Four men who would become fathers were in a hospital waiting room while their wives were going to give birth to their babies. The nurse arrived and proudly said to the first man, “Congratulations, sir. You’re the father of twins!”
“What a surprise! Believe it or not! I work for the Minnesota Twins Baseball teams!”
Later the nurse returned and congratulated the second father on the birth of his triplets (三胞胎).
“Wow! That’s unbelievable! I work for the 3M Company.”
An hour later, the nurse returned to congratulate the third man on the birth of his quadruplets (四胞胎). Surprised, he only could answer, “I don’t believe it! I work for the Four Seasons Hotel!”
　　After this, everyone turned to the fourth man who had just fallen down. The nurse ran fast to his side. As he slowly came to himself, they could hear him speak in a very low voice over and over, “I should never have taken that job at 7-Eleven. I should never have taken that job at 7-Eleven. I should never have taken that job at 7-Eleven.”
【小题1】Why were the fathers there?

No air means death. There is air around us  36  we can’t see it. Air is everywhere and it gives   37  　to every living thing. We can’t live  38   it. Bad air makes people ill. We must have fresh air to keep us  39  .

In the city there are a lot of people and there are too many  40   running on the road. The gas which the car sends out is made up of(组成) bad gases. Every day we  41   it in and        out. This makes us feel sick. There are many  42  , too. From the chimneys(烟囱) of these factories, we  43   get the smoke in black color. This kind of smoke is  44  to our health. So in order to keep us healthy, we have to go out to the   45   to breathe more fresh air. Or we can go up hills to get more fresh air.

1.A. because            B. though               C. so

2.A. life               B. name      　         C. pleasure

3.A. with               B. without          C. below

4.A. quiet              B. tall       　    C. healthy

5.A. dogs               B. trains      　  C. cars

6.A. breathe            B. draw       　    C. bring

7.A. animals            B. people           C. factories

8.A. usually  　　      B. never     　         C. seldom

9.A. helpful     　　   B. dangerous        C. necessary

10.A. office    　      B. city             C. Countryside

For several years, Americans have enjoyed teleshopping—watching TV and buying things by phone.Now teleshopping is starting in Europe (欧洲).In a number of European countries, people can turn on their TVs and shop for clothes, jewelry, food, toys, and many other things.

Teleshopping is becoming popular in Sweden, for example.The biggest Swedish company sells different kinds of things on TV in 15 European countries, and in one year it made ＄100 million.In France there are two teleshopping channels, and the French spend about ＄20 million a year to buy things through these channels.

In Germany, until last year teleshopping was only possible on one channel for 1 hour every day.Then the government allowed (允许) more telepshopping.Other channels can open for telebusiness, including (包括) the largest American teleshopping company and a 24?hour teleshopping company.German businessmen are hoping this new teleshopping will help them sell more things.

Some people like teleshopping because it allows them to do their shopping without leaving their homes .With all the problems of traffic in the cities, this is an important reason.But at the same time, other Europeans do not like this new way of shopping.They call teleshopping “junk (垃圾) on the air”.Many Europeans usually worry about the quality (质量) of the things for sale on TV.Good quality is important to them, and they believe they cannot be sure about the quality of the things on TV.

The need for high quality means that European teleshopping companies will have to be different from the American companies.They will have to be more careful about the quality of the things they sell.They will also have to work harder to sell things that the buyers cannot touch or see in person.

(   )11.Teleshopping is ____ in Europe.   

　　A.not popular    B.growing    C.not possible    D.cheap

(   )12.People like teleshopping because it is ____ .

　　A.American     B.cheaper     C.easier         D.more popular

(   )13.Some Europeans don't like teleshopping because they ____ .

A.don't like to buy things               

B.don't watch TV

C.believe the things sold on TV are expensive

D.think the things sold on TV are bad quality

(   )14.In Germany, teleshopping may ____ .

A.help businessmen get more money      B.keep the shops open longer

C.have fewer buyers                   D.bring better TV programmes

(   )15.The best title of this passage is ____ .

A.American Teleshopping           B.Teleshopping Companies

C.Teleshopping in Europe           D.Teleshopping—Junk on the Air