C

Parties and social gatherings no longer excite us the same way they once did. This is not due to a lack of desire to socialize, but the smartphone.

At parties, more people are on their smartphones than on their drinks. According to a recent International Data Corporation study, well over half of all Americans have a smartphone and reach for it the moment they wake up, keeping it in hand all day. In addition, too much of society is using smartphones while driving and as a result getting into car crashes. 34 percent of teens admit to text while driving, and they confirm that text messaging is their number one driving interruption. People's attachment to their smartphones is unbelievably becoming more important than the lives of themselves and others.

Just as drivers dismiss the importance of focusing while on the road, many people also fail to recognize the significance of human interaction. When with their friends, some people pointlessly check or send text messages in the presence of a friend, which sends a message to that friend the person I am texting is more important than you. In addition, relying on our smartphone to make friends does not give us the same advantage as being able to make new friendships in the real world. Face-to-face conversations will give us much stronger communication skills in the long run.

As many people risk their lives and the lives of people around them just to send a text or mindlessly check their massages, smartphones are in many ways more dangerous to people. The quality of this technology is de-advancing societal achievements and weakening the value of communication. Not only is the smartphone affecting our desire to interact (交流) face-to-face but it is also lowering society's ability to communicate.

1.The purpose of this text is to ______.

A. call for an end to use the smartphone while driving

B. appeal to us to pay attention to communication skills

C. express concern about the overuse of the smartphone

D. advise us to be cautious about the addiction to the smartphone

2.The second paragraph is developed by ______.

A. giving examples

B. listing figures

C. comparing facts

D. analyzing the effects

3.The author advocates us to make new friends ______.

A. by using smartphones

B. in a face-to-face way

C. in different ways

D. under a free circumstance

4.Over dependence on the smartphone leads to the fact that ______.

A. parties and gatherings limit their social circle

B. people are more and more narrow-minded

C. people's communication skills are weakened

D. face-to-face communication becomes less important

In spite of the uncertainty of the economy, the movie industry has been stricken by a box-office outburst. Suddenly it seems as if everyone is going to the movies, with ticket sales this year up 17.5 percent, to $1.7 billion.

And it is not just because ticket prices are higher. Attendance has also jumped, by nearly 16 percent. If that pace continues through the year, it would amount to the biggest box-office increase in at least two decades.

Americans, for the moment, just want to hide in a very dark place. People want to forget their troubles, and they want to be with other people. Helping feed the outburst is the mix of movies, which have been more audience-friendly in recent months as the studios have tried to adjust after the discouraging sales of more serious films.

As she stood in line at the 18-screen Bridge theater complex here on Thursday to buy weekend tickets for “Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience,” Angel Hernandez was not thinking much about escaping reality. Instead, Ms. Hernandez, a Los Angeles parking lot attendant and mother of four young girls, was focused on one very specific reality: her wallet.

“Spending hundreds of dollars to take them to Disneyland is ridiculous right now,” she said. “For $60 and some candy money I can still be a good mom and give them a little fun.”

A lot of parents may have been thinking the same thing Friday, as “Jonas Brothers” sold out more than 800 theaters, and was expected to sell a powerful $25 million or more in tickets.

The film industry appears to have had a hand in its recent good luck. Over the last year or two, studios have released movies that are happier, scarier or just less depressing than what came before. After poor results for a rush of serious dramas built around the Middle East, Hollywood got back to comedies.

1.Which of the following is not a reason for the improvement of the movie industry?

A. A growing number of people are going to the cinema.

B. People are richer with the development of economy.

C. More comedies are made than serious films.

D. People have to pay more to watch a movie.

2.Ms. Hernandez purchased the movie tickets because ________.

A. she tried to escape reality

B. she was a crazy movie fan

C. she was fond of Disneyland

D. she wanted to please her kids

3.According to the text, which of the following number is not used to describe the shooting up of the movie industry?

A. 17.5% B. $1.7 billion

C. $60 D. $25 million

4.The passage is developed mainly by ________.

A. presenting the effect and analyzing the causes

B. following the order of time

C. describing problems and drawing a conclusion

D. making comparison of ideas

A

As an old-fashioned explorer, Paul Salopek sets out on foot to circle the world. He is also a modern-day explorer. On top of a few clothes, a small first-aid kit and notebooks, he is carrying a recorder, a video camera, a small computer and a satellite phone — a telephone that connects to a satellite and can be used in many places where cell-phones don’t work.

The journey is long: 21,000 miles! It will take seven years to complete it.

Salopek was born in California and spent his childhood in Mexico. He says he has always liked to travel and doesn’t like to rush. At the age of fourteen, he climbed Mount Whitney in California and crossed the state’s Sierra Nevada Mountains alone. When he was fifteen years old, he walked the length of Death Valley. He once rode a mule 2,000 miles through mountains in Mexico.

A longtime reporter, Salopek has reported from Africa, Asia and Mexico. Now 51 years old, he plans to keep writing. As he travels around the world, he is writing stories about the people he meets and the way they live. He looks for how people find local solutions to big problems such as lack of food and water. He also records the sounds he hears and takes photos of the sky and the Earth’s surface.

The long walk started in the Rife Valley in Ethiopia in East Africa. Many consider East Africa to be home to the first humans, who lived 160,000 years ago.

Salopek is retracing the paths our ancestors took as they left Africa and settled in parts of the Middle East, Europe, Asia and the Americas. As Salopek is walking, he is learning more about himself and all of humankind.

1.The underlined phrase “on top of” in the first paragraph can be replaced by _______.

A. on the top of B. in contrast to

C. in addition to D. on the basis of

2.The author develops the third paragraph mainly by ________.

A. providing examples

B. making comparisons

C. making a careful analysis

D. following the order of time

3.According to the passage, Paul Salopek is a ________.

A. doctor who likes carrying the small first-aid kit

B. journalist who likes traveling, exploring, writing and studying

C. writer who likes traveling, exploring and studying

D. photographer who is good at using satellite communication equipment

4.What’s the best title for the passage?

A. Paul Salopek: Following Man’s First Footsteps

B. Paul Salopek: Reflecting People’s Real Lives

C. Paul Salopek: Going for a Seven-year Study

D. Paul Salopek: Looking back upon the Childhood

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