Although Thomas Edison created the technologies behind three major 21st century industries  electrical power，recorded music and movies—his greatest invention may have been the modern method of inventing．He basically came up with the modern system of research and development．Edison was not the only scientist doing research in his garage but someone who gathered around him a team of creative scientific minds．Edison’s laboratories were the forerunners（ 先驱）of Apple，Google and Microsoft．

Yet for all his scientific gifts，he was no Steve Jobs or Bill Gates．He once said，“Anything that won’ t sell，I don’ t want to invent．” But Edison，unlike Jobs or Gates，had no real sense of what the public wanted or how to change his discoveries into products that might sell．It took him years to understand that the phonograph（ 留声机）was not a business tool but an entertainment invention．He helped create movies but resisted the idea that people might want to go into a theater to watch one．

We chose Edison this year because we need his example now more than ever．Though we live in a time of great reformation，the U．S．is in danger of losing its advantage in science and technology．American investment（ 投资）in research and development has not increased as a percentage of GDP since the mid一1980s，while the government’ s share has been dropping．And this is at a time when China is rapidly increasing its money on research and development．The U．S．was once among the leading nations．Now it ranks near the bottom of the 23 nations that collect such data．We hope that Edison’ s story might not only encourage reformation but also inspire more young Americans to study science and engineering．

1．The first paragraph is mainly about         .

    A．the number of Edison’ s great inventions

    B．Edison’ s special personal characters

    C．Edi son’ s modern system of research

    D．Apple．Google and Microsoft and their forerunners

2．Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

    A．All the things Edison invented sold well．

    B．Edison wanted to invent things that sold well．

    C．Edison’ s inventions were not valuable for being unpopular．

    D．Edison had a gift for changing his discoveries into best sellers.

3．The author’ s main purpose is to    ．

      A．inform US of the danger the USA is in

      B．get young Americans to study science

      C．be in honor of Edison for his contributions

      D．tell US how important Edison’ s inventions are

4．We can infer from the text that    ．

    A．the USA is no longer advanced in science and technology

    B．the USA falls behind China in research and inventions

    C．more and more young Americans will be interested in science

    D．China is spending more and more money on research and development

阅读理解

阅读下列短文，从每题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项，并在正确选项上画勾。

　　My father's reaction to the bank building at 43^rd Street and Fifth Avenue in New York City was immediate and definite: “You won't catch me putting my money in there!” he declared. “Not in that glass box!”

　　Of course, my father is a gentleman of the old school, a member of the generation to whom a good deal of modern architecture (建筑) is upsetting, but I am convinced that his negative response was not so much to the architecture as to a violation of his concept of the nature of money.

　　In his generation money was thought of as a real commodity (实物) that could be carried, or stolen. So, to attract the custom of a sensible man, a bank had to have heavy walls, barred windows, and bronze doors, to affirm the fact, however untrue, that money would be safe inside. If a building's design made it appear impenetrable (无法穿透的) the institution was necessarily reliable, and the meaning of the heavy wall as an architecture symbol dwelt in the popular attitude toward money.

　　But that attitude toward money has of course changed. Excepting pocket money, cash of any kind is now rarely used; money as a tangible commodity has largely been replaced by credit. A deficit (赤字) economy, accompanied by huge expansion, has led us to think of money as a product of the creative imagination. The banker no longer offers us a safe: he offers us a servicea service in which the most valuable element is the creativity necessary for the generation of greater wealth. It is in no way surprising, in view of this change in attitude, that we are watching the disappearance of the heavy-walled bank.

　　Just as the older bank emphasized its strength, this bank by its architecture boasts (吹嘘) of its imaginative powers. From this point of view it is hard to say where architecture ends and human assertion (人们的说法) begins.

1．The main idea of this passage is that ________.

[　　]

A．money is not as valuable as it might have been in the past

B．the architectural style of the older bank is superior to that of the modern bank

C．changes have taken place in both the appearance and the concept of banks

D．prejudice makes the older generation think that the modern bank is unreliable

2．What are the attitudes of the older generation and the younger generation toward money?

[　　]

A．The former thinks more of it than the latter.

B．The younger generation values money more than the older generation.

C．Both generations rely on the imaginative power of bankers to make money whatever the bank might look like.

D．The former regards it as a real commodity while the latter considers it to be a means to produce more money.

3．The word “tangible” refers to something ________.

[　　]

4．It can be inferred from the passage that the author's attitude towards the new trend in banking is ________.

[　　]

Among various programs, TV talk shows have covered every inch of space on daytime television．And anyone who watches them regularly knows that each one is different in style．But no two shows are more opposite in content, while at the same time standing out above the rest, than the Jerry Springer and Oprah Winfrey shows．
Jerry Springer could easily be considered the king of "rubbish talk"．The topics on his show are as surprising as can be．For example, the show takes the ever-common talk show titles of love, sex, cheating, and hate, to a different level．Clearly, the Jerry Springer show is about the dark side of society, yet people are willing to eat up the troubles of other people's lives．
Like Jerry Springer, Oprah Winfrey takes the TV talk show to its top．But Oprah goes in the opposite direction．The show is mainly about the improvement of society and different quality of life．Contents are from teaching your children lessons, managing your work week, to getting to know your neighbors．
Compared to Oprah, the Jerry Springer show looks like poisonous waste being poured into society．Jerry ends every show with a "final word"．He makes a small speech about the entire idea of the show．Hopefully, this is the part where most people will learn something very valuable．
Clean as it is, the Oprah show is not for everyone．The show's main audience are middle-class Americans．Most of the people have the time, money and ability to deal with life's tough problems．Jerry Springer, on the other hand, has more of a connection with the young adults of society．These are 18-to 21year-olds whose main troubles in life include love, relationship, sex, money and drug．They are the ones who see some value and lessons to be learned through the show's exploitation．
【小题1】Compared with other TV talk shows, both the Jerry Springer and the Oprah Winfrey shows are____．