“I sometimes get up at three or four in the morning to surf the Internet.”

“ I checked my e-mail almost forty times a day.”

“I seldom spend less than three hours each time on the net.”

“I spend more time in chat rooms than with my ‘real-life’ friends.”

Do you know any people like these? They are part of a new addiction* called Internet addiction. According to experts, Internet addicts* spend at least thirty hours online every week. They lose control of the time they spend on the Internet.

For example, one college student was missing for several days. His friends were worried and looked for him everywhere but couldn’t find him. They called the police. The police found the student in the computer lab: he was surfing the Internet---for seven days straight.

A study shows that about seven to ten percent of Internet users become addicted. The teenagers spend more time on the Internet than with friends and family. That’s why some experts worry most about young people.

Is “surfing the Internet” a hobby or an addiction for you? You may have a problem if you have one of the following symptoms*.

★ You go out with your friends less and less.

★ You’ve decided to spend a short time online, but then you spend several hours.

★ You do not go to important family events or you do not do school projects because you like to spend hours on the Internet.

What is the situation? Some experts suggest that people set strict limits on their time for internet use. You have to learn to control it, or the Internet would control you.

1.Internet addicts at least spend ________ hours online every week.

A. twenty B. thirty C. forty D. fifty

2.Some experts worry most about young people because__________.

A. they spend too much time on the Internet.

B. they spend too much time with their friends

C. they get up too early to surf the Internet

D. they spend too much money shopping online.

3.Where may you find this passage?

A. In a guidebook B. In a magazine

C. In a movie poster D. In a storybook

Almost all cultures celebrate the end of one year and the beginning of another in some way. Different cultures celebrate the beginning of a new year in different ways, and at different times on the calendar.

In Western countries, people usually celebrate New Year at midnight on December 31st- January 1st. People may go to parties, sometimes dressed in formal(正式的) clothes, and the may drink champagne(香槟) at midnight. During the first minutes of the new year, people cheer and wish each other happiness for the year ahead. But some cultures prefer to celebrate the new year by waking up early to watch the sun rise. They welcome the new year with the first light of the sunrise.

Many cultures also do special things to get rid of(摆脱) bad luck at the beginning of a new year. For example, in Ecuador, families make a big doll from old clothes. The doll is filled with old newspapers and firecrackers. At midnight, these dolls are burned to show the bad things from the past year are gone and the new year can start afresh(重新). Other common traditions to keep away bad luck in a new year include throwing things into rivers or the ocean, or saying special things on the first day of the new year.

Other New Year traditions are followed to bring good luck in the new year. One widespread Spanish tradition for good luck is to eat grapes on New Year’s Day. The more grapes a person eats, the more good luck the person will have in the year. In France, people eat pancakes for good luck at New Year. In the United States, some people eat black-eyed peas for good luck-but to get good luck for a whole year you have to eat 365 of them!

1.The reading is mainly about_____.

A. the meaning of “Happy New Year!”

B. several different New Year traditions

C. what to eat on New Year’s Day

D. why people dress up nicely on New Year’s Day

2.It’s clear that_____.

A. some cultures celebrate New Year in the morning

B. the Western people celebrate New Year only on New Year’s Day

C. people in Ecuador go to parties on December 31st-January 1st

D. no cultures do special things to celebrate New Year

3.In some cultures, people throw things into rivers or oceans to_____.

A. bring good luck B. keep away bad luck

C. forget everything D. plan for the next year

4.When eating black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day, people think_____.

A. one pea brings one day of luck

B. black-eyed peas are the best medicine

C. the peas are too black and taste bad

D. the peas are helpful to count numbers

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