"Life is speeding up . Everyone is getting unwell." This may sound like something someone would say today. But in fact, an unknown person wrote it. Inventions can change our lives. But have all these things really improved our lives? Imagine this. You're doing your homework on the computer. Your mobile phone rings and the noise from the television is getting louder and louder. Suddenly the computer is turned off and you lose all your work. How do you feel? Inventions have speeded up our lives, but they often leave us feeling tired. One family in England went "back in time" to see what life was like without these inventions. The grandparents, with their daughter and grandsons Ben 10 and Tom 7, spent nine weeks in an old house. They had no computers or mobile phones. The grandmother, Linda, said, "The more things you have, the harder life becomes." And Ben also noticed that his grandmother had changed. She cooked delicious food for them! ,. In the passage the writer describes a picture to show that new inventions _ . A) have speeded up our lives B) have improved our lives C) may make people feel happy D) may bring people some trouble
D

Betty and I are best friends.Our birthdays are on the same day,so every year we have a birthday party together.But this year,we had a costume party instead. While we were writing the invitation,my mum came in and asked."Why not invite John?"John had been in our class for only a few months,but he was always getting better grades in math than anyone else in class.I wrinkled my nose and said,"Mum,he wears the same pants to school every day.How can he even afford a costume?"Mum said nothing.The next day,mum gave me an envelope with a shopping certificate in it."I thought it would be nice of you to give this to John,"Mum said.But how?We didn't want to make John embarrassed.We discussed it for a long time.Finally,Betty and I had a good idea. On the day of our party,kids arrived,dressed differently.John arrived,in an old sheet ,but still in the same brown pants as usual.We danced,ate snacks and played games in groups.Before eating the birthday cake,Betty said in a loud voice,"Now it's time for the great prize game.It's the following riddle..."It was a math game.None of us was surprised when John came up with the right answer first and walked off with the envelope. Everything went on well as we planned.John wore a new pair of pants and a new shirt the next week.He felt happy.So did we. When we helped others,we need to find a proper way,or we may hurt them in another way. How did John get the prize during the party? A) By helping others. B) By asking for help. C) By getting good grades in study. D) By winning the math game.
D

A story tells about an elder villager who led other villagers carrying salt day and night to a town in order to buy food for the winter. One night they camped in an open air with a starry sky above. The elder villager, following the tradition passed down from ancestors, took out three blocks of salt and threw them into the campfire to tell the change of weather in the mountains. All people waited for the old man's "weather report": if the salt in the fire produced crackling sound , they would have good weather; if no sound was produced, it then meant the good weather would soon end and a storm would come at any moment. The elder villager looked serious. The salt in the campfire made no sound at all. He urged the whole team to set out immediately. A young man in the group thought it absurdly superstitious to "forecast the weather by using salt". It was not until the next afternoon, the weather suddenly changed, with cold winds blowing and a snowstorm coming. In fact, the method used by the elder man could be well explained by modern science: whether or not salt produces sound in campfire depends on air humidity .That is to say, when a snowstorm _ , lead to high humidity, the salt blocks will not produce any sound in fire. Young people often don't mind the philosophy of the old, regarding their ideas as out date and useless. To be honest, however, some beliefs in life are just like salt blocks that are distilled from the sea: old as they are, they remain crystals , and carry with them deep memories of the sea. ,. Why didn't the young man think the "weather report" absurdly superstitious? A) The villagers were always superstitious, especially the old man. B) He didn't believe the god and only believe the modern science. C) He didn't believe the traditional way could forecast the weather by using salt. D) He thought the salt could tell us the weather.
C