Does Fame Drive You Crazy?

Although being famous might sound like a dream come true, today's stars, feeling like zoo animals, face pressures that few of us can imagine.They are at the center of much of the world's attention.Paparazzi (狗仔队) camp outside their homes, cameras ready.Tabloids (小报) publish thrilling stories about their personal lives.Just imagine not being able to do anything without being photographed or interrupted for a signature!

According to pyschologist Christina Villarreal, celebrities—famous people—worry constantly about their public appearance.Eventually, they start to lose track of who they really are, seeing themselves the way their fans imagine them, not as the people they were before everyone knew their names.“Over time，” Villarreal says, “they feel separated and alone.”

The phenomenon of tracking celebrities has been around for ages.In the 4th century B．C., painters followed Alexander the Great into battle, hoping to picture his victories for his admirers.When Charles Dickens visited America in the 19th century, his sold－out readings attracted thousands of fans, leading him to complain (抱怨) about his lack of privacy.Tabloids of the 1920s and 1930s ran articles about film－stars in much the same way that modern tabloids and websites do.

Being a public figure today, however, is a lot more difficult than it used to be.Superstars cannot move about without worrying about photographers with modern cameras.When they say something silly or do something ridiculous, there is always the Internet to spread the news in minutes and keep their “story” alive forever.

If fame is so troublesome, why aren't all celebrities running away from it? The answer is there are still ways to deal with it.Some stars stay calm by surrounding themselves with trusted friends and family or by escaping to remote places away from big cities.They focus not on how famous they are but on what they love to do or whatever made them famous in the first place.

Sometimes a few celebrities can get a little justice.Still, even stars who enjoy full justice often complain about how hard their lives are.They are tired of being famous already.

1.It can be learned from the passage that stars today________.

A．are often misunderstood by the public

B．can no longer have their privacy protected

C．spend too much on their public appearance

D．care little about how they have come into fame

2.What is the main idea of Paragraph 3?

A．Great heroes of the past were generally admired.

B．The problem faced by celebrities has a long history.

C．Well－known actors are usually targets of tabloids.

D．Works of popular writers often have a lot of readers.

3.What makes it much harder to be a celebrity today?

A．Availability of modern media.

B．Inadequate social recognition.

C．Lack of favorable chances.

D．Huge population of fans.

4.What is the author's attitude toward modern celebrity?

A．Sincere.? ????????????? B．Sceptical.

C．Disapproving.? ????????????? D．Sympathetic.

Friendship—Seven Tips on How to Make Friends

   Friendship is a very important human relationship and everyone needs good friends. Friendship offers companionship, improves an individual self-worth and promotes good health. However making new friends comes easy for some people but for many of us the process is difficult and requires courage. Below are some helpful tips on how to make and keep friends.

    Associate with others. The first step to making friends is associating with other people. Health clubs, places of worship and charities are some places where you can meet new people and build friendship. But attending these places is not enough. You will need to make yourself known by becoming an active member.

    Be cheerful. A smile on the face is a sure way to attract new friends as people are always drawn to a cheerful disposition. No one wants to keep company with someone who constantly looks upset.

    Start a conversation. Starting a conversation is the second most important step in making new friends. Do not wait to be spoken to；you can always start the conversation. Being able to make small talk is a very useful skill in relating with other people regardless of the environment or circumstance.

    Stay in touch. For a friendship to grow you need to stay in touch. There are several ways of staying in touch with your friends and these include SMS, phone calls and online social networking sites.

    Do things together. Choosing friends with common interest is important in establishing friendship as these interests would always bring you and your friend together and hanging out will always be a pleasant experience. The less you have in common with your friend the more likely the friendship will not grow.

    Let it grow. It is a good thing to stay in touch but try not to choke your new friend with calls, messages or visits as this would likely wear him or her out and eventually they may not want to be your friend anymore. The best friendships are the ones that grow naturally.

    Enjoy your friendship. The best way to enjoy your new friends is to allow them to be themselves. Try not to be critical of them and try not to change them from who they are to what you want them to be.

A lot of grown-ups worry that spending too much time playing video games isn’t good for a kid’s health. Now some doctors have noticed that kids who bring their hand-held game players to the hospital seem less worried about being there. These patients also seem to experience less pain when they are concentrating on a superhero adventure or a car race. At the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center in Maryland, young patients are finding hospital visits easier to deal with, thanks to a test program called the Hospital-based On-line Pediatric Environment (HOPE). Patients in HOPE have a life-threatening condition where their kidneys(肾脏)no longer filter(过滤)wastes from their blood. To get their blood cleaned, these kids must be hooked up to dialysis(透析) machines at the hospital three times a week, for at least three hours each time. HOPE allows kids to play online sports, racing, and adventure games with each other. Eventually they will be able to connect with kids in other hospitals who are suffering from the same problem. "We want to use the power of the Internet to bring together kids who feel that they are separated by their illness, and let them know that they are not alone," said Arun Mathews, the doctor who heads the program. He loves video games himself and got the idea to connect kids all over the country. Many researchers elsewhere are testing video game programs that might help young patients. For example, nine-year-old Ben Duskin of San Francisco, who was struggling with cancer helped to design a video game where players get rid of cancer cells. That’s all great news, because doctors already know that reducing pain and worry helps patients heal faster.

What’s the main idea of the passage?

A. Playing video games too much is bad for kids’health.

B. Playing video games seems to be beneficial to young patients’ recovery.

C. Doctors find that reducing pain helps patients recover faster.

D. Doctors invent a game to help kids in hospitals.

How long will it take a patient to get his blood cleaned in a week?

A. About 3 hours.   B. About 6 hours.  C. About 9 hours. D. About 21 hours.

According to Arun Mathews, the main purpose of HOPE is to _________.

A. encourage kids to play online games

B. teach kids how to design video games

C. help kids who are suffering from illness connect with each other

 D. make parents worry less about their kids playing video games too much

Which of the following plays the most important role in the HOPE project?

A. Music.  B. The Internet. C. Novels.  D. Films.

What can we learn from the passage?

A. Nine-year-old Ben Duskin, who has a cancer, is very brave and clever.

B. Many parents want their children to play video games because it’s good for their health.

C. Doctors are not sure whether reducing pain and worry can help the patients recover faster.

D. HOPE allows kids to play online games only with the kids in the same hospital.

D
Both warm-blooded and cold-blooded desert animals have ways to escape the desert heat. Warm-blooded desert animals, such as rats and mice, rest during the day, often staying in cool underground burrows. At night they search for food. Animals that are out during the day, such as cold-blooded lizards and snakes, are active only for short periods. As their body temperature rises, these reptiles move into the shade in order to cool down. In the early evening, when the sun grows weaker, the reptiles become more active and begin their search for food again.
Getting enough water to survive is a major problem for all desert animals. Some desert animals, such as the kangaroo rat and the related jerboa, get water only from the food that they eat. Because these animals eat mainly dry seeds, they must survive on a tiny amount of water.
Most deserts have only a small number of frogs and toads because these animals must be near water to survive. Yet even these creatures have adapted to desert conditions. When small amounts of water collect in temporary streams, the desert-living frogs and toads become active. After a rainfall, they lay their eggs. The eggs grow into tadpoles in a few days and into adults in just four weeks. When the puddles dry up, the adult frogs or toads dig into the ground. Their metabolism(新陈代谢) slows, and they stay beneath the ground until the next rain, which may be as good as a year away. Until then, their bodily activities continue at a reduced rate.
The camel---often called the ship of the desert---is one of the most successful desert animals. Camels can go for long periods without water, but eventually they must drink. When water becomes available to them after a long drought, they may drink 95 liters of water or more. When water is not available, what helps camels survive the desert heat is the fat stored in their humps. A camel’s hump contains about 12 kilograms of fat. Fat is rich in hydrogen. As the fat is digested, hydrogen from the fat combines with oxygen in the air that the camel breathes. The result is H2O, or water. Each kilogram of fat that a camel digests produces about a liter of water.
71. Desert animals are usually more active at night because ______.
A. it is cooler at night           B.it is easier to find water
C.they like the dark            D. they are less likely to be attacked at night
72. Which of the following desert animals can get water only from the food?
A. The camel.       B. The kangaroo rat.     C. The frog.      D. The toad
73. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
A. All the desert animals rest during the day.
B. All the desert animals don’t rest during the day.
C. Cold-blooded desert animals don’t rest during the day.
D. None of the cold-blooded desert animals go out during the day.
74. The title for this passage could probably be ________.
A. Hot Deserts                         B. Desert Animals
C. How Desert Animals Get Water         D. Ways To Escape the Desert Heat
75. The underlined word “burrows” in the first paragraph can be replaced by _________.
A. holes     B. caves     C. rooms      D. Openings

The elephant was lying heavily on its side, fast asleep. A few dogs started barking at it. The elephant woke up in a terrible anger: it chased the dogs into the village where they ran for safety.That didn't stop the elephant. It destroyed a dozen houses and injured several people. The villagers were scared and angry. Then someone suggested calling Parbati, the elephant princess.

   Parbati Barua's father was a hunter of tigers and an elephant tamer. He taught Parbati to ride an elephant before she could even walk. He also taught her the dangerous art of the elephant round-up -- how to catch wild elephants.

   Parbati hasn't always lived in the jungle. After a happy childhood hunting with her father, she was sent to boarding school in the city. But Parbati never got used to being there and many years later she went back to her old life. "Life in the city is too dull. Catching elephants is an adventure and the excitement lasts for days after the chase," she says.

   But Parbati doesn't catch elephants just for fun. "My work," she says, "is to rescue man from the elephants, and to keep the elephants safe from man." And this is exactly what Parbati has been doing for many years. Increasingly, the Indian elephant is angry: for many years, illegal hunters have attacked it and its home in the jungle has been reduced to small pieces of land. It is now fighting back. Whenever wild elephants enter a tea garden or a village, Parbati is called to guide the animals back to the jungle before they can kill.

   The work of an elephant tamer also involves love and devotion. A good elephant tamer will spend hours a day singing love songs to a newly captured elephant. "Eventually they grow to love their tamers and never forget them. They are also more loyal than humans," she said, as she climbed up one of her elephants and sat on the giant, happy animal. An elephant princess indeed!

For Parbati, catching elephants is mainly to             .

   A. get long lasting excitement              B. keep both man and elephants safe

   C. send them back to the jungle             D. make the angry elephants tame

Before Parbati studied in a boarding school,             .

   A. she spent her time hunting with her father

   B. she learned how to sing love songs

   C. she had already been called an elephant princess

   D. she was taught how to hunt tigers

Indian elephants are getting increasingly angry and they revenge because             .

   A. they are caught and sent for heavy work                

   B. illegal hunters capture them and kill them

   C. they are attacked and their land gets limited

   D. dogs often bark at them and chase them

The passage starts with an elephant story in order to explain that in India              .    

   A. people easily fall victim to elephants' attacks

   B. the man-elephant relationship is getting worse

   C. elephant tamers are in short supply

   D. dogs are as powerful as elephants

Which of the following is not mentioned in the passage?

A. Both Parbati and his father are elephant tamers

B. Parbati spent much time living in the jungle to be an elephant tamer.

C. Devotion makes a great difference to an elephant tamer.

D. Parbati’s work is to rescue both elephants and man.