When you get in your car, you reach for it. When you're at work, you take a break to have a moment alone with it. When you get into a lift, you play with it.
Cigarette? Cup of coffee? No, it's the third most addictive thing in modem life, the cell phone. And experts say it is becoming more difficult for many people to curb their longing to hug it more tightly than most of their personal relationships.
The costs are becoming more and more evident, and I don't mean just the monthly bill. Dr. Chris Knippers, a counselor at the Betty ford Center in Southern California, reports that the overuse of cell phones has become a social problem not much different from other harmful addictions: a barrier to one-on-one personal contact, and an escape from reality. Sounds extreme, but we' ve all witnessed the evidence: The person at a restaurant who talks on the phone through an entire meal, ignoring his kids around the table; the woman who talks on the phone in the car, ignoring her husband; the teen who texts messages all the way home from school, avoiding contact with kids all around him. Jim Williams, an industrial sociologist based in Massachusetts, notes that cell - phone addiction is part of a set of symptoms in a widening gulf of personal separation. He points to a study by Duke University researchers that found one-quarter of Americans say they have no one to discuss their most important personal business with. Despite the growing use of phones, e - mail and instant messaging, in other words, Williams says studies show that we don't have as many friends as our parents.  " Just as more information has led to less wisdom, more acquaintances via the Internet and cell phones have produced fewer friends," he says.
If the cell phone has truly had these effects, it's because it has become very widespread. Consider that in 1987, there were only l million cell phones in use.  Today, something like 300 million Americans carry them. They far outnumber wired phones in the United States.
【小題1】 From the first two paragraphs, we can know________.

Travel Unaccompanied

Now many young people are traveling around the world on their own, not because they have no one to travel with, but because they prefer to go alone．

Kristina Wegscheider from California first traveled alone when she was at college and believes that it is something everyone should do at least once in their life. “It opens up your mind to new things and pushes you out of your comfort zone.” Wegscheider has visited 46 countries covering all seven continents．

In foreign countries, with no one to help you read a map, look after you if you get ill, or lend you money if your wallet is stolen. It is challenging. This is what drives young people to travel alone．It is seen as character building and a chance to prove that they can make it on their own．

Chris Richardson decided to leave his sales job in Australia to go traveling last year．He set up a website, The Aussie Nomad, to document his adventures. He said he wished he had traveled alone earlier. “The people you meet, the places you visit, or the things you do, everything is up to you and it forces you to grow as a person,” said the 30-year-old．

Richardson describes traveling alone like “a shot in the arm”, which “makes you a more confident person that was ready to deal with anything”. He said: “The feeling of having conquered something on my own is a major part of what drives me each day when I’m dealing with a difficult task. I walk around with my head up because I know deep down inside that nothing is impossible if you try.”

The great 19th century explorer John Muir once said: “Only by going alone in silence can one truly get into the heart of the wilderness.”

1.Which of the following will Kristina Wegscheider agree with?

A. Traveling alone is a necessary experience for everyone.

B. It is more meaningful to travel in foreign countries.

C. It is comfortable to travel around without a friend.

D. Traveling abroad helps people to find new things.

2.Traveling alone is challenging because         .

A. it will finally build your character

B. you have to make things on your own

C. you depend on yourself whatever happens

D. it is hard for you to prove yourself to others

3.What can we infer about Chris Richardson?

A. He started traveling at an early age．          B. He was once shot in the arm.

C. His website inspires others a lot.      D. He used to work as a salesman．

Come for Dinner by Leslie Revsin

Make every meal a feast and every moment with loved ones an occasion with Come for Dinner. Revsin, the former owner and chef of Manhattan’s Restaurant Leslie, offers a collection of over 150 recipes designed for small get-togethers of friends and family. There are various ethnic dishes that draw from Asia，the Mediterranean, Latin cultures and more. Revsin believes cooking at home provides the opportunity to connect with friends and family on a good level.

Retro Beach Bash by Linda Everett

Grab your beach blanket and your surfboard — it’s time for a beach party! With more than 100 recipes (菜譜) for beach picnics and barbecues, Retro Beach Bash, is the beach lover’s companion for fun in the sun.

Half information and half cookbook, you can browse the pages that are filled with beach fun tips and advice. The second half of this book is a cookbook, complete with delicious picnic and grilled foods to satisfy every taste on the beach.

Entertaining Edibles by Sidney Escowitz

You’ve seen them decorating plates at restaurants, admired them at weddings, and expressed great surprise at the chefs who designed them — and now you can produce them at home.

Sidney shares lots of practical tips that will give your finished food sculptures a professional look and send you on your way towards creating your own original works of food art.

Recipes from a Tapas Bar by Olivier Said

If you’re a fan of Spanish Tapas bars, this book is a must-have for your library. Even if you don’t cook, you’ll still want this book if you’re a fan of Tapas bars, only for the lively discussions of the cheeses of Spain along with other Spanish wines and spirits.

1.If you want to prepare a delicious dish for your family at home, you’d better choose _____.

A. Entertaining Edibles                              B. Retro Beach Bash

C Recipes from a Tapas Bar                        D. Come for Dinner

2. Retro Beach Bash tells us _____.

A．how to make picnics on the beach          B．how to repair your surfboard

C．how to make Spanish wines                D．how to satisfy your taste at home

3.Who can tell you how to make the works of food art?

A．Leslie Revsin.                          B．Linda Everett.

C．Sidney Escowitz.                        D．Olivier Said.

4.The books mentioned in the text are mainly about _____.

A．people           B．traveling          C．cooking           D．sports

第三部分：閱讀理解（共20小題；每小題2分，滿分40分）
閱讀下面短文,從每題所給的四個選項(A、B、C、D)中,選出最佳選項,并在答題卡上將該項涂黑。
We used to go into different chat rooms on different websites . If you wanted to meet someone on the net , you had to go into the same chat room . But now regular net surfers chat on OICQ .
OICQ is an online chat software which is invented by Tencent Computer System Company of Shenzhen in February , 1999 . Since then it has swept the country . Its symbol is a penguin wearing a red scarf .
Net friends can be divided into a buddy list (for good friends ) , a stranger list ( for people you want to avoid on the Net ) . You can also build family lists , co-worker lists , etc .
You can know whether listed friends are online as long as you use it . The cartoon portrait(肖像，畫像) of the person turns bright if he is online . And the portrait turns dim(灰暗的) if he is not there .
Traditional public chat rooms are chaotic . It is difficult to focus on a conversation . OICQ can conduct a focused talk without interruptions by other chatters . OICQ has become a regular daily communication tool . “What is your OICQ number ? ” has become a modern topic .
1. OICQ is________.
A. a special chat room for all the cyber citizens（網(wǎng)民）
B. a cartoon portrait to make friends on the Internet
C. an online chat software that helps you talk on the Internet more freely
D. a modern phone number used by more and more people
2. If you don’t want to chat with someone , you can put him in_______with the help of OICQ .
A. a buddy list                   B. a stranger list      
C. family lists                    D. co-worker lists
3. The passage mainly tells us____________.
A. how to chat with people on the Internet
B. how to use OICQ
C. how to choose a regular daily communication tool
D. some advantages about OICQ

Internet dating has become one of the biggest and most successful business ventures on the Internet．Basically，Internet dating is a way to meet people for either friendship or dating without actually having to meet them in person first.
The first thing to do if you decide to try Internet dating is to build your profile which can include your hobbies，hopes for the future，and so on．A photograph is optional，but many sites claim that a photograph increases the number of people who look at your profile. Many Internet dating sites will charge a one-time registration fee to use their services.
Internet dating makes it possible to meet people from all over the world. You call even narrow the search down to your area by zip code．Another advantage is that you can communicate by email before you meet in person．Thousands of people have met，fallen in love，and married through Internet dating．It is an excellent way for shy people to meet．It is also a way for people with busy lives to connect with others，and an easy way to meet people who share your interests.
Just as in conventional dating and love，there are some pitfalls to be aware of in Internet dating．The person you have been talking to on the net may not be who they say they are. Be very aware that there are some people who misrepresent their appearance or private details，such as marital status，income，and so on，for their own reasons．It would not be the first time that someone has been taken in, and talk shows are full of cheating partners who have been caught dating over the Internet in their spare time．Nevertheless，taking a few simple precautions should help ensure that your Internet dating experience is fun.
【小題1】The purpose of writing the passage is to _____.