Long bus rides are like television shows. They have a beginning,a middle,and an endwith commercials （商业广告） thrown in every three or four minutes. The commercials are unavoidable. They happen whether you want them or not. Every couple of minutes a billboard glides by outside the bus window. "Buy Super Clean Toothpaste.""Drink Good Wet Root Beer.""Fill up with Pacific Gas."Only if you sleep,which is equal to turning the television set off,are you spared the unending cry of "You Need It! Buy It Now!"

The beginning of the ride is comfortable and somewhat exciting,even if you’ve traveled that way before. Usually some things have changednew houses,new buildings,sometimes even a new road. The bus driver has a style of driving and it’s fun to try to figure it out the first hour or so. If the driver is particularly reckless （鲁莽的） or daring,the ride can be as thrilling （惊心动魄的） as a suspense story. Will the driver pass the truck in time? Will the driver move into the right?or the left?hand lane? After a while,of course,the excitement dies down. Sleeping for a while helps pass the middle hours of the ride. Food always makes bus rides more interesting. But you’ve got to be careful of what kind of food you eat. Too much salty food can make you very thirsty between stops.

The end of the ride is somewhat like the beginning. You know it will soon be over and there’s a kind of expectation and excitement in that. The seat of course,has become harder as the hours have passed. By now you’ve sat with your legs crossed,with your hands in your lap,with your hands on the armrestseven with your hands crossed behind your head. The end comes just at no more ways to sit.

According to the passage,what do the passengers usually see when they are on a long bus trip?

A.Buses on the road.                B.Films on television.

C.Advertisements on the billboards.    D.Gas stations.

What is the purpose of this passage?

A.To give the writer’s opinion about long bus trips.

B.To persuade you to take a long bus trip.

C.To explain how bus trips and television shows differ.

D.To describe the billboards along the road.

The writer of this passage would probably favor .

A.bus drivers who aren’t reckless      B.driving alone

C.a television set on the bus          D.no billboards along the road

The writer feels long bus rides are like TV shows because .

A.the commercials both on TV shows and on billboards along the road are fun

B.they both have a beginning,a middle,and an end,with commercials in between

C.the drivers are always reckless on TV shows just as they are on buses

D.both traveling and watching TV are not exciting.

The writer thinks that the end of the ride is somewhat like the beginning because both are .

A.exciting    B.comfortable    C.tiring    D.boring

Before her 21-year-old daughter died in an accident in early 2007, Pam Weiss had never logged on to Facebook, a social-networking site. At that time, social-networking sites were used almost only by   36  . But she knew her daughter Amy Woolington, a UCLA student, had a(n)  37  , so in her sadness Weiss turned to Facebook to look for photos. She found what she was looking for and more. She was soon communicating with her daughter’s many friends,   38   memories through passages that her daughter had written. “It makes me feel   39   that Amy had a positive effect on so many people, and I wouldn’t have had a clue if it hadn’t been   40   Facebook,” says Weiss.And she wouldn’t have had a   41   if she had waited too long. She managed to copy most of her daughter’s profile in the three months before Facebook   42  .

Like a growing number of sad relatives, Weiss tapped into one of the most powerful treasures of memories available: a loved one’s online presence. As people spend more time at   43  , there’s less being stored away in dusty attics(阁楼).These pieces of our lives that we put online can feel as eternal as the Internet itself, but what happens to our   44   identity after we die?

Facebook   45   its policy a few months after Woolington died. “We first realized we needed a protocol(协定书) for  46  users after the Virginia Tech University shooting, when students were looking for ways to remember and   47   their classmates,” says Facebook spokeswoman Elizabeth Linder.

(  ) 36.   A. men    B. the youthful       C. women       D. students

(  ) 37.   A. status  B. post    C. account      D. memory

(  ) 38.   A. sharing      B. storing       C. accumulating     D. devoting

(  ) 39.   A. enthusiastic       B. upset   C. well    D. good

(  ) 40. A. with     B. for      C. on      D. of

(  ) 41.   A. blueprint    B. poet    C. picture       D. clue

(  ) 42.   A. took it up   B. took it on   C. took it over       D. took it down

(  ) 43. A. television     B. music  C. keyboard    D. sports

(  ) 44.   A. digital B. virtual C. real     D. false

(  ) 45. A. made    B. declared     C. fixed   D. changed

(  ) 46. A. dying   B. active  C. alive   D. dead

(  ) 47.   A. honor B. recognize   C. recall  D. observe

Long bus rides are like television shows. They have a beginning, a middle, and an end with commercials thrown in every three or four minutes. The commercials are unavoidable. They happen whether you want them or not. Every couple of minutes a billboard glides by outside the bus window. Buy Super Clean Toothpaste." "Drink Good Wet Root Beer." "Fill up with Pacific Gas." Only if you sleep, which is equal to turning the television set off, are you spared the unending cry of "You Need It! Buy It Now!"

    The beginning of the ride is comfortable and somewhat exciting, even if you've traveled that way before. Usually some things have changed new houses, new buildings, sometimes even a new road. The bus driver has a style of driving and it’s fun to try to figure it out the first hour or so. If the driver is, particularly reckless ( 鲁莽的 ) or daring, the ride can be as thrilling as a suspense story. Will the driver pass the truck in time? Will the driver move into the right or the left hand lane? After a while, of course, the excitement dies down. Sleeping for a while helps pass the middle hours of the ride. Food always makes bus tides more interesting. But you've got to be careful of what kind of food you eat. Too much salty food can make you very thirsty between stops,

   The end of the ride is somewhat like the beginning. You know it will soon be over and there's a kind of expectation and excitement in that. The seat of course, has become harder as the hours have passed. By now you’ve sat with your legs crossed, with your hands in your lap, with your hands on the armrests even with your hands crossed behind your head. The end comes just at no more ways to sit.

According to the passage, what do the passengers usually see when they are on a long bus trip?

   A. Buses on the road.                      B. Films on television.

   C. Advertisements on the billboards.          D. Gas stations.

What is the purpose of this passage?         

   A. To give the writer's opinion about long bus trips.

   B. To persuade you to take a long bus trip.    

   C. To explain how bus trips and television shows differ.

   D. To describe the billboards along the road.

The writer of this passage would probably favor_____.

   A. bus drivers who aren't reckless            B. driving alone

   C. a television set on the bus               D. no billboards along the road

The writer feels long bus rides are like TV shows because_____.

   A. the commercials both on TV shows and on-billboards along the road are fun

   B. they both have a beginning, a middle, and an end, with commercials in between

   C. the drivers are always reckless on TV shows just as they are on buses

   D. both traveling and watching TV are not exciting

Long bus rides are like television shows. They have a beginning, a middle, and an end — with commercials thrown in every three or four minutes. The commercials are unavoidable. They happen whether you want them or not. Every couple of minutes a billboard glides by (滑过) outside the bus window. Only if you sleep, which is equal to turning the television set off, are you spared the unending cry of “You Need It! Buy It Now!”? 高☆考♂资♀源?网

      The beginning of the ride is comfortable and somewhat exciting, even if you’ve traveled that way before. Usually some things have changed — new houses, new buildings, sometimes even a new road. The bus driver has a style of driving and it’s fun to try to figure it out the first hour or so. If the driver is particularly careless or daring, the ride can be as thrilling as a horror story. Will the driver pass the truck in time? Will the driver move into the right or the left-hand lane? After a while, of course, the excitement dies down. Sleeping for a while helps pass the middle hours of the ride. Food always makes bus rides more interesting, but you’ve got to be careful of what kind of food you eat. Too much salty food can make you very thirsty between stops.

     The end of the ride is somewhat like the beginning. You know it will soon be over and there’s a kind of expectation and excitement in that. The seat, of course, has become harder as the hours have passed. By now you’ve sat with your legs crossed, with your hands in your lap, with your hands on the arm rests — even with your hands crossed behind your head. The end comes just at the right time. There just no more ways to sit.

The long bus rides and TV shows are alike, because         .

A. they both can offer people with thrilling stories                     

B. they both are boring

C. they both have a beginning, a middle, and an end, with commercials in between              

D. they both force people to sit for a long time

During the whole bus ride, what come to the passengers’ eyes most frequently?

A. Some salty food on the bus.    B. The programs on TV.

C. Advertisements on the road.    D. Trucks on the road.

In order to pass the middle hours of the ride, you can         .

A. read the billboards           B. have something to eat

C. watch TV shows             D. sleep

The purpose of the passage is to         .

A. show how much bus rides differ from TV shows       高☆考♂资♀源?网       

B. teach us how to deal with each period of a long bus ride

C. persuade readers to take a long bus ride              

D. give the author’s opinion on long bus rides

Long long ago, there was a small village． This village had a  1  tradition． At the beginning of every year, any boy who had reached the age of majority （the state of legally being an adult） was given land and money to build a home． The boy had to   2 his home before winter． If his home failed to endure the cold weather in winter, the villagers could not  3  him in any way．
One  4 , Paul and Marc reached their majority． They  5  their land and money and decided to search nearby villages for ideas on building their homes． In each village, they found the nicest  6  and talked to the owners． Each owner gladly offered  7 ．
After Marc saw several homes, he  8 the best ideas and went back to his own land． Paul, 9  , continued collecting more ideas． Soon he had so many great ideas that he began to  10 some of them． But he always believed he could find even better ideas in the next village．
Marc began building his home． He had several false starts,  11  his home gradually rose from his land． By fall, Marc had finished his home． It wasn't perfect, but it was strong and he could  12 it later． Paul enjoyed all the beautiful homes and   13  with home owners． The first snow came and Paul, realizing he was running out of time,  14  back to his land． He built the best home he could in the time he had, but it was   15 ． The first winter storm destroyed his home and he froze to  16 ． The villagers mourned for him．
Marc  17 the winter． Each year, Marc searched for other good ideas he could use to make his own home look better． He became a leader in the village,  18 a family, and lived a happy, content life．
We all build and improve our own mental homes． It’s   19  and fun for us to search for ideas from other mental home owners, but we only improve our own mental home if we actually  20   the best ideas．