After too long on the Net, even a phone call can be a shock. My boyfriend’s Liverpudlian accent suddenly becomes too difficult to understand after his clear words on screen; a secretary’s tone seems more rejecting than I’d imagined it would be. Time itself becomes fluid—hours become minutes, and alternately seconds stretch into days. Weekends, once a highlight of my week, are now just two ordinary days.

For the last three years, since I stopped working as a producer for Charlie Rose, I have done much of my work as a tele-commuter. I submit（提交） articles and edit them by E-mail and communicate with colleagues on Internet mailing lists. My boyfriend lives in England; so much of our relationship is computer-mediated.

If I desired, I could stay inside for weeks without wanting anything. I can order food, and manage my money, love and work. In fact, at times I have spent as long as three weeks alone at home, going out only to get mail and buy newspapers and groceries. I watched most of the blizzard(暴风雪) of ’96 on TV.

But after a while, life itself begins to feel unreal. I start to feel as though I’ve merged（融合） with my machines, taking data in, spitting them back out, just another node（波节） on the Net. Others on line report the same symptoms. We start to strongly dislike the outside forms of socializing. It’s like attending an A. A. meeting in a bar with everyone holding a half-sipped drink. We have become the Net opponents’ worst nightmare.

What first seemed like a luxury, crawling from bed to computer, not worrying about hair, and clothes and face, has become an avoidance（逃避），a lack of discipline. And once you start replacing real human contact with cyber interaction, coming back out of the cave can be quite difficult.

At times, I turn on the television and just leave it to chatter in the background, something that I’d never done previously. The voices of the programs relax me, but then I’m jarred by the commercials. I find myself sucked in by soap operas, or needing to keep up with the latest news and the weather.　“Dateline”, “Frontline” , “Nightline,” CNN, every possible angle of every story over and over and over, even when they are of no possible use to me. Work moves from foreground to background.

1.Compared to the clear words of her boyfriend on screen, his accent becomes______.

A. unreal       B. unbearable

C. misleading       D. not understandable

2.The passage implies that the author and her boyfriend live in______.

A. the same city                  B. the same country

C. different countries              D. different cities in England

3.What does the last paragraph mean?

A. Having worked on the computer for too long, she became a bit strange.

B. Sometimes TV programs give her comfort and even makes her forget her work.

C. She watches TV a lot in order to keep up with the latest news and the weather.

D. She turns on TV now and then in order to get some valuable information.

4.What is the author’s attitude to the computer?

A. At first she likes it but later becomes tired of it.

B. She likes it because it is very convenient.

C. She dislikes it because TV is more attractive.

D. She likes it because it provides an imaginary world.

5.The underlined phrase “coming back out of the cave” probably means______.

A. going back to the dreaming world

B. coming back home from the outside world

C. bringing back direct human contact

D. getting away from living a strange life

I’ve always had strong opinions of how love should be expressed, but others had their own ways of showing care.

         What I      most about visiting my boyfriend’s parents is the loud tick of the clock in the dining room as we      ate our meal. With so little conversation I was quick to      his family as cold. When we got into the      to go home, his father suddenly appeared.      , he began to wash his son’s windscreen. I could feel he was a caring man through the glass.

         I learned another lesson about love a few years later. My father often      me early in the morning. “Buy Xerox. It’s a good sharp price,” he might say when I answered the phone. No pleasant    or inquiry about my life, just financial instructions. This manner of his      me and we often quarreled. But one day, I thought about my father’s success in business and realized that his concern for my financial security lay behind his      morning calls. The next time he called and told me to buy a stock, I      him.

         When my social style has conflicted with that of my friends, I’ve often felt     . For example, I always return phone calls      and regularly contact with my friends. I expect the same from them. I had one friend who rarely called, answering my messages with short e-mails. I rushed to the      : She wasn’t a good friend! My anger       as the holidays approached. But then she came to a gathering I      and handed me a beautiful dress I had fallen in love with when we did some window-shopping the previous month. I was      at her thoughtfulness, and regretful for how I’d considered her to be      . Clearly I needed to change my expectations of friends.

         Far too often, I ignored their       expressions, eagerly expecting them to do things in my   . Over the years, however, I’ve learned to      other persons, love signs.

1.A. remember             B. enjoy        C. value                 D. admire

2.A. excitedly               B. nervously          C. silently                   D. instantly

3.A. regard                  B. treat               C. take                      D. think

4.A. bus           B. train                 C. car                       D. plane

5.A. Punctually     B. Carefully            C. Proudly                  D. Coldly

6.A. visited          B. interrupted        C. warned                  D. telephoned

7.A. greeting                 B. meeting            C. apology         D. explanation

8.A. interested              B. angered             C. encouraged               D. surprised

9.A. long            B. short               C. warm           D. polite

10.A. praised                B. remembered       C. blamed           D. thanked

11.A. content               B. guilty                C. curious           D. disappointed

12.A. in order                B. in turn

C. without delay      D. without difficulty

13.A. feeling       B. suggestion          C. judgment                 D. belief

14.A. disappeared           B. grew                C. helped                    D. declined

15.A. opened               B. refused             C. hosted                   D. invited

16.A. depressed             B. upset               C. fascinated               D. shocked

17.A. uncaring     B. dishonest           C. unhappy                 D. uncooperative

18.A. unique                 B. common           C. pleasant                 D. familiar

19.A. opinion      B. way                C. mind             D. life

20.A. send                   B. read                 C. give              D. express

Have you got a Facebook account? Are you thinking of getting one? Jamie Simmonds has just signed up. Let’s see how she’s getting along.

My Diary

MONDAY: I’m officially a Facebooker. I find a few people I used to know and I’ve soon got seven friends. I’ve never felt so popular! I wonder if my old university flatmate Steve is on here…What do you know! He is! Maybe Facebook has its uses.

TUESDAY: I’ve received lots of nice welcoming messages on my wall. Later, I meet up with Steve for a drink after not seeing him for five years. We get on really well! Then, he uses his Facebook app for iPhone to suggest me as a friend to some other former classmates. Some of them even come to the pub and it’s just like old times – possibly a bit too much like old times. During the night, photos are uploaded to Facebook.

WEDNESDAY: Disaster! My mum’s on Facebook! Has she seen the photos of me dancing on the table from last night? Has she shown them to dad? Oh. And I have a friend request – mum again!

THURSDAY: There’s a message from my boyfriend, “so, it’s over then, ;is it?” Evidently I haven’t changed my settings to show I’m “in a relationship”, and I haven’t even added him as a friend. Ah, well, I wonder what my ex-boyfriend is doing… Whoops! I accidentally type his name into my status box instead of the search ‘ and now every one can see it on their news feed.’

FRIDAY: Time to update my status:“Work is boring. Can’t wait for the weekend!” Yeah, that about sums it up. Oh, look, I’ve received a comment! Someone must feel the same way. Lots of my friends now“like” this status.

SATURDAY: Good news! I’ve got 100 friends But wait! Someone’s “un-friended” me! I look through my “friend list” to try to work out who it was. Why did they do that? Am I really such a terrible person? I never knew Facebook could be this cruel.

SUNDAY: Wake up. Check my Facebook page. Make coffee. Check my Facebook page again. Get ready to leave. Change my mind and check my Facebook page … again. I am becoming addicted to it! I think it’s time to end it all before it takes over my life. I delete my account. Back to good, old, simple e-mails. Oh, look, I’ve got a message: A friend invited you to join Twitter. . .

In July 2010, Facebook had more than 500 million active users. The average Facebook user has 130 friends. Facebook is translated into more than 70 different languages. The world spends 700 billion minutes a month on Facebook. Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook page says he’s a Harvard graduate, even though he actually dropped out to focus on Facebook. The site is valued at between $7.9 and $11 billion.

1. Why did Jamie’s boyfriend ask her whether she had broken up with him?

    A. He had seen photos of Jamie dancing on the table.

    B. She showed in her facebook that she was still not dating anyone.

    C. Her boyfriend was angry that she refused to add him as her friend.

    D. He saw the name of her ex-boyfriend on his news feed.

2.Which of the following is conveyed in this article?

    A. Visiting Facebook website took up a large part of Jamie’s time and energy.

    B. Jamie is enthusiastic about her present job.

    C. Facebook was created by a Harvard graduate, Mark Zuckerberg.

    D. Compared with Facebook, Twitter is a better choice for Jamie.

3.What does the word“un-friend” mean in“Someone’s ‘un-friended’ me!”?

    A.  Being unfriendly to others.

    B.  Having a quarrel with somebody.

    C.  Removing a name from the friend list.

    D.  Ending friendship with somebody.

4.Which of the following is true according to the passage ?

   A. Steve was Jamie’s boyfriend in the university.

   B. People all over the world spend 700 billion minutes a week on Facebook.

   C. Jamie’s mother has seen the photos of her dancing on the table.

   D. Jamie felt enthusiastic about Facebook at first.

5.It can be learned from the passage that the writer’s attitude towards Facebook is ______  .

    A. approval          B. objective           C. negative        D. positive

We were talking about engagement when my boyfriend, Jack, had to go to war. I was so afraid of losing him; the only way I could stay sane(保持清醒) was to dance. I became very good and critics praised me, but I could feel was the ache in my heart, no knowing whether the love of my life would ever return. And then one day a letter from him came:“I have lost my leg. I am no longer a whole man and now give you back your freedom. It is best you forget me.”

I made my decision there and then I left the city. When I returned I had bought myself a cane(拐杖) and learned to limp convincingly. I told everyone I had been in a car crash and that my leg would never completely heal again. My dancing days were over. No one suspected the story. And I made sure the first person to hear of my accident was a reporter. Then I travelled to the hospital. They had pushed him outside in his wheelchair. I leaned on my cane and limped to him.

I told him he was not the only one who had lost a leg, even if mine were still attached to me. I showed him newspaper clippings of my accident. “ There is a whole life waiting for us out there! And I am not going to carry you—you are going to walk yourself.”

I limped a few steps towards him and showed him what I’d taken out of my pocket.” Now show me you are still a man,” I said. He bent to take his cane and struggled out of that wheelchair. I could see he had not done it before, because he almost fell on his face. But I was not going to help. Finally he managed it on his own and walked to me and never sat in a wheelchair again in his life.

What I showed to him was engagement rings. And I would limp with him for the rest of life.

1.The author felt ache in her heart though critics praised her dancing because_______.

A．She wasn’t sure if Jack still loved her.

B．Jack became handicapped and couldn’t walk

C．Jack asked her to forget about him

D．She was afraid that Jack might die in the war

2.What decision did the author make after she received Jack’s letter?

A．To see Jack in the battlefield.               B．To leave the city for travel.

C．To give up dancing.                      D．To see a reporter.

3.What can we learn about the author from Paragraph 2?

A．She visited a hospital.                    B．She broke her leg.

C．She helped push Jack’s wheelchair.        D．She had a car crash.

4.After they met in the hospital, Jack ______.

A．gave her the engagement rings             B．got rid of the cane

C．picked up the hope of life                 D．lived without a wheelchair

5.Which of the following words can best describe the author?

A．Strong and optimistic                     B．Clever and faithful

C．Timid but faithful                        D．Brave and helpful.

When I decided to get married, my father decided to share some wisdom. “Lori, it is just as easy to love a rich man as it is to love a poor man, “ he said. My boyfriend didn’t have much money, but I loved him. “What?” I cried. “ How can you say that? I want to marry for love, NOT for money.” “ But why not marry someone you love who has money?” he asked. “Rich men are materialistic（物质主义的）. I’d rather marry a poor man who loves me,” I said and he gave in.
And as we went on, with my family growing, I learned why my father put such importance on money. We had to cover the rent, car, electricity, food, and medical bills. We were under lot of pressure. The worries over whether we would be asked to move out or if we had the money to wash our clothes at the Laundromat this week made me question if I did the right thing by marrying a “poor” man.
I realized that I had entered the ranks of the poor. Not that I’d ever been rich. Most of my life, I considered us in the lower middle-class rank. We had a house of our own, food on the table, cars, clothes, and money for college. But now, as I listened to an apartment neighbour talk about her monthly “Mother’s Day” gift, I realized she was talking about her welfare check（政府发放的救济金）. And another young mother tried to “help” me out by connecting me with a friend who stole baby clothes from a department store. “ For a small cut,” she said, “ I could return my ‘purchase’(购买的东西）for cash.” It made me sick. How poor was I?
I had a college education but wasn’t using it. I insisted on not missing a minute of our children’s childhood and it came at a price. My husband was working as hard as he could and it wasn’t enough. But somehow we made it.
The kids grew. Today, we look back and see the great values gained by going through those hard years. My children are not materialistic. They never thought they were poor growing up because we always managed to give a little bit of food, money, or clothes to the “poor”. They were satisfied with the simple things in life that come free such as a beach day or a horse back ride from their dad.
We had our worries, but we still treasured our very favorite part of the day when we’d nest (栖息地）under the covers and talked about our future, the kids and how much we loved each other. Sure our financial(财政的) troubles caused a lot of fights, but we didn’t leave each other. We began to live a better life. We moved to a better community(社区）with good schools for the kids. And soon, we’ll face a new challenge with wealth. But we’ll never give up.
My father died three years ago. Before he died, he knew I made the right choice. I’m proud of my decision.
【小题1】.The writer argued with her father because _________________.