Question

Michael Newman is trying to get ahead to provide for his family. He is a talented architect who willingly takes on projects with impossible deadlines in order to please his boss Ammer and secure a partnership in the firm. But all work and no play mean that Michael is missing spending time with the family. His wife Donna is trying to be available for swim meets, camping trips, tree house completion and some good old days. Ben and Samantha are his adoring children who just want to play with their dad.
After yet another long day filled with frustrations, Michael goes in search of a universal remote (万能遥控器) so that he can at least be in control of his TV. Only one store is open: Bed, Bath and Beyond – where he gets a very special universal remote.
There is a lot of power in Michael’s new toy; he can revisit old scenes from his past, put people on mute (无声的) and fast forward through the boring parts. He turns off the volume each time he argues with his wife. He fast – forwards through a boring family dinner. He skips ahead to avoid a bad cold. He jumps to the chapter where he gets a promotion. It’s all really great until the remote begins to use some of the specially programmed features – the remote starts predicting when Michael will use it, automatically hurtling (猛扔) him beyond life’s difficult and mundane moments. But most of our lives are difficult and mundane, so Michael is forced to travel years into the future. Eventually, he realizes the family dog has died and been replaced by another, that his kids have grown up, that his wife is married to someone else, and that he weighs 400 pounds. It happened while he wasn’t paying attention.
The movie is being sold as a comedy, but it essentially involves a workaholic who uses the universal remote to skip over all the bad things in his life and discovers in the process that he is missing life itself.

1. 1.
   Why did Michael Newman decide to buy a universal remote?
   
   1. A.
      To make his boss happy
   2. B.
      To remember his life in the past
   3. C.
      To see what his future life would be like
   4. D.
      To escape from the hardships of his life
2. 2.
   The underlined word “mundane” in the third paragraph means          .
   
   1. A.
      interesting      
   2. B.
      exciting   
   3. C.
      boring     
   4. D.
      abandoned
3. 3.
   What can we infer from the story?
   
   1. A.
      Michael is unable to support his family.
   2. B.
      Michael has some difficulties in his job now.
   3. C.
      The remote can help Michael do many things.
   4. D.
      Michael is an irresponsible man.
4. 4.
   The main purpose of the passage is to            .
   
   1. A.
      remind us to live a real life    
   2. B.
      persuade us to buy the remote
   3. C.
      encourage us to work hard     
   4. D.
      make us feel relaxed from work

Answer 1

DCBA