Television has a huge influence on our lives. It is one of the most important ways of getting information. People spend part of their spare time watching television, and much of what they learn comes from it.
What we see on TV—movies, news shows, sports shows, advertisements and so on have increased our knowledge and have changed the way we learn about the world today. However, not everything on TV is true.
Most of the viewers are children. Television sometimes is like a baby-sitter. It spends more time with children than parents do. But it keeps them in the living room away from healthy outdoor activities. They spend less time playing soccer or walking in the park or playing games in the yard.
Of course, there are some programs on TV that are good for children. But there are also some shows which are bad. Children should not watch unhealthy shows. Maybe we can’t change what is on TV, but we can choose what we watch. Do you agree?
【小题1】Why is television sometimes like a baby-sitter?

An old man lived in a nice house with a large garden. He took care of his flowers all the time, watering and fertilizing them.

One day a young man went by the garden. He looked at the beautiful flowers, imagining how happy he could be if he lived in such a beautiful place. Then ,suddenly he found the old gardener was blind. He was very surprised about this and asked,“You can’t see these flowers. “Why are you busy taking care of them every day?”

The old man smiled and said ,“I can tell you four reasons. First, I was a gardener when I was young, and I really like this job. Second, although I can’t see these flowers, I can touch them. Third, I can smell the sweetness of them. As to the last one, that’s you.”

“Me? But you don’t know me.”said the young man.

“Yeah, it’s true that I don’t know you. But I know that flowers are angels that everybody knows. We enjoy the happiness these flowers have brought us.”

The blind man’s work opened our eyes and pleased our hearts, which also made his life happier. It was just like Beethoven, who became deaf in his later life and wrote many great musical works. Beethoven himself couldn’t hear his wonderful music, but his music has encouraged millions of people to face their difficulties bravely. Isn’t it a kind of happiness?

1.The young man was very surprised because _________.

A．The old man was deaf.

B．The old man could see nothing.

C．The old man took care of flowers every day.

D．The flowers was very beautiful.

2.Why was the old man busy taking care of the flowers every day?

A．Because he liked doing it.

B．Because it can make him happy.

C．Because everyone enjoyed the happiness these flowers had brought.

D．All the above.

3.Which of the following statements is TRUE about the old man?

A．He was a musician.                      B．He was the writer’s friend.

C．He used to be a gardener.                 D．He was very happy.

4.What is the best title of the passage?

A．The beautiful flowers.                    B．Beethoven’s life.

C．The blind and The deaf.                   D．One kind of Happiness.

My teachers suggested that I see a speech specialist (专家) in school.

I never really gave much thought to my speech. If other people understood what I was saying, then that was good enough. I didn’t mind repeating myself many times.

Before testing me, the speech specialist asked me what I thought of having good speech. I told her I thought it was not important.

“Well, when you are in an interview for a job, and they don’t know what you are saying, what are they going to say to you? Nice meeting you, bye,” she said.

Maybe good speech was important. I took part in 20-minute classes each week with the specialist.

After she tested me, she told me that I spoke too fast, and didn’t give enough eye contact (眼神交流). I learned that when I made eye contact with someone, it meant that I was talking to that person, and I could also see what he or she thought about what I was saying.

When my first speech class started, I found that I had been speaking too fast to be understood. Every time I spoke too fast, the specialist stopped me and told me to start again. At first, I got stopped after almost every other sentence. After a while, I felt my speech slow down. I wasn’t sure if people could understand me better, but my friends stopped asking me to repeat myself.

Speech is an important skill to have. If you do have good speech, that’s a good thing, but if you don’t have it, it is never too late to improve.

1.The article is probably taken from       .

 A. a newspaper    B. an advertisement  C. a detective story    D. a science book

2.What did the writer think of having good speech before the classes?

A. It was very useful.

B. It was nothing important.

C. It was impossible.

D. It was good for interviewing.

3. What were the writer’s problems when he was speaking?

a. He spoke too quickly.                 b. He never stopped once he started talking.

c. He seldom kept eye contact with people.  d. He didn’t give others time to ask questions.

A. a, b            B. b, c             C. a, c              D. b, d

4. From the sentence “but my friends stopped asking me to repeat myself,” we know that _____.

A. the writer’s friends couldn’t understand him

B. the writer still couldn’t make eye contact

C. the writer improved a lot

D. the writer didn’t slow down

5.Through the passage, the writer wants to tell us that _____.

A. seeing a speech specialist is necessary

B. speech is an important skill to have

C. good speech can help you make friends

D. good speech gets good affect

Chinese are very generous when it comes to educating their children. Not caring about the  money, parents often send their children to the best schools or even abroad to England, the United States and Australia. They also want their children to take extra-course activities where they will either learn a musical instrument(乐器) or ballet, or other classes which will give them a head in life. The Chinese believe that the more expensive an education is, the better it is. So parents will spend an unreasonable amount of money on education. Even poor couples will buy a computer for their son or daughter. However, what most parents fail to see is that the best early education they can give their children is usually very cheap.

Parents can see that their children are very skilled in some areas while poor in others. What most parents fail to realize though, is that today's children are short of self-respect and self-confidence.

The problem is that parents are only educating their children on how to take multiple-choice tests and how to study well, but parents are not teaching them the most important skills that they need to be confident, happy and clever.

Parents can achieve this by teaching practical skills like cooking, sewing and doing other housework. Teaching a child to cook will improve many of the skills that he will need later in life. Cooking requires patience and time. It is an enjoyable but difficult experience. A good cook always tries to improve his cooking, so he will learn to work hard and finish his job successfully step by step. His result, a well-cooked dinner, will give him much satisfaction and lots of self-confidence.

Some old machines, such as a broken radio or TV set that you give your child to play with will make him curious and arouse(激发) his interest. He will spend hours looking at them, trying to fix them; your child might become an engineer when he grows up. These activities are not only teaching a child to read a book, but rather to think, to use his mind. And that is more important.

1.Most Chinese parents don't realize_______.

A．how much the best education is worth       B．when children should be educated

C．what children really need in later life        D．why school tests don't satisfy children

2.What is the main idea of the last paragraph?

A．Fixing old machines is very important.        B．Interest is necessary for everything.

C．Broken things are useful for children.        D．Using hands helps improve thinking ability.

3.The writer's attitude（看法） to children's education is that

A．the cheaper an education is, the better it is

B．children today should learn different skills

C．practical skills are useful to children's growth

D．school education can't meet parents' expectation.