1 . Facebook Is a Big Waster

During the first decade of the 21st century, a popular and new word has come into our vocabulary—Facebook. This is the most popular social networking website on the Internet. The main idea of Facebook is that you can keep in touch with all your friends around the world who have Facebook. You can send messages to your friend’s electronic wall, put up a status saying something like “Going to the mall, I need to get a new pair of shoes” or “it’s finally the weekend!”

In spite of the benefit it does on common people, it is true that this social network is a big waster. There are about 350 million active users on this website and 67% of them are between the ages of 13-25. More than 35 million users update their status every day.     1    

The highest age group who use Facebook are teenagers. Most of them keep the website running whenever they are using the computer. if they aren’t in school or when they aren’t asleep. Facebook is just changing the new generation of youngsters unconsciously. The teenage life is one of the most important stages of life.     2     It is a distraction (分心，注意力分散) to their mind as well. Nowadays, when all their homework and research are on ICT (信息技术) they would easily switch to Facebook just to check if there was anything updated among their friends.

Facebook is also where people can see the gossip among their friends, virtual arguments, relationship status and updates, who is in whose “top friends”, you can become fan of anything, join groups, post pictures and videos, play childish games, invite friends to parties or events and a lot more. Generally, all these would just disturb (扰乱；妨碍) people into living life to the fullest. It’s not just teens who become addicted, even grown-ups do. An average person spends about 55 minutes on Facebook.     3     Technology might be taking over people’s life. Furthermore, people who use Facebook through their mobile phones are 50% more active on Facebook than non-mobile phone users. This shows people using Facebook on their phone s as well as computers just can’t stand being away from the website. Facebook is like crack to some folk.

    4     This would make them think how life is like without saying what’s on their mind to all their friends on the Internet. A break would also make them more active, like socializing in person. This would finally help them focus better in school or in work. Although about 80% of people who take a break would come back to Facebook within days.

A．And 2.5 billion photos are added each month.

B．Wasting it on Facebook is not encouraging in any way.

C．As a result, the average Facebook users have 130 friends who they share links with.

D．This statistic isn’t that bad but some people spend about 3-5 hours.

E．It is time people should take a break from Facebook once in a while.

7 . Hi! My name is Adam and I’m a freshman at senior high school. Going from junior high school to senior high school is a really big challenge. The first week was a little confusing.

First, I had to think very carefully about which courses I wanted to take. The school adviser (辅导员) helped me choose the suitable ones: maths, English, chemistry, world history, and Chinese. I know that Chinese is a very difficult language, but I hope to be fluent (流利的) when I graduate. My adviser recommended (建议) that I should sign up for advanced literature (文学) because I like English and I’m good at it.

I had to choose extra-curricular activities, too. I tried to join the school football team, but the coach told me that I didn’t play well enough. Obviously, I was unhappy, but I won’t quit (放弃). I’ll find a way to improve on my own so that I can make the team next year. I joined a volunteer club instead. Every Wednesday, we work at a soup kitchen (流动厨房) and hand out food to homeless people in the community.

I know I’ll have to study harder as a senior high school student and get used to being responsible for a lot more. I’m a bit worried about keeping up with the other students in my advanced course, and it’ll be quite difficult to get used to all the homework. Still, I’m happy to be here. Studying hard isn’t always fun, but I’ll be well prepared for university or whatever else comes in the future.

1. What level (水平) of school student is Adam?

A．He is still in a junior high school.

B．He is in his first year of senior high.

C．He is in his second year of senior high.

D．He is in his first year of a university.

2. What is the main feeling of Adam during his first week at school?

A．Happy.

B．Surprised.

C．Stressed.

D．Confused.

3. Which extra-curricular activity did Adam choose?

A．The English club.

B．The cooking club.

C．The volunteer club.

D．The school football team.

4. What does Adam think of his schoolmates?

A．They are diligent and intelligent.

B．They are responsible but worried.

C．They are unhappy and feel bored.

D．They are relaxing and always happy.

5. Which of the following words is NOT suitable to describe Adam?

A．Happy.

B．Responsible.

C．Pessimistic (悲观的).

D．diligent.

6. Does Adam think going from junior high school to senior high school is a really big challenge?
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7. Does Adam think Chinese is very difficult to learn?
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8. Why did Adam’s adviser recommend that he should sign up for advanced literature?
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9. What did the coach think of Adam’s football skill?
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10. Can you complete the following sentences to describe (描述) the reasons for your own mixed (混杂的) feelings about the freshman challenge? （至少补全2个句子，也可补全3个或全部回答。）
I feel happy because________________________________________________________________________
I feel unhappy because______________________________________________________________________
I feel confused because _____________________________________________________________________
I feel confident because ____________________________________________________________________