The Internet will open up new vistas (前景), create the global village——you can make new friends all around the world. That, at least, is what it promised us. The difficulty is that it did not take the human mind into account. The reality is that we cannot keep relationships with more than a limited number of people. No matter how hard the Internet tries to put you in communication, its best efforts will be defeated by your mind.

The problem is twofold（双重的）. First, there is a limit on the number of people we can hold in mind and have a meaningful relationship with. That number is about 150 and is set by the size of our brain. Second, the quality of your relationships depends on the amount of time you invest in then. We invest a lot in a small number of people and then distribute what’s left among as many others as we can. The problem is that if we invest little time in a person, our engagement with that person will decline until eventually it dies into “someone I once knew”.

This is not, of course, to say that the Internet doesn’t serve a socially valuable function. Of course it does. But the question is not that it allows you to increase the size of your social circle to include the rest of the world, but that you can keep your relationships with your existing friends going even though you have to move to the other side of the world.

In one sense, that’s a good thing. But it also has a disadvantage. If you continue to invest in your old friends even though you can no longer see them, then certainly you aren’t using your time to make new friends where you now live. And I suspect that probably isn’t the best use of your time. Meaningful relationships are about being able to communicate with each other, face to face. The Internet will slow down the rate with which relationships end, but it won’t stop that happening eventually.

1.The number of friends we can keep relationships with is decided by______.

A. the Internet   B. the time we have  C. the place we live  D. the mind

2.The underlined word “engagement” in the second paragraph probably means “_____”.

　A. appointment   B. connection   C. interview    D. agreement

3.The author holds the view that___________.

  A. the Internet helps to keep in touch with friends far away

B. the Internet determines the quality of social relationships

C. the Internet greatly increases the size of social circles

D. the Internet is of no value in social communication

4.What will the author encourage us to do?

　A. To keep in touch with old friends when we have moved away.

　B. To chat with friends often on the Internet.

　C. To make more new friends face to face.

　D. To stop using the Internet to make new friends.

5.What is the author’s attitude towards the use of the Internet to strengthen relationships?

　A. He thinks it useless           B. He is hopeful of it.

　C. He approves of it.            D. He doubts it.

 

A water bearer in India had two large pots;  each hung on the ends of a pole. The water bearer often  carried the pole __36__ his neck. One of the pots had a crack(裂缝) in it, __37__ the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water. At the end of the long walk from the stream to the house,  the cracked pot __38__ only half full. For a full two years,  this went on __39__，  with the bearer delivering only one and a half pots full of water to his house.

Of course,  the perfect pot was __40__ of its advantages. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection,  and __41__ that it was able to __42__ only half of what it had been made to do.  __43__ two years of what  sensed to be a bitter __44__，  it spoke to the water bearer one day by the stream. “I am ashamed of myself,  and I want to __45__ to you. I have been able to  __46__ only half my load because this crack  in my side __47__ water to leak out all the way back to your house. Because of my __48__，  you have to do a lot of this work,  and you don't get full value from your __49__，”  the pot said.

 The bearer said to the pot,  “Did you __50__ that there were flowers only on your side of the path,  __51__ not on the other pot's side? That's because I have always __52__ your fault,  and I planted flower seeds on your side of the path,  and every day while we walk back,  you've __53__ them.

For two years I have been able to __54__ these  beautiful flowers to decorate the table. Without you being just the __55__ you are,  there would not be this beauty to grace the house.”

36．A.above　　  B．over　　　  C．across　　　  D．through

37．A.as                        B．while                  C．when                    D．so

38．A.arrived                 B．realized            C. made                 D．concluded

39．A.weekly          B．daily                        C．monthly                    D．yearly

40．A.ashamed                B．proud        C．happy              D．disappointed

41．A.sad                             B．pleased                   C．comfortable                D．safe

42．A.admit      B．achieve      C．reduce         D．attract

43．A.Before                  B. Since                      C．After                     D．By

44．A.failure                  B．success                 C．excitement            D．satisfaction

45．A.apologize                  B. talk                         C．admit                    D．apply

46．A.develop         B．permit     C．depend           D．deliver

47．A.takes                    B．causes                   C．makes                   D．reminds

48．A.fault              B．success                 C．kindness                D．sorrow

49．A.effects                 B．efforts                   C．operation                      D．attempt

50．A.look                            B．pay                       C．notice                   D．watch

51．A.but                             B．and                              C．since                     D．after

52. A．known about  B．told about C．worried about       D．come about

53．A.cared                   B．watered              C．planted                  D．pulled

54．A.pick     B．buy               C．sell         D．borrow

55．A.attitude                B．way                          C．measure            D．appearance

阅读下面短文，从短文后各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C、和D）中，选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项。

        Have you ever had problems in your life and don’t know how to be happy? If                16  , you will find “Being a Happy Teenager” written by an Australian writer, Andrew Matthews,  17  .In his book, Matthews  18  us how to have a happy life and answers the  19   of teenagers.

　　 Many people may    20     teenagers’ life, such as parents and friends, and the book    21   that we should stop being angry and forgive. The book tells us of useful skills,    22   how to change what you have learned into pictures of your mind to   23  your memory better.

　　 Many teenagers think    24   happiness comes from either a good exam result   25  praise (赞扬) from other people. But you can   26   be happy when there are no such “good” things.

　　 Success also comes from a   27   attitude. If you   28   from problems, you will have success in the future. Some students may often feel     29     when they are too tall or too short. But Matthews tells us that   30   comes from thinking about things in a positive   31   . If you are   32   , people notice you and you can get a   33   view(视线) of what is around you; if you are short, your clothes and shoes   34  less space in your bedroom! This is Matthews’ most important   35   : you choose to be happy!

A. so              B. such              C. it              D. this

A. easy            B. funny               C. useful            D. simple

A. orders                   B. tells                 C. asks              D. allows

A. questions              B. problems          C. ideas             D. comments

A. impress                 B. cause                C. effect                   D. affect

A. suggests              B. writes               C. reads             D. asks

A. for example          B. such as              C. for instance              D. as before

A. make                    B. have              C. take                 D. get

A. what                  B. which               C. that                  D. whether

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

A. never                  B. already          C. still                  D. forever

A. confident         B. positive         C. common          D. normal

A. learn                 B. suffer                   C. hear                D. separate

A. frightened        B. shocked         C. confused           D. worried

A. attitude               B. intelligence    C. failure           D. altitude

A. way                  B. route             C. style                 D. spirit

A. short                   B. small             C. tall                D. fat

A. longer                 B. higher           C. bigger              D. better

A. take up                B. put up           C. set up               D. break up

A. class                   B. lesson            C. education          D. advantage

Armed only with iPhones, the inventive rock band Atomic Tom has gone viral（广为流传） by way of the New York subway． The band has scored an Internet hit with the video to the song “Take Me Out．”
Singer Luke White says the production was a top-secret operation．
“We didn't tell anyone about this． It was completely top-secret from our family, from our friends, from our label, our management, everybody． So the first time that people saw this video was last Friday when we put it on YouTube,” explained White．
Since uploading the video to YouTube, band members have spent several days refreshing the page to watch the number of hits rise．
The video has also made its way around Twitter as many people have shared it with their friends．
“I mean, it still hasn't quite hit． It's just kind of blowing our minds right now that we're getting this: many people are fond of it, and they're sharing it with their friends． We don't know what it's like really to have something that's viral, so all of this is very new to us．” said Eric Espiritu, the lead guitarist of the band．
White explains how the video came together:
“We did our research with the applications（ 应用程序） and found applications that worked out really well with the instruments and then we plugged them all into, plugged our phones into mini-battery powered amplifiers（扩音器） that we put underneath our seats, and we did a lot of, you know, practices, in terms of figuring out what the balance of the sound and like who was overpowering, who was too loud or who was too soft．”
The idea for the video came from Espiritu's younger brother Benjamin． The younger Espiritu directed the video from his initial concept through the final edit and upload to the Internet．　
“I've seen a lot of the music applications come out, and I've never actually had the chance to play with them," says Ben Espiritu． "When I started hearing about how they sound and everything, I thought it might be unique to take it one step further and then create an entire band just performing solely（单曲） on the iPhones, and I thought it would be a pretty cool idea．”
Ben says the success of the band’s music video is a credit to the talent and ability of the musicians, but it's also a sign of the times．
“It really comes down to seeing something different, seeing something unique, and I think that that's always, in any type of art form, what will speak to people, and I think it does reflect the times that we live in, taking a smart phone and then being able to turn it into an instrument, not only just an instrument, but making it sound really good．”
【小题1】 Who first saw the video of the song “Take Me Out”?

A．Their friends	B．The people on line
C．Their family	D．Their management

【小题2】 What is the band members’ attitude towards the sudden fame?

A．They are thrilled．

B．They are quite used to it．

C．They are kind of confused．

D．They are so excited as to tell everyone they know．

【小题3】 How did the video come into being?

A．The band copied from it other musicians．

B．It had already existed in the iPhones before they bought them．

C．The band created it with the help of the applications in the iPhones．

D．The band made full use of the traditional instruments to make the song．

【小题4】 What is the significance of the success of the band's music video?

A．It has introduced us several talented musicians．

B．It has made the musicians into millionaires．

C．It teaches the young a big lesson．

D．It reflects the talent and ability of the musicians and the times that we live in．

●           1.          

　　Home can be a great place for children to study. It’s important to provide a workspace of their own where they can read books or just write a letter to their friends。

●Location(位置)

　　       2.           Kitchen and dining room are not so well suited for regular study, since books and pens get in the way of the day-to-day uses of those areas. Set up a place where a child can settle in and leave papers and pens at band without having to clear everything away each night. For a child that likes being alone, set aside a corner of his bedroom, but keep it separate from things like games, music and other hobbies not related to studying。

●Keeping Things in Order

Parents should encourage their child to spread out, but to leave it neat and orderly when he isn’t using his workspace. Ownership is very important for self-respect       3.      .

The workplace should be personal, but not another part of the playroom。

●          4.          

Encourage the whole family to help build a supportive environment that children need for success in school. Give them a good example of how to deal with problems, how to manage time and get things done in the right way.

●       5.          Study will be more enjoyable and effective when supported by the whole family。

A. Attitude Is Everything B. Bring Organization into Your Home C. Here are several ways to choose a location D. Building a Good Home Learning Environment E. Hold a can-do attitude and your child will follow your example。 F. Setting up a space in a common area of your home can be a good idea for children。 G. A child who learns to organize his spare will carry organization into every corner of his life。