Does Being Famous Drive You Crazy?
Although being famous might sound like a dream come true, today’s star, feeling like zoo animals, face pressures that few of us can imagine. They are at the center of much of the world’s attention. Paparazzi (狗仔队) camp outside their homes, cameras ready. Tabloids (小报) publish thrilling stories about their privacy. Just imagine not being able to do anything without being photographed or interrupted for a signature!
According to psychologist Christina Villarreal, celebrities — famous people — worry constantly about their public appearance. In the end, they start to lose track of who they really are, seeing themselves the way their fans imagine them, not as the people they were before everyone knew their names. “Over time,” Villarreal says, “they feel separated and alone.”
The phenomenon of following celebrities has been around for ages. In the 4th century B.C., painters followed Alexander the Great into battle, hoping to picture his victories for his admirers. When Charles Dickens visited America in the 19th century, his sold-out readings attracted thousands of fans, leading him to complain about his lack of privacy. Tabloids of the 1920s and 1930s ran articles about film-stars in much the same way that modern tabloids and websites do.
Being a public figure today, however, is a lot more difficult than it used to be. Superstars cannot move about without worrying about photographers with modern cameras. When they say something silly or do something ridiculous, there is always the Internet to spread the news in minutes and keep their “story” alive forever.
If fame is so troublesome, why aren’t all celebrities running away from it? The answer is there are still ways to deal with it. Some stars stay calm by surrounding themselves with trusted friends and family or by escaping to remote places away from big cities. They focus not on how famous they are but on what they love to do or whatever made them famous in the first place.
Sometimes a few celebrities can get a little justice（正义）. Still, even stars who enjoy full justice often complain about how hard their lives are. They are tired of being famous already.It can be learned from the passage that stars today _________.
| A．spend too much on their public appearance |
| B．are often misunderstood by the public |
| C．can no longer have their privacy protected |
| D．care little about how they have become famous |
What is the main idea of Paragraph 3?
| A．The problem faced by celebrities has a long history. |
| B．Great heroes of the past were generally admired. |
| C．Works of popular writers often have a lot of readers. |
| D．Well-known actors are usually targets of tabloids. |
What makes it much harder to be a celebrity today?
| A．There are huge population of fans. |
| B．They get little support from society. |
| C．They get few good opportunities. |
| D．Many modern ways of getting news are being used. |
What is the author’s attitude toward modern celebrity?
| A．Sincere. | B．Doubting | C．Supporting. | D．Disagreeing. |
“Do you like doing things for people?” I asked a friend.
“Yes, most of the time,” she replied.
“Most of the time?”
“Well, I love to do things that are unexpected. I like to do little things most people wouldn't think about doing,” she said.
“But why did you say most of the time?”
“Well, sometimes after doing those little things people take advantage of you. I mean, they expect you to do it again. They ask you to do it. That’s when I don’t like it.”
It was odd that I had this conversation. This just happened to me. I love to do little things. I will pay for a meal card for the people in the office every time we have a meeting there. Not a big thing. It’s a little thing. $5.30 will pay for almost five lunches. Hey, big spender!
I also bought a bag of animal crackers for a friend at work. She was having a tough day and not very happy at all. I drove down to the Wal-Mart and picked up a huge bag for under $2.00. Her smile was worth it.
But one week she said, “Bob, we ran out of crackers. We love them so much.” I didn't want to do it. I smiled and she persisted. I finally admitted, “It’s different when I do it because I want to, but now you are trying to make me go to get them. It’s not the same.” But I bought it for her.
Unfortunately, a big fire in my family took away all the possessions we had. I didn’t know what to do and how to do it. What happened to me then surprised me most. I once had my bike repaired, but the repairman said “no charge” on hearing my sufferings. A stranger called James Kennedy read some pieces I’d written about our sufferings for Slate, the online magazine, and wanted to give us a new house across the lake from New Orleans. I refused but I felt moved. Another poet at the University of Florida also wanted to let his house to me free of charge while he was on holiday. My mates gave us more money for us to rebuild my home. When you do something kind for others, do you always get rewarded? Yes, but not in the way you might expect.What’s the main purpose of the first paragraph?
| A．To tell the background of the story. |
| B．To attract the attention of the readers. |
| C．To get the readers to know main idea directly. |
| D．To explain the reasons why he wrote the passage. |
What do we know about James Kennedy?
| A．He was a writer of an online magazine. |
| B．He was also a poet at the University of Florida. |
| C．He offered the author a new house free of charge. |
| D．He learned about the author’s sufferings online. |
What can we learn from the passage?
| A．Misfortune of blessing on happiness. |
| B．Never too late to learn. |
| C．Helping others means helping yourself. |
| D．Many hands make the work lighter. |
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Hotel Amenities：Parking，Heated Pool, Television with Cable, and Coffee Maker in Room． Which hotel gives a promise?
| A．Beach Plaza Hotel． |
| B．Baymont Inn Ft . Lauderdale． |
| C．Baymont Inn Hotel． |
| D．Fort Lauderdale Plaza Hotel． |
In which hotel parking is the cheapest?
| A．Beach Plaza Hotel． |
| B．Baymont Inn Ft . Lauderdale． |
| C．Baymont Inn Hotel． |
| D．Fort Lauderdale Plaza Hotel． |
If you ______ , you will probably go to Beach Plaza Hotel．
| A．enjoy seeing films without leaving your hotel room |
| B．want to eat food cooked by yourself in the hotel |
| C．are fond of swimming in heated water |
| D．are a cigarette smoker |
Which of the following is NOT true to the ads?
| A．In Beach Plaza Hotel a 24-hour maid is available． |
| B．All of the three hotels provide television with cable． |
| C．You can keep your money in the room safe in Fort Lauderdale Plaza Hotel． |
| D．While staying in Fort Lauderdale Plaza Hotel, you can surf the Internet． |
While Jennifer was at home taking an online exam for her business law class, a monitor(监控器) a few hundred miles away was watching her every move.
Using a web camera equipped in Jennifer’s Los Angeles apartment, the monitor in Phoenix tracked how frequently her eyes moved from the computer screen and listened for the secret sounds of a possible helper in the room. Her Internet access was locked---remotely---to prevent Internet searches, and her typing style was analyzed to make sure she was who she said she was; Did she enter her student number at the same speed as she had in the past? Or was she slowing down?
In the battle against cheating, this is the cutting edge and a key to encourage honestly in the booming field of on line education. The technology gives trust to the entire system, to the institution and to online education in general. Only with solid measures against cheating, experts say, can Internet universities show that their exams and diplomas are valid---that students haven’t searched the Internet to get the right answers.
Although online classes have existed for more than a decade, the concern over cheating become sharper in the last year with the growth of “open online courses.” Private colleges, public universities and corporations are jumping into the online education field, spending millions of dollars to attract potential students, while also taking steps to help guarantee honesty at a distance.
Aside from the web cameras, a number of other high-tech methods are becoming increasingly popular. Among them are programs that check student’s identities using personas information, such as the telephone numbers they once used.
Other programs can produce unique exams by drawing on a large list of questions and can recognize possible cheaters by analyzing whether difficult test questions are answered at the same speed as easy ones. As in many university classes, term papers are scanned against some large Internet data banks for cheating. Why was Jennifer watched in an online exam?
| A．To correct her typing mistakes. |
| B．To find her secrets in the room. |
| C．To keep her from dishonest behaviors. |
| D．To prevent her from slowing down. |
The underlined expression cutting edge in Paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to _____.
| A．sharpening tool | B．advanced technique |
| C．effective rule | D．dividing line |
Some programs can find out possible cheaters by_________.
| A．checking the question answering speed |
| B．producing a large number of questions |
| C．scanning the Internet test questions |
| D．giving difficult test questions |
Buckingham Palace is where the Queen lives. It is the Queen’s official and main royal London home.Buckingham Palace was originally a splendid house built by the Duke(公爵) of Buckingham for his wife. George IV began changing it into a palace in 1826. It has been the official London home of Britain’s royal family since 1837. Buckingham Palace is also an office and used for the administrative work of the royal family.
When the Queen is at home you can see her royal flag (the Royal Standard) flying from the flag pole on top of Buckingham Palace.
The flag is divided into four equal parts. The first and fourth parts represent England and contain three gold lions waking on a red field; the second part represents Scotland and contains a red lion standing on a gold field; the third part represents Ireland and contains the gold coat of arms of Ireland on a blue field.
In flag protocol (礼仪), the Royal Standard which must only be flown from buildings where the Queen is present is supreme (至高无上的). It flies above the British Union Flag (the Union Jack ), and other British flags. It never flies at half mast.
The guards of the Palace wear red jackets and tall, furry hats. When the first guards come on duty, there is a ceremony called the Changing of the Guard. A familiar sight at Buckingham Palace is the Changing of the Guard ceremony that takes place in the open space in front of it each morning.
The Palace has around 750 rooms, including 19 state rooms, 52 royal and guest bedrooms, 78 bathrooms, 92 offices, a cinema and a swimming pool. It also has its own post office and police station. About 400 people work at the Palace, including servants, chefs, footmen, cleaners, gardeners, electricians, and so on. More than 50,000 people come to the Palace each year as guests to dinners, receptions and Royal Garden Parties. For whom was the original Buckingham Palace built?
| A．The Duke of Buckingham. |
| B．George IV. |
| C．The Duke of Buckingham’s wife. |
| D．George IV’s wife. |
According to the text, the Royal Standard_________.
| A．is flown at Buckingham Palace every morning |
| B．represents the four countries of the UK |
| C．flies at half mast only on a few occasions |
| D．flies higher than the British Union Flag |
When can a visitor see the Changing of the Guard ceremony?
| A．Every morning and evening. |
| B．Every morning. |
| C．When the Queen’s flag is flying. |
| D．When a flag is flying at the Palace. |
What is the last paragraph about?
| A．What you can see inside Buckingham Palace. |
| B．The royal parties at Buckingham Palace. |
| C．The Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace. |
| D．People living and working at Buckingham Palace. |
I clearly remember the day when my little brother was born: January 1, 1994. One of my favorite family photos shows me lying with my mother in the hospital bed, happy but un-aware of the small, sleeping baby in the background.
I stayed with my grandparents for the weekend of my brother’s birth, excited about my new brother but not yet aware of what having a little brother would mean. I didn’t truly realize what was going on until we were in the hospital room at Duke University----
coincidentally (碰巧地), the same room in which I had been born two years earlier.
When I looked at my brother for the first time, I felt a mixture of fear and interest. Little did know that small, pink creature would grow up to be one of my favorite people in the world.
In reality, though I am two years older than my brother, I am more often than not the real baby in the family. I am very lacking when it comes to common sense. Instructions constantly confuse me and I frequently find myself totally puzzled by things like knowing how to start the washing machine or manage the storage settings on my iPhone.
That’s where Gibson comes in. The poor kid has had to guide me through more tasks than I would care to admit, but he never complains. Though I should probably be told to figure it out myself, he always comes through.
I’m envious of his ability to readily answer the ever-present, “What do you want to do with your life?” question at family gatherings. “Be a doctor,” he says----a solid answer, completely opposite to my shaky one, “Well, I’m an English major, so...”
My brother truly is my best friend. No one understands me better, and there isn’t anyone else I would want to be stuck with in our family. I may not have a clear idea of where I’m headed, but he is stuck with me.How did the author feel when he saw his brother for the first time?
| A．Angry and sad. |
| B．Excited and moved. |
| C．Curious and scared. |
| D．Happy and interested. |
What does the underlined sentence in the fourth paragraph mean?
| A．My brother is the real baby in the family. |
| B．In fact, I seem to be less mature than my little brother. |
| C．My brother gets more love from the family than I do. |
| D．I am growing more slowly than my brother. |
What does the brother often help the author do?
| A．Help him deal with many daily tasks. |
| B．Help him with his studies. |
| C．Give him advice on how to choose a major. |
| D．Comfort him when he is in a bad mood. |
What is the best title for this text?
| A．My Strange Family Gatherings |
| B．The Real Baby in the Family |
| C．Stuck with Me----My Not-So-Little Little Brother |
| D．The Feeling of Having a Brother |