D
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 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 threat of danger in the real world. 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．Asking the police for protection. |
| D．supporting more politicians. |
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 realworld.
| 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 learn to protect themselves from dangers after watching TV violence. |
| 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 |
Planning a visit to the UK? Here we help with ways to cut your costs.
AVOID BIG EVENTS Big sporting events, concerts and exhibitions can increase the cost of accommodation and make it harder to find a room. A standard double room at the Thistle Brighton on the final Friday of the Brighton Comedy Festival (19 Oct.) cost ￡169.15 at Booking.com. A week later, the same room cost ￡118.15.
If you can be flexible and want to know dates to avoid—or you're looking for a big event to pass your time—check out sites such as Whatsonwhen.com, which allow you to search for events in the UK by city, date and category.
STAY AWAY FROM THE STATION If traveling to your destination by train, you may want to find a good base close to the station, but you could end up paying more for the sake of convenience at the start of your holiday.
Don't be too choosy about the part of town you stay in. Booking two months in advance, the cheapest room at Travelodge's Central Euston hotel in London for Saturday 22 September was ￡95.95. A room just a tube journey away at its Covent Garden hotel was ￡75.75. And at Farringdon, a double room cost just ￡62.95.
LOOK AFTER YOURSELF Really central hotels in cities such as London, Edinburgh and Cardiff can cost a fortune, especially at weekends and during big events. As an alternative consider checking into a self－catering flat with its own kitchen. Often these flats are hidden away on the top floors of city centre buildings. A great example is the historic O'Neill Flat on Edinburgh's Royal Mile, available for ￡420 for five days in late September, with room for four adults.
GET ON A BIKE London's “Boris bikes” have attracted the most attention, but other cities also have similar programmes that let you rent a bicycle and explore at your own pace, saving you on public transport or car parking costs.
Among the smaller cities with their own programmes are Newcastle (casual members pay around ￡1.50 for two hours) and Cardiff (free for up to 30 minutes, or ￡5 per day)．The Brighton Comedy Festival is mentioned mainly to show big events may ________．
| A．help travelers pass time |
| B．cause travelers to pay more for accommodation |
| C．allow travelers to make flexible plans |
| D．attract lots of travelers to the UK |
“Farringdon” in Paragraph 5 is most probably ________．
| A．an ideal holiday destination |
| B．the tube line to Covent Garden |
| C．a hotel far away from the train station |
| D．the name of a travel agency |
The passage shows that the O'Neill Flat ________．
| A．provides cooking facilities for tourists |
| B．is located in central London |
| C．lies on the ground floor |
| D．costs over ￡100 on average per day in late September |
Cardiff's program allows a free bike for a maximum period of ________．
| A．two hours |
| B．one hour |
| C．one hour and a half |
| D．half an hour |
The main purpose of the passage is ________．
| A．to tell visitors how to book in advance |
| B．to offer visitors some money－saving tips |
| C．to show visitors the importance of self－help |
| D．to supply visitors with hotel information |
The temperature of the sun is over 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit at the surface, but it rises to perhaps more than 16 million degrees at the center. The sun is so much hotter than the earth that matter can exist only as a gas, except at the core. In the core of the sun, the pressures are so great against the gases that, despite the high temperature, there may be a small solid core. However, no one really knows, since the center of the sun can never be directly observed.
Solar astronomers do know that the sun is divided into five layers or zones. Starting at the outside and going down into the sun, the zones are the corona, chromosphere, photosphere, convection zone and finally the core. The first three zones are regarded as the sun’s atmosphere ends and the main body of the sun begins.
The sun’s outermost layer begins about 10,000 miles above the visible surface and goes outward for millions of miles. This is the only part of the sun that can be seen during an eclipse such as the one in February 1979. At any other time, the corona can be seen only when special instruments are used on cameras and telescopes to shut out the glare of the sun’s rays.
The corona is a brilliant, pearly white, filmy light, about as bright as the full moon. Its beautiful rays are a sensational sight during an eclipse. The corona’s rays flash out in a brilliant fan that has wispy spikelike (一束束穗状) rays near the sun’s north and south poles. The corona is thickest at the sun’s equator.
The corona rays are made up of gases streaming outward at tremendous speeds and reaching a temperature of more than 2 million degrees Fahrenheit. The rays of gas thin out as they reach the space around the planets. By the time the sun’s corona rays reach the earth, they are weak and invisible.Matter on the sun can exist only in the form of gas because of the sun’s ______.
| A．size | B．age | C．location | D．temperature |
With what topic is the second paragraph mainly concerned?
| A．How the sun evolved. |
| B．The structure of the sun. |
| C．Why scientists study the sun. |
| D．The distance of the sun from the planets. |
All of the following are parts of the sun’s atmosphere EXCEPT the _______.
| A．corona | B．chromospheres |
| C．photosphere | D．core |
According to the passage, as the corona rays reach the planets, they become _______.
| A．hotter | B．clearer |
| C．thinner | D．stronger |
The paragraph following the passage most likely discusses which of the following?
| A．The remaining layers of the sun. |
| B．The evolution of the sun to its present form. |
| C．The eclipse of February 1979. |
| D．Scientists will cost more money on researching the corona. |
Barditch High School decided to have an All-School Reunion. Over 450 people came to the event. There were tours of the old school building and a picnic at Confederate Park. Several former teachers were on hands to tell stories about the old days. Ms. Mabel Yates, the English teacher for fifty years, was wheeled to the Park.
Some eyes rolled and there were a few low groans (嘟嚷声) when Ms. Yates was about to speak. Many started looking at their watches and coming up with excuses to be anywhere instead of preparing to listen to a lecture from an old woman who had few kind words for her students and made them work harder than all the other teachers combined.
Then Ms. Yates started to speak:
“I can’t tell you how pleased I am to be here. I haven’t seen many of you since your graduation, but I have followed your careers and enjoyed your victories as well as crying for your tragedies. I have a large collection of newspaper photographs of my students. Although I haven’t appeared in person, I have attended your college graduations, weddings and even the birth of your children, in my imagination. ”
Ms. Yates paused and started crying a bit. Then she continued：
“It was my belief that if I pushed you as hard as I could, some of you would succeed to please me and others would succeed to annoy me. Regardless of our motives, I can see that you have all been successful in your chosen path. ”
There was a silence over the crowd for a few seconds and then someone started clapping. The clapping turned into cheering, then into a deafening roar. Lawyers, truck drivers, bankers and models were rubbing their eyes or crying openly with no shame all because of the words from a long forgotten English teacher from their hometown.What activity was organized for the school reunion?
| A．Sightseeing in the park. |
| B．A picnic on the school playground. |
| C．Telling stories about past events. |
| D．Graduates’ report in the old building. |
What can be inferred from Paragraph 2?
| A．Some graduates were too busy to listen to Ms. Yates’ speech. |
| B．Many graduates disliked Ms. Yates’ ways of teaching. |
| C．Some people got tired from the reunion activities. |
| D．Most people had little interest in the reunion. |
We can learn from Ms. Yates’ speech that she .
| A．keep track of her students’ progress |
| B．gave her students advice on their careers |
| C．attended her students’ college graduations |
| D．went to her students’ wedding ceremonies |
What was Ms. Yates’ belief in teaching teenagers?
| A．Teachers’ knowledge is the key to students’ achievement. |
| B．Pressure on students from teachers should be reduced. |
| C．Hard-pushed students are more likely to succeed. |
| D．Students’ respect is the best reward for teachers. |
Which of the following can best describe Ms. Yates?
| A．Reliable and devoted. | B．Tough and generous. |
| C．Proud but patient. | D．Strict but caring. |
As any homemaker who has tried to keep order at the dinner table knows， there is far more to a family meal than food. Sociologist Michael Lewis has been studying 50 families to find out just how much more.
Lewis and his co-worker carried out their study by videotaping (录像) the families while they are having ordinary meals in their own homes. They found that parents with small families talk actively with each other and their children. But as the number of children gets larger，conversation gives way to the parents’ efforts to control the loud noise they make. That can have an important effect on the children. "In general the more question-asking the parents do， the higher the children's IQ scores，"Lewis says. " And the more children there are， the less question-asking there is. "
The study also provides an explanation for why middle children often seem to have a harder time in life than their siblings (兄弟姐妹) . Lewis found that in families with three or four children， dinner conversation is likely to center on the oldest child， who has the most to talk about, and the youngest， who needs the most attention. “Middle children are invisible,”says Lewis. When you see someone get up from the table and walk around during dinner，chances are for the middle child. "There is, however，one thing that stops all conversation and prevents anyone from having attention: ”When the TV is on，"Lewis says, “dinner is a non-event ".The writer's purpose in writing the text is to______.
| A．show the relationship between parents and children |
| B．teach parents ways to keep order at the dinner table |
| C．report on the findings of a study |
| D．give information about family problems |
Parents with large families ask fewer questions at dinner because______.
| A．they are busy serving food to their children |
| B．they are busy keeping order at the dinner table |
| C．they have to pay more attention to younger children |
| D．they are tired out having prepared food for the whole family |
By saying" Middle children are invisible" in paragraph 3, Lewis means that middle children______.
| A．get the least attention from the family |
| B．have to help their parents to serve dinner |
| C．are often kept away from the dinner table |
| D．find it hard to keep up with other children |
Lewis' research provides an answer to the question______.
| A．why TV is important in family life |
| B．why parents should keep good order |
| C．why children in small families seem to be quieter |
| D．why middle children seem to have more difficulties in life |
Which of the following statements would the writer agree to?
| A．It is important to have the right food for children. |
| B．It is a good idea to have the TV on during dinner. |
| C．Parents should talk to each of their children frequently. |
| D．Elder children should help the younger ones at dinner. |
We use both words and gestures to express our feelings, but the problem is that these words and gestures can be understood in different ways. It is true that a smile means the same thing in any language. So does laughter or crying. There are also a number of striking similarities in the way different animals show the same feelings. Dogs, tigers and humans, for example, often show their teeth when they are angry. This is probably because they are born with those behavior patterns.
Fear is another emotion that is shown in much the same way all over the world. In Chinese and in English literature, a phrase like "he went pale and begin to tremble" suggests that the man is either very afraid or he has just got a very big shock. However, "he opened his eyes wide" is used to suggest anger in Chinese whereas in English it means surprise. In Chinese "surprise" can be described in a phrase like 'they stretched out their tongues!' Sticking out your tongue in English is an insulting gesture or expresses strong dislike.
Even in the same culture, people differ in ability to understand and express feelings. Experiments in America have shown that women are usually better than men at recognizing fear, anger, love and happiness on people's faces. Other studies show that older people usually find it easier to recognize or understand body language than younger people do.According to the passage, __________.
| A．we can hardly understand what people's gestures mean |
| B．we can not often be sure what people mean when they describe their feelings in words or gestures |
| C．words can be better understood by older people |
| D．gestures can be understood by most of the people while words can not |
People's facial expressions may be misunderstood because __________.
| A．people of different ages may have different understanding |
| B．people of different countries speak different languages |
| C．people of different sex may understand a gesture in a different way |
| D．people have different cultures |
In the same culture, __________.
| A．people have different ability to understand and express feelings |
| B．people have the same understanding of something |
| C．people never fail to understand each other |
| D．people are equally intelligent |
From this passage, we can conclude __________.
| A．words are used as frequently as gestures |
| B．words are often found difficult to understand |
| C．words and gestures are both used in expressing feelings |
| D．gestures are more efficiently used than words |
The best title for this passage may be __________.
| A．Words and Feelings | B．Words, Gestures and Feelings |
| C．Gestures and Feelings | D．Culture and Understanding |