B

Books are typically written first, then narrated (朗读) for audio books. Until now, Audible, the largest company of audio books, has begun asking well-known writers to create works specifically for audio, instead of inviting people to narrate already existing print books. It’s a new chapter for the book industry.

Audible now has about 30 totally new audio works in production. And it turns out that audio books, which have long been regarded as less important than e-books, have actually been doing quite well. They are a $1,000,000,000 industry, with more than 35,000 titles published in 2013 alone.

What promotes that progress is not only an evolution of technology, but more importantly, the rise of the celebrity (名人) narrator. Narrators are key to the success of an audio book and these days, producers are signing on more and more celebrities. Celebrities’ narration is like a private performance to customers, who get a feeling of closeness in listening to their voices. Many of the customers buy audio books based on the narrator. They will listen to anything a specific actor or actress reads.

That is why Audible is taking the risk of not producing print books at all but starting totally new audio works. There’s another reason why the company is expecting its risk-taking action to pay off: humans have been telling stories since the beginning of time. We are taking part in a little habit that goes back thousands and thousands of years — before the first mark was ever made on a stone. Long before writing, people were telling each other stories and the audio book goes all the way back to that tradition. As Peter Allen sang softly in the 1970s, everything old is new again.

1.The "new chapter" (Para. 1) refers to a time of _________.

A. starting audio companies B. producing new audio works

C. narrating print books for audio D. creating electronic books

2.What does Paragraph 2 tell about audio books?

A. Their bright future B. Their difference from e-books

C. Their great importance D. Their previous production

3.Customers like celebrities’ narration because ______.

A. celebrities help them understand the stories

B. celebrities have more attractive voices

C. celebrities seem to be within their reach

D. celebrities have better narrating skills

4.Audible believes its risk-taking action will be rewarding because ______.

A. the action has lasted for a long time

B. customers play an active role in the action

C. the company has spent a lot on the action

D. the action agrees with the story-telling tradition

People in the United States honor their parents with two special days:Mother's Day, on the second Sunday in May, and Father's Day, on the third Sunday in June.These days are set aside to show love and respect for parents.They raise their children and educate them to be responsible(有责任感的) citizens.They give love and care.These two days make us think about the changing roles of mothers and fathers.More mothers now work outside the home.More fathers must help with child care.These two special days are celebrated in many different ways.On Mother’s Day people wear carnations.A red one symbolizes a living mother.A white one shows that the mother is dead.Many people attend religious services to honor parents.It is also a day when people whose parents are dead visit the cemetery(墓地).On these days families get together at home, as well as in restaurants.They often have outdoor barbecues for Father's Day.These are days of fun and good feelings and memories.Another tradition is to give cards and gifts.Children make them in school.Many people make their own presents.These are valued more than the ones bought in stores.It is not the value of the gift that is important, but it is “the thought that counts”.Greeting card stores, florists, candy makers, , telephone companies, and other stores do a lot of business during these holidays.

1.Which of the following is NOT a reason for children to show love and respect for parents?

A. Parents bring up children.

B. Parents give love and care to children.

C. Parents educate children to be good persons.

D. Parents pass away before children grow up.

2.What do you think “florists” do?

A. They sell flowers.

B. They make and sell bread.

C. They offer enough room for having family parties.

D. They sell special gifts for Mother’s Day and Father’s Day.

3.Which do you think is right about “carnation”?

A. It has only two kinds of colors.

B. It refers to the special clothes people wear on Mother’s Day or Father’s Day.

C. It’s a kind of flower showing love and best wishes.

D. People can wear carnations only on the second Sunday in May.

4.On Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, _______.

A. people usually have family parties

B. everyone goes to visit the cemetery

C. children always go to parents’ home

D. hand-made cards are the most valuable gifts

1.Xie Lei's preparation course is helping her to get used to the academic r______(要求)of a Western university.

2.Xie Lei highly r______(推荐)it.

3.But I was also very nervous as I didn't know what to expect,"Xie Lei told me when I saw her waiting in a q_______(队伍)at the student cafeteria between lectures.

4.Made me very thoughtful and t______(感激)for my life today.

5.The industry b______(繁荣)attracted Europeans including many Jewish people.

6.From 1882 to 1940 Angel Island was a famous immigration station where many Chinese people a______(申请)for right to live in USA.

7.By the time California e______(选举)to become the thirty-first federal state of the USA in 1850,it was already a multicultural society.

8.Firstly,gardeners use it all the time to produce c______(商业的)quantities of plants.

9.Cloning plants is s______(直接的)while cloning animals is very complicated.

10.But at last the determination and patience of the scientists paid off in 1996 with a b______(突破)-the cloning of Dolly the sheep.

11.On the other hand,Dolly's appearance raised a storm of o______(反对)and had a great impact on the media and public imagination.

12.The advantage is that if there is a new illness some of these animals may die,but others will survive and pass on the ability to r______(抵抗)that disease to the next generation.

13.All efforts of cloning an animal will be in v______(徒劳)if there is not enough diversity in the group to overcome illnesses.

14.Here was a chance for me to distinguish myself by inventing something m______(仁慈的)that would catch snakes but harm them.

15.Of the first Spanish to go to California,the m______(大多数)were religious men,whose ministry was to teach the Catholic religion to the natives.

B

The rise in smartphones (智能手机) among young people may be having a direct effect on how successful they become as adults.

Research from the University of Nebraska Lincoln has discovered university students check their phones 11 times per lesson on average, and more than 80 percent believe this tech addiction is interfering with their learning.

A quarter of students across five American states also blamed poor grades in exams specifically on the fact that they used mobile devices when they should have been concentrating and revising and these grades could determine the jobs they end up going into.

Barney McCoy, an associate professor of broadcasting at the university, surveyed 777 students at six universities across five states about how they used digital devices in the classroom.

The students were from UNL, the University of Nebraska Lincoln at Omaha in Nebraska, Morningside College in Iowa, the University of North Carolina, the University of Kansas and the University of Mississippi.

Around two thirds said they used phones, tablets and laptops for "non-classroom purposes" up to ten times during a typical university day, while 15 percent admitted this figure was closer to 30 times.

Among the top reasons why 55 percent of students checked their devices so regularly were staying connected and fighting boredom. Less than half said the devices were used for classwork.

Texting was the most popular distraction (娱乐) technique at 86 percent, while 68 percent said they used their phones to check personal emails. Two thirds used social networks, 38 percent surfed the web and 8 percent admitted playing games when they should have been studying.

Despite eight out of ten students admitting their devices were distracting, fewer than five percent considered it to be a "very big" distraction.

"I don’t think students necessarily think it’s a big problem," said McCoy. "They think it’s part of their lives."

1.The majority of the students think that using smartphones __________.

A. helps to improve their grades

B. contributes to their poor grades

C. has a bad effect on their study

D. determines their jobs in the future

2. How many students surveyed used digital devices for "non-classroom purposes" about 30 times during a day?

A. About 518. B. About 116.

C. About 427. D. Less than 388.

3. Which of the following is TRUE?

A. Barney McCoy surveyed 777 students at the university he works in.

B. A minority of the students said they used digital devices for classwork.

C. Around two thirds admitted they used digital devices because lessons were boring.

D. Barney McCoy doesn’t think students’ using digital devices is a big problem.

4.The text is most likely to be found in a section about __________.

A. successful people B. political systems

C. science and technology D. historical events

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