The easiest way for the English to deal with their social discomfort is to avoid social interaction altogether, by choosing either leisure (闲暇) activities that can be performed in the privacy of one’s own house, or outdoor activities that follow their interest without direct contact with anyone other than one’s own family members, such as going for a walk, or to the cinema, or shopping．
In recent survey, over half of all the leisure activities were of this private domestic type, and of the top ten pastimes, only two—having friends round for a meal or drink, and going to the pub—could be described as ‘sociable’．The most domestic activities are the most popular: watching TV, listening to the radio, reading, DIY （Do It Yourself） and gardening．Even when the English are being sociable, the survey findings show that most of them would much rather entertain a few close friends or relatives in the safety of their own homes than venture out among strangers．
In the latest national census survey （人口普查）, over half of the entire adult male population had been DIYing in the four weeks before the census date．Nearly a third of the female population had also been busily improving their homes, and their work with their gardens was equally obvious: 52 percent of all English males and 45 percent of females had been out there, cutting branches and weeding grass．
Even among people claiming to belong to a particular religion, only two percent attend services every week．The rest of the population can be found every Sunday at their local garden center or DIY superstore．And when they want a break from caring about their own homes and gardens, they go on trips to visit bigger and better houses and gardens, such as the stately homes and gardens opened to the public by the National Trust and the Royal Horticulture Society．Visiting grand country houses always ranks as one of the most popular national pastimes．
45．The result of the survey shows that ________.
A．about half English people enjoy working in their gardens
B．8 out of 10 pastimes can be described as social activities
C．2 percent of the religious people enjoy visits to public houses
D．visiting stately homes is the most popular national pastime
46．According to the passage, the English enjoy all of the following EXCEPT________.
A．the social activities, such as gathering with friends
B．working at home and in their gardens
C．dining out in a public place among strangers
D．visits to stately homes and gardens
47．The underlined word “domestic” probably means________.
A．public B．household C．outdoor D．collective
48．The passage mainly tells us about________.
A．why the English don’t like social activities
B．how the English spend their leisure time
C．what the result of a recent census survey is
D．where the English hold their private activities
Ted Turner achieved high goals and great success by the time he was 43. Best known for his CNN, Ted Turner launched a second nationwide all-news network, Headline News, purchased the Atlanta Braves baseball team, and became the world's best yachtsman at the America's Cup in 1977. In 1982 Ted Turner was named by Forbes one of the 400 richest people in the U. S. He was named Time magazine's "Man of the Year" in 1992. How did Ted Turner accomplish all of this at such a young age?
Ted Turner's father, Ed, was a self-made millionaire who demanded that his only son try to achieve similar success. He instilled in the boy a strong belief that hard work was good. Besides reading a new book every two days, Ted Turner was also charged rent at home during summer vacations from boarding school. Ed Turner was a strong influence in his son's life.
As a child, Ted Turner lived a very lonely life, often separated from his family. During World War Ⅱ，his father served in the navy. Ed Turner took his wife and daughter with him so they could live nearby but left his 6-year-old son behind in a boarding school in Cincinnati, Ohio. When Ted Turner was in the fifth grade, his father enrolled him in a military academy. Even though Turner had friends at school, it didn't make up for the absence of his parents and sister. Eventually Ted Turner enrolled at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. He attended college off and on, became involved in sailboat racing, and became a member of the U. S. Coast Guard for a while. In his early twenties, he became general manager of one of his father's branch offices-the Turner Advertising Company in Macon, Georgia.
Two years later after his father's suicide, Ted Turner took over the company. He soon discovered that he was more skilled than his father in managing the business. During the next twenty years, Ted Turner worked hard to accumulate enough power and money to fulfill his father's dream.
Reflecting on his father's death, however, Ted Turner realized that it was dangerous to put too much emphasis on material possessions. He decided to use his hard-earned influence to serve the public.
Concerned about the environment, Ted Turner established the Better World Society in 1985. The purpose of this organization was to produce documentaries to educate people about pollution, hunger, and the danger of building weapons of mass destruction. In1986 Turner began sponsoring the Goodwill Games to promote world peace. The Turner Tomorrow Awards were created to encourage writers and thinkers to focus their attention on solving world problems. The Turner Family Foundation was established in 1992. What is CNN according to the passage?
| A．It's a broadcast news company. |
| B．It's a basketball team agency. |
| C．It's a charity organization. |
| D．It's a publishing house. |
What is the main idea of Paragraph 1?
| A．The creation of CNN encouraged broadcasters to be more successful. |
| B．Towering goals and hard work led to fame and prosperity. |
| C．Ted Turner was expert at sailboat racing and playing basketball. |
| D．Ted Turner became very successful at an early age. |
As a student in a military academy, Turner __________.
| A．wasn't as lonely as he looked because of his many friends at school |
| B．missed his family very much despite having friends at school |
| C．served as a member of the U. S. Coast Guard for a while |
| D．showed little interest in studying |
The author seems to believe that Ted Turner is __________.
| A．bossy |
| B．incapable |
| C．ambitious |
| D．modest |
Four out of ten women who diet end up heavier than when they started watching their waistline（腰围），a study revealed today. The research also showed that a large percentage of women started noticing the pounds creeping back on just 21 days after reaching their ideal weight.
Yesterday, Dr Ian Campbell of the Jenny Craig Weight Management Program said ： "In the UK 61. 4 percent of adults are over-weight or obese. Successful weight management requires a long-term commitment in order to lose weight successfully and for good. Dieting can be a real challenge so setting realistic goals and remaining focused on them is important. Otherwise as this research shows, women could end up heavier than when they started. "
The "Food, Body, Mind" report was publicized by Jenny Craig who quizzed 2，000 women aged between 18 and 65 who diet regularly on their attitudes, beliefs and behaviors around weight loss. Six in ten said they were on a diet then and one in five women said they were on a " continuous diet".
It found the most common triggers to start dieting was seeing their " reflection in the mirror"，preparing for a summer holiday or unflattering photos posted on social networking sites. Other popular reasons include comments by friends or relatives or their other half.
However, the study showed that one in ten give up within one day, while almost a fifth manage to make it to a week or more. The average is ten days. Many blamed pressure they put on themselves to lose weight too quickly for the weight gain, which leaves them with a bigger appetite than normal. Others blamed colleagues, who tuck into fatty lunches and snacks unaware of the effect it has on the dieters, while mothers' polishing off their children's leftovers（剩饭）was an-other common cause of weight gain. Which of the following might be the best title for this article?
| A．Three reasons to fail in dieting |
| B．Important things for successful diet |
| C．Obesity-a problem for 61. 4% adults in the UK |
| D．Four in ten women gain weight on diets |
Women who go on a diet __________.
| A．are all overweight or obese |
| B．are likely to gain weight again after reaching their ideal weight |
| C．all fail because they are not persistent enough |
| D．all end up heavier than when they start to diet |
The underlined word "triggers" in Paragraph 4 probably means __________.
| A．effects |
| B．examples |
| C．causes |
| D．imagination |
Which of the following is NOT the reason that many people quit dieting very soon?
| A．The pressure they put on themselves to lose weight quickly. |
| B．Colleagues who tuck into fatty lunches and snacks. |
| C．Reflections they see in the mirror. |
| D．Leftovers of children's taken by their mothers. |
The website FarmersOnly. com calls itself an online dating and friendship finder. The idea started in the mind of a man, Jerry Miller in Ohio. He wondered how farmers could meet new people who understand the life of a farmer. Jerry Miller is not a farmer but he represents a lot of farmers.
As he tells it, the idea for the site was planted when a farmer told him one day that she was recently divorced and would like to date. But someone would invite her to meet for coffee at nine o'clock at night, when she had to start her day at five the next morning.
So, in 2005，Jerry Miller launched his website. "You don't have to be a farmer to be on FarmersOnly. com. But you do have to have the good old-fashioned traditional values of America's heartland. "
You also have to live in the United States or Canada to be a member of the site. Some services are free, but a full membership costs fifty dollars for a year. As of last week the site listed more than58，000 members. Many of them are farmers in the United States. Others are students or workers involved in some way with agriculture. Jerry Miller tells us about thirty marriages in the last year have resulted from his website.
Some farmers have also found love through a group, Singles in Agriculture, which was formed as a nonprofit organization in 1986. It organizes gatherings that usually end with a dance, but is not a dating service. The purpose is to support educational and social activities that offer people a chance for friendship. Its website, singlesinag. org, says there are more than 1，000 members across the nation and as far away as France. Jerry Miller started FarmersOnly. com in order to __________.
| A．help farmers |
| B．support traditions |
| C．understand farmers |
| D．represent farmers |
What does the underlined sentence in Paragraph 2 indicate?
| A．She dislikes city lifestyle. |
| B．She prefers late night coffee. |
| C．Country life isn't well understood. |
| D．It's tiring to get up early. |
Which of the following is true of singlesinag. org?
| A．Its services are free. |
| B．It provides dating services. |
| C．Only farmers can become its members. |
| D．Farmers in France can't benefit from it. |
It can be inferred from the text that __________.
| A．all farmers desire marriage |
| B．farmers are easy to meet new people |
| C．more farmers get divorced in the USA |
| D．the Internet helps improve farmers' social life |
Mark Twain was a famous American writer. He wrote many stories and many of them were very funny. These stories are still read by many people all over the world. Besides writing, he also liked hunting and fishing very much, so one year he went to Maine（缅因州）for a holiday and spent three very pleasant weeks in the woods there.
When he had to go back home, he went to the station with his baggage. There he asked a porter（搬运工）to put it into the train. Then he got into the smoking car and sat down in one of the comfortable seats there. The car was empty when he got in, but a few minutes later, another man got in and sat down on the seat opposite his. Mark Twain looked at the man and thought that this man looked quite unpleasant. However, it would be impolite to say nothing in that situation, so he said good morning to the man, and they began to talk.
First they talked about the heavy snow and then they talked about Maine. The stranger said，"We have some beautiful woods in Maine. It would be a pity to come to Maine without spending some time there. I suppose you have been in our woods, haven't you?" "Yes, I have，"answered Mark Twain. "I've just spent three weeks there and I had a very good time, too. And let me tell you something. Although fishing isn't allowed in Maine during this season, I've got two hundred pounds of beautiful fish with my baggage in this train. I like to eat fish, so I packed it in ice to take it home with me. May I ask who you are, sir?"
The stranger looked at Mark Twain for several seconds and then answered，"I'm a police officer. My job is to catch people who hunt and fish during the wrong seasons. And who are you?"
Mark Twain was surprised and frightened when he heard this. He thought quickly and then answered，"Well, I'll tell you, sir. I'm the man who tells the biggest lies in America. " What does the underlined word "they" in Paragraph 2 refer to?
| A．Mark Twain and a porter. |
| B．The stranger and a police. |
| C．The porter and a police. |
| D．Mark Twain and the police. |
We can infer that Mark Twain had been to the woods in Maine in __________.
| A．summer |
| B．autumn |
| C．winter |
| D．spring |
Which of the following statements about Mark Twain is NOT TRUE?
| A．Writing, hunting and fishing were his favourites. |
| B．His fish was delivered home by train. |
| C．He felt pity for not spending some time in Maine. |
| D．in fact, he told lies to the police officer at last. |
What can we learn from the passage?
| A．Mark Twain was one of the biggest liars in America. |
| B．The stranger was impolite to Mark Twain in the smoking car. |
| C．Mark Twain went to the woods in Maine for writing stories. |
| D．The stranger was the one who caught people fishing in winter. |
You may have heard of the man who decided to repair the roof of his house. To be safe, he tied a rope around his waist and threw the other end of it over the top of the house. He asked his son to tie it to something secure. The boy fastened the safety rope to the bumper(保险杠) of their car parked in the driveway. It seemed like a good idea at the time. But a little while later, his wife, unaware of the rope securing her husband, she started the car and drove away. Imagine what the result would be.
This story, factual or not, points to a great truth. It is a truth about where we place our security; about those things to which we’ve tied our safety lines. What is your rope tied to? Think about it. What do you depend on to keep you from disaster? Is your rope tied to a good job? Is it tied to a relationship with somebody you rely on? Is it tied to a company or an organization?
Writer Susan Taylor tells of discovering how unreliable some of our safety lines really are. She tells of lying in bed in the early hours of the morning when an earthquake struck. As her house shook, she fell out of bed and managed to go to the doorway, watching in horror as her whole house cracked down around her. Where her bed had once stood, she later discovered nothing but a pile of bricks. She lost everything — every button, every dish, her automobile, every article of clothing. Susan trembled, scared and crying, in the darkness. In the early morning she cried and called out for help.
Thoroughly exhausted, she thought that maybe she should be listening for rescuers instead of crying. So she grew still and listened. In the silence around her, the only sound she heard was the beating of her own heart. It occurred to her then that at least she was still alive and, amazingly enough, unhurt.
She thought about her situation. In the stillness, fear abandoned her and a feeling of indescribable peace and happiness flooded in, the likes of which she had never before known. It was an experience that was to change her life forever.
In the deepest part of her being, Susan realized a remarkable truth. She realized she had nothing to fear. Amazingly, whether or not she was ever rescued, whether she ever made it out alive, she sensed she had nothing to fear.
For the first time in her life she understood that her true security did not depend on those things in which she had placed her trust. It lay deep within. And also for the first time, she knew what it was to be content in all circumstances. She realized that whether she had plenty or hardly enough, somehow she would be all right. She just knew it. She later wrote, “Before the quake I appeared very successful, but my life was out of balance. I wasn’t happy because I had been making money and always wanting more. My home, my job, my clothes, a relationship — I thought they were my security. It took an earthquake and losing everything I owned for me to discover that my security had been with me all along…There’s a power within us that we can depend upon no matter what is happening around us.”
She had tied her rope to the wrong things. It took a disaster for her to understand that those things are not trustworthy. So she let go of the rope and discovered peace. She found that her true security was a power within- dependable and sure.
What is your rope tied to? And what would happen if you found the courage to let go of it?In Paragraph 1, the writer tells the story of the man to___________.
| A．describe a scene | B．introduce a topic |
| C．offer an argument | D．satisfy the readers’ curiosity |
If the story of the man was true, the most probable result would be that___________.
| A．the bumper of the car broke up |
| B．the house was destroyed by the car |
| C．the man was badly injured or even killed |
| D．the wife was scolded by her husband |
Why was Susan crying in the darkness?
| A．Because she was afraid of staying in the dark. |
| B．Because she wanted to be heard by the rescuers. |
| C．Because she was frightened and felt helpless. |
| D．Because she had tied her rope to the wrong thing. |
What did Susan feel after she thought about her situation?
| A．She felt she was still alive. |
| B．She felt very peaceful. |
| C．She felt completely hopeless. |
| D．She wanted to change her life forever. |
How did Susan like interpersonal relationship and income before the earthquake?
| A．They were meaningless. |
| B．They were very important. |
| C．They were unnecessary. |
| D．They were among some choices. |
Which of the following should be the best title?
| A．An Experience from an Earthquake. | B．A Rope Tied to a Car. |
| C．Please Let Go of Your Trust. | D．What to Depend on. |
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