Since the early 1990s, the Internet has greatly changed the way people communicate. But some teachers think the changes are not all for the better.
Eleanor Johnson, an English professor at Columbia University in New York, says, “Ｉthink text messaging has made students believe that it is far more acceptable than it actually is to just make spelling and grammatical mistakes.” She says her students over the past several years have increasingly used less formal English in their writing. She says words and phrases like “you know” now appearing research papers. And she now has to talk about another problem in class---incorrect word use.
Professor Johnson doubts a strong connection between the rise of communication online and an increase in writing mistakes. But she admits there may not be much scientific proof, at least not yet.
David Crystal, a British language expert, says the actively changing nature of the Internet makes it difficult to stay unchanged in studying its effects. But he
believes its effect on language is small. He says, “The main effect of the Internet on language has been to increase the expressive richness of language, providing the language with a new set of communicative content that didn’t exist in the past.” Erin Jansen, founder of an online dictionary of Internet and text messaging terms, says his new technology has not changed existing language but has greatly added to the vocabulary. “Basically it is a freedom of expression,” she says, “If it is helping them write more or communicate more, that is great. That is what teachers and educators want---to get students communicating.”
But Erin Jansen and David Crystal agree with Eleanor Jonson
on at least one thing. Teachers need to make sure students understand the uses and rules of language. According to the text, which of the following statements is TRUE?
| A．David Crystal thinks the Internet makes the language expression richer. |
| B．David Crystal believes the Internet’s effects on language use are clear |
| C．Eleanor Johnson thinks writing mistakes has much to do with the Internet |
| D．Eleanor Johnson thinks all the Internet effects on language use are good |
. Eleanor Johnson is mentioned to _______.
| A．share her idea of the great effects of using the Internet |
| B．tell people a way to correct students’ writing mistakes |
| C．serve as an example of teachers’ blaming the Internet |
| D．warn people against the dangers of using the Internet |
What do the three experts have in common as to the Internet effect?
| A．The possibilities of avoiding the use of less formal words |
| B．The causes of the Internet’s great effects on language |
| C．The necessity of helping students reduce writing mistakes |
| D．The importance of students’ knowing how to use language |
. What could be the best title for the text?
| A．Students’ Learning and the Internet: Good or Bad? |
| B．Students’ Writing and the Internet: Good or Bad? |
| C．Students’ Papers and the Internet: Good or Bad? |
| D．Students’ Mistakes and the Internet: Good or Bad? |
For more than ten years John Grimshaw has been pioneering a gentle revolution. He aims to get us going by bike on Britain’s network of disused railways. He works as an engineer for Sustrans, a Bristol-based charity.
He believes that there is no benefit or logic behind the building of bigger and faster roads that only encourage people to use cars more extravagantly(过分地). Britain’s roads being built ignore all but the motorists while miles of railway tracks no longer used by trains lie wasted.
His organization started work in 1994 with a
modest five mile track from Bristol to Bath, and cyclists and walkers now make a million journeys a year on the path. Sustrans has since completed a further 150 miles throughout Britain with the help of volunteer workers.
Building such paths is not easy or cheap. Sustrans buys or leases(租借) land from British Rail and the paths can cost from 6,000 pounds up
to 8, 0000 pounds per kilometer to build. Money comes from central and local government, charity bodies and gifts from individuals.
To encourage more walkers and cyclists along its paths, Sustrans plans to construct a work of art on every mile of path it builds. Most of their tracks quickly transport people from the city to the countryside. The latest route runs from the heart of Glasgow to Loch Lomond. Relics (遗迹)of the great railway age litter the routes—station houses, signals boxes and even steam trains.
Some might consider John Grimshaw a traveler from the past, out of touch with the modern world, but for many he is preparing the way for an alternative for a car-mad world. The aim of Sustrans is to _________.
a. encourage people to use cars more efficiently
b. use old railway lines for leisure purposes
c. provide a cycling network across Britain
d. build 
better and faster roadsHow does Sustrans finance its work?
a. with a mixture of money from the government and donations
b. with money from British Rail
c. by leasing its land
d. by using volunteer workersWhich of the following is TRUE?
a. Sustrans will not build any more tracks after Glasgow to Loch Lomond
b. Sustrans will have to clear the track of relics
c. Sustrans makes the countryside more accessible to the public
d. Sustrans believes more drivers will use their tracks.
Children are being indirectly affectly by the impact of the recession (经济衰退) on their parents, the Children’s society warns.
The chief executive of the Children’s Society, Bob Reitemeier, said that children were “on the front of recession”. He said the recession made it even more important to try to end child poverty.
The answers suggest children from poorer backgrounds are more likely to be affected, but over a third of children across all backgrounds said they were aware that the recession was worrying their parents.
Fifteen-year-old Patricia said her family felt the impact of the recession on their everyday budget(预算). “We have to save up our money and do not spend it so much on unnecessary things,”she said.
Those questioned appeared to have great awareness of the economic crisis, which, unsurprisingly, was higher among the older children. But around 15% said they hadn’t been affected by it.
Recent figures showed that in 2007 there were 850,000 young people with no particular occupation. An official from the government said it was so “disappointing” that some young people were concerned about the economy.
Parents are clearly best placed to talk to their children about their worries, but schools also play an important role in teaching young people the skills they need to become healthy, happy and confident individuals.
( )68.Which of the following is true?
A. It is more important to try to end child poverty in the recession.
B.Children from poorer areas are less likely to be affected.
C.All the children questioned are worried about the economy.
D.That some young people are worrying about the economy is “good news”.
( )69.What does the underlined word “it” refer to in Paragraph 5?
A. The poorer background. B.The impact of the recession.
C. Everyday budget. D.The government.
( )70.What’s the main idea of the passage?
A. Many children are concerned about the recession.
B.Children are being directly affected by the recession.
C.The recession affected children indirectly.
D. Schools play an important role in teaching young people how to become healthy, happy and confident individuals.
Every night for a year, Neil Simons quietly went out of his house. He wanted to “talk” to an owl (猫头鹰)settling for the night at the end of his garden. He made owl cries like a real wild owl and was happy to hear the bird “hooting (大声叫嚣)” back to him.
Last year Fred Cornes moved in next door. He heard an owl hooting and answered back. For 12 months the neighbors got into the back gardens of their homes, thinking they were talking with nature. Mr. Simmons kept a diary of all his talks with his bird friend. They would both be out again tonight if it wasn’t for a chance talk between their wives.
Mr. Simmons said. “My wife Kim was telling Fred’s wife Wendy about my owl watching and described how I got the birds to boot back. She said, ‘That’s funny — that’s just what Fred has been doing.’ Then the penny dropped, I felt such a fool when I found out. The trouble is that owl calls aren’t exactly the same and it’s easy to make a mistake.”
Mr. Cornes said, “I’m really flattered (过奖). I didn’t know I sounded so real. I love nature and I couldn’t resist hooting at the owls. I was very excited when they hooted back. I’m sorry that I was fooling my neighbor who was fooling me.” w*w^w.k&s#5@u.c~o*m
( )64. After the talk between the wives, the two men would probably _________ .
A. stop observing owls B. not stay up hooting again
C. not enter the back garden again D. make no mistakes about wild owl cries
( )65. “Then the penny dropped.” most probably means “Then __________.”
A. I understood B. everybody knew about it
C. I heard the noise D. no money was paid
( )66. Mr. Simmons felt upset about the whole thing because __________.
A. all his efforts seemed to be meaningless B. his wife let out his secret by chance
C. garden owls hooted so differently D. Fred had been doing the same
( )67. The text suggests that __________.
A. Nail seldom heard natural owl calls B. the owl never hooted back to Neil
C. Fred was always good at pleasing owls D. owl watching is no longer interesting to Fred
Some say everyday miracles(奇迹) are predestined(注定的)----the right time for the appointed
meeting. And it can happen anywhere.
In 2001, 11-year-old Kevin Stephan was a bat boy for his younger brother's Little League team in
Lancaster, New York. It was an early evening in late July. Kevin was standing on the grass away from the plate, where another youngster was warming up for the next game. Swinging his bat back and forth, giving it all the power an elementary school kid could give. The boy brought the bat back hard and hit Kevin in the chest. His heart stopped.
When Kevin fell to the ground, the mother of one of the players rushed out of the stands to his aid.
Penny Brown hadn't planned to be there that day, but at the last minute, her shift(换班)at the hospital had been changed to see her son’s performance. She was given the night off. Penny bent over the senseless boy, his face already starting to turn blue, and giving CPR, breathing into his mouth and giving chest compressions. And he revived in the end.
After his recovery, he became a volunteer junior firefighter, learning some of the emergency first-aid
techniques that had saved his life. He studied hard in school and was saving money for college by working as a dishwasher in a local restaurant in his spare time.
Kevin, now 18, was working in the kitchen when he heard people screaming, customers in confusion,
employees rushing toward a table. He hurried into the main room and saw a woman there, her face turning blue, her hands at her throat. She was choking.
Quickly Kevin stepped behind her, wrapped his arms around her and clasped his hands. Then, using
skills he'd first learned in Scouts. The food that was trapped in the woman's throat was freed. The color began to return to her face.
"The food was stuck. I couldn't breathe," she said. She thought she was dying. "I was very frightened."
Who was the woman?
Penny Brown.
( )59. The author wrote the passage to show us that_______.
A. miracles are predestined and they can happen anywhere
B. whoever helps you in trouble will get a reward one day
C. God will help those who give others a helping hand
D. miracles won’t come without any difficulty sometimes
( )60 Which of the following statements is True of Kevin Stephan?
A. He was hit on the face by a boy and almost lost his life
B. He was a volunteer junior firefighter, teaching the players first-aid skills
C. He worked part-time in a local restaurant to save money for college
D. He saved Penny Brown though he didn’t really know how to deal with food choke
( )61. Why did Penny Brown change her shift and was given the night off that night?
A. She was invited to give the players directions
B. She volunteered to give medical services
C. She was a little worried about his son’s safety
D. She came to watch her son’s game and cheered him
( )62. The underlined word “revived”(paragraph3) most likely means______.
A. came back to life B. became worse C. failed D. moved
( )63. When Kevin knew the woman was Penny Brown, probably he first felt _____.
A. happy B. surprised C. sad D. worried
It is a typical case. A young professional has just moved to a new city. She is very active in her new job but wishes to meet people socially outside of work. How does she do this？
Signing up for a night class is always a good starting point. Not only is it an ideal way to meet like-minded people，it can also be a great new learning experience. Pubs and clubs can be a good meeting place but can be a bit hard if you are on your own.
Join a gym
GL-14 health club in Manchester city centre is a gym which also has lots of member activities outside the gym from charity fashion shows to dinner dances giving members a chance to socialize away from the treadmill（繁忙的工作）. Or if you want a gym with a difference，try a“Green Gym”for people who want to exercise but wish to be outdoors and doing something that will benefit the environment at the same time. The“work out”could involve such activities as practical conservation or gardening work. It’s a great way to get people’s heart and muscle working. And many agree that meeting other people and having a matter and a laugh is a big attraction of the scheme.
Reading groups
In the Reading Groups，Jenny Hartley suggested that there may be as many as 50，000 people in reading groups in the UK. They range from informal groups of friends or colleagues who meet in someone’s home or at the local pub，to discuss a book. If you want something a bit more structured，lots of libraries have reading groups and could have a broader group of members.
Statistics
The BBC recently conducted a survey called Going solo：single life in the 21st century. You can look at the overall results or search by area. It found that：
*69％ of people thought that the gym was a good place to meet new
*Pubs or clubs were considered to be good meeting places by 58％ of people in the UK
*68％ thought that work was a good place to meet people
*72％ thought that internet chat was not an ideal way to meet people
（ ）56．“Green Gym”in Paragraph 3 refers to an activity in which you can________.
A．have night classes with like-minded people
B．do something good for the environment on your own
C．discuss a book with other members at a pub
D．benefit the environment while doing outdoor exercise
（ ）57．Which of the following is a Green Gym activity？
A．Gardening work. B．Chatting on the Internet.
C．A charity fashion show. D．A dinner dance away from the treadmill.
（ ）58．What’s the most popular place to meet new people outside of work？
A．Pubs or clubs. B．The Internet. C．The working place. D．The gym.
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