With a profound sadness I have just said farewell to one of my best friends who is now lost to me forever. He has bought a television set.
The man who buys a television set departs from the world of living men and enters another word of shadows. I do not blame my friend. The real world, I suppose, is just too much for him as it is for millions of others.
My friend does not realize, of course, that he is in full retreat from actuality. He supposes, on the contrary, that he is boldly advancing into the fierce current of these times by bringing the world, with all its events and human figures, into his living room. That is the great current illusion. The shadows are mistaken for things.
Now, television is a wonderful invention. I have no word to say against it, so long as it is confined to other people's houses where, in my weaker moments, I may see it occasionally free. But it brings no one closer to life. It merely inter- poses a gaudy curtain between lift and the spectator. It is only the latest gadget contrived by thoughtful men to make sure that nobody does any real thinking for himself.
My friend will answer that he will now receive the best thoughts of the ablest minds in the world and see their faces as they deliver them. He will see events as they unfold at first hand, with a time lag of half a second or less.
Of course, he will. But he won't understand anything better. He will understand less than ever. For the grim, inescap- able fact of human understanding is that it must be private, must come from within and cannot be plastered on like stucco from the outside. A man may secure knowledge from others. He will never secure understanding. Though it is presented in a million different versions, the paramount problem of modern man is to find a satisfactory participation in modern life. And it is there that he is most obviously failing.
He can turn a screw on the assembly line, but as the finished automobile comes off at the end, he has no satisfaction in its creation. Or if he works in a white collar he can add up all the figures of business on an adding machine without once touching the realities a life as the country storekeeper touches them. He swarms in his multitudes to watch hockey game but he does not play hockey.
In other words, for the essential purposes of life, modern man is becoming a spectator, not a participant, a customer not a creator, a consumer in the main and only incidentally a producer. Thus by a law as old as Eden he becomes sick under a hectic outward flush. His physical diet is better than ever but he sickens by a secret malnutrition of the soul.
According to the author, his friend has bought a television in order to_____.
A．know the current events
B．entertain himself at leisure time
C．escape from the reality
D．kill time
听力原文：M. Mrs. Harrison, thanks very much for coming down here at the station. I, I know you've been through a terrible situation here today. Mm, I, I'd just like to go over some of the things you told Surgeon Clark at the bank.
W. All right.
M: Ah, ah. Would you like a cup of tea？
W. No, no, I'm fine.
M. All right.
W: Thanks.
M. Well, could you describe the two people who robbed the bank for this report we're filling out here？ Now anything at all that you could remember would be extremely helpful to US.
W. Well, just, I tell you I remember basically what I said before.
M: That's all right.
W: The man was tall, about six feet, and he had dark hair.
M. Dark hair.
W: And he had a mustache.
M. Very good. All right. Did he have any other distinguishing marks, I mean, scars for example, anything like that？
W: Scars, no, none of that I can remember.
M. Do you remember how old he was by any chance？
W. Eh, well, I, I guess around thirty.
M. Around thirty.
W. Maybe younger, give a take of a few years.
M. All right. Do you remember anything about what he might be wearing？
W: Yes, he, he had on a dark sweater, solid color. You know, the kind of color young people fancy nowadays.
M: Anything else that strikes you at the moment？
W: I, I remember he was wearing a light shirt under the sweater, a cotton one with dark, I think, dark stripes. It looks like a good brand.
M: Ah, very good.
W: Yes, yes.
M. Mm, now, all right. Can you tell us anything about the woman robber, Mrs. Harrison？
W: Well, I remember that she did most of the talking. She had a gun pointed at us and she told us to lie down on the floor and not to move if we knew what was good for us. I, I remember I've just thought like she was pointing the gun right at me and my little daughter was sitting right next to me and she, she was just so frightened.
M. Um, Mrs. Harrison, could you describe her for us？
W: She was wearing a wool sweater.
M: Ah, very good.
W: I remember it was a dark color, navy blue or dark gray.
M: Dark gray？
W: And I guess she was in her late twenties. Her hair was short, very short and curly.
M: Do you remember how tall she was？
W: Ah, about the same as myself, around five four.
M: Five four. All right. Do you, uh, remember anything else about this woman？
W: Yes, I remember the woman was wearing a pendant or a locket around her neck. I remember it specifically because I was then near the counter next to the bank manager and my little daughter started to cry.
M: Ah.
W: And this woman came up and said: "Shut your damn kid up, lady!" So I got a good look at her and she was pulling on the chain and playing with it, a pendant.
M: Oh？
W: It was gold, well, anyway, lookes like gold. And it had a strange shape.
M: Mm, ah, now, did either of them have any other noticeable characteristics, Mrs. Harrison？ Now, just take a minute.
W: Eh, no, I don't.
M: Think about this.
W: No, no, this is really all I can remember.
M: Well, did either of them wear glasses？
W: No, no, I'm sure of that.
M: All right, Mrs. Harrison. I really appreciate what you've been through today. I'm just going to ask you to look at some photographs before you leave if you don't mind. It won't take very long. Could you do that for me？
W: Ah, all right.
M. Would you like to step this way with me, please？
W. OK, sure.
M. Thank you.
What strikes the woman most about the male robber is his
A．clothes.
B．age.
C．physique.
D．appearance.
听力原文：W: I've just read a curious fact. Did you know that people who spend less than 10 minutes in a drug store are five times more likely to make a purchase than those who spend half an hour there？
M: I saw that article, too. But think, if someone runs into a drug store for 10 minutes, he is usually there to make a specific purchase.
W: And someone who spends more time there may be just looking？
M: Exactly. Haven't you ever gone into a store thinking that you'll buy something and then talk yourself out of it？
W: Yes, I have. Especially when I thought I could get it for less elsewhere, or I really didn't need it after all.
M: Exactly, but, if you run in to buy something specific and have very little time, you pick it up, pay for it immediately, and then leave.
W: That's true. Maybe we should learn a lesson from that. Take your time end you'll spend less money.
M: I doubt if that would be true in all stores though. In a department store, for instance, you may see a sweater or some thing you never intend to buy, and buy it because you have time to look around.
(20)
A．A druggist's suggestion.
B．An advertisement.
C．An article.
D．A salesclerk's comment.
Genetically-modified (GM) foodstuffs are here to stay.That’s not to say that food produced by conventional agriculture will disappear, but simply that food-buying patterns will polarize: there will be a niche market for conventional foodstuffs just as there is for organic food.It may even be that GM food will become the food of preference because consumers come to appreciate the health benefits of reduced pesticide use.
Currently there are some 20,000 chemicals in use, but the scientists only have detailed information around 1,000 of them.To see the advantages of GM food you have only to consider the recent press revelation that the average lettuce receives eleven pesticide applications before it reaches the supermarket shelf.I’m sure chemicals and their role in disease will become a big issue in the 21st century as the population of the developed world worries increasingly about its health.
The reason GM food will not go away is that we need a three-fold increase in food production by the year 2050 to keep pace with the world’s predicted population growth to ten or eleven billion.It’s not just a question of more mouths to feed either.What is often forgotten is that all these extra people will take up space, reducing the overall land available for agriculture.
The world has 800 million hungry people.Until now, food supplies have been increased by improved varieties, pesticides and artificial fertilizers: the green revolution.Now we’re on the edge of a new one: a genetic revolution.
It may well be that in the long term it is the developing world that benefits most from GM food.It is true that for the next years or so GM crops may be too expensive.
6. According to the passage, food supplies have been increased by all the following except_____________.
A.pesticides
B.artificial fertilizers
C.improved varieties
D.transportation
7.How many chemicals are still less familiar to the scientists？()
A.20,000.
B.1,000
C.19,000
D.21,000.
8.Why will people prefer GM food in the future？()
A.Because it uses less pesticides.
B.Because it is much cheaper.
C.Because the production is increased.
D.Because it is organic food.
9.Which of the following is NOT true？()
A.By 2050, the world population will grow to ten or eleven billion.
B.In the 21st century, GM food will take the place of conventional food.
C.More and more people will reduce the overall land available for farming.
D.More and more people will consume more food and occupy more space.
10.The author’s attitude towards GM food is _______.
A.negative
B.positive
C.critical
D.uncertain
