passage three

on average, american kids aged 3 to 12 spent 29 hours a week in school, eight hours more than they did in 1981. they also did more household work and participated in more of such organized activities as soccer and ballet. involvement in sports, in particular, rose almost 50% from 1981 to 1997: boys now spend an average of four hours a week playing sports; girls log half that time. all in all, however, children’s leisure time dropped from 40% of the day in 1981 to 25%。

“children are affected by the same time crunch that affects their parents,” says sandra hofferth, who headed the recent study of children’s timetable. a chief reason, she says, is that more mothers are working outside the home. (nevertheless, children in both double-income and “male breadwinner” households spent comparable amounts of time interacting with their parents, 19 hours and 22 hours respectively. in contrast, children spent only 9 hours with their single mothers。)

all work and no play could make for some very messed-up kids. “play is the most powerful way a child explores the world and learns about himself,” says t. berry brazelton, professor at harvard medical school. unstructured play encourages independent thinking and allows the young to negotiate their relationships with their peers, but kids aged 3 to 12 spent only 12 hours a week engaged in it。

the children sampled spent a quarter of their rapidly decreasing “free time” watching television. but that, believe it or not, was one of the findings parents might regard as good news. if they’re spending less time in front of the tv set, however, kids aren’t replacing it with reading. despite efforts to get kids more interested in books, the children spent just over an hour a week reading. let’s face it, who’s got the time?

31. by mentioning “the same time crunch” (para. 2) sandra hofferth means

a. children have little time to play with their parents。

b. children are not taken good care of by their working parents。

c. both parents and children suffer from lack of leisure time。

d. both parents and children have trouble managing their time。

32. according to the author, the reason given by sandra hofferth for the time crunch is

a. quite convincing。

b. partially true。

c. totally groundless。

d. rather confusing。

33. according to the author a child develops better if

a. he has plenty of time reading and studying。

b. he is left to play with his peers in his own way。

c. he has more time participating in school activities。

d. he is free to interact with his working parents。

34. the author is concerned about the fact that american kids

a. are engaged in more and more structured activities。

b. are increasingly neglected by their working mothers。

c. are spending more and more time watching tv。

d. are involved less and less in household work。

35. we can infer from the passage that

a. extracurricular activities promote children’s intelligence。

b. most children will turn to reading with tv sets switched off。

c. efforts to get kids interested in reading have been fruitful。

d. most parents believe reading to be beneficial to children。

passage four

i needed to get some money, so, after christmas, i took a job in the clothes department at graham’s for the first fortnight of the january sale. i can’t say that i enjoyed it, but it was an experience i’ll never forget。

i could never understand why there were many things in the sales; where did they come from? now i know the secret! firstly, there is the special winter sack and the stock that people buy all the year round; some of these things are slightly reduced. secondly, there are the summer clothes they couldn’t sell last year; these are heavily reduced to clear them. thirdly, there are cheap clothes bought in specially for the sales; these are put at high prices ten days before the sale begins and then are reduced by 60% in the sale. clever! lastly, they buy in “seconds”( clothes not in perfect condition) for the sale and they are sold very cheaply。

when i arrived half an hour before opening on the first day of the sale, there were already queues around three sides of the building. this made me very nervous。

when the big moment arrived to open the doors, the security guards, looking less confident than usual, came up to them, keys in hand. the moment they had unlocked the doors, they hid behind the doors for protection as the noisy crowd crowded in. i couldn’t believe my eyes: this wasn’t shopping, it was a battlefield. one poor lady couldn’t keep her feet and was knocked over by people pushing from behind。

clothes were flying in all directions as people searched for the sizes, colors and styles they wanted. quarrels broke out. mothers were using their small children to craw through people’s legs and get hold of things they couldn’t get near themselves。

within minutes i had half a dozen people pushing under my nose, each wanting to be the first served. where had the famous queue gone? the whole day continued like that, but i kept my temper ! i was taking money hand over fist and began to realize why, twice a year, graham’s is happy to turn the expensive store into a battlefield like this。

in the sale fever, people were spending money like water without thinking whether they needed what they were buying. as long as it was bargain it was ok。

you won’t believe this, but as soon as i got home i crashed out for four hours. then i had dinner and went back to bed, feeling the sound of the alarm which would tell me to get ready for the second day of the sale。

36. what kind of clothes is likely to be sold 5% cheaper?

a. last summer’s clothes。

b. clothes not in perfect condition。

c. clothes bought in specially for the sales。

d. clothes for winter。

37. which of the following statements is true?

a. the customers gave up the manners, which the english are famous for。

b. the customers kept their temper while looking for clothes they wanted。

c. small children enjoyed crawling through people’s legs。

d. the security guards were fearless of the crowd。

38. in the author’s opinion, why is graham’s happy to make the expensive store into a “battlefield”?

a. there are too many clothes and they want to clear them in the sales。

b. they are eager to show that they are clever at doing business。

c. they can take the chance to raise the prices of all their clothes

。

d. they want to make more money by having sales。

39. the expression “crashed out ” means 。

a. chatted with friends b. slept soundly

c. broke down d. dined out

40. what would be the best title for the passage?

a. the best bargain b. hunting for a job

c. sale fever d. a pleasant fortnight

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