I believe in leaving work at five o’clock. In a nation with such a strict work ethic(道德规范) , this is considered strange. Working only 40 hours a week? I just don’t know many people who punch out (打卡下班) at five o’clock anymore.

My father tried to teach me the importance of hard work, long hours and devotion to a career. But then there are the things he taught me unintentionally, like when he arrived home from work for the last time and crawled up the stairs.

My father, a self-employed sales trainer, was that sick, that tired. His body was wracked with liver cancer, and he suffered the effects of a diabetic ulcer（糖尿病）. Despite all this, he insisted on traveling a long way to give a lecture. He probably earned a lot of money that day, but he paid the price. He returned to the hospital soon afterwards and was dead within three months, aged just 58.

It’s been 10 years since I saw my father come home that night and since then, I’ve thought a lot about work. I’ve decided something: I will never crawl up the stairs exhausted. As much as I love my job as a newspaper reporter, I will never work myself into the ground, physically or emotionally. Not taking my work home didn’t come easily to me at first. After all, I am my father’s daughter. In college, I was the girl who sat on the library steps each morning, waiting for the doors to open. I even dreamt about schoolwork.

My dad once told me he was unable to just gaze at a sunset; he had to be doing something as he looked at it—writing, reading, playing chess. You could say he was a success: He was a published author, an accomplished musician, fluent in many languages. That’s an impressive list, but the thing is I want to gaze at sunsets. I don’t want to meet a deadline during them or be writing a column at the same time, or glance at them over the top of a book.

This raises the question: If I leave work at five o’ clock to watch the sunset, what are the consequences? Do I risk not reaching the top of my profession? Maybe, because honestly, knocking off after eight hours probably won’t earn me the best promotion. But hey, leaving work at five o’ clock means I eat dinner with my family. I get to hop on my bike and cycle through the streets of my hometown when there is no traffic.

And I get to take in a lot of sunsets. That’s got to be worth something.

1.Which of the following about the author’s father is true?

A. He set a good example to his daughter.

B. He tried to force his values on his daughter.

C. He gained much pleasure from his work.

D. He achieved great success at the expense of his health.

2.What does the author mean by saying “Not taking my work home did not come easily at first” in Paragraph 4?

A. There was so much work to do.    

B. All her colleagues took work home.

C. She was educated to be a workaholic.

D. She wanted a promotion in her work.

3.What’s the author’s attitude toward promotion?

A. She doesn’t care about it at all.

B. She is eager to get promoted

C. She thinks it’s for the ambitious people

D. Getting promoted at all costs is not worthwhile

4. This text is developed________.

A. by giving examples                         B. by making comparisons

C. by describing process                       D. by order of time

5. What does the writer intend to tell us?

A. To praise his father’s diligence

B. To ask us to take time off work to enjoy life

C. To complain about the strict work ethic

D. To stress the importance of hard work

When Gretchen Baxter gets home from work as a New York City book editor, she checks her Blackberry (黑莓手机) at the door. ‘I think we are attached to these devices in a way that is not always positive,’ says Baxter，who’d rather focus at home on her husband and 12-year-old daughter. ‘It’s there and it beckons (召唤). That’s human nature (but)…we kind of get crazy sometimes and we don’t know where it should stop.’
Americans are connected at unprecedented (前所未有的) levels一93% now use cell phones or wireless devices；one third of those are ‘smart phones’ that allow users to browse the Web and check e-mail，among other things. The benefits are obvious: checking messages on the road，staying in touch with friends and family，efficiently using time once spent waiting around. The downside：often，we’re effectively disconnecting from those in the same room.
That's why，despite all the technology that makes communicating easier than ever，2010 was the Year We Stopped Talking to One Another. From texting at dinner to posting on Facebook from work or checking e-mail while on a date，the connectivity revolution is creating a lot of divided attention，not to mention social anxiety. Many analysts say it's time to step back and reassess.
‘What we’re going to see in the future is new opportunities for people to be plugged in and connected like never before,’ says Scott Campbell. ‘It can be a good thing，but I also see new ways the traditional social fabric (社会结构) is getting somewhat torn apart.’
Our days are filled with beeps and pings·----many of which pull us away from tasks at hand or face-to-face conversations. We may feel that the distractions are too much，but we can’t seem to stop posting，texting or surfing.
‘We're going through a period of adjustment and rebalancing,’ says Sherry Turkle and she wants to remind people that technology can be turned off.
‘Our human purposes are to really have connections with people,’ she says. ‘We have to reclaim it. It’s not going to take place by itself.’
【小题1】What can be the best title for the passage?

Are you tired of looking for love in all the usual places? Nowadays, millions of lonely singles are now going online instead．The World Wide Web is quickly becoming the world’s most popular matchmaker．With so many singles online, dozens of dating sites like Yahoo Personals and Match．com are helping singles find that special someone．Around the world, from America to China, love is now very much online．

       Singles are flocking to the Internet mainly because their busy lifestyles leave them little time to look for a significant other．Using dating sites is quick and convenient．They can “meet” a lot more people online than they could by hanging out at a club．Besides , many singles say the regular dating scene has just led them from one bad experience to another and are ready to try something else．They also appreciate the first distance of online dating, which allows them to hide themselves until they are ready to meet someone face to face．Dating sites also make it easy to avoid someone you are not interested in．In the real world, however, ignoring someone you don’t like can be awkward．

       Despite all the advantages, online dating also presents its own set of problems．People aren’t always who they claim to be in their online profiles．For instance, someone who tells you he is “handsome, successful and single” might turn out to be homely, unemployed and married．Safety is another concern．You are just as likely to find a criminal online as you are Mr or Miss Right．

       Even so, supporters of online dating see things in a positive way．In their opinion, singles can safely play the online dating game with a little common sense．Online dating experts recommend following a few safety tips:

       Guard your personal information．Never give out your personal information online．This includes your last name, phone number, home address and place of work．

       Watch for red flags．Do any of the people you are chatting with make disrespectful comments? Do they try to control you? Do they give false information about themselves? If so, forget them!

       Meet in a safe place．When meeting someone in person, choose a public location with other people around．

       Following these tips and you might be able to find the person of your dreams．

According to the passage, many lonely singles don’t appreciate the regular dating scene because it is ___．

       A．unpopular　　　    B．troublesome    C．convenient　    D．forgettable

This passage is mainly about 　　．

       A．getting tired of falling in love in a usual way

       B．people with false information on the Internet

       C．new technology to find love through the Interent

       D．web sites such as Yahoo Personals and Match．com

Which of the following is NOT a suitable place for meeting someone you get to know through the Internet for the first time according to the text?

       A．At his/her house．　　　　　      B．At a museum．

       C．At McDonald’s．　　    D．At a bookstore．

From this passage ,we can infer that 　　．

       A．there are mostly homely and unemployed people online

       B．the police had better find criminals online

       C．we can find love only through the dating sites

       D．following safety tips ensure a safe online dating experience

你将阅读的是一篇关于鲨鱼袭击的文章。有五处段落从文章中被取出了。请从A-F这六个选项中选出正确的选项填入空格中。选项中有一项是多余选项。
When I was eight, my parents, my younger brother, Stewart, and a girl called Margo Edwards, who was at school with us, went on holiday to Mozambique. One day, we took out a small rowing boat with an outboard motor on it, and went fishing on a lagoon at a place called San Martina.

Despite all the benefits of building the subway in the city center, only a few people argued ______ the project.