The following is a recent survey among teenagers:

Radio Most teenagers nowadays are not regular listeners to radio. They may occasionally tune in, but they do not try to listen to a program specifically. The main reason teenagers listen to the radio is for music, but now with online sites streaming music for free they do not bother, and users can choose the songs they want instead of listening to what the radio presenter/DJ chooses. Television Most teenagers watch television, but usually there are points in the year where they watch more than average. This is due to programs coming on in seasons, so they will watch a particular show at a certain time (as long as it lasts) but then they may watch no television for weeks. Teenagers are also watching less television because of services such as BBC iPlayer, which allows them to watch shows when they want. Whilst watching TV, adverts come on quite regularly (18 minutes of every hour) and teenagers do not want to watch these, so they switch to another channel, or do something else whilst the adverts run. Newspapers No teenager that I know of regularly reads a newspaper, as most do not have the time and cannot be bothered to read pages and pages of text while they could watch the news summarized on the Internet or on TV. Internet Every teenager has some access to the Internet, be it at school or home. Home use is mainly used for fun (such as social networking) whilst school (or library) use is for work. Most teenagers are heavily active on a combination of social networking sites. Facebook is the most common, with nearly everyone with an Internet connection registered and visiting >4 times a week. Facebook is popular as one can interact with friends on a wide scale. For searching the web, Google is the dominant figure, simply because it is well known and easy to use. Some teenagers make purchases on the Internet (on sites like eBay) but this is only used by a small percentage, as a credit card is required and most teenagers do not have credit cards. Many teenagers use YouTube to watch videos (usually anime which cannot be watched anywhere else) and some use it as a music player by having a video with the music they want to listen to playing in the background. Mobile Phones 99pc of teenagers have a mobile phone and most are quite capable phones. Usually, teenagers only use their phones for texting, calling. Features such as video messaging or video calling are not used—because they are expensive. Services such as instant messaging are used, but not by everyone. It usually depends whether the phone is Wi-Fi compatible, because otherwise it is very expensive to get Internet off the phone network. As most teenagers’ phones have Bluetooth support, and Bluetooth is free, they utilize this feature often. Mobile email is not used as teenagers have no need; they do not need to be connected to their inbox all the time as they don’t receive important emails.

Disease, poverty, hate, love-Charles Dickens' stories opened his readers' eyes to the most important themes of his age．Two hundred years on, his stories still speak volumes across the world, proving that Dickens' legacy （遗产） was far greater than just "great literature"．

February 7 marks the 200th anniversary of the writer's birthday．To mark this date, BBC writer Alex Hudson listed six things Dickens gave the modern world．Let's take a look at two of them．

A while Christmas

Dickens is described as "the man who invented Christmas" -not the religious festival, but the cultural aspects that we associate with the festive （喜庆的） season today．

In the early 19th century, Christmas was barely worth mentioning, according to critic and writer Leigh Hunt．The committee which ran the Conservative Party even held ordinary business meetings on Christmas Day - unthinkable in the West nowadays, when everyone, but the most necessary workers takes at least three days off．

         Many people believe that Dickens' popular depictions（描绘） of the festive period became a blueprint for generations to come．In his classic novel, A Christmas Carol, he not only put forward the idea of snow at Christmas,but also painted a picture of glowing warmth-“home enjoyments, affections and hopes"．

In his biography of Dickens, Peter Ackroyd wrote, "Dickens can be said to have almost single-handedly created the modern idea of Christmas．"

         "Dickensian" poverty

Dickens was one of the first to take an honest look at the underclass and the poor of Victorian （the period during British Queen Victoria's reign from 1837 to 1901） London．

He helped popularize the term "red tape" to describe situations where people in power use needless amounts of bureaucracy （官僚作风） in a way that particularly hurts the weaker and poorer members of society．

"Dickensian" has now become a powerful word for describing an unacceptable level of poverty．In 2009, when the president of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers in the UK wanted to talk about deprivation in some areas, of Britain, she did not use words like "terrible" or "horrific", but rather described it as "life mirroring the times of Dickens"．

1.What is the main idea of the article?

A．Charles Dickens' impact on the world．

B．An introduction to Charles Dickens' classic novels．

C．Charles Dickens' amazing characters．

D．Why Charles Dickens is popular across the world．

2.Why is Dickens called "the man who invented Christmas"?

A．Because he created the religious festival.

B．Because one of his novels helped to shape Christmas celebrations．

C．Because many of his novels have something to do with Christmas．

D．Because he was the first man to have proposed celebrating Christmas．

3.According to the article, the phrase “red tape” refers to __.

A．rules or procedures that are required to accomplish a task

B．a situation in which poor members of society are hurt

C．conflict between people in power and weaker people

D．pointlessly time-consuming official procedures

4.What can we infer from the passage?

A．Dickens is still popular today in Britain．

B．everyone takes at least three days off at Christmas．

C．Dickens invented Christmas

D．Dickens gave the modern world six things．

Passage two (Vicious and Dangerous Sports Should be Banned by Law)
When you think of the tremendous technological progress we have made, it’s amazing how little we have developed in other respects. We may speak contemptuously of the poor old Romans because they relished the orgies of slaughter that went on in their arenas. We may despise them because they mistook these goings on for entertainment. We may forgive them condescendingly because they lived 2000 years ago and obviously knew no better. But are our feelings of superiority really justified? Are we any less blood-thirsty? Why do boxing matches, for instance, attract such universal interest? Don’t the spectators who attend them hope they will see some violence? Human beings remains as bloodthirsty as ever they were. The only difference between ourselves and the Romans is that while they were honest enough to admit that they enjoyed watching hungey lions tearing people apart and eating them alive, we find all sorts of sophisticated arguments to defend sports which should have been banned long age; sports which are quite as barbarous as, say, public hangings or bearbaiting.
It really is incredible that in this day and age we should still allow hunting or bull-fighting, that we should be prepared to sit back and watch two men batter each other to pulp in a boxing ring, that we should be relatively unmoved by the sight of one or a number of racing cars crashing and bursting into flames. Let us not deceive ourselves. Any talk of ‘the sporting spirit’ is sheer hypocrisy. People take part in violent sports because of the high rewards they bring. Spectators are willing to pay vast sums of money to see violence. A world heavyweight championship match, for instance, is front page news. Millions of people are disappointed if a big fight is over in two rounds instead of fifteen. They feel disappointment because they have been deprived of the exquisite pleasure of witnessing prolonged torture and violence.
Why should we ban violent sports if people enjoy them so much? You may well ask. The answer is simple: they are uncivilized. For centuries man has been trying to improve himself spiritually and emotionally – admittedly with little success. But at least we no longer tolerate the sight madmen cooped up in cages, or public floggings of any of the countless other barbaric practices which were common in the past. Prisons are no longer the grim forbidding places they used to be. Social welfare systems are in operation in many parts of the world. Big efforts are being made to distribute wealth fairly. These changes have come about not because human beings have suddenly and unaccountably improved, but because positive steps were taken to change the law. The law is the biggest instrument of social change that we have and it may exert great civilizing influence. If we banned dangerous and violent sports, we would be moving one step further to improving mankind. We would recognize that violence is degrading and unworthy of human beings.
1.It can be inferred from the passage that the author’s opinion of nowadays’ human beings is
A.  not very high.    B.  high.      C.  contemptuous.     D.  critical.
2.The main idea of this passage is
A.  vicious and dangerous sports should be banned by law.
B.  people are willing to pay vast sums money to see violence.
C.  to compare two different attitudes towards dangerous sports.
D.  people are bloodthirsty in sports.
3.That the author mentions the old Romans is
A.  To compare the old Romans with today’s people.
B.  to give an example.
C.  to show human beings in the past know nothing better.
D.  to indicate human beings are used to bloodthirsty.
4.How many dangerous sports does the author mention in this passage?
A.  Three.       B.  Five.         C.  Six.       D.  Seven.
5.The purpose of the author in writing this passage is
A.  that, by banning the violent sports, we human beings can improve our selves.
B.  that, by banning the dangerous sports, we can improve the law.
C.  that we must take positive steps to improve social welfare system.
D.  to show law is the main instrument of social change.

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【小题1】 How many reasons for going to college does the author mention in the text?

请认真阅读下列短文，并根据所读内容在文章后表格中的空格里填入最恰当的单词。
注意：每空格一个单词。
Some people believe that greed and selfishness has become the basis of modern society. We should return to the old traditions of family and community, and then we will have a better life. To what extent do you agree or disagree with the above opinion?
In this fast-paced world, many values are undergoing major changes. While people traditionally prioritize(区分优先次序) caring, sharing and generosity in life and work, modern people seem to be more self-absorbed and self-concerned.
Modern people act selfishly to survive the harsh competition of life. They say that it is a jungle out there. To survive, you have to fight with whatever means that come handy. Obviously greedy and selfishness go perfectly well with such ideas. In a company, employees do everything they can to get better pay and higher position, even at the cost of colleagues. We are in any way advocating any selfish conduct. It is just that people are pressured to act in a certain way due to outside influences.
In spite of common practice, it is hard to conclude that modern society is built on greed and selfishness, both of which are not newly invented vocabulary. In ancient times people also did greedy and selfish things though such behaviors were more condemned(谴责) then. But we cannot ignore the fact that people in the past lived a relatively more isolated life and faced less pressure compared with their modern twins.
Are we happier to share with others and be generous to them? There is no fixed answer either. Some people take great pleasure helping and giving to others while others feel happy doing the opposite. But I personally think that people should not be too selfish. Caring for others can actually encourage the development of a mutually beneficial relationship.
In conclusion, modern people appear to be more self-centered than those in the past due to strong outside pressure. However, we should encourage people to know the importance of being caring and generous and to build a mutually beneficial relationship with others.
Title: Are Modern People Becoming More Selfish?