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.

It is normal for parents to question their children's hairstyle or the clothes they wear. But today teenagers and their parents argue over something else: money.
Children are spending lots of it. Parents used to say to their children, "You're wearing that?" Now they say, "You paid how much for that?"
Children in the US today spend five times more money than their parents did when they were young.
So what are all these children buying? The list is long: ipods trainers(训练鞋), cellphones and jeans are typical items that children "have to" buy. And they will do anything to get them. They ask their parents over and over until they buy them.
But parents also need to take the blame for spending so much money. They want their children to have the best stuff. They end up competing with other parents over what their children have.
So no wonder children find it hard to learn the importance of saving money rather than spending it all the time.
And it's hard to save when companies use advertising and clever slogans to encourage young people to buy their products. They even encourage children to keep asking their parents for something until they get it.
Today, you don't even need to have money in order to buy something. Banks give out credit cards and loans all the time so people are saving less and less. We are used to there being lots of money around. And if you don't have much you can always borrow some.
But this hasn't always been the case. When our grandparents were young there was very little money and everyone had to save hard for things they bought. They only bought things they needed, not things they just wanted.
The older generation made the wise expression, "Money doesn’t grow on trees." This is as true now as it was 50 years ago. They give money a great deal of value. And we all have a lot to learn from them.
【小题1】The text mainly tells us ________.

用合适的连接词填空。

1.He talked about the teachers and schools ________ he had visited.

2.Some of the roads were flooded, ________ made our journey more difficult.

3.The novel ________ you’re interested was written by Mark Twain.

4._________ is often the case, we have worked out the production plan.

5.He has told me _________ he will go to Shanghai tomorrow.

6.I want to know _________ he has told you.

7.The question is _________ they will be able to help us or not.

8.Go and get your coat. It’s _________ you left it.

9._______ broke the glass yesterday is not clear.

10._________ car you will choose to buy makes no difference.

11._________ breaks the law should be punished.

Even if we have an extremely healthy diet and lifestyle, the human body is programmed to wear out at a maximum of about 120 years, and usually less. We all have a biological clock inside us which determines the moment when our organs cease to function properly. This is because our cells have stopped renewing themselves and our body can no longer repair itself. This is also the moment when we are more likely to begin to suffer from the diseases of old age such as arthritis and Alzheimer’s. However, rapid advances in DNA research are beginning to throw light on the secrets of the ageing process. By the end of this century we could literally have the power of life over death.
Although it has long been accepted that humans have a fixed lifespan, it is also a fact that certain other organisms, such as reptiles and amphibians, appear to live indefinitely. The only reason we do not see 500-year-old alligators is because in the wild their lives are always in danger, from man, from pollution and from other animals. When they are kept in zoos they do not seem to age at all after they are fully grown. The same is true of some species of fish, which grow indefinitely and show no signs of ageing. The existence of animals with no fixed lifespan seems to indicate that an age gene really does exist. It is this gene which scientists are searching for, which may delay or repair damage to the body caused by ageing.
Another new area of research involves the oxidation（氧化） theory, which says that ageing is caused by the same process that makes iron rust. In controlled experiments, the lifespans of certain animals were shown to be lengthened with anti-oxidants; for example, the lifespan of mice can be increased by 30%. Antioxidants are already being used in face creams and other cosmetics, and they are likely to play an important part in keeping people physically young.
Perhaps the most immediate advance we are likely to see in the battle to halt（停止）the ageing process will be organ replacement. By the year 2020 it is likely that we will be replacing injured bones or even organs like livers and kidneys with ones “grown” in laboratories. By 2050 perhaps every organ in the body, except the brain, will have become commercially available. Recent experiments also show that it may one day be possible to “grow” new organs inside our body to replace worn-out ones, something which lizards and alligators already do.
Suddenly immortality（不死，不朽） seems within reach. We can begin to imagine a future where we are born, we grow to maturity, but we never grow old and die. But do we really want to live forever?
【小题1】 When all humans reach a certain age,         .

Whether you admit or not, music is rooted in our daily life, weaving its beauty and emotion through our thoughts, activities and memories. So if you’re interested in music theory, music appreciation, Beethoven, Mozart, artists and performers, we hope you’ll spend some time here and learn from those music articles of note for all ages and tastes.
When I first started studying the history of music, I did not realize what I was getting into. I had thought that music history was somewhat of an unimportant pursuit（追求）. In fact, I only took my history of classical music class because I needed the credits（学分）. I did not realize how really attractive music history was. You see, in our culture many of us do not really learn to understand music. When I began to learn about the history of Western music, however, it changed all that for me.
When most of us think about the history of music, we think of the history of rock music, we assume that the history is simple because the music is simple. In fact, neither is the case, The history of music, whether you’re talking about classical music, rock music, jazz music, or any other kind, is never simple.
Even when the class was over, I would not stop learning about the history of music. It had attracted my interest, and I wanted more.
【小题1】What is the author’s purpose in writing the text?