It’s 10:30 p.m., and 11-year-old Brandon Blanco is sound asleep at home. Suddenly, a loud noise wakes him up. Naturally, Brandon reaches for his cell phone. He blinks twice, and the message on the screen becomes clear: “R U awake?”

But the late-night text does not annoy Brandon. He gets frequent messages and calls, even after bedtime. And he can’t imagine life without them. “If I didn’t have a cell phone, I wouldn’t be able to talk to my friends or family as often,” he told the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Brandon’s use of technology doesn’t stop there. He also has a computer, a TV and three video-game consoles（控制台）in his room. With so many devices, it is no surprise that when he is not at school, he spends nearly every waking minute using one or more of these devices. Brandon is hardly alone. According to a recent study by TFK, kids aged 8 to 18 are spending more time than ever before using electronic devices. How much time? More than seven and a half hours a day on average, the study found. That’s about an hour more than just five years ago.

The jump is the result of a huge explosion in mobile devices, says Victoria Rideout, the lead author of the study. “These devices have opened up many more opportunities for young people to use media, whether it’s on the bus, on the way to school or waiting in line at the pizza parlor,” says Rideout.

Often, kids multitask, or use more than one device at a time. “If you’ve got a chance to do something on your computer and take a phone call and have the TV on in the background, why not?” Media expert Cheryl Olson says. Most experts agree technology has much to offer kids. But some worry the kids could be missing out on other activities like playing outside or hanging out with friends. “It’s a matter of balance,” says Olson.

Multitasking while doing homework is another concern. Some kids listen to music, watch TV or use the phone while doing their homework. “It’s important to make sure that you can stop and concentrate on one thing deeply,” says Rideout.

With new and exciting devices hitting stores every year, keeping technology use in check is more important than ever. “Kids should try,” adds Rideout. “But parents might have to step in sometimes.”

1.It can be learned from the text that _________.

A. many teenagers lack friends in their middle school

B. kids have too many electronic devices to choose from

C. Brandon feels annoyed about his late-night message

D. Olson is against teenagers’ using mobile phones

2.Which of the following is an example of multitasking?

A. Watching TV when using the computer.    

B. Talking on the phone when lying on the sofa.

C. Playing video games after having lunch.     

D. Listening to loud music while relaxing.

3.The underlined phrase “in check” in the last paragraph can be replaced by _________.

A. in order         B. in store         C. in control               D. in sight

4.According to the text, Victoria Rideout would probably agree that kids should ______.

A. do homework while watching TV           

B. have less homework

C. spend more time on homework             

D. do homework in a place without disturbance

Every person leaves a footprint. That’s what I learnt when I started to work as a private investigator 10 years ago．People pay restaurant bills with their bank card，check into hotels or travel around. In every case，they leave a trace．And because of this，I’m able to track them down even when they don’t want to be found．

The first thing I do when I want to find out where someone is staying is to go to the neighbourhood where he used to live．It’s human nature to tell stories―which is why neighbours will tell me all they know when I ring at their houses．Sometimes，someone even talks about his friend’s dishonesty．Then I produce a pattern of my subject’s life：if he likes to have a holiday in Spain or in Italy，if he prefers two- or three- star hotels and where he might hide his assets(资产)．When I’ve got this life pattern，I start my rescarch．

Nine times out of l0，I find the people I’m looking for．I once investigated a lorry supplier who owed ￡500,000 to a subcontractor(分包商)．The subcontractor wanted to find out if it was worth bringing charges against the supplier．I found out the supplier had moved assets to his son，who founded a new company offering the same product．It was a11 done within the law．There was no money to be got from that operation．

However, I asked the son if I could speak to his father and he told me that his parent was on a long holiday in Spain and wouldn’t be back for a while．It didn’t take me long to find out that the father wasn’t in Spain．

I went back to the son and this time he told me that his father might be in Bulgaria,and I found him doing winter sports in a beautiful mountain area．He was 1iving in a big house on a 1arge piece of land he had bought for є 400，000．This was exactly the kind of asset my customer was loooking for．

52．We learn from the text that a private investigator is one who_______.

    A．follows people reports on what they do

    B．helps people start businesses

    C．gives advice to people about the law

    D．settles arguments between companies

53．Why does the author visit the place where his subject used to stay？

    A．To find out hi hidden assets．

    B．To gather information about him．

    C．To discover why he is dishonest．

    D．To find out where he spends his holiday．

54．The lorry supplier moved his assets to his son in oder to______．

    A．pass on his debt to his son

    B．double the business of his company

    C．le this son take over his lorry business

    D．prevent paying back the money he owed

55．We may infer from the text that the subcontractor might______.

    A．bring charges against the lorry supplier’s son

    B．give up hope of settling the debt

    C．sell the big house in Bulgaria

    D．get his money back

---Do you know what Tom does all day?

---I know he spends at least _______ time watching TV as he does spend doing his lessons.

A. more　　　　??? B. as much????????? C. much??????????? D. as more

情景对话（共5小题，每小题1分，满分5分）

根据对话内容，从对话后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。

Jane: Oh, that's Mr. Taylor. He is so boring.

Mother: What do you mean?

Jane:    6   And he's so quick tempered, mum.

Mother:   7  Are you sure, darling?

Jane: Yes, he gets angry very quickly.

Mother :   8 

Jane: And do you know, he spends all his time looking at his reflection in the window, admiring himself.

Mother : Really?  9  

Jane: Because he is vain, that's why! And conceited (自负的). He thinks he knows everything.

Mother: Oh, Jane. Be reasonable. I'm sure you're exaggerating (夸张), Mr. Taylor seems such a nice and kind man.

Jane:   10   He's mean (小气的) and cruel.

Mother: Cruel? Now how can a history teacher be cruel?

Jane: Because he only gave me two out of ten marks in my history test.

Mother: Oh, now I understand, Jane. I think you'd better get on with your homework.

E. Quick tempered? Mr. Taylor ?

F. Yes, he does.

G. He doesn’t like me.

第二节 读写任务 (共1小题,满分25分)

    阅读下面的一封信，然后按照要求用英语写一篇150词左右的回信。

Dear Abby,

Last month my son was told that he no longer has to attend weekend classes at his school.  Since then he spends his weekends going out with his friends to play sports or watch movies.  When he is at home all he seems to do is surf the Internet or play silly computer games. I really think he is just wasting his time having fun when he should be studying. I sometimes ask him if he has homework or extra study to do, but he always says that he has already completed it all. This change makes me very worried. I feel that this free time is encouraging him to be lazy. He isn’t studying long enough and this will reduce his chances of getting into university. I also think it will cause problems when he begins to work because he will not be able to concentrate well and will think more of having fun than his job. I have considered going to the school principal and asking him to change their decision but my son says if I do so his classmates will laugh at him. I don’t want to embarrass my child but I don’t want him to fall behind either. 

Please help.

Concerned Mum

[写作内容]

假设你是信中的Abby，准备给这位母亲回信。以下是回信的内容（信的开头和结尾已经为你写好）：

1．以约30个词概括你所阅读的这封信的主要内容；

2．以约120个词提出你的观点和建议，并包括如下要点：

(1) 你读信后的感受；

(2) 你对信中所述现象的个人观点；

(3) 你对这位母亲的建议。

[写作要求]

1．信中可使用自己的亲身经历或虚构的故事，也可以参照阅读材料的内容,但不得直接引用原文中的句子；

2．信中不能出现真实姓名和学校名称。

[评分标准]

概括准确，语言规范，内容合适，篇章连贯。