Almost every day we come across situations in which we have to make decisions one way or another. Choice, we are given to believe, is a right. But for a good many people in the world in rich and poor countries, choice is a luxury, something wonderful but hard to get, not a right. And for those who think they are exercising their right to make choices, the whole system is merely an illusion, a false idea created by companies and advertiser, hoping to sell their products.
The endless choice gives birth to anxiety in people’s lives. Buying something as basic as a coffee pot is not exactly simple. Easy access to a wide range of everyday goods leads to a sense of powerlessness in many people, ending in the shopper giving up and walking away, or just buying an unsuitable item(商品) that is not really wanted. Recent studies in England have shown that many electrical goods bought in almost every family are not really needed. More difficult decision-making is then either avoided or trusted into the hands of the professionals, lifestyle instructors, or advisors.
It is not just the availability of the goods that is the problem, but the speed with which new types of products come on the market. Advances in design and production help quicken the process. Products also need to have a short lifespan so that the public can be persuaded to replace them within a short time. The typical example is computers, which are almost out-of-date once they are bought. This indeed makes selection a problem. Gone are the days when one could just walk with ease into a shop and buy one thing; no choice, no anxiety.What does the author try to argue in Paragraph 1?
| A．The exercise of rights is a luxury. |
| B．The practice of choice is difficult. |
| C．The right of choice is given but at a price. |
| D．Choice and right exist at the same time. |
Why do more choices of goods give rise to anxiety?
| A．Professionals find it hard to decide on a suitable product. |
| B．People are likely to find themselves overcome by business persuasion. |
| C．Shoppers may find themselves lost in the broad range of items. |
| D．Companies and advertisers are often misleading about the rage of choice. |
By using computers as an example, the author wants to prove that _______.
| A．advanced products meet the needs of people |
| B．products of the latest design flood the market |
| C．competitions are fierce in high-tech industry |
| D．everyday goods need to be replaced often |
What is this passage mainly about?
| A．The variety of choices in modern society. |
| B．The opinions on people’s right in different countries |
| C．The Problems about the availability of everyday goods. |
| D．The helplessness in purchasing decisions |
Opening week specials（大特惠） at Munchies Food Hall.
At the corner of Green and Brown Streets in the city
Monday 7th of January until Sunday.13rd of January 2008
|
Feast until you’re full! Come down to Monetizes time week to enjoy the special dishes on offer it all of our food outlets. Order from the following:
●Succulent chicken rice ●spicy stays beef●Delicious noodle dishes ●plump porky chips
●seafood specialties ●crunchy vegetables
●sweet tropical fruit
Halal food（清真食品） is available at the stall. Malay Mood Heaven
Win Prizes and Gifts!
Spend ＄20.00 or more and win instant prizes from our lucky draw box.
Collect a free party balloon and whistle for each young diner.
Enjoy a free meal if you are the first customer of the day at any of our stalls.
Win a holiday to Western Australia.
A free raffle ticket（彩劵） is given with e
very receipt（收据）. Just fill in your information and place your entry in the box provided.
Winner to be announced in The Strait Times on the 15th of January.
Join in the Fun!
Between 7:00 pm and 8:00 pm each evening until the 15th of January, your favorite Channel 3 television actors and singers will entertain you:
●May Lee ●Jackie Chen
●Kim Yap ● Kamala
Autograph sessions will follow each performance! And who will be our extra special mystery star? Come down on Saturday at noon to find out.
Munchies Food Hall does NOT sell ____.
| A．lamb | B．beef | C．pork | D．chicken |
Everyone who eats at Munchies will receive a ______.
| A．free raffle ticket | B．lucky draw coupon |
| C．free meal | D．balloon and whistle |
I will find out who has won the top to Western Australia when I ______.
| A．watch Channel 3 television |
| B．come down to Munchies at noon |
| C．read The Straits Times on the 5th of January |
| D．attend the lucky draw at Munchies Food Hall |
In the future your automobile（汽车） will run on water instead of gas! You will be able to buy a supercomputer that fits in your pocket! You might even drive a flying car!
For each prediction that has come true today, several others have missed by a mile. Many of these predictions didn’t consider how people would want to use the technology, or if people really needed it in their lives or not. Let’s look at some predictions from the not-too-distant past.
Robot Helpers
Where’s the robot in my kitchen? Nowhere, of course. And he’s probably not coming anytime soon. Robots do exist today, but mostly in factories and other manufacturing environments.
Back in the 1950s, however, people said that by now personal robots would be in most people’s homes.
So why hasn’t it happened? Probably because robots are still too expensive and clumsy. And maybe the idea of robots cooking our dinners and washing our clothes is just too weird. At home we seem to be doing fine without them.
Telephones of Tomorrow
In 1964 an American company introduced the video telephone. They said by the year 2000 most people would have a video phone in their homes. But of course the idea hasn’t caught on yet.
Why? The technol
ogy worked fine, but it over—looked something obvious: people’s desire for privacy（隐私）. Would you want to have a video phone conversation with someone after you just step out of the shower（淋浴）? Probably not---it could be embarrassing! Just because a technology available doesn’t always mean people will want to use it.
And finally, how about that crazy pre
diction of the flying car? It’s not so crazy anymore! But a flying car remains one of the most fascinating technology ideas to capture our imagination. Keep watching the news, or perhaps the sky outside your window, to see what the future will bring.
The whole passage is mainly about ________________.
| A．predictions that have come true. | B．predictions that haven’t come true. |
| C．why predictions don’t come true easily. | D．what technology will bring about. |
The author of this passage won’t believe that _________________.
| A．predictions needn’t consider people’s practical use of technology. |
| B．the future isn’t always easy to guess. |
| C．not all past predictions have come true. |
| D．many of the high—tech things our parents thought we’d be using by now |
simply never appeared.
The underlined word “weird” probably means __________.
| A．wonderful | B．stupid | C．practical | D．strange |
What does the author think of the flying car?
| A．It is too difficult to imagine. | B．It is too crazy an idea. |
| C．It is likely to be made. | D．It is often reported in the news. |
When I was a child, I often dreamed of the time when I could leave home and escape to the city. We lived on a farm, in the winter especially, we wear quite out off from the outside world. As soon as I left school, I packed my bags and moved to the capital.
However, I soon discovered that one big disadvantage is money. It costs so much to go out, not to mention basics like food and housing. Another disadvantage is pollution.
I suffer from asthma(哮喘), and the air is so bad that I am afraid to go outside. Then there is the problem of traveling round. Although I have a car, I seldom use it became of the traffic jams. One choice is to go by bicycle, but that can be quite dangerous.
Of course there are advantages. First, there is so much to do in the city, whatever you tastes in culture or entertainment(娱乐活动). Besides, there are wonderful jobs and greater chances of moving to a more important job or position. Finally, if you like shopping, the variety of goods is very surprising --- and , what is more, shops are often only a short walk away.
Is life better then, in the city? Perhaps it is , when you are in your teens(十几岁)or twenties. However, as you get older, and especially if you have small children, the peace of the countryside may seem preferable. I certainly hope to move back there soon.
What was the writer always thinking about when he was a child ?
| A．Staying on the farm. | B．Moving to the countryside. |
| C．Leaving home for the city. | D．Running away from the school. |
Which of the following is true about the writer?
| A．He is very old now. | B．He is in good health. |
| C．He prefers driving a car. | D．He lives in the city now. |
In the passage, the writer tries to __________.
| A．express his opinions about way of life |
| B．describe his life in the countryside |
| C．an interest in the outside world |
| D．persuade the reader to live in the city |
How is the passage mainly developed?
| A．By inferring. | B．By comparing. | C．By listing examples. | D．By discussing. |
I arrived at my mother’s home for our Monday family dinner. The smells of food flew over from the kitchen. Mother was pulling out quilt(被子)after quilt from the boxes, proudly showing me their beauties. She was preparing for a quilt show at the Elmhurst Church. When we began to fold and put them back into the boxes, I noticed something at the bottom of one box. I pulled it out. “What is this?” I asked.
“Oh?” Mom s
aid, “That’s Mama’s quilt.”
I spread the quilt. It looked as if a group of school children had pieced it together; irregular designs, childish pictures, a crooked line on the right.
“Grandmother made this?” I said, surprised. My grandmother was a master at making quilts. This certainly didn’t look like any of the quilts she had made.
“Yes, right before she died. I brought it home with me last year and made some changes,” she said. “I’m still working on it. See, this is what I’ve done so far.”
I looked at it more closely. She had made a crooked line straight. At the c
enter of the quilt, she had stitched(缝) a piece of cloth with these words: “My mother made many quilts. She didn’t get all lines straight. But I think this is beautiful. I want to see it finished. Her last quilt.”
“Ooh, this is so nice, Mom,” I said.
It occurred to me that by completing my grandmother’s quilt, my mother was honoring her own mother. I realized, too, that I held in my hands a family treasure. It started with the loving hands of one woman, and continued with the loving hands of another.
Why did the author go to mother’s home?
A．To see her moth er’s quilts. |
B．To help prepare for a show. |
| C．To get together for the family dinner. | D．To discuss her grandmother’s life. |
The author was surprised because __________________.
| A．the quilt looked very strange. | B．her grandmother liked the quilt. |
| C．the quilt was the best she had seen. | D．her mother had made some changes |
The underlined word “crooked” in the passage most probably means __________ .
| A．unfinished | B．broken | C．bent | D．unusual |
Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?
| A．Quilt Show | B．Mother’s Home | C．A Monday Dinner | D．Grandmother’s Quilt |
T-shirts out; uniforms in
School uniforms（制服） are becoming more and more popular across the U.S.A. That’s no surprise, because they offer many benefits. They immediately end the powerful social sorting and labeling (标记) that come from clothing. If all students are dressed in the same way, they will not pay too much attention to their clothing, and some of them will not be laughed at for wearing the “wrong” clothes.
Some people are against the strict rule of school uniforms, but they do not realize that students already accept a kind of rule — wanting to look just like their friends. The difference is that the clothing students choose for themselves creates social barriers(障碍); school uniforms tear those barriers down.
As in other places, uniforms remind the wearers of their purposes and duties. For example, when a man or woman puts on a police uniform, he or she becomes, for a time, the symbol (象征) of law and order. The uniform means to the wearer his or her special duties and sends the same message to everyone the wearer meets. People with different jobs wear uniforms of one kind or another. For students, the school uniform reminds them that their task for the six or seven hours they are in school is to get an education.
Some parents are unhappy about uniforms, saying that school uniforms will affect their children’s “creativity.” First, as noted above, the clothes students choose to wear do not necessarily express their individuality (个性). They just copy their classmates. Second, students have the rest of the day to be as creative as they like. While they’re in school, their job is to master reading, writing, and maths; this should take up all the creativity they have. Mastery of those skills will be good for the students to build up their creativity in every way.In Paragraph 1, the word “benefits” probably means .
| A．tasks | B．messages | C．differences | D．advantages |
From the passage we learn that uniforms in general .
| A．prevent the wearers from being laughed at |
| B．help the wearers keep their duties in mind |
| C．are seen as a symbol of power |
| D．help to create social barriers |
Some people are against school uniforms because .
| A．they fail to realize that students have accepted the uniforms |
| B．they believe that uniforms will make students less creative |
| C．they don’t agree that uniforms can remove social barriers |
| D．they think that school uniforms are too popular |
The author would probably agree that .
| A．it makes no difference whether to wear school uniforms or not |
| B．students’ individuality may not come from school education |
| C．students’ creativity is related to the clothes they choose |
| D．school uniforms help to create equality among students |
School uniforms are becoming more and more popular and important because _____
| A．they can stop the powerful social sorting and labeling. |
| B．if all students are dressed in the same way, they will not pay too much attention to their clothing. |
| C．uniforms can remind the wearers of their purposes and duties |
| D．school uniforms will affect their children’s creativity. |
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