In spite of the uncertainty of the economy, the movie industry has been stricken by a box-office outburst. Suddenly it seems as if everyone is going to the movies, with ticket sales this year up 17.5 percent, to $1.7 billion.
And it is not just because ticket prices are higher. Attendance has also jumped, by nearly 16 percent. If that pace continues through the year, it would amount to the biggest box-office increase in at least two decades.
Americans, for the moment, just want to hide in a very dark place. People want to forget their troubles, and they want to be with other people. Helping feed the outburst is the mix of movies, which have been more audience-friendly in recent months as the studios have tried to adjust after the discouraging sales of more serious films.
As she stood in line at the 18-screen Bridge theater complex here on Thursday to buy weekend tickets for “Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience,” Angel Hernandez was not thinking much about escaping reality. Instead, Ms. Hernandez, a Los Angeles parking lot attendant and mother of four young girls, was focused on one very specific reality: her wallet.
“Spending hundreds of dollars to take them to Disneyland is ridiculous right now,” she said. “For $60 and some candy money I can still be a good mom and give them a little fun.”
A lot of parents may have been thinking the same thing Friday, as “Jonas Brothers” sold out more than 800 theaters, and was expected to sell a powerful $25 million or more in tickets.
The film industry appears to have had a hand in its recent good luck. Over the last year or two, studios have released movies that are happier, scarier or just less depressing than what came before. After poor results for a rush of serious dramas built around the Middle East, Hollywood got back to comedies.
1.Which of the following is not a reason for the improvement of the movie industry?
A. A growing number of people are going to the cinema.
B. People are richer with the development of economy.
C. More comedies are made than serious films.
D. People have to pay more to watch a movie.
2.Ms. Hernandez purchased the movie tickets because ________.
A. she tried to escape reality B. she was a crazy movie fan
C. she was fond of Disneyland D. she wanted to please her kids
3.According to the text, which of the following number is not used to describe the shooting up of the movie industry?
A.17.5% B. $1.7 billion C. $60 D. $25 million
4.The passage is developed mainly by ________.
A. presenting the effect and analyzing the causes
B. following the order of time
C. describing problems and drawing a conclusion
D. making comparison of ideas
My name is Ralph and I am 42 years old. I work in a factory that I enjoy very much. On May 27, 1999, I was working on an automatic machine. While working my hand was pulled into the machine and my middle finger on my right hand was ripped off. I had surgery to replace what was left of the finger and now I have a finger that is almost as long as my index finger.
Over the years I have been very blessed for a full and healthy life. Most of all, blessed for having my wife. We have grown together and grown in our faith. Life is going to go on with or without my finger. I was not going to let this take over my life and I pushed to go back to work and got light duty.
This was where my lesson began. When I returned to work, I started getting comments and some teasing from people asking me if it was worth losing my finger over a pack of cigarettes. Someone started a rumor that I had dropped a pack of cigarettes and reached down to pick them up and that is how I lost my finger. This is not true. This rumor hurt more than losing my finger in that machine. Everyone was called in to a meeting to resolve this matter and get the story straight. I had to share my lesson.
We can ruin a person’s life by just a few bad words. There is an old saying that I will never forget: “Words and water are easily poured, but impossible to recover.” So please remember to watch what you say.
1.According to the author, his index finger on his right hand is almost as long as ________.
A. his middle finger on his right hand
B. his middle finger on his left hand
C. his thumb on his right hand
D. his thumb on his left hand
2.From the second paragraph, we know that the author ________.
A. was not happy with a short finger
B. had a good relationship with his wife
C. didn’t want to work any more in the factory
D. wanted to find an important job
3.The rumour about the author is that he lost his finger ________.
A. when he was picking up a pack of cigarettes that had fallen into the machine
B. because he was not careful and smoked when running the machine
C. because he was too sleepy to operate the machine properly
D. when he was reaching down to fix something wrong in the machine
4.Which of the following can match the underlined sentence in the last paragraph?
A. Nothing is really beautiful but truth.
B. Bad words are meaningless.
C. Lies having short legs can do harm.
D. Words cut deeper than swords.
When did you see a polar bear ? On a trip to a zoo, perhaps ? If you had attended a winter activity in New York a few years ago, you would have seen a whole polar bear club. These “Polar Bears” are people who meet frequently in the winter to swim in freezing cold water. That day, the air temperature was 3 degrees. And the water temperature was a little higher. The members of the Polar Bear Club at Coney Island, New York are usually about the age of 60. Members must satisfy two requirements. First, they must get along well with everyone else in the group; this is very important because there are so many different kinds of people in the club. Polar Bears must also agree to swim outdoors at least twice a month from November through February.
Doctors don’t agree about the medical effects of cold-water swimming. Some are worried about the dangers of a condition in which the body’s temperature drops so slow that finally the heart stops. Other doctors, however, point out that there is more danger of a heart attack during summer swimming because the difference between the air temperature and the water tempreature is much greater in summer than in winter.
The Polar Bears themselves are satisfied with the benefits of cold-water swimming. They say that their favorite form of exercise is very good for the circulatory system (循环系统) because it forces the blood to move fast to keep the body warm. Cold-water swimmers usually turn bright red after a few minutes in the water. A person who turns blue probably has a very poor circulatory system and could not try cold-water swimming.
The main benefits of cold-water swimming are probably mental. The Polar Bears love to swim all the year round; they find it fun and relaxing. As one 70-year-old woman says, “When I go into the water, I pour my troubles into the ocean and let them float away.”
1.Doctors _________ .
A. have different ideas about the medical effects of cold-water swimming
B. believe swimming is helpful both in summer and in winter
C. enourage people to take part in cold-water swimming
D. point out the possible danger of blood illness during cold-water swimming
2.According to the passage, some doctors believe it is true that _______ .
A. Polar bears are bears swimming in freezing water
B. cold-water swimming can make the body temperature dangerously high
C. you are healthy if cold-water swimming turns your skin color blue
D. cold-water swimming causes more heart attack in summer than in winter
3.The Polar Bears like to swim year-round, for _______ .
A. it is an easy way to keep the body warm in winter
B. they can stay young
C. they find it enjoyable and interesting
D. they might meet fewer troubles in life
4.Which of the following is TRUE according to the text ?
A.The Polar Bear is a club in which people swim to protect polar bears.
B. The club members are all over 60 years old.
C. There is no woman in the club.
D. None of the above.
5.This passage is mainly about _______ .
A. the requirements of the Polar Bear Club
B. a group of cold-water-swimming lovers
C. the Polar Bears’ life in New York
D. doctors’ ideas about cold-water swimming
A little under one-third of U.S. families have no Internet access and do not plan to get it, with most of the holdouts seeing little use for it in their lives, according to a survey released on Friday.
Park Associates, a Dallas-based technology market research firm, said 29 percent of U.S. families, or 31 million homes, do not have Internet access and do not intend to subscribe（预订） to an Internet service over the next 12 months. The second annual National Technology Scan conducted by Park found that the main reason why potential customers say they do not subscribe to the Internet is because of the low value to their daily lives rather than concerns over cost.
Forty-four percent of these families say they are not interested in anything on the Internet, versus just 22 percent who say they cannot afford a computer or the cost of Internet service, the survey showed. The answer "I'm not sure how to use the Internet" came from 17 percent of participants who do not subscribe. The response "I do all my e-commerce shopping and YouTube-watching at work" was cited by 14 percent of Internet-access refuseniks. Three percent said the Internet doesn't reach their homes.
The study found U.S. broadband adoption grew to 52 percent over 2006, up from 42 percent in 2005. Roughly half of new subscribers converted（转变） from slower-speed, dial-up Internet access while the other half of families had no prior access.
"The industry continues to chip （击破）away at the core of non-subscribers, but has a long way to go," said John Barrett, director of research at Parks Associates. "Entertainment applications will be the key. If anything will pull in the holdouts, it's going to be applications that make the Internet more similar to pay-TV," he predicted.
1.What does the underlined word “holdouts” in the first paragraph most probably mean?
A. some American families
B. those who hold out one’s opinions
C. those who have been surveyed
D. those who still haven’t access to the Internet currently
2.Many potential customers refuse to subscribe to the Internet mainly because __________.
A. they show too much concern about the cost
B. they can find little value of it
C. they do most YouTube-watching at work
D. the Internet doesn’t reach their homes
3.From the passage we can infer that _____________.
A. It is not an easy job to transform those holdouts into the Internet users
B. people will adopt dial-up Internet access no more
C. many Americans enjoy doing e-commerce shopping at home
D. more than half of the population are using the Internet in 2005
4.According to John Barrett, what is the key to attracting more U.S. families to broadband service?
A. making the Internet look more similar to TV set
B. applying the Internet more to entertainment
C. providing more pay-TV programs
D. chipping away at the core of non-subscribers
5.Which is the best title for the passage?
A. Web develops with technology
B. The present situation of web
C. Many Americans see little point to web
D. It is urgent to promote web service
It was a cold winter. The day my husband fell to his death, it started to snow, just 1 any November day. His 2 , when I found it, was lightly covered with snow. It snowed almost every day for the next four months, while I sat on the couch and watched it 3 . One morning, I walked slowly 4 and was surprised to see a snow remover clearing my driveway and the bent back of a woman clearing my walk. I dropped to my knees and crawled back upstairs, 5 those good people would not see me. I was 6 . My first thought was, how would I ever 7 them? I didn’t have the 8 to brush my hair, 9 clear someone’s walk.
Before Jon’s death, I felt proud that I 10 asked for favors. I identified myself by my competence and 11 . So who was I if I was no longer capable? How could I 12 myself if I just sat on the couch every day and watched the snow fall?
Learning to receive the love and 13 from others wasn’t easy. Friends cooked for me and I cried. Finally, my friend Kathy said, “Mary, cooking for you isn’t a 14 for me; it makes me feel good to be able to do something for you.”
Over and over, I heard 15 words from the people who supported me during those 16 days. One wise man told me, “You aren’t doing nothing because being fully open to your 17 may be the hardest work you will ever do.”
I am not the person I 18 was, but in many ways I have changed for the 19 . I’ve been surprised to learn that there is incredible freedom coming form 20 one’s worst fear and walking away whole. I believe there is strength, for sure, in accepting a dark period of our life.
1.A．on B．in C．like D．for
2.A．body B．soul C．shoe D．footprint
3.A．sweep up B．drop off C．fall down D．pile up
4.A．upstairs B．downstairs C．indoors D．outdoors
5.A．so B．yet C．and D．for
6.A．delighted B．disappointed C．annoyed D．ashamed
7.A．pay B．award C．reward D．treat
8.A．courage B．strength C．spirit D．power
9.A．stand alone B．leave alone C．sit alone D．let alone
10.A．frequently B．gradually C．hardly D．uncertainly
11.A．intelligence B．independence C．excellence D．qualification
12.A．achieve B．praise C．respect D．promote
13.A．supply B．support C．contribution D．similar
14.A．burden B．job C．business D．sorrow
15.A．sensitive B．same C．considerate D．similar
16.A．blue B．rainy C．bright D．snowy
17.A．despair B．difficulty C．pain D．regret
18.A．still B．once C．even D．never
19.A．worse B．less C．more D．better
20.A．facing B．noticing C．managing D．expressing
Hellen doesn’t know how much I spent in repairing the house. If she ever found out, I’m sure she me.
A．will never forgive B．would never forgive
C．does not forgive D．never forgives
