A "talk show" is a show organized mainly around talk. Television talk shows have been around since the dawn of radio. Thus the start of talk shows' golden age can be considered as 1948, even though television wasn't common in American homes until the 1950s. From 1949 to 1973, nearly half of all daytime programming was talk. Why are there so many talk shows? A talk show costs less than $100,000 per episode to produce whereas many of today's TV series cost more than $1 million an episode. Thus , if successful, it can produce handsome profits . Still, it takes a lot of work . Since 1948, hundreds of talk shows have come and gone, with only a few having true staying power. There are several types of talk shows , but while the styles might vary, the format is limited. What we are most used to is the informal guest-host format, in which shows'hosts welcome famous people or other talk -worthy persons for an informal discussion. The second most common format is the public issues show, in which hosts interview people in the news or experts in a given field. Shows that follow this format include both morning news programs and "issue" talk shows: The Museum of Broadcast Communications' Bernard M. Timberg notes two governing principles of all successful talk shows: The host is everything :The host has a high degree of control over their show, from subject matter to comedic atmosphere . They are also the show's brand and are responsible for it. The host can attract and refuse guests, organize their program and , in many cases, name a successor when they retire. Right here, right now: The second rule is that a talk show must be experienced in the present tense, whether it is broadcast live or taped in front of an audience earlier in the day. They should feel fresh, as if they are happening in the moment, even if the show is a 10-year -old rerun. What is the key to talk shows' success according to the second principle? A) Dealing with the most popular issues. B) Giving the audience an up-to-date feeling. C) Inviting the audience to the place where the shows are made. D) Running the shows several times to refresh the audience's memory.
B
People who show confidence really seem to have it made. They seize more rewarding careers, keep good relationships, and just seem to do everything with more styles than the rest of us. So what is the secret? There isn't one. Self-confidence is a skill and habit that anyone can learn to develop. And although people who are raised in an encouraging environment with confident role models have a hard start in self-confidence development, we all can learn to become more confident at any age. Try these simple tips for practising and increasing your self-confidence levels: Dare to fail. Anybody who's out there bravely performing is going to fail repeatedly. If you are not failing, you are not trying. So don't take failure too hard or too personally. Just learn to deal with it and use its lessons to keep improving. When in doubt, pretend you know what you are doing. Because, if you are confident of your abilities, by the time you have done it, you will be experienced. Dress for success. You don't have to be beautiful to be confident. Make the most of your own unique physical characters and weaken your disadvantages. Listen to yourself. You are the only person who knows what's right for you. Don't put others' opinions above your own inner voice. Build a confident vocabulary. Stop putting yourself down and give up continually blaming your tiny weaknesses. Learn to show up your strong points and the world will learn to see and celebrate them with you. Pass on the praise. Praise others for their virtues and strengths. This practice will not decrease your confidence, but help increase it. _ will weaken your self-confidence. A) Praising others for their strong points B) Always following others' advice to do things C) Giving up blaming your weaknesses D) Believing in yourself
B
Q: People often ask me how, as a man, I became so devoted to improving the quality of women's lives. It wasn't until age forty that I realized what had started me down my career path. One morning more than thirty-seven years ago, I was awakened by the passing school bus. I was thirteen years old, living at home with my two younger brothers and our mother, Doris Joy Heavin. She had just passed her fortieth birthday. She was a mother of five children and had suffered emotional and physical problems most of her life. Her doctor had tried various treatments on her with little benefit. As I awoke to the sound of the passing school bus, my brother Paul came in and told me that I'd better come quickly because mother was sick. As I knelt beside her bed, I could feel the absence of warmth. I put my arms around her, first to feel for a sign of life, and then as a final hug. I took my younger brothers, aged eight and nine, in my arms and gently told them that our mother was in heaven. Her death was unnecessary. The high blood pressure causing the blood clot that took her life was unnecessary. Rather than _ , she could have dealt with the cause of her high blood pressure: we now know that exercise and proper nutrition will almost always reduce the causes of high blood pressure and most other chronic diseases. Many years later, while teaching a fitness and weight loss class to a group of about eighty women, I realized I was subconsciously searching the crowd for the face of my mother. Why did the author think his mother's death was unnecessary? A) Because her blood clot wasn't a deadly disease at the time. B) Because his mother wouldn't have died if she had a job. C) Because her high blood pressure could have been prevented. D) Because his mother was not treated in the local hospital.
A: C
(Q).
A dog can't speak words, but it can "talk". It has feelings just as you do. At times it may feel angry or afraid. Watch a dog closely. You can see what it is trying to tell you. When you are afraid, you may look down shyly. A fearful dog looks away from you. It may run away too. When you are angry with people, you stare at them and press your lips together. An angry dog also stares. Sometimes the hair along its back stands up. Do you feel _ when you have done something you shouldn't? Dogs can feel guilty, too. At times when I come home, my dog gives me a guilty look. Then I know he's done something wrong. Dogs need love and attention. Some dogs are very unhappy when they are left alone for a long time. Some dogs even snap if they don't get enough attention. You may have a dog or you may know a dog. Treat it well if you want to have fun with it. Play with it. Take it for a walk. Don't order it round too much. Try not to punish it one time and not the next for doing the same thing. Always remember, a dog has needs and feelings just as you do. Talk to a dog, it'll talk to you, too. You can tell that a dog has done something bad when _ . A) its hair stands up B) it runs away from you C) it has a guilty expression D) its lips are pressed together
(A).
C