跟踪导练（二）

2013-04-29

时代英语·高三 2013年8期

阅读地带

Who takes care of the elderly in the United States today？ Many people wrongly believe that when people get old， their families place them in nursing homes. They are left there in the hands of strangers for the rest of their lives. Their grown-up children visit them only occasionally， and more often， they do not have any regular visitors. Actually this is not true. In fact， family members provide over 80 percent of the care that elderly people need.

Professor Samuel Preston， a social scientist， studies how the American family is changing. He reports that by the time the average American couple reaches 40， they have more parents than children. This statistic（数据）shows the change in life-styles and responsibilities of aging Americans. The average middle-aged couple can look forward to caring for elderly parents some time after their own children have grown up. Moreover， because people today live longer than people did years ago， family members must provide long-term care. These facts also mean that after caregivers provide for their elderly parents， who will finally die， they will be old and may require care， too. When they do their children will probably take care of them.

Psychologists and social workers have found that all caregivers share a common characteristic： they believe that they are the best person for the job for different reasons. One caregiver said that she had always been close to her mother. Another was the oldest child in the family. In other words， they all felt that they could do the job better than others. Social workers interviewed caregivers to find out why they took on the responsibility of caring. They discovered three reasons. Many caregivers believed that they had an obligation（义务）to help their relatives. Some stated that helping others made them feel more useful. Others hoped that by helping someone now， they would get care when they became old and dependent.

1. It can be learned from Paragraph 1 that in the US ___ .

A. old age is a lonely time in a nursing home

B. the nursing home staff treat the old well

C. people in nursing homes receive frequent visits

D. family members are trying to care for the elderly

2. The average middle-aged couple in the US ___ .

A. have to care more for their parents than the children

B. spend more time with their children than with their parents

C. depend on their childrens aid in caring for the elderly

D. spend more time taking care of their parents than before

3. What does the underlined word “do” in Paragraph 2 refer to？

A. die B. become

C. provide D. require care

4. The common characteristic of caregivers is that ___ .

A. they have professional skills in caregiving

B. they are the oldest children in their families

C. they believe themselves to be the best

D. they are close to their parents

One of the most important things about television is the size of the audience. A novel can be on the “best sellers” list with a sale of fewer than 100，000 copies， but a popular TV show might have 70 million TV viewers. TV can make anything or anyone well known suddenly.

This is the principle behind “quiz” or “game” shows， which put ordinary people on TV to play a game for the prize and money. A quiz show can make anyone a star， and it can give away thousands of dollars just for fun. But all of this money can cause problems. For example， in the 1950s， quiz shows were very popular in the US and almost everyone watched them. Charles Van Doren， an English instructor， became rich and famous after winning money on several shows. But one of the losers proved that Charles Van Doren was cheating. It turned out that the shows producers， who were pulling the strings， gave the answers to the most popular competitors in advance. Why？ Because if the audience didnt like the person who won the game， they turned the show off. Based on his story， a movie under the title “Quiz Show” is on 40 years later.

Charles Van Doren is no longer involved with TV. But game shows are still here， though they arent taken as seriously. In fact， some of them try to be as funny as possible. There are shows that send strangers on vacation trips together， or that try to cause newly-married couples to fight on TV， or that punish losers by humiliating（羞辱）them. The happiness now is to see what people will do just to be on TV. People still win money， but the real prize is to be in front of an audience of millions.

5. TV is different from a novel in the fact that ___ .

A. it is more attractive to people

B. it is easier to understand

C. it can make one famous overnight

D. it can save people a lot of time

6. The underlined phrase “pulling the strings” in Paragraph 2 probably means “___”.

A. controlling the show secretly

B. hosting the program openly

C. planning the show with efforts

D. solving the problem perfectly

7. What can we learn about Charles Van Doren？

A. He was dishonest.

B. He played a part in a movie.

C. He won a job in a quiz show.

D. He made the TV program popular.

8. From the last paragraph， we can learn that TV game shows ___ .

A. are as funny as before

B. just mean money now

C. play different roles in peoples life

D. are taken more seriously by audience

1. She took the wrong ____（方法）in her dealings with them.

2. The company reported a small ____（下降）in its profits.

3. No new evidence e during the investigation yesterday.

4. Emotional or mental problems can a from a physical cause.

5. By the end of 1980s， the computer industry was b .

Li Ming went to the park in last Saturday afternoon after he had already finished his homeworks. He saw several boys skating on the lake happy. Suddenly he heard a cry for help. Looked ahead， he found one of the boys had fallen into the water. Li Ming jumped into icy water immediately and manage to pull the boy to safety. Then the boy was given first aid but soon came to myself. The boys parents came soon after they received the phone call. They were very thankful for Li Ming， which was trembling there with cold.

1. 通过调查，我得到的印象是他对工作感到厌倦。

2. 寒假日益临近，可我们仍定不下来去哪儿。

3. 应该受到责备的是父母而不是孩子。

4. 她走出弟弟去世的影响，变得更坚强了。

1. After the enjoyable dinner， I invited my friend to go to the cinema but she ___ because she had to get up early tomorrow.

A. declined B. denied

C. forbad D. decreased

2. He joined the meeting in order to ___ good advantage of the chance to know more information.

A. make B. have

C. take D. use

3. I would prefer to spend the weekend at home ___ drive all the way to your friends.

A. instead of B. rather than

C. more than D. other than

4. They said they were blessed ___ five lovely grandchildren.

A. for B. about

C. with D. by

5. Scientists are trying to find a new approach ___ cancer treatment.

A. of B. with

C. for D. to

People of Burlington are being disturbed by the sound of bells. Four students from Burlington College of Higher Education are in the bell tower of the 1 and have made up their minds to 2 the bells non-stop for two weeks as a protest against heavy trucks which run 3 through the narrow High Street.

“They not only make it 4 to sleep at night， but they are 5 damage to our houses and shops of historical 6 ，” said John Norris， one of the protesters.

“ 7 we must have these noisy trucks on the roads，” said Jean Lacey， a biology student. “Why dont they build a new road that goes 8 the town？ Burlington isnt much more than a 9 village. Its streets were never meant for heavy traffic.”

Harry Fields also studying 10 said they wanted to make as much 11 as possible to force the government officials to realize what everybody was having to 12 . “Most of them dont live here anyway，” he said. “They come in for meetings， and the Town Hall is soundproof（隔音）， 13

they probably dont 14 the noise all that much. Its high time they realized the 15 .”

The fourth student， Liza Vernum， said she thought the public were 16 on their side， and even if they werent， they soon would be.

I asked if they were 17 that the police might come to stop them.

“Not really，” she said， “actually we are 18 bell-ringers. I mean we are assistant bell-ringers for the church. There is no 19 against practising.”

I 20 the church with the sound of the bells ringing in my ears.

1. A. college B. village C. town D. church

2. A. change B. run C. ring D. shake

3. A. now and then B. day and night

C. up and down D. over and over

4. A. terrible B. difficult C. uncomfortable D. unpleasant

5. A. doing B. raising C. putting D. producing

6. A. scene B. period C. interest D. sense