Every Sunday morning, as most people line up outside neighborhood breakfast spots, watch TV news shows, or head for church, Chloris Noelke－Olson is tuning up her fiddle. She's preparing to enjoy bluegrass music the old－fashioned way: with friends, at home, for free.

“To be able to play with other people face to face and have that sort of connection, it's spiritual，” Ms. Noelke－Olson said of the weekly house concerts in Chicago she participates in. “It's like a good conversation with instruments—something that doesn't seem to happen much anymore because everyone is blabbering(饶舌) on their cell phones.”

She is among a growing group of Americans who are finding it pleasant to unplug from the digital grid, at least temporarily. While there is no exact data to track how many people are forming knitting groups, hosting house concerts, or organizing family game nights, it is possible to connect the dots between the rising price of entertainment and the rising sales of board games (棋类游戏) and craft supplies.

Between 2007 and 2008, the prices for restaurant meals, concert tickets, and movie tickets all increased. At the same time, board games sales rose 6 percent, while total toy sales decreased 3 percent.

These trends are expected to continue because of the struggling economy. Instead of outfitting their homes with expensive home entertainment systems, consumers are more likely to be interfacing the old－fashioned way: eye－to－eye. Families are rediscovering ways to come together that have nothing to do with high tech.

“People are turning inward to build in enjoyment time for family and home”， said Linda Bettencourt, an interior designer in San Francisco whose clients typically live in million－dollar homes. Over the past six months, Ms. Bettencourt has been hired to redesign living spaces to foster the kind of connectivity that doesn't involve wires. “The big game table is back，” she says. “People want to sit around and see each other's faces rather than facing a flat－screen TV.”

1. Why is Chloris Noelke－Olson enjoying bluegrass music the old－fashioned way?

A. Because she likes playing musical instruments.

B. Because she wants to provide free music for her friends.

C. Because she doesn't like talking on the cell phone.

D. Because she likes to form a close connectivity with people.

2. Ms. Bettencourt has been hired to ________.

A. connect the rich people with others

B. redesign living space for the rich people

C. give some advice to people on connectivity

D. help people to save money

3. We can infer from the last paragraph that ________.

A. home designing has become a big business

B. rich people usually pay more attention to their living space

C. even rich people are changing their ways of entertainment

D. rich people spend more on home entertainment

4. This passage is about ________.

A. a new trend in people's entertainment in America

B. the present economic situation in America

C. the modern family life in America

D. the change of people's interest in America

5. If this passage is posted on the web, it most probably appears in the section of ________.

A. people  B. travel

C. environment  D. lifestyle

I feel like _________ a long walk. Would you like _______ with me?

Whoever has made a voyage up the Hudson River must remember the Catskill Mountains. They are a branch of the great Appalachian family, and can be seen to the west rising up to a noble height and towering over the surrounding country. When the weather is fair and settled, they are clothed in blue and purple, and print their beautiful shapes on the clear evening sky, but sometimes when it is cloudless, gray steam gathers around the top of the mountains which, in the last rays of the setting sun, will shine and light up like a crown of glory (华丽的皇冠).

     At the foot of these mountains, a traveler may see light smoke going up from a village.

     In that village, and in one of the houses (which, to tell the exact truth, was sadly time-worn and weather-beaten), there lived many years ago, a simple, good-natured fellow by the name of Rip Van Winkle.

     Rip's great weakness was a natural dislike of all kinds of money-making labor. It could not be from lack of diligence (勤劳), for he could sit all day on a wet rock and fish without saying a word, even though he was not encouraged by a single bite. He would carry a gun on his shoulder for hours, walking through woods and fields to shoot a few birds or squirrels. He would never refuse to help a neighbor, even in the roughest work. The women of the village, too, used to employ him to do such little jobs as their less helpful husbands would not do for them. In a word, Rip was ready to attend to everybody's business but his own.

      If left to himself, he would have whistled ( 吹口哨) life away in perfect satisfaction; but his wife was always mad at him for his idleness (懒散). Morning, noon, and night, her tongue was endlessly going, so that he was forced to escape to the outside of the house -- the only side which, in truth, belongs to a henpecked husband.

Which of the following best describes the Catskill Mountains?

     A. They are on the west of the Hudson River.

     B. They are very high and beautiful in this area.

     C. They can be seen from the Appalachian family.

     D. They gather beautiful clouds in blue and purple.

The hero of the story is probably_____________.

A. hard-working and likes all kinds of work

B. idle and hates all kinds of jobs

C. simple, idle but very dutiful

D. gentle, helpful but a little idle

The underlined words "henpecked husband" in the last paragraph probably means a man who

    A. likes hunting        B. is afraid of hens

    C. loves his wife        D. is afraid of his wife

What would be the best title for the text?

     A. Catskill Mountains.        B. A Mountain Village.

     C. Rip Van Winkle.          D. A Dutiful Husband.

I was at the grocery store one evening. I had finished shopping and was looking for a line to __1__. I chose a line that had one woman ready to __2__， and another woman behind her who didn't have very much.

As I was standing there waiting for my __3__， I noticed the woman directly in front of me. She looked __4__ she had just had some kind of medical treatment. Her __5__ looked as if she had known a lot of pain and was __6__ of everything. She had a backpack to carry her __7__ in and she had bought everything that one would need to __8__ one's self at home. She kept glancing at her groceries and kept __9__ the money in her hand. I kept thinking to myself, I wish I had __10__ to pay for her groceries. What can I do to help her out?

To my __11__， as these thoughts were going through my head, the woman ahead of her softly __12__ to the woman who didn't look well, “Put your money __13__， this one is on me.”

The woman __14__ her head a few times and the front woman kept __15__ until it happened.

As I walked outside the woman who didn't feel well was right there，__16__ her groceries in her backpack. I introduced myself, told her the __17__ I was heading in and asked if she would like a ride. She introduced herself and __18__. As she got out of my car she said to me, “God Bless you，” and I said the same. I just keep thinking, maybe I put it out (明白；清楚)there __19__ the thing I couldn't do someone else did but，__20__， I was presented with some other way to help her out—and that I could do!

1. A. get into          B.  pass by     C. wait for       D. look after

2. A. buy               B.  leave      C. pay           D. stand

3. A. bag               B.  turn       C. change        D. bill

4. A. even though                    B.  as if    

C. so that                          D. in case

5. A. feeling           B.  body       C. hand          D. face

6. A. careful           B.  proud      C. tired         D. considerate

7. A. groceries         B.  books      C. clothes       D. newspapers

8. A. devote           B.  attend     C. convince      D. ask    

9. A. holding          B.  taking     C. counting      D. folding

10. A. money          B.  chance     C. time          D. courage

11. A. disappointment            B.  joy       

C. surprise                  D. excitement

12. A. nodded            B.  waved      C. signed       D. whispered

13. A. away              B.  down       C. up          D. off

14. A. raised            B.  covered    C. shook         D. lowered

15. A. asking            B.  insisting   C. begging       D. buying

16. A. seeing            B.  putting    C. moving        D. taking

17. A. place             B.  store      C. direction      D. seat

18. A. refused           B.  stopped    C. waited        D. accepted

19. A. so                B.  or         C. and          D. but

20. A. in return                B.  in turn   

C. for example             D. or else

 The human-like robot, Repliee R-1,  looks,  moves and interacts like a human,  and has skin feeling _______to humans’.

A. familiar                    B. similar               C. same                 D. alike