more of these roads all over the world in the near future.

1.The first paragraph serves as a(n)______.

A. argument      B. comment       C. explanation      D. background

2.Which of the following is NOT true of LEDs?

A. They color the road lines.   

B. They are embedded in the Solar Road Panels.

C. They are beneficial for nighttime driving.

D. They can provide instant instructions.

3. When some animals are on the solar road, what will the road do?

A. Guide them to a safer place.           B. Remind drivers to drive slowly.

C. Frighten them away from the road.      D. Advise drivers to choose another way.

4. From the text, we can know that the Solar Road Panels can______.

A. provide heat for drivers in winter  

B. guide drivers who get lost on the highway

C. melt snow and ice soon in winter        

D. help drivers see the road clearly in the sun

 

I have had just about enough of being treated like a second-class citizen, simply because I happen to be that unfairly treated member of society --- a customer. The more I go into shops and hotels, banks and post offices, railway stations, airports and the like, the more I am convinced the things are being run solely to suit the firm, the system, or the union. There seems to be a deceptive (欺骗的) new motto for so-called “service” organizations --- Staff Before Service.

　　 How often, for example, have you queued for what seems like hours at the Post Office or the supermarket because there were not enough staff on duty to man all the service grilles or checkout counters? Surely in these days of high unemployment it must be possible to hire cashiers and counter staff. Yet supermarkets, hinting darkly at higher prices, claim that uncovering all their cash registers at any one time would increase operating costs. And the Post Office says we cannot expect all their service grilles to be occupied “at times when demand is low”.

　　  It is the same with hotels. Because waiters and kitchen staff must finish when it suits them, dining rooms close earlier or menu choice is cut short. As for us guests, we just have to put up with it. There is also the nonsense of so many friendly hotel night porters having been thrown out of their jobs in the interests of “efficiency” and replaced by coin-eating machines which offer everything from lager to laxatives (从贮藏啤酒到通便剂). Not to mention the tea-making kit in your room: a kettle with a mixed collection of tea bags, plastic milk boxes and lump sugar. Who wants to wake up to a raw teabag? I do not, especially when I am paying for “service”.

　　Can it be stopped, this worsening of service, this growing attitude that the customer is always a bore? I angrily hope so because it is happening, sadly, in all walks of life.

　　Our only hope is to hammer home our anger whenever and wherever we can and, if all else fails, bring back into practice that other, older slogan --- Take Our Deal Elsewhere.

 

1.The writer feels that nowadays customers __________.

A. deserve the lowest status in society

B. are unworthy of proper consideration

C. have received high quality service

D. have become victims of modern organizations

2.The writer argues that the quality of service is changing because __________.

A. customers’ demands have greatly changed

B. the staff receive more consideration than customers

C. customers’ needs have become more complex

D. staff members are less considerate than their employers

3.According to the writer, long queues at counters are caused by __________.

A. not having enough male staff on duty

B. difficulties in hiring more efficient staff

C. lack of cooperation between staff members

D. not providing enough staff on purpose to reduce budget

4.The writer suggests that a customer __________.

A. be patient when queuing before checkout counters

B. put up with the rude manners of the staff

C. try to control his temper when ill-treated

D. go to other places where good service is available

 

As the world prepares to mark the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day on March 8, a new report details the progress and challenges girls face in getting an education.

The report – from the Education for All Fast Track Initiative – highlights the importance of girls’ education for economic(经济的) and social development. It follows progress in Ethiopia, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Guinea, Mauritania, Mozambique and Niger.

Prema Clarke, author of Fast-tracking Girls’ Education, says, “Progress for girls’ education is that they can leave their homes, leave their families and come to a place to study and to learn.  And that’s a big achievement because otherwise these girls have to stay at home, looking after their brothers and sisters, doing the cooking or doing the cleaning.”

She says progress toward the Millennium Development Goals and those of Education for All “is allowing and enabling girls and forcing countries to look at this issue(问题) and to ensure that interventions (干预) help girls attend school.”

Benefits

Improving education for girls brings many benefits, says Clarke. “It means that girls can then enter the workforce. They can look after their own families much more effectively. They can prevent child death rate. They can educate their own girl children when they begin to expand their own families.” Studies show that having an educated female population helps to improve a country’s health and economic well-being.

Warnings

The report says, “In developing countries, too many girls are not in school, and many girls face continuing health risks and danger just walking to class.”

   “Especially in the fragile and post-conflict countries and in many of the African countries, this is a real issue,” she says. Till now, the interventions have been so focused on providing schooling and providing teachers, etc. And now I think there is much more expanded focus on looking at specific（特定的）communities of girls within at-risk groups that now need much more specific attention and much more creative solutions(解决方法) to help them attend school.”

1.The underlined word “highlights” in Paragraph 2 probably means ________.

A. shows           B. stresses           C. remarks          D. improves

2. According to Clarke, improving education can provide girls with all the opportunities EXCEPT _______.

A. to educate their own girl children           B. to prevent child death rate

C. to enter the workforce                   D. to study abroad

3.This passage is intended to _____.

A. promote the progress in girls’ education

B. talk about the benefits of improving girls’ education

C. give some information about the education girls are facing

D. sing high praise for the girls’ education

4.It can be inferred from the passage that _______.

A. the girls’ educational situation in developing countries is still serious

B. girls were free to go wherever they wanted to in the past

C. there are enough teachers in most of the African countries

D. International Women’s Day was first celebrated on March 8 in 1900

 

 

 In order to stop poverty, the World Bank has ______ its focus to providing technical assistance and long-term loans to developing countries.

A. fixed                B. exchanged         C. transferred                D. switched