【题目】Babies who watch TV are more likely to show late learning development and language at 14 months, especially if they are watching programs aimed at adults and older children, according to a new study, which would probably surprise those parents who leave their babies in front of a TV set.

Babies who watched 60 minutes of TV daily had developmental scores a third lower at 14 months than babies who were watching less TV. Although their developmental scores were still in the normal range, the difference may have been due to the fact that when children and parents are watching TV, they are missing the talking, playing and other communications that are important to learning and development.

This new study, which appeared in the Aechives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, followed 259 lower-income families in New York, most of whom spoke Spanish as their primary language at home. Other studies of higher-income families have also come to the same conclusion: TV watching is not only non-educational, but it seems to slow down babies’ development.

But what about “good” TV, like Sesame Street? The researchers didn’t find any difference when compared to non-educational programs designed for small children, like Spongebob SquarePants. Earlier research by some of the same scientists, most of whom are at New York University School of Medicine’s Bellevue Hospital Centre, has found that parents whose children watch non-educational TV programs like Spongebob SquarePants spend less time reading to their children or teaching them.

At this point, parents reading this will probably be astonished. TV is so often a parent’s good friend, keeping children happily occupied（占时间）so that the adults can cook dinner, answer the phone, or take a shower. But, clearly, this electronic babysitter（保姆）is not an educational aid. It is best to make sure the babies are fast asleep if you have to watch TV.

【1】According to the first paragraph, 14-month-old babies who watch TV probably_______.

A. learn things quickly

B. prefer programs for older children

C. surprise their parents with their development

D. speak later than babies who don’t

【2】Babies who watched 60 minutes of TV daily had lower developmental scores perhaps because _______.

A. they watch non-educational programs

B. they have little communication with their parents

C. they lost interest in real things

D. their parents don’t speak English at home

【3】We can infer from the passage that______.

A. Educational and non-educational TV have different effects on babies

B. Many parents leave babies to the TV to do their own things

C. Educational TV is very popular among higher-income families

D. Lower-income families tend to teach their babies at home

【4】Which would be the best title for the passage?

A. Developing Better Learning Ability

B. A New Study on Babies’ Bad Habits

C. TV Watching Is Bad for Babies’ Brains

D. Make Sure Your Babies Watch “Good” TV Programs

【题目】A great-grandfather has put up his Christmas tree for the 85th time after his father first bought it from a toy shop.

Douglas Hewitt, 85, has celebrated every Christmas with the artificial tree since he was born. His father bought the tree from a toy shop in Sheffield just months after Douglas was born. The four-foot tree remains the centre point of the Hewitt family household during every festive season.

Mr. Hewitt, of South Anston, South Yorkshire, said, “It reminds us of my childhood, our children’s childhood and our grandchildren and great-grandchildren’s after that. They all come and look at it and smile; it’s become part of the furniture. If we didn’t put that Christmas tree up, it wouldn’t feel like Christmas.”

The tree was passed down to Mr. Hewitt when he married Mavis. Mrs. Hewitt said, “Year after year we have just carried on using that one. You have to be a bit more careful with it now, as it’s fragile.”

Their daughter, June Murphy, also has fond memories of the Christmas tree. She said, “It was in my grandparents’ home and then it was given to us. It looks a little thin now, as each time you get it out something else falls off. It’s become a bit of a family joke. Each year someone has to comment ‘not again!’ But it’s a Christmas tradition of getting the tree out that we all love. We’d all be sad to see it go, as I think it would be hard to find such a loved replacement.”

Mr. Hewitt said, “There were a lot more branches on it, and it’s lost its feathers that were all along the edge. There were little candle holders（蜡烛架）on the ends and little legs on it, but unfortunately they’ve been lost over the years.”

【1】Where did Douglas Hewitt get the Christmas tree?

A. He got it from his father.

B. He bought it from a toy shop.

C. He made it by himself.

D. He cut it down in a forest.

【2】What does Mr. Hewitt want to tell readers in the third paragraph?

A. It may be the last year that the tree appears in this house.

B. His family decorate their house with this Christmas tree.

C. This Christmas tree reminds him that Christmas is on the way.

D. His family has a special feeling towards this Christmas tree.

【3】The underlined word “fragile” in the fourth paragraph probably means_______.

A. a little strange B. easily broken

C. quite small D. not beautiful

【4】Why does her family put up the Christmas tree every year according to June Murphy?

A. To honor her grandparents.

B. To save the family money.

C. To keep up the family tradition.

D. To create a friendly atmosphere.

【题目】The girl arranged to take violin lessons at the training center with her mother ________ she would stay for an hour.

A. where B. who C. which D. what

【题目】With the night falling, the crowd gathering around the accident scene began to_________.

A. break up B. break down

C. break out D. break away

【题目】Email has brought the art of letter writing back to life, but some experts think the resulting spread of bad English does more harm than good.

Email is a form of communication that is changing, for the worse, the way we write and use language, say some communication researchers. It is also changing the way we interact(交流) and build relationship. These are a few of the recently recognized features of email, say experts, which should cause individuals and organizations to rethink the way they use email.

“Email has increased the spread of careless writing habits,” says Naomi Baron, a professor of linguistics(语言学) at an American university. She says the poor spelling, grammar, punctuation and sentence structure of emails reflect(反映) a growing unconcern about the way we write.

Baron argues that we shouldn’t forgive and forget the poor writing often shown in email. “The more we use email and its tasteless writing, the more it becomes the normal way of writing,” the professor says.

Others say that despite its poor writing, email has finished what several generations of English teachers couldn’t: it has made writing fashionable again.

“Email is a critical new communication technology.” says Ian Lancashire, a professor of English at Toronto University. “It fills the gap between spoken language and the formal methods of writing that existed before email. It is the purest form of written speech.”

Lancashire says email has the mysterious ability to get people who are usually scared by writing to get their thoughts flowing easily onto a blank screen. He says this is because of email’s close similarity to speech. “It’s like a circle of four or five people around a campfire,” he says.

Still, he accepts that this new-found freedom to express themselves often gets people into trouble. Emails sent in a day almost exceed(超过) the number of letters mailed in a year. But more people are recognizing the content of a typical email message is not often exact.

【1】From what Baron says in the third paragraph we can see that ________.

A. careless people use email more than careful people

B. email requires people to change their native language

C. professors in universities don’t need to use email

D. people communicate by email full of mistakes

【2】What does the underlined word “it”(in Paragraph 4) refer to?

A. The poor writing. B. Email.

C. The good writing. D. A new communication technology.

【3】In Lancashire’s opinion, email is a wonderful technology because _______.

A. it can be useful all over the world

B. it is the fastest way to communicate

C. we can express ourselves in a free way

D. we can save a lot of paper

【4】This passage mainly shows us that ______.

A. people should stop using email to communicate

B. experts hold different opinions about email writing

C. Americans only use email to communicate

D. email makes people lose interest in English

【题目】With weather __________ fine, we see more and more birds around us.

A. turns B. turning C. is turning D. to be turning

【题目】Needles apparently stuck into the body of an 11-month-old baby by her abusive aunt were surgically(手术地) ______on Tuesday.

A. moved B. placed

C. replaced D. removed

【题目】__________ in the restaurant for half an hour, I suddenly realized I had left my wallet at home.

A. To wait B. Having waited C. Having been waited D. To have waited

【题目】阅读下列各小题，根据汉语提示，用句末括号内的英语单词完成句子，并将答案写在答题卡上的相应题号后。

【1】John received an invitation to dinner, and with ______________, he gladly accepted it.(finish)

约翰收到了一份宴会请柬。因工作已完成，他欣然接受了。

【2】I’m quite grateful to Miss Smith, _____________ I have improved my English greatly. (help)

我很感谢史密斯老师，在她的帮助下我的英语大大提高了。

【3】To her great joy, it will be less than one year _________________________ from Peking University. (graduate)

让她高兴的是，再过不到一年她的儿子就从北京大学毕业了。

【4】I am not going to sit here and let her abuse me. I insist that she _____________________ for what she had just said. (apologize)

我不会坐在这儿任她辱骂。我强烈要求她就她刚说过的话向我道歉。

【5】Mike __________________ the classroom now. I saw him playing basketball on the playground a moment ago. (clean)

迈克现在肯定不在打扫教室。我刚刚看见他在操场上打篮球。

【6】Never ____________________ even if I fail this time.(lose)

即使我这次失败了，我也绝不会灰心。

【7】However _________________, he always fell behind others. (study)

无论他学习多么努力，他都落后于其他人。

【8】He told us that it was the first time that _____________________ for the important meeting. (come)

他告诉我们这是他第一次在开如此重要的会议时迟到。

【9】_______________ the world of his mobile phone, he has few chance to communicate with others face to face. (bury)

沉浸在他的手机世界中，他很少有机会和其他人面对面交流。

【10】I really don’t know __________________________________________ that he bought the cell phone. It’s broken down again!（be）

我真的不知道他究竟在哪里买的手机,它又坏了！

【题目】 The workers are going on strike for the salaries here are low ________ the rates elsewhere.

A. with B. against

C. through D. beyond