Asmanypeoplehitmiddleage,theyo-优题课

Despite rising education levels, Americans of every age are reading less and less for pleasure these days, according to an analysis by the National Endowment for the Arts. The decline(下降) could have bad effects as people tune out books, tune in popular culture and become less socially engaged.
"We've got a public culture which is almost entirely commercial(商业化)and novelty - driven (追新)," says NEA chairman Dana Gioia. "I think it's letting the nation down."
The study gathers years of data on Americans' reading habits and finds that, at every age group, we're reading less.
Most of the data have appeared in private, government and university surveys, but today's report is the first to combine them into a single portrait. It suggests that the demands of school, work and family and the decisive advantage of other forms of entertainment have caused the decline in reading for millions of Americans.
·Only 38% of adults in 2006 said they had spent time reading a book for pleasure.
·65% of college freshmen in 2005 said they read little or nothing for pleasure.
·30% of 13 - year - olds in 2004 said they read for fun "almost every day," down from 35% in 1984.
According to Gioia, a poet, they decline is probably the single most important social issue in the United States today. The findings should be a wake - up call to educators to change the way they teach literature at every level. It was once believed that if someone went to college, they would become a lifelong reader. What we're seeing right now is that we're no longer producing readers. We're producing B. A. s and M. A. s and Ph. D. s.
Cioia also wants main media to wake up to how they can promote good books in many ways. He notes that when a character in the 1994 film Four Weddings and a Funeral recited a few lines of W. H. Auden's poem Funeral Blues, the poet briefly became a best seller.
65.The underlined phrase "tune out" in the first paragraph probably means________.
A.close B.publish C.prove D.read
66.According to Dana Gioia, the change of Americans' reading habit________.
A.is positive and valuable B.does harm to the nation
C.is caused only by popular culture D.can make poets best sellers
67.Which of the following is NOT the cause for the change in reading habit?
A.Demands of getting a B. A., M. A. or Ph. D.
B.Demands of family, school and work.
C.The change in the way the literature is taught.
D.Advantages of the entertainment.
68.We can infer that the number of teenagers reading for pleasure reduced by________in 20 years.
A.30% B.38% C.65% D.5%

第三部分：阅读理解（共20小题；每小题2分,满分40分）
阅读下列短文,从每篇短文后所给各题的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中,选出最佳选项,并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
To all of you at Chinese love links,
I am 44 years old and never married. I have always wanted to find that perfect someone that I dream about. For about the last five years I have almost given up the hope of ever finding the one I truly wish to spend the rest of my life with.
I have always tried to be a nice guy. I had found your website some four or five months before. I did not know what to expect. I don't know how to speak Chinese and never thought truly of how I was to an Asian woman.
Well, I had a lot of replies from some very nice and pretty women. I had a hard time finding only a couple to write to. But one stood out from the rest. She was cute, nice and seemed to hold a lot of the same values as I do. In a short time I had decided to write only to her. We communicated via e - mails 2 - 3 times a day and phone calls once or twice a week.
I went and met her and her family only a week ago. Her name is Ying and she lives in Nanning. I found Nanning to be one of the most beautiful cities I had ever been to. We had even decided to marry and to bring her to the USA under the fiance visa. Not only did she meet everything I had ever hoped to find in someone else but turned out to be what every woman should be like, at least the ones I have met. We plan to marry as soon as she is here and start a family together as neither of us has children but we both want them.
So to anyone out there reading this, I can only say this: You may not find what you are looking for if you're not honest with your partner and yourself. This site worked for me mostly because I was honest with something that I wanted in someone else. When I did find her, love can work even across the other side of the world, between language differences and cultural differences. I wish you all luck in finding your perfect match. I have finally found mine and wish to give all my thanks to those at Chinese love links to help make it happen.
Sincerely yours,
Arthur
61.We can infer from the letter that Chinese love links is a website to________.
A.help foreigners to travel in China
B.help both Chinese and foreigners to find one they want to marry
C.help Chinese and foreigners make friends
D.receive letters from the USA
62.Which of the following is true about Arthur's story?
A.He was sure of finding a Chinese woman as his wife at first.
B.He was determined to find a Chinese woman as his wife.
C.He almost lost hope in finding a perfect wife until he found Ying.
D.No women wrote to him before Ying.
63.Ying stood out from the rest because________.
A.she was a Chinese B.she had much in common with Arthur
C.other women stopped writing to Arthur D.she was cute and nice and often phoned to Arthur
64.Arthur thinks________is the most important in finding someone one wants to marry.
A.being honest with the partner and oneself B.help from the website
C.difference in languages and places D.difference in cultures

There are two basic ways to see growth: one as a product, the other as a process．People have generally viewed personal growth as an external (外在的) result or a product that can easily be identified and measured．The worker who gets a rise, the student whose grades improve, the foreigner who learns a new language—all these examples of people who have measurable results to show for their efforts．
By contrast (对照) , the process of personal growth is much more difficult to determine, since it is a journey and not the specific signposts or landmarks along the way．The process is not the road itself, but the attitudes, feelings people have , and their caution or courage, as they meet with new experiences and unexpected difficulties．In this process, the journey never really ends；there are always new ways to experience the world, new ideas to try, new challenges to accept．
In order to grow, to travel new roads, people need to have a willingness to take risks, to face the unknown, and to accept the possibility that they may “fail” at first．How we see ourselves as we try a new way of being is necessary for our ability to grow．Do we see ourselves as quick and curious? If so, we tend to take more chances and be more open to unfamiliar experiences．Do we think we’re shy and indecisive? Then our sense of fear can cause us to hesitate, to move slowly, and we think we are slow to adapt (适应) change or that we’re not smart enough to deal with a new challenge．Then we are likely to take a more passive role or not try at all．
These feelings of insecurity (不安全) and self-doubt are both unavoidable and necessary if we are to change and grow．If we protect ourselves too much, then we stop growing．We become trapped inside a shell of our own making．
71．In the author’s eye, one who views personal growth as a process would ______．
A．succeed in climbing up the social ladder
B．grow up from his own achievements
C．face difficulties and take up challenges
D．aim high and reach his goal each time
72．Which of the following can be viewed as the process of personal growing?
A．Our manager was always willing to accept new challenges．
B．Jane won the first prize in the speech competition．
C．Jerry picked up French during his stay in Paris．
D．Father’s salary rose from 5, 000 to 7,000．
73．For personal growth, the author is in favor of all the following EXCEPT _______．
A．being curious about more changes
B．being quick in self-adaptation
C．having an open mind to new experiences
D．staying away from failures and challenges
74．Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
A．It is not so easy to measure personal growth．
B．To try and fail on the new road facing the unknown is unavoidable．
C．There are only two ways to see a person’s growth．
D．If you are too shy to take any risks in life, you cannot grow up．
75．The best title for this passage should be ______．
A．Facing New Challenges B．Growth—Product or Process
C．Two Basic Ways of Growth D．Overcoming Internal Fears

It’s not just adults who have a thing or two to discuss with other people, babies too have their own social lives and enjoy group interaction, according to a world-first study.
The breakthrough study conducted by psychologist Professor Ben Bradley, at Charles Sturt University, could completely transform the way child-care centers are set up．In their study, the researchers examined groups of nine-month-old babies in new South Wales and Britain.
And they came across astonishing results – it was found that infants had “social brains” and focused not just on their mothers but on social life in groups as well.
“They communicate with more than one baby at once, and show jealousy and generousness,” said Professor Bradley.
He added, “They develop their own meanings through group interaction, they notice if a group member is behaving differently and they take on roles, such as leaders and followers.”
“A baby who has a depressed mother tends to be withdrawn（内向的）, but put that same baby in a group of its peers（同龄人）and they behave and interact like any other baby.”
It was the first all-baby group study ever to be conducted．“Most studies of babies concentrate on the infant-mother relationship, assuming that is the single foundation for mental health, but babies are constantly involved with groups of people other than their mothers: fathers, siblings, grandparents and those taking care．Therefore, the ‘mother-baby approach’ needs to be combined with a ‘group approach’,” said Bradley.
Phoebe Christison, a child-care worker at Camperdown Sunshine Bubs in Sydney’s inner west, said she often noticed what appeared to be emotional attachments developed between toddlers.
She said, “Joel（10 months）and Isabella（11 months）always like to hold hands when they sit in their high chairs and eat．And babies definitely show jealousy．They push and touch each other, and copy what the other is doing.”
66．Which of the following statements about the study is TRUE?
A．It’s the first study to look at all-baby groups.
B．It divides babies according to their personalities.
C．Its aim is to change the way of child care.
D．Its results are unbelievable.
67．A baby who has a depressed mother _________.
A．tends to be a follower B．also enjoys group interaction
C．has poor social ability D．pays more attention to its mother
68．What can be inferred from the result of this study?
A．Babies are affected by groups more than by their mothers.
B．There’s no need of child-care centers at all.
C．Adults should include babies when having social activities.
D．The normal infant-mother bond alone isn’t enough for the good mental health for babies.
69．The underlined word “toddlers” in Para．8 can be replaced by “_________”.
A．adults B．infants C．peers D．groups
70．The example given in the last paragraph proves that a baby ________.
A．is born to be friendly to other babies
B．has interest in peers as well as in its mother
C．may have emotional attachments to another baby
D．shows jealousy and generousness as an adult

第三部分阅读理解（满分40分）
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、 B、C 和D）中，选出最佳选择。
NEW YORK- One in five U.S．workers regularly attends after-work drinks with coworkers, where the most common mishaps range from badmouthing another worker to drinking too much, according to a study released on Tuesday．
Most workers attend so-called happy hours to bond with colleagues, although 15 percent go to hear the latest office gossip and 13 percent go because they feel necessary, said the survey conducted for CareerBuilder.com, an online job site．As to what happens when the after-work drinks flow, 16 percent reported bad-mouthing a colleague, 10 percent shared a secret about a colleague and 8 percent said they drank too much and acted unprofessionally．Five percent said they had shared a secret about the company, and 4 percent confessed to singing karaoke．While 21 percent of those who attended said happy hours were good for networking, 85 percent said attending had not helped them get closer to someone higher up or get a better position．An equal number of men and women said they attended happy hours with co-workers, with younger workers aged 25 to 34 most likely and workers over 55 least likely to attend．Overall, 21 percent of workers attend happy hours with co-workers and; of those nearly a quarter go at least once a month.
The survey was conducted online by Harris Interactive on behalf of CareerBuilder.com among 6,987 full-time employees between February 11 and March 13．Harris Interactive said the results had a sampling error of plus or minus 1.2 percentage points.
56．Harris Interactive made the survey to find out ________.
A．how U.S．workers spend their after-work time
B．what U.S．workers do at after-work drinks
C．the relationships between U.S．workers
D．who are most likely to attend after-work drinks
57．________ of workers who attend after-work drinks speak ill of a colleague.
A．4 percent B．8 percent C．16 percent D．10 percent
58．According to the passage, most of those surveyed believed attending after-work drinks ________．
A．benefited them a lot B．could provide information
C．only made them relaxed D．was of no help to them
59．We can learn from the text that _________.
A．workers over 55 don’t like to attend happy hours at all
B．about 75% of workers go more than once a month
C．10.5% of male workers attend happy hours with co-workers
D．about 700 workers surveyed shared a secret about a co-worker
60．After the survey, it can be inferred that_________.
A．all the workers oppose after-work drinks
B．the workers may change their attitudes towards after-work drinks
C．all the workers support after-work drinks
D．all the workers are suggested going to attend after-work drinks