A recent survey of teachers found that an unhealthy passion with celebrity culture is having a negative impact on British students’ studies and it discovered that celebrity couple, the Beckhams, are the favorites among most students. Many students are ignoring building their own careers to seek a chance at fame instead, the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) survey found.

Almost two-thirds of teachers said sports stars were the type of celebrity many pupils wanted to follow while more than half of students wanted to be pop stars.

The survey said the celebrities that students aspired to mostly were David and Victoria Beckham who live in Los Angeles now. Soccer player Beckham is on the top of the survey while in second place, with almost a third of the survey’s votes, was his 33-year-old pop star wife.

Almost half of the 300 teachers surveyed said pupils tried to look like or behave like the celebrities they most admired, with some girls even dressing "unsuitably".

"We are not surprised about the influence of celebrity culture in schools —it reflects the current media passion with celebrities and the effect of celebrity culture on society as a whole," ATL general secretary Mary Bousted said in a statement.

"Celebrities can have a positive effect on pupils. They can raise pupils’ aspirations and desires for the future. However, celebrity culture can spread the idea that celebrity status is the greatest achievement and reinforce the belief that other career choices are not as valuable," said one primary school teacher. "Too many of the pupils believe that school success is unnecessary, because they will be able to get fame and fortune quite easily through a reality TV show."

The story mainly tells us that ______.

  A. the Beckhams are mostly admired in Britain

  B. most students think that being pop stars is more valuable than other career achievements

  C. the celebrity passion has a harmful impact upon British students’ studies

  D. a survey was made recently about the popularity of the stars

According to the survey, Victoria Beckham ______.

  A. is a pop star most students admire

  B. goes in the second place of the celebrities admired

  C. won two-thirds of the votes

  D. lives in New York now

Why does the author mention that pupils tried to look like or behave like the celebrities they most admired, with some girls even dressing “unsuitably”?

  A. The pupils think it interesting to pretend to be the celebrities.

  B. The behavior or the dress of celebrities can be followed as examples.

C. The author wants to show the negative influence these celebrities had on the students.

D. The author just wants to show being pop stars is very valuable to the students.

What is not TRUE according to the story?

  A. Celebrities can’t have positive impact on the students.

  B. Beckham and Victoria are husband and wife.

C. The so-called celebrity culture does harm to the pupils’ ideas about achievement.

  D. Many students believe that school success is unnecessary.

The best title of the story is _____.

 Sports Star David Beckham 

B. Survey of Students about Celebrities

C Harmful Effect of Celebrities on Students 

D. Better to Be Pop Stars Than Sports Stars

As we grow up, we gradually develop a set of our own values or beliefs. These are influenced by society, our family, the education we receive and so on. Once this value system is set up, it’s not easy to change later in life. Financial experts say that everyone also has his own belief of how to manage his money. According to our different values, experts put us in three catagories---the ant, the cricket(蟋蟀) and the snail.

★ The ant — work first

Just like ants who work heart and soul in summer in order to store food for winter, these people don't care about enjoying the moment. They work very hard and save money they earn so that they can enjoy life when they get old and retire. The ant loves to save, but they could make more out of their money if they were willing to invest in some funds and stocks with low risk.

★ The cricket — fun first

The cricket wants to enjoy everything now and doesn't think too much about the future. They even borrow money when they really want something. Many young people now belong to this group. These people have little savings. When they get old, they might have problems. They should learn to save and buy insurance.

★ The snail — life under pressure

The snail refers to people who make life difficult for themselves. They take big long-term loans(贷款) from the bank in order to buy things such as luxury houses. They are happy to take big loans even though they are not sure they can afford them. This can cause problems in the future. They should plan more carefully.

 One’s values may________.

A. be his ways of managing money

B. be his beliefs about society

C. be connected with his education

D. influence his behavior

 Mr. Smith always enjoys spending a weekend with his friends, fishing, hunting and playing cards. Besides, he spends money in a very luxurious way. So_______.

A. Mr. Smith belongs to the ant type

B. Mr. Smith belongs to the cricket type

C. Mr. Smith belongs to the snail type

D. it’s hard to tell which kind of person Mr. Smith is

The writer of the passage intends _______.

A. to introduce to us the three types of people with different life style

B. to show us his special attitude to the different people

C. to tell us life is full of joy and happiness all the time

D. to warn us how to live a better life in a new way

According to the passage, the most suitable title would be _______.

A. Nature of Spending

B. What Comes First

C. How to Understand Your Belief

D. Work and Fun

   A little girl was given so many picture books on her seventh birthday that her father. Who should have run his office and let her mother run the home, thought his daughter should give one or two of her new books to a little neighbor boy named Robert, who had visited their home sometimes.

   Now, taking books, or anything else, from a little girl is like taking sweets from a baby, but the father of the little girl had his way and Robert got a couple of her books. “After all, that leaves you with nine,” said the father, who thought he was a child psychologist（心理学家）,and couldn’t shout his big stupid mouth on the subject.

  A few weeks later, the father went to his library to look up “father” in The Oxford English Dictionary, eager to enjoy the praise of fatherhood through the centuries, but he couldn’t find volume（册）F-G and then he discovered that others were missing too. A-B,L-M, V-Z. He looked everywhere for them, and learned what had happened to the four missing volumes.

   “A man came to the door this morning” said the little daughter, “and he didn’t know how to get from here to Torrington or from Torrington to Wintec, and he was a kind man, much nicer than Robert, and so I gave him four of your books After all, there are thirteen volumes in the Oxford English Dictionary, and that leaves you with nine.

According to the writer’s opinion,      

A. a mother should keep house and father educate the children

B. A father should run the home as well as his office

C. A father should run his office and leave his children to his wife

D. A father shouldn’t only run his office but educate his children

“The father of the little girl has his way” means       

the father went out to work in his office 

B. the father decided to the girl a lesson

C. the father still did what he wanted to.

Considering himself a psychologist, the father        

couldn’t stop discussing the subject    

B. couldn’t helping（禁不住）talking about the subject

couldn’t refuse to listen to the subject  

D. couldn’t give an explanation of he subject

What’s still unclear to us in the story?

A. The exact number of the picture books the girl had received.

B. How many volumes the Oxford English Dictionary includes.

C. Whether each volume of the dictionary includes entries beginning with two letters.

D. Whether the father knew his daughter’s mind well

What do we know about the little girl?

A. She liked Robert very much.            B. She liked reading dictionary

She dislikes what her father did to her picture books.  

D. She is a kind and helpful girl.

As prices and building costs keep rising, the “do-it-yourself” (DIY) trend in the U.S. continues to grow.

“We needed furniture for our living room,” says John Ross, “and we just didn’t have enough money to buy it. So we decided to try making a few tables and chairs.” John got married six months ago, and like many young people these days, they are struggling to make a home at a time when the cost of living is very high. The Rosses took a 2-week course for $280 at a night school. Now they build all their furniture and make repairs around the house.

Jim Hatfield has three boys and his wife died. He has a full-time job at home as well as in a shoe making factory. Last month, he received a car repair bill for $420. “I was deeply upset about it. Now I’ve finished a car repair course. I should be able to fix the car by myself.”

John and Jim are not unusual people. Most families in the country are doing everything they can to save money so they can fight the high cost of living. If you want to become a “do-it-yourselfer”, you can go to DIY classes. And for those who don’t have time to take a course, there are books that tell you how you can do things yourself.

We can learn from the text that many newly married people ________.

A. find it hard to pay for what they need

B. have to learn to make their own furniture

C. take DIY courses run by the government

D. seldom go to a department store to buy things

John and his wife went to evening classes to learn how to ________.

A. run a DIY shop                             B. make or repair things

C. save time and money                      D. improve the quality of life

When the writer says that Jim has a full-time job at home, he means Jim ________.

A. keeps house and looks after his children     B. does his own car and home repairs

C. does extra work at night                 D. makes shoes in his home

Jim Hatfield decided to become a do-it-yourselfer when ________.

A. he had to raise the children all by himself      B. the car repair class was not helpful

C. he could not possibly do two jobs               D. his car repairs cost too much

What would be the best title for the text?

A. the Joy of DIY                                 B. You Can Do It Too! 

C. Welcome to Our DIY Course!               D. Ross and Hatfield: Believers in DIY

A handsome middle??aged man walked quietly into the cafe and sat down. Before he ordered，he couldn’t help but notice a group of younger men at the table next to him. It was obvious they were making fun of something about him and it wasn’t until he remembered he was wearing a small pink ribbon(丝带) on the lapel of his suit that he became aware of what the joke was all about.

The man pretended not to notice it，but the whisper and laughter began to get to him. He looked one of the rude young men straight into the eye，placed his hand beneath the ribbon and asked，“This？”

With that the young men all began to laugh out loud. The man he spoke to said，“Hey，sorry，man, but we were just commenting on how pretty your little pink ribbon looks against your blue jacket！”

The middle??aged man calmly invited the joker to come over to his table, and politely seated him. As uncomfortable as he was, the young guy had to, not really sure why. In a soft voice，the middle??aged man said, “I wear this ribbon to bring awareness about breast cancer. I wear it in my mother’s honor.”

“Oh, sorry. She died of breast cancer？”

“No, she didn’t. She’s alive and well. But her breasts nourished me as a baby，and were a soft resting place for my head when I was scared or lonely as a little boy. I’m very grateful for my mother’s breasts, and her health.”

“Umm,” the young replied “yeah.”

“And I wear this ribbon to honor my wife” the man continued.

“And she’s okay, too？”the young guy asked.

“Oh, yes. She’s fine. Her breasts have been a great source of loving pleasure for both of us，and with them she nurtured and nourished our daughter 23 years ago. I’m grateful for my wife’s breasts，and her health.”

“Uh, huh. And I guess you wear it to honor your daughter, also？”

“No. It’s too late to honor my daughter by wearing it now...”

Shaken and ashamed，the young guy said, “Oh, I’m so sorry，mister.”

“So, in my daughter’s memory, too, I proudly wear this little ribbon, which allows me the opportunity to enlighten others. And here...”With this，he reached in his pocket and handed the young man a little pink ribbon. The young guy looked at it, slowly raised his head and asked, “...？”

The young men joked about the middle??aged man’s________.

A．looks       B．ribbon      C．attitude     D．clothes

What may have happened to the man’s daughter?

A．She died of breast cancer.                 B．She was ill with cancer.

C．She had gone abroad.                     D．She got married.

What will the young man probably ask at the end of the story?

A．May I give it to my mother?            B．Can you help me put it on?

C．Will you please forgive me?             D．Shall we have some drink together?

What is the best title for the passage?

A．An Unusual Meeting                B. An Impressive Lesson

C．Be Grateful to Your Beloved     D. A little Pink Ribbon