Rome had the Forum. London has Speaker' s Corner. Now always-on-the-go New Yorkers have Liz and Bill.    
Liz and Bill, two college graduates in their early 2Os, have spent a whole year trying to have thousands of people talk to them in subway stations and on busy street corners. Just talk.     
Using a 2-foot-tall sign that says, "Talk to Me," they attract conversationalists, who one evening included a mental patient, and men in business suits.     
They don't collect money. They don't push religion (宗教). So what's the point?
"To see what happens," said Liz. "We simply enjoy life with open communication(交流)."
Shortly after the September 11, 2001 attacks, they decided to walk from New York City to Washington, a 270-mile trip. They found they loved talking to people along the way and wanted to continue talking with strangers after their return.
"It started as a crazy idea," Liz said. "We were so curious about all the strangers walking by with their life stories. People will talk to us about anything: their jobs, their clothes, their childhood experiences, anything."
Denise wanted to talk about an exam she was about to take. She had stopped by for the second time in two days, to let the two listeners know how it went.
Marcia had lost her husband to a serious disease. "That was very heavy on my mind,” Marcia said. "To be able to talk about it to total strangers was very good," she explained.
To celebrate a year of talking, the two held a get-together in a city park for all the people they had met over the past year. A few hundred people showed up, as well as some television cameramen and reporters.
They may plan more parties or try to attract more people to join their informal talks. Some publishers have expressed interest in a book, something they say they'll consider.
【小题1】What did Liz and Bill start doing after September 2001?      

Rome had the Forum. London has Speaker’s Corner. Now always-on-the-go New Yorkers have Liz and Bill.

 Liz and Bill, two college graduates in their early 20s, have spent a whole year trying to have thousands of people talk to them in subway stations and on busy street comers. Just talk.

Using a 2-foot-tall sign that says, "Talk to Me," they attract conversationalists, who one evening included a mental patient, and men in business suits.

    They don't collect money. They don't push religion （宗教）. So what's the point?

    "To see what happens," said Liz. "We simply enjoy life with open communication（交流）."

    Shortly after the September 11, 2001 attacks, they decided to walk from New York City to Washington, a 270-mile trip. They found they loved talking to people along the way and wanted to continue talking with strangers after their return.

     "It started as a crazy idea," Liz said. "We were so curious about all the strangers walking by with their life stories. People will talk to us about anything: their jobs, their clothes, their childhood experiences, anything."

     Denise wanted to talk about an exam she was about to take. She had stopped by for the second time in two days, to let the two listeners know how it went.

     Marcia had lest her husband to a serious disease. "That was very heavy on my mind,” Marcia said. "To be able to talk about it to total strangers was very good," she explained.

     To celebrate a year of talking, the two held a get-together in a city park for all the people they had met over the past year. A few hundred people showed up, as well as some television cameramen and reporters.

     They may plan more parties or try to attract mare people to join their informal talks. Some publishers have expressed interest in a book, something they say they'll consider.

56. What did Liz and Bill start doing after September 2001?

       A. Chatting with people.

     B. Setting up street signs.

     C. Telling stories to strangers.

     D. Organizing a speaker's comer.

57. What they have been doing can be described as______.

     A. pointless    B. normal       C. crazy       D. successful

58. Why are Denise and Marcia mentioned in the text?

       A. They knew Liz and Bill very well.

     B. They happened to meet the writer of the text.

     C. They organized the get-together in the city park.

     D. They are examples of those who talked to Liz and Bill.

 59. What will Liz and Bill do in the future?

     A. Go in for publishing.                 B. Do more television programs.

       C. Continue what they are doing.            D. Spend more time reading books.

60. How do they like the idea of writing a book?      

       A. They have decided to wait a year or two.   

       B. They will think about it carefully.

       C. They agreed immediately.           

       D. They find it hard to do that.

    One of the most unknown youth culture in the United States is that of high school and college runners．Not everyone who has ever been on their school’s track team is part of this culture．To be a part of this culture you need to do a lot Of running，knowing how it feels to race to exhaustion(筋疲力尽)，see no reason why any weather should keep you from running，and be a little crazy．

    I，myseIf，am part of this culture．I ran cross-country，which is running outside over uneven ground，for my high schoo1．I joined this culture when 1 was in ninth grade. As soon  as 1 was on the team it didn’t take very long for me to become very involved and have fun running. As a freshman 1 wasn’t that fast but 1 was giving the effort．It was the effort that makes me part of the running culture．

    There are a few things that set the youth culture of runners apart from the overall  running culture．One of the many differences is that teen runners usually run in large groups，with a lot of conversation and fooling around．Young runners play games and talk to their friends when they run．While adults may run with a friend and have a conversation，you will rarely see twenty of them running through the woods yelling back and forth at each other．Young runners also make up a lot of games．My friends and 1 would throw balls while running and invented a game we called Shockey，which was pretty much soccer on lce.

Most of youth runners run for competition and not for fitness．Young runners want to run in races not to just lose weight like many adults．This means they run a lot faster and tougher generally．To lose weight you can just jog easily but to race you have to really push yourself and run to exhaustion．It’s a completely different style of running and that is what builds this culture .

1．The passage is mainly about __________.

  A．the differerices between youth culture and adult culture

  B．the youth running culture in American schools

  C．youth culture which is mysterious to school students

  D．how to become part of the culture of school runners

2．Which of the following are the differences between young runners and adult runners?

  (1)Adults don’t run long distance．

  (2)Adults don’t play games while running．

  (3)Adults don’t push themselves to the 1imit

  (4)Adults don’t run in 1arge groups．

    A．(1)(2)(3)    B．(1)(2)(4)    C．(2)(3)(4)  D. (1) (3) (4)

3．We can infer from the passage that__________．

  A．the writer is strong--willed

  B．running is exhausting and boring

  C．adult running is not as good as youth running

  D．adults are not as competitive as youths

4．The writer wrote the passage to __________．

    A．criticize adult running

    B．advertise his school track team

    C．introduce something unknown to his readers

    D．tell his readers to get involved in running

Rome had the forum. London has Speaker’s Corner. Now always-on-the-go New Yorker has Liz and Bill.

    Liz and Bill, two college graduates in their early 20s, have spent a whole year trying to have thousands of people talk to them in the subway station and on busy street corners. Just talk.

    Using a 2-feet-high sign that says, “Talk to Me,” they attract conversationalists, who one evening included a mental patient, and men in business suits.

   They don’t collect money. They don’t push the religion. So what is the point?

   “To see what happens,” said Liz. “We simply enjoy life with open conversation（交流）.”

Shortly after the September 11, 2001 attacks, they decided to walk from New York city to Washington, a 270-mile trip. They found they loved talking to people along the way and wanted to talk with the strangers after their return.

    “It started as a crazy idea,” Liz said. “We were so curious about all the strangers walking by with their stories. People will talk to us about anything: their jobs, their clothes, their childhood, anything.”

    Denise wanted to talk about an exam she was going to take. She had stopped for the second time in two days, to let two listeners know how it went.

    Marcia had lost her husband to a serious disease. “That was very heavy on my mind,” Marcia said. “To be able to talk about it to totally strangers was very good,” she explained.

    To celebrate a year of talking, the two held a get-together in a city park for all the people they had met in the past year. A few hundred people showed up, as well as some television cameramen and reporters.

They may plan more parties or tried to attract more people to join their informal talks. Some publishers have expressed their interest in the book, something they say they’ll consider.

1.What did Liz and Bill start doing after September 2001?

A. Chatting with people                     B. Setting up street signs

C. Telling stories to strangers             D. Organizing a speaker’s corner

2. What they have been doing can be described as ______.

A. pointless       B. normal           C. crazy            D. successful

3.Why are Denise and Marcia mentioned in the text?

A. They knew Liz and Bill very well.  

B. They happened to meet the writer of the text.

C. They organized the get-together in the city park.

D. They are example of those who talked to Liz and Bill.

4.What will Liz and Bill do in the future?

A. Going for publishing.                B. Do more television program.

C. Continuing what they are doing.      D. Spending more time reading books.

Rome had the forum. London has Speaker’s Corner. Now always-on-the-go New Yorker has Liz and Bill.
Liz and Bill, two college graduates in their early 20s, have spent a whole year trying to have thousands of people talk to them in the subway station and on busy street corners. Just talk.
Using a 2-feet-high sign that says, “Talk to Me,” they attract conversationalists, who one evening included a mental patient, and men in business suits.
They don’t collect money. They don’t push the religion. So what is the point?
“To see what happens,” said Liz. “We simply enjoy life with open conversation（交流）.”
Shortly after the September 11, 2001 attacks, they decided to walk from New York city to Washington, a 270-mile trip. They found they loved talking to people along the way and wanted to talk with the strangers after their return.
“It started as a crazy idea,” Liz said. “We were so curious about all the strangers walking by with their stories. People will talk to us about anything: their jobs, their clothes, their childhood, anything.”
Denise wanted to talk about an exam she was going to take. She had stopped for the second time in two days, to let two listeners know how it went.
Marcia had lost her husband to a serious disease. “That was very heavy on my mind,” Marcia said. “To be able to talk about it to totally strangers was very good,” she explained.
To celebrate a year of talking, the two held a get-together in a city park for all the people they had met in the past year. A few hundred people showed up, as well as some television cameramen and reporters.
They may plan more parties or tried to attract more people to join their informal talks. Some publishers have expressed their interest in the book, something they say they’ll consider.
【小题1】What did Liz and Bill start doing after September 2001?

A．They knew Liz and Bill very well.

B．They happened to meet the writer of the text.

C．They organized the get-together in the city park.

D．They are example of those who talked to Liz and Bill.

A．Going for publishing.	B．Do more television program.
C．Continuing what they are doing.	D．Spending more time reading books.