They say that before long, we will be able to receive more than 500 television networks on cable(电缆). Some people think that it's silly to have that many channels. Their usual view goes something like this.

"I already get more channels on my TV than I have time to watch. No one needs to see that much TV. There's not enough time in the day to watch all that!" They also say that most of what's on television now isn't worth watching in the first place.

I think they're missing the point. If the local library wanted to add another 5,000 books, would we say, "That's silly. We'll never have time to read all those books?" The point is that we would have more choices.

I don't believe that most people should watch more television. And if we had 500 0r even l,000 channels to choose from, we wouldn't have to spend more time watching TV. We would, however, have better programmes to choose from. That means that the quality of our viewing time would improve.

So I should say that the more channels we can choose from, the better. Give me more choices! If they're not worth my time, I'll just hit the "off" button.

53. The writer is writing mainly to_______.

     A. give important information                B. express an opinion

     C. praise cable television                    D. get more channels to choose from

54. According to the passage, the writer wants to_______.

     A. have more choices when watching TV      B. buy more television sets

     C. read more books from the local library       D. spend more time watching TV

55. To make his point, the writer compares cable system to_______.

     A. families          B. computers                   C. libraries        D. networks

56. What can we learn from the passage?

     A. Some people prefer reading books to watching TV.

     B. Some people think they have no time to watch TV.

     C. The writer likes watching TV very much.

     D. The writer will turn off the TV if the programmes are boring.

They say that before long, we will be able to receive more than 500 television networks on cable(电缆). Some people think that it's silly to have that many channels. Their usual view goes something like this.

"I already get more channels on my TV than I have time to watch. No one needs to see that much TV. There's not enough time in the day to watch all that!" They also say that most of what's on television now isn't worth watching in the first place.

I think they're missing the point. If the local library wanted to add another 5,000 books, would we say, "That's silly. We'll never have time to read all those books?" The point is that we would have more choices.

I don't believe that most people should watch more television. And if we had 500 0r even l,000 channels to choose from, we wouldn't have to spend more time watching TV. We would, however, have better programmes to choose from. That means that the quality of our viewing time would improve.

So I should say that the more channels we can choose from, the better. Give me more choices! If they're not worth my time, I'll just hit the "off" button.

53. The writer is writing mainly to_______.

     A. give important information                B. express an opinion

     C. praise cable television                    D. get more channels to choose from

54. According to the passage, the writer wants to_______.

     A. have more choices when watching TV      B. buy more television sets

     C. read more books from the local library       D. spend more time watching TV

55. To make his point, the writer compares cable system to_______.

     A. families          B. computers                   C. libraries        D. networks

56. What can we learn from the passage?

     A. Some people prefer reading books to watching TV.

     B. Some people think they have no time to watch TV.

     C. The writer likes watching TV very much.

     D. The writer will turn off the TV if the programmes are boring.

When you watch TV and play video games you make global(全球的) warming worse! It may seem hard to believe, but when electricity is made, so are greenhouse gases(温室气体). This means that every time you use electricity you help make global warming worse!
Cars are also making global warming worse. They burn fossil fuels(化石燃料) in their engines, and send lots of greenhouse gases into the air.
Global warming may be a big problem, but we can all help stop it. People can try to drive their cars less. Or even get ones that run on sunlight! You can also help. Let’s try one of these top ideas:
(1) Try to use less electricity. Turn off lights, your television, and your computer when you’ve stopped using them. To make electricity, fossil fuels are burned in big factories. But burning fossil fuels also makes greenhouse gases. You should also try to watch less TV.
(2) Plant trees. Not only is it a fun thing to do, but it is also a great way to lower the number of greenhouse gases in the air. Trees take carbon dioxide out of the air when they grow.
(3) Don’t throw away your rubbish, try to recycle it. If rubbish is not recycled, it is put in the ground. There it rots(腐烂) and makes a greenhouse gas called methane(甲烷).So try to recycle cans, bottles, plastic bags and newspapers. It’ll make you feel great! And it’ll help the Earth.
【小题1】If we _____, we may make global warming worse.

A．use less electricity	B．drive a car on sunlight
C．plant trees	D．throw away rubbish

【小题2】We may use more electricity by______.

A．turning off lights	B．shutting down computers
C．turning up CD players	D．turning off TV

【小题3】______ will make global warming worse.

A．Methane

B．Cans

C．Newspapers

D．Bottles

【小题4】Using less electricity does good to global warming because_______.

A．the less electricity is used, the more greenhouse gases are produced

B．the more electricity is used, the more greenhouse gases are produced

C．more electricity is used, less greenhouse gases are produced

D．less electricity is used, more greenhouse gases are produced

【小题5】Which is the following is NOT TRUE according to the passage?

A．Driving cars on sunlight helps to stop global warming.

B．When cars burn fossil fuels, they produce greenhouse gases.

C．When trees grow, they send carbon dioxide into the air.

D．By planting more trees, we can lower the number of greenhouse gases in the air.

When you watch TV programs about wild animals, it is surprising to see how an antelope (羚羊) can run away from a strong lion. In the wilderness, everyone has his own way to protect himself. Even plants have their own ways to fight off enemies.

    Over millions of years, plants have developed their own defense system (防卫系统). Chemicals(化学物) are fantastically used by plants to survive . By making their leaves, flowers, roots and fruits poisonous (有毒的) to enemies, plants can fight back.

    One such plant is the Golden Wattle tree. The British scientist David Cameron has found when an animal eats the tree's leaves, the amount (数量) of poison increases in the other leaves. "It's like the injured leaves telephoning the others to fight together against the enemy", he said.

    The tree also sends defense messages to neighboring plants by giving out a special smell. Golden Wattle trees in the nearby 45 meters will get the message and produce more poison within 10 minutes. Now, if an enemy eats too many of the trees' leaves, he will die.

    Every kind of plant or tree is good at producing a special set of chemicals. Herbivores, like rabbits, can safely eat the leaves of one tree, but they may be poisoned by its neighbor.

    In this way, plants have not only developed their own defense system, but also shared it with others. This makes it impossible for a single animal to destroy even a small area of forest.

1.From the first 2 paragraphs, we can learn that_______.

A. plants can do nothing against their enemies

B. chemicals are quite useful for plants to survive

C. an antelope can always run away from a strong lion

D. leaves, roots, flowers and fruits of plants are poisonous

2.The underlined word "herbivores" in the 5th paragraph probably means animals which_______.

A. produce poison                            B. live on small animals

C. like to eat rabbits                 D. feed on plants or grass

3.The last paragraph of the passage suggests that this kind of defense system is_______.

A. bad for animals                             B. good for forests

C. helpful to some animals    D. harmful to forests

4.The passage is mainly about_____________________.

A. the examples of protecting forests

B.the balance between animals and plants

C. the ways of plants fighting against enemies

D. the relationship between lions and antelopes