A student newspaper reports that most students go to sleep at 1:30 am. Even if that’s an overstatement (夸张), it’s close to the truth. Scientists say teens should sleep nine hours each night. But that’s hard. Some are even “pulling all-nighters” (开夜车). These students must hand in their homework the next day but they haven’t done it. In the morning they don’t look healthy and you can tell who’s been doing it. One of my classmates did a survey on the topic. She found that most kids pull all-nighters to finish homework, but some do it for other reasons, such as playing computer games!
Maybe our lack(缺乏) of sleep is because of laziness — I think I’m a rather lazy student — or maybe it’s because we have too much to do in American high schools. I usually go to bed around midnight. If I stayed up past 1:30 am, I wouldn’t get any work done. I’d be falling asleep at my computer. My classes begin at 7:30 am. I’m partly awake in my first class. By the second, I’m a little sleepy. By my third class, I’m sleepy. By midday I’m finally fully awake. But by 3:00 pm, I’m slowing down again. Yet I get more sleep than usual students.
Most American high schools seem to have a similar(相似的) problem with sleepy students. High school classes start at 7:30 am, so students have to get up one and a half hours before that to get ready and catch the bus. It’s believed that lack of sleep can be bad for both grades and health. Some schools are paying attention. Classes in those schools start at 8:30 am.
【小题1】What does the underlined sentence “it’s close to the truth” mean?

A man came home from work late, tired, to find his 5-year-old son waiting for him at the door.

“Daddy, how much money do you make an hour?”

“If you must know, I make $20 an hour,”

“Oh,” the little boy replied, with his head down. He thought for a moment, looked up and said, “Daddy, could you lend me $10?”

The father was furious, “If you asked for the money to buy a toy or some other rubbish, then go straight to your room and think about why you are being so selfish（自私的）!”

　 The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door. After about an hour or so, the father calmed down, and started to think, “Maybe he really needs to buy something and he didn’t really ask for money very often.” So he went to the little boy’s room.

　 “Sorry! Maybe I was too hard on you just now.” said the man, “Here’s $10.”

“Oh, thank you, Daddy!” he said happily. Then, the boy took out some coins. When the father found that the boy already had money, he got angry again.

　 “Why do you want more money since you already have some?” The father shouted angrily.

“Because I didn’t have enough, but now I do.” the little boy replied, “Daddy, I have $20 now. Can I buy an hour of your time? Please come home early tomorrow. I would like to have dinner with you.”

51. How much does the boy’s father make an hour?

A. $10　　　　 B. $20　　　　 C. $30　　　　 　 D. $40

52. The underlined word “furious” in Para.5 means ______.

A. very angry　　　 B. quite happy　　 C. very strange 　 D. a little nervous

53. At first, the father refused to give the boy any money because ______.

A. he thought the boy was too selfish

B. he did not have enough money at that moment

C. he thought the boy would buy something of no use

D. the boy always asked for money from him

54. The boy wanted to buy ______ with the twenty dollars.

A. a new book for himself　　　　　 B. a nice present for his father

C. a toy for his own birthday　　　　　 D. an hour of his father’s time

55. From the passage, we can infer（推断）that the boy’s father ______.

A. often played with his son　　　　　 B. spent little time with his son

C. didn’t love his son at all　　　　 D. often came back home early

A Manchester teenager has received a phone bill（账单） for over ? 420 after sending 3,800 text messages in just one month．

Tony Russell has had his new mobile phone for only one month, but now his father, Lionel, has taken it away．

“He's been asking me for a mobile for years because all his friends have got one,” explained Lionel．”I finally bought one for his birthday because he's been doing so well at school, but he and his friends are crazy about sending text messages．They do it all the time．They even text each other from different sides of the school playground．

Tony said, “I thought texting was much cheaper than phoning, so I've been texting my friends all day long and even into the early hours of the morning．I've been going to bed at 2:00 most nights．Sometimes my hand hurt because I pressed the buttons so much, but I was having such good fun that I couldn't stop!”

His father said, “I have forgiven him, but I am angry with the phone company as they are encouraging this crazy behavior．” He has made his son promise to pay back the money, so Tony has been working on Saturdays．He has found a job in a shoe shop．“I think it will take me about half a year to clear this debt（债务）,” he said．

76．What does the passage mainly talk about?

　 A．A father who worries about his son．　 B．A teenager who sent too many text messages．

C．Young students' problems at school． 　　　 D．A young man and his friends．

77．Tony got the mobile phone because _____

A．he's been asking his mother for years　　 B．he wanted to change a better one

C．he needs a birthday present　　　　　　 D．he's been doing well at school

78．The underlined（加下划线的） word “text” probably means______

A．make a phone to　　　　　　 　　　　　 　B．send messages to

C．write a letter to　　　　 　　　　　　　　　 　D．read textbooks to

79．When he sent text messages, Tony ______．

A．made friends at school　　　 　　　　　 　B．hurt himself

C．felt quite happy　　　　　 　　　　　　　 　D．got help from his friends

80．How much does Tony get for his job every month?

A．About ?70．　 　　 B．About ?90．　 　 C．About ? 35． 　　 D．About ? 630