Among various programmes, TV talk shows have covered every inch of space on daytime television. And anyone who watches them regularly knows that each one is different in style(风格). But no two shows are more opposite in content, while at the same time standing out above the rest, than the Jerry Springer and the Oprah Winfrey shows.
Jerry Springer could easily be considered the king of “rubbish talk”. The contents on his show are as surprising as can be. For example, the show takes the ever-common talk show titles of love, sex, cheating, and hate, to a different level. Clearly, the Jerry Springer show is about the dark side of society, yet people are willing to eat up the troubles of other people’s lives.
Like Jerry Springer, Oprah Winfrey takes TV talk show to its top. But Oprah goes in the opposite direction. The show is mainly about the improvement of society and different quality(质量) of life. Contents are from teaching your children lessons, managing your work week, to getting to know your neighbors.
Compared to Oprah, the Jerry Springer show looks like poisonous waste being poured into society. Jerry ends every show with a “final word”. He makes a small speech about the entire idea of the show. Hopefully, this is the part where most people will learn something very valuable.
Clean as it is, the Oprah show is not for everyone. The show’s main viewers are middleclass Americans. Most of these people have the time, money, and ability to deal with life’s tough problems. Jerry Springer, on the other hand, has more of a connection with the young adults of society. These are 18-to-21-year-olds whose main troubles in life include love, relationship, sex, money and drug. They are the ones who see some value and lessons to be learned through the show’s exploitation. Compared with other TV talk shows, both the Jerry Springer and the Oprah Winfrey are ____.
| A．more interesting | B．unusually popular | C．more detailed | D．more formal |
Though the social problems Jerry Springer talks about appear unpleasant, people who watch the shows____.
| A．remain interested in them | B．are ready to face up to them |
| C．remain cold to them | D．are willing to get away from them |
Which of the following is likely to be a topic of the Oprah Winfrey show?
| A．A new type of robot. | B．Nation hatred. |
| C．Family income planning. | D．Street accident. |
We can learn from the passage that the two talk shows_____.
| A．have become the only ones of its kind |
| B．exploit the weaknesses in human nature |
| C．appear at different times of the day |
| D．attract different people |
Why does most of the world travel on the right side today? Theories differ, but there’s no doubt Napoleon was a major influence. The French have used the right since at least the late 18th century. Some say that before the French Revolution, noblemen drove their carriages on the left, forcing the peasants to the right. Regardless of the origin, Napoleon brought right-hand traffic to the nations he conquered, including Russia, Switzerland and Germany. Hitler, in turn, ordered right-hand traffic in Czechoslovakia and Austria in the 1930s. Nations that escaped right-hand control, like Great Britain, followed their left-hand tradition.
The U.S. has not always been a nation of right-hand drivers; earlier in its history, carriage and horse traffic travelled on the left, as it did in England. But by the late 1700s, people driving large wagons pulled by several pairs of horses began promoting a shift（改变）to the right. A driver would sit on the rear（后面的）left horse in order to wave his whip（鞭子）with his right hand; to see opposite traffic clearly, they travelled on the right.
One of the final moves to firmly standardize traffic directions in the U.S. occurred in the 20th century, when Henry Ford decided to mass-produce his cars with controls on the left (one reason, stated in 1908: the convenience for passengers exiting directly onto the edge, especially… if there is a lady to be considered). Once these rules were set, many countries eventually adjusted to the right-hand standard, including Canada in the 1920s, Sweden in 1967 and Burma in 1970. The U.K. and former colonies such as Australia and India are among the Western world’s few remaining holdouts(坚持不变者). Several Asian nations, including Japan, use the left as well--- though many places use both right-hand-drive and left-hand-drive cars.Why did people in Switzerland travel on the right?
| A．They had used the right-hand traffic since the 18th century. |
| B．Rich people enjoyed driving their carriages on the right. |
| C．Napoleon introduced the right-hand traffic to this country. |
| D．Hitler ordered them to go against their left-hand tradition. |
Of all the countries below, the one that travels on the right is_________.
| A．Austria |
| B．England |
| C．Japan |
| D．Australia |
Henry Ford produced cars with controls on the left __________.
| A．in order to change traffic directions in the U.S. |
| B．so that passengers could get off conveniently |
| C．because rules at that time weren’t perfect |
| D．though many countries were strongly against that |
According to the passage, which of the following is TRUE?
| A．Before the French Revolution, all the French people used the right. |
| B．People in Britain and the U.S. travel on the same side nowadays. |
| C．The Burmese began to travel on the right in 1970. |
| D．All the Asian nations use the left at present. |
What would be the best title for this passage?
| A．Who made the great contribution to the shift of traffic directions? |
| B．How cars have become a popular means of transportation? |
| C．How Henry Ford produced his cars with controls on the left? |
| D．Why don’t people all drive on the same side of road? |
My grandparents were married for over half a century, and played their own special game the time they had met each other. The goal of their game was to write the word “shmily” in a surprise place for the other to find. They took turns leaving “shmily” around the house, and as soon as one of them discovered it, it was their turn to hide it once more. They dragged “shmily” with their fingers through the sugar and flour containers to await whoever was preparing the next meal. “Shmily” was written in the steam left on the mirror after a hot shower, where it would reappear bath after bath. There was no end to the places where “shmily” would pop up. Little notes with “shmily” were found on car seats, or taped to steering wheels. The notes were put inside shoes and left under pillows. “Shmily” was written in the dust upon the mantel（壁炉架）and traced in the ashes of the fireplace. This mysterious word was as much a part of my grandparents’ house as the furniture.
It took me a long time before I was able to fully appreciate my grandparents’ game. Skepticism has kept me from believing in true love --- one that is pure and enduring (持久的). However, I never doubted my grandparents’ relationship. It was based on passionate（热情的）affection which not everyone is lucky enough to experience.
But there was a dark cloud in my grandparents’ life: my grandmother had breast cancer. The disease had first appeared ten years earlier. As always, Grandpa was with her every step of the way. He comforted her in their yellow room, painted that way so that she could always be surrounded by sunshine, even when she was too sick to go outside. But my grandmother grew steadily weaker until, finally, she could not leave the house anymore. Then one day, what we all dreaded finally happened. Grandma was gone.
“Shmily.” It was written in yellow on the pink ribbons of my grandmother’s funeral bouquet (花束). As the crowd thinned and the last mourners turned to leave, Grandpa stepped up to my grandmother’s coffin and, taking a shaky breath, he began to sing to her. Through his tears and grief, the song came: S-h-m-i-l-y: See How Much I Love You.According to the passage, where may the word “shmily” be found?
a.in the flour containers
b.on the mirror
c.on the sheet of toilet paper
d.on pillows
e.on the furniture
| A．a, b | B．b, c | C．a, d | D．b, e |
The first paragraph is mainly about ________.
| A．what the word “shmily” means |
| B．how the author’s grandparents played their special game |
| C．how the author appreciated her grandparents’ game |
| D．how the author’s grandparents cared for each other |
The underlined phrase “pop up” in Paragraph 1 means ________.
| A．appear | B．change | C．survive | D．work |
According to the passage, the author _________.
| A．thought the game was meaningless |
| B．believes everyone can experience true love |
| C．doubted the existence of true love at first |
| D．sometimes left “shmily” around the house |
Grandpa tried to make Grandma comfortable by _______.
| A．singing songs to her every day |
| B．painting the room yellow |
| C．encouraging her to go outside |
| D．helping her take a hot shower every day |
Kerry and Alice were both artists in Britain．They taught drawing and painting at Cambridge University．Although they were friends，each thought oneself to be the better painter．
One day，Kerry promised marriage to Alice．Surprised and pleased by the offer，the girl was not sure whether she would spend her future as a wife or a painter．After a moment she replied as follows,“Each of us must paint a picture．If yours is superior to mine．you can make me your wife．If not，please drop the question．”Then it was decided to give it the following day．
The next morning，Alice hung her picture on the gate．It showed a bunch of flowers and won high praise(赞扬)from everyone who passed by．In fact，a crowd collected in front of her masterpiece and fixed their eyes on it．
Several hours passed．Then Kerry was seen coming along to the gate with what appeared to be a beautiful leather suitcase in his hand．When he finally stopped before Alice, the girl artist blushed like a rose and agreed to marry him without any hesitation(犹豫)．Why?
Answer the questions：What are Kerry and Alice?
__________________________________________.What’s the meaning of the underlined part“superior to”?
____________________________________________________Did Kerry agree to Alice’s suggestion?
_____________________________________________________Why did Alice’s picture win high praise?
____________________________________________________What do you think the“leather suitcase’’ really was?
________________________________________________________________
Sports shoes that work out whether their owner has done enough exercise to warrant time in front of the television have been devised in the UK.
The shoes — named Square Eyes — contain an electronic pressure sensor and a tiny computer chip to record how many steps the wearer has taken in a day. A wireless transmitter passes the information to a receiver connected to a television, and this decides how much evening viewing time the wearer deserves, based on the day’s efforts.
The design was inspired by a desire to fight against the rapidly ballooning waistlines among British teenagers, says Gillian Swan, who developed Square Eyes as a final year design project at Brunel University in London, UK. “We looked at current issues and childhood overweight really stood out,” she says. “And I wanted to tackle that with my design.”
Once a child has used up their daily allowance gained through exercise, the television automatically switches off. And further time in front of the TV can only be earned through more steps.
Swan calculated how exercise should translate to television time using the recommended daily amounts of both. Health experts suggest that a child take 12,000 steps each day and watch no more than two hours of television. So, every 100 steps recorded by the Square Eyes shoes equals precisely one minute of TV time.
Existing pedometers （计步器） normally clip onto a belt or slip into a pocket and keep count of steps by measuring sudden movement. Swan says these can be easily tricked into recording steps through shaking. But her shoe has been built to be harder for lazy teenagers to cheat. “It is possible, but it would be a lot of effort,” she says. “That was one of my main design considerations.” According to Swan, the purpose of her design project is to ________.
| A．keep a record of the steps of the wearer |
| B．deal with overweight among teenagers |
| C．enable children to resist the temptation of TV |
| D．prevent children from being tricked by TV programs |
Which of the following is true of Square Eyes shoes?
| A．They regulate a child’s evening TV viewing time. |
| B．They determine a child’s daily pocket money. |
| C．They have raised the hot issue of overweight. |
| D．They contain information of the receiver. |
What is stressed by health experts in their suggestion?
| A．The exact number of steps to be taken. |
| B．The precise number of hours spent on TV. |
| C．The proper amount of daily exercise and TV time. |
| D．The way of changing steps into TV watching time. |
Compared with other similar products, the new design ________.
| A．makes it difficult for lazy teenagers to cheat |
| B．counts the wearer’s steps through shaking |
| C．records the sudden movement of the wearer |
| D．sends teenagers’ health data to the receiver |
Which of the following would be the best title for the text?
| A．Smart Shoes Decide on Television Time |
| B．Smart Shoes Guarantee More Exercise |
| C．Smart Shoes Measure Time of Exercise |
| D．Smart Shoes Stop Childhood Overweight |
When Andrea Peterson landed her first teaching job, she faced the daunting task of creating a music program with almost no money for equipment or supplies in a climate where standards-based learning was the focus and music just provided a break for students and teachers.
For her drive and creativity in overcoming those challenges, she’s been named national teacher of the year.
Principal Waynes Kettler said he’s worked with many outstanding teachers in his 22 years as an educator, but Peterson is “just that one step above anybody I’ve ever worked with before.”
Kettler and others at Monte Cristo Elementary School talk about the ways she has introduced the learning from other classrooms into her music program and her creativity in working around things such as the lack of money for new music.
When students were reading S.E. Hinton’s novel The Outsiders in their regular classroom, Peterson helped them write a 30-minute play with scenes from the book. Then they chose three Broadway tunes that focused on race, equality and social justice, the themes of the book. Peterson composed two other songs herself after classroom discussions about the play and the book.
The honor means a lot to residents of Granite Falls. It’s inspiring to know that people from small towns can even win national honors.
As national teacher of the year, Peterson will spend the next year outside the classroom, as a national and international spokeswoman for education.
Not surpassingly, she is a big believe in the value of acts education. She said it’s essential for schools to offer classes such as act or music and physical education because for some kids one of those subjects is the only thing that motivates them to come back to school day after day. The underlined word “daunting” in Paragraph 1 most probably means __________.
| A．discouraging | B．interesting |
| C．creative | D．unbearable |
When Peterson began her teaching career, ____________.
| A．music was a focus of learning in most schools |
| B．the environment was favorable to music teaching |
| C．the school lacked teaching facilities for music |
| D．financial support for music programs was unavailable |
What is the most important reason that Peterson won the award?
| A．She concerned herself with current social problems. |
| B．She motivated students to learn music with her creativity. |
| C．She has taught music at the elementary school for 22 years. |
| D．She made great efforts to arouse students’ interest in literature. |
Which of the following is an example of Peterson’s way of teaching music?
| A．She wrote plays on themes of race, equality and social justice. |
| B．She made use of the contents of other classes in her teaching. |
| C．She organized classroom discussions of Broadway tunes. |
| D．She helped students compose songs by themselves. |
In Peterson’s opinion, ____________.
| A．art, music and PE classes are all important |
| B．more subjects should be offered to students |
| C．students should be motivated to attend art classes |
| D．arts education is more important than other subjects |
It can be inferred from the text that ________.
| A．Peterson’s honor was a surprise for the local people |
| B．Peterson’s art classes attracted students back to school |
| C．Peterson aroused the local residents’ passion for music |
| D．Peterson will change her profession next year |