Letter to Editor of TV Weekly

Dear Sir/Madam,

I read Alison Burnham's review（评论） of When We Were 12, and I do not agree with her. I thought the programme was wonderful—I found the old news pictures really interesting— they helped to bring to life the stories the people were telling.

The programme reminds me of many things from my own childhood. For example, one day when I was about five, I was going to school on the bus by myself (this was the late 1960s). My mother had given me exactly the right money for a return ticket. I held out my hand with the money in it—one big coin on top of one little coin. The bus conductor took the big top coin only and she gave me a ticket, but it was a pink one for a single journey. I needed a white one for a return journey, but I was too frightened to say anything. When school finished for the day, I couldn't catch the bus home—I had to walk. As a grown-up, whenever I've been in a situation where I need to say something or take some action, this early memory of my bus ride comes back to me, and I' m able to take control of the situation.

I would like to say to the director, Bret Chrysler, carry on making this kind of programme. Too much TV these days is quiz shows and so-called "reality programmes". I appreciate the human story that can make me laugh and cry.

Yours faithfully,

Chris Daniels

1. What is Chris Daniels' purpose of writing this letter?

A. To persuade Bret Chrysler to turn away from quiz shows.

B. To entertain other readers with old news pictures.

C. To express his appreciation of the programme.

D. To have his story told on the programme.

2. Chris Daniels tells the story about the bus ticket to ___________.

A. describe how painful his early experience was

B. draw a direct response from Alison Burnham

C. show how the programme made him think

D. teach the readers of TV Weekly a lesson.

3. According to the passage, Chris Daniels had to walk home because _________.

A. he hadn’t got a return ticket.　　 B. he had lost his bus ticket

C. he didn’t like big crowds　　　 D. he missed the bus home

4. What does Chris Daniels now think about his experience on the bus?

A. He should have told the conductor then.

B. He should have been well treated.

C. He regrets going to school alone.

D. He wishes it hadn’t happened.

完形填空

Geoffrey Moorhouse's Travel Plan

　　Geoffrey Moorhouse was flying home to England from Africa in 1971, when he looked __1__ the plane and suddenly thought how huge and __2__ the Sahara Desert was. There and then, he decided to __3__ it by himself by camel.

　　For many __4__ men had crossed the Desert from the __5__ and south to trade. But there had been __6__ point in crossing from __7__ to east. So no one had done it __8__ 1963, when twelve Belgians drove across. If he went __9__, by camel, it would be __10__. Moorhouse did not __11__ to go just for fun. But what other __12__ was there? Immediately he knew. He would go because he was afraid. “I would use this journey to __13__ for fear.”

　　A year passed __14__ he was free to begin his __15__. He was forty. He had never __16__ a camel. He spoke no Arabic. And he did not know how to __17__ himself by the stars. His friends thought he would soon __18__ such an impossible plan.

　　He did not. To take advantage of（利用）the desert winter, he decided to __19__ England early in October 1972. He had six months to get __20__. He began learning Arabic-school lessons in the __21__, and listening to __22__ at home in the afternoon. He made a lot of visits to the London Zoo to learn about camels. At night, he studied the __23__. Maps and compass（指南针）are not enough in the desert. You must know __24__ where you are, and for that you must be able to “read” the stars with a sextant（六分仪）.

　　Moorhouse planned to begin his __25__ from the Atlantic coast of Africa, and ride through Mauritania, Mali, Algeria and Libya into Egypt, where he hoped to reach the River Nile.

Letter to Editor of TV Weekly

Dear Sir/Madam,

I read Alison Burnham’s review of When We were 12, and I do not agree with her. I thought the programme was wonderful — I found the old news pictures really interesting — they helped to bring to life the stories the people were telling.

The programme reminds me of many things from my own childhood. For example, one day when I was about five, I was going to school on the bus by myself (this was the late 1960s). My mother had given me exactly the right money for a return ticket. I held out my hand with the money in it — one big coin on top of one little coin. The bus conductor took the big top coin only and she gave me a ticket, but it was a pink one for a single journey. I needed a white one for a return journey, but I was too frightened to say anything. When school finished for the day, I couldn’t catch the bus home — I had to walk. As a grown-up, whenever I’ve been in a situation where I need to say something or take some action, this early memory of my bus ride comes back to me, and I’m able to take control of the situation.

I would like to say to the director, Bret Chrysler, carry on making this kind of programme. Too much TV these days is quiz shows and so-called “reality programmes”.I appreciate (欣赏) the human story that can make me laugh and cry.

Yours faithfully,
Chris Daniels

1. What is Chris Daniels’ purpose of writing this letter?

　 A. To persuade Bret Chrysler to turn away from quiz shows.

　 B. To entertain other readers with old news pictures.

　 C. To express his appreciation of the programme.

　 D. To have his story told on the programme.

2. Chris Daniels tells the story about the bus ticket to _____.

　 A. describe how painful his early experience was

　 B. draw a direct response from Alison Burnham

　 C. show how the programme made him think

　 D. teach the readers of TV Weekly a lesson

3. According to the passage, Chris Daniels had to walk home because _____.

　 A. he hadn’t got a return ticket　　　　　　　 B. he had lost his bus ticket

　 C. he didn’t like big crowds　 D. he missed the bus home

4. What does Chris Daniels now think about his experience on the bus?

　 A. He should have told the conductor then. B. He should have been well treated.

　 C. He regrets going to school alone. D. He wishes it hadn’t happened.

“Most experiences of absent-mindedness ,forgetting where you left something or wondering why you just entered a room , are caused by a simple lack of attention, ” says Schacter. “You’re supposed to remember something, but you haven’t encoded（编码） it deeply.”

　Encoding, Schacter explains, is a special way of paying attention to an event that has a major impression on recalling it later. Failure to encode properly can create troublesome situations. If you　put your mobile phone in a pocket, for example, and don’t pay attention to what you did because you’re involved in a conversation, you’ll probably forget that the phone is in the jacket now hanging in your cupboard.  “Your memory itself isn’t failing you, ” says Schacter, “Rather, you didn’t give your memory system the information it needed.”  http://wx.jtyjy.com/

　Lack of interest can also lead to absent -mindedness. “A man who can recite sports statistics from 30 years ago, ” says Zelinski, “ may not remember to drop a letter in the mailbox.”Women have slightly better memories than men, possibly because they pay more attention to their environment, and memory depends on just that.

　　“Visual cues（ 视觉提示 ）can help prevent absent--mindedness, ”says Schacter, “But be sure the cue is clear and available. ”If you want to remember to take a medicine with lunch, put the pill bottle on the kitchen table—don’t leave it in the medicine box and write yourself a note that you keep in a pocket.

　　Another common experience of absent - mindedness: walking into a room and wondering why you’re there. Most likely, you were thinking about something else. “Everyone does this from time to time, ”says Zelinski. “The best thing to do is to return to where you were before entering the room, and you’ll likely remember.”

1.The writer of the passage thinks that encoding properly is very important because ________.

　　A. it enables us to recall something from our memory

　　B. it slows down the process of losing our memory

　　C. it helps us understand our memory system better

　　D. it helps us to get back to where we were

2.One possible reason why women have a little better memories than men is that________.

　　A. they rely more on the environment

　　B. they have a wider range of interests

　　C. they have an unusual power of focusing their attention

　　D. they are more interested in what’s happening around them

3.Why can a note in the pocket hardly serve as a reminder? ________.

　　A. It will easily get lost

　　B. It is out of your sight

　　C. It’s not clear enough for you to read

　　D. It might get mixed up with other things

4.From the last paragraph we can learn that________.

　　A. repetition might help improve our memory

　　B. memory depends to a certain extent on the environment

　　C. we’d better return to where we were if we forget things

　　D. we should think about something else while doing one thing

5.The passage is mainly about ________.

　　A. the memory system of persons

　　B. a way of encoding and recalling

　　C. the causes of absent-mindedness

　　D. the impression of the environment on memory

改错