Last week, I bought an alarm system for about $ 450. It consisted of a control unit with three small units. I put the control unit in the sitting-room and fastened the other units by the front door, back door and living-room windows. The instructions told us to choose three numbers, so we chose 4, 9 and 1, the last three numbers of our telephone number.
Now I must explain how the alarm works:
l There is a power siren(警报器) in the control unit. It makes a very loud noise.
2 Each of the small units sends out beams or rays in different directions. If anything moves, it breaks a beam. This sends a signal to the control unit. The siren makes a noise which you can hear 50 meters away.
3. When we go to bed, I press the three buttons numbered 4, 9 and 1. Then we have 30 seconds to get out of the room before the alarm starts to work.
That night I slept soundly because I was sure that no burglar(夜贼) could get into our house. However, at about 2:10 a. m., I woke up and heard the siren. “There must be a burglar in the house,” Mary said. “What shall we do?”“I’ll go and see who’s there,” I said. “Stay here. Don’t make a noise.”I went downstairs quietly. When I reached the living-room, I switched on my torch and looked round the room. Then I turned the light on. I switched the siren off and searched the rooms downstairs. There was nothing wrong except that the back door was unlocked. I locked it, reset the alarm and went back to bed. About an hour later, the alarm started again. I jumped out of bed, fell over a chair in the dark and bumped into the bedroom door. Mary woke up and started hitting me with a torch. “Hey! Wait a minute!” I whispered. “It’s only me. I’m going downstairs to see what’s wrong.”I went down into the living-room and listened for a moment. The only sound I could hear was the siren. I turned on the light and then switched the siren off. As I did so, I glanced across at the curtains in front of the windows. I saw a house lizard (a kind of small animal) disappear behind the curtains.“Oh!” I said to myself. “That’s our burglar. ”When the lizard moved, it started the siren. I guessed that the alarm had been made in Europe, where there are no house lizards. Well. I won’t finish this story but if you want an alarm system free of charge, let me know. I’ll send you ours. We bought a dog this morning. It knows the difference between a lizard and a burglar.The writer bought an alarm system to ________.
| A．make sure that he got up early every day |
| B．warn him when there were lizards in his house |
| C．frighten burglars and tell him that somebody had got into the house |
| D．make Mary feel safe to live in the large room |
The purpose of the three units was to________.
| A．send a message to the control unit and start the siren |
| B．sound their own sirens when the control unit told them so |
| C．check that the control unit worked properly all the time |
| D．give them enough light |
If the writer set the alarm and remained in the room for more than half a minute, _______.
| A．nothing would happen |
| B．the control unit would not work |
| C．the siren would make a noise |
| D．the dog would bark |
The purpose of the writer in writing the passage is to ________.
| A．tell us that the alarm system doesn’t work |
| B．tell us an interesting experience |
| C．show us how the alarm system works |
| D．make it clear that he wants to give away his alarm system |
Children in the United States are exposed to many influences other than that of their families．Television is the most significant of these influences，because the habit of watching television usually begins before children start attending school．
Parents are concerned about the lack of quality in television programs for children．The degree of violence in many of these shows also worries them．Studies indicate that，when children are exposed to violence，they many become aggressive or insecure.
Parents are also concerned at，out the commercials that their children see on television． Many parents would like to see fewer commercials during programs for children．And some parents feel that these shows should not have any commercials at all because young minds are not mature enough to deal with the claims made by advertisers．
Educational television has no commercials and has programs for children that many parents approve of The most famous of these is Sesame Street，which tries to give preschool children a head start in learning the alphabet(字母)and numbers．It also flies to teach children useful things about the world in which they live．
Even though most parents and educators give Sesame Street and shows like it high marks for quality，some critics argue that all television，whether educational or not，is harmful to children．These critics feel that the habit of watching hours of television every day turns children into bored and passive(被动的)consumers of their world rather than encouraging them to become active explorers of it．Which of the following statements is NOT based on the passage?
| A． Parents are worried about the influence from television on their children |
| B． Television has much influence on children |
| C． Both parents and their children like watching educational television． |
| D． Some critics think that television is no good for children． |
In what ways do children suffer from television?
| A． They become the victims of social violence |
| B． They spend hours watching television instead of doing school work |
| C． The programs make the children lose interest in the world． |
| D． The programs make the children spend too much of their parents’ money |
Parents would not like their children to see commercials because ____
| A． they think that their children ore not old enough to handle advertising |
| B． commercials teach children alphabet and numbers |
| C． commercials help to sell products |
| D． they don’t like commercials |
Although the United States covers so much land and the land produces far more food than the present population needs，its people are by now almost entirely an urban society Less than a tenth of the people are engaged in agriculture and forestry(林业)，and most of the rest live in or around towns，small and large．Here the traditional picture is changing：every small town may still be very like other small towns，and the typical small town may represent a widely accepted view of the country，but most Americans do not live in small towns any more．Half the population now lives in some thirty metropolitan areas(1arge cities with their suburbs、of more than a million people each—a larger proportion than in Germany or England，let alone France．The statistics(统计)of urban and rural population should be treated with caution because so many people who live in areas classified as rural travel by car to work in a nearby town each day．As the rush to live out of town continues．rural areas within reach of towns are gradually filled with houses，so that it is hard to say at what moment a piece of country becomes a suburb But more and more the typical American lives in a metropolitan rather than a small town environment．If now America has 250 million people．how many of them are engaged in agriculture and forestry?
| A．About 25 million． | B．More than 25 million． |
| C．Less than 25 million． | D．Less than 225 million |
Which of the following four countries has the smallest proportion of people living in metropolitan areas?
| A．United States． | B．Germany. |
| C．France． | D．England． |
What’s the meaning of the word“metropolitan”in the middle of the passage?
| A．Of a large city with its suburbs． |
| B．Of small and large towns． |
| C．Of urban areas． |
| D．Of rural areas． |
According to the passage，what can we learn about small towns in the United States?
A Most small towns become gradually crowded
B．Small towns are still similar to each other．
C．As the traditional picture is changing，towns are different．
D .Small towns are turning into large cities
There are stories about two U．S . presidents，Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren，which attempt to explain the American English term OK．We don’t know if either story is true，but they are both interesting．
The first explanation is based on the fact that President Jackson had very little education．In fact，he had difficulty reading and writing．When important papers came to Jackson，he tried to read them and then had his assistants explain what they said．If he approved of a paper．he would write“all correct”on it．The problem was that he didn’t know how to spell．So what he really wrote was“ol korekt”．After a while，he shortened that term to“OK”．
The second explanation is based on the place where President Van Buren was born，Kinderhook，New York．Van Bnren’s friends organized a club to help him become President They caned the club the Old Kinderhook Club，and anyone who supported Van Buren was called“OK”．The author
| A．believes both of the stories |
| B．doesn’t believe a word of the stories |
| C．is not sure whether the stories are true |
| D．is telling the stories just for fun |
According to the passage，President Jackson
| A．couldn’t draw up any documents at all |
| B．didn’t like to read important papers by himself |
| C．often had his assistants sign documents for him |
| D．wasn’t good at reading，writing or spelling |
According to the first story, the term “OK”
| A．was approved of by President Jackson |
| B．was the title of some Official documents |
| C．was first used by President Jackson |
| D．was an old way to spell“all correct’’ |
According to the second story，the term‘‘OK”
| A．was the short way to say‘‘old Kinderhook Club” |
| B．meant the place where President Van Buren was born |
| C．was the name of Van Buren’s club |
| D．was used to call Van Buren’s supporters in the election |
Now I’d like to talk to you about your final exam. The exam will be held next Thursday, the last day of the exam week. Remember to bring two of three pens in case you run out of ink. And unlike the midterm exam, this test will not include multiple --- choice questions; it will consist entirely of essays(文章). You’ll have to answer three of the five essay questions. The exam will be comprehensive (全面的), which means you’ll be responsible for all of the subject matters we covered in class this term, I would suggest you review your midterm exam as well as textbooks and your class notes. The final exam will count as 50 percent of your grade of the course. The research project (项目) will count as 20 percent and the midterm exam 30 percent. I’ll be in my office almost all day next Tuesday. If you run into any problems, please drop in. Good luck to you and I’ll see you on Tuesday.When will the final exam take place?
| A．On Tuesday | B．On a Wednesday |
| C．On a Thursday | D．On a Friday |
What will be included in the exam?
| A．There will be only multiple-choice questions. |
| B．The exam will contain both multiple-choice and essay questions. |
| C．The exam will have an oral and a written section. |
| D．There will be only essay questions. |
Why does the teacher call the exam comprehensive?
| A．It will be easy to understand. |
| B．Students will be tested on all the material discussed in class. |
| C．It will cover topics from a wide variety of subjects. |
| D．Students must complete all parts of it. |
The underlined phrase run into probably means .
| A．go into |
| B．meet somebody unexpectedly |
| C．come up against something with force |
| D．come across |
It feels like every time my mother and I start to have a conversation, it turns into an argument. We talk about something as simple as dinner plans and suddenly, my mother will push the conversation into World War III. She’ll talk about my lack of a bright future because I don’t plan to be a doctor. And much to her disappointment, I don’t want to do any job related to science, either. In fact, when I was pushed to say that I planned to major(主修) in English and communications, she nearly had a heart attack.
“Why can’t you be like my co-worker’s son?” she bemoans all the time. Her co-worker’s son received a four-year scholarship and is now earning 70,000 dollars a year as an engineer. I don’t know what to answer except that I simply can’t be like Mr. Perfect as I’ve called the unnamed co-worker’s son. I can’t be like him. I’m the type of person who loves to help out in the community, write until the sun goes down, and most of all, wants to achieve a career because I love it, not because of fame (名声) or salary.
I understand why my mother is worried about my future major. I’ve seen my mother struggle to raise me on her small salary and work long hours. She leaves the house around 630 am and usually comes home around 5 pm or even 6 pm. However, I want her to know that by becoming a doctor, it doesn’t mean I’ll be successful. I’d rather follow my dreams and create my own future.Which of the following topics do the writer and his mother often talk about?
| A．The writer’s studies. | B．The writer’s future job |
| C．Dinner plans | D．Wars around the world |
We can infer from Paragraph 1 that the writer’s mother ______.
| A．doesn’t want the writer to major in English |
| B．doesn’t think the writer should be a doctor |
| C．gets along very well with the writer |
| D．doesn’t think working in the science field is a good idea |
The underlined word “bemoans” in Paragraph 2 most probably means _____.
| A．agrees | B．shouts |
| C．Complains | D．smiles |
Which of following statements is probable TRUE about the writer?
| A．He wants to be like his mother’s co-worker’s son. |
| B．He wants to find a job in his community in the future. |
| C．He doesn’t think his mother’s co-worker’s son is perfect. |
| D．He wants to do something he really likes in the future. |