E

“How’s the basketball coming on?”

I put down my drink and looked across at the next table. I was curious about that because both the man and the woman were at least 65.

“Oh, I’m not playing much basketball these days,” the woman replied. “But I’m getting much better at golf.”

What’s this, I thought. I opened my packet of crisps, thoughtfully. “I’m still pretty hopeless at chess, I’m afraid,” the man said. “It beat me on level one this morning.”

The penny dropped. These two were the proud owners of computer games.

It’s very likely that one of the results of the development of the silicon chip(硅片) will be that a lot of people will have more exciting ways to spend their leisure time. It already has. Space invader machines are now a familiar sight everywhere. A lot of people play them, and some, particularly school children, get remarkably high scores. How, one wonders, do they find the time (and money) to become so good?

If you have your own computers, the possibilities are endless. You can play any active sports without stepping out of your living room.

You can become an expert at chess or backgammon without ever playing with another human being. Indeed, human beings aren’t needed at all.

So, what of the future? Will we see school children stealing or even robbing to feed space invader machines? Will football grounds lie empty as families sit at home playing video football, or watching the national video football championship? Perhaps, it won’t go that far. But we won’t have to wait long for the Video Olympics. I’m sure of that.

Back in the pub, I stood up, took out 20 pence, and went over to the space invader machine. I may not be much good at beating computers at backgammon, but any space invaders who arrive on Earth anywhere near me had better watch out.

72. The reason why the writer felt curious about the talk between the couple was that ____.

A. he thought they were too old to play basketball

B. they looked young for their age

C. the old seldom went to the bar

D. he didn’t believe they played basketball so well

73. The underlined sentence “The penny dropped.” in the fifth paragraph probably means ____.

A. his wallet was stolen

B. he dropped a penny into the space invader machine

C. he asked for another drink for a penny

D. he’s come to see what they meant

74. The text is mainly written to tell us that ____.

A. computers will make people have a better time in their leisure time

B. the writer was worried about the side effect of computers

C. the old couple were excellent at playing golf

D. school children shouldn’t play space invader machines so much

75. We can infer form the passage that ____.

A. we can do everything without leaving our home in the future

B. the writer was good at playing the space invader game

C. school children will certainly steal or rob to feed the space invader machines

D. the woman is better at playing chess than the man

E
“How’s the basketball coming on?”
I put down my drink and looked across at the next table. I was curious about that because both the man and the woman were at least 65.
“Oh, I’m not playing much basketball these days,” the woman replied. “But I’m getting much better at golf.”
What’s this, I thought. I opened my packet of crisps, thoughtfully. “I’m still pretty hopeless at chess, I’m afraid,” the man said. “It beat me on level one this morning.”
The penny dropped. These two were the proud owners of computer games.
It’s very likely that one of the results of the development of the silicon chip(硅片) will be that a lot of people will have more exciting ways to spend their leisure time. It already has. Space invader machines are now a familiar sight everywhere. A lot of people play them, and some, particularly school children, get remarkably high scores. How, one wonders, do they find the time (and money) to become so good?
If you have your own computers, the possibilities are endless. You can play any active sports without stepping out of your living room.
You can become an expert at chess or backgammon without ever playing with another human being. Indeed, human beings aren’t needed at all.
So, what of the future? Will we see school children stealing or even robbing to feed space invader machines? Will football grounds lie empty as families sit at home playing video football, or watching the national video football championship? Perhaps, it won’t go that far. But we won’t have to wait long for the Video Olympics. I’m sure of that.
Back in the pub, I stood up, took out 20 pence, and went over to the space invader machine. I may not be much good at beating computers at backgammon, but any space invaders who arrive on Earth anywhere near me had better watch out.
72. The reason why the writer felt curious about the talk between the couple was that ____.
A. he thought they were too old to play basketball
B. they looked young for their age
C. the old seldom went to the bar
D. he didn’t believe they played basketball so well
73. The underlined sentence “The penny dropped.” in the fifth paragraph probably means ____.
A. his wallet was stolen
B. he dropped a penny into the space invader machine
C. he asked for another drink for a penny
D. he’s come to see what they meant
74. The text is mainly written to tell us that ____.
A. computers will make people have a better time in their leisure time
B. the writer was worried about the side effect of computers
C. the old couple were excellent at playing golf
D. school children shouldn’t play space invader machines so much
75. We can infer form the passage that ____.
A. we can do everything without leaving our home in the future
B. the writer was good at playing the space invader game
C. school children will certainly steal or rob to feed the space invader machines
D. the woman is better at playing chess than the man

请认真阅读下面对话，并根据各题所给首字母的提示，在标有题号的右边横线上，写出一个英语单词的完整、正确形式，使对话通顺。

M: Well, this is it! What do you think of it?

W: I can hardly believe it's real. I've (76)d        of seeing it ever since       _________

 I saw it in books when I was a child. Just thinking of all this being built

 by hand more than 2,000 years ago! No (77)w       it's one of the      _________

wonders of the world.

M: (78) A      the started building is more than 2,500 years ago when   _________

 China was divided into (79)v      states. Three of the northern states   _________

 built defensive walls along their borders to keep (80)o       the enemies.

._________

W. But I always thought the wall had been built by Qin Shihuang, the first

   (81) E       of China.                                                                 _________

M: Well, yes. In the way, you see, he united the(82)w      country in the_________

 third century B. C. and one of the things he did was to join the (83)s    _________

walls into one big wall and to build more walls from the east coast right

across the length of north China to the west.

W: It is certainly something any nation could be proud of. I hear this is the

 only human(84)c       on the earth that can be seen from the moon.    _________

 By the way, how tall is the wall?

M: The average (85) h       is 7.8 meters; the average width is 6.5 meters_________

 at the base and 4.5 meters at the top. Would you like to go up to the top?

W: Yes! I'd like to have a look from the top.

I never got along well with Dad. But when he was dying, I set off for Nebraska to be with him and my family. I stopped for the night at a hotel with a pool, hoping a swim would relax me.
The pool area was empty as I walked into the still water. A man in a bathing suit appeared. He sat on the edge of the pool with his legs moving up and down in the water. He had dark hair and deep brown eyes and smiled. ‘Where are you going?’ he asked. When I told him something about my father, he asked how we got along. I tried to change the subject, but then for some reason, I told him everything.
Finally the man said, ‘Even with all the trouble, remember, your father still loves you.’ All at once, warm and clear childhood memories came flooding back: Dad running alongside my wobbling (摇摆的) bicycle, the proud hug he gave me at my high school graduation, his laugh when I caught him off guard with a tickle(挠痒). ‘Yes, I know he does love me,’ I heard myself say. And for the first time these years I believed it. The man left, leaving me alone with my comforting thoughts.
Back in my room, as I went to bed, I decided it was time to forgive（原谅） my father. Then I wished he’d forgiven me too. The phone bell woke me up at 3 a.m. My sister’s voice sent a shock (寒战) through me: Dad had just died. I had wanted to see him and make peace. But as my sadness grew, I remembered that the man by the pool had already brought Dad and me together.
64. From the passage we learn that the author __________.
A. didn’t know his father was seriously ill        B. always thought highly of his father
C. lived in Nebraska far away from his family       D. was going to see his father
65. When the author was in the swimming pool, __________.
A. many other people were there, too
B. he talked a lot with the man by the pool
C. he greeted the man by the pool first
D. the man by the pool told him everything about his family
66. What made the author change his original（原始的）idea about his father?
A. That he was made to think of the fact that his father loved him.
B. That the man by the pool mentioned(提及) his interesting childhood.
C. That he remembered his father had taught him to ride a bike.
D. That he knew his father would leave him forever.
67. In the last paragraph, the author was sad that he __________.
A. hadn’t accepted the kind stranger’s advice
B. had no chance to make peace with his father
C. hadn’t respected his father when he was young
D. hadn’t stayed with his father before. 

M: Well, this is it! What do you think of it?

W: I can hardly believe it's real．I've d        of seeing it ever since  _______

I saw it in books when I was a child．Just thinking of all this being built

by hand more than 2,000 years ago! No w       it's one of the         _______

wonders of the world．

M: A      the started building is more than 2,500 years ago when     ________

China was divided into v      states．Three of the northern states      ________

built defensive walls along their borders to keep o       the enemies．   ________

W．But I always thought the wall had been built by Qin Shihuang, the first

E       of China．        _______

M: Well, yes．In the way, you see, he united thew      country in the          ________

third century B．C．and one of the things he did was to join the s          ________

walls into one big wall and to build more walls from the east coast right

across the length of north China to the west．

W: It is certainly something any nation could be proud of．I hear this is the

only humanc       on the earth that can be seen from the moon．         ________

By the way, how tall is the wall?

M: The average h       is 7．8 meters; the average width is 6．5 meters    ________

at the base and 4．5 meters at the top．Would you like to go up to the top?

W: Yes! I'd like to have a look from the top．