Talking on a mobile phone is expensive, so a lot of people send text messages. Text messages are much cheaper than talking on a mobile phone, and you can make it cheaper by making the words shorter. You can do this by taking out “unimportant” letters in the words and using numbers instead of words (2 =" to," 3 =" free," 4 =" for," 8 =" ate," so h8 =" hate," etc.). You can also keep away from using punctuation (标点).       Here is an example: Do U wnt 2 g 2 th cnma tnite (Do you want to go to the cinema tonight?)
What do you think these text messages mean?
Whr hv U bn? Iv bn wtng hrs fr a cll.
Im hm nw, why nt gv me a cll.
I gt a txt mssge frm my frnd. Shes hvng a prty on Strdy.
Mobile phone users have developed a group of symbols (符号) to show how they feel. They are called emoticons, and there are some examples below. To read an emoticon, you have to look at it sideways. For example, if you say something in a text message that is a joke, you can follow it with a smiling face.
【小题1】Why are text messages popular?

根据短文内荞，从短文后的选项中选出能填入空A处的最佳选项。选项中冇两项为多余选项。

Make the right choices

What is life’s greatest gift? 1______ Choice is the ability to select one course of action from a set of alternatives to achieve a goal. What is so great about choice? It transforms us from dumb animals into artists. Each of us becomes another Michelangelo. Choice becomes nothing other than the tool we use to sculpt (雕刻）our life. The tool doesn’t come free, however, for the price of choice is responsibility. 2______ The reward is happiness.

Life is not still. It is a flow. 3______ We constantly need to monitor where we are on

our journey. We need to ask questions: Am I moving closer to my goals? If not, what corrective measures can I take? What action will I take now to readjust myself to my goals? Choice is power. Choice is at the heart of life. It is the creative power of life.

4______ And your life becomes more convenient or comfortable because of them. For example, you decide which stores to shop at and which gas station to go to. But the decisions that we make to sculpt our lives are far more important than deciding where to shop. The more we appreciate the difference between minor and major decisions, the greater the probability that we will experience happiness and fulfillment.

All chess lovers realize that it isn’t necessary to win to enjoy the game. The pleasure is in the playing. Life is like a chess game. 5______

A． It is free will or choice.

B． You have to make choices every day.

C． Make the best moves you can under the circumstances.

D． But when we accept and carry it out, we get a great return.

E.    Every choice we make leads us closer to or farther from our goals.

F.    Life is full of hard choices, and the bigger they are, the harder they get.

G.    Choose to carry out responsibilities not because you have to, but because you want to.

根据短文内容，从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。

Most people buy a lot of gifts just before Christmas. But some people think we buy too much. They have started a special day called Buy Nothing Day.  1.    .

   Buy Nothing Day is November 29. It’s 25 days before Christmas. It’s after Thanksgiving and often the first day of Christmas shopping.   2.   .

   The idea for Buy Nothing Day started in Vancouver, British Columbia.   3.    . In California, parents and children get together to read stories, sing songs, and paint pictures. The children talk about why they don’t need a lot of toys. This year, in Manchester, England, people dressed up in costumes to tell people that we buy too much.

   In Albuquerque, New Mexico, high school students.wanted to tell other students about Buy Nothing Day. They organized a spaghetti dinner to give people information about Buy Nothing Day.   4.   . They made posters and talked to other students about it.    5.   . The students at high schools liked the idea of this new tradition. Next year, they want to have another dinner to tell more people about Buy Nothing Day.

A. They asked restaurants in the neighborhood to donate the food.

B. At this time, we see ads in Newspapers and, on TV telling us to “ buy, buy, buy!”

C. Buy Nothing Day has successfully persuaded people not buy anything.

D. Many people think highly of the idea of Buy Nothing Day.

E. They don’t want anyone to go shopping on that day.

F. Now people all over the world celebrate Buy Nothing Day.

G. The dinner was a big success, and many students agreed not to buy anything on November 29.

Talking on a mobile phone is expensive, so a lot of people send text messages. Text messages are much cheaper than talking on a mobile phone, and you can make it cheaper by making the words shorter. You can do this by taking out “unimportant” letters in the words and using numbers instead of words (2 =" to," 3 =" free," 4 =" for," 8 =" ate," so h8 =" hate," etc.). You can also keep away from using punctuation (标点).       Here is an example: Do U wnt 2 g 2 th cnma tnite (Do you want to go to the cinema tonight?)

What do you think these text messages mean?

Whr hv U bn? Iv bn wtng hrs fr a cll.

Im hm nw, why nt gv me a cll.

I gt a txt mssge frm my frnd. Shes hvng a prty on Strdy.

Mobile phone users have developed a group of symbols (符号) to show how they feel. They are called emoticons, and there are some examples below. To read an emoticon, you have to look at it sideways. For example, if you say something in a text message that is a joke, you can follow it with a smiling face.

1.Why are text messages popular?

2.The first paragraph tells us that we can make the text messages shorter in             ways.

3.What does this text message “Do U wnt 2 cm?” mean? It means “                   ?”.

4.Why do people use emoticons?