British men are couch potatoes. They spend nearly half their free?time watching TV. They watch more TV than women, do less housework, less charity work and less childcare—but spend more time shopping, a poll(民意测验) suggests. Analysts(分析家) from Eurostat, the EU's statistical office, interviewed working men and women in 10 countries.?

Britain, where men devoted 49% of their free?time to the box, came a narrow second to the Hungarians with 51%.German and Norwegian men watched the least TV—just over one third of their spare time.?

The analysts took the average of the figures for the whole year including holidays and weekends. They broke down the “average day” into five categories(类)—free-time, sleep, meals and personal care, travel, domestic chores(家务事) and work or study. It shows that British men have four hours and 41 minutes free time each day—20 minutes more than women. But women spend nearly double the amount of time on domestic chores than men. Almost three-and-a-half hours of a woman's day is taken up with domestic work, compared to less than two hours for men.?

Food preparation makes up the bulk(量) of the chores, with leaning and shopping the next most time-consuming. They further broke down the free-time and domestic categories to show that men spend 137 minutes each day in front of the TV, compared to women's 114 minutes.

Women spend slightly more time socializing resting and reading than men, but slightly less time on hobbies, sport and exercise. Universally unpopular with both sexes is culture—accounting for just 2% of both men and women's leisure time.?

According to the passage, couch potatoes refer to _______.?

A. a kind of potatoes produced in Britain?

B. people spending much time sitting and watching television?

C. a kind of food offered by the English people?

D. people who like doing housework instead of watching TV?

According to the passage, which of the following may NOT be included in the ten countries??

A. Germany.   B. Norway.     C. Hungary.    D. Russia.?

What both men and women don't like in their spare time is _______.?

A. taking part in cultural activities       B. shopping?

C. enjoying their hobbies      D. doing domestic chores?

What would be the best title for the passage??

A. Domestic Chores—Only Women's Right?

B. British Men—Couch Potatoes?

C. What the Research Means?

D. Men and Women in Different Situations

_______ shoulder to shoulder with a girl, I felt very embarrassed.

   A. Spotting shopping                                    B. Spotted shopping

   C. Having spotted to shop                               D. Spotted to shop

Mary was seven years old. Her parents recently moved to a new town, and so Mary was going to a 36   school, which was a few kilometers from the house they lived in now. A school bus going around picked up 37 every morning and brought them back to their  38  every afternoon, and as both of Mary’s parents  39 to go to work, she always went on this bus.

Mary’s parents always 40  their alarm clock for seven o’clock so that none of them would be 41   . But one morning the alarm  42  to go off, and it was not until a quarter past eight that Mary’s mother suddenly 43  , looked at the clock and said, “What’s ever happened to that clock?” and then 44   into Mary’s room to wake her up.

“I’m sorry, dear,” she said, “ 45 you’ll have to wash and dress very quickly, have an even  46 breakfast and then I’ll  47  you to school on my way to the office.”

“But how can you find the   48, Mum?” Mary said, “You’ve been to school only once.”

“Yes,” her mother answered, “but you’ve done the   49   several times now on the bus, so you can be my guide to get there, can’t you?”

“Oh, yes,” said Mary, “I suppose so.” She washed, and  50  and had a quick breakfast, and then they set off. Mary told her mother to turn each time they came to a place she 51  .In this way she made her mother drive round most of the town   52  they got to her school. When they arrived, her mother saw that it was not really very far from her house.

“Why ever did you make me go such a long way round, Mary, instead of the most    53    way?” her mother asked her.

“Well, Mum,” answered Mary, “it was because I didn’t know   54  else to get here. That’s the way our bus always goes to   55   the other children to school.

Are you a problem shopper? The answer is “Yes”, if you or someone else thinks that you sometimes get carried away with shopping. In other words, do you or does someone else think you are occupied in extreme shopping? If people have regrets later about their shopping, or have an “out-of-control” feeling about the quantities of what they buy or the amount of credit they use, they may be considered to be problem shoppers. 
Extreme shopping can lead to a more serious problem — addictive shopping. Addictive shoppers feel driven by the desire to shop and spend money. They experience great tension which drives them to shop and spend money and they feel a “rush” during the time they are occupied with the shopping activity.
Extreme or addictive shopping may result from long-time unpleasant feelings, of which anxiety, pain and shame are common ones. When we feel bad inside, we often do something to make ourselves feel better. In this case, we often go shopping.
A few people shop to relieve their boredom or emptiness. For some people, the motivation is a desire for status, power, beauty or success. Some love to shop as it makes them feel valued in the eyes of the shop assistants. Others shop simply because it makes them forget, at least temporarily, tension, fear or unhappiness in their life.
Besides, shopping malls are designed to encourage continual shopping. For instance, there are some malls where you can’t see clocks displaying the time because they don’t want you to become too aware of the time you spend there. What’s more, food courts, coffee shops and restrooms are provided, so you don’t have to leave the mall because of your physical needs.
Therefore, once you become aware of how market forces work, you will certainly come to control your shopping behavior. For example, how much time you will spend and what areas you will visit can be decided before you enter the mall. Keep a written account of what items you will buy and how much money you will spend. Make a plan for what you are going to buy before you feel the urge to shop and then stick to it. That is vital for gaining self-control.
【小题1】Which of the following people may not be problem shoppers?

A．The awareness of how market forces work.
B．The desire for status, power, beauty or success.
C．Boredom, emptiness, tension, fear or unhappiness in people’s life.	D．Long-time bad feelings of anxiety, pain and shame.

Are you a problem shopper? The answer is “Yes”, if you or someone else thinks that you sometimes get carried away with shopping. In other words, do you or does someone else think you are occupied in extreme shopping? If people have regrets later about their shopping, or have an “out-of-control” feeling about the quantities of what they buy or the amount of credit they use, they may be considered to be problem shoppers.
Extreme shopping can lead to a more serious problem –addictive shopping. Addictive shoppers feel driven by the desire to shop and spend money. They experience great tension which drives them to shop and spend money and they feel a “rush” during the time they are occupied with the shopping activity.
Extreme or addictive shopping may result from long-time unpleasant feelings, of which anxiety, pain and shame are common ones. When we feel bad inside, we often do something to make ourselves feel better. In this case, we often go shopping.
A few people shop to relieve their boredom or emptiness. For some people, the motivation is a desire for status, power, beauty or success. Some love to shop as it makes them feel valued in the eyes of the shop assistants. Others shop simply because it makes them forget, at least temporarily, tension, fear or unhappiness in their life.
Besides, shopping malls are designed to encourage continual shopping. For instance, there are some malls where you can’t see clocks displaying the time because they don’t want you to become too aware of the time you spend there. What’s more, food courts, coffee shops and restrooms are provided, so you don’t have to leave the mall because of your physical needs.
Therefore, once you become aware of how market forces work, you will certainly come to control your shopping behavior. For example, how much time you will spend and what areas you will visit can be decided before you enter the mall. Keep a written account of what items you will buy and how much money you will spend. Make a plan for what you are going to buy before you feel the urge to shop and then stick to it. That is vital for gaining self-control.
55．Which of the following people may not be problem shoppers?
A．Those who cannot control the amount of credit they use.
B．Those who just walk around the shopping malls.
C．Those who are occupied in too much shopping.
D．Those who feel sorry for their shopping.
56．According to the passage, what may not result in addictive shopping?
A．The awareness of how market forces work.
B．The desire for status, power, beauty or success.
C．Boredom, emptiness, tension, fear or unhappiness in people’s life.
D．Long-time bad feelings of anxiety, pain and shame.
57．How can we control our shopping behavior according to the passage?
A．Never going to the shopping malls because there are many tricks.
B．Applying for a credit card before we go shopping.
C．Making the shopping time as short as possible.
D．Making a shopping list before we go shopping.
58．The author writes this passage to_______________.     .
A．inform the shopping malls how to attract more shoppers
B．scold the problem shoppers
C．provide solutions for the problem shoppers.
D．tell a shopping story