Everywhere I look outside my home I see people busy on their high-tech devices, while driving, walking, shopping, even sitting in toilets. When connected electronically, they are away from physical reality.
People have been influenced to become technology addicted. One survey reported that “addicted” was the word most commonly used by people to describe their relationship to iPad and similar devices. One study found that people had a harder time resisting the allure of social media than they did for sleep, cigarettes and alcohol.
The main goal of technology companies is to get people to spend more money and time on their products, not to actually improve our quality of life. They have successfully created a cultural disease. Consumers willingly give up their freedom, money and time to catch up on the latest information, to keep pace with their peers or to appear modern.
I see people trapped in a pathological（病态的）relationship with time-sucking technology, where they serve technology more than technology serves them. I call this technology servitude. I am referring to a loss of personal freedom and independence because of uncontrolled consumption of many kinds of devices that eat up time and money.
What is a healthy use of technology devices? That is the vital question. Who is really in charge of my life? That is what people need to ask themselves if we are to have any chance of breaking up false beliefs about their use of technology. When we can live happily without using so much technology for a day or a week, then we can regain control and personal freedom, become the master of technology and discover what there is to enjoy in life free of technology. Mae West is famous for proclaiming the wisdom that “too much of a good thing is wonderful.” But it’s time to discover that it does not work for technology.
Richard Fernandez, an executive coach at Google acknowledged that “we can be swept away by our technologies.” To break the grand digital connection people must consider how life long ago could be fantastic without today’s overused technology.The underlined word “allure” in Paragraph 2 probably means ______.
| A．advantage | B．attraction | C． adaption | D．attempt |
From the passage, technology companies aim to ______.
| A．attract people to buy their products |
| B．provide the latest information |
| C．improve people’s quality of life |
| D．deal with cultural diseases |
It can be inferred from this passage that people ______.
| A．consider too much technology wonderful |
| B．have realized the harm of high-tech devices |
| C．can regain freedom without high-tech devices |
| D．may enjoy life better without overused technology |
What’s the author’s attitude towards the overusing of high-tech devices?
| A．Neutral.( 中立的） | B．Doubtful |
| C．Disapproving.(不赞成） | D．Sympathetic.（同情的） |
From the beginning rivers have played an important in the life of man．Man of the earliest times used the rivers as a means of travel．Today rivers still serve as a great waterway for the transport and people．
In ancient times, man settled near rivers or on river banks and built up large empires．
Water is nature’s most valuable gift to man．Man needs water to irrigate his crops, to cook and to wash．In nations all over the world, rivers mean life and wealth．They feed and clothe the nations around them．
Water is also a source of energy and power．Man build huge dams across the rivers to control the water for irrigation and get the energy needed to drive generators．The electrical power is then directed to homes, cities, factories and television stations．
Man uses water each day．In a small way rivers help to keep man in good health and provide for his amusements．Various forms of water sports keep man strong and healthy．Rivers have been important to man _______．
| A．since they came into being | B．since the last century |
| C．since a few hundred years ago． | D．since the beginning of BC |
Man in old times traveled from one continent to another ______．
| A．by air | B．by sea | C．by train | D．by bus |
Generators are machines that are used ______．
| A．to direct electrical power | B．to control the water |
| C．to produce electricit | D．to build dams y |
Which of the following statements is true?
| A．People get energy by building bridges across rivers． |
| B．In ancient times large empires grew up near dams． |
| C．People can be provided with amusements in small rivers． |
| D．Large rivers are still useful for transportation in modern times． |
The Mississippi is the major river system in the United States. The Yangtze is China’s longest river.
Although a world apart, the two waterways share conservation concerns that provide a cultural bridge between students in the United States and China, as well as from around the world.
The Mississippi flows almost 3,800 kilometers from a small lake in Minnesota, gathering the waters of 250 other rivers and streams before reaching the Gulf of Mexico.
In mid-May, as spring flowers began to open, about 41 students from a dozen colleges, mostly in the Midwest, explored a section of the river in Wisconsin and Iowa, to learn about the environment, and each other.
The students, from the U.S., China and around the world, came to join the River Spirit Exchange program.
The cross-cultural educational experience - set up by the University of Wisconsin, Madison-based Environment and Public Health Network for Chinese Students - focuses on the Mississippi and China’s longest river, the Yangtze.
This three day get-together featured story-telling, hiking, camping and canoeing, all part of a larger lesson about conservation projects that can be used on both the Yangtze and Mississippi.
While the students learned about the problems challenging the Mississippi and Yangtze, Jeb Barzen, a wildlife biologist, explained they should also learn about the importance of bridging each other’s culture.
The president of the Environment and Public Health Network for Chinese Students, Xiaojun Lu, said the Mississippi and Yangtze Rivers are uniting these students from opposite ends of the earth.
Organizers say the success and spirit of this first gathering of students will lead to other trips, including one down the Yangtze.Where is the source of the Mississippi?
| A．Minnesota | B．the Gulf of Mexico | C．Wisconsin | D．Iowa |
According to the passage, the get-together .
| A．lasted a week | B．took place in May |
| C．was held in China | D．was organized by students |
According to Paragraph 8, Barzen believes that .
| A．China and the U.S. should work together to protect the environment |
| B．the Mississippi is more important than the Yangtze to the world |
| C．cultural exchange between different countries is of great importance |
| D．the program encourages technical cooperation between China and the U.S. |
What is the passage mainly about?
| A．A major river system in the United States. |
| B．The differences between the Mississippi and the Yangtze. |
| C．An educational program about tourism. |
| D．An international cultural exchange program. |
Where is the passage most probably taken from?
| A．A personal diary | B．A news report |
| C．An official document | D．An advertisement |
Health insurance can be very expensive. Some working people do not make enough money to pay for it. In the US there is a program called Healthy Families. This program offers people health insurance at a low cost.
Families are charged about ￥7.00 a month for every child, and ￥10.00 for every adult. It costs much less than any other kind of health insurance. Having health insurance is very important. With this insurance, people can see a doctor when they are sick or hurt.
The program is not expensive at all, but many people are still not enrolling in it. People say that it still costs too much money. They need all of their money to pay for things like food and rent.
It would be great if everyone could have health insurance. People are working hard to come up with ways to make this happen. One idea is to make the Healthy Families Program free for some people.
It is important for people to see a doctor when they need to. The Healthy Families Program makes it possible for more people to do this. Many ideas are being considered. Hopefully some of them will allow even more families to get health insurance.
The Healthy Families Program is made to help those who don’t have welfare (社会保障金) and cannot earn enough to pay for private health insurance. It is an important program, but officials say that too many people are signing up for it and then dropping out because of the Healthy Families Program’s cost. The aim of the Healthy Families Program is to __________.
| A．help people earn more and pay for the program |
| B．help more families get health insurance |
| C．make it free for people to see a doctor |
| D．help families pay for private health insurance |
If a couple has two children, how much would health insurance cost every month in the family?
| A．￥24. | B．￥28. | C．￥34. | D．￥40. |
Why is it very important for people to have health insurance?
| A．They can afford to see a doctor when they need to. |
| B．They can get special medical care. |
| C．They can see a doctor free of charge. |
| D．They can go to see a doctor as soon as possible. |
In the passage we can learn all of the following EXCEPT that __________.
| A．health insurance is very important for ordinary people |
| B．the program is still too expensive for many people |
| C．people should make more money to pay for private health insurance |
| D．many people don’t make enough money to pay for health insurance |
The passage is mainly about __________.
| A．health insurance at a low cost | B．the benefits of health insurance |
| C．the cost of health insurance | D．the Healthy Families Program |
Jesse Owens is recognized as a hero not just because he is fast. Some people might say that they know him for just that reason. However, there are lots of fast people who are not known. Jesse Owens is known because Chancellor Adolf Hitler did not shake the hand of Jesse Owens or even recognize his feat of winning four gold medals, because Owens was an African American.
Jesse Owens owed much of his success to his coach Charles Riley, who probably was the most important one making him have the career that he did. Owens came from a background that required him to work after school in a shoe shop. He couldn’t attend the regularly scheduled track practices organized by his school. However, Charles Riley saw the boy had both a passion(热情) and a talent for running, and so arranged for him to be able to practice before school instead.
Jesse Owens achieved this success despite(尽管) his racial background, which at the time was a huge limitation to him. He could only eat in certain restaurants and sleep in certain hotels, as could all African Americans of the time. He was also never offered a scholarship for school despite setting records for NCAA(美国全国大学生体育协会) championships.
The Berlin Olympics in 1936 is where his star rose as high as it would ever be able to. These Olympics were during the height of Hitler’s rule. It took courage to race in front of Hitler and many other racist(种族主义者). It took time, determination, and perseverance(坚持不懈) to race like him. He won four gold medals at those Olympics. It would take almost fifty years for someone else to walk away from the Olympics with four gold medals. He passed away at the age of 66 from lung cancer.The underlined word “feat” in Paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to “ .”
| A．chance | B．happiness | C．success | D．hope |
We know from paragraph 2 that Jesse Owens .
| A．did not need to work after school |
| B．took part in the regular track practices |
| C．did not get along well with his coach |
| D．was arranged to practice before school |
Jesse Owens was well-known around the world mainly because he .
| A．sets records for NCAA championships |
| B．was brave enough to race in front of Adolf Hitler |
| C．didn’t want to shake hands with Hitler |
| D．is recognized as a hero of the white Americans |
According to the passage, which of the following about Jesse Owens is true?
| A．Hitler recognized his feat of winning four gold medals. |
| B．He was offered a scholarship for setting records for NCAA championships. |
| C．He could only eat in certain restaurants like many other African Americans. |
| D．It took him almost fifty years to walk away from the Olympics with four gold medals. |
What is the best title for the passage?
| A．Sport hero ---- Jesse Owens | B．The Berlin Olympics in 1936 |
| C．Charles Riley ---- Jesse Owens’ s coach | D．Jesse Owens’s childhood |
Paula and Rory have fives kids, three dogs, and a rabbit. When the house is very noisy, Megan, one of the children, is quietly inventing. A year ago, the 10-year-old had to design an anti-smoking poster, she came up with the idea of creating something that shows the average amount of tar(尼古丁) a smoker collects from just four packs of cigarettes.
“I like people to play with things more than read and write,” she says. So she researched her idea on the Internet, found a company in China that could make it, saved up her pocket money and got her idea made.
Paula says her daughter “think differently”: Ideas jump into her mind. After she got sunburnt on holiday, Megan invented a small plastic bracelet(手镯) that changes colors in the sun, telling you when to put on sunscreen(防晒霜). Several sunscreen companies have expressed an interest in the idea. She also came up with an idea to make a ball filled with water to stop the dog from feeling thirsty. “But we didn’t do anything with it,” says Paula.
Then she pulls out a picture of a special fishing rod(钓鱼竿) she had designed. “There is a camera on the hook(钩),” she explains, “and the screen is on the handle, and it shows if you’ve caught a fish or not.”
Megan doesn’t want to go to university. She keeps her pink-and -cream bedroom tidy. Paula is amazed and a bit confused by her daughter. “Everything has to be in a certain order,” Paula says. “Her brothers and sisters go with the flow, but with Megan, it’s ‘What time will that be happening?’ or ‘Where am I being picked up from today?’”From Paragraph 2, we can infer that Megan .
| A．is not willing to go to school | B．likes to play with her brothers and sisters |
| C．prefers making something by herself | D．is good at reading and writing |
What did Megan invent after she got sunburnt on vacation?
| A．The anti-smoking poster |
| B．The ball providing water for thirsty dogs |
| C．The fishing rod telling whether you’ve caught a fish |
| D．The bracelet telling when to put on sunscreen |
The underlined phrase “go with the flow” probably means “ .”
| A．do what the most people usually do | B．follow the fashion closely |
| C．set an example to others | D．do something differently from others |
According to the passage, which of the following about Megan is true?
| A．She has fives kids, three dogs, and a rabbit. |
| B．She designed an anti-smoking poster when she was nine. |
| C．She founded a company in China to get her idea made. |
| D．She invented a small plastic bracelet to change the color of sunscreen. |
The passage is mainly about .
| A．how Megan helps people give up smoking |
| B．a little girl’s dream to be a world-famous inventor |
| C．a 10-year-old inventor’s story |
| D．Megan’s relationship with her family members |