E

“How’s the basketball coming on?”

I put down my drink and looked across at the next table. I was curious about that because both the man and the woman were at least 65.

“Oh, I’m not playing much basketball these days,” the woman replied. “But I’m getting much better at golf.”

What’s this, I thought. I opened my packet of crisps, thoughtfully. “I’m still pretty hopeless at chess, I’m afraid,” the man said. “It beat me on level one this morning.”

The penny dropped. These two were the proud owners of computer games.

It’s very likely that one of the results of the development of the silicon chip(硅片) will be that a lot of people will have more exciting ways to spend their leisure time. It already has. Space invader machines are now a familiar sight everywhere. A lot of people play them, and some, particularly school children, get remarkably high scores. How, one wonders, do they find the time (and money) to become so good?

If you have your own computers, the possibilities are endless. You can play any active sports without stepping out of your living room.

You can become an expert at chess or backgammon without ever playing with another human being. Indeed, human beings aren’t needed at all.

So, what of the future? Will we see school children stealing or even robbing to feed space invader machines? Will football grounds lie empty as families sit at home playing video football, or watching the national video football championship? Perhaps, it won’t go that far. But we won’t have to wait long for the Video Olympics. I’m sure of that.

Back in the pub, I stood up, took out 20 pence, and went over to the space invader machine. I may not be much good at beating computers at backgammon, but any space invaders who arrive on Earth anywhere near me had better watch out.

72. The reason why the writer felt curious about the talk between the couple was that ____.

A. he thought they were too old to play basketball

B. they looked young for their age

C. the old seldom went to the bar

D. he didn’t believe they played basketball so well

73. The underlined sentence “The penny dropped.” in the fifth paragraph probably means ____.

A. his wallet was stolen

B. he dropped a penny into the space invader machine

C. he asked for another drink for a penny

D. he’s come to see what they meant

74. The text is mainly written to tell us that ____.

A. computers will make people have a better time in their leisure time

B. the writer was worried about the side effect of computers

C. the old couple were excellent at playing golf

D. school children shouldn’t play space invader machines so much

75. We can infer form the passage that ____.

A. we can do everything without leaving our home in the future

B. the writer was good at playing the space invader game

C. school children will certainly steal or rob to feed the space invader machines

D. the woman is better at playing chess than the man

Ricky didn’t help much around the house, so his parents bought him a butler (管家) robot. As soon as it arrived, off it went, cooking, cleaning, and   36  dirty clothes from Ricky’s bedroom   37  . On that first day, when Ricky went to sleep, he had left his bedroom in a   38  . When he woke up the next morning,   39  was perfectly clean and tidy.
But now Ricky couldn’t   40  his favorite T-shirt, nor his favorite toy. However much he searched, the two items didn’t   41  , and the same was starting to happen with other things.   42  the butler robot, Ricky thought of a plan to   43  on it, and finally caught it red-handed (正在作案的), picking up one of his toys to  “ 44 ”  it.
He told his parents that the butler was   45  and asked them to have it   46 . But his parents didn’t believe him at all for they were   47  with the butler for its good service. Ricky kept on telling them how much good stuff the butler was hiding, until one day the butler heard the boy’s   48.  Then it returned some of the boy’s toys and clothes to him.
“Here, sir. I did not know it was   49  you,” said the butler.
“How could it not, you thief?! You’ve been stealing my stuff for weeks!” the boy answered  50.     “The objects were left on the floor;  51  I thought that you did not like them. I am programmed to collect all that is not   52  , and at night I send them to those who can use them. I’m a highly efficient machine,” the bulter said.
Ricky started feeling   53  . Since then, Ricky decided to put real  54  into how he treated his things. He also often bought things and took them to help out those who are  55  -- along with his good friend, the butler of course.

My husband and children think they are very lucky that they are living and that it’s Christmas again. They can’t see that we live on a dirty street in a dirty house among people who aren’t much good. But Johnny and children can’t see this. What a pity it is that our neighbours have to make happiness out of all this dirt. I decided that my children must get out of this. The money that we’ve saved isn’t nearly enough.

The McGaritys have money but they are so proud. They look down upon the poor. The McGarity girl just yesterday stood out there in the street eating from a bag of candy while a ring of hungry children watched her. I saw those children looking at her and crying in their hearts; and when she couldn’t eat any more she threw the rest down the sewer(下水道). Why , is it only because they have money? There is more to happiness than money in the world, isn’t there?

Miss Jackson who teaches at the Settlement House isn’t rich, but she knows things. She understand people. Her eyes look straight into yours when she talks with you. She can read your mind. I’d like to see the children will be like Miss Jackson when they grow up.

1. This passage mainly suggests that the writer _______.

A. is easy to get along with　　　　　　

B. is unhappy with the life they are living

C. is good at observing and understanding　　

D. is never pleased with her neighbours

2.What do you think of McGarity girl?

A. She is proud and hungry.            B. She is selfish and cruel.

C. She is lonely and friendless.          D. She is unhappy and misunderstood.

3.In this text, the writer tries to tell us that _______.

A. money is the key to everything　　

B. the more money you have, the less happy you’ll be

C. there is something more important than money

D. when talking to people we should look into their eyes

4. Pick out the one that does NOT describe the writer’s view on money.

A. Why, is it only because they have money?

B. There is more to happiness than money.

C. Miss Jackson isn’t rich, but she knows things.

D. The money we saved isn’t nearly enough.

It was Monday. Mrs. Smith's dog was hungry, but there was not any meat in the house.

　　Considering that there was no better way. Mrs. Smith took a piece of paper, and wrote the following words on it：“Give my dog half a pound of meat.” Then she gave the paper to her dog and said gently：“Take this to the butcher（* person whose job is selling meat）and he's going to give you your lunch today.”

　　Holding the piece of paper in its mouth, the dog ran to the butcher's. It gave the paper to the butcher. The butcher read it carefully, recognized that it was really the lady's handwriting and soon did it as he was asked to. The dog was very happy, and ate the meat up at once.

　　At noon, the dog came to the shop again. It gave the butcher a piece of paper again. After reading it, he gave it half a pound of meat once more.

　　The next day, the dog came again exactly at noon. And as usual, it brought a piece of paper in the mouth. This time, the butcher did not take a look at paper, and gave the dog its meat, for he had regarded the dog as one of his customers.

　　But, the dog came again at four o'clock. And the same thing happened once again. To the butcher's more surprise, it came for the third time at six o'clock, and brought with it a third piece of paper. The butcher felt a bit puzzled. He said to himself, “This is a small dog. Why does Mrs. Smith give it so much meat to eat today?”

Looking at the piece of paper, he found that there were not any words on it！

1. Mrs. Smith treated her little dog quite______.

A．cruelly           B．fairly             C．kindly            D．friendly

2. It seemed that the dog knew well that the paper Mrs. Smith gave it ______ .

A．might do it much harm

B．could do it much good

C．would help the butcher

D．was worth many pounds

3. The butcher did not give any meat to the dog __________ .

A．before he felt sure that the words were really written by Mrs. Smith

B．when he found that the words on the paper were not clear

C．because he had sold out all the meat in his shop

D．until he was paid enough by Mrs. Smith

4.  From its experience, the dog found that ________.

A．only the paper with Mrs. Smith's words in it could bring it meat

B．the butcher would give the meat to it whenever he saw it

C．Mrs. Smith would pay for the meat it got from the butcher

D．a piece of paper could bring it half a pound of meat

Teens don’t understand the big fuss(小题大做).As the first generation to grow up in a wired world,they hardly know a time when computers weren’t around,and they eagerly catch the chance to spend hours online,chatting with friends.So what?

But researchers nationwide are increasingly worried that teens are becoming isolated(孤寂),less skillful at person-to-person relationships,and perhaps numb(麻木) to the cheatings that are so much a part of the e-mail world.“And a teen’s sense of self and values may be changed in a world where personal connections can be limitless,”said Sherry Turkle.

Another researcher,Robert Kraut,said he’s worried about the “opportunity costs”(机会成本) of so much online time for youths.He found that teens who used computers,even just a few hours a week,showed increased signs of loneliness and social isolation.“Chatting online may be better than watching television,but it’s worse than hanging out(闲逛) with real friends,”he said.

Today’s teens,however,don’t see anything strange in the fact that the computer takes up a central place in their social lives.“School is busy and full of pressure.There’s almost no time to just hang out,”said Parker Rice,17.“Talking online is just catch-up time.”

Teens say they feel good about what they say online or taking the time to think about a reply.Some teens admit that asking someone for a date,or breaking up,can be easier in message form,though they don’t want to do so.But they insist there’s no harm.

The researchers argue that ______.

A.teens may develop a different sense of values

B.nothing is wrong with teens’ chatting online

C.teens can manage their social connections

D.spending hours online does much good to teens

Teens think that talking online can help them ______.

A.use computers properly

B.improve their school work

C.develop an interest in social skills

D.reduce their mental pressures

The text mainly deals with ______.

A.teens’ pleasant online experience

B.teens’ computer skills and school work

C.the effects of the computer world on teens

D.different opinions on teens’ chatting online

The purpose of the text is to ______.

A.describe computer research results

B.draw attention to teens’ computer habits

C.suggest ways to deal with problem teens

D.discuss problems teens have at school