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 male 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 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, 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 events |
| B．get more viewers to play sports |
| C．bring more money to the television networks |
| D．make more people interested in television |
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 decisions on .
| A．holiday trips | 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 ratings are determined by male viewers. |
| B．Sports are gaining importance in advertising on television. |
| C．Rich viewers contribute most to television companies. |
| D．Commercial advertisers are the major sponsors of sport events. |
On Sunday while I was having my own Father’s Day celebration, I thought about my dad a lot. By the time I called to tell him that I loved him, he had already gone to bed. So I wrote the following to show what my dad means to me.
About 28 years ago, my dad was a used car salesman. Every Thursday night, he would head off to Shreveport, LA for the auction（拍卖会）. Most of the time, I drove a car over there for him so he could sell it there.
One day, I was riding with my dad to Shreveport for the auction when he found a hitchhiker（搭车者）with a backpack. As soon as dad saw him, he pulled the car over and offered him a ride. Dad asked him his name and continued to talk to him about all sorts of things. I can’t recall why but he told dad a lot of terrible things that had occurred to him. I sat in the back seat and watched the scene with amazement. I could see that the hitchhiker changed his attitude as he could tell someone who was really listening to him.
We drove another forty-five minutes before we had to exit the interstate（州际公路）. We pulled over and dad told him to keep his head up and things would start looking up for him soon. He reached into his pocket and handed the hitchhiker a twenty-dollar bill and then a the-dollar bill.
We drove on and my dad did not say a single thing. I was still completely amazed by what I just witnessed. I was always told everyone to never pick up a hitchhiker and yet my dad did it every single time he saw one. I’m sure that it made that poor man’s day, probably a month to follow.
While reflecting upon that story, I learned a lot about my dad and life. I learned that if you come from a place of service or compassion, you can change people’s lives. Just one single kind act can change someone’s life. It never occurred to my dad about not stopping to help him.
This is the type of person my dad is. Thank you for setting such high standards for me to follow.
Dad, I love you. Happy Father’s Day!The author and his dad met a hitchhiker（搭车者）_______.
| A．when they were just warned not to pick up a stranger |
| B．on their way to Shreveport to sell a car |
| C．on their way to the west for a trip |
| D．when their car was running out of gas |
What do we learn about the hitchhiker from the passage?
| A．Something unpleasant occurred to him. |
| B．He was going to the auction. |
| C．At first he didn’t believe in the author. |
| D．It was he who bought the author’s car. |
How did the author feel about his dad’s behavior at that time?
| A．Angry | B．Appreciated | C．Surprised | D．Ashamed |
What did the author learn from his father?
| A．Just a single kind act can make a difference. |
| B．Try learning to be a good listener. |
| C．Set high standards for yourself in life. |
| D．Offering a ride to a stranger is dangerous. |
People who like their traveling have their reasons. They believe that traveling can help them expand their field of view, especially in the geographical and historical sense. They also think that touring will give them more chances to enjoy different kinds of food and experience new things that would never be brought by other activities. But those who dislike traveling also have some reasons.
Traveling, in my opinion, dose more good than harm. Most importantly, it broadened our mind. We can get in touch with other civilization（文明）, culture, customs and ideas.
Through history, most people traveled because of necessity —not for pleasure. People traveled just in order to remain alive. They searched for food to eat or places to live in. They sometimes ran away from enemies. This is not to say that no one ever traveled just for the fun of it. In ancient times, for example, rich Romans traveled all the way to Greece to take part in the Olympic Games, and festivals. Of course, some people decided to travel just out of curiosity. They wanted to find out what it looked like beyond the horizon（地平线）. Also business travel has been going on for centuries. Traders could not only make money but also learn to speak several languages and be introduced to different cultures.
So, traveling does enrich our mind and draw new ideas to us. There is no doubt that we can get much from it.How many reasons for traveling are mentioned in Paragraph 3?
| A．Three | B．Four | C．Five | D．Six |
In the writer’s opinion, traveling can be _______.
| A．expensive | B．funny | C．helpful | D．tiring |
What’s the main idea of this passage?
| A．Different kinds of traveling. |
| B．Traveling enriches our mind. |
| C．Ways to enjoy yourself while traveling. |
| D．The advantages and disadvantages of traveling. |
It’s often true that jobs for students sometimes lead to employment after graduation, so it’s a good idea to think carefully before you begin working during your college years.
During my entire college life I worked as a bartender （酒吧招待）. I have to say that I really enjoyed that job, and was fond of the idea of making money without doing too much work. I also had the opportunity to socialize （ 交际） while working. I came to be known among the upper class, and gradually became popular on campus because of my job. However, working as a bartender can have the negative side that people tend to think that you enjoy drinking.
All in all, I wish I had thought more carefully before deciding to take that job. I got a Bachelor’s degree （学士学位）in English, qualifying（使···有资格） me to work as a writer, but so far I have only been able to use the skills I learned from that part-time job.
It would be different if I had searched for jobs related to writing or editing（编辑） instead of bartending. It’s commonly accepted that employment for students is only temporary （临时的），but we should never forget that it can connect to the work we get after we graduate. After all, employers not only look at the degree, but also your previous experience.
So before getting a part-time job while you’re at school, consider what you want to do for the rest of your life.Which of the following is a benefit（好处）of working as a bartender for the author?
| A．He had a good time after school. |
| B．He made connect with many people. |
| C．He satisfied his curiosity about others. |
| D．He had learned how to make wine. |
The underline word “negative” in Paragraph 2 can be replaced by “ _______”.
| A．bad | B．same | C．wrong | D．bright |
The author writes the text mainly to _______.
| A．describe his part-time job during his college life |
| B．tell students to be careful with their part-time jobs |
| C．convince（使确信）students that bartender is the part-time job |
| D．advise students to look for their future jobs in the college |
The Human Genome(基因组) Project, a great $3 billion, 15-year task aimed at drawing the genetic map of humans, is now more than 90 percent completed. The scientific and medical communities are very excited about the chances genetic research provides for getting rid of diseases and prolonging(延长)human life. But those communities and policy makers are also careful about the scientific door they are opening as the project uncovers the mysteries of life.
For the last few years, the genetic advances in the fast developing field of biotechnology have provided material for all kinds of work, but the developments of modern science in unlocking the secrets of human genetic code have opened a world of possibilities for human health, as well as for the population imagination.
While European and Japanese researchers are making rapid progress in decoding human DNA, the leading organization for genetic research in the Untied States, which began in 1990, is “unlocking the code” of the human body to learn how to defeat fatal diseases. Already, the Human Genome Project has become widely known and praised for finding the genes connected with as yet terrible diseases, and making progress toward separating the genes that show a sign of breast cancer(乳腺癌)or AIDS.
Once these genes are found and studied, researchers can develop new ways to attack infections, and genetic diseases. Medical companies are very interested in mapping the human genome, as they expect to develop a lot of new drugs for these illnesses.Why did the scientists work so hard at mapping the human genome?
| A．Because the human genome can destroy many illnesses. |
| B．Because the human genome’s completion can help to get rid of many diseases. |
| C．Because they wanted to be better known than others. |
| D．Because the Human Genome Project can provided a lot of chances of work. |
According to the passage, which of the following countries is the most advanced in genetic research?
| A．Japan | B．Germany |
| C．The United States | D．China |
According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true?
| A．If the genes can be found, scientists can study many new ways to cure illnesses. |
| B．The United States began genetic research early in the 19th century. |
| C．Many medical companies show great interest in drawing the human genome map. |
| D．The scientists have made great progress in connecting some genes with the cancers. |
What is mainly talked about in this passage?
| A．The great human genome. | B．The discovery of genes. |
| C．Unlocking the genetic code. | D．Genes and scientists. |
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 |