Personal computers and the Internet give people new choices about how to spend their time.

Some may use this freedom to share less time with certain friends or family members, but new technology will also let them stay in closer touch with those they care most about. I know this from personal experience.

E-mail makes it easy to work at home, which is where I now spend most weekends and evenings. My working hours aren’t necessarily much shorter than they once were but I spend fewer of them at the office. This lets me share more time with my young daughter than I might have if she’d been born before electronic mail became such a practical tool.

The Internet also makes it easy to share thoughts with a group of friends. Say you do something fun see a great movie perhaps-and there are four or five friends who might want to hear about it. If you call each one, you may tire of telling the story.

With E-mail, you just write one note about your experience, at your convenience, and address it to all the friends you think might be interested. They can read your message when they have time, and read only as much as they want to. They can reply at their convenience, and you can read what they have to say at your convenience.

E-mail is also an inexpensive way stay in close touch with people who live far away. More than a few parents use E-mail to keep in touch, even daily touch, with their children off at college.

We just have to keep in mind that computers and the Internet offer another way of staying in touch. They don’t take the place of any of the old ways.

1.The purpose of this passage is to ________.

2.The use of E-mail has made it possible for the writer to ________.

3.According to the writer, E-mail has an obvious advantage over the telephone because the former helps one ________.

4. The best title for this passage is ________.

完形填空 阅读下面的短文，掌握其大意，然后从各题所给的A、B、C和D选项中，选出最佳选项。（每小题2分，共30分）

Computers have done us a lot since they turned up. In the future they will play a more important part in many __16__, such as education, transport, personal lives, scientific research and so on. Nowadays computers are being used in ___17__ and industry and can help the farmers to __18__ the conditions of the plants.

More and more computers will come into our daily life with the __19__ of science and technology. If you want to change money or pay your electricity bills, you won’t have to go to the __20__. A computer and a telephone will help you. It can also help you to do the housework and it can even __21___ human voices and carry out the instructions. It is __22__ that the majority of the labor force will work at home. People will be able to use the videophone for conferences. This can help us to save a lot of energy and ___23__. It is said that trains in Japan will have no __24___, because they’ll be well __25___ by computers, which can also tell the best ___26__ between trains.

Computers programs for __27__ whole texts are already well developed. You can ___28__ the name of a certain subject and a __29__ list of book titles will __30__ on your screen. You may choose whichever you want.

There is a famous story about British poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge. He was writing a poem when he was interrupted by a knock at the door.

This was an age before telephones. Someone was delivering a message. When Coleridge got back to his poem, he had lost his inspiration. His poetic mood had been broken by the knock on his door. His unfinished poem, which could otherwise have been a masterpiece, would now never be more than a fragment.

This story tells how unexpected communication can destroy an important thought, which bring us to the cellphone.

The most common complaint about cellphones is that people talk on them to the annoyance of people around them. But more damaging may be the cellphone’s interruption of our thoughts.

We have already entered a golden age of little white lies about our cellphones, and this is by and large(大体上)a healthy, protective development. “I didn’t hear it ring” or “I didn’t realize my phone had shut off” are among the lies we tell to give ourselves space where we’re beyond reach.

The notion of being unreachable is not a new concept—we have “Do Not Disturb” sign on the doors of hotel rooms. So why must we feel guilty when it comes to cellphones? Why must we apologize if we decide to shut off the phone for a while?

Now time alone, or a conversation with someone next to us which cannot be interrupted by a phone, is something to be cherished. Even cellphone devotees（信徒）, myself usually included, can’t help at times wanting to throw their phone away, or curse the day they were invented.

But we don’t and won’t, and there really is no need. All that’s required to take back our private time is a general social recognition that we have the right to it. In other words, we have to develop a healthy contempt for the rings of our own phones.

A cellphone call deserves no greater priority than a random word from the person next to us，though the call on my cellphone may be the one-in-a-million from Steven Spielberg—who has finally read my novel and wants to make it his next movie. But most likely it is not, and I’m better off thinking about the idea I just had for a new story, or the slice of pizza I’ll eat for lunch.

1.What is the point of the anecdote(轶事)about the poet Coleridge in the first three paragraphs?

A．To direct readers’ attention to the main topic.

B．To show how important inspiration is to a poet.

C．To emphasize the disadvantage of not having a cellphone.

D．To encourage readers to read the works of this poet.

2.What does the writer think about people telling “white lies” about their cellphones?

A．It is a way of signaling that you don’t like the caller.

B．It is natural to tell lies about small things

C．It is basically a good way to protect one’s privacy.

D．We should feel guilty when we can’t tell the truth.

3.According to the author, what is the most annoying problem caused by cellphones?

A．People get so obsessed (着迷) with the cellphone rings that they fail to notice anything else.

B．People feel guilty when they are not able to answer their cellphones.

C．Cellphones interrupt people’s private time.

D．With cellphones it is no longer possible to be unreachable.

4.What does the last paragraph suggest?

A．A person who calls us from afar deserves more of our attention.

B．Steven Spielberg once called the author to talk about the author’s novel.

C．You should always finish your lunch before you answer a call on the cellphone.

D．Never let cellphones disturb your life too much.

阅读下面短文，从短文后所给各题的四个选项（A,B,C和D)中，选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

Sometimes I really doubt whether there is love between my parents．They are very busy working to __36_ the family．They don’t act in the _37__ ways that I read in books or I see on TV．__38__ flowers to each other on Valentine’s Day is even more __39__．

One day，my mother was sewing a quilt．I __40__ sat down beside her and looked at her．“Mom，is there love between you and Dad?” I asked her in a __41__ voice.

My mother stopped and raised her head with __42 _ in her eyes．She didn’t answer immediately．Then she __43__ her head and continued to sew the quilt．At last my mother said:

“Susan,” she said，“Look at this thread．Sometimes it appears，but most of it __44__ in the quilt．The thread really makes the quilt strong and __45__．If life is a quilt，then love should be a __46__．It can hardly be seen anywhere or anytime，but it’s really there．Love is __47__.”

The next spring，my father suddenly got sick seriously．When they returned from the hospital，mother looked rather pale and it seemed __48__ of them had had a serious illness．Every day in the morning and dusk，my mother helped my father __49__ slowly on the country road．My father had never been so __50__．Along the country road，there were many beautiful flowers，green grass and trees．The sun gently glistened through the leaves．All of these __51__ the most beautiful picture in the world.

“Dad，how are you feeling now?” I asked him one day.

He said gently．“__52__，I just like walking with your mom．I like this kind of life.” __53__ his eyes，I know he loves my mother deeply.

__54__ I thought love meant flowers，gifts and sweet kisses．But from this __55__，I understand that love is just a thread in the quilt of our life．Love is inside，making life strong and warm.

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9.．A．lost          B．turned out      C disappeared       D．came up

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11.．A．needle            B．cloth                C  thread         D．sheet

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18.．A．Seeing        B．Reading       C  Watching       D．Observing

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20.．A．process           B．way                 C matter              D．experience