We show an amazing tolerance for a form of pollution that is a growing problem: noise. Airplane traffic is increasing by five percent a year. Urban noise is doubling every ten years. By air, land and sea, we are facing an onslaught of noise that is threatening our ability to live in this world. We have granted ourselves the right to make noise. But what about our responsibilities? Have we developed a sense of acoustic responsibility?

The evidence suggests that we have not. Many people seem to believe they have an unlimited right to make noise with cars and motorbikes, and with loud music at home and in the street. In some countries measures have been taken to force people to make less noise. In Britain, for example, a law has been passed preventing people from disturbing their neighbors with music at night.

It is widely accepted that we should deal with our rubbish in a responsible way Noise is in reality a particularly insidious form of rubbish. It destroys community life, pursues us into our homes, keeps us from sleeping and is the cause of many stress-related illnesses, as well as hearing loss. Our acoustic environment belongs to all of us. Everyone has the right to use it, but no one has the right to abuse it. Let’s start using it responsibly.

The underlined word “acoustic” in the first paragraph probably means ________.

A. environment          B. pollution              C. sound             D. rubbish

Which of the following statements is NOT correct?

A. Nowadays everyone thinks it’s all right to make noise.

B. British law protects people from their neighbors’ music at night.

C. The level of noise produced in cities is twice as high now as ten years ago.

D. Noise can sometimes cause hearing loss.

The passage is probably written to _______.

A. introduce acoustic responsibility             B. call for people to make less noise

C. compare rubbish and noise                            D. describe people’s attitude to noise

Silence is unnatural to man.He begins life with a cry and ends it in stillness.In between he does all he can to make a noise in the world, and he fears silence more than anything else.Even his conversation is an attempt to prevent a fearful silence.If he is introduced to another person, and a number of pauses occur in the conversation, he regards himself as a failure, a worthless person, and is full of envy of the emptiest headed chatterbox (喋喋不休的人).He knows that ninety-nine percent of human conversation means no more than the buzzing of a fly, but he is anxious to join in the buzz and to prove that he is a man and not a waxwork figure (蜡塑人像).

       The aim of conversation is not, for the most part, to communicate ideas; it is to keep up the buzzing sound.There are, it must be admitted, different qualities of buzz; there is even a buzz that is as annoying as the continuous noise made by a mosquito (蚊子).But at a dinner party one would rather be a mosquito than a quiet person.Most buzzing, fortunately, is pleasant to the ear, and some of it is pleasant even to the mind.He would be a foolish man if he waited until he had a wise thought to take part in the buzzing -with his neighbors.

       Those who hate to pick up the weather as a conversational opening seem to me not to know the reason why human beings wish 1:0 talk.Very few human beings join in a conversation in the hope of learning anything new.Some of them are content .if they are merely allowed to go on making a noise into other people's ears, though they have nothing to tell them except that they have seen two or three new, plays or that they had food in a Swiss hotel.At the end of an evening during which they have said nothing meaningful for a long time, they just prove themselves to be successful conservationists.

According to the author, people make conversation to              .

       A.exchange ideas              B.prove their value

       C.achieve success m life         D.overcome their fear of silence

By "the buzzing of a fly" (Para.1), the author means"_____".

       A.the noise of an insect               B.a low whispering sound

       C.meaningless talks                  D.the voice of a chatterbox

According to the passage, people usually talk to their neighbors___    

       A.about whatever they have prepared                       

       B.about whatever they want to

       C.in the hope of learning something new

       D.in the hope of getting on well

What is the author's purpose in writing the passage?

       A.To discuss why people like talking about weather.

       B.To encourage people to join in conversations.

       C.To persuade people to stop making noises.

       D.To explain why people keep talking.

请认真阅读下面短文,并根据所读内容在文章后表格中的空格里填入最恰当的单词。

注意:每空格1个单词。

People say teenagers are no good. They make too much noise in shopping malls; they drive recklessly up and down America’s main streets; they carry chips on their shoulders as big as the Sears Tower. And at least some of the time those things are true. But we shouldn’t forget that there are hard moments in the life of a teenager too.

  I watched such a moment not long ago at a woman’s funeral. I didn’t expect the event to affect me. Through much of the ceremony, in fact, I remained unmoved.

  Then her teenage grandson stepped forward. With his very first deep breath, every heart in that church was achingly reminded of something we had all forgotten. Softly he began: “I want to share a few values that Nana taught me. She never failed to see light in any situation. When our family dog would literally attract her, what would Nana say? ‘Oh, what beautiful markings that dog has.’ That was Nana.

  “She was a strong woman who often lived in the shadow of my grandpa, who was a successful businessman in this city. But she was the one behind the scenes who provided the strength and support for Grandpa’s career,” he said, with a voice now trembling. “That was Nana’s way.”

  Through a muffled sob, he continued. “Whenever she did anything worth recognition, you’d have to hear about it from a different source, because she was never one to brag.”

  Finally, in a voice breaking free of sorrow, he looked up and said, “Nana taught me courage. She put up an incredible fight to the end, when she died peacefully, which is how she lived her life. That was Nana’s way, and I hope I can carry on in the same manner.”

  There are no hearts as sensitive as those of teenagers, because everything is happening to them for the first time. The trouble with teenagers is that they haven’t learned to be controlled.

  When that boy rose to speak about the woman who surely had been his truest ally and dearest friend, his honest voice dragged each of us out into the open where we could no longer hide in the calm ritual. He exposed us to the truth about this very real woman who believed in a boy who probably tried the patience of many adults. He reminded us that his grandmother was more than another dot on the chart of life and death.

  All over again we felt those powerful losses crisscrossing our own hearts, and we knew that when you say good-bye to a beloved grandparent, you say good-bye to something happy, something young in yourself. And that something never really returns, and the pain never really goes away.

 

Teenagers

According to the passage, people don’t think (1) _________ of teenagers.

I seldom felt (2) ________at a funeral. But from the boy’s speech, I know his grandmother had great (3) _________ on the boy when she was alive.

This time at the (4)_________, the author felt differently.

She would

always found

something

(5) _______

even in some

unpleasant situation.

She was a

respectful woman

who never (6)

________ off her

talent in business.

She had a

strong will

and would

never (7)

______ her

career till she died.

The author

was in

deep

 (8) ____ at the

moving situation.

The author has changed his (9) ________

on teenagers

through this

funeral ceremony.

The only

problem with

the young is

that they can’t

(10)________

themselves

well.

 

 

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