Smiles and tears are part of life. But do you find enough time for laughing? I’m not asking if you experience lots of good times. Of course, we should laugh during the happy times.   1. . 2. But she wrote one about a more serious subject--cancer in children. The book is titled I WANT TO GROW HAIR, I WANT TO GROW UP. Erma talks with many children who have cancer and learns important lessons from them. She learns, for example, that cancer survivors（幸存者）know how they should smile at life, though they are receivingchemotherapy（化疗）.

 3. .Jessica’s leg was cut off at the knee because of cancer. She was learning to wear a prosthesis（假肢）. Jessica told about playing soccer. She hit the ball hard with her foot. The ball flew off in one direction while her man-made leg flew another way. Then the brave girl lay on the floor, laughing happily.

As the saying goes, “ 4. ” Do you find plenty of time to laugh?

You can, if you find reasons to laugh during the difficult times. Survivors know how to laugh. If you can laugh even when you’re in trouble, you will make it. Remember, laugh and the whole world laughs with you.  5. .

A．We just laugh about it.

B．Cry and you cry alone!

C．There’s a time to cry and a time to laugh.

D．Erma Bombeck is known for her funny books.

E. But do you also laugh during the difficult times?

F. She tells about the experience of 15-year-old Jessica.

G. I still remember those happy days when we were at college.

One of the most fascinating things about television is the size of the audience. A novel can be on the “best seller” lists with a sale of up to 100,000 copies, but a popular TV show might have 70

million TV viewers. TV can make anything or anyone well-known overnight.

  This is the principle behind “quiz” or “game” shows, which put ordinary people on TV to play a game for prizes and money. A quiz show can make anyone a star, and it can give away thousands of dollars. Charles Van Doren, an English instructor, became rich and famous after winning money on several shows. He even had a career as a television personality. But one of the losers proved that Charles Van Doren was cheating. It turned out that the show’s producers, who were pulling the strings, gave the answers to the most popular contestants beforehand. Why? Because if the audience didn’t like the person who won the game, they turned the show off. The result of this cheating was a huge scandal(丑闻). Based on the show off, a movie titled “Quiz Show” is on 40 years later.

  Charles Van Doren is no longer involved with TV. But game shows are still here, though they aren’t taken seriously. In fact, some of them try to be as ridiculous as possible. There are shows that send strangers on vacation trips together, or that try to cause newly-married couples to fight on TV, or that punish losers by humiliating(羞辱) them. The entertainment now is to see what people will do just to be on TV. People still win money, but the real prize is to be in front of an audience of millions.

What is the most important thing as to television?

 A. How many viewers they can attract       B. Becoming the best seller on the list

 C. How much money can be given away    D. The number of people attending shows

What does the underlined part “pulling the strings” probably mean?

 A. Planning the shows with effort          B. Drawing the curtain on the stage

C. Controlling the result secretly          D. Playing “quiz” or “game” openly

Charles Van Doren stopped his career as a television personality because ________.

 A. he had earned enough wealth and fame.

 B. one of the participants had told the truth

 C. the film “Quiz Show” was being shown

 D. his frequent appearance had bored the audience

It can be inferred from the passage that _______.

 A. TV Game Shows are more popular than before.

 B. the scandal was not made known until 40 years later

 C. getting money is the only purpose of people taking part in shows

 D. people can make themselves famous by taking part in shows

A native English speaker ________ limited English speakers finds it hard to talk with African people even though they speak English too.

1. A.
   is used to deal with
2. B.
   used to deal with
3. C.
   is used to dealing with
4. D.
   used to dealing with

Many parents who welcome the idea of turning off the TV and spending more time with the family are still worried that without TV they would constantly be on call as entertainers for their children. They remember thinking up all sorts of things to do when they were kids. But their own kids seem different, less resourceful, somehow. When there’s nothing to do, these parents observe regretfully, their kids seem unable to come up with anything to do besides turning on the TV.

    One father, for example, says, “When I was a kid, we were always thinking up things to do, projects and games. We certainly never complained in an annoying way to our parents. ‘I have nothing to do’.” He compares this with his own children today: “They’re simply lazy. If someone doesn’t entertain them, they’ll happily sit there watching TV all day.”

    There is one word for this father’s disappointment: unfair. It is as if he were disappointed in them for not reading Greek though they have never studied the language. He deplores (哀叹) his children’s lack of inventiveness, as if the ability to play were something born that his children are missing. In fact, while the tendency to play is built into the human species, the actual ability to play – to imagine, to invent, to elaborate on reality in a playful way –and the ability to gain fulfillment from it, these are skills that have to be learned and developed.

    Such disappointment, however, is not only unjust, it is also destructive. Sensing their parents’ disappointment, children come to believe that they are, indeed, lacking something, and that this makes them less worthy of admiration and respect. Giving children the opportunity to develop new resources, to enlarge their horizons and discover the pleasure of doing things on their own is, on the other hand, a way to help children develop a confident feeling about themselves as capable and interesting people.

According to many parents, if there’s nothing to do, the children would        .

    A. turn on the TV                           B. complain to their parents

    C. ask their parents to play with them          D. do all of the above

Many parents think that, instead of watching a lot of TV their children should       .

    A. sit silently studying Greek                  B. think up things to entertain themselves

    C. find chances to talk with parents            D. enjoy themselves outdoors

The father often blames their children for not being able to entertain themselves. This is unfair because        .

    A. the children are not really lazy, but there’s nothing for them to do

    B. they do not lack the ability to play

    C. they have to learn and develop their playing ability gradually

    D. the father have done nothing to help the children

When parents show constant disappointment in their children, the children will         .

    A. lose their confidence and respectability

    B. be much more disappointed

    C. refuse to learn new things

    D. discover the pleasures of doing things on their own

What is the author’s main idea?

    A. Today’s children are becoming less capable and independent than before.

    B. Parents should give children more help on how to be creative.

    C. Turning off the TV will help us solve a lot of family problems.

    D. It’s not just for parents and children to complain each other.

Computers and mobile phones, though they are indeed making our life ___ and more ___, have reduced the need for face-to-face communications.

A easily; efficient    B easier; efficient       C easy; efficiently      D easily; efficiently