Three Boys and a Dad
Brad closed the door slowly as Sue left home to visit her mother.Expecting a whole day to relax，he was thinking whether to read the newspaper or watch his favourite TV talk show on his first day off in months.“This will be like a walk in the park，”he’d told his wife.“I’ll look after the kids，and you can go visit your mom.”
Things started well，but just after eight o’clock，his three little “good kids”—Mike，Randy，and Alex—came down the stairs in their night clothes and shouted “breakfast，daddy.”When food had not appeared within thirty seconds，Randy began using his spoon on Alex’s head as if it were a drum.Alex started to shout loudly in time to the beat(节拍)．Mike chanted “Where’s my toast，where’s my toast” in the background.Brad realised his newspaper would have to wait for a few seconds.
Life became worse after breakfast.Mike wore Randy’s underwear on his head.Randy locked himself in the bathroom，while Alex shouted again because he was going to wet his pants.Nobody could find clean socks，although they were before their very eyes.Someone named “Not Me” had spilled a whole glass of orange juice into the basket of clean clothes.Brad knew the talk show had already started.
By ten o’clock，things were out of control.Alex was wondering why the fish in the jar refused his bread and butter.Mike was trying to show off his talent by decorating the kitchen wall with his colour pencils.Randy，thankfully，appeared to be reading quietly in the family room，but closer examination showed that he was eating apple jam straight from the bottle with his hands.Brad realised that the talk show was over and reading would be impossible.
At exactly 11∶17，Brad called the daycare centre(日托所)．“I suddenly have to go into work and my wife’s away.Can I bring the boys over in a few minutes？”The answer was obviously “yes” because Brad was smiling.(2012·陕西，B)When his wife left home，Brad expected to________.
| A．go out for a walk in the park |
| B．watch TV talk show with his children |
| C．enjoy his first day off work |
| D．read the newspaper to his children |
Which of the following did Randy do?
| A．Drawing on the wall. | B．Eating apple jam. |
| C．Feeding the fish. | D．Reading in a room. |
Why did Brad ask the daycare centre for help?
| A．Because he wanted to clean up his house. |
| B．Because he suddenly had to go to his office. |
| C．Because he found it hard to manage his boys. |
| D．Because he had to take his wife back home. |
This text is developed________.
| A．by space | B．by comparison |
| C．by process | D．by time |
Once upon a time，two brothers who lived on neighboring farms fell into conflict(冲突)．It was the first serious one between them in 40 years of farming peacefully side by side. In the end，they fell apart.
One morning，a man with a carpenter's toolbox came for some work. The elder brother said，“I just have a job for you. Look at that farm across the creek(河沟)．My younger brother lives there. It was he who used his bulldozer(推土机)to dig the creek last week to spite(刁难)me. So I want you to build me a fence，an 8foothigh fence，in order not to see his place any more.”The carpenter smiled and said，“I see. I'll try to do a job that satisfies you.”Then the elder brother went downtown.
At sunset when the farmer returned，the carpenter had just finished his job. The farmer's eyes opened wide! To his surprise，there was no fence there at all！Instead, there was a bridge stretching from one side of the creek to the other! A fine piece of work! He saw his younger brother coming to him with the hands outstretching. The brothers stood at each end of the bridge，and then they met in the middle，taking each other's hands. They turned to see the carpenter lift his toolbox on his shoulder. “No，wait! Stay a few days. I've a lot of other work for you，” said the elder brother.“I'd love to stay on，”the carpenter said，“but I have so many more bridges to build.”What was the life like for the two brothers before the conflict?
| A．They lived a poor life. |
| B．They lived in peace. |
| C．They never spoke to each other. |
| D．They lived on the same farm. |
It can be learned that the carpenter was __________.
| A．unwilling to obey the farmer. |
| B．fond of building bridges. |
| C．unable to build a fence |
| D．willing to help others. |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．The elder brother used his bulldozer to dig a creek. |
| B．The elder brother helped the carpenter build the bridge. |
| C．The brothers were both satisfied with the carpenter's work. |
| D．The carpenter planned to build an 8foothigh fence as asked to. |
The best title for this passage is ________.
| A．A Fine Piece of Work |
| B．A Carpenter |
| C．A Conflict Between Two Brothers |
| D．Two Brothers |
We don’t know how different our life will be in the future. We can only try to imagine it. 
At first we think about human relationship. In the year 2050, we will use computers almost every day. We will make new friends through the Internet—even our husbands or wives will be met in this way. It will be much faster and easier for us. On the other hand, our relationships with people won’t be as important as they are today-we will feel a little lonely.
Computers will also help us in many other activities in 2050. For example, they will be used by the children at school to make their learning easier. In addition, there will be much more other machines which will play a similar role as computers, like robots which will do the housework for us.
Spending holidays will also be completely different. Traveling to other planets or to the moon will be available for everyone. Means of transport will, of course, change, too. We will use solar-powered cars, which will be much more environmentally friendly.
We could expect that the faster technological progress would lead to a more polluted environment. But it isn’t true. We will pay more attention to protecting the environment. And, scientists will probably find cures for many dangerous diseases, like cancer or AIDS. Therefore, our surroundings as well as health will be in better condition.
Although we can’t predict the exact changes which will be made in the world, we often think about them. We worry about our and our children’s future; we have expectations, hopes as well as fears. But I think we should be rather sanguine about our future. We should be happy and believe good things will happen. Why will people probably feel a little lonely in 2050?
| A．Because the number of people will become much smaller. |
| B．Because there will be less face-to-face communication. |
| C．Because people won’t like making friends with each other. |
| D．Because people won’t communicate with each other much often. |
The third paragraph mainly tells us ________.
| A．computers will do all the things for human beings |
| B．how people will use computers to communicate with each other |
| C．machines like computers and robots will help people a lot |
| D．how people will use robots to do the housework |
According to the passage, which of the following will happen in 2050?
| A．The relationship between people will be more important than that of today. |
| B．The way of spending holidays will be the same as that of today. |
| C．It won’t be difficult for people to travel to other planets. |
| D．Our environment will be much more polluted with a growing number of cars. |
What does the passage mainly talk about?
| A．How people will communicate in the year 2050. |
| B．What our life will be like in the year 2050. |
| C．How people will travel and spend their holidays in the year 2050. |
| D．What high technology will appear in the year 2050. |
I was in a strange city I didn’t know at all, and what’s more, I could not speak a word of the language. On my second day I got on the first bus that passed, rode on it for several stops, then got off and walked on. The first two hours passed pleasantly enough, then I decided to turn back to my hotel for lunch. After walking about for some time, I decided I had better ask the way. The trouble was that the only word I knew of the language was the name of the street in which I lived, and even that I pronounced badly. I stopped to ask a newspaper-seller. He handed me a paper. I shook my head and repeated the name of the street and he put the paper into my hands. I had to give him some money and went on my way. The next person I asked was a policeman. He listened to me carefully, nodded and gently took me by the arm. There was a strange look in his eyes as he pointed left and right and left again. I nodded politely and began walking in the direction he pointed.About an hour passed and I noticed that the houses were getting fewer and fewer and green fields were appearing on either side of me. I had come all the way into the countryside. The only thing left for me to do was find the nearest railway station.From the story we know that the policeman______.
| A．was kind but didn’t understand the writer |
| B．told the writer where to take a train |
| C．knew what the writer really meant |
| D．was cold-hearted and didn’t help the writer |
What can we learn from the last paragraph?
| A．The writer got close to the hotel where he stayed. |
| B．The writer got to the hotel with the policeman’s help. |
| C．The writer found he was much farther away from the hotel. |
| D．The writer found the hotel in the direction the policeman pointed. |
In your opinion, what was the writer’s real trouble?
| A．He didn’t know the city at all. |
| B．He couldn’t speak the language. |
| C．He went too far in the wrong bus. |
| D．He followed the policeman’s direction. |
Every hour spent in watching TV, DVDs and videos as an adult reduces life expectancy by almost 22 minutes, a study suggests. And viewing TV for an average of six hours a day can cut short your life by five years.
The research claims that a sedentary(久坐的) lifestyle is as bad for health as smoking and obesity, because of the dangers caused by inactivity and the greater opportunities it offers for unhealthy eating.
The academics conducting the study set out to calculate the overall risk to life expectancy from watching television. Their research involved more than 11,000 people over the age of 25.
Writing in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, they concluded. "TV viewing time may be associated with a loss of life, which is similar to other major chronic disease risk factors such as physical inactivity and obesity."
The researchers, from the University of Queensland, used information from the Australian Diabetes, Obesity and Lifestyle Study, together with population and death rate data.
But they said: "Although we used Australian data, the effects in other industrialized and developing countries are likely to be similar, considering the large amounts of time spent watching TV and similarities in disease patterns." In the United Kingdom, the average amount of time spent watching TV is four hours a day, compared with five hours in the United States.
Earlier this year, a separate study suggested the risk of developing type 2 diabetes and heart disease, or dying early, rises by as much as 20 percent after just two hours a day in front of the box.
England's Chief Medical Officer, Sally Davies, said: "Physical activity offers huge benefits and these studies back what we already know - that a sedentary lifestyle carries additional risks. We hope these studies will help more people realize that there are many ways to get exercise."We can learn from the passage that_______
| A．whether you watch TV or not has nothing to do with how long you will live |
| B．if an adult watches TV for six hours every day, he will die five years earlier |
| C．physical inactivity and obesity won't shorten your life |
| D．a sedentary lifestyle offers huge benefits. |
The word "it" in the second paragraph refers to
| A．a sedentary lifestyle | B．eating | C．smoking | D．obesity |
What do we know from the last three paragraphs?
| A．People in the United Kingdom watch TV longer than those in the United States. |
| B．That a sedentary lifestyle carries additional risks isn't supported by other studies. |
| C．Watching TV for two hours a day will increase the risk of illnesses or dying early by 20%. |
| D．It is through these studies that we know a sedentary lifestyle carries additional risks. |
The passage is intended to _______.
| A．inform the readers of a research on watching TV |
| B．warn the readers of the harm of watching TV and hope they do sports |
| C．tell the readers watching TV is also a good way to relax |
| D．tell the readers large amounts of people often watch TV |
What does it mean to say that we live in a world of persuasion? It means that we live among competing interests. Your roommate’s need to study for an exam may take priority（优先）over pizza. Your instructor may have good reasons not to change your grade. And the object of your romantic interest may have other choices.
In such a world, persuasion is the art of getting others to give fair and favorable consideration to our point of view. When we persuade, we want to influence how others believe and behave. We may not always prevail— other points of view may be more persuasive, depending on the listener, the situation, and the merits of the case. But when we practice the art of persuasion, we try to ensure that our position receives the attention it deserves.
Some people, however, object to the very idea of persuasion. They may regard it as an unwelcome interruption into their lives. Just the opposite, we believe that persuasion is unavoidable — to live is to persuade. Persuasion may be ethical（合乎道义的）or unethical, selfless or selfish, inspiring or degrading. Persuaders may enlighten our minds or catch our vulnerability(弱点). Ethical persuasion, however, calls on sound reasoning and is sensitive to the feelings and needs of listeners. Such persuasion can help us apply the wisdom of the past to the decisions we now must make. Therefore, the most basic part of education is learning to resist the one kind of persuasion and to encourage and practice the other.
Beyond its personal importance to us, persuasion is necessary to society. The right to persuade and be persuaded is the bedrock of the American political system, guaranteed by the First Amendment to the Constitution（美国宪法）.According to the passage, persuasion means ________.
| A．changing others’ point of view |
| B．exercising power over other people |
| C．getting other people to consider your point of view |
| D．getting people to agree with you and do what you want |
The underlined word in the second paragraph “prevail” means“________”.
| A．win | B．fail | C．speak | D．listen |
The passage states that some people object to persuasion because they think it is ________.
| A．a danger to society | B．difficult to do well |
| C．unwelcome behavior | D．never successful |
The passage mainly discusses ________.
| A．people’s different opinions towards persuasion |
| B．the reasons why people persuade |
| C．that persuasion is both good and bad |
| D．that persuasion is important and it is all around us |