Photographs are everywhere. They decorate the walls of homes and are used in stores for sales of different goods. The news is filled with pictures of fires, floods, and special events. Photos record the beauties of nature. They can also bring things close that are far away. Through photos, people can see wild animals, cities in foreign lands, and even the stars in outer space. Photos also tell stories.
Reporting the news through photos is called photojournalism. At times photojournalists tell their stories through a single picture. At other times, they use a group of pictures to tell a story. Each picture is like a chapter in a book, which can do more than record the facts. It can also be a strong force for social change.
Jacob Riis was among the first photojournalists. He took pictures of parts of New York City where the poor lived. Riis believed that poverty caused crime, and he used photos to help him prove his point. A few years later, the photos of small children working in factories by Lewis Hine shocked the public. Hine’s pictures helped bring about laws to protect such children.
Hundreds of pictures may have to be taken in order to get one or two really good photos. It takes science to have the photo come out clearly and art to make a photo that has a good design and expresses feeling. Photojournalists make an actual record of what they see. A photo, however, can be both a work of art and an actual record. It can record an important event as a beautiful or exciting picture.
As historical and artistic documents(文献), photos can become more important over time. Today photojournalists still have their pictures appear in newspapers and magazines. They also publish them in books and on the Internet.
【小题1】The underlined word “They” in the first paragraph refers to        .

Photographs are everywhere. They decorate the walls of homes and are used in stores for sales of different goods. The news is filled with pictures of fires, floods, and special events. Photos record the beauties of nature. They can also bring things close that are far away. Through photos, people can see wild animals, cities in foreign lands, and even the stars in outer space. Photos also tell stories.

Reporting the news through photos is called photojournalism. At times photojournalists tell their stories through a single picture. At other times, they use a group of pictures to tell a story. Each picture is like a chapter in a book, which can do more than record the facts. It can also be a strong force for social change.

Jacob Riis was among the first photojournalists. He took pictures of parts of New York City where the poor lived. Riis believed that poverty caused crime, and he used photos to help him prove his point. A few years later, the photos of small children working in factories by Lewis Hine shocked the public. Hine’s pictures helped bring about laws to protect such children.

Hundreds of pictures may have to be taken in order to get one or two really good photos. It takes science to have the photo come out clearly and art to make a photo that has a good design and expresses feeling. Photojournalists make an actual record of what they see. A photo, however, can be both a work of art and an actual record. It can record an important event as a beautiful or exciting picture.

As historical and artistic documents(文献), photos can become more important over time. Today photojournalists still have their pictures appear in newspapers and magazines. They also publish them in books and on the Internet.

1.The underlined word “They” in the first paragraph refers to         .

A. beauties       B. photos      C. goods       D. events

2.The photos of the small children by Hine show us that photos           .

A. are also works of art         B. are popular ways of reporting news

C. often shock the public        D. can serve as a force for social change

3.What can we learn from the passage?

A. News with pictures is encouraging.     

B. Photos help people improve their life.

C. News photos mean history in a sense.   

D. People prefer reading news with pictures.

4.The text is mainly about       .

A. telling the story through picture    B. decorating the walls of homes

C. publishing historical papers         D. expressing feeling through pictures

Everyone knows the story of Benjamin Franklin’s famous kite flight. He was a man of many talents and interests. His natural curiosity about things and the way they work made him try to find ways to make them work better. Although he made important discoveries and advancements, Ben didn’t “invent” electricity. He did, however, invent the lightning rod which protected buildings and ships from lightning damage.

   In colonial America, most people warmed their homes by building a fire in a fireplace even though it was kind of dangerous and used a lot of wood. Ben figured that there had to be a better way. His invention of an iron furnace stove allowed people to warm their home less dangerously and with less wood. The furnace stove that he invented is called a Franklin stove. Interestingly, Ben also established the first fire company and the first fire insurance company in order to help people live more safely.

   As the postmaster, Ben had to figure out routes for delivering the mail. He went out riding in his carriage to measure the routes and needed a way to keep track of the distance. He invented a simple odometer and attached it to his carriage.

   In his old age, Ben retired from business and public service and wanted to spend his time reading and studying. He found, however, that his old age had made it difficult for him to reach books from the high shelves. Even though he had many grandchildren to help him, he invented a tool called a long arm to reach the high books. The long arm was a long wooden pole with a grasping claw at the end.

   Later, other famous inventors, like Thomas A. Edison and Alexander Graham Bell, would follow in Ben’s footsteps by trying to find ways to help people live better. Today’s curious thinkers are keeping Ben’s traditions alive by inventing new and improved ways to make things work.

1.We can learn from the passage that Benjamin Franklin ___________________.

A. made his first invention using a kite

B. made his living by delivering the mail

C. set up some companies to help people to live better

D. made a stove which used other fuels instead of wood

2.The underlined word “odometer” in Paragraph 3 refers to something that ________.

A. contains the mail                         B. shows the direction

C. makes the carriage go fast                 D. records total miles covered

3.Benjamin Franklin invented a long arm in order to _________.

A. replace his disabled arm

B. play games with his grandchildren

C. get books from the bookshelf more easily

D. clean and tidy his house and the bookshelf

4.The last paragraph mainly wants to tell us that _____________.

A. Ben was the most famous inventor.

B. other inventors learned a lot from Ben.

C. Ben’s spirit of inventing remain with us.

D. thinkers are more likely to become inventors