Some people think that as more and more people have televisions in their homes, fewer and fewer people will buy books and newspapers. Why read an article in the newspaper, when the TV news can bring you the information in a few minutes and with pictures? Why read the life story of a famous man, when a short television program can tell you all that you want to know?
Television has not killed reading, however. Today, newspapers sell in very large numbers. And books of every kind are sold more than ever before. Books are still a cheap way to get information and enjoyment. Although some books with hard covers are expensive, many books are printed today as paperbacks (平装本), which are quite cheap. A paperback collection of short stories, for example, is always cheaper than an evening at the cinema or the theater, and you can keep a book for ever and read it many times.
Books are a wonderful provider of knowledge and pleasure and some types of books should be in every home. Every home should have a good dictionary. A good encyclopedia (百科全书), though expensive, is useful, too, because you can find information on any subject. Besides, you can have such books as history books, science textbooks, cookbooks, and collections of stories and poems . Then from time to time you can take a book of poems off your shelves and read the thoughts and feelings of your favorite poets.
1It can be inferred from the passage that _________.
A. TV programs are a chief provider of knowledge.
B. cinemas are the best choice in getting information.
C. reading is a cheap way of learning and having fun.
D. newspapers are an expensive way to enjoy oneself.
2 What does the sentence “Television has not killed reading, however” underlined in the second paragraph suggest?
A. People only need reading, though. B. Reading is still necessary today.
C. Reading is more fun than television D. Watching television doesn’t help reading.
3Which of the following is mainly discussed in the last paragraph?
A. Types of books B. Kinds of dictionaries.
C. Lists of history books D. Collections of stories and poems
4What can we learn from the passage?
A. Fewer and fewer people will buy books.
B. A good dictionary should be kept in every home.
C. Books with hard covers sell better than paperbacks.
D. More people like TV programs about famous men.
The first reality TV show in the world was called Expedition Robinson and it was shown in Sweden in 1997. Half the population of the country watched the final event and a new kind of TV program was born. Two years later in Holland, the first series of Big Brother was filmed. Again, it was a great success and the final program was watched by 15 million people. Now more than 20 countries around the world have Big Brother or Expedition Robinson on their TV screens. The ordinary people who take part in the pro-grams are known by millions of people in their own countries and reality TV has become big, big business.
For the TV producers, reality TV is a dream to come true because many of the programs cost nothing to make. At some point, the television viewers (观众） are asked to telephone the program to vote or to apply to take part in the show. It is the cost of these telephone calls that pays for the shows. One of the most popular shows is Pop Idol. In the show, a group of at-tractive young people are made into pop stars. TV viewers vote for their favorite person on the show. The winner makes a record and millions of copies ofthe record are sold. His or her pictures are published on the covers of magazines or on the front pages of newspapers, and then, they are quickly forgotten.
But not everyone is happy about reality TV. In Portugal, two TV channels got into trouble because they showed too much of the personal lives of the people in the shows. In France, reality TV is called “rubbish TV” and the TV studios of Big Brother were at-tacked three times in one week. In Greece, Big Brother was described as “ against human rights and civilization". Those who take part in reality TV shows are usually__________
| A．common people |
| B．pop TV stars |
| C．attractive people |
| D．famous film stars |
Who would pay for the cost of reality TV shows ac-cording to the passage?
| A．TV producers who make reality TV shows. |
| B．TV actors who take part in reality TV shows. |
| C．TV viewers who telephone reality TV shows. |
| D．TV companies which broadcast reality TV shows. |
Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?
| A．Pop Idol is one of the popular reality TV shows in the world. |
| B．Big Brother was one of the first reality TV shows in the world. |
| C．"Rubbish TV” is one of the personal reality TV shows in the world. |
| D．Expedition Robinson was the first reality TV show in the world. |
It can be concluded from the passage that __________.
| A．everyone is happy about reality TV |
| B．reality TV will do well in many countries |
| C．all the people in Europe are in favor of reality TV |
| D．reality TV will not be broadcast in any countries |
I will never forget the Saturday I took my great-grandfather to his first movie. I was nine. Granddad was over 90 years old.
We were a little late when we got to the movie. The lights already turned low. The girl at the piano had started to play. In those days, the movies had no sound. The only sounds that went with them came from a piano.
I helped Granddad find a seat in the first row. He sat back just as Hoot Gibson came riding across the screen on his horse. I looked at Granddad. His eyes were fixed on the screen and his lips were moving. I saw that he was riding right along with Hoot Gibson ！ Hoot was running away from outlaws(逃犯）• Faster and faster the horses ran. The girl at the piano played louder and louder.
Suddenly Granddad jumped to his feet and yelled at Hoot. ‘‘Look out!” he cried. ‘‘Run for it, Hoot! They're getting closer!”
The girl at the piano turned around. Right behind her she saw a tall old man with arms stretched (伸展） widely, it was my granddad. She thought he had gone crazy. With a scream, she climbed to the top of the piano. Then she jumped through the movie screen, making a big hole in it. She ran out of the back door of the movie, yelling.
There were about 40 people at the movie that afternoon. Granddad was the only one there over 12 years old. All the excitement made us boys feel we should do something. But what? Hoot showed us! He was shot from his horse right into the hole in the screen！
A friend of mine named Sammy climbed up to see what had become of Hoot. Three or four others followed Sammy. Soon about 12 yelling boys were crowd-ed around the screen. What noise！
Sammy shot this cap gun. Someone saw the smoke from the cap gun and screamed “Fire!”
Granddad was still standing. He called out，“Get the fireman! Where's the fire?”
Just then several men came in through the backdoor. The girl who played the piano had told them about the crazy man. They were coming to get Grand-dad!
Before they got to him, a fireman came in through the front door. He was carrying a horse. "Water ！he shouted to the firemen behind him. Then he turned his horse on the screen, full force. The hole in the screen became larger and larger. Now we could see only the top of Hoot's head and his horse's tail.
"I'm getting out of here!” Granddad said to me. "I've been in many a battle, but this is the worst of all. ”
We pushed past the firemen and got to the street at last. By this time there was a big crowd of people. "What's happened? Where's the fire?" everyone wan-ted to know.
But we didn't wait to talk. Granddad took me to his little house and gave me some ice cream.
"I'm sorry you didn't get to see the whole show, Granddad’ "I said. "Will you go with me next Saturday?” Granddad shook his head. “No, Robert，" he said.
"I don't like movies. They are too noisy. My first movie will be my last ！ ” The phrase “ running away” in Paragraph 4 can be best replaced by __________.
| A．escaping |
| B．setting loose |
| C．leaving |
| D．setting off |
Thegirl yelled because she was __________.
| A．angry |
| B．frightened |
| C．asking for help |
| D．crazy |
Sammy and other yelling boys climbed up and crowded around the screen to see __________.
| A．what's the matter with the screen |
| B．where the girl had gone |
| C．whether Hoot was in the hole |
| D．what had happened about Hoot |
Which of the following statements is TRUE?
| A．Sammy shot his cap gun and caused fire. |
| B．Granddad and I escaped from the policemen. |
| C．At last, the fire was put out by firemen. |
| D．Granddad would not see amovie any more. |
No other band has had the same influence in the world as the Beatles. Over eight years and more than a dozen albums, four young men from Liverpool, Eng-land—John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Star changed popular music and culture forever.
People in the UK became crazy about the Beatles in late 1963. The phenomenon was called “Beatlemania” by the British press. The term referred to the young women seen screaming at the band's concerts. Beatlemania came to North America in early 1964，and the band's popularity spread across much of the world.
Within five years, the Beatles' music changed greatly from their simple early hits like “ She Loves You” and “I Want to Hold Your Hand”.
The band wrote their own songs, explored new ways to create music and strived for high quality in every album they released.
However, with their popularity came criticism. The press criticized the band as symbols of the 1960s youth culture, which celebrated freedom from traditional family roles.
In 1970，Paul McCartney announced he was leaving the Beatles, and the group quickly came to an end.
In the 1970s, fans hoped for a reunion, but the group decided to follow their own careers with different degrees of success.
Fans lost hope with a tragedy. John Lennon was murdered in New York in 1980. The“word” Beatlemania" refers to __________in thepassage.
| A．being most crazy |
| B．the band's popularity |
| C．young women's screaming |
| D．bothA and C |
Which of the following is not true according to the passage?
| A．Beatlemania first appeared in the UK. |
| B．The band came to an end when John Lennon was murdered. |
| C．Th0e four members of the Beatles were from Liverpool, England. |
| D．The youth culture in the 1960s celebrated freedom from traditional family roles. |
The press that criticized the Beatles may probably __________.
| A．be unable to understand their music |
| B．hate freedom too much |
| C．envy the popularity of the band |
| D．hope for freedom |
From the passage, we can infer that the writer __________.
| A．introduces the band to readers, both from their achievements and from their ending |
| B．feels it a pity that the reunion failed |
| C．thinks that no other band as the Beatles has ever created popular music |
| D．doesn't like the Beatles, early hits “She Loves You" and “I Want to Hold Your Hand" |
Almost a year after Michael Jackson s death, the spirit of King of Pop appears to live on a 4-year-old Chinese boy, who is fast becoming internationally popular.
Wang Yiming, who is known as Xiao Bao, has already been making waves across the world with his dance moves. 
A favorite of Chinese media, Xiao Bao draws curious crowds whenever he breaks into a dance routine, which his mother says happens almost every time he hears music. "When he was young, we just started playing music to him and he started moving around like this，"his mother said. "When he was just a couple of months old, we would let him listen to music and he would immediately stop crying and calm down，" she told Reuters Television.
Xiao Bao was born prematurely (早产），and doc-tors suggested moving his body to music would do good to him, but his parents were surprised by how quickly and interestedly he took to the rhythm.
Dancing since he was two years old, he has now mastered the moonwalk and other Jackson moves, such as Beat It, Billie Jean and Dangerous.
Before long, his passion turned into an obsession (着迷）——the family spends up to 20，000 yuan a month on dance training with a professional and outfits including tailor-made suits, hats and shirts.
Xiao Bao is serious about his dancing career and says he will not mind becoming famous one day. But his parents say that no matter how talented their son is, his schooling will be their first choice. What Xiao Bao's mother said suggested that __________.
| A．she didn't expect her son to take up music |
| B．Xiao Bao had a strong love for music |
| C．she taught him music when Xiao Bao was young |
| D．she was very sad at the beginning |
How did Xiao Bao's parents feel when they saw his reaction to music?
| A．Amazed. |
| B．Happy. |
| C．Angry. |
| D．Anxious. |
We can learn from the passage that __________.
| A．his parents taught him the moonwalk |
| B．he began to perform on stage at two |
| C．moonwalk moves were first done by Jackson |
| D．his parents found him hard to please |
Theunderlined word "outfits"in Paragraph 6 is closest in meaning to __________.
| A．clothes |
| B．shoes |
| C．bags |
| D．tools |
The richest man in the world is an American, Bill Gates. He started Microsoft, the company that makes computer programs and operating systems. Two years ago, Mr Gates and his wife Melinda decided to use some of their money to improve the lives of people in developing countries. They started the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in Seattle»Washington. The foundation has twenty-four thousand million dollars. It is the biggest not-for-profit organization in the world. Bill and Melinda Gates started the foundation because they believed progress in medical science and information technology was not reaching people in developing countries. Their foundation finances programs aimed at improving health and education in poor countries. One of the foundation's major goals is the develop-ment of new medicines to prevent and treat tuberculosis(肺结核），malaria(疾疾）and AIDS. The World Health Organization reports that these three diseases kill more than five million people a year.
Another leading foundation project is an effort to reduce death rates for babies in poor countries. The foundation also supports efforts to provide necessary medicines to prevent diseases among children in seventy-four developing countries. It also supports training programs for health workers. Bill and Melinda Gates are also concerned about connecting people to the Internet computer system. The foundation believes men and women of all ages and races should be able to use the Internet as a tool for life-long learning. For example, the foundation gave nine million dollars to more than three hundred fifty public libraries in Chile (智利）for computers and technology training. The Gates Foundation usually provides money to developing countries in the form of a gift or a grant. However, there are conditions for receiving grants. Governments or other not-for-profit organizations working in a country must promise to provide an equal amount of money. The receiver must also meet performance goals or risk losing the money.What's NOT the aim of the Bill and Melinda GatesFoundation?
| A．Providing information technology for the developing countries. |
| B．Developing new medicines to prevent diseases. |
| C．Earning more money from these developing countries. |
| D．Helping men and women of all ages and races use the Internet. |
What do you think of Bill Gates from this passage?
| A．Clever. |
| B．Rich. |
| C．Able. |
| D．Warm-hearted. |
What's the main idea of this passage?
| A．Bill Gates, the richest man. |
| B．Bill Gates set up foundation to help the people in developing countries. |
| C．Information technology needs popularizing. |
| D．The people in developing countries need to be helped. |
Which of the following statements is NOT true ac-cording to the passage?
| A．Tuberculosis, malaria and AIDS kill many people every year. |
| B．A person can receive a grant as long as he lives in a developing country. |
| C．Gates Foundation is the largest not-for-profit organization in the world. |
| D．Bill Gates supported training health workers. |
What's the meaning of the underlined word “grant”？
| A．Money. |
| B．Food. |
| C．Clothes. |
| D．Equipment. |