1 . Rich and Famous

Twenty years ago the most common ambition of American children was to be a teacher, followed by working in banking and finance, and then medicine. But today’s situation is quite different.     1     Instead they most commonly say they want to be a sports star, a pop star, or an actor—in other words, they hope to become a celebrity .

According to experts, young people desire these jobs largely because of the wealth and the fame.     2     Let’s take athletes and singers as an example. Their careers are short-lived. Many athletes’ best time only lasts a few years and singers can have a very limited career. The field that was once the focus of their lives becomes something they have little or no involvement in. As a result, they’ll have a feeling of worthlessness and a lack of control.     3    The truth is quite simple: they have been so far removed from it for so long.

In spite of these disadvantages, there is greater ambition than ever among young people to achieve that status. They are not satisfied just making a living—they want to be rich and famous. Globally, more and more TV shows provide talent competitions where winners can achieve their goals in just a few weeks or months.    4    They unrealistically believe that this lifestyle is easily obtained and leads to great satisfaction.

While many people argue that there is nothing wrong with having such ambitions, others feel that this trend will finally lead to dissatisfaction as more and more people are unable to reach their goals.     5     That means they ignore the simple fact that great effort is needed before success. As a result, many people won’t realize their childhood dreams, which could have a negative effect on their happiness.

A．In many ways this has been brought about by the celebrity culture.

B．People no longer have a sense of satisfaction once their goals have been achieved.

C．Besides, it can be difficult for them to adapt back to a normal everyday life.

D．The younger generation don’t favor these professions any more.

E．Unfortunately, they do not always have a positive effect on people’s life.

F．The reason is that they don’t realize it takes talent and hard work to be rich and famous.

G．This quick way of gaining wealth and fame creates a celebrity culture among people.

2 . What would your life be like without phones?

In one of my classes today we discussed the question of how our lives would be without a mobile phone. I actually felt quite sad to hear how some kids cannot ______ without their phones these days. ______, I think nowadays we are controlled and ______ by our technology to keep up. So let’s see some of the points that ______ in the debate and see if our generation really is addicted(上瘾的) to electronic connections ______ true communication.

It is true that everything ______ at a fast pace these days. For example, you can contact someone who lives on the other side of the world within ______. This is great if you think about how connected we can stay to the ______ who are far away from us. However, on the contrary, can we be too connected to the people who are ______ to us? An argument arose about the ______ that it is easier to message someone from your sofa than to meet them ______ and talk. Social skills are ______ to have and if you are not going to put effort into real-life ______, then you are not going to ______ in this ability.

Another point was that phones are very handy for ______ something that you are wondering about. For example, if you don’t know a word in another language, you can ______ and simply use an on-line translator to help you out. This can be very ______ in many situations, but it can also make a person dependent on the ______.

All in all, this question is very interesting to ______ as we become day by day more dependent on technology. We should realize how much we really need to be connected with our phones while considering the ______ and damage it can cause us.

1.

A．affect

B．survive

C．succeed

D．perform

2.

A．Personally

B．Specially

C．Entirely

D．Gradually

3.

A．suffered

B．commanded

C．forced

D．advised

4.

A．came up

B．came across

C．came down

D．came to

5.

A．more than

B．less than

C．other than

D．rather than

6.

A．appears

B．falls

C．works

D．grows

7.

A．seconds

B．hours

C．days

D．months

8.

A．customers

B．teachers

C．students

D．people

9.

A．direction

B．close

C．necessary

D．kind

10.

A．distant

B．wish

C．fact

D．suggestions

11.

A．in person

B．in advance

C．with surprise

D．with joy

12.

A．extreme

B．active

C．fair

D．important

13.

A．style

B．communication

C．expression

D．argument

14.

A．progress

B．compete

C．arise

D．settle

15.

A．looking after

B．looking back

C．looking up

D．looking out

16.

A．selflessly

B．quickly

C．hardly

D．slowly

17.

A．grateful

B．peaceful

C．painful

D．helpful

18.

A．textbook

B．dictionary

C．Internet

D．newspaper

19.

A．forecast

B．consider

C．judge

D．select

20.

A．benefits

B．skills

C．doubts

D．evidence

3 . For many parents, raising a teenager is like fighting a long war, but years go by without any clear winner. Like a border conflict between neighboring countries, the parent-teen war is about boundaries: Where is the line between what I control and what you do?

Both sides want peace, but neither feels it has any power to stop the conflict. In part, this is because neither is willing to admit any responsibility for starting it. From the parents’ point of view, the only cause of their fight is their adolescents’ complete unreasonableness. And of course, the teens see it in exactly the same way, except oppositely. Both feel trapped.

In this article, I’ll describe three no-win situations that commonly arise between teens and parents and then suggest some ways out of the trap. The first no-win situation is quarrels over unimportant things. Examples include the color of the teen’s hair, the cleanliness of the bedroom, the preferred style of clothing, the child’s failure to eat a good breakfast before school, or his tendency to sleep until noon on the weekends. Second, blaming. The goal of a blaming battle is to make the other admit that his bad attitude is the reason why everything goes wrong. Third, needing to be right. It doesn’t matter what the topic is—politics, the laws of physics, or the proper way to break an egg—the point of these arguments is to prove that you are right and the other person is wrong, for both wish to be considered an authority—someone who actually knows something—and therefore to command respect. Unfortunately, as long as parents and teens continue to assume that they know more than the other, they’ll continue to fight these battles forever and never make any real progress.

1. Why does the author compare the parent-teen war to a border conflict?

A．Both are about where to draw the line.

B．Both can continue for generations.

C．Neither has any clear winner.

D．Neither can be put to an end.

2. What does the underlined part in Paragraph 2 mean?

A．The teens tend to have a full understanding of their parents.

B．The teens agree with their parents on the cause of the conflict.

C．The teens cause their parents of misleading them.

D．The teens blame their parents for starting the conflict.

3. Parents and teens want to be right because they want to ______.

A．give orders to the other

B．know more than the other

C．gain respect from the other

D．get the other to behave properly

4. What will the author most probably discuss in the paragraph that follows?

A．Solutions for the parent-teen problems.

B．Examples of the parent-teen war.

C．Causes for the parent-teen conflicts.

D．Future of the parent-teen relationship.