Sports account for a growing amount of income made on the sales of commercial time by television companies. Many television companies have used sports to attract viewers from particular sections of the general public, and then they have sold audiences to advertisers.
An attraction of sport programs for the major U. S. media companies is that events are often held on Saturday and Sunday afternoons—the slowest time periods of the week for general television viewing. Sport events are the most popular weekend programs, especially among male viewers who may not watch much television at other times during the week. This means the television networks are able to sell advertising time at relatively high prices during what normally would be dead time for programming.
Media corporations also use sports to attract commercial sponsors that might take their advertising dollars elsewhere if television stations did not report certain sports. The people in the advertising departments of major corporations realize that sports attract made viewers. They also realize that most business travelers are men and that many men make family decisions on the purchases of computers, cars and life insurance.
Golf and tennis are special cases for television programming. These sports attract few viewers, and the ratings(收视率)are unusually low. However, the audience for these sports is attractive to certain advertisers. It is made up of people from the highest income groups in the United States, to certain advertisers. It is made up of people from the highest income groups in the United States, including many lawyers and business managers. This is why television reporting of golf and tennis is sponsored by companies selling high-priced cars, business and personal computer, and holiday trips. This is also why the networks continue to carry these programs regardless of low ratings. Advertisers are willing to pay high fees to reach high-income consumers and those managers who make decisions to buy thousands of “company cars” and computer, with such viewers, these programs don’t need high ratings to stay on the air. Television sport programs on weekend afternoons .
| A．result in more sport event |
| B．get more viewers to play sports |
| C．make more people interested in television |
| D．bring more money to the television networks |
Why would weekend afternoons become dead time without sport programs?
| A．Because there would be few viewers |
| B．Because the advertisers would be off work |
| C．Because television programs would go slowly |
| D．Because viewers would pay less for watching television |
In many families, men make decision on .
| A．holiday | B．sports viewing | C．television shopping | D．expensive purchases |
The ratings are not important for golf and tennis programs because .
| A．their advertisers are carmakers |
| B．their viewers are attracted by sports |
| C．their advertisers target at rich people |
| D．their viewers can afford expensive cars |
What is the passage mainly about?
| A．Television viewers are determined by male viewers |
| B．Rich viewers contribute most to television companies |
| C．Sports are gaining importance in advertising on television |
| D．Commercial advertisers are the major sponsors of sport event |
Contrary to the impression that grandmothers are delighted to help their grown daughters and care for their grandchildren, a study of multigenerational families shows that many older women hate the frequent demands that the younger generations make on their time and energy．
“Young women with children are under a lot of pressure these days, and they expect their mothers to help them pick up the pieces,” noted Dr．Bertram J．Cohler, a behavioral scientist at the University of Chicago．“This is often the strongest source of complaint on the part of Grandmother, who has finished with child caring and now has her own life to live．Grandmothers like to see their children and grandchildren, but on their own time．”
Dr．Cohler is director of a study, sponsored by the National Institute of Aging, of 150 workingclass families that live in a Midwestern suburb．He and Dr．Henry U．Gruebaum of Harvard Medical School, have already completed their study of four such families in New England．
Dr．Cohler tells of a middle-aged Boston woman who works as a cook all week and for her parish（教区） on Sundays．Every Saturday, her one day off, her daughter and family visit, expecting mother to make lunch, shop, and visit．“That's not how she wants to grow old,” said Dr．Cohler, who was told by the older woman, “My daughter would never speak to me if she knew how angry and unhappy I get．”
In all the four New England families studied, the older women disliked the numerous phone calls and visits from their grown daughters, who often turned to the mothers for advice, physical resources, love, and companionship as well as baby-sitting services．“American society keeps increasing the burdens for older people, particularly those in their 50s and 60s,” Dr．Cohler said in an interview here．“They're still working and they're taking care of their grown children and maybe also their aged parents．Sometimes life gets to be too much．”
67．Which of the following is closest in meaning to the expression “pick up the pieces” in the second paragraph?
A．Save a bad situation． B．Put children's toys in their proper places．
C．Gather up pieces of clothing． D．Keep the room in good order．
68．The middle-aged Boston woman ______．
A．expects her mother to cook lunch for her
B．enjoys the room in good order
C．visits an older woman every Saturday
D．works six days a week
69．The passage is mainly about ______．
A．young women's inability to look after their children
B．Grandmothers' attitudes toward helping their grown daughters
C．average American women's family life
D．grandmother should give more help to their daughters
70．From Dr．Cohler's study we may reach the conclusion that ______．
A．daughters should be independent of their old grandmothers
B．grandmother should give more help to their daughters
C．mothers and daughters should support each other
D．daughters should be more considerate toward their mothers
It is natural that children are curious about the world around them．For example, they want to know how their hearts beat．They want to know why the ocean water tastes salty．
As children grow up, they become curious about different kinds of things．When they are babies, they are interested in the parts of their bodies and in the smiles of their mothers．They become interested in the physical world around them: the plants, the animals, the sky．Later, they become interested in the things that people have made: wheels, bicycles, cars．And when they are adults, their curiosity continues．Sometimes this curiosity leads to a career in science．
Scientists spend their lives trying to find out about the world．Those who work with the earth sciences study the earth, the oceans, and the sky．Other scientists who study living things work with the biological sciences．A third group of scientists study the physical sciences, e．g．physics, chemistry ．
These scientists have already discovered a lot about our world．For example, they tell us why your heart beats fast when you run．They say that when you are quiet, your heart normally beats 65 or 75 times a minute．Your heart is a pump that pumps blood to all parts of the body．The blood carries oxygen and nutrition．When you run, your muscles work very hard and use the nutrition that the blood carries to them．The muscles need oxygen, too．So your brain sends a signal to the heart．The signal means that the muscles need more nutrition and oxygen．Then the heart beats fast and sends blood quickly to the muscles．It may beat 90 to 140 times a minute．
Of course, scientists cannot answer all of our questions．If we ask, “Why does the ocean water taste salty” scientists will say that the salt comes from rocks．When a rock gets very hot or very cold, it cracks．Rain falls into cracks．The rain then carries the salt into the earth and into the rivers．The rivers carry the salt into the ocean．But then we ask , “What happens to the salt in the ocean? The ocean does not get saltier every year．” Scientists are not sure about the answer to this question．
We know a lot about our world, but there are still many answers that we do not have, and we are curious．
63．According to the passage, which of the following statements is true?
A．People are curious in the same way．
B．People in different countries are interested in different things．
C．People of different ages are interested in different things．
D．Men and women are curious about different things．
64．Scientists who work with the biological sciences study____．
A．the earth , the oceans and the sky B．plants and animals
C．man-made things D．ocean water
65．A rock cracks _____．
A．in wet regions B．in dry regions
C．when salty water falls in D．at very high or very low temperatures
66．People are always curious because _____ ．
A．they know little about the world B．they know nothing about the world
C．they can not explain many things D．they want to be scientists
Just at that time, a telegram arrived from his brother．Mr．Jameson opened it quickly．It said, “Come home at once．Your wife is ill and in a critical condition．West End Hospital．”Mr．Jameson began to think．Since the work at the mine was going well, he decided to go home at once．He just told himself again and again that he couldn’t lose his wife, or his life would be meaningless．
At about 6 the next morning, he and one of his assistants reached Lamesa, where they were going to Chicago at 6:30．There was still half an hour left before the train started, so Mr．Jameson decided to telephone to Chicago to ask about his wife．And after that, if still enough time was left he could see a doctor and have the piece of coal or the piece of metal removed out of his eye．His eye and his whole head ached now．
After he sent his assistant to the railway station to buy tickets for the train, he went to make the phone call．When the operator put through his call, he sat down and waited．His eye felt like a piece of hot iron．And he was worried about his sick wife．The phone rang．Soon Mr．Jameson talked with the hospital in Chicago．A voice said, “Yes, sir! Your wife is here．She is much better．There is no danger now．You don’t have to return．”
Everything was all right．His wife was going to live．He would not lose his wife．Quite excited, Mr．Jameson began to cry like a little child and could not stop．Big tears rolled out of his eyes and down his cheeks．Soon his eye felt better．He touched his eye and felt something in the corner of his eye．That was a small piece of coal．His tears had washed it out of his eye!
59．What happened to Mr．Jameson before setting off?
A．He was hurt and couldn’t walk．
B．His eye was suffering from a certain disease．
C．A small piece of coal stuck him in the eye．
D．A piece of metal got into his eye．
60．The writer doesn’t mention but we can infer that Mr．Jameson probably _____．
A．worked in a factory in Chicago
B．worked as a mining engineer in a company
C．was worried about his work on the way to Chicago
D．sold coal in a faraway village
61．How was the coal removed out of Mr．Jameson’s eye?
A．It was taken out by a doctor．
B．A good rest helped it out．
C．He rubbed his eyes slightly．
D．It was washed out by his tears．
62．How can we describe the feeling of Mr．Jameson?
A．Worried ---relaxed B．Excited ---dull
C．Anger---calm．D．Depressed ---nervous．
第三部分：阅读理解（共20小题，共40分）
第一节（共15题, 每小题2分，满分30分）
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A,B,C和D）中，选出最佳选项。
We often hear the phrase: “You have a greater chance of being struck by lightning．”It is used to describe something that hasn’t got much chance of happening．However, the common saying undermines（掩盖）the very real dangers of lightning．
Last Friday, at least 5 people were killed by lightning in Nepal（尼泊尔）．
Lightning strikes are the second most common cause of deaths during natural disasters in the US．The first is floods．Around 400 people nationwide are struck by lightning each year, and of those, 70 people die．That is, more people are killed by lightning than by tornadoes and hurricanes．
Because lightning kills only one or two people at a time, its danger does not receive as much attention as other disasters．
“If you hear thunder, you are in danger from lightning, ”said Rocky Lopes, a disaster educator at the American Red Cross．
“Thunder means that lightning is close enough to hit you at any time, so you should move indoors immediately and stay there until the storm has ended．The most important thing to remember is to seek shelter,”Lopes said．
Summer is the peak time for lightning storms, so when lightning strikes across the sky, remember these safety tips:
*Stop working, fishing, swimming or playing in open fields．
*Do not stand under a tree．
*Get off bicycle and motorcycles．
*Crouch down（蹲下）if there is no shelter．
*Avoid open spaces, wire fences, metal objects and electrical objects such as hair driers．
56．Of the people who are struck by lightning each year in the U．S．A．, about ____ people are lucky enough to continue to live．
A．400 B．330 C．70 D．5
57．If you hear the thunder, the most important thing you do is to _____．
A．find shelter to hide in B．stand still in the open spaces
C．stand under a tree D．stop working in the fields
58．Which of the following is NOT true?
A．If you hear the thunder, you needn’t move indoors right away．
B．Fewer than 70 people are killed by tornadoes and hurricanes each year in the U．S．A．
C．People don’t pay as much attention to the danger of lightning as that of floods．
D．Floods are the first most common cause of deaths during natural disasters in the U．S．A．
In 1993, New York State ordered stores to charge money on beverage (饮料) containers. Within a year, consumers had returned millions of aluminum cans and glass and plastic bottles. Plenty of companies were eager to accept the aluminum and glass as raw material for new products, but because few could figure out what to do with the plastic, much of it wound end up buried in landfills (垃圾填埋场). The problem was not limited to New York. Unfortunately, there were too few uses for second-hand plastic.
Today, one out of five plastic soda bottles is recycled in the United States. The reason for the change is that now there are dozens of companies across the country buying discarded (被丢弃的) plastic soda bottles and turning them into fence post, paint brushes, etc.
As the New York experience shows, recycling involves more than simply separating valuable materials from the rest of the rubbish. A discard remains a discard until somebody figures out how to give it a second life — and until economic arrangements exist to give that second life value. Without enough markets to take in materials collected for recycling, throwaways actually reduce prices for used materials.
Fewer landfill space and rising costs for burying and burning rubbish are forcing local governments to look more closely at recycling. In many areas, the East Coast especially, recycling is already the least expensive waste-management choice. For every ton of waste recycled, a city avoids paying for its disposal (清除，处理), which, in parts of New York, amounts to savings of more than $100 per ton. Recycling also stimulates the local economy by creating jobs and reduces the pollution control and energy costs of industries that make recycled products by giving them a better raw material.What regulation was issued by New York State concerning beverage containers?
| A．A fee should be charged on used containers for recycling. |
| B．Throwaways should be collected by the state for recycling. |
| C．Consumers had to pay for beverage containers and could get their money back on returning them. |
| D．Beverage companies should be responsible for collecting and reusing discarded plastic soda bottles. |
The returned plastic bottles in New York used to .
| A． be turned into raw materials |
| B． be separated from other rubbish |
| C． have a second-life value |
| D． end up somewhere underground |
The key problem in dealing with returned plastic beverage containers is .
| A． how to reduce their recycling costs |
| B． to sell them at a profitable price |
| C． how to turn them into useful things |
| D． to lower the prices for used materials |
Recycling has become the first choice for the disposal of rubbish because .
| A． recycling causes little pollution |
| B． other methods are more expensive |
| C． recycling has great appeal for the jobless |
| D． local governments find it easy to manage |
It can be concluded from the passage that .
| A． recycling is to be suggested both economically and environmentally |
| B． local governments in the U. S. can expect big profits from recycling |
| C． rubbish is a potential remedy for the shortage of raw materials |
| D． landfills will still be widely used for waste disposal |