Among various programs, 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. But no two shows are more opposite in content, while at the same time standing out above the rest, than the Jerry Springer and Oprah Winfrey shows.Jerry Springer could easily be considered the king of "rubbish talk". The topics 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 the 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 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 audience are middle-class Americans. Most of the 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 21year-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 shows are____.
| A．more interesting | B．unusually poplar | C．more detailed | D．more formal |
Though the social problems Jerry Springer talks about appear unpleasant, people who watch the shows ______.
| A．show disbelief 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．National 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 |
What is the advantage of the Jerry Springer show?
| A．The show exposes the dark sides of society. | B．The show pours poisonous waste into society. |
| C．Jerry sums up the whole idea of the show. | D．Jerry talks abou the improvement of society. |
In the USA, many high schools and some colleges and universities have a special celebration(庆典) once a year called Homecoming. Former students and teachers come back to the school to enjoy the memories of their time there and the many Homecoming activities. Homecoming might last for only one day or for several days, even one week.
High schools usually choose one boy and one girl from the senior class to be the “Homecoming King” and “Homecoming Queen”. The students usually choose a boy and a girl who have done a lot for the school.
Most schools have a Homecoming parade(游行). The school band will often lead the way, followed by many different cars and trucks. Most schools also have a football game for Homecoming—and, of course, tailgate parties. A tailgate party is a group of people drinking and eating around the back, or tailgate, of someone’s pick-up truck.
There are many other activities that might be a part of the Homecoming celebration. There might be a school-wide picnic one day; another day, there may be plays, concerts, competitions or games, all depending on a school’s traditions.
Homecoming celebrations nearly always end with a dance and/or a great dinner. The school is decorated beautifully, and a band is paid to come and play. Students dress up: guys in suits and girls in beautiful dresses.Homecoming in the USA _____.
| A．is held only in high schools |
| B．is held to celebrate the birth of schools |
| C．might be prepared for students only |
| D．might last from one day to one week |
“King and Queen of Homecoming” are chosen according to _____.
| A．their contributions (贡献) to the school |
| B．their healthy bodies |
| C．their excellent grades in study |
| D．their good-looking faces |
All the activities might be found at the Homecoming except _____.
| A．a parade | B．a football game |
| C．a picnic | D．an exam |
Homecoming celebrations usually end with _____.
| A．a play or concert | B．a dance or a dinner |
| C．a picnic or a dance | D．a competition or a game |
We spent a day in the country and picked a lot of flowers. Our car was full of flowers inside! On the way home we had to stop at traffic lights, and there my wife saw the bookshelf.（书柜）
It stood outside a furniture（家具）shop. “Buy it,” she said at once. “We’ll carry it home on the roof-rack（车顶架）. I’ve always wanted one like that.”
What could I do? Ten minutes later I was twenty dollars poorer, and the bookshelf was tied on to the roof rack. It was tall and narrow, quite heavy too.
As it was getting darker, I drove slowly. Other drivers seemed more polite than usual that evening. The police even stopped traffic to let us through. Carrying furniture was a good idea.
After a time my wife said, “There’s a long line of cars behind. Why don’t they overtake（超车）?”
Just at that time a police car did overtake. The two officers inside looked at us seriously when they went past. But then, with a kind smile they asked us to follow their car through the busy traffic. The police car stopped at our village church. One of the officers came to me.
“Right, sir,” he said. “Do you need any more help now?”
I didn’t quite understand. “Thanks, officer,” I said. “You’ve been very kind. I live just down the road.”
He was looking at our things: first at the flowers, then at the bookshelf. “Well, well,” he said and laughed. “It’s a bookshelf you’ve got there! We thought it was——er, something else.”
My wife began to laugh. Suddenly I understood why the police drove here. I smiled at the officer. “Yes, it’s a bookshelf, but thanks again.” I drove home as fast as I could.From the story we know that.
| A．the writer was poor and didn’t buy the bookshelf for his wife |
| B．the writer’s wife didn’t like the bookshelf at all |
| C．the writer was not very glad to buy the bookshelf for his wife |
| D．the writer was always glad to buy something for his wife |
What made the writer think that carrying furniture was “a good idea”?
| A．Other drivers would let him go first. |
| B．He could drive slowly and it was safe. |
| C．His wife could use a new bookshelf. |
| D．He could save a lot of money and time. |
Why were the police and other drivers so kind to the writer?
| A．Because they thought the writer liked studying very much and needed a bookshelf. |
| B．Because they didn’t think it was polite to overtake a car with a bookshelf on it. |
| C．Because they thought it was dangerous to carry a bookshelf on a car. |
| D．Because they thought somebody in the writer’s family had died and he needed help. |
Why did the writer’s wife begin to laugh?
| A．Because the police had helped them a lot. |
| B．Because at last the police had driven to the church. |
| C．Because the officer was always looking at the flowers and the bookshelf. |
| D．Because now she knew what mistake the police had made. |
When did the officers begin to realize they had made a mistake?
| A．After they arrived at the church. |
| B．Before they overtook the writer’s car. |
| C．Before they arrived at the church. |
| D．After the writer’s family left the church. |
At the time, I would go out in the evening with my parents. But this time I had borrowed a bicycle from a friend of mine. I didn’t know why, but once I was on my own bicycle, a kind of free feeling flooded through me. The faster I rode, the faster I wanted to go! Far ahead, I rode as if my life depended on it, head down, hands grasping the handbars（车把手）. I meant to get to Jinghai Bar as fast as I could...
Oh! My hands! Don’t come any closer... Don’t touch me! That poor doctor just couldn’t get my gloves off. Each time he took a step towards me, I broke into painful shouting. Much later, I discovered that I had crashed(碰撞) heavily with another bicycle, and I hadn’t spoken one word of sense for at least three hours! After some time, my mother arrived at the hospital, her face as white as a sheet（纸张）, and gave me a hug(拥抱), only then did the doctor begin to stitch(缝合) my head wound, not only did he merrily（愉快地） cut off a long lock of my hair, but used no anaesthetic(麻药) either! Later. I seemed to hear faraway voices saying that my right hand was broken. I almost burst into tears. How would I ever play the piano again?On her way to Jinghai, the writer felt _______.
| A．nervous | B．comfortable |
| C．light-hearted | D．Upset |
Why did the writer ride a bicycle to Jinghai Bar that evening?
| A．Because she wanted to attend a party on time. |
| B．Because she wanted to meet her friend who was waiting for her there. |
| C．Because she just wanted, to join some of her friends and drink some wine. |
| D．We are not quite sure about what she was really going there for. |
What did the writer think of the doctor?
| A．Friendly. | B．Cruel. |
| C．Hardworking. | D．Kind. |
One thing is sure, that is, before she was wounded she _______.
| A．often went to Jinghai Bar with her friends |
| B．liked playing the piano |
| C．didn’t like any doctors at all |
| D．would burst into tears when she was in trouble |
Mr. Briggs got a job with an insurance company(保险公司) after he left school and went around visiting people in their homes to sell them life insurance. One day, after he had been working for the company for about a year, the insurance manager sent for him and said, “Mr. Briggs, I have been looking at your record as a salesman with our company, and there is one thing that surprises me about it. Why have you been selling insurance only to people over 95 years old, and why have you been giving them such generous（宽厚的）conditions? You’ll ruin our company if you go on like that.”
“Oh, no, sir,” answered Mr. Briggs at once, “Before I started work, I looked at the figures(数字) for deaths in this country during the past ten years, and I can tell you that few people die at the age of 95.”Before he worked in an insurance company, what was Mr. Briggs?
| A．He was a student. | B．He was an official. |
| C．He was a worker. | D．He was a businessman. |
As a salesman with the company, Mr. Brigs .
| A．visited people to ask them to work with him |
| B．called on people to make them join the company |
| C．saw old people in order to help them |
| D．visited many people so as to offer insurance |
Which of the following is true according to the passage?
| A．Mr. Briggs had studied the figures for deaths for several years. |
| B．Mr. Briggs began to look at the figures after he started work. |
| C．The number of the very old people who died every year is small. |
| D．A great number of very old people die every year. |
We have all experienced days when everything goes wrong. A day may begin well enough, but suddenly everything seems to get out of control. It seems as if a single unimportant event may cause a number of things to happen. Let us suppose that you are preparing a meal and keeping an eye on the baby at the same time. The telephone rings and this means your troubles are beginning. While you are on the phone, the baby pulls the table-cloth off the table, destroying your half prepared meal. You hang up（挂断电话） hurriedly and attend to your baby. Meanwhile, the meal gets burnt. As if this were not enough to bring you to tears, your husband arrives, unexpectedly bringing three guests to dinner.
Things can go wrong on a number of people on the road. During the rush hour one evening two cars hit each other and both drivers began to argue. The woman driver behind the two cars happened to be a learner. She suddenly go into a panic (恐慌) and stopped her car. This made the driver following her stop suddenly. His wife was sitting beside him holding a large cake. As she was thrown forward, the cake went right through the window and landed on the road. Seeing a cake flying through the air, a truck-driver had to stop his truck all of a sudden. The truck was carrying empty beer bottles and hundreds of them slid off the back of the truck on to the road. This led to yet another angry argument. Meanwhile, the traffic piled up（排成长龙） behind. It took the police nearly an hour to get the traffic on the move again. In the meanwhile, the truck-driver had to sweep up hundreds of broken bottles. Only two dogs were enjoying themselves from the accident, for they were happily having what was left of the cake. It was just one of those days!According to the author’s opinion, ____.
| A．troubles always come in groups |
| B．accidents may happen anytime |
| C．a small matter may cause great trouble |
| D．anyone may have trouble any day |
When the telephone rings,____.
| A．you should never go to answer it in a hurry |
| B．your trouble is sure to come |
| C．you’d better just let it ring all the way |
| D．you’d better have your baby a little distant from your table before answering it |
What did the police do after the accident?
| A．They helped the driver clean up the road. |
| B．They tried to stop the people from arguing. |
| C．They helped the drivers to go on with their journey. |
| D．They would find out who should be responsible |