A man and his girlfriend were married. It was a large celebration. All of their friends and family came to see the lovely ceremony. Everyone could tell that the love they had for each other was true. A few months later, the wife came to the husband with a piece of advice, "I read in a magazine, a while ago, about how we can strengthen our marriage," she offered. "Each of us will write a list of the things that we find a bit annoying with the other person. Then, we can talk about how we can fix them together and make our lives happier together." The husband agreed. So each of them tried to think of the things that annoyed them about the other and wrote down what they came up with. The next morning, at the breakfast table, they decided that they would go over their lists. "I'll start," offered the wife. She took out her list. It had many items on it, enough to fill three pages. In fact, as she started reading the list of the little annoyances, she noticed that tears were starting to appear in her husband's eyes because he never thought that he had so many shortcomings. The wife continued to read until she had read all three pages to her husband. "Now, you read your list and then we'll talk about the things on both of our lists," she said happily. Quietly the husband stated, "I don't have anything on my list. I think that you are perfect. I don't want you to change anything for me. You are lovely and wonderful and I wouldn't want to try and change anything about you." The wife, touched by his honesty and the depth of his love for her and his acceptance of her, turned her head and wept. In life, there are enough times when we are disappointed, depressed and annoyed. We don't really have to go looking for them. We have a wonderful world that is full of beauty, light and promise. Why waste time in this world looking for the bad, disappointing or annoying when we can look around us and see the wonderful things before us? After hearing the husband's words, the wife felt _ . A) moved and ashamed B) sad and disappointed C) satisfied and proud D) surprised and confused
A
After too long on the Net, even a phone call can be a shock. My boyfriend's Liverpudlian accent suddenly becomes too difficult to understand after his clear words on screen; a secretary's tone seems more rejecting than I'd imagined it would be. Time itself becomes fluid--hours become minutes, and alternately seconds stretch into days. Weekends, once a highlight of my week, are now just two ordinary days. For the last three years, since I stopped working as a producer for Charlie Rose, I have done much of my work as a tele-commuter. I submit articles and edit them by E-mail and communicate with colleagues on Internet mailing lists. My boyfriend lives in England; so much of our relationship is computer-mediated. If I desired, I could stay inside for weeks without wanting anything. I can order food, and manage my money, love and work. In fact, at times I have spent as long as three weeks alone at home, going out only to get mail and buy newspapers and groceries. I watched most of the blizzard of '96 on TV. But after a while, life itself begins to feel unreal. I start to feel as though I've merged with my machines, taking data in, spitting them back out, just another node on the Net. Others on line report the same symptoms. We start to strongly dislike the outside forms of socializing. It's like attending an A. A. meeting in a bar with everyone holding a half-sipped drink. We have become the Net opponents' worst nightmare. What first seemed like a luxury, crawling from bed to computer, not worrying about hair, and clothes and face, has become an avoidance ,a lack of discipline. And once you start replacing real human contact with cyber interaction, _ can be quite difficult. At times, I turn on the television and just leave it to chatter in the background, something that I'd never done previously. The voices of the programs relax me, but then I'm jarred by the commercials. I find myself sucked in by soap operas, or needing to keep up with the latest news and the weather. "Dateline", "Frontline" , "Nightline,"... Compared to the clear words of her boyfriend on screen, his accent becomes _ . A) unreal B) unbearable C) misleading D) not understandable
D
Q: Tired of all the pushing in supermarkets? Fed up with waiting in endless lines to pay for what you have bought? Angry at wasting time in traffic jams only to find no parking spaces when you eventually arrive at the store? If this is you, then online shopping is the answer to your dreams of trouble-free shopping. Online shopping brings its own challenges. Here are a few things to bear in mind whenbrowsing various websites. Theclaim made by online sites is that shopping online is a safe and secure way to make purchases. The evidence challenges this. In any case, you only have to be thevictim offraud once to experience all the problems that come with this form of stealing. Use only sites that have a trusted history and an excellent reputation . Another problem is that the appearance of items in reality is often quite different from what you see on your computer screen. This might not be a problem if you are buying washing up powder but could be a major disappointment when that beautiful blue dress you ordered turns up in green. Also, product descriptions are sometimes simply untrue! Perhaps the wisest plan is to purchase items whose design and color are not essential to customer satisfaction. Some even argue that online shopping indirectly contributes to global warming. Yes, your car can stay parked but how are online goods delivered? Often by some large van pouring out carbon monoxide and adding to our already desperate traffic problems. You are also by now becoming increasinglyirritated by the fact that the delivery is late ! Without question, online shopping is here to stay and it has its benefits. However, perhaps it is not as wonderful as some of its supporters claim it to be. What is the author's attitude towards online shopping? A) It is very popular. B) It is a wise choice. C) It is a double-edged sword . D) It is a waste of time.
A: C
Q: Home Alone is a very funny 1990 American film. It tells us a story about a boy who is accidentally left alone at home. One night before Christmas, the McAlister family meets at their house. They are planning to fly to Paris for the holiday and are busy getting ready. Eight-year-old Kevin is the youngest child and is fighting with his brothers, sisters and cousins. When he goes to bed, he is so angry that he wishes all his family would go away. In the morning, everyone wakes up very late. They are all in a hurry to get to the airport, so they forget Kevin and he is left alone at home by accident. Although Kevin is alone, he is very happy at first. His terrible family has gone--- his wish has come true. He watches TV, eats lots of fast food and plays games. He has a good time. But later on, he goes out and hears two bad men called Harry and Marv planning to steal from his house. He goes home and plans some very funny ways to catch Harry and Marv. Many things in the house gets broken as Kevin tries to stop them. Finally, the police come and the men are taken away. The house is now in a mess, so Kevin tidies it up and waits for his parents. They get back from Paris and are very happy to find that Kevin is safe. What is the best title of this passage? A) Eight-year-old Kevin B) Family on Holiday C) Two Bad Men Caught by a Boy D) Home Alone --- A Funny American Film
A: D