—Have you read today’s report about your performance?

— I don’t care what ＿＿ about me.

A．will be written      B．writes            C．wrote            D．is written

As I write this, I have half an eye on an old James Bond film that is showing on my computer. But this is a story about how I stopped watching TV and began reading again for pleasure, after ten years in which I hardly turned a page.
I suppose I was an enthusiastic reader of "literature" between the ages of nine and fourteen. I had enough time to be White Fang, Robinson Crusoe, and Bilbo Baggins and Jeeves. Of course there was room in the schoolboy's imagination for some real historical figures: Scott of the Antarctic, all of the Vikings, and Benjamin Franklin were good friends of mine.
Then, in adolescence, I began a long search for strange and radical (激进的) ideas. I wanted to challenge my elders and betters, and shock my fellow students with amazing points of view. Of course, the only place to look was in books. I hunted out the longest titles and the authors with the funniest names; I searched the library for completely unread books. Then I found one which became my bible for the whole of 1982, it had a title composed of eleven long words and an author whose name I didn't know how to pronounce. It was really thick and looked dead serious. Even better, it put forward a whole world-view that would take days to explain. Perfect. I took it out of the library three times, proud to see the date-stamps lined up on the empty library insert.
Later, I went to university. Expecting to spend long evenings in learned discussion with clever people, I started reading philosophy. For some reason I never found the deep-thinking intellectuals I hoped to meet. Anyway, I was ready to impress with my profound (深奥的) knowledge of post-structuralism, existentialism and situationism. These things are usually explained in rather short books, but they take a long time to get through. They were the end of my youthful reading.
Working life was hard to get used to after so much theory. It was the end of books for me. There didn't seem to be much in books that would actually get things done. To do things you had to answer the telephone and work a computer. You had to travel about and speak to people who weren't at all interested in philosophy. I didn't stop reading, you can't avoid that. I read all day. But no books came my way, only manuals (操作手册) and contracts and documents. Maybe most people satisfy their need for stories and ideas with TV and, to tell the truth, it was all I needed for ten years. In those days I only had a book "on the go" for the duration of aeroplane flights. At first I would come home and watch TV over dinner. Then, I moved the TV so I could watch it from bed. I even got a switch so I could turn it off without getting out of bed. Then, one fateful day, my TV broke and my landlady took it away.
My new TV is an extra circuit board (电路板) inside my computer. It's on a desk in front of a working chair and I can't see it from the bed. I still use it for the weather forecasts and it's nice to have it on while I'm typing this… but what to do last thing at night? Well, have another go with books.
Now, I just like books. I have a pile of nice ones by my bed and I'm reading about six at the same time. I don't want to be any of the characters. I don't care if a thousand people have already read them. I don't have to search through libraries. There are books everywhere and all of them have something to read in them. I have the strange feeling that they've been there all along, waiting for me to pick them up.
【小题1】The writer enjoyed reading “literature” between the ages of nine and fourteen because ________.

  Everyone knows that you can study the English language for years and still not understand a native speaker of English.

  Well, here’s a secret for you: a lot of British people can’t understand each other either! Apart from the different regional accents across the country, language can also differ (不同) among age groups. The words and pronunciations used by young Britons can be very different to those used by adults. This is called “yoof” culture.

  The word “yoof” is a slang (俚语) spelling of “youth”. Some people consider “yoof” to be a negative (消极的) term, since its pronunciation is easier than “youth”. Other people see the term as positive, because it describes how young people are creating their own language, concepts (观念) and identity.

  When parents find it difficult to understand their children, the children can say more things without the censorship (审查) of their parents. In this way, young people are starting to find freedom, independence and self-expression.

   They are creating a “yoof culture”. It is impossible to come up with a complete list of words used by yoof. By the time the list was completed, it would be out of date. New words come and go like fashions.

                                                By A.J. Dalton

The point of the article is _____.

  A. to list words used by yoof

  B. to introduce UK yoof culture

  C. to give advice on how to communicate with native English speakers

  D. to explain why it is hard for British people to understand each other

According to the article, children are creating a “yoof culture” _______.

  A. to stay cool among their peers

  B. to draw more attention from their parents

  C. to avoid interference of their parents in their lives

  D. to keep up with the fast pace of modern society

According to the article, which of the following is TRUE?

  A. The variety of regional accents in the UK is an obstacle to communication.

  B. Some people consider the term “yoof” positive because it is easier to pronounce than “youth”.

  C.A few vocabularies used by yoof are going to be collected in dictionaries.

  D. Yoof culture is getting popular all around the English speaking countries.

By saying “Sorted!”, yoof probably means ______.

  A. “I’m very tired.”           B. “I understand.”

  C. “You got it wrong!”      D. “I don’t care!”

If I were writing a history of my family, some of the darkest moments recorded would be those surrounding Christmas trees．One would certainly think otherwise；selecting and puRing up our trees have always been filled with risk．For example，one afternoon dangerously close to Christmas Eve my mother bought what she thought to be a bargain，a glorious tree that was so full and tall that we could hardly get it into the house．Once we did，my father immediately realized that we would have to hire a carpenter to build a stand for it．Another December perhaps the very next one，we bought a tree earlier than we ever had before．We were happy with its shape and delighted that its size was manageable．We easily placed it in a stand，decorated it from top to bottom，and then self satisfiedly sat back by the fire in its soft light．Two or three days passed and the truth could not be hidden；we had bought a tree cut so long ago that its needles were coming off．There was nothing to do but undecorate it，take it down，and begin tree shopping again．Our most recent Christmas tree offered still another difficult task．When we brought it home，once again it seemed larger than it was in the great outdoors．I persuaded two young neighbors to stop playing basketball and to help us get the tree into the house and set it correctly in the stand．Unfortunately，no one noticed the mud on our helpers’shoes，so only after removing several reddish brown spots from the carpet were we able to discuss the question of where the lights and ornaments（装饰）were stored．Perhaps those who cut their own trees have tales more painful than these．I don’t care to hear them，as my family’s experiences are enough to cause me to make the following suggestion：”Let’s forget the tree next Christmas．Let’s simply hang some flowers on the front door and over the mirror in the hall．”

The darkest moments in the writer’s family were with the fact that ______．

       A．the family bought big Christmas trees

       B．they had problems decorating their Christmas trees

       C．they had problems picking suitable Christmas trees

       D．they had problems finding carpenters for putting up Christmas trees

We can learn from the passage that the writer would like to ______．

       A．forget about Christmas stories

       B．get the neighbors to put up their trees

       C．buy a better tree to celebrate Christmas

       D．make other decorations rather than Christmas trees

When the writer said”my mother bought what she thought to be a bargain”，he means____．

       A．she bought the tree at a low price         

       B．she didn’t really want to buy it

       C．she had to bargain hard with the salesman  

       D．she couldn’t afford a more expensive one

Which of the following can be the best title for the passage ?

       A．How to Select a Christmas Tree         B．No More Christmas Trees for Us

       C．Dark Moments of Life                 D．Christmas Without Trees

 —Linda didn’t invite us to her birthday party.

   —_______? I don’t care.

A. For what              B. So what                          C. what’s on     D. what’s up