1 . Something I enjoy doing most in my leisure time is going to the cinema to watch a great film. It's two hours of relaxation and escapism from real life. But when I kick back in my seat to enjoy the film and tuck into (大口吃) my box of popcorn, I'm often irritated by seeing someone next to me texting on their mobile phone or worse still, talking to someone.
It's no surprise that a proposal by a US cinema chain to let people use their phones during some film screenings was met with such anger, that the company had to withdraw the idea. People said it was the worst idea ever! Surely, going to watch the latest film is just that — watching not multi-screening. And if you're out with a friend it seems very antisocial or just rude. I certainly get distracted (分心的) by the click-click on someone's mobile keyboard as they text and the glow of the bright small phone screen — why aren't they concentrating on the big screen?
But with the availability of streaming films at home and cheap DVDs, cinemas are struggling to keep their customers. Some places now offer comfortable seats with free snacks and drinks so maybe trying to attract a younger audience by allowing the use of mobile phones is the way forward. A survey in 2012found that a majority of 18-to-34-year-olds believed using social media while watching a movie would add to their experience.
However, not every young person wants to multi-task at the movies. Many of us still get annoyed by the theatre staff who appear not to do anything about it. Of course, we could ask the offenders to turn their phones off but as Adam Aron, head of AMC Entertainment, said in Variety magazine, "when you tell a 22-year-old to turn off the phone, don't ruin the movie, they hear ‘please cut off your left arm above the elbow’ " Clearly this is not what I would like to see but if you want to use your mobile phone in the cinema that I'm at, please don't sit next to me! What do you think is the right thing to do?
1. The underlined word "irritated" in Paragraph 1 means ______ .| A．annoyed | B．depressed |
| C．terrified | D．embarrassed |
| A．They forbade people to use the phone. |
| B．The advice was carried out smoothly. |
| C．The advice was very popular with people. |
| D．They permitted people to use the phone. |
| A．People prefer to watch films and DVD at home. |
| B．The cinema needn't worry about their customers. |
| C．Young people use their social media frequently. |
| D．Sending messages is the best experience for young people. |
| A．Sympathy. | B．Disapproval. |
| C．Enthusiasm. | D．Encouragement. |
2 . It is widely known that any English conversation begins with The Weather. Such a fixation with the weather finds expression in Dr. Johnson’s famous comment that “When two English meet, their first talk is of weather.” Though Johnson’s observation is as accurate now as it was over two hundred years ago, most commentators(评论员) fail to come up with a convincing explanation for this English weather-speak.
Bill Bryson, for example, concludes that, as the English weather is not at all exciting, the obsession with it can hardly be understood. He argues that” To an outsider, the most striking thing about the English weather is that there is not very much of it.” Simply, the reason is that the unusual and unpredictable weather is almost unknown in the British Isles.
Jeremy Paxman, however, disagrees with Bryson, arguing that the English weather is by nature attractive. Bryson is wrong, he says, “because the English preference for the weather has nothing to do with the natural phenomena(现象).” The interest is less in the phenomena themselves, but in uncertainty.” According to him, the weather in England is very changeable and uncertain and it attracts the English as well as the outsider.
Bryson and Paxman stand for common misconceptions about the weather-speak among the English. Both commentators, somehow, are missing the point. The English weather conversation is not really about the weather at all. English weather-speak is a system of signs ,which is developed to help the speakers overcome the natural reserve and actually talk to each other. Everyone knows conversations starting with weather-speak are not requests for weather data. Rather, they are routine greetings, conversation starters or the blank “fillers”, In other words, English weather-speak is a means of social bonding.
1. The author mentions Dr. Johnson’s comment to show that________.| A．most commentators agree with Dr. Johnson |
| B．Dr. Johnson is famous for his weather observation |
| C．the comment was accurate two hundred years ago |
| D．English conversations usually start with the weather |
| A．A social trend. | B．An emotional state. |
| C．A historical concept. | D．An unknown phenomenon. |
| A．Bill Bryson has little knowledge of the weather |
| B．there is nothing special about the English weather |
| C．the English weather attracts people to the British Isles |
| D．English people talk about the weather for its uncertainty |
| A．To explain what English weather-speak is about. |
| B．To analyze misconceptions about the English weather. |
| C．To find fault with both Bill Bryson and Jeremy Paxman. |
| D．To convince people that the English weather is changeable. |
