When you get in your car, you reach for it. When you’re at work, you take a break to have a moment alone with it. When you get into a lift, you play with it.
Cigarettes? Cup of coffee? No, it’s the third most addictive（使人上瘾的） thing in modern life, the cell phone. And experts say it is becoming more difficult for many people tocurbtheir wishes to hug it more tightly than most of their personal relationships.
With its shiny surface, its smooth and satisfying touch, the cell phone connects us to the world even as it disconnects us from people three feet away. It affects us in ways its inventors in the late 1940s never imagined.
Dr. Chris Knippers, an expert at the Betty Ford Center in Southern California, reports that the overuse of cell phones has become a social problem not much different from other harmful addictions: a barrier to one-on-one personal contact, and an escape from reality.
Sounds extreme, but we’ve all witnessed the evidence: the person at a restaurant who talks on the phone through an entire meal, ignoring his kids around the table; the woman who talks on the phone in the car, ignoring her husband; the teen who texts messages all the way home from school, avoiding contact with kids all around him. Is it just rude, or is it a kind of unhealthiness? And pardon me, but how is this improving the quality of life?
Jim Williams, an industrial sociologist based in Massachusetts, he points to a study by Duke University researchers that found one-quarter of Americans say they have no one to discuss their most important personal business with. Despite the growing use of phones, e-mail and instant messaging, in other words, Williams says studies show that we don’t have as many friends as our parents. “Just as more information has led to less wisdom, more acquaintances(熟人) through the Internet and cell phones have produced fewer friends,” he says.
If the cell phone has truly had these effects, it’s because it has become very widespread. In 1987, there were only 1 million cell phones in use. Today, almost 300 million Americans carry them. The number of cell phones is far more than that of wired phones in the United States.
1.Which of the following could probably best explain the title of the passage?
A.Cell phone users smoke less than they used to.
B.More people use cell phones than smoke cigarettes.
C.Cell phones have become as addictive as cigarettes.
D.Using cell phone is just as cool as smoking cigarettes.
2.The underlined word “curb” in Paragraph 2 means ________.
A.rescue B.control C.develop D.ignore
3.Which idea does the example of a woman talking on the phone in the car support?
A.Women use cell phones more often than men.
B.Talking on the phone while driving is dangerous.
C.Cell phones make one-on-one personal contact easy.
D.Cell phones do not necessarily bring people together.
4.What is most likely to be discussed in the paragraph that follows?
A.How to make people get closer.
B.The advantages of wired phones.
C.How to use cell phones properly.
D.Giving an example to prove the bad effects of cell phones.
On May 26, 1977, George Willig traveled to the top of the 1,350‒foot‒high World Trade Center in New York City. He did not take the lift, however. Instead, like a human fly, George Willig climbed the outside of the huge 110‒story building. His climb, which began at 6:30 am, took three and a half hours to finish.
At the top, Willig was greeted by both the police and reporters. Some of the police officers asked him for his autograph(签名). Then they wanted to put him in prison and charged him with breaking of law for climbing the building without a permit. Furthermore, the city also planned to charge him for a quarter of a million dollars. The amount, the police department reported, would pay the costs of rushing special equipment and eighty police officers in order to save him.
By the next day, city officials had re‒evaluated(重估) the situation. At City Hall, Mayor Abraham Beame hosted a news conference that turned into a ceremony in George Willig’s honor. Beame announced that the city would not punish “The Human Fly’’. Instead, he would be fined a penny for each of the 110 floors he had climbed. Instead of punishing Willig, the city treated him as a hero who attempted the impossible and met the challenge.
1.George Willig reached the top of the World Trade Center in New York at .
A.six thirty on the morning of May 26, 1977
B.six thirty on the evening of May 26, 1977
C.ten o’clock on the evening of May 26, 1977
D.ten o’clock on the morning of May 26, 1977
2.This passage is a story about .
A.a man who enjoys risks and challenges
B.a human being who can fly like a fly
C.a man who has escaped from the prison
D.a fly which climbs like a human being
3.According to the passage, which of the following statements is TRUE?
A.Willig was fined $ 250,000.
B.Willig was sent to prison for a year.
C.Willig was honored in a party and fined only $ 1.10.
D.Willig climbed the World Trade Center with permission.
Although its history can be somewhat traced back to ancient Korea, it is a true fact that Taekwondo as an organized art is relatively modern. In fact, the only recorded history begins in the mid 1900’s.
The actual beginnings of Taekwondo are not known to everyone, yet many historians believe it came from a Korean martial art from practiced over 1,300 years ago.
In the early 1900’s the art developed with the instruction of Chinese and Japanese techniques. Some Koreans were anxious because these influences did not prove the amazing kicking power of the art nor its traditional values or philosophy.
The actual name of Taekwondo wasn’t official until 1955. At that time Korean General Hong Hi Choi organized a movement to combine Korea’s various martial arts styles. He recommended the name “Taekwondo” to an organization specially founded to select a name for the new art. On April 11, 1955, Taekwondo was recognized as the name for the newly combined, officially recognized Korean martial art.
As an interesting side note, the word Taekwondo itself is made up of three Chinese/Korean words: Tae, meaning to kick or jump; Kwon, meaning fist or hand; and Do, which means “the way”. It can be thought of as “The Way of the Hand and Foot”.
In the 1960’s Taekwondo began to spread internationally and developed throughout the late 1900’s. It became a fighting sport, although self‒defense, fitness, and the philosophy of the practice are still main elements of Taekwondo.
Today, Taekwondo enjoys great popularity around the world. More than 20 million people practice Taekwondo in more than 120 countries. Taekwondo was also made an official sport in the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, Korea.
1.After Taekwondo was influenced by Chinese and Japanese techniques, some Koreans thought that .
A.Taekwondo could be improved a lot
B.the kicking power might be ignored
C.Taekwondo could be filled with violence
D.the spirit of Taekwondo would be respected
2.Hong Hi Choi created the name “Taekwondo” in order to .
A.recommend it to be an Olympic event
B.introduce it into other countries worldwide
C.combine other Korean martial arts style
D.persuade more Koreans to practice it
3.What’s the author’s main purpose in writing the passage?
A.To introduce the history of Taekwondo.
B.To show how to practice Taekwondo.
C.To explain the name of Taekwondo.
D.To compare Taekwondo with other arts.
Tom is Lily, both of whom are responsible for their students.
A.so good a teacher as B.as a good teacher as
C.as good a teacher as D.such good a teacher as
I was on the point of speaking my wife stood up and stopped me.
A.since B.as C.when D.while
-Jenny took the 8：00 bus to Guangzhou this morning.
-Really? He＿＿the 9:00 train. It's much more comfortable and safer to travel by train.
A.could have taken B.should take
C.must have taken D.can take
