英语期中考试试卷
Part I Reading Comprehension (10×4 = 40)
Passage One
Television has opened windows in everybody's life. Young men will never again go to war as they did in 1914. Millions of people now have seen the effects of a battle. And the result has been a general dislike of war, and perhaps more interest in helping those who suffer from all the terrible things that have been shown on the screen.
Television has also changed politics. The most distant areas can now follow state affairs, see and her the politicians before tan election. Better informed, people are more likely to vote, and so to make their opinion count.
Unfortunately, television's influence has been extremely harmful to the young. Children do n
ot have enough experience to realize that TV shows present an unreal world; that TV advertisements lie to sell products that are sometimes bad or useless. They believe that the violence they see is normal and acceptable. All educators agree that the "television generations" are more violent than their parents and grandparents.
Also, the young are less patient. Used to TV shows, where everything is quick and interesting, they do not have the patience to read an article without pictures; to read a book that requires thinking; to listen to a teacher who doesn't do funny things like the people on children's programs. And they expect all problems to be solved happily in ten, fifteen, or thirty minutes. That's the time it takes on the screen.
1. In the past, many young people ______.
A) knew the effects of war B) went in for politics
C) liked to save the wounded in wars D) were willing to be soldiers
2. Now with TV people can ________.
A) discuss politics at an information center B) show more interest in politics
C) make their own decisions on political affairs D) express their opinions freely
3. The author thinks that TV advertisements ______.
A) are not reliable on the whole B) are useless to people
C) are a good guide to adults D) are very harmful to the young
4. Which is NOT true according to the passage?
A) People have become used to crimes now.
B) With a TV set some problems can be solved quickly.
C) People now like to read books with pictures.
D) The adults are less violent than the young.
5. From the passage, we can conclude that _______.
A) children should keep away from TV B) TV programs should be improved
C) children's books should have pictures D) TV has a deep influence on the young
Passage Two
Many a young person tells me he wants to be a writer. I always encourage such people but I also explain that there's a big difference between "being a writer" and " writing". In most cases these individuals are dreaming of wealth and fame, not the long hour alone at a typewriter.
"You've got to want to write," I say to them, "not want to be a writer".
The reality is that writing is a lonely, private and poor-paying affair. For every writer killed by fortune there are thousands more whose longing is never rewarded. When I left a 20-year career in
the U.S. Coast Guard to become a freelance() writer, I had no prospects at all. What I did have was
a friend who found me my room in a New York apartment building. It didn't even matter that it
was cold and had no bathroom. I immediately bought a used manual typewriter and felt like a genuine writer.
After a year or so, however, I still hadn't gotten a break and began to doubt myself. It was so hard to sell a story that I barely made enough to eat. But I knew I wanted to write, I had dreamed about it for years. I wasn't going to be one of those people who die wondering: What if? I would keep putting my dream to the test even though it meant living with uncertainty and fear of failure.
This is the shadow-land of hope, and anyone with a dream must learn to live there.
6. The passage is meant to ________.
A) warn young people of the hardships that a successful writer has to experience
B) advise young people to give up their idea of becoming a professional writer
C) show young people it's unrealistic for a writer to pursue wealth and fame
D) encourage young people to pursue a writing career
7. What can be concluded from the passage?
A) Genuine writers often find their work interesting and rewarding.
B) A writer's success depends on luck rather than on efforts.
C) Famous writers usually live in a poverty and isolation.
D) The chances for writer to become successful are small.期中考试
8. Why did the author begin to doubt himself after the first year of his writing career?
A) He wasn't able to produce a single book.
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