Many old people don't have good ____. They can't watch TV, but they can listen to music or news over the radio.
A. hearing    B. health     C. eyesight    D. time

I was eight when my neighbors got a TV. It was small and expensive, but that didn’t matter. IT WAS WONDERFUL. Everyone in the building came up to the fifth floor to see this latest wonder of the modern world. That was in 1948.

Soon, a lot of people got a TV, but not us. My parents didn’t think it was good for children. Being a good son, I didn’t argue with them. But I secretly watch TV—at my friends’ homes.

By 1955, televisions weren’t so expensive and were much larger. My parents still thought they were not good for us, but my sisters insisted, saying they were the only people in the neighborhood who didn’t have one. All their friends talked about certain programs and actors, but they couldn’t. Their friends laughed at them, which made them feel very unhappy. My youngest sister cried, saying she was never going back to school and that life without a TV wasn’t worth living. Nothing my parents said made her feel better. The next morning, without telling us, they went out and got a new TV.

When we were young our parents allowed us to watch TV for two hours a night. And we couldn’t watch until our homework was finished. But after a year or two, TV wasn’t exciting or new anymore. It became just another part of our lives like shoes or soap. My parents still had fears about TV. We were going to forget how to read, and TV was going to fill our minds with violence, they said.

Today people still argue about the value of TV. Nobody can deny the power of TV, which has a powerful influence on our lives. On average, Americans spend 30 hours a week watching TV. Is this influence good or bad? This is an unanswerable question indeed: It is hard enough to measure influence; and it is even harder to decide what is good and what isn’t. What is good, I suppose, is that many people are concerned about TV’s influence and that we have the power to change what we don’t like.

The people of Monhegan Island, 18 kilometers away off the coast of Maine, don’t have electricity, and they decided; once again, that they liked that way. Electricity, they think, would make life too easy and spoil their way of life. Maybe the young people wouldn’t want to go to town dances anymore. Maybe they would be more interested in staying at home and watching TV.

1.How old was the author, when their family got a TV?

A. About 15.      B. 8.               C. 18.              D. About 10.

2.The author’s parents finally decided to buy a TV because _______.

A. they wanted to meet their daughters’ needs .

B. the children couldn’t go to school without a TV

C. the sisters would like to be like their friends

D. they had to do as the youngest daughter told them to

3.The author thinks “to judge whether a TV’s influence is good or bad” is ________.

A. concerning     B. hard             C. meaningless       D. important

4.The last paragraph is written to show ________.

A. the disadvantage of TV

B. TV influences people a great deal

C. the advantage of TV

D. we can change what we don’t like

I was eight when my neighbors got a TV. It was small and expensive, but that didn’t matter. IT WAS WONDERFUL. Everyone in the building came up to the fifth floor to see this latest wonder of the modern world. That was in 1948.
Soon, a lot of people got a TV, but not us. My parents didn’t think it was good for children. Being a good son, I didn’t argue with them. But I secretly watch TV—at my friends’ homes.
By 1955, televisions weren’t so expensive and were much larger. My parents still thought they were not good for us, but my sisters insisted, saying they were the only people in the neighborhood who didn’t have one. All their friends talked about certain programs and actors, but they couldn’t. Their friends laughed at them, which made them feel very unhappy. My youngest sister cried, saying she was never going back to school and that life without a TV wasn’t worth living. Nothing my parents said made her feel better. The next morning, without telling us, they went out and got a new TV.
When we were young our parents allowed us to watch TV for two hours a night. And we couldn’t watch until our homework was finished. But after a year or two, TV wasn’t exciting or new anymore. It became just another part of our lives like shoes or soap. My parents still had fears about TV. We were going to forget how to read, and TV was going to fill our minds with violence, they said.
Today people still argue about the value of TV. Nobody can deny the power of TV, which has a powerful influence on our lives. On average, Americans spend 30 hours a week watching TV. Is this influence good or bad? This is an unanswerable question indeed: It is hard enough to measure influence; and it is even harder to decide what is good and what isn’t. What is good, I suppose, is that many people are concerned about TV’s influence and that we have the power to change what we don’t like.
The people of Monhegan Island, 18 kilometers away off the coast of Maine, don’t have electricity, and they decided; once again, that they liked that way. Electricity, they think, would make life too easy and spoil their way of life. Maybe the young people wouldn’t want to go to town dances anymore. Maybe they would be more interested in staying at home and watching TV

1. 1.

   How old was the author, when their family got a TV?

   1. A.
      About 15
   2. B.
      8
   3. C.
      18
   4. D.
      About 10
2. 2.

   The author’s parents finally decided to buy a TV because ______.

   1. A.
      they wanted to meet their daughters’ needs
   2. B.
      the children couldn’t go to school without a TV
   3. C.
      the sisters would like to be like their friends
   4. D.
      they had to do as the youngest daughter told them to
3. 3.

   The author thinks “to judge whether a TV’s influence is good or bad” is ______.

   1. A.
      concerning
   2. B.
      hard
   3. C.
      meaningless
   4. D.
      important
4. 4.

   The last paragraph is written to show ______.

   1. A.
      the disadvantage of TV
   2. B.
      TV influences people a great deal
   3. C.
      the advantage of TV
   4. D.
      we can change what we don’t like

A new book written by a Chinese American on her super-strict parenting ---- “Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother” has raised fierce debates in the US.

Amy Chua is a Yale Law School professor and the mother of two teenage girls. She is the daughter of Chinese immigrants. In the Chinese culture, the tiger represents strength and power. In her book, Ms. Chua writes about how she demanded excellence from her daughters. Chua writes that her daughters, Sophia and Louisa, were never allowed to go on a date, be in a school play, watch TV or play computer games. They couldn't choose their own after-class activities or get any grade less than an A. They had to play piano or violin and no other musical instruments.

She writes that if a Chinese child gets a B - which she says "would never happen" - there would be "a screaming, hair-tearing explosion." She describes making her 7-year-old daughter play a piano piece perfectly - yelling and not letting her leave the bench even to use the bathroom ---- until it was.

Many people have criticized Amy Chua. Some say her parenting methods were abusive. She even admits that her husband, who is not Chinese, objected to her parenting style. But she says that was the way her parents raised her and her three sisters.

Stacy Debroff, who has written four books on parenting, says Amy Chua’s parenting style is not limited to Chinese families. She says it represents a traditional way of parenting among immigrants seeking a better future for their children. But she also sees a risk. When children have no time to be social or to follow their own interests, they might not develop other skills that they need to succeed in life. Stacy Debroff advises parents not to just repeat the way they were raised.

Alison Lo, an assistant professor of marketing at the University of Washington’s Bothell campus, said, “I don’t think Amy is advocating a best practice of parenting style, or that success and achievements are critical yardsticks of a good life. But I can imagine how strong her daughters’ college applications are going to be. For many parents whose dreams are seeing their kids graduating from a competitive university, Amy is sharing with the readers that it is achievable by persistent, dedicated parental guidance,” Lo said, “In that sense, a young adult’s giftedness can be born, or made.”

50. We can learn that Amy Chua is _________.

A. an assistant professor                           B. an easy-going woman

C. a cruel teacher                                    D. a demanding mother

51. What are Sophia and Louisa allowed to do?

A. Getting an A minus                               B. Playing the guitar

C. Dating with boys                                  D. Playing the piano

52. What do you know about Amy Chua’s husband?

A. He came from China                             B. He is against her parenting style

C. He approved of her parenting style

D. He thinks her parenting methods are abusive

53. Stacy Debroff advises parents to ________.

A. follow Amy Chua’s parenting style

B. develop their own style of parenting

C. be strict with children

D. seek a better future for their children

54. Alison Lo concludes that ___________.

A. a teenager can be raised to be a talent

B. a gifted child was born with talent

C. persistent, dedicated parental guidance is the best parenting style

D. parents should respect children’s personalities