Nowadays people are troubled by the violence that spreads throughout the media. Movies, television and video games are full of gunplay and bloodshed, and one might reasonably ask what’s wrong with a society that presents videos of violence as entertainment.

Viewing large amounts of violent television and video games may well contribute to violent behavior in certain individuals. The trouble comes when researchers downplay uncertainties in their studies or overstate the case for causality(因果关系). Skeptics were dismayed several years ago when a group of societies including the American Medical Association tried to end the debate by issuing a joint statement: “At this time, well over 1,000 studies… point to a causal connection between media violence and aggressive behavior in some children.”

Freedom-of-speech advocates accused the societies of catering to politicians, and even disputed the number of studies (most were review articles and essays, they said). When Jonathan Freedman, a social psychologist at the University of Toronto, reviewed the literature, he found only 200 or so studies of television-watching and aggression. And when he weeded out “the most doubtful measures of aggression”, only 28% supported a connection.

The critical point here is causality. The alarmists say they have proved that violent media cause aggression. But the assumptions behind their observations need to be examined. When labeling games as violent or non-violent, should a hero eating a ghost really be counted as a violent event? And when experimenters record the time it takes game players to read “aggressive” or “non-aggressive” words from a list, can we be sure what they are actually measuring? The intention of the new Harvard Center on Media and Child Health to collect and standardize studies of media violence in order to compare their methodologies, assumptions and conclusions is an important step in the right direction.

Another appropriate step would be to tone down the criticism until we know more. Several researchers write, speak and testify quite a lot on the threat posed by violence in the media. That is, of course, their privilege. But when doing so, they often come out with statements that the matter has now been settled, drawing criticism from colleagues. In response, the alarmists accuse critics and news reporters of being deceived by the entertainment industry. Such clashes help neither science nor society.

Why is there so much violence shown in movies, TV and video games?

A. Showing violence is thought to be entertaining.

B. Something has gone wrong with today’s society

C. Many people are fond of gunplay and bloodshed.

D. There is a lot of violence in the real world today.

What is the skeptics’ view of media violence?

A. Violence on television is fairly accurate reflection of real-world life.

B. Most studies exaggerate (夸大) the effect of media violence on the viewers.

C. A causal relationship exists between media and real-world violence.

D. The influence of media violence on children has been underestimated.

The author uses the term “alarmists” to refer to those who _________.

A. use standardized measurements in the studies of media violence

B. initiated the debate over the influence of violent media on reality

C. insist on a direct link between violent media and aggressive behavior

D. use appropriate methodology in examining aggressive behavior

The underlined phrase “weeded out” in Paragraph 3 most probably means _________.

   A. got rid of things that are not good     B. removed unwanted parts from something

   C. picked out things that are useful        D. took away unnecessary details of a report

What does the writer think of the debate concerning the relationship between the media and violence?

A. He more than agrees with the views held by the alarmists. 

B. It should come to an end since the matter has now been settled.

C. The past studies in this field have proved to be misleading.

D. More studies should be conducted before conclusions are drawn.

完型填空:(每小题1分,满分20分)

It was a cold winter morning. Half asleep at the train station, I stared into the distance,   41   for the train to take me to my   42  in Boston. The world was quiet. The very few people on the street kept to themselves,  43  their steaming cups of coffee.

Reaching into my pocket as the  44  was getting close, my hand searched for the $ 20 bill to pay my fare. The pocket was 45 ! I searched through my bag and then I felt  46 . Unless the money dropped from the sky, I’d be  47 there. “What’s the matter?” A short, elderly man stood before me. “Oh, nothing…. Well, I  48   my money and now I can’t pay for the ticket. I’m going to  49   my match class, and the train is leaving.”

“Here, use this.” The man held a $ 20 bill. I looked up,  5 0 . People just didn’t do that anymore. Everyone worried about their own  51 , rarely stopping to think about others, especially teenage strangers. “Thank you, but no, I can’t.”

 52  it – go!” The man pushed me  53  the train.  I bought a round – trip ticket, and he refused the change I  54 to give him back. I did not know what to say – a million thoughts raced through my mind, yet I stood   55  .

For the train ride I was wordless. I began to see the world through  56 eyes. That man made a difference with such a simple  57  .

A week later I was at the train station again, with an extra 20$  58  I saw the man. And there he was. “Excuse me, sir, I believe I owe you this.” I  59  the money into his hand. Failing to refuse, he said, “Just remember to do the same for someone in your shoes someday.” I smiled, content.

The elderly man is my hero. For many, heroes are famous, but my hero is a   60  stranger who taught me a lesson in life. I will never forget his kindness.

1.                A.watching        B.looking         C.reaching  D.arranging

 

2.                A.home          B.class           C.office    D.factory

 

3.                A.serving         B.carrying        C.minding  D.making

 

4.                A.chance         B.crowd          C.driver    D.train

 

5.                A.deep          B.empty          C.messy    D.tight

 

6.                A.hopeless        B.useless         C.relieved  D.dissatisfied

 

7.                A.blocked        B.drawn          C.stuck D.tied

 

8.                A.wasted         B.counted        C.spent D.lost

 

9.                A.miss           B.skip            C.fail D.stop

 

10.               A.frightened      B.disturbed       C.surprised  D.concerned

 

11.               A.problems       B.complaints      C.positions  D.challenges

 

12.               A.Bring          B.Get            C.Catch D.Take

 

13.               A.in             B.beyond         C.toward    D.on

 

14.               A.offered        B.managed        C.happened D.attempted

 

15.               A.nervously       B.silently         C.seriously  D.uncomfortably

 

16.               A.curious         B.changed        C.bright D.widened

 

17.               A.task           B.act            C.example   D.performance

 

18.               A.so that         B.even if         C.now that   D.in case

 

19.               A.dropped        B.pushed         C.pressed   D.threw

 

20.               A.giving          B.encouraging     C.promising  D.respecting

 

 

He came into the room to shut the windows while we were still in bed and I saw he looked ill. He was shivering, his face was white, and he walked slowly as though it ached to move.

“What's the matter, Schatz?”

“I've got a headache.”

“You better go back to bed.”

“No. I'm all right.”

“You go to bed. I'll see you when I'm dressed.”

But when I came downstairs he was dressed, sitting by the fire, looking a very sick and miserable boy of nine years. When I put my hand on his forehead I knew he had a fever.

“You go up to bed,” I said, “You're sick.”

“I'm all right,” he said.

When the doctor came he took the boy's temperature.

“What's is it?” I asked him.

“One hundred and two.”

Downstairs, the doctor left three different medicines in different colored capsules with instructions for giving them. One was to bring down the fever, another a purgative(泻药), the third to overcome an acid condition. The germs of influenza(流感)can only exist in an acid condition, he explained. He seemed to know all about influenza and said there was nothing to worry about if the fever did not go above one hundred and four degrees. This was a light epidemic(传染病;传染性的) of flu and there was no danger if you avoided pneumonia(肺炎).

Back in the room I wrote the boy's temperature down and made a note of the time to give the various capsules.

“Do you want me to read to you?”

“All right. If you want to, “ said the boy. His face was very white and there were dark areas under his eyes. He lay still in the bed and seemed very detached(超然的;冷漠的)from what was going on.

I read aloud from Howard Pyle's Book of Pirates(海盗);but I could see he was not following what I was reading.

“How do you feel, Schatz?” I asked him.

“Just the same, so far,” he said.

I sat at the foot of the bed and read to myself while I waited for it to be time to give another capsule. It would have been natural for him to go to sleep, but when I looked up he was looking at the foot of the bed, looking very strangely.

“Why don't you try to sleep? I'll wake you up for the medicine.”

“I'd rather stay awake.”

After a while he said to me, “You don't have to stay in here with me, Papa, if it bothers you.”

“It doesn't bother me.”

“No, I mean you don't have to stay if it's going to bother you.”

I thought perhaps he was a little lightheaded and after giving him the prescribed capsules at eleven o'clock I went out with my gun and the young hunting dog….I killed two quail(鹌鹑), and missed five, and started back pleased to have found a covey of quail close to the house and happy there were so many left to find on another day.

At the house they said the boy had refused to let anyone come into the room.

“You can't come in,” he said. “You mustn't get what I have.”

I went up to him and found him in exactly the position I had left him, white-faced, but with the tops of his cheeks flushed(发红)by the fever, staring still, as he had stared, at the foot of the bed.

I took his temperature.

“What is it?”

“Something like a hundred,” I said. It was one hundred and two and four tenths.

“It was a hundred and two,” he said.

“Who said so?”

“The doctor.”

“Your temperature is all right,” I said. “It's nothing to worry about.”

“I don't worry,” he said, “but I can't keep from thinking.”

“Don't think,” I said. “Just take it easy.”

“I'm taking it easy,” he said and looked straight ahead, He was evidently holding tight onto himself about something.

“Take this with water.”

“Do you think it will do any good?”

“Of course it will.”

I sat down and opened the Pirate book and began to read, but I could see he was not following, so I stopped.

“About what time do you think I'm going to die?” he asked.

“What?”

“About how long will it be before I die?”

“You aren't going to die. What's the matter with you? “

“Oh, yes, I am, I heard him say a hundred and two.”

“People don't die with a fever of one hundred and two. That's a silly way to talk.”

“I know they do. At school in France the boys told me you can't live with forty-four degrees. I've got a hundred and two.”

He had been waiting to die all day, ever since nine o'clock in the morning.

“You poor Schatz,” I said. “Poor old Schatz. It's like miles and kilometers. You aren't going to die. That's different thermometer. On that thermometer thirty-seven is normal. On this kind it's ninety-eight.”

“Are you sure?”

“Absolutely,” I said, “It's like miles and kilometers. You know, like how many kilometers we make when we do seventy miles in the car?”

“Oh,” he said.

But his gaze at the foot of the bed relaxed slowly. The hold over himself relaxed too, finally, and the next day it was very slack(松驰的) and he cried very easily at little things that were of no importance.

1.The author writes about the doctor’s visit in order to _____.

A.show the doctor’s knowledge about influenza and its treatment

B.show the boy’s illness was quite serious

C.create a situation of misunderstanding around which to build a story

D.show the father was very much concerned about the boy’s illness

2.The pronoun “it” in “Papa, if it bothers you” (line 41) refers to _____.

A.the boy’s high temperature

B.the father giving the medicine to the boy

C.the father staying with the boy

D.the boy’s death

3.It can be inferred from the story that it is _____ by the time the father gets home from hunting.

A.early in the afternoon

B.close to evening

C.at noon

D.late in the morning

4.From the story we know that the boy kept tight control over himself because _____.

A.he did not want to be a bother to others

B.he wanted to recover quickly so that he could go hunting with his father

C.he was afraid that he would die if he lost control over himself

D.he thought he was going to die and he must show courage in the face of death

5.That the boy cried very easily at little things of no importance the next day suggests that _____.

A.he couldn’t control his emotions when he finally relaxed

B.his father would go out hunting without him if he didn’t cry

C.something went wrong with his brain after the fever

D.he often complained about unimportant things as a spoiled boy

6.The theme of the story is _____.

A.death is something beyond a child’s comprehension

B.to be calm and controlled in the face of death is a mark of courage

C.misunderstanding can occur even between father and son

D.misunderstanding can sometimes lead to an unexpected effect

 

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