The first reality TV show in the world was called Expedition Robinson and it was shown in Sweden in
1997. Half the population of the country watched the final event and a new kind of TV program was born.
Two years later in Holland, the first series of Big Brother was filmed. Again, it was a great success and the
final program was watched by 15 million people. Now more than 20 countries around the world have Big
Brother or Expedition Robinson on their TV screens. The ordinary people who take part in the programs
are known by millions of people in their own countries and reality TV has become big, big business.
     For the TV producers, reality TV is a dream which come true because many of the programs cost nothing
to make. At some point, the television viewers (观众) are asked to telephone the program to vote or to apply
to take part in the show. It is the cost of these telephone calls that pays for the shows. One of the most
popular shows is Pop Idol. In the show, a group of attractive young people are made into pop stars. TV
viewers vote for their favorite person on the show. The winner makes a record and millions of copies of the
record are sold. His or her pictures are published on the covers of magazines or on the front pages of
newspapers, and then, they are quickly forgotten.
     But not everyone is happy about reality TV. In Portugal, two TV channels got into trouble because they
showed too much of the personal lives of the people in the shows. In France, reality TV is called "rubbish
TV" and the TV studios of Big Brother were attacked three times in one week. In Greece, Big Brother was
described as "against human rights and civilization".

1. Those who take part in reality TV shows are usually _____.

A. common people
B. pop TV Stars
C. attractive people
D. famous film stars

2. Who would pay for the cost of reality TV shows according to the passage?

A. TV producers who make reality TV shows.
B. TV actors who take part in reality TV shows.
C. TV viewers who telephone reality TV shows.
D. TV companies which broadcast reality TV shows.

3. Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?

A. Pop Idol is one of the popular reality TV shows in the world.
B. Big Brother was one of the first reality TV shows in the world.
C. Rubbish TV is one of the personal reality TV shows in the world.
D. Expedition Robinson was the first reality TV show in the world.

4. It can be concluded from the passage that _____.

A. everyone is happy about reality TV
B. reality TV will do well in many countries
C. all the people in Europe are in favor of reality TV
D. reality TV will not be broadcast in any countries

     With a good shopping position and the right amount (数量) of money, any educated person ought to
be able to make a living out of a bookshop. It is not a difficult trade to learn and the large chain-stores
can never force the small bookseller out of existence as they have done to the corner shop. But the hours
of work are very long-I was only doing a part-time job, but my boss put in a seventy-hour week,besides
regular journeys out of shopping hours to buy books.
     The real reason why I should not like to be back in the book trade for life, however, is that while I was
in it I lost my love of books. A bookseller cannot always tell the truth about his books, and that gives him
a dislike for them. There was a time when I really did love books-loved the sight and smell and feel of
them-if they were fifty or more years old, that is. Nothing pleased me quite so much as to buy a bargain lot
of them on sale for several pounds. There is a peculiar flavour (独特的味道) about the unexpected books
you pick up in that kind of collection: little-known eighteenth-century poets, or out-of-date geography
books. For occasional (偶尔的) reading-in your bath, for example, or late at night when you are too tired
to go to bed-there is nothing as good as a very old picture story-book.
     But as soon as I went to work in the bookshop I stopped buying books. Seen in a mass. five or ten
thousand at a time, books were dull and even a little tiresome. Nowadays I do buy one occasionally, but
only if it is a book that I want to read and can't borrow, and I never buy rubbish.

1. According to the passage, _____ is one of the necessary conditions to run a bookshop.

A. an educated shop-owner
B. a good position at a street corner
C. a regular journey out of the shop
D. the force of large chain-stores

2. The author should not like to be back as a bookseller for life because _____.

A. he hated his job of selling books
B. selling books was only a part-time job
C. the books in the shop gave him a dislike
D. he was unable to be honest about the books he sold

3. The books preferred by the author should be those _____.

A. stories making readers sleepless
B. valuable ones bought on sale
C. peculiar ones with great expectation
D. geography ones from the eighteenth century

4. The author will only buy new books _____.

A. if he feels dull and tired
B. after he gives up his job as a bookseller
C. which are interesting but hard to borrow
D. when he throws away old ones

     Rome had the Forum. London has Speaker's Comer. Now always-on-the-go New Yorkers have Liz and
Bill.      
     Liz and Bill, two college graduates in their early 20s, have spent a whole year trying to have thousandsd
people talk to them in subway stations and on busy street comers. Just talk.
     Using a 2-foot-tall sign that says, "Talk to Me," they attract conversationalists, who one evening included
a mental patient, and men in business suits.
     They don't collect money. They don't push religion (宗教). So what's the point?  
     "To see what happens," said Liz. "We simply enjoy life with open communication (交流)."
     Shortly after the September 11, 2001 attacks, they decided to walk from New York City to Washington,
a 270-mile trip. They found they loved talking to people along the way and wanted to continue talking with
strangers after their return.
     "It started as a crazy idea," Liz said. "We were so curious about all the strangers walking by with their life
stories. People will talk to us about anything: their jobs, their clothes, their childhood experiences, anything?" 
     Denise wanted to talk about an exam she was about to take. She had stopped by for the second time in
two days, to let the two listeners know how it went.
     Marcia had left her husband to a serious disease. "That was very heavy on my mind," Marcia said. "To
be able to talk about it to total strangers was very good," she explained. 
     To celebrate a year of talking, the two held a get-together in a city park for all the people they had met
over the past year. A few hundred people showed up, as well as some television cameramen and reporters.  
     They may plan more parties or try to attract mare people to join their informal talks. Some publishers have
expressed interest in a book, something they say they'll consider.

1. What did Liz and Bill start doing after September 2001? 

A. Chatting with people.
B. Setting up street signs.
C. Telling stories to strangers.
D. Organizing a speaker's comer.

2. What they have been doing can be described as _____?

A. pointless
B. normal
C. crazy
D. successful

3. Why are Denise and Marcia mentioned in the text?

A. They knew Liz and Bill very well.
B. They happened to meet the writer of the text.
C. They organized the get-together in the city park.
D. They are examples of those who talked to Liz and Bill.