High-tech machines have made life easier for millions around the world．However, some people still prefer low-tech ways of doing things．Here’s an example of why this is happening．You can microwave a frozen hamburger in 60 seconds．However, it won’t taste as good as one you cook on the stove．And if you’re in that much of a hurry, you probably won’t take time to toast the bun．High-tech cooking saves time, but it doesn’t make for better-tasting meals．
Most people get their news from high-tech sources like television or the Internet．This has many advantages．For example, electronic news is more up to date than newspapers or magazines．It’s also more exciting to see live and videotaped news events than photographs．However, newspapers and magazines have some important advantages．They give more background and details．They also let you read the parts that are important to you and skip the rest．
Other high-tech timesavers have similar disadvantages．For example, most people use the phone or e-mail to stay in touch with friends and family members who live in other places．But when you use the Internet or the phone, you won’t always think carefully about what you are saying, and sometimes you forget the important things you want to communicate．Similarly, when you word-process a homework assignment instead of handwriting it, you can check your spelling electronically and put in fancy headings．However, some students are so busy with the computer that they don’t pay enough attention to the actual words they are writing．Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage ?
| A．The writer likes high-tech cooking |
| B．Low-tech cooking produces better-tasting meals． |
| C．High-tech news programs always keeps you reading what is important to you． |
| D．Handwritten homework is better than word-processed homework． |
How does the writer feel about high-tech tools?
| A．Better late than never． | B．Easy come, easy go． |
| C．Every coin has two sides． | D．Learn to walk before you run． |
What is the main subject discussed in the text?
| A．High-tech vs low-tech． |
| B．Advantages vs disadvantages． |
| C．Newspapers and magazines vs television and the Internet． |
| D．Word-processing vs handwriting． |
How is the text organized?
| A．Main idea-Argument-Explanation |
| B．Opinion-Discussion-Description |
| C．Topic-Comparison-Supporting examples． |
| D．Introduction-Supporting examples-Discussion． |
Dining in a completely dark room, unaware what’s on your plate while sitting next to a complete stranger may not sound like a perfect restaurant experience, but it’s certainly an intriguing way to spend a rainy night in London.
Dans le Noir, close to London’s financial district, is a restaurant full of blind waiters and waitress who become your eyes around the restaurant, whose original Paris branch opened in 2004.
In the bar with the light, you choose whether you want the fish, meat or vegetables, but the dishes themselves remain a secret. Bags, coats and devices that light up, including watches and mobile phones, are kept in the bar. Placing your hand on the shoulder of your guide, you are led to a table in a black dining room that seats up to 60 people. And it is dark.
The waiters tell you when the food is being placed down in front of you, then the fun begins, trying to get food into your mouth, then indentifying just what it is that’s on your plate, and finally whether you have missed any of it.
It’s also a great chance to break social tradition and eat using your fingers. Those same fingers are also the only way you can tell how much wine you’re pouring into your glass.
The happy atmosphere in the dinning room also makes the night memorable. You can’t really avoid talking to the person next to you at the long tables and guessing what the dishes are certainly provides adequate fuel for the conversations.
All will be revealed at the end of the meal when you are led back out into the lit bar. Not only do you finally get to see what you’ve just been eating but also who you’ve been talking to for the last 90 minutes.What does the underlined word “intriguing” in the first paragraph mean?
| A．Challenging. | B．Interesting. |
| C．Strange. | D．Fashionable. |
Which of the following is true about “Dans le Noir”?
| A．It has its first branch opened in Paris. |
| B．It is far from London’s financial district. |
| C．It receives up to 60 customers every day. |
| D．It becomes popular among blind customers. |
While at table, what contributes to the customers’ lively conversations?
| A．Talking about wine. |
| B．Recommending dishes. |
| C．Guessing what they’re eating. |
| D．Introducing themselves. |
What is the author’s purpose in writing the passage?
| A．To tell how to run a unique restaurant. |
| B．To attract customers to the restaurant. |
| C．To help people find a job in the restaurant. |
| D．To show how to enjoy yourself in the restaurant. |
A mother had two daughters. She loved them very much, but two girls would fight with each other from their earliest years. As they grew older, they became total strangers. They had no contact with each other when they were adults.
This caused the mother great pain. Then, later, she had an idea. She decided to write a letter to them. In this letter, she told them how much she loved them, and how she wanted them to love each other in this way. She also gave them news of herself and some guidance on how to live happier lives.
When the letter was ready, she wrote out one copy for each daughter, but these copies were special. Each copy contained only every second sentence of the original letter: the copy for one daughter had only the even (双数的) sentences, and the other daughter’s copy contained only the odd sentences. Neither contained the fullness of the mother’s message.
When the two daughters received their letters, they were puzzled. To understand the half-letter, they would have to put the two letters together and read them as one, which meant they must approach one another again in love and respect. But they each blamed the other for not helping them when trying to read the half-letter.
For a long time, the mother waited in vain. Then one day, when the mother had almost given up hope, there was a knock at the door. There they stood, together. “We’ve come home,” they said at the same time. “We’ve finally put our letters together, and we’ve come to say how much we love you, Mum.” Then she hugged them both, tears of joy streaming down her cheeks, and welcomed them back home.The mother gave her daughters incomplete letters mainly to ______.
| A．win their hearts | B．offer them advice |
| C．tell them her news | D．mend their relations |
Upon receiving their letters, the two daughters ______.
| A．complained about each other as usual |
| B．blamed her mother for the half-letter |
| C．put the letters together and read them |
| D．understood the mother’s purpose at once |
Why did the two daughters visit their mother at last?
| A．They wanted to apologize. |
| B．They missed home very much. |
| C．They had put the letters together. |
| D．They felt grateful for the mother. |
What is the best title for the passage?
| A．An Unusual Letter | B．A Mother’s Endless Love |
| C．Two Special Daughters | D．A Sincere Apology to Mother |
Everywhere I look outside my home I see people busy on their high-tech devices（装置）, while driving, walking, shopping, even sitting in toilets. When connected electronically, they are away from physical reality.
People have been influenced to become technology addicted. One survey reported that “addicted” was the word most commonly used by people to describe their relationship to iPad and similar devices. One study found that people had a harder time resisting the allure of social media than they did for sleep, cigarettes and alcohol.
The main goal of technology companies is to get people to spend more money and time on their products, not to actually improve our quality of life. They have successfully created a cultural disease. Consumers willingly give up their freedom, money and time to catch up on the latest information, to keep pace with their peers or to appear modern.
I see people trapped in a flu-like relationship with time-sucking technology, where they serve technology more than technology serves them. I call this technology servitude. I am referring to a loss of personal freedom and independence because of uncontrolled consumption of many kinds of devices that eat up time and money.
What is a healthy use of technology devices? That is the vital question. Who is really in charge of my life? That is what people need to ask themselves if we are to have any chance of breaking up false beliefs about their use of technology. When we can live happily without using so much technology for a day or a week, then we can regain control and personal freedom, become the master of technology and discover what there is to enjoy in life free of technology. Mae West is famous for claiming the wisdom that “Too much of a good thing is wonderful.” But it’s time to discover that it does not work for technology.
Richard Fernandez, a former CEO at Google acknowledged that “we can be swept away by our technologies.” To break the grand digital connection people must consider how life long ago could be fantastic without today’s overused technology.The underlined word “allure” in Paragraph 2 probably means ______.
| A．advantage | B．attraction |
| C．adaptation | D．attempt |
From the passage, technology companies aim to ______.
| A．attract people to buy their products |
| B．provide the latest information |
| C．improve people’s quality of life |
| D．deal with cultural diseases |
It can be inferred from this passage that people ______.
| A．consider too much technology wonderful |
| B．have realized the harm of high-tech devices |
| C．can regain freedom without high-tech devices |
| D．may enjoy life better without overused technology |
What’s the author’s attitude towards the overusing of high-tech devices?
| A．Objective | B．Positive |
| C．Disapproving | D．Sympathetic |
Nicolai Calabria has already become one of the best 106-pound wrestlers. He has successfully climbed to the top of the highest mountain in Africa, and most importantly, he’s changed the attitude of any normal person who watches him compete.
The 17-year-old teenager has one leg. He was born that way, but his goal is to show it’s not the one thing that defines him. He would also be the first one to tell you that he just wants to prove to others and himself that he’s just like other normal ones.
When Calabria was young, his parents tried different prostheses（假肢）to find out which was most comfortable for their son as he tried to keep up with the family, who has a preference for sports.
At first, the Calabrias had their middle child in a prosthesis that looked and functioned like a real leg, but soon they decided to choose a different path when they found it wasn’t beneficial to his movement. Then the family moved him to arm crutches（手杖）and from there a new burst of energy was found.
Getting others to believe that he could take off on the soccer field took a little bit longer. When the Calabrias moved to Concord, they had a hard time persuading the town soccer team to allow a child like him to compete with able-bodied kids. After months and months of debates and meetings, the family received the answer they were looking for. Since then, witnessing a young man on crutches who competes against those with two legs has become a fixed event in the Concord community.
“At that time I had nothing but discouragement working with the soccer community; however, now I have nothing but admiration for the fact that he’s been allowed to play, and people see that he adds value to game,” his father said. “I just think it’s a great result.”This passage shows us a boy with one leg __________.
| A．can do what a normal teenager can |
| B．is realizing as many dreams as he can |
| C．can make a sport event more valuable |
| D．can add value to society |
We can learn from Paragraph 5 that __________.
| A．Calabria proved to be the most excellent player of the team |
| B．it was not easy for Calabria to be accepted to the town soccer team |
| C．Calabria’s parents didn’t allow him to play soccer at first |
| D．there are some other disabled children in the soccer team |
In Paragraph 5, the underlined part probably means __________.
| A．a must-see | B．a planned programme |
| C．an extra game | D．a special occasion |
It is implied in the last paragraph that Nicolai’s father __________.
| A．has been discouraged since Nicolai played soccer |
| B．thinks that Nicolai is playing a key role in the team |
| C．is very delighted that Nicolai can play soccer in the team |
| D．hasn’t expected that Nicolai can be allowed to play soccer |
Why do Americans struggle with watching their weight, while the French, who consume rich food, continue to stay thin? Now a research by Cornell University suggests how life style and decisions about eating may affect weight. Researchers concluded that the French tend to stop eating when they feel full. However, Americans tend to stop when their plate is empty or their favorite TV show is over.
According to Dr. Joseph Mercola, a health expert, the French see eating as an important part of their life style. They enjoy food and therefore spend a fairly long time at the table, while Americans see eating as something to be squeezed between the other daily activities. Mercola believes Americans lose the ability to sense when they are actually full. So they keep eating long after the French would have stopped. In addition, he points out that Americans drive to huge supermarkets to buy canned and frozen foods for the week. The French, instead, tend to shop daily, walking to small shops and farmers’ markets where they have a choice of fresh fruits, vegetables, and eggs as well as high-quality meats for each meal.
After a visit to the United States, Mireille Guiliano, author of French Women Don’t Get Fat, decided to write about the importance of knowing when to stop rather than suggesting how to avoid food. Today she continues to stay slim and rarely goes to the gym.
In spite of all these differences, evidence shows that recent life style changes may be affecting French eating habits. Today the rate of obesity or extreme overweight among adults is only 6%. However, as American fast food gains acceptance and the young reject older traditions, the obesity rate among French children has reached 17% — and is growing.In what way are the French different from Americans according to Dr. Joseph Mercola?
| A．They go shopping at supermarkets more frequently. |
| B．They squeeze eating between the other daily activities. |
| C．They regard eating as a key part of their lifestyles. |
| D．They usually eat too much canned and frozen food. |
This text is mainly the relationship between _________.
| A．Americans and the French |
| B．life style and obesity |
| C．children and adults |
| D．fast food and overweight |
The text is mainly developed __________.
| A．by comparison | B．by space |
| C．by process | D．by classification(分类) |
Where does this text probably come from?
A TV interview B. A food advertisement
C. A health report D. A book review
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