A little under one-third of U.S. families have no Internet access and do not plan to get it, with most of the holdouts seeing little use for it in their lives, according to a survey released on Friday.

Park Associates, a Dallas-based technology market research firm, said 29 percent of U.S. families, or 31 million homes, do not have Internet access and do not intend to subscribe（预订） to an Internet service over the next 12 months. The second annual National Technology Scan conducted by Park found that the main reason why potential customers say they do not subscribe to the Internet is because of the low value to their daily lives rather than concerns over cost.

Forty-four percent of these families say they are not interested in anything on the Internet, versus just 22 percent who say they cannot afford a computer or the cost of Internet service, the survey showed. The answer "I'm not sure how to use the Internet" came from 17 percent of participants who do not subscribe. The response "I do all my e-commerce shopping and YouTube-watching at work" was cited by 14 percent of Internet-access refuseniks. Three percent said the Internet doesn't reach their homes.

The study found U.S. broadband adoption grew to 52 percent over 2006, up from 42 percent in 2005．Roughly half of new subscribers converted（转变） from slower-speed, dial-up Internet access while the other half of families had no prior access.

"The industry continues to chip （击破）away at the core of non-subscribers, but has a long way to go," said John Barrett, director of research at Parks Associates. "Entertainment applications will be the key. If anything will pull in the holdouts, it's going to be applications that make the Internet more similar to pay-TV," he predicted.

1．What does the underlined word “holdouts” in the first paragraph most probably mean?

A．some American families       

B．those who hold out one’s opinions

C．those who have been surveyed    

D．those who still haven’t access to the Internet currently

2．Many potential customers refuse to subscribe to the Internet mainly because __________.

A．they show too much concern about the cost

B．they can find little value of it

C．they do most You Tube-watching at work

D．the Internet doesn’t reach their homes

3．From the passage we can infer that _____________.

A．It is not an easy job to transform those holdouts into the Internet users

B．people will adopt dial-up Internet access no more

C．many Americans enjoy doing e-commerce shopping at home

D．more than half of the population are using the Internet in 2005

4．According to John Barrett, what is the key to attracting more U.S. families to broadband service?

A．making the Internet look more similar to TV set

B．applying the Internet more to entertainment

C．providing more pay-TV programs

D．chipping away at the core of non-subscribers

5．Which is the best title for the passage?

A．Web develops with technology

B．The present situation of web

C．Many Americans see little point to web

D．It is urgent to promote web service

A little under one-third of U.S. families have no Internet access and do not plan to get it, with most of the holdouts seeing little use for it in their lives, according to a survey released on Friday.

Park Associates, a Dallas-based technology market research firm, said 29 percent of U.S. families, or 31 million homes, do not have Internet access and do not intend to subscribe（预订） to an Internet service over the next 12 months. The second annual National Technology Scan conducted by Park found that the main reason why potential customers say they do not subscribe to the Internet is because of the low value to their daily lives rather than concerns over cost.

Forty-four percent of these families say they are not interested in anything on the Internet, versus just 22 percent who say they cannot afford a computer or the cost of Internet service, the survey showed. The answer "I'm not sure how to use the Internet" came from 17 percent of participants who do not subscribe. The response "I do all my e-commerce shopping and YouTube-watching at work" was cited by 14 percent of Internet-access refuseniks. Three percent said the Internet doesn't reach their homes.

The study found U.S. broadband adoption grew to 52 percent over 2006, up from 42 percent in 2005．Roughly half of new subscribers converted（转变） from slower-speed, dial-up Internet access while the other half of families had no prior access.

"The industry continues to chip （击破）away at the core of non-subscribers, but has a long way to go," said John Barrett, director of research at Parks Associates. "Entertainment applications will be the key. If anything will pull in the holdouts, it's going to be applications that make the Internet more similar to pay-TV," he predicted.

1．What does the underlined word “holdouts” in the first paragraph most probably mean?

A．some American families　　　

B．those who hold out one’s opinions

C．those who have been surveyed　　

D．those who still haven’t access to the Internet currently

2．Many potential customers refuse to subscribe to the Internet mainly because __________.

A．they show too much concern about the cost

B．they can find little value of it

C．they do most You Tube-watching at work

D．the Internet doesn’t reach their homes

3．From the passage we can infer that _____________.

A．It is not an easy job to transform those holdouts into the Internet users

B．people will adopt dial-up Internet access no more

C．many Americans enjoy doing e-commerce shopping at home

D．more than half of the population are using the Internet in 2005

4．According to John Barrett, what is the key to attracting more U.S. families to broadband service?

A．making the Internet look more similar to TV set

B．applying the Internet more to entertainment

C．providing more pay-TV programs

D．chipping away at the core of non-subscribers

5．Which is the best title for the passage?

A．Web develops with technology

B．The present situation of web

C．Many Americans see little point to web

D．It is urgent to promote web service

Has anyone noticed how, with the passage of time, one’s relationship with one’s grown-up daughters and sons becomes changed? I’ve been aware of this for some time but I’m not quite sure how to deal with it.

Take the kitchen sink for example.

Following a family get-together at my place, I walked into the kitchen to find Kate, my daughter carefully cleaning the sink.

“Don’t do that; what are you doing that for?” I said, unhappy about the hidden criticism.

“Mum,” she said, “you really ought to put your glasses on when you clean the sink. Behind the tap here was black!”

But it’s not just things like kitchen sinks. Another time Kate arrived to pick me up to lunch. She looked at me and then asked, “Mum, why do you use brown eyebrow pencil when your hair is grey?”

A sudden memory of her, aged 14, going to her first mixed party flooded back. She had come in to say goodbye. For a moment I thought she’d been an accident. Both eyes were black. I remember suggesting that perhaps a little less eye make-up might be more effective.

Now I told her, “My hair used to be brown.”

“It looks absurd.”

“Mrs. Menzies had dark eyebrows with grey hair.”

“Yes, but you’re not Mrs. Menzies, are you?” she said triumphantly, as if that proved her point.

But a recent event made me realize that something really must be done.

She had returned some for a few weeks before getting married. One evening I went out on a dinner date. By the time my companion left me at the front door, it was about 2am. As I stepped in, an angry figure in a white nightgown stopped me.

“Well, what time of night is this to be coming home?” she shouted. “Where have you been? I’ve been worried sick!”

Shades of the past come back to disturb me. But what should I do about all this? Nothing, probably. Maybe, after all, it’s only a stage young people are going through.

The daughter thought her mother didn’t clean the kitchen sink well because of her        .

       A．laziness    B．carelessness      C．unhappiness     D．poor-quality glasses

From the passage we know the daughter         .

       A．didn’t want to help with the sink

       B．didn’t like brown eyebrow pencils

       C．had an accident when she went to her first party

       D．shouted at her mum because she came home late

How does the mother feel after all these have happened?

       A．Shocked.  B．Proud.      C．Envious.   D．Confused.

The author writes the stories to prove that         .

      A．their relationship became stronger 

       B．their roles changed as time passed

       C．her daughter very much cared about her

       D．her daughter got upset as she grew up

Ifhas anyone noticed how, with the passage of time, one’s relationship with one’s grown-up daughters and sons becomes changed? I’ve been aware of this for some time but I’m not quite sure how to deal with it.
Take the kitchen sink for example.
Following a family get-together at my place, I walked into the kitchen to find Kate, my daughter, carefully cleaning the sink.
“Don’t do that; what are you doing that for?” I said, unhappy about the hidden criticism.
“Mum,” she said, “you really ought to put your glasses on when you clean the sink. Behind the tap here was black!”
But it’s not just things like kitchen sinks. Another time Kate arrived to pick me up to lunch. She looked at me and then asked, “Mum, why do you use brown eyebrow pencil when your hair is grey?”
A sudden memory of her, aged 14, going to her first mixed party flooded back. She had come in to say goodbye. For a moment I thought she’d been an accident. Both eyes were black. I remember suggesting that perhaps a little less eye make-up might be more effective.
Now I told her, “My hair used to be brown.”
“It looks absurd.(荒唐)”
“Mrs. Menzies had dark eyebrows with grey hair.”
“Yes, but you’re not Mrs. Menzies, are you?” she said triumphantly, as if that proved her point.
But a recent event made me realize that something really must be done.
She had returned home for a few weeks before getting married. One evening I went out on a dinner date. By the time my companion left me at the front door, it was about 2am. As I stepped in, an angry figure in a white nightgown（睡衣）stopped me.
“Well, what time of night is this to be coming home?” she shouted. “Where have you been? I’ve been worried sick!”
Shades of the past come back to disturb me. But what should I do about all this? Nothing, probably. Maybe, after all, it’s only a stage young people are going through.
【小题1】The daughter thought her mother didn’t clean the kitchen sink well because of her       .

Has anyone noticed how, with the passage of time, one’s relationship with one’s grown-up daughters and sons becomes changed? I’ve been aware of this for some time but I’m not quite sure how to deal with it.
Take the kitchen sink for example.
Following a family get-together at my place, I walked into the kitchen to find Kate, my daughter carefully cleaning the sink.
“Don’t do that; what are you doing that for?” I said, unhappy about the hidden criticism.
“Mum,” she said, “you really ought to put your glasses on when you clean the sink. Behind the tap here was black!”
But it’s not just things like kitchen sinks. Another time Kate arrived to pick me up to lunch. She looked at me and then asked, “Mum, why do you use brown eyebrow pencil when your hair is grey?”
A sudden memory of her, aged 14, going to her first mixed party flooded back. She had come in to say goodbye. For a moment I thought she’d been an accident. Both eyes were black. I remember suggesting that perhaps a little less eye make-up might be more effective.
Now I told her, “My hair used to be brown.”
“It looks absurd.”
“Mrs. Menzies had dark eyebrows with grey hair.”
“Yes, but you’re not Mrs. Menzies, are you?” she said triumphantly, as if that proved her point.
But a recent event made me realize that something really must be done.
She had returned some for a few weeks before getting married. One evening I went out on a dinner date. By the time my companion left me at the front door, it was about 2am. As I stepped in, an angry figure in a white nightgown stopped me.
“Well, what time of night is this to be coming home?” she shouted. “Where have you been? I’ve been worried sick!”
Shades of the past come back to disturb me. But what should I do about all this? Nothing, probably. Maybe, after all, it’s only a stage young people are going through.
【小题1】The daughter thought her mother didn’t clean the kitchen sink well because of her        .