Life in 2060
Let us suppose it is now about A.D. 2060. Let’s make believe(假设；虚构) it is about sixty years from now. Of course, things have changed and life is very different.
Voyages to the moon are being made every day. It is as easy to take a holiday on the moon today as it was for the people in 1960 to take a holiday in Europe. At a number of scenic spots on the moon, many hotels have been built. The hotels are air-conditioned, naturally. In order that everyone can enjoy the beautiful scenery on the moon, every room has at least one picture window. Everything imaginable is provided for entertainment(娱乐) of young and old.
What are people eating now? People are still eating food. They haven’t yet started to take on heir(继承) supply of energy directly as electrical current or as nuclear power. They may some day. But many foods now come in pill form, and the food that goes into the pill continues to come mainly from green plants.
Since there are several times as many people in the world today as there were a hundred years ago, most of our planet’s surface has to be filled. The deserts are irrigated with water and crops are no longer destroyed by pests. The harvest is always good.
Farming, of course, is very highly developed. Very few people have to work on the farm. It is possible to run the farm by just pushing a few buttons now and then.
People are now largely vegetarians(素食者). You see, as the number of people increases, the number of animals decreases. Therefore, the people have to be vegetarians and we are healthier both in our bodies and in our minds, and we know the causes and cure of disease and pain, and it is possible to get rid of diseases. No one has to be ill any more.
Such would be our life in 2060.According to the passage, what will be on the moon in about A.D. 2060?
A. Many tourists. B. Many other animals. C. Many plants. D. A sea.What will people eat then according to the passage?
| A．Biscuits in pill form. | B．Foods in gas form. |
| C．Foods in water form. | D．Foods in pill form. |
Why are people largely vegetarians in 2060?
| A．Because they don’t eat meat . |
| B．Because doctors advise them not to eat meat. |
| C．Because the number of animals decreases. |
| D．Because all the animals have died of diseases. |
He only finished fourth in this year's Super Boy talent show. But it didn't stop him capturing the hearts of thousands of fans. He can hit high notes with ease. And he is very modest. Zhang Jie,25,shed(流) sweat and tears all the way through the competition, but he never gave up.
“No matter how life treats him, he always fights back bravely ,”said Wu Chunyan, a Senior 2 student in Hubei. “He has never lost his dream of being a singer.” The road to fame is always rocky, and Zhang is no exception. As a college student he was majoring in tourism. He was considering becoming a tourist guide after graduation until he entered a singing competition.
His life changed after he competed in My Show. He won first place and signed with a record company. “I was very excited and regarded it as a way to take me closer to my dream,” he said. But the company gave him little money to make music and slowly began to ignore him. Zhang even borrowed money to buy costumes. “Life has its ups and downs. But the tough reality only makes me stronger,” he said.
He forgot he was once a champion of a talent show and joined Super Boy. His decision got support from his family who worked hard to make ends meet. His mother sold rice noodles on a street in his hometown, but she said she would “support him forever.”
“I have the dream to buy a large house for my parents, where my mom can get a large window sill to grow flowers,” said Zhang.Which of the following is the best title of the passage?
| A．An easy way to success | B．A rocky path to success |
| C．A clever boy | D．A successful boy |
From the passage, we can know that _________.
| A．he once won the first place in Super Boy talent show. |
| B．he finished fourth in My Show. |
| C．he is an exception on his way to fame. |
| D．after signing with a record company, he didn’t get much money. |
When he met with difficulty in a record company, he decided to _______.
| A．join Super Boy | B．tell the others he was a champion |
| C．give up on his way to success | D．quarrel with the boss |
Before he joined in a singing competition, his dream was to become________.
| A．a great scientist | B．a good college student |
| C．a famous singer | D．a tourist guide |
In today’s Internet age, the demand for online games continues to grow. Online computer game centers exist in many cities and towns throughout Asia. Facing the pressures of school and life, people tend to the virtual world, expecting a diversion from these problems. Too often, however, they can lead to problems and unhealthy addictions 迷。
This is most clearly seen in the example of South Korea. The country has the world’s highest percentage of high-speed Internet services. It also has a high number of online game players and related problems. In 2002, a young man collapsed(突然晕倒) and died while playing online games. He had been playing almost nonstop for 86 hours at an Internet café. Another young man killed his sister after becoming confused between the online world and real life. A 12-year-old boy stole US $ 16,000 from his father and ran away from home. He did this to continue his obsession(着迷) with an online game. Such problems, however, don’t just happen in South Korea. They are spreading to other parts of Asia, as well.
What kinds of people develop online game addiction? What does the problem look like? Dr. SueHuei Chen, a clinical psychologist, researches Internet addiction. She discovered some signs of at-risk individuals such as lack friendships and good social skills. Those problem individuals feel it so compulsive 难控制的to play online games that they could sacrifice things such as school or family. They feel the need to spend more and more time online. And they become upset if anyone tries to limit限制 their online game playing.
How many problem game players are there? In mainland China, the potential number of problem online gamers is alarming. In 2004, the China daily reported that China had 13.8 million online game players. Furthermore, it stated that 80 percent of these were under 25 and had signs of addiction. Such numbers point toward a growing problem among Chinese young people.
Make sure to keep control over your online game playing. If you don’t control it, it can get control of you.What is mainly discussed in the passage?
| A．The disadvantages of the Internet. |
| B．The online game problems in Asia. |
| C．The popularity of online games worldwide. |
| D．The cause of online game addiction. |
The underlined word “diversion” in the first paragraph is closest in meaning to __________.
| A．career | B．comfort | C．escape | D．support |
According to Paragraph 2, which of the following statements is NOT true?
| A．The young killer’s sister was killed in a fictional 科幻 world |
| B．Online game playing is responsible for the young man’s death. |
| C．People in South Korea have access to the Internet most easily. |
| D．The teenage boy stole money because of his playing games online. |
What can we learn from the passage?
| A．Most people in Asia have developed an addiction to online games. |
| B．Online game addictions cause many life-and-death arguments in South Korea. |
| C．Lonely and unsociable people seem to more easily develop Internet addictions. |
| D．In the year 2004 there were a total of 13.8 million Chinese visiting the Internet. |
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In this century the traditional American family is constantly faced with the threat of breakdown. Some people suggest that one little – noticed cause may be the introduction of the TV dinner.
Before the appearance of television seats, the American dinner was a big event for the family. In many homes dinner time may be the only time when everyone got together. A typical dinner was usually in three periods In the preparation period, the children and Father frequently helped with setting while Mother put the last touches on the roast. In the eating period, family members shared the day’s experiences and more than food was eaten. In this period,families got to know one another and made joint decisions around the dinner table, and thus the family solidarity（团结） was strengthened. In the cleaning – up period,children or Father again gave their hands, so that their meaning to the home community was clear. Unfortunately, all of these have been abandoned by a product—the television set.
By the beginning of the 1980s, the typical American family dinner was just twenty minutes long. The speed – up of this once – leisurely experiences is clearly connected to the overall pace of modern life and maybe a model of the modern life is the TV dinners—meals designed to be used between the opening and closing credits of a half – hour program. The once family affair has now become nothing more than the use of a fork and knife.According to the passage, the American family is now threatened by .
| A．Being poor | B．having few children | C．poor living conditions | D．separation |
In the past, Americans tended to .
| A．spend more time eating their food at dinner table |
| B．eat more food than they have today |
| C．spend more time talking about their day’s experience at dinner table |
| D．talk so much that they forgot to eat |
The shortening of the dinner time in America is related to .
| A．the TV programs | B．the pace of modern life |
| C．the wide use of household appliances | D．the popularity of fast food |
The best title for this passage might be .
| A．Talk At Dinner Table | B．TV Dinner |
| C．Pace Of Modern Life | D．Problems Caused By TV |
If English means endless new words, difficult grammar and sometimes strange pronunciation, you are wrong. Haven’t you noticed that you have become smarter since you started to learn a language?
According to a new study by a British university, learning a second language can lead to an increase in your brain power. Researchers found that learning other languages changes grey matter. This is the area of the brain which processes information. It is similar to the way that exercise builds muscles.
The study also found the effect is greater when the younger people learn a second language. A team led by Dr. Andrea Mechelli, from University College London, took a group of Britons who only spoke English. They were compared with a group of “early bilinguals” who had learnt a second language before the age of five, as well as a number of later learners.
Scans showed that grey matter density (密度) in the brain was greater in bilinguals than in people without a second language. But the longer a person waited before mastering a new language, the smaller the difference.
“Our findings suggest that the structure of the brain is changed by the experience of learning a second language,” said the scientists.
It means that the change itself increases the ability to learn.
Professor Dylan Vaughan Jones of the University of Wales, has researched the link between bilingualism and maths skills. “Having two languages gives you two windows on the world and makes the brain more flexible (灵活的),” he said. “You are actually going beyond language and have a better understanding of different ideas.”
The findings were matched in a study of native Italian speakers who had learned English as a second language between the ages of two and thirty-four. Reading, writing, and comprehension were all tested. The results showed that the younger they started to learn, the better. “Studying a language means you get an entrance to another world,” explained the scientists.The main subject talked about in this passage is ________.
| A．science on learning a second language | B．man’s ability of learning a second language |
| C．that language can help brain power | D．language learning and maths study |
The underlined word “bilingual” probably means _______.
| A．a researcher on language learning | B．a second language learner |
| C．a person who can speak two languages | D．an active language learner |
We may know from the scientific findings that ________.
A. the earlier you start to learn a second language, the higher the grey matter density is
Bthere is no difference between a later second language learner and one who doesn’t know a second language
C. the experience of learning a second language has bad effect on people’s brain
D. the ability of learning a second language is changing all the timeIn the last two paragraphs, the author wants to tell us that _________.
A. learning a second language is the same as studying maths
B. early learning of a second language helps you a great deal in studying other subjects
CItalian is the best choice for you as a second language
D. you’d better choose the ages between 2 and 34 to learn a second language