Among various programmes, TV talk shows have covered every inch of space on daytime television. And anyone who watches them regularly knows that each one is different in style. But no two shows are more opposite in content, while at the same time standing out above the rest, than the Jerry Springer and the Oprah Winfrey shows.

Jerry Springer could easily be considered the king of rubbish talk. The contents on his show are as surprising as can be. For example, the show takes the ever-common talk show titles of love, sex, cheating, and hate, to a different level. Clearly, the Jerry Springer show is about the dark side of society, yet people are willing to eat up the troubles of other people's lives.

Like Jerry Springer, Oprah Winfrey takes TV talk show to its top, but Oprah goes in the opposite direction. The show is mainly about the improvement of society and different quality of life. Contents are from teaching your children lessons, managing your work week, to getting to know your neighbors.

Compared to Oprah, the Jerry Springer show looks like poisonous waste being poured into society. Jerry ends every show with a "final word". He makes a small speech about the entire idea of the show. Hopefully, this is the part where most people will learn something very valuable.

Clean as it is, the Oprah show is not for everyone. The show's main viewers are middleclass Americans. Most of these people have the time, money, and ability to deal with life's tougher problems. Jerry Springer, on the other hand, has more of a connection with the young adults of society. These are 18-to-21-year-olds whose main troubles in life include love, relationship, sex, money and drug. They are the ones who see some value and lessons to be learned through the show's exploitation.

1.Compared with other TV talk shows, both the Jerry Springer and the Oprah Winfrey are ________.

A. more interestingB. unusually popular

C. more detailedD. more formal

2.Though the social problems Jerry Springer talks about appear unpleasant, people who watch the shows ________.

A. remain interested in them

B. are ready to face up to them

C. remain cold to them

D. are willing to get away from them

3.Which of the following is likely to be a topic of the Oprah Winfrey show?

A. A new type of robot.

B. Nation hatred.

C. Family income planning.

D. Street accident.

4.We can learn from the passage that the two talk shows ________.

A. have become the only ones of its kind

B. exploit the weaknesses in human nature

C. appear at different times of the day

D. attract different people

Thousands of people began pouring into Pennsylvania from other states. They wanted to buy lottery tickets(彩票). The tickets cost only $ 0.9 each. But that small spending could bring them a reward of $ 90 million .That was the second largest lottery jackpot (积累奖金)in history.

More than 87 million tickets were bough t for the Pennsylvania lottery drawing. Those who bought tickets had to choose seven numbers from 1 to 80.The chance of winning was one in 9.6 million, but that little chance certainly didn’t affect ticket sales. In the last few days before the drawing, tickets were sold at the unbelievable rate of 500 per second.

Experts say many people buy lottery tickets because they just want to have a piece of the action. Others say the lottery is a stock market for poor people. It allows them to dream about wealth they’ll probably never have.

But many people believe lotteries are no better than legalized gambling. Some critics note that most people who play are poor and may not be able to afford the tickets. There are also many addicts who take the game seriously. They may pour their life savings into lottery tickets. Some clubs have been formed to help them kick the habit.

Politicians like lotteries because they provide money that would otherwise have to come from new taxes. The profits from lotteries are usually used to pay for education or programs for senior citizens. But critics say this arrangement just allows states to legalize vice, under the name of social progress. Whether you regard stock lotteries right or not, you cannot refuse to accept their extreme popularity with many Americans.

1.Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A.Buying lotteries may help people become wealthy overnight.

B. Politicians like lotteries because they don’t have to pay extra taxes.

C.The profits from lotteries are usually used for the public.

D. Some critics don’t like lotteries because many poor people waste money on them.

2.In just one hour in the last few days, the Pennsylvania lottery sold tickets totaling_______.

A.$ 16.2 million B.$ 38.88 million

C.$ 19.6 million D.$ 87 million

3. The underlined word in the last paragraph refers to__________.

A. something profiyable

B. something challenging

C. something immoral

D.something easy

4. What is the main purpose of the passage?

A. To introduce the lotteries in Pennsylvania.

B. To persuade people not to buy lotteries.

C. To show the drawbacks of buying lotteries.

D. To tell us the different opinions on lotteries.

How many people have I met who have told me about the book they have been planning to write but have never yet found the time? Far too many.

This is Life, all right, but we do treat it like a rehearsal(排演)and, unhappily, we do miss so many of its best moments.

We take jobs to stay alive and provide homes for our families, always making ourselves believe that this style of life is only a temporary(暂时的)state of affairs along the road to what we really want to do. Then, at 60 or 65, we are suddenly given a clock and several grandchildren and we look back and realize that all those years waiting for Real Life to come along were in fact real life.

In America they have a saying much laughedat by the English: “Have a nice day.” They speak slowly and seriously in their shops, hotels and sandwich bars. I think it is a wonderful phrase, making us remember, in effect, to enjoy the moment: to value this very day.

How often do we say to ourselves “I’ll take up horse-riding(or golf, or sailing)as soon as I get a greater job.” But only to do none of those things when we do get the higher position.

When I first became a reporter I knew a man who gave up a very well-paid respectable job at Daily Telegraph to go and work for a small weekly newspaper. At the time I was surprised by his decision: Why was he in this completely abnormal mental(精神) state? How could anyone turn his back on Fleet Street in central London for a small area in the countryside? I wanted to know.

Now when I am a little older and possibly wiser, I see the sense in it. In Fleet Street the man was under continuous pressure. He lived in all unattractive London suburb(郊区)and he spent much of his life sitting on Southern Region trains to and back from his work.

1. The first paragraph of the passage tells us that

A. we always try to find some time to write a book

B. we always make plans but seldom complete them

C. we always enjoy many of life’s best moments

D. we always do what we really want to do

2. The underlined phrase “turn his back on” (Paragraph 6) most probably means

A. leave for B. return to C. rely on D. give up

3.The man who worked at Daily Telegraph left this job because he was

A. under too much pressure

B. in an abnormal mental state

C. not well-paid

D. not respected

4.What is probably the best title for the passage?

A. Provide Homes for Our Family

B. Take Up Horse-Riding

C. Value This Very Day

D. Stay Alive

Home to me means a sense of familiarity and nostalgia(怀旧). It's fun to come home. It looks the same. It smells the same. You'll realize what's changed is you. Home is where we ran remember pain, live, and some other experiences; We parted here; My parents met here; I won three championships here.

If I close my eyes, I can still have a clear picture in mind of my first home. I walk in the door and see a brown sofa surrounding a low glass-top wooden table. To the right of the living room is my first bedroom. It's empty, but it's where my earliest memories are.

There is the dining room table where I celebrated birthdays, and where I cried on Halloween-when I didn't want to wear the skirt my mother made for me. I always liked standing on that table because it made me feel tall and strong. If I sit at this table, I can see my favorite room in the house, my parents' room. It is simple: a brown wooden dresser lines the right side of the wall next to a television and a couple of photos of my grandparents on each side. Their bed is my safe zone. I can jump on it anytime - waking up my parents if I am scared or if I have an important announcement that cannot wait until the morning.

I'm lucky because I know my first home still exists. It exists in my mind and heart, on a physical property(住宅) on West 64th street on the western edge of Los Angeles. It is proof I lived, I grew and I learned.

Sometimes when I feel lost, I lie down and shut my eyes, and I go home. I know it's where I'll find my family, my dogs, and my belongings. I purposely leave the window open at night because I know I'll be blamed by Mom. But I don't mind, because I want to hear her say my name, which reminds me I'm home.

1.Why does the author call her parents' bed her "safe zone"(Paragraph 3)?

A. It is her favorite place to play.

B. Her needs can be satisfied there.

C. Her grandparents' photos are lined on each side.

D. Her parents always play together with her there.

2.What can be learned from the passage?

A. The old furniture is still in the author's fist bedroom.

B. The author can still visit her first physical mom in Los Angeles.

C. The author's favorite room in her first home is the dining room.

D. Many people of the author's age can still find their first physical homes.

3.Sometimes when she feels lost, the author will _______.

A. Open the window at night

B. lie down in bed to have a dream

C. try to bring back a sense of home

D. go to Los Angeles to visit her mom

4.What is the author's purpose of writing this passage?

A. To express how much she is attached to her home.

B. To declare how much she loves her first house.

C. To describe the state of her family.

D. To look back on her childhood.

违法和不良信息举报电话:027-86699610 举报邮箱:58377363@163.com

精英家教网