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.
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.
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.
| 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. |
2 . These days many people choose to live or work in other countries, which has been made possible because of the convenience of air travel and modern communications. I believe that this has more benefits than drawbacks.
Despite this, there are significant advantages it can bring to people’s lives. Firstly, it means that people have the opportunity to see other parts of the world and the way people live. For example, people from the West often go to work in Asia or the Middle East and visa-versa.
In addition to this, on a wider level it may also benefit other countries.
I would therefore argue that although there are disadvantages of the current trend to live and work abroad, they are outweighed by the advantages. It can enrich people’s lives and lives of the people in the countries that they move to.
| A．If someone moves abroad for work, it is usually because their skill is required there. |
| B．The disadvantage of this development is the distance that is put between family members. |
| C．This enriches people’s lives as they get to learn about things different from their own country. |
| D．This helps people get to live the same life in the country they work. |
Percentage of adults with a disability in the US
Percentage of adults with common functional disability
1. Are the numbers different from what you expected? In what way?2. What special assistance can people with disabilities make use of in their daily lives?
4 . It is most difficult for parents to decide whether to have a second child or not.
It is often heard that a single child is like to be a lonely child. There are no other children in the family for the child to talk or play with. An only child is not able to get along well with children of his age. Some parents regretted making the decisions to have only one child.
But the number of parents choosing to have only one child is increasing in many parts of the world. In the US, for example, more than 14 percent of women between 18 and 34 plan to have just one child. The same can be seen in the UK. In Japan, the average number of children born per family had gone down to 1.42 by 1996.
For some single-child parents, especially who are busy working every day, time and energy seem to be overwhelming. They don’t have enough time and energy to share with more children. For other people, money is their first consideration. Many couples in Japan choose not to have large families as the cost of supporting a child up to the age of 18 reaches around $ 160,000.
根据短文内容，判断下面各小题的正(填A)误(填B)
1. According to the passage, a single child doesn’t have a brother or a sister to talk or play with so he is likely to be lonely.
2. The number of parents choosing to have a second child is increasing in many parts of the world.
3. The underlined word “overwhelming” in the last paragraph means “宽松的”.
4. In the US, more than 14 percent of women between 18 and 34 plan to have just one child.
5. Parents in America choose not to have a second child because the cost of supporting a child is so high.
A. And my mother says Mrs. White said the children are just beginning to get excited about using words. She doesn't want to lower that enthusiasm with red ink. Spelling and grammar can wait. The wonder of words won't...
B. It would make my heart filled with happiness. But it worried my mother, so she asked her why she never corrected my mistakes.
C. And maybe she didn't say it exactly like that. It was a long time ago. And what my mother gave me what she could remember. I added the rest in. Because I grew up learning to use words with loving confidence like that.
D. I don't remember much about what we learned in her class, but my mother once told me that we used to write a lot. When she found mistakes, there would be no red corrections. And always a star. Sometimes even a Good!
E. My kindergarden teacher was Mrs. White. And I remember thinking she must be some older relation of Walt Disney's Snow White, because she had the same bright blue eyes, short dark hair, and fair skin.
6 . Universities are expanding opportunities to spend a year overseas, meaning that not only language students benefit from time spent in another culture. Amanda Harper, head of placements and Bath University, says going abroad offers students the chance to widen their cultural horizons and develop an international network of friends and contacts.
‘One of my science students learned to dance salsa and speak Spanish during his year in Costa Rica,’ she says. ‘The students mature and their confidence increases. These changes are unquantifiable in terms of marks are the time management skills, presentation skills and ability to deal with the world of vastly improved when they come back from their placements.’
As it becomes increasingly difficult to stand out in the graduate job market, a year’s experience in another country could be what separates one student from others with the same results. A survey for the confederation of British industry found that fifty six percent of employers were not satisfied with graduates’ foreign language skills and forty percent were dissatisfied with candidates’ international cultural awareness.
Most overseas placements are taken in the third year of university, after which students return for a fourth and final year. Cassandra Popli, 22, who spent a year at California State University in Long Beach, got a job in California which she will take up after graduating from Swansea University this summer. ‘I feel like I have got so much more from that year abroad than I would have if I had stayed here,’ she adds.
Read the article and find words that collocate with the words 1-6. （从文中找出与以下结构搭配的词，每空填一个词）
1. expand
2. go
3. widen
4.
5. increase
6. take up a
Have you ever wanted to be part of a band as a famous singer or musician? Have you ever dreamed of playing in front of thousands of people at a concert, at which everyone is clapping and appreciating your music? Do you sing karaoke and pretend you are a famous singer like Song Zuying or Liu Huan? To be honest, a lot of people attach great importance to becoming rich and famous.
