Reading(1)：TheOlympicGames.doc

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A
A 17-year-old boy, caught sending text messages in class, was recently sent to the vice principal's office at Millwood High School in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The vice principal, Steve Gallagher, told the boy he needed to focus on the teacher, not his cellphone. The boy listened politely and nodded, and that's when Mr. Gallagher noticed the student's fingers moving on his lap. He was texting while being scolded for texting. “It was a subconscious act,” says Mr. Gallagher, who took the phone away. “Young people today are connected socially from the moment they open their eyes in the morning until they close their eyes at night. It's compulsive.”
A study this year by psychology students at Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, Ga., found that the more time young people spend on Facebook, the more likely they are to have lower grades and weaker study habits. Heavy Facebook users show signs of being more sociable, but they are also more likely to be anxious, hostile or depressed. (Doctors, meanwhile, are now blaming addictions to 'night texting' for disturbing the sleep patterns of teens.)
Almost a quarter of today's teens check Facebook more than 10 times a day, according to a 2009 survey by Common Sense Media, a nonprofit group that monitors media's impact on families. Will these young people get rid of this habit once they enter the work force, or will employers come to see texting and 'social-network checking' as accepted parts of the workday?
Think back. When today's older workers were in their 20s, they might have taken a break on the job to call friends and make after-work plans. In those earlier eras, companies discouraged non-business-related calls, and someone who made personal calls all day risked being fired. It was impossible to imagine the constant back-and-forth texting that defines interactions among young people today.
Educators are also being asked by parents, students and educational strategists to reconsider their rules. “In past generations, students got in trouble for passing notes in class. Now students are adept at texting with their phones still in their pockets,” says 40-year-old Mr. Gallagher, the vice principal, “and they're able to communicate with someone one floor down and three rows over. Students are just fundamentally different today. They will take suspensions rather than give up their phones.”
1. The underlined word “a subconscious act” refers to an act __________.
      A. on purpose         B. without realization         C. in secret               D. with care
2. Young people addicted to the use of Facebook _________.
      A. are good at dealing with the social relationships and concentrate on their study
      B. have high spirits and positive attitudes towards their life and work
      C. have been influenced mentally in the aspects of behaviors and habits
      D. are always in bad mood and have poor performance in every respect
3. Mr. Gallagher reminds us that the students in the past and those today _________.
      A. like to break rules and have the same means of sending messages
      B. are always the big problem for the educators and their parents
      C. like sending text messages but those today do it in a more secret and skillful way
      D. cannot live without a cellphone
4. What’s the best title of the passage?
      A. Teenagers and Cellphones                           B. Teenagers’ Texting Addiction
      C. Employers and Teenagers                           D. Teenagers’ Education
B
Today, there's hardly an aspect of our life that isn't being upended by the torrent of information available on the hundreds of millions of sites crowding the Internet, not to mention its ability to keep us in constant touch with each other via electronic mail．"If the automobile and aerospace technology had exploded at the same pace as computer and information technology," says Microsoft, "a new car would cost about $ 2 and go 600 miles on a small quantity of gas．And you could buy a Boeing 747 for the cost of a pizza．"
Probably the biggest payoff, however, is the billions of dollars the Internet is saving companies in producing goods and serving for the needs of their customers． Nothing like it has been seen since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, when power-driven machines began producing more in a day than men could turn out in nearly a year．"We view the growth of the Internet and e-commerce as a global trend," says Merrill Lynch, "along the lines of printing press, the telephone, the computer, and electricity．"
You would be hard pressed to name something that isn't available on the Internet． Consider: books, health care, movie tickets, construction materials, baby clothes, stocks, cattle feed, music, electronics, antiques, tools, real estate, toys, autographs of famous people, wine and airline tickets．And even after you've moved on to your final resting place, there’s no reason those you love can't keep in touch．A company called FinalT offers a place for you to store "afterlife e-mails" you can send to Heaven with the help of a "guardian angel”.
Kids today are so computer literate that it in fact ensures the United States will remain the unchallenged leader in cyberspace for the foreseeable（能预测的） future． Nearly all children in families with incomes of more man $75,000 a year have home computers, according to a study by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation．
Youngsters from ages 2 to 17 at all income levels have computers, with 52% of those connected to the Internet．Most kids use computers to play games （some for 30 hours or more a week）, and many teenage girls think nothing of rushing home from school to have e-mail chats with friends they have just left．
What's clear is that, whether we like it or not, the Internet is an ever growing part of our lives and there is no turning back．"The Internet is just 20% invented," says cyber pioneer Jake Winebaum．"The last 80% is happening now．"
77．What can we learn from the Microsoft's remark?
       A．Today's cars and airplanes are extremely overpriced．
       B．Information technology is developing at an amazing speed．
       C．Information technology has reached the point where improvement is difficult.
       D．There's more competition in information technology industry than in car industry．
78．The author gives the example of FinalThoughts．com to make the point that          .
       A．there are some genius ideas on the Internet
       B．almost anything is available on the Internet
       C．people can find good bargains on the Internet
       D．some websites provide novel services to increase hits
79．What can we learn from the fourth paragraph?
       A．There is a link between income and computer ownership．
       B．Many American children don't put computers to good use．
       C．Studies show that boys are more computer literate than girls.
       D．The U．S．will stay ahead in the information technology in years．
80．What is the message the author intends to convey?
       A．The Internet is going to get firm hold of our lives some day．
       B．The Internet is going to influence our lives even more greatly．
       C．We should have a positive attitude towards the changes the Internet brings．
       D．Children should be well prepared for the challenges in the information age．
C
My father had returned from his business visit to London when I came in, rather late, to supper. I could tell at once that he and my mother had been discussing something. In that half-playful, half-serious way I knew so well, he said," How would you like to go to Eton?"
    "You bet, "I cried quickly catching the joke. Everyone knew it was the most expensive, the most famous of schools. You had to be entered at birth, if not before. Besides, even at 12 or 13, I understood my father. He disliked any form of showing off. He always knew his proper station in life, which was in the middle of the middle class, our house was medium-sized; he had avoided joining Royal Liverpool Golf Club and went to a smaller one instead; though once he had got a second-hand Rolls-Royce at a remarkably low price, he felt embarrassed driving it, and quickly changed it for an Austin 1100.
    This could only be his delightful way of telling me that the whole boarding school idea was to be dropped. Alas! I should also have remembered that he had a liking for being different from everyone else, if it did not conflict（冲突）with his fear of drawing attention to himself.
    It seemed that he had happened to be talking to Graham Brown of the London office, a very nice fellow, and Graham had a friend who had just entered his boy at the school, and while he was in that part of the world he thought he might just as well phone them. I remember my eyes stinging（刺痛）and my hands shaking with the puzzlement of my feelings. There was excitement, at the heart of great sadness.
    "Oh, he doesn't want to go away," said my mother, "You shouldn't go on like this.” "It's up to him," said my father. "He can make up his own mind.”
41. The house the writer's family lived in was _______ .
    A. the best they could afford                        B. right for their social position
    C. for showing off                              D. rather small
42. His father sold his Roils-Royce because _______ .
    A. it made him feel uneasy                         B. it was too old to work well
    C. it was too expensive to possess                    D. it was too cheap
43. What was the writer's reaction to the idea of going to Eton?
    A. He was very unhappy.                         B. He didn't believe it.
    C. He was delighted.                             D. He had mixed feelings.
44. We can know from the passage that _______ .
   A. Children who can go to Eton are very famous     
B. Children can go to Eton if they will
   C. It is very difficult for a child to get admitted by Eton
D. Children don't have the right to decide whether they will go to Eton
D
“What is the most important thing you’ve done in your life?” The question was put to me during a presentation I gave to a group of lawyers.
     The answer came to me in an instant. It’s not the one I gave, because the situation was not right. As a lawyer in the entertainment industry, I knew the audience wanted to hear some amusing stories about my work with well-known people, but here’s the true answer:
     The most important thing I’ve ever done occurred on October 8,1990. I began the day playing tennis with an old friend I hadn’t seen for a while. Between points we talked about what had been happening in each other’s lives. He and his wife had just had a baby boy, who was keeping them up at night.
     While we were playing, a car came screaming up the road toward the courts. It was my friend’s father, who shouted to my friend that his baby had stopped breathing and was being rushed to the hospital. In a flash my friend was in the car and gone, disappearing in a cloud of dust.
     For a moment I just stood there, paralyzed(呆若木鸡). Then I tried to figure out what I should do. Follow my friend to the hospital? There was nothing I could accomplish there, I convinced myself. My friend’s son was in the care of doctors and nurses, and nothing I could do or say would affect the outcome. Be there for moral support? Well, maybe. But my friend and his wife both had large families, and I knew they’d be surrounded by relatives who would provide more than enough comfort and support, whatever happened. All I could do at the hospital, I decided, was to get in the way. Also, I had planned a full day with my family, who were waiting for me to get home. So I decided to head back to my house and check in my friend later.
     As I started my car, I realized that my friend had left his truck and keys at the courts. I now faced another problem. I couldn’t leave the keys in the truck. So I decided to go to the hospital and give him the keys.
     When I arrived, I was directed to a room where my friend and his wife were waiting. As I had thought, the room was filled with family members silently watching my friend comfort his wife. I went in and stood by the door, trying to decide what to do next. Soon a doctor appeared. He approached my friend and his wife, and in a quiet voice told them that their son had died.
     For a long time the two held each other and cried, unaware of the rest of us standing around in pained silence. After they had calmed themselves, the doctor suggested they spend a few moments with their son.
     My friend and his wife stood up and walked past their families. When they reached the door, my friend saw me standing in the corner. He came over and hugged me and started to cry. My friend’s wife hugged me, too, and said , “Thanks for being here.”
     For the rest of that morning, I sat in the emergency room of that hospital and watched my friend and his wife hold the body of their infant son, and say goodbye.
     It’s the most important thing I have ever done. The experience taught me two lessons.
     First: The most important thing I’ve ever done happened when I was completely helpless. None of the things I had learned in university, in three years of law school or in six years of legal practice were of any use in that situation. Something terrible was happening to people I cared about, and I was powerless to change the outcome. All I could do was standing by and watching it happen. And yet it was critical that I do just that--- just be there when someone needed me.
     Second: The most important thing I’ve done almost didn’t happen because of things I had learned in classroom and professional life. Law school taught me how to take a set of facts, break them down and organize them. These skills are critical for lawyers. When people come to us for help, they’re often stressed out and depend on a lawyer to think logically. But while learning to think, I almost forget how to feel. Today I have no doubt that I should have leapt into my car without hesitation and followed my friend to the hospital.
     From that experience I learned that the most important thing in life isn’t the money you make, the status you attain or the honors you achieve. The most important thing in life is the kids’ team you coach or the poem you write----or the time when you’re just somebody’s friend.
55. When he was asked about the most important thing he had done in life at a presentation, the author _______.
A. felt it was not an interesting question          B. thought for a while and spoke his mind
C. gave an answer from a lawyer’s point of view   D. didn’t give the real answer
56. When he saw his friend rush to the hospital, the author could not decide whether to follow mainly because he thought _______.
A. He had to stay with his family               B. His friend did not need his help.
C. He would not be of much help               D. the baby would be in the doctor’s