【2015·湖北卷】CHilversumisamediums-优题课

Advertisers Perform a Useful Service to the Community
Advertisers tend to think big and perhaps this is why they’re always coming in for criticism. Their critics seem to resent them because they have a flair for self-promotion and because they have so much money to throw around. ‘It’s iniquitous,’ they say, ‘that this entirely unproductive industry (if we can call it that) should absorb millions of pounds each year. It only goes to show how much profit the big companies are making. Why don’t they stop advertising and reduce the price of their goods? After all, it’s the consumer who pays…’
The poor old consumer! He’d have to pay a great deal more if advertising didn’t create mass markets for products. It is precisely because of the heavy advertising that consumer goods are so cheap. But we get the wrong idea if we think the only purpose of advertising is to sell goods. Another equally important function is to inform. A great deal of the knowledge we have about household goods derives largely from the advertisements we read. Advertisements introduce us to new products or remind us of the existence of ones we already know about. Supposing you wanted to buy a washing machine, it is more than likely you would obtain details regarding performance, price, etc., from an advertisement.
Lots of people pretend that they never read advertisements, but this claim may be seriously doubted. It is hardly possible not to read advertisements these days. And what fun they often are, too! Just think what a railway station or a newspaper would be like without advertisements. Would you enjoy gazing at a blank wall or reading railway byelaws while waiting for a train? Would you like to read only closely printed columns of news in your daily paper? A cheerful, witty advertisement makes such a difference to a drab wall or a newspaper full of the daily ration of calamities.
We must not forget, either, that advertising makes a positive contribution to our pockets. Newspapers, commercial radio and television companies could not subsist without this source of revenue. The fact that we pay so little for our daily paper, or can enjoy so many broadcast programmes is due entirely to the money spent by advertisers. Just think what a newspaper would cost if we had to pay its full price!
Another thing we mustn’t forget is the ‘small ads.’ which are in virtually every newspaper and magazine. What a tremendously useful service they perform for the community! Just about anything can be accomplished(完成的,实现的)through these columns. For instance, you can find a job, buy or sell a house, announce a birth, marriage or death in what used to be called the ‘hatch, match and dispatch’ column but by far the most fascinating section is the personal or ‘agony’ column. No other item in a newspaper provides such entertaining reading or offers such a deep insight into human nature. It’s the best advertisement for advertising there is!
1. What is main idea of this passage?
A. Advertisement.
B. The benefits of advertisement.
C. Advertisers perform a useful service to communities.
D. The costs of advertisement.
2. The attitude of the author toward advertisers is
A. appreciative. B. trustworthy.
C. critical. D. dissatisfactory.
3. Why do the critics criticize advertisers?
A. Because advertisers often brag.
B. Because critics think advertisement is a “waste of money”.
C. Because customers are encouraged to buy more than necessary.
D. Because customers pay more.
4. Which of the following is Not True?
A. Advertisement makes contribution to our pockets and we may know everything.
B. We can buy what we want.
C. Good quality products don’t need to be advertised.
D. Advertisement makes our life colorful.
5. The passage is_______________
A. Narration. B. Description.
C. Criticism. D. Argumentation.

Vicious(剧烈的)and Dangerous Sports Should be Banned by Law
When you think of the tremendous technological progress we have made, it’s amazing how little we have developed in other respects. We may speak contemptuously of the poor old Romans because they relished the orgies of slaughter that went on in their arenas. We may despise them because they mistook these goings on for entertainment. We may forgive them condescendingly because they lived 2000 years ago and obviously knew no better. But are our feelings of superiority really justified? Are we any less blood-thirsty? Why do boxing matches, for instance, attract such universal interest? Don’t the spectators who attend them hope they will see some violence? Human beings remains as bloodthirsty as ever they were. The only difference between ourselves and the Romans is that while they were honest enough to admit that they enjoyed watching hungry lions tearing people apart and eating them alive, we find all sorts of sophisticated arguments to defend sports which should have been banned long age; sports which are quite as barbarous as, say, public hangings or bearbaiting.
It really is incredible that in this day and age we should still allow hunting or bull-fighting, that we should be prepared to sit back and watch two men batter each other to pulp in a boxing ring, that we should be relatively unmoved by the sight of one or a number of racing cars crashing and bursting into flames. Let us not deceive ourselves. Any talk of ‘the sporting spirit’ is sheer hypocrisy. People take part in violent sports because of the high rewards they bring. Spectators are willing to pay vast sums of money to see violence. A world heavyweight championship match, for instance, is front page news. Millions of people are disappointed if a big fight is over in two rounds instead of fifteen. They feel disappointment because they have been deprived of the exquisite pleasure of witnessing prolonged torture and violence.
Why should we ban violent sports if people enjoy them so much? You may well ask. The answer is simple: they are uncivilized. For centuries man has been trying to improve himself spiritually and emotionally – admittedly with little success. But at least we no longer tolerate the sight madmen cooped up in cages, or public floggings of any of the countless other barbaric practices which were common in the past. Prisons are no longer the grim forbidding places they used to be. Social welfare systems are in operation in many parts of the world. Big efforts are being made to distribute wealth fairly. These changes have come about not because human beings have suddenly and unaccountably improved, but because positive steps were taken to change the law. The law is the biggest instrument of social change that we have and it may exert great civilizing influence. If we banned dangerous and violent sports, we would be moving one step further to improving mankind. We would recognize that violence is degrading and unworthy of human beings.
1.It can be inferred from the passage that the author’s opinion of nowadays’ human beings is
A. not very high. B. high. C. contemptuous. D. critical.
2.The main idea of this passage is
A. vicious and dangerous sports should be banned by law.
B. people are willing to pay vast sums money to see violence.
C. to compare two different attitudes towards dangerous sports.
D. people are bloodthirsty in sports.
3.That the author mentions the old Romans is
A. To compare the old Romans with today’s people. B. to give an example.
C. to show human beings in the past know nothing better.
D. to indicate human beings are used to bloodthirsty.
4. How many dangerous sports does the author mention in this passage?
A. Three. B. Five. C. Six. D. Seven.
5. The purpose of the author in writing this passage is
A. that, by banning the violent sports, we human beings can improve ourselves.
B. that, by banning the dangerous sports, we can improve the law.
C. that we must take positive steps to improve social welfare system.
D. to show law is the main instrument of social change.

The only way to travel is on foot
The past ages of man have all been carefully labeled（标记）by anthropologists（人类学家）. Descriptions like ‘Palaeolithic(旧石器时代) Man’, ‘Neolithic Man’, etc., neatly（干净地；整洁地） sum up whole periods. When the time comes for anthropologists to turn their attention to the twentieth century, they will surely choose the label ‘Legless Man’. Histories of the time will go something like this: ‘in the twentieth century, people forgot how to use their legs. Men and women moved about in cars, buses and trains from a very early age. There were lifts and escalators（自动电梯，自动扶梯）in all large buildings to prevent people from walking. This situation was forced upon earth dwellers（居民） of that time because of miles each day. But the surprising thing is that they didn’t use their legs even when they went on holiday. They built cable railways, ski-lifts and roads to the top of every huge mountain. All the beauty spots on earth were marred （糟蹋）by the presence of large car parks. ’
The future history books might also record that we were deprived（剥夺） of the use of our eyes. In our hurry to get from one place to another, we failed to see anything on the way. Air travel gives you a bird’s-eye view of the world – or even less if the wing of the aircraft happens to get in your way. When you travel by car or train a blurred image of the countryside constantly smears the windows. Car drivers, in particular, are forever obsessed with the urge to go on and on: they never want to stop.
Is it the lure of the great motorways, or what? And as for sea travel, it hardly deserves mention. It is perfectly summed up in the words of the old song: ‘I joined the navy to see the world, and what did I see? I saw the sea.’ The typical twentieth-century traveler is the man who always says ‘I’ve been there. ’ You mention the remotest, most evocative place-names in the world like El Dorado, Kabul, Irkutsk and someone is bound to say ‘I’ve been there’ – meaning, ‘I drove through it at 100 miles an hour on the way to somewhere else. ’
When you travel at high speeds, the present means nothing: you live mainly in the future because you spend most of your time looking forward to arriving at some other place. But actual arrival, when it is achieved, is meaningless. You want to move on again. By traveling like this, you suspend all experience; the present ceases to be a reality: you might just as well be dead. The traveler on foot, on the other hand, lives constantly in the present. For him traveling and arriving are one and the same thing: he arrives somewhere with every step he makes. He experiences the present moment with his eyes, his ears and the whole of his body. At the end of his journey he feels a delicious physical weariness. He knows that sound. Satisfying sleep will be his: the just reward of all true travellers.
1. Anthropologists label nowadays’ men ‘Legless’ because
A . people forget how to use his legs. B people prefer cars, buses and trains.
C lifts and escalators prevent people from walking. D there are a lot of transportation devices.
2. Travelling at high speed means
A people’s focus on the future. B a pleasure.
C satisfying drivers’ great thrill. D a necessity y of life.
3. Why does the author say ‘we are deprived of the use of our eyes’ ?
A People won’t use their eyes. B In traveling at high speed, eyes become useless.
C People can’t see anything on his way of travel. D People want to sleep during travelling.
4. What is the purpose of the author in writing this passage?
A Legs become weaker. B Modern means of transportation make the world a small place.
C There is no need to use eyes. D The best way to travel is on foot.
5. What does ‘a bird’s-eye view’ mean?
A See view with bird’s eyes. B A bird looks at a beautiful view.
C It is a general view from a high position looking down. D A scenic place.

CANBERRA (Reuters Life!) - Think twice before eating those dropped crumbs off your computer keyboard -- you might as well be eating off a toilet seat, according to a new study on the amount of germs on keyboards.
A study by British "Which? Computing" asked a microbiologist to examine for bugs on 33 keyboards in a typical London office, a toilet seat and a toilet door handle.
Four keyboards were judged potential health hazards and the microbiologist recommended the removal of one keyboard as it had 150 times the pass limit of bacteria -- five times filthier than the swabbed toilet seat.
"Most people don't give much thought to the grime that builds up on their PC, but if you don't clean your computer, you might as well eat your lunch off the toilet," said Sarah Kidner, the consumer magazine editor of "Which? Computing" in a statement.
The study found that eating lunch at desks is the main cause of a bug-infested keyboard. Dropped crumbs and food encourages the growth of millions of bacteria.
Poor personal hygiene, such as not washing hands after going to the toilet, may also add to the dirtiness of keyboards.
But despite the health hazard of a dirty keyboard, a survey of 4,000 people by the magazine found one in 10 people ever cleaned their keyboard while another two in 10 never cleaned their mouse.
Almost half -- or 46 per cent -- cleaned their keyboard less than once a month.
To clear out bugs, the magazine recommends users unplug keyboards, turn them upside down and shake them.
The purpose of the passage is .

A．tell us something about the keyboards.

B．warn people to clean the keyboards often.

C．tell us how to clean the keyboard

D．tell us the germs on keyboards

What do you think the expression “Think twice before eating those dropped crumbs off your computer keyboard” stands for?

A．Think several times before eating beside your computer

B．Don’t drop foods onto the computer keyboard.

C．Don’t eat foods dropped onto the computer keyboard.

D．Be careful when you are eating by the computer.

What are the main causes of a bug-infested keyboard?

A．Dropped crumbs and food encourages the growth of millions of bacteria.

B．Poor personal hygiene

C．Much dirt on the computer keyboard.

D．Dropped crumbs and food and Poor personal hygiene

"Which? Computing" is probably a name of .

A．An organization	B．a newspaper
C．a report	D．a magazine

The United States government wants to know what the public thinks about its findings on the safety of cloned animals.
The Food and Drug Administration says meat and milk from clones of adult cattle, pigs and goats are safe to eat. An F.D.A. official called them "as safe to eat as the food we eat every day." And when those clones reproduce sexually（有性繁殖）, the agency says, their offspring（后代） are safe to eat as well. But research on cloned sheep is limited. So the F.D.A. proposes that sheep clones not be used for human food.
The United States this year could become the first country to approve the sale of foods from cloned animals. First, however, the public will have ninety days to comment on three proposed documents. On December 28th the F.D.A. released a long report, called a draft risk assessment, along with two policy documents.
The agency says it must receive comments by April second. The F.D.A. seemed ready to act several years ago, but an advisory committee called for more research.
For now, the government will continue to ask producers to honor a request that they not sell foods from cloned animals.
Clones are still rare. They cost a lot and are difficult to produce.
The F.D.A. says most food from cloning is expected to come not from clones themselves, but from their sexually reproduced offspring. It says clones are expected to be used mostly as breeding animals to spread good qualities.
Public opinion studies show most Americans do not like the idea of food from cloned animals. But this research also shows the public knows little about cloning.
Cloning differs from genetic engineering. A cell taken from a so-called donor animals is grown into an embryo（胚胎）in the laboratory. Next, the embryo is placed into the uterus（子宫）of a female animal. If the process is successful, the pregnancy reaches full term and a genetic copy of the donor animal is born.
From the passage we know that .

A．foods from cloned animals are popular in America

B．cloned adult animals are safe to eat except sheep.

C．cloned animals will be easy to produce

D．most foods from cloning is expected to take place of other foods

The main purpose of the text is to .

A．tell a interesting story	B．give some advice on foods
C．give a report	D．compare different opinions

Who believe that foods from cloning are safe to eat?
A. Most Americans B. An advisory committee
C. Critics D. The F.D.A.
It can be inferred from the last paragraph that .

A．cloning has much in common with genetic

B．not every cell taken from a donor animal can grow into a genetic copy

C．the donor animal should be a female one

D．cloned animals grow faster than normal ones