Many critics worry about violence on television, most out of fear that it stimulates viewers to violent or aggressive acts. Our research, however, indicates that the consequences of experiencing TV’s symbolic world of violence may be much more far-reaching.
We have found that people who watch a lot of TV see the real world as more dangerous and frightening than those who watch very little. Heavy viewers are less trustful of their fellow citizens, and more fearful of the real world. Since most TV “action-adventure” dramas occur in urban settings, the fear they inspire may contribute to the current flee of the middle class from our cities. The fear may also bring increasing demands for police protection, and election of law-and-order politicians.
While none of us is completely dependent upon television for our view of the world, neither have many of us had the opportunity to observe the reality of police stations, courtrooms, corporate board rooms, or hospital operating rooms. Although critics complain about the fixed characters and plots of TV dramas, many viewers look on them as representative of the real world. Anyone who questions that statement should read the 250,000 letters, most containing requests for medical advice, sent by viewers to “Marcus Welby, M.D.” —a popular TV drama series about a doctor— during the first five years of his practice on TV.
Violence on television leads viewers to regard the real world as more dangerous than it really is, which must also influence the way people behave. When asked, “Can most people be trusted?” the heavy viewers were 35 percent more likely to choose “Can’t be too careful.”
Victims, like criminals, must learn their proper roles, and televised violence may perform the teaching function all too well. Instead of worrying only about whether television violence causes individual displays of aggression in the real world, we should also be concerned about social reality. Passive acceptance of violence in the face of injustice may result from far greater social concern than occasional displays of individual aggression.
We have found that violence on prime-time（黄金时段）network TV cultivates overstated （夸大的）assumptions about the threat of danger in the real world. Fear is a universal emotion, and easy to exploit. The overstated sense of risk and insecurity may lead to increasing demands for protection and to increasing pressure for the use of force by established authority. Instead of threatening the social order, television may have become our chief instrument of social control. Which of the following is NOT among the consequences of watching TV too much?
| A．Distrusting people around. |
| B．Moving into rural areas. |
| C．Turning to the police for protection. |
| D．Holding more elections. |
According to the passage, why did “Marcus Welby, M.D.” receive so many letters?
A. Because viewers believed the doctor did exist in the real life.
B. Because certain TV programmes recommended him to viewers.
C. Because he was an experienced doctor and saved many lives.
D. Because the TV appealed to people to pay attention to health. According to the author, _________ is mainly to blame for people’s fear of the real world.
| A．network TV |
| B．social reality |
| C．individual display of violence |
| D．televised violence |
We can infer from the passage that __________.
| A．people tend to be aggressive or violent after watching TV too much |
| B．people can learn to protect themselves from dangers by watching TV |
| C．the occasional displays of individual aggression may threaten the social order |
| D．watching TV may cause the misuse of authority and disturb the social order |
Besides entertainment and beautiful lanterns, another important part of the Lantern Festival, or Yuanxiao Festival is eating small dumpling balls made of glutinous (粘性的) rice flour (粉状物). We call these balls Yuanxiao or Tangyuan. Obviously, they get the name from the festival itself. It is said that the custom of eating Yuanxiao originated during the Eastern Jin Dynasty in the fourth century, then became popular during the Tang and Song periods.
The fillings (馅料) inside the dumplings or Yuanxiao are either sweet or salty. Sweet fillings are made of sugar, walnuts (核桃), sesame（芝麻）, osmanthus flowers (桂花), rose petals（花瓣）. A single ingredient (原料) or any combination can be used as the filling. The salty variety is filled with minced meat (肉末儿), vegetables or a mixture.
The way to make Yuanxiao also varies between northern and southern China. The usual method followed in southern provinces is to shape the dough (生面团) of rice flour into balls, make a hole, insert the filling, then close the hole and smooth out the dumpling by rolling it between your hands. In North China, sweet or nutmeat stuffing is the usual ingredient. The fillings are pressed into hardened cores, dipped lightly in water and rolled in a flat basket containing dry glutinous rice flour. A layer of the flour sticks to the filling, which is then again dipped in water and rolled a second time in the rice flour. And so it goes, like rolling a snowball, until the dumpling is the desired size.
The custom of eating Yuanxiao dumplings remains. This tradition encourages both old and new stores to promote their Yuanxiao products. They all try their best to improve the taste and quality of the dumplings to attract more customers.Which of the following is NOT true?
| A．Sweet Yuanxiao are usually made in southern China. |
| B．Sugar, rose petals and minced meat are all fillings of Yuanxiao. |
| C．The custom of eating Yuanxiao dates back to the fourth century. |
| D．People in northern China usually make Yuanxiao by rolling like a snowball. |
The way of making Yuanxiao varies between _________ China.
| A．southwestern and northwestern |
| B．eastern and western |
| C．southeastern and northeastern |
| D．northern and southern |
Choose the right order of making Tangyuan in southern provinces.
① make a hole and insert the filling
② roll the dough between your hands
③ shape the dough of rice flour into balls
④ close the hole
⑤ prepare some rice flour
| A．⑤③②①④ | B．⑤③①④② |
| C．③①④②⑤ | D．③⑤①②④ |
What is the best title of this passage?
| A．The Lantern Festival |
| B．The ingredients of Yuanxiao |
| C．China’s traditional food—Yuanxiao. |
| D．The difference between Yuanxiao and Tangyuan. |
Why do we eat Yuanxiao today?
| A．Because it’s a tasty food. |
| B．Because it’s a tradition. |
| C．Because we love our country. |
| D．Because it’s promoted by both old and new stores. |
Every day, 340 million people speak it. One billion people are learning it and it is said that by 2050, half of the world’s population will be using it. What are we talking about? That is the global language—English.
The English language started in Britain in the 5th century. It is a mixed language. It was built up when German. Scandinavian and French invaders settled in England and created a common language for communication.
Today it is the official language of the UK, the USA, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa and Ireland as well as many islands in the Caribbean. Many other countries and regions use it for politics and business, for example, India. Pakistan, Nigeria and the Philippines. English is also one of the official languages of Hong Kong.
But global advertising and pop music mean that in most countries, you will see or hear some English. Thanks to McDonalds, we all know about “burgers”. “fries” and “milkshakes”. Songs by Madonna, Britney Spears and Celine Dion are in English. We can sing along, even if we do not understand what we are singing!
English is a messy (杂乱的) language. Every year, dictionaries include new words that talk about popular culture, for example, computer-related words such as "blogging", "download" and "chartroom". Also included are words that teenagers use. Who does not know “cool”, “OK” and “hello”? Other languages also influence English. Many English words come from French. Words like “café” and expressions like “c'est la vie” (that is life) are all part of the English language. On the other hand, the French language includes English words like "le weekend" and "le camping". German words are also part of English. Words like "kindergarten" come from the German language.
Recently, British people have become interested in “yoga”. But the word comes from an ancient Hindu language in India.The English language has a history of ______.
| A．over 2000 years | B．over 1500 years |
| C．over 500 years | D．over 1000 years |
The underlined expression “thanks to” can be replaced by ______.
| A．as usual | B．in order to |
| C．because of | D．as if. |
Which of the following statements is true about the language of English?
| A．It has borrowed words from all the other languages. |
| B．It has been changing all the time. |
| C．French words are used by the English because dictionaries have French words. |
| D．Singers and film stars have the greatest influence on language. |
How many people in the world are using English now?
| A．One billion people. |
| B．not mentioned above, but the number is growing rapidly. |
| C．almost all the people in the world. |
| D．340 million. |
Many countries and regions use it for politics and business except______.
| A．Norway | B．Nigeria |
| C．the Philippines | D．the USA |
We discuss the issue of when to help a patient die. Doctors of our generation are not newcomers to this question. Going back to my internship(实习)days, I can remember many patients in pain, sometimes in coma(昏迷), with late, hopeless cancer. For many of them, we wrote an order for heavy medication—morphine(吗啡)by the clock. This was not talked about openly and little was written about it. It was essential, not controversial.
The best way to bring the problem into focus is to describe two patients whom I cared for. The first, formerly a nurse, had an automobile accident. A few days later her lungs seemed to fill up; her heart developed dangerous rhythm disturbances. So there she was: in coma, on a breathing machine, her heartbeat maintained with an electrical device. One day after rounds, my secretary said the husband and son of the patient wanted to see me. They told me their wife and mother was obviously going to die; she was a nurse and had told her family that she never wanted this kind of terrible death, being maintained by machines. I told them that while I respected their view, there was nothing deadly about her situation. The kidney(肾) failure she had was just the kind for which the artificial kidney was most effective. While possibly a bit reassured, they were disappointed. Here was the head surgeon seemingly determined to keep everybody alive, no matter what.
Within a few days the patient's pacemaker(起搏器) could be removed and she awoke from her coma. About six months later, the door of my office opened and in walked a gloriously fit woman. After some cheery words of appreciation, the father and son asked to speak to me alone. As soon as the door closed, both men became quite tearful. All that came out was, “We want you to know how wrong we were.”
The second patient was an 85-year-old lady whose hair caught fire while she was smoking. She arrived with a deep burn; I knew it would surely be deadly. As a remarkable coincidence there was a meeting for discussion going on at the time in medical ethics(道德). The speaker asked me if I had any sort of ethical problem I could bring up for discussion. I described the case and asked the students their opinion. After the discussion, I made a remark that was, when looking back, a serious mistake. I said, "I'll take the word back to the nurses about her and we will talk about it some more before we decide." The instructor and the students were shocked: "You mean this is a real patient?" The teacher of ethics was not accustomed to being challenged by actuality. In any event, I went back and met with the nurses. A day or two later, when she was making no progress and was suffering terribly, we began to back off treatment. Soon she died quietly and not in pain. As a reasonable physician, you had better move ahead and do what you would want done for you. And don't discuss it with the world first. There is a lesson here for everybody. Assisting people to leave this life requires strong judgment and long experience to avoid its misuse.The first patient’s husband and son wanted the doctor_____.
| A．to save her life |
| B．to end her life |
| C．use an artificial kidney |
| D．to maintain her life with machines |
In the early days when a patient had got a deadly, hopeless illness, _______.
| A．doctors would inject more morphine into the patient to end his life |
| B．doctors would turn him away and ask him to go back home and wait for death |
| C．doctors would write a new order for their medical treatment to ease their pain |
| D．doctors would discuss their treatment plan with the patient and write down the solution |
At the meeting, the author discussed with the students_____.
| A．the importance of mercy killing |
| B．the relationship between mercy killing and ethics |
| C．the case about an old lady |
| D．the process to practice mercy killing |
The author suggested that doctors_____ before they assist a patient in killing himself.
| A．do what they are wanted to do |
| B．discuss with the others about the decision first |
| C．be required to do so first by the patient |
| D．make sure there is no other choice left |
Through the two patients mentioned in the text, the author thinks that on the issue of helping a patient die, doctors need to be _________.
| A．cruel and cautious |
| B．experienced and thoughtful |
| C．pessimistic and determined |
| D．considerate and optimistic |
At no time in history has there been such a mass(大规模的) movement of people from the countryside to the city as is happening now. By the year 2030, it’s estimated（估计） that more than two thirds of the world’s population will be living in cities, twice as many as today. This means that the problems faced by cities today—overcrowding, poor housing, unemployment, poverty(贫穷) and lack of food and water—will be twice as bad, unless we find solutions soon.
Another serious issue is how to provide good transportation for their citizens. Many of the world’s major cities are already struggling with out-of-date transport infrastructures(基本设施). How can they deal with the additional demands?
London is a good example. Its enlargement was made possible by the invention of the steam engine, which powered the world’s first underground railway. But its transport system are now hopelessly out-of-date and need urgent modernization. London’s future success depends very much on developing better public transport.
Over a million people travel into central London every day from outside the city. They, together with the people who live in London, want a public transport system that is efficient, safe and environmentally friendly. What they often get, however, falls far short of that ideal. Passengers complain about cost and pollution, while businesses worry about the problems their staff have in getting to work on time. Yes, the proportion of London households that own a car grew from just over ten percent in the early 1950s to over sixty percent today.
As the city has become increasingly crowded and polluted, there has been a growing realization that action must be taken soon.The passage is mainly written to tell us that ________.
| A．it’s difficult to solve the problem faced by cities today |
| B．overpopulation causes the problems in cities like London |
| C．possible solutions to cities’ transport problems will be found soon |
| D．public transport plays an important role in developments in major cities |
The underlined word “they” in fourth paragraph refers to _______.
| A．the citizens in the city of London |
| B．those who come to London from other places |
| C．passengers who make complaints about the cost |
| D．businesses who are anxious about their staff getting to work late |
From the passage we know that the mass movement to the city will cause the following problems EXCEPT_____________.
| A．poverty | B．unemployment |
| C．better environment | D．poor transportation |
The underlined words “environmentally friendly” is closest in meaning to ________.
| A．pleasant and nonpolluting | B．cheap and punctual |
| C．quick and straight | D．fair and convenient |
We can infer that in the following paragraph the writer would most probably deal with ______.
| A．traffic jams in London streets |
| B．London’s future in train and air travel |
| C．possible solutions to London’s traffic problems |
| D．the improvement of the citizen’s living conditions |
As you grow rapidly through your teenage years，you will experience a lot of changes. The changes may seem difficult and they may seem to happen quickly. Don't panic！You will deal successfully with them！You are a young adult now!
With more responsibility，you will find more freedom to make your own choices. This is a time to be well informed about your choices so that you can make healthy balanced decisions that will help shape your future. You may already know your career path or you may have no idea at all what you want to do. Both situations are fine！Work hard and the right opportunity will present itself to you.
Young adulthood means greater freedom and more choices. You will probably want to be independent. But try not to shut your family out of your life. You should learn to think of others even though you are old enough to look after yourself. Your family have been with you since you came into this world.
It is also perfectly natural in this time for you to spend more time with your friends than your family. Choose your friends wisely. A true friend will stand by you no matter what happens.
This period is part of the life cycle. There are some people who will be with you throughout life's journey and there will be some people with whom you part and go separate ways. Leaving school can be hard. The reality is that you may not ever see all of your classmates again.
You are a young adult. It is your life. No one can live it for you. The choices that you make from now on will be your choices. So making the right choices will be important to you. Life is for living. Enjoy your life wisely!The best title for this passage would be ________.
| A．The Choices in Life | B．The Key to Success |
| C．Say Goodbye to the Past | D．Becoming a Young Adult |
Who do the underlined words “some people”(Paragraph 5)probably refer to?
| A．your parents | B．your classmates |
| C．true friends | D．your relatives |
The author thinks teenage years are ________.
| A．a period of complete freedom |
| B．too hard for young people to get through |
| C．an important time for the young to make the right choices |
| D．a very important period for young students to leave their parents |
Who is the passage mainly written for?
| A．Teenagers | B．Teachers |
| C．Young parents | D．Adults |
When a young adult doesn’t know what he or she wants to do, in the author’s opinion, it is ______.
| A．disturbing | B．sad |
| C．common | D．surprising |