"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 admitted the "one-eyed monster" into our homes, we never found it difficult to occupy our spare time. We used to enjoy civilised pleasures. For instance, we used to have hobbies, entertain our friends and be entertained by them, go outside for our amusements. We even used to read books and listen to music occasionally. Now all our free time is regulated by the "goggle box". We rush home for our meals to be in time for this or that programme. A sandwich and a glass of beer will do—anything, providing it doesn't interfere with the programme. The monster demands and obtains absolute silence and attention. If any member of the family dares to open his mouth during a programme, he is quickly silenced.
Whole generations are growing up addicted to the television. Food is left uneaten, homework undone and sleep is lost. The television is a universal thing that makes people calm. 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 what the children will watch—so long as they are quiet.
Television encourages passive enjoyment. We become content with second-hand 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 get so lazy, we choose to spend a fine day in semi-darkness. 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 mountains. In quiet, natural surrounding, we quickly discover how little we miss the King television.
【小题1】.
. Through the passage, the writer aims to tell us ________.

A．how television is damaging our health

B．how to keep away from watching television

C．that television is doing harm to our life

D．all of us find it difficult to live without television

The Same Story, Different Reports

Belton and Canfield are two seashore towns, not far apart. Both towns have many hotels, and in summer the hotels are full of holiday- makers and other tourists(观光者).

Last August there was a fire at the Sea breeze Hotel in Belton. The next day, this news appeared on page two of the town’s newspaper, The Belton Post:

FIRE AT SEABREEZE

Late last night firemen hurried to the Sea breeze Hotel and quickly put out a small fire in a bedroom. The hotel manager said that a cigarette started the fire. We say again to all our visitors: “Please don’t smoke cigarettes in bed.” This was Belton’s first hotel fire for five years.

The Canfield Times gave the news in these words on page one.

ANOTHER BELDON HOTEL CATCHES FIRE

Last night Belton firemen arrived just too late to save clothing, bedclothes and some furniture at the Sea breeze Hotel. An angry holiday-maker said, “An electric lamp probably started the fire. The bedroom lamps are very old at some of these hotels. When I put my bedside light on, I heard a funny noise from the lamp.” We are glad to tell our readers that this sort of adventure does not happen in Canfield.

What are the facts, then? It is never easy to find out the exact truth about an accident. There was a fire at the Sea breeze Hotel last August: that is one fact. Do we know anything else? Yes—we know that firemen went to the hotel.

Now what do you think of the rest of the “news”?

Which of the following best gives the main idea of this text?

A. Belton and Canfield are both good places for tourists in summer.

B. A fire broke out one night in Sea breeze Hotel last summer.

C. It was not easy to find out exact truth from newspapers.

D. Two newspapers gave reports on the same matter.

Which of the following are probably facts?

a. The fire broke out in a bedroom at the hotel.

b. A cigarette started the fire.

c. An old lamp started the fire.

d. The fire broke out at night.

e. There has never been a fire in Canfield.

A. b and c      B. a and d

C. c and e       D. a and c

The Canfield Times used the headline (标题) like this in order to make its readers think _______.

A. hotels in Belton often catch fire

B. hotels in Belton don’t often catch fire

C. this was the second fire at the Sea breeze Hotel

D. Belton was a good place except that hotels there are not quite safe

The Canfield newspaper gave a report just the opposite to the Belton Post by saying that _______.

A. the bedroom lamps were very old at the Sea breeze Hotel

B. the bedroom lights made funny noise when the fire took place

C. the firemen failed to save clothing, bedclothes and other things

D. such accidents never happened in Canfield for the past 5 years

Four Simple Keys to Transform Your Life
The Power of Choice．Every one of us makes countless choices every day．Every choice we make has an impact on our lives．Even insignificant choices can affect what we experience and how we feel．When hunger strikes, we can reach for a healthy, nutritious snack, or we can choose the sugar high of junk food．The more important the decision, the greater its effect．For instance, how do I act towards that person who treated me badly? Do I generally choose to be passive, or do I actively set clear intentions and create what I want in my life? Every choice we make, however big or small, affects us in some way．
How Do You Make Choices? If you are interested in living a richer, fuller life, there is a foundation upon which you can base all of your decisions which can make life better not only for you, but also for those around you．This foundation is to choose based on what's best for all．Imagine a world where every parent, spouse（配偶）, friend, teacher, business person, and politician truly did their best to choose what's best for all involved in every decision they made. We would certainly live in a more caring, supportive world．
It's the Intention．"But how do I know what is really best?" you might ask．The answer is simple．It doesn't matter．What matters is not the choice you make, but rather the intention beind your choice．What matters is that whatever decision you make, you are clear in your intention of choosing based on what's best for all．If it later turns out that you made what appears to have been a bad choice, there's no need for guilt．Knowing that you did your best to choose with a sincere desire for what's best for all, your conscience stays clear and open．This then allows you to more easily learn from your mistakes, and to live with a clear heart and mind．
What's Best for Me, Too! Choosing what's best does not mean you have to always sacrifice yourself for others．An overly(过度的) exhausted mother can lose her temper easily．Some time off for this mother might seem selfish, yet in the long run, it can help her to be a better mother to her children．So as we move through each day of our lives, let us remember to include ourselves as we do our best to choose what's best for all．
【小题1】Which of the following is FALSE?

What I Want for You and Every Child in America
Dear Malia and Sasha,
I know that you’ve both had a lot of ___（31） these last two years on the campaign trail, going to picnics and parades and state fairs, eating all sorts of junk food your mother and I probably shouldn’t have let you have．But I also know that it hasn’t always been easy for you and Mom, and that as excited as you both are about that new puppy, it doesn’t ____（32）for all the time we’ve been apart．I know ____（33）I’ve missed these past two years, and today I want to tell you a little more about why I decided to take our family on this journey．
When I was a young man, I thought life was all about me-about how I’d___（34） my way in the world, become successful, and get the things I want．But then the two of you came into my____（35） with all your curiosity and mischief （捣乱） and those smiles that never____（36） to fill my heart and light up my day．
I want all our children to go to schools_____（37） of their potential-schools that challenge them, inspire them, and instill （灌输） in them a sense of_____（38） about the world around them．I want them to have the chance to go to college____（39）their parents aren’t rich．And I want them to get good jobs: jobs that pay well and give them benefits like health care, jobs that let them spend time with their own_____（40）and retire with dignity．
I want us to____（41） the boundaries of discovery so that you’ll live to see new technologies and inventions that improve our lives and make our planet cleaner and safer．And I want us to push our own human boundaries to reach _____（42）the divides of race and region, gender and religion that_____（43） us from seeing the best in each other．
That was the_____（44） your grandmother tried to teach me when I was your age, reading me the opening lines of the Declaration of Independence and telling me about the men and women who marched for_____（45） because they believed those words put to paper two centuries ago should mean_____（46）．
She helped me understand that America is great not because it is perfect but because it can always be made better and that the_____（47）work of perfecting our union falls to each of us．It’s a charge we pass on to our children, coming closer with each new generation to_____（48）we know America should be．
These are the things I want for you, to_____（49）in a world with no limits on your dreams and no achievements beyond your reach．And I want every child to have the same chances to learn and dream and grow and thrive that you girls have．That’s why I’ve taken our family on this great adventure．
I am so proud of both of you．I love you______（50）you can ever know．And I am grateful every day for your patience, poise （自信）, grace, and humor as we prepare to start our new life together in the White House．
Love, Dad

D
There is no doubt about it. The best way to learn new words is to do it unconsciously. I don’t mean while you’re unconscious. I mean while you are unconscious of the fact that it is sinking in.
That is how I learnt the 30,000 words in my vocabulary by living in an English-speaking world, mother tongue. I just pick them up. But the problem is that some of them may be misunderstood. Now, to misunderstand does not mean not to understand. To misunderstand is to understand but incorrectly.
The 5% mislearnt of all the words we “know” will be the least frequently used words, as the more frequently used words are less likely to be mislearnt. Some of the misunderstandings may live with all our lives, without knowing that we got them wrong.
Many English teachers think that this natural method of learning words in one’s own mother tongue can be used for a second language learning. They teach their students how to play the Guessing Game. “There is no time to look up in your dictionaries all the new words you come across,” They will say. “You have to practise guessing what the word means from the context.”
This method of guessing in a second language learning does not work. It may succeed in many cases, but results in hundreds or thousands of wrongly-guessed meanings of words.
And what’s more, there are more separate meanings than there are words themselves. Our learners’ dictionaries usually have many meanings. A good dictionary is what makes self-learning possible.
Don’t guess! Look it up!
67. It is certain that the best way to learn new words is________.
A. to learn them by oneself                           
B. to learn by living in an English-speaking world and using them frequently
C. to guess them from the context
D. to get more separate meanings of each word^
68. The underlined word “them” in paragraph 2 refers to_______.
A. the 30,000 words                        B. English teachers
C. misunderstood words                  D. frequently used words
69. Which of the following is most likely NOT true?
A. Some of the words the writer knows must have been misunderstood.
B. Most of the 30,000 words the writer learned are frequently used ones.
C. How many words the writer got wrong are not known.
D. All the words the writer knows were learned by reading them.
70. It can be inferred that_____________.
A. when somebody is conscious, he or she usually can’t learn new words by heart.
B. We must use the words as often as possible in order to master them.
C. It’s the best way to learn new words that one should only guess their meanings from the context
D. Only dictionaries can help us learn language well.