A

Some unusual words describe how a person spends his or her time. For example, someone who likes to spend a lot of time sitting or lying down while watching television is sometimes called a couch potato. A couch is a piece of furniture that people sit on while watching television.

Robert Armstrong, an artist from California, developed the term “couch potato” in 1976. Several years later, he listed the term as a trademark with the United States government. Mr Armstrong also helped write a funny book about life as a full­time television watcher. It is called the Official Couch Potato Handbook.

Couch potatoes enjoy watching television just as mouse potatoes enjoy working on computers. A computer mouse is the device that moves the pointer, or cursor on a computer screen. The description of mouse potato became popular in 1993. American writer Alice Kahn is said to have invented the term to describe young people who spend a lot of time using computers.

Too much time inside the house using a computer or watching television can cause someone to get cabin fever. A cabin is a simple house usually built far away from the city. People go to a cabin to relax and enjoy quiet time.

Cabin fever is not really a disease. However, people can experience boredom and restlessness if they spend too much time inside their homes. This is especially true during the winter when it is too cold or snowy to do things outside. Often children get cabin fever if they cannot go outside to play. So do their parents. This happens when there is so much snow that schools and even offices and stores are closed.

Some people enjoy spending a lot of time in their homes to make them nice places to live. This is called nesting or cocooning. Birds build nests out of sticks to hold their eggs and baby birds. Some insects build cocoons around themselves for protection while they grow and change. Nests and cocoons provide security for wildlife. So people like the idea of nests and cocoons, too.

The terms cocooning and nesting became popular more than twenty years ago. They describe people buying their first homes and filling them with many things. These people then had children.

Now these children are grown­up and have left the nest. They are in college. Or they are married and starting families of their own far away.Now these parents are living alone without children in their empty nests. They have become empty nesters.

16．Which of the following was first used?

A．Couch potato.  B．Cocooning.

C．Mouse potato.  D．Nesting.

17．________refers to a person who spends much time on computer.

A．A couch potato  B．A nester

C．A mouse potato  D．An empty nester

18．Why can most people easily get cabin fever in winter?

A．Because they are addicted to computer games.

B．Because they would like to play outside.

C．Because it is so cold that they couldn't go outside.

D．Because they are too busy at work or school.

19．What's the passage mainly about?

A．How to get rid of cabin fever.

B．How people become nesters or empty nesters.

C．How to spend your leisure time.

D．The origin of some words.

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，并在正确选项上划勾。

　　One of the United States' most pressing social problems is the breakdown of the two-parent family. Today, millions of American children grow up without fathers. Too often, these children lack the love and guidance they badly need and which they would ordinarily receive from two responsible parents. Traditionally, American parents have placed the needs of their children above their own. At present, however, nearly one half of all new marriages end in divorce, with often troubling results for the children involved. Worse, every year, thousands of teenage, unmarried Americans become mother outside the context of marriage altogether, with generally disastrous results for the mothers and children alike and for American society more generally. However, Chinese continue to value intact (完整的) marriages. This is not to say that Chinese marriages are all perfectthey certainly are not, judging from increasing rates of divorce and extramarital affairsbut the willingness of Chinese to set aside their own needs and stay together for the sake of the children is admirable and worthy of study.

　　Families, in whatever form they may take, are important to Americans. If one was to ask a group of Americans what is dearest to them, the majority would say “family”. And yet, so many Americans spend much more time at work-that is, beyond the formal forty-hour work week-than they do with their own families. Obviously, the American economy is one of the most powerful in the world, owing in large measure to “workaholism”. It seems to me that Chinese generally find a better balance between work and family needs than many Americans do. I don't see the number of workaholics in China that I do in the United States (or American organizations in China). Instead, average Chinese tend to head home right after work (in the office or field), have meals together, and spend time with their spouses and children. In addition, Chinese tend to make more time for grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins than many Americans; in many cases, multigenerational families live together. Of course, like many facts of Chinese society, this is all changing; increasing numbers of “New Chinese” are working longer hours and spending less time with their families than ever before. Still, while Americans do value their loved ones, I think we have something to learn from the Chinese about finding the proper balance between work and family.

1．The main point of the passage is ________.

[　　]

A．family plays a very important role in American

B．there is something about family for Americans to learn from China

C．a proper balance between work and family needs to be found for Americans

D．the Chinese have a proper balance between work and play

2．According to the passage, the traditional American family value is ________.

[　　]

A．Americans love their families more than their jobs

B．Americans often set aside their children's needs

C．Americans have a strong work ethic (伦理)

D．American parents place the needs of their children above their own

3．It can be concluded from the passage that ________.

[　　]

A．in the author's eyes, the breakdown of the two-parent family in China will be more serious than that in the U. S. in the future

B．today young Americans should sacrifice (牺牲) their material comforts in the interests of their children's future

C．Chinese marriage is said to be all perfect

D．at present, nearly one half of all new marriages end in divorce in China

4．What does the author think according to the passage?

[　　]

A．Children living in one-parent families badly need their parents' love and guidance.

B．Children with one-parent need their parents' financial support badly.

C．Chinese value intact marriage more than before.

D．Work is dearest to most Chinese.

Hobbs was an orphan. He worked in a factory and every day he got a little money. Hard work changed him thin and weak. He wanted to borrow a lot of money to learn to paint pictures, but he did not think he could pay off the debts.

One day the lawyer said to him, “One thousand dollars, and here is the money.” As Hobbs took the package of notes, he was very dumbfounded. He didn’t know where the money came from and how to spend it. He said to himself, “I could go to find a hotel and live like a rich man for a few days; or I give up my work in the factory and do what I’d like to do: painting pictures I could do that for a few weeks, but what would I do after that? I should have lost my place of the factory and have no money to live on. If it were a little less money, I would buy a new coat, or a radio, or give a dinner to my friends. If it were more, I could give up the work and pay for painting pictures. But it’s too much for one and too little for the other.”

“Here is the reading of your uncle’s will,” said the lawyer, “telling what is to be done with this money after his death. I must ask you to remember one point. Your uncle has said you must bring me a paper showing exactly what you did with his money, as soon as you have spent it.”

“Yes, I see. I’ll do that.” said the young man.

66. He wanted to borrow money because he wanted to      .

  A. study abroad       B. work abroad

  C. pay for the debts    D. learn to paint pictures

67. Hobbs was dumbfounded on receiving the money because he thought      .

  A. the money was too much

  B. the money was too little

  C. he would be dismissed

  D. the lawyer meant to punish him

68. With the money he got, first Hobbs      .

  A. planned to have a happy life for a few days

  B. decided to give up his work in the office

  C. was to give a dinner to his friends

  D. had no idea what to do

69. What Hobbs was asked to do was      .

  A. to tell the lawyer what he did with the money after spending it

  B. to read his uncle’s will

  C. to tell the lawyer what was to be done with the money

  D. nothing but to buy some pictures

70. What Hobbs really loved to do was      .

  A. working in the factory

  B. living in a fine hotel

  C. painting pictures

  D. saving the money

In the UK, a group of campaigners(活动家)have declared the last Saturday in November as National Buy Nothing Day. “Our message is clear: shop less, live more!” says organizer Michael Smith. “The challenge is to try simple living for a day. Spend time with family and friends, rather than spending money on them. Anyone can take part, provided they spend a day without spending.”
On Buy Nothing Day, they take to the streets to tackle consumers(消费者). They dress as pigs to symbolize greed(贪婪). They offer to cut up credit cards and hand out shopping bags with the words “another useless thing I don’t need” written on the side. Some hold street parties to show shoppers that it is possible to have fun without spending money. Others go into shops and put notes saying “don’t buy me” inside clothes and shoes.
Some protestors(抗议者) are working against powerful forces. Many retailers(零售商) and manufacturers depend on Christmas sales for most of their profits. Around two thirds of GDP in the West is made up of consumer spending. If this drops, many people will lose their jobs. At least that will make it easier for them to buy nothing.
And there is also the risk that the campaigners will be seen as killjoys, who want to stop people enjoying themselves. “There’s a fun side to this,” says Michael Smith. “To some it’s a protest, but it’s also a street party. We’re not saying that people are bad because they go shopping, but we need get the message across for people to consume wisely. And after we’re finished, we’ll probably go for a drink.”
【小题1】Why do a group of people in the UK choose Saturday as National Buy Nothing Day?