One of the most fascinating things about television is the size of the audience. A novel can be on the “best seller” lists with a sale of up to 100,000 copies, but a popular TV show might have 70

million TV viewers. TV can make anything or anyone well-known overnight.

  This is the principle behind “quiz” or “game” shows, which put ordinary people on TV to play a game for prizes and money. A quiz show can make anyone a star, and it can give away thousands of dollars. Charles Van Doren, an English instructor, became rich and famous after winning money on several shows. He even had a career as a television personality. But one of the losers proved that Charles Van Doren was cheating. It turned out that the show’s producers, who were pulling the strings, gave the answers to the most popular contestants beforehand. Why? Because if the audience didn’t like the person who won the game, they turned the show off. The result of this cheating was a huge scandal(丑闻). Based on the show off, a movie titled “Quiz Show” is on 40 years later.

  Charles Van Doren is no longer involved with TV. But game shows are still here, though they aren’t taken seriously. In fact, some of them try to be as ridiculous as possible. There are shows that send strangers on vacation trips together, or that try to cause newly-married couples to fight on TV, or that punish losers by humiliating(羞辱) them. The entertainment now is to see what people will do just to be on TV. People still win money, but the real prize is to be in front of an audience of millions.

What is the most important thing as to television?

 A. How many viewers they can attract       B. Becoming the best seller on the list

 C. How much money can be given away    D. The number of people attending shows

What does the underlined part “pulling the strings” probably mean?

 A. Planning the shows with effort          B. Drawing the curtain on the stage

C. Controlling the result secretly          D. Playing “quiz” or “game” openly

Charles Van Doren stopped his career as a television personality because ________.

 A. he had earned enough wealth and fame.

 B. one of the participants had told the truth

 C. the film “Quiz Show” was being shown

 D. his frequent appearance had bored the audience

It can be inferred from the passage that _______.

 A. TV Game Shows are more popular than before.

 B. the scandal was not made known until 40 years later

 C. getting money is the only purpose of people taking part in shows

 D. people can make themselves famous by taking part in shows


A thief who dropped a winning lottery ticket(彩票)at the scene of his crime has been given a lesson in honesty. His victim, who picked up the ticket, then claimed the £25000 prize, managed to trace him, and handed over the cash. The robbery happened when maths professor Vinicio Sabbatucci, 58, was changing a tyre on an Italian motorway. Another motorist, who stopped to “to help”, stole a suitcase from his car and drove off. The professor found the dropped ticket and put it in his pocket before driving home to Ascoli in eastern Italy.
Next day, he saw the lottery results on TV and, taking out the ticket, realized it was a winner. He claimed the 60 million lire(里拉) prize. Then he began a battle with his conscience. Finally, he decided he could not keep the money despite having been robbed. He advertised in newspapers and on radio, saying: “I’m trying to find the man who robbed me. I have 60 million lire for him--- a lottery win. Please meet me. Anonymity(匿名) guaranteed.”
Professor Sabbatucci received hundreds of calls from people hoping to trick him into handing them the cash. But there was one voice he recognized--- and he arranged to meet the man in a park. The robber, a 35-year-old unemployed father of two, gave back the suitcase and burst into tears. He could not believe what was happening. “Why didn’t you keep the money?” he asked. The professor replied: “I couldn’t because it’s not mine.” Then he walked off, spurning the thief’s offer of a reward.
65.The sentence “ Then he began a battle with his conscience.” In paragraph 2 implies all of the following EXCEPT that_______.
A. he knew what he should do as soon as he saw the lottery results
B. he hesitated about keeping the money for some time
C. he thought for a moment of avenging himself on the robber
D. he came to realize that honesty is more important than money
66. Hundreds of people phoned professor Sabbatucci because they  ______.
A. wanted to make fun of him  B. hoped to get the money
C. knew who the robber was   D. lost the lottery ticket
67. The word “spurning” in the last sentence can be replaced by  ______.
A. accepting  B. claiming   C. rejecting   D. canceling
68. If the story appears in a newspaper, the best title might be_____.
A. A Thief’s Lucky Day   B. A Popular Maths Professor
C. A Magic Lottery       D. A Reward of Honesty

A thief who dropped a winning lottery ticket(彩票)at the scene of his crime has been given a lesson in honesty. His victim, who picked up the ticket, then claimed the £25000 prize, managed to trace him, and handed over the cash. The robbery happened when maths professor Vinicio Sabbatucci, 58, was changing a tyre on an Italian motorway. Another motorist, who stopped to “to help”, stole a suitcase from his car and drove off. The professor found the dropped ticket and put it in his pocket before driving home to Ascoli in eastern Italy.

Next day, he saw the lottery results on TV and, taking out the ticket, realized it was a winner. He claimed the 60 million lire(里拉) prize. Then he began a battle with his conscience. Finally, he decided he could not keep the money despite having been robbed. He advertised in newspapers and on radio, saying: “I’m trying to find the man who robbed me. I have 60 million lire for him--- a lottery win. Please meet me. Anonymity(匿名) guaranteed.”

Professor Sabbatucci received hundreds of calls from people hoping to trick him into handing them the cash. But there was one voice he recognized--- and he arranged to meet the man in a park. The robber, a 35-year-old unemployed father of two, gave back the suitcase and burst into tears. He could not believe what was happening. “Why didn’t you keep the money?” he asked. The professor replied: “I couldn’t because it’s not mine.” Then he walked off, spurning the thief’s offer of a reward.

65.The sentence “ Then he began a battle with his conscience.” In paragraph 2 implies all of the following EXCEPT that_______.

A. he knew what he should do as soon as he saw the lottery results

B. he hesitated about keeping the money for some time

C. he thought for a moment of avenging himself on the robber

D. he came to realize that honesty is more important than money

66. Hundreds of people phoned professor Sabbatucci because they  ______.

A. wanted to make fun of him  B. hoped to get the money

C. knew who the robber was   D. lost the lottery ticket

67. The word “spurning” in the last sentence can be replaced by  ______.

A. accepting  B. claiming   C. rejecting   D. canceling

68. If the story appears in a newspaper, the best title might be_____.

A. A Thief’s Lucky Day   B. A Popular Maths Professor

C. A Magic Lottery       D. A Reward of Honesty

 

Thirteen, for me, was a challenging year. My parents divorced and I moved to a new town with my father, far from my old family and friends. I was terribly lonely and would cry myself to sleep each night. To ease my sadness, my father purchased an old horse for me at a local auction. I named him Cowboy.

Cowboy was without a doubt the ugliest horse in the world. But I didn’t care. I loved him beyond all reason. I joined a riding club and suffered rude comments and mean snickers about Cowboy’s looks. I never let on about how I felt, but deep inside, my heart was breaking. The other members rode beautiful, registered horses.

When Cowboy and I entered the events where the horse is judged on appearance, we were quickly shown the gate. No amount of preparation and love would turn Cowboy into a beauty. My only chance to compete would be in the speed events. I chose the jumping race.?

One girl named Becky rode a big brown horse in the race events. She always won the blue ribbons.  Needless to say, she didn’t feel threatened when I competed against her at the next show. She didn’t need to. I came in next to last.

The stinging memory of Becky’s smirks made me determined to beat her. For the whole next month I woke up early every day and rode Cowboy five miles to the arena (赛马场). We practiced running and jumping for hours in the hot sun and then I would walk Cowboy home totally exhausted. All of our hard work didn’t make me feel confident by the time the show came. I sat at the gate and sweated it out while I watched Becky and her horse charge through the course and finish in first place.

My turn finally came. I put on my hat, rubbed Cowboy’s neck and entered the arena. At the signal, we dashed toward the first fence, jumped it without trouble and raced on to the next one. Cowboy then flew over the second, third and fourth fences like a bird and I turned him toward the finish line. As we crossed the line the crowd was shocked into silence. Cowboy and I had beaten Becky and her fancy horse by two seconds!

I gained much more than a blue ribbon that day. At thirteen, I realized that no matter what the odds, I’d always come out a winner if I wanted something badly enough to work for it.

63. 1.The underlined expression "shown the gate" (paragraph 3) most probably means ______.

A. told how to enter the arena

B. shown how to make the horse beautiful

C. removed from the competition early

D. told to enter the timed-speed events

64. 2. When the final race finished, nobody cheered because        .

A. the audience didn’t like Cowboy             B. people envied the writer

C. the win was unexpected?            D. the writer bad run out of time

65. 3.Why was the writer not confident of victory?

A. He was an inexperienced rider.

B. He had not practiced enough.

C. He believed he was unpopular with the crowd.

D. He thought his horse wasn’t so good as the others.

66. 4.What did the writer learn from his experience?

A. Life can sometimes be unfair.

B. Anything is possible if one tries hard enough.

C. A positive attitude will bring success.

D. One should not make judgments based on appearance.

 

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