Marian Bechtel sits at West Palm Beach's Bar Louie counter by herself, quietly reading her e-book as she waits for her salad. What is she reading? None of your business! Lunch is Bechtel's "me" time. And like more Americans, she's not alone.
A new report found 46 percent of meals are eaten alone in America. More than half（53 percent）have breakfast alone and nearly half（46 percent）have lunch by themselves. Only at dinnertime are we eating together anymore, 74 percent, according to statistics from the report.
"I prefer to go out and be out. Alone, but together, you know？" Bechtel said, looking up from her book. Bechtel, who works in downtown West Palm Beach, has lunch with coworkers sometimes, but like many of us, too often works through lunch at her desk. A lunchtime escape allows her to keep a boss from tapping her on the shoulder. She returns to work feeling energized. "Today, I just wanted some time to myself, "she said.
Just two seats over, Andrew Mazoleny, a local videographer, is finishing his lunch at the bar. He likes that he can sit and check his phone in peace or chat up the barkeeper with whom he's on a first-name basis if he wants to have a little interaction（交流）. "I reflect on how my day's gone and think about the rest of the week," he said. "It's a chance for self-reflection, You return to work recharged and with a plan."
That freedom to choose is one reason more people like to eat alone. There was a time when people may have felt awkward about asking for a table for one, but those days are over. Now, we have our smartphones to keep us company at the table. "It doesn't feel as alone as it may have before al the advances in technology," said Laurie Demerit, whose company provided the statistics for the report.
（1）What are the statistics in paragraph 2 about?
| A． | Food variety. |
| B． | Eating habits. |
| C． | Table manners. |
| D． | Restaurant service. |
（2）Why does Bechtel prefer to go out for lunch?
| A． | To meet with her coworkers. |
| B． | To catch up with her work. |
| C． | To have some time on her own. |
| D． | To collect data for her report. |
（3）What do we know about Mazoleny?
| A． | He makes videos for the bar. |
| B． | He's fond of the food at the bar. |
| C． | He interviews customers at the bar. |
| D． | He's familiar with the barkeeper. |
（4）What is the text mainly about?
| A． | The trend of having meals alone. |
| B． | The importance of self-reflection. |
| C． | The stress from working overtime. |
| D． | The advantage of wireless technology. |
Teresa was born in Yugoslavia on August 27,1910. Her parents were Albanians(阿尔巴尼亚人) and member of the Roman Catholic Church. When she was seven years old, her father was murdered. She decided not to be filled with hate because of this tragedy(悲剧). Instead, she would seek a life of love. This ambition led her to Ireland where she became a nun(修女) at the age of eighteen.
After only one year of training, she was sent to India to teach in a school called Loretto House, where the students were mostly from rich Indian families. After 15 years there, she left her duties as a teacher to “follow Christ into the slums(贫民窟).” Her heart led her away from the rich to the needs of the poor. She was then 36 years old.
Teresa no longer was affiliated(隶属) with the Irish nuns who sent her to Loreto House but worked independently. However, her work was recognised by the Pope in Rome for she still was a nun. He allowed her to set up her own group, which was called the Missionaries of Charity(仁爱传教修女会).
She no longer dressed as a nun in the European or Irish tradition. Instead, she put on a sari, the local dress of the Indian people. At first, people were sceptical(怀疑的) about her motives. Soon, they realised she was really interested in loving poor people, even those who were dying and had no chance of survival.
Soon, other Indian people began to spare time to help Mother Teresa. She had taught everyone that the poor and dying people need love most of all.
In 1979, she won the Nobel Peace Prize.Why did Mother Teresa become a nun?
| A．Her father was killed. | B．The hate of her father’s death. |
| C．She was looking for a life of love. | D．The poor life of her childhood. |
Why did she leave her duties as a teacher after 15 years in Loretto House?
| A．To be a teacher was too tired | B．The students in Loretto House were rich. |
| C．She was tired of teaching. | D．The poor in the slums needed her care. |
Which of the following is WRONG?
| A．Mother Teresa was a Catholic. |
| B．“Sari” is an Indian word that means clothing. |
| C．At first people didn’t believe her motives. |
| D．She served poor people in the slums as a teacher. |
Perhaps the most important lesson the world has learned from Mother Teresa is .
| A．regular assistance | B．food and shelter |
| C．to care for the poor of the earth | D．protection |
Haisong Jiang, who slipped (偷偷溜进) past a security checkpoint(安全关卡) on Jan. 3, causing a shutdown of Newark Airport, tried to apologize for his mistake.
" I feel guilty about this serious mistake. At that moment, I was very excited with my girlfriend, and I didn't think too much," Mr. Jiang, 28, said Tuesday in his first interview since causing the six-hour shutdown at the airport.
On Tuesday, Newark Municipal Court judged that besides the community service, he must pay a $500 fine (罚金) and $158 in court fees. In an agreement between the court and Mr. Jiang's lawyer, Mr. Jiang will pay off his money punishment all by community service instead.
Haisong Jiang, a native of China, about a year ago moved to the United States in 2004 to study and met his girlfriend, also Chinese and 26. She has since moved to California.
The lovebirds did the town over the Christmas holidays: shopping in SoHo, visiting the tree at Rockefeller Center, celebrating New Year's Eve in Times Square - the works. On Jan. 3, he watched her pass through security, but he wanted to spend more time with her. When he noticed the officer leave his post, he saw his chance, he said. He slipped under the rope and kissed her and, arm in arm, walked her to her Continental Airlines gate and saw her onto the jetway. "And immediately I left," he said.
Three days passed. "Friday, the police found me," the future scientist said. He was at the gym when his roommate called to say two police officers were at their home. "It's not right to enter the airport. Immediately I know the police want to ask me this thing."
He expects to serve half of 
his community service in a soup kitchen - "I like to cook" - and the other half in a hospital. He plans on moving to California to be with her and work in a laboratory after completing his degree in May or June.
He never types his name into search engines on the Net: the number of hits is shocking.
What’s the best title of the passage?
A. A moving love story B. An escape fr
om security check
C. A kiss causing great trouble D. When a man loves a woman
How much did Mr. Jiang finally pay for his mistake?
A. nothing B. $ 500 C. $158 D. $ 658
Which of the following sentences is true?
A. Mr. Jiang was sent to the police station right after he went out of the airport.
B. The lovebirds spent their Christmas holidays in California.
C. Mr. Jiang caused so much troubl
e on purpose.
D. On Friday, the police didn’t find Mr. Jiang at his home at first.
What can you infer from the passage?
A. Mr. Jiang is an American-Chinese.
B. Mr. Jiang and his girlfriend’s love story has finally ended.
C. Many people have known about Mr. Jiang on the net.
D. Mr. Jiang will become a scientist with certainty.
If you’ve ever seen a James Bond movie you’ll know that the hero gets around in a smart Aston Martin car. Even if you know full well that you could never afford such an expensive vehicle, you don’t forget the name, or the car. Why? You have been subjected to product placement.
Companies pay for a film to place their products in the movie. Product placement took off in the West in the 1980s and is now catching on in China. Two Hunan Satellite TV series are recent examples：Ugly Wudi and Let’s Go Watch the Meteror Shower（《一起去看流星雨》）. Shampoo, mobile phones, cars— anything can be product-placed. Advertisers value the great appeal (吸引力) of the movies, knowing that a successful film can showcase their goods to hundreds of thousands of viewers. But when product placement takes over, artistic value can take a back seat.
Cai Zhiyong has been product-placing for years. The Beijing-based advertiser admits there is a conflict between art and business. He explains cash-strapped filmmakers often have to sacrifice (牺牲) the quality of their work because they need money from advertisers. In the original story for Meteor Shower, the heroine’s mother owned an ice cream shop. But no ice cream company wanted to give away money to the film. For this reason, the story was changed. In the film the man drinks 20 cups of milk tea where it was originally intended that he would eat ice cream.
Even here incredible, you may see the power of business over the movies, since the flim was perhaps written so that a product could be placed— whether it was ice cream or milk tea.
James Bond movies are mentioned in the first paragraph to show _________.
A. how popular James Bond is B. how great the Aston Martin car is
C. how to make a movie more artistic D. how well product placement works
Product placement can have a bad effect on the _________ of a movie.
A. sound effect B. appeal
C. commercial success D. artistic value
What does the underlined word “cash-strapped” in Paragraph 6 probably mean?
A. Short of money. B. Self-moneymaking
C. With a lot of cash. D. Intending to earn money
We can learn from the example of Meteor Shower that __________.
A. business has a big say in the movie
B. the original story was not good for a movie
C. filmmakers care more about making money.
D. milk tea companies are more successful than ice cream companies.
Internet dating has become one of the biggest and most successful business on the Internet. Basically, Internet dating is a way to meet people for either friendship or dating without actually having to meet them in person first.
The first thing to do if you decide to try Internet dating is to build your profile ( 简介 ) which can include your hobbies, hopes for the futu
re, and so on. A photograph is not necessary, but many sites claim that a photograph increases the number of people who look at your profile. Many In
ternet dating sites will charge some for using their services.
Internet dating makes it possible to meet people from all over the world. You can even narrow the search down to your area by zip code. Another advantage is that you can communicate by email before you meet in person. Thousands of people have met, fallen in love, and married through Internet dating. It is an excellent way for shy people to meet. It is also a way for people with busy lives to connect with others, and an easy way to meet people who share your interests.
Just as in traditional dating and love, there are some traps to be aware of in Internet dating. The person you have been talking to on the net may not be who they say they are. Be very aware that there are some people who misrepresent their appearance or private details, such as marital status, income, and so on, for their own reasons. It would not be the first time that someone has been taken in, and talk shows are full of cheating partners who have been caught dating over the Internet in their spare time. Therefore, following some tips should help ensure that your Internet dating experience is fun.
The purpose of writing the passage is to _________.
A. persuade readers to go dating on the Internet
B. inform us how to date on the Internet
C. warn readers against web love
D. introduce Internet dating to us
Which of the following is a must to make an Internet dating possible?
A. A photo. B. A profile.
C. Money. D. Business experience.
One advantage of Internet dating is that _________.
A. you can avoid a face-to-face meeting in the beginning
B. you’re sure to find a partner with the same interests
C. you’ll find absolutely dependable information of others
D. you’ll gain fame and money overnight
What is probably talked about following the last paragraph?
A. Traditional dating. B. Hidden advantages.
C. practical advice D. Romantic love.
There is an endless supply of stories about sleepwalkers. People have been said to climb on roofs, solve maths problems, write music, walk through w
indows, and do murder in their sleep.
In Revere, Masachusctts, a hundred policemen searched for a lost boy who left his home in his sleep and woke up five hours later on a strange sofa in a strange living room, with no idea how he had got there.
At the University of Lowa, a student was reported to have the habit of getting up in the middle of the night and walking three—quarters of a mile to the lowa River. He would take a swim and then go back to his room to bed.
An American expert on sleep claims(声称) that he has never seen a sleepwalker. He is said to know more about sleep than any other living man, and during the last thirty—five years he has lost a lot of sleep watching people sleep. He says, “Of course, I know that there are sleepwalkers because I have read about them in the newspapers. But none of my sleepers ever walked, and if I were to advertise for sleepwalkers for an experiment, I doubt whether I would get many takers.”
Sleepwalking, however, is a scientific reality. It is one of those strange things that sometimes looks quite fantastic(奇特的
). Doctors say that sleepwalking is much more common than is generally supposed. Many sleepwalkers do not try to find help and their sleepwalking is never recorded.
Generally speaking, sleepwalkers are people who __________.
A. climb on roofs 
B. walk through windows
C. do fantastic things during their sleep D. walk in a half—awake state
It was reported that a boy ________.
A. was found on a strange sofa, telling how he had got there
B. slept in his own room but woke up in a strange room
C. lost his way five hours after he left
home
D. was searched for by policemen when he lost his way
There was a college student who got into the habit of ___________.
A. getting up in the middle of the night and walking down to the river
B. walking three—quarters of a mile every day
C. swimming in the lowa River before going to bed
D. walking about before he went to bed
Why do people think sleepwalking is a fantastic thing which has no explanation?
A. It is so common that it needn’t be recorded.
B. Scientists take no interest in it.
C. Most sleepwalkers do not ask for help for their problem.
D. No records about it have been made.
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