B
“It was all his own idea, ” says Pat Peters, the 38-year-old wife of Palo Alto, California high school football coach Bob Peters, 39. Bob had just drawn up a “motherhood contract” --a document stating that for 70 days this summer he would take over the care and feeding of the couple’s four children, plus all household chores. Although he didn’t even know how to make coffee when he signed, he was quite confident.(He thought the experience would make a nice book.)
After 40 of the 70 days, he was ready to give up. “I was beaten down, completely humbled（挫败的）,”  admits Peters. Three weeks later he spoke to the local press, stating, “Not only is motherhood a difficult task, not only is it never-ending, it is an impossible job for any normal human being.”
Bob and Pat were high school sweethearts. After they were married in 1960, she worked as a secretary to help put him through university. Since then Bob has been the football and wrestling coach at Palo Alto’s Cubberley High while Pat raised the kids. Then two years ago Pat went back to work as a secretary at Cubberley. “I had been around children so much,” she sighs, “I couldn’t talk to a grown-up.” She continued to run the household, however----until Bob signed the contract, therefore, she decided to relax and enjoy it. 
Although Peters had consulted(咨询) with his school’s home economics teachers and the head of the cafeteria, his meals were sometimes a disaster. “I tried to slip the butter I’d forgotten under the eggs after they were frying, ” he says. For the last three weeks, the family ate out a lot—sometimes having Macdonald’s hamburgers for lunch and dinner.
As for housekeeping, a home economics teacher had told Bob that a room always looks clean if the bed is made. “I found an easier way-I shut the doors, ” he says. Soon the kids were wearing the same clothes for a week. “I made them wear their shirts inside out, and when we went to pick up Pat at work they turned them right side out so they would look clean.”
Now that Bob has publicly admitted he was wrong, he is routinely sharing the child-raising and household tasks with Pat. The tentative（暂时的） title of his book about the summer is taken from something he shouted at the kids one day.
45. The couple signed the contract because _______.
A. Pat complained a lot about her doing the housework all by herself
B. Bob loved taking care of children and wanted his wife to have a good rest
C. they agreed that husband and wife should share household tasks
D. Bob thought it easy to take care of the family and wanted the experience for a book
46. It was agreed that if Bob failed to keep to the contract, he would have to _______.
A. pay a certain amount of money
B.  admit publicly he was wrong about motherhood 
C. say sorry to his wife         D. do all the housework for years
47. What can we learn about Pat Peters?
A. She was hard-working and selfless.   B. She was pretty and kind-hearted.
C. She was tired of the child-raising and household tasks.
D. She did not love Bob any longer.
48. Which of the following can best end the news story?
A. “Wait till your mother gets home!”    B. “My experience of being a mother.”
C. “I’m proud of you all, my dear!”     D. “Motherhood: an impossible job for anyone.”

B

“It was all his own idea, ” says Pat Peters, the 38-year-old wife of Palo Alto, California high school football coach Bob Peters, 39. Bob had just drawn up a “motherhood contract” --a document stating that for 70 days this summer he would take over the care and feeding of the couple’s four children, plus all household chores. Although he didn’t even know how to make coffee when he signed, he was quite confident.(He thought the experience would make a nice book.)

     After 40 of the 70 days, he was ready to give up. “I was beaten down, completely humbled（挫败的）,”  admits Peters. Three weeks later he spoke to the local press, stating, “Not only is motherhood a difficult task, not only is it never-ending, it is an impossible job for any normal human being.”

     Bob and Pat were high school sweethearts. After they were married in 1960, she worked as a secretary to help put him through university. Since then Bob has been the football and wrestling coach at Palo Alto’s Cubberley High while Pat raised the kids. Then two years ago Pat went back to work as a secretary at Cubberley. “I had been around children so much,” she sighs, “I couldn’t talk to a grown-up.” She continued to run the household, however----until Bob signed the contract, therefore, she decided to relax and enjoy it. 

Although Peters had consulted(咨询) with his school’s home economics teachers and the head of the cafeteria, his meals were sometimes a disaster. “I tried to slip the butter I’d forgotten under the eggs after they were frying, ” he says. For the last three weeks, the family ate out a lot—sometimes having Macdonald’s hamburgers for lunch and dinner.

     As for housekeeping, a home economics teacher had told Bob that a room always looks clean if the bed is made. “I found an easier way-I shut the doors, ” he says. Soon the kids were wearing the same clothes for a week. “I made them wear their shirts inside out, and when we went to pick up Pat at work they turned them right side out so they would look clean.”

     Now that Bob has publicly admitted he was wrong, he is routinely sharing the child-raising and household tasks with Pat. The tentative（暂时的） title of his book about the summer is taken from something he shouted at the kids one day.

45. The couple signed the contract because _______.

    A. Pat complained a lot about her doing the housework all by herself

    B. Bob loved taking care of children and wanted his wife to have a good rest

    C. they agreed that husband and wife should share household tasks

    D. Bob thought it easy to take care of the family and wanted the experience for a book

46. It was agreed that if Bob failed to keep to the contract, he would have to _______.

    A. pay a certain amount of money

B.  admit publicly he was wrong about motherhood 

  C. say sorry to his wife         D. do all the housework for years

47. What can we learn about Pat Peters?

    A. She was hard-working and selfless.   B. She was pretty and kind-hearted.

    C. She was tired of the child-raising and household tasks.

    D. She did not love Bob any longer.

48. Which of the following can best end the news story?

 A. “Wait till your mother gets home!”    B. “My experience of being a mother.”

 C. “I’m proud of you all, my dear!”      D. “Motherhood: an impossible job for anyone.”

D

One day in early March of 1993, Pauline and Tom Nichter and their 11-year-old son Jason, were shopping for a toy in Buena Park, California. Suddenly, Pauline saw a wallet lying on the floor. When she looked inside, she found $200. The family, homeless and without work, knew that could change their lives. But they took the wallet to the nearby police station and turned it in. The wallet was found to have some other pockets, and more money in — over $2000! The police called the man who lost the wallet to pick it up. The man thanked the Nichters and shook their hands, but did not reward them. Luckily for the family, a TV news re??porter filmed the story. People from all over the world heard the story and sent them letters, money and even jobs. A businessman even let them live in his house for free for six months. So far, the family has received over $1, 000, 000. Now the Nichters’ future is bright.

68. The best title of the reading would be________.

    A. Money Is Everything               B. From Have-nots to Haves

       C. A Kind Businessman              D. A Lost Wallet and the Police

69. Who found out the “major part of the money” in the wallet?

       A. The police.               B. Jason.

       C. Someone else in the shop. D. The man who lost the wallet.

70. The words “reward them” in the reading means “_______”.

       A. speak highly of the Nichters             B. give something to the Nichters

    C. pay the policemen                    D. meet the news reporters

71. Which of the following is true about the Nichters?

   A. They got lots of money from a reporter.

   B. They made friends with the loser of the money.

   C. They worked for a business for half a year.

   D. They became known to many people.

It’s 10:30 p.m., and 11-year-old Brandon Blanco is sound asleep at home. Suddenly, a loud noise wakes him up. Naturally, Brandon reaches for his cell phone. He blinks twice, and the message on the screen becomes clear: “R U awake?”
But the late-night text does not annoy Brandon. He gets frequent messages and calls, even after bedtime. And he can’t imagine life without them. “If I didn’t have a cell phone, I wouldn’t be able to talk to my friends or family as often,” he told the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Brandon’s use of technology doesn’t stop there. He also has a computer, a TV and three video-game consoles（控制台）in his room. With so many devices, it is no surprise that when he is not at school, he spends nearly every waking minute using one or more of these devices. Brandon is hardly alone. According to a recent study by TFK, kids aged 8 to 18 are spending more time than ever before using electronic devices. How much time? More than seven and a half hours a day on average, the study found. That’s about an hour more than just five years ago.
The jump is the result of a huge explosion in mobile devices, says Victoria Rideout, the lead author of the study. “These devices have opened up many more opportunities for young people to use media, whether it’s on the bus, on the way to school or waiting in line at the pizza parlor,” says Rideout.
Often, kids multitask, or use more than one device at a time. “If you’ve got a chance to do something on your computer and take a phone call and have the TV on in the background, why not?” Media expert Cheryl Olson says. Most experts agree technology has much to offer kids. But some worry the kids could be missing out on other activities like playing outside or hanging out with friends. “It’s a matter of balance,” says Olson.
Multitasking while doing homework is another concern. Some kids listen to music, watch TV or use the phone while doing their homework. “It’s important to make sure that you can stop and concentrate on one thing deeply,” says Rideout.
With new and exciting devices hitting stores every year, keeping technology use in check is more important than ever. “Kids should try,” adds Rideout. “But parents might have to step in sometimes.”

1. 1.

   It can be learned from the text that _________.

   1. A.
      many teenagers lack friends in their middle school
   2. B.
      kids have too many electronic devices to choose from
   3. C.
      Brandon feels annoyed about his late-night message
   4. D.
      Olson is against teenagers’ using mobile phones
2. 2.

   Which of the following is an example of multitasking?

   1. A.
      Watching TV when using the computer.
   2. B.
      Talking on the phone when lying on the sofa.
   3. C.
      Playing video games after having lunch.
   4. D.
      Listening to loud music while relaxing.
3. 3.

   The underlined phrase “in check” in the last paragraph can be replaced by _________.

   1. A.
      in order
   2. B.
      in store
   3. C.
      in control
   4. D.
      in sight
4. 4.

   According to the text, Victoria Rideout would probably agree that kids should ______.

   1. A.
      do homework while watching TV
   2. B.
      have less homework
   3. C.
      spend more time on homework
   4. D.
      do homework in a place without disturbance

A new weapon is on the way in the fight against smoking in Europe.

Soon when smokers buy cigarettes, they might see a shocking photo of

a blackened lung or a cancer patient staring back at them from the packet.

       Some boys may think of smoking as cool and sexy. Their friends won’t

agree when they see their packets of cigarettes lying on the table.

The European Union announced on October 22, that it had chosen 42 photos that showed the damage cigarettes could do to the body. It called on member nations to put these pictures on packets to discourage young smokers.

To catch the attention of teenagers, the special packets warn of long-term medical dangers, like cancer. Short-term effects, like bad skin, are also on the list.

“The true fact of smoking is disease, death and horror. That is the message we should send to the young,” said David Byrne, an EU health official. “Hopefully these pictures will shock students out of their love for cigarettes.”

The EU head office hoped the pictures would work better than current written warnings on packs of cigarettes. The warning included “smoking kills” and “smoking can lead to a slow and painful death.”

So far, Ireland and Belgium have shown interest in the photos. Canada has used similar pictures and warnings on cigarette packs since 2000．The country has recently seen a fall in the number of smokers.

According to studies, smoking is the single biggest cause of avoidable death in EU. Every year more than 650,000 smokers die, more than one person a minute.

68．What would be the best title for the text?    

       A．New Ways to Stop Smoking.  B．Pictures to Shock Smokers.

       C．New Packers of Cigarettes.     D．Dangers of Smoking.

69．We can learn from the test that _______.

       A．The EU countries have put the new warning method into practice

       B．only a small number of the EU countries have used the new warning method

       C．the new warning method has worked in some EU countries

       D．countries in the EU still use the old warning method

70．Which country is most successful in stopping smoking?

       A．Ireland.    B．Belgium.  C．Canada.   D．EU

71．The underlined sentence in the last paragraph suggests that ________.

       A．It’s hard to stop smoking in EU

       B．deaths caused by smoking could have been avoided

       C．smoking is the biggest cause of deaths in EU

       D．EU has the largest number of deaths caused by smoking