B

Like the post-90s generation in China, today’s teenagers in the UK have a problem with how they’re represented. Most of them feel unfairly represented by the media and their lives are negatively (负面地) influenced, says a recent survey.

The survey was carried out by the UK Demos, in which more than 1000 14-17-year-old teens from England and Northern Ireland took part.

The survey report shows that four-fifths of teens (81%) felt there was a false image of young people in the media and wider society. Most of them (85%) said that it is hurting both their self-esteem(自尊) and chance of getting a job.

By researching six UK newspapers over the past 10 years, Demos found that words most commonly connected with “teenagers” and “young people” were “binge-drinking”, “yobs” and “crime”.

“The young people out there are doing good things for the community, but there are always bad things on the news. But we’re not all like that, it’s only a few,” said Becky Brunskill, 18, member of Youth Parliament for Liverpool.

The survey also found that 80% of UK teenagers believed they cared more about social issues than the older generation. This was a view shared by their teachers, 66% of whom agreed in a separate Demos survey of 500 teachers.

The UK youth are also eager to make a difference. But rather than traditional politics, 87% of the teens believed social media was a good way to change society.

Jonathan Birdwell, author of the Demos report, said “They could be the most active citizens we have seen in a generation.”

(  ) 34. What problem are current UK teenagers troubled with according to Demos?

A. Their bad school image.

B. The media’s negative image of them.

C. Their false social relationships.

D. The difficulty of getting jobs.

(  ) 35. How many people think that the false image is hurting their self-esteem?

A. 800. B. 810. C. 850. D. 1000.

(  ) 36. We can guess the underlined words “binge-drinking” and “yobs” are about          .

A. something bad B. something good C. students D. adults

(  ) 37. What can we tell from the passage?

A. Few young British people are doing good things for the community.

B. British teenagers care more about their parents than social issues.

C. Young Britons are inactive in trying to prove themselves.

D. Young Britons believe social media is a good way to change society.

C

One windy spring day, I  noticed young people having fun using the wind to fly their kites. Colorful creations of different shapes and sizes filled the skies like beautiful birds flying and dancing. As the strong winds blew against the kites, a string kept them in control.

They shook and pulled, but the restraining (控制的) string and the cumbersome (笨重的) tail kept them in control, facing upward and against the wind. As the kites struggled agains t the string, they seemed to say, “Let me go! Let me go! I want to be free!” They rose beautifully even when they fought the restriction of the string. Finally, one of the kites succeeded in breaking loose(松散的). “Free at last,” it seemed to say. “Free to fly with the wind.”

Yet freedom(自由) simply put it in the control of an unkind wind. It fell down to the ground and landed in a mass of weeds and string against a dead bush. “Free at last”, free to lie powerlessly in the dirt, to be blown helplessly along the ground, and to stop lifelessly against the first obstacle (障碍物).

How much like kites we sometimes are. The Heaven gives us adversity (逆境) and rules, rules to follow from which we can grow and get strength. Some of us break away from the rules so hard that we never reach the heights we might get to. We keep part of the rules and never raise high enough to get our tails off the ground.

Let us each rise to the great heights, knowing that some of the rules that we may be angry about are in fact the strong force that helps us achieve.

(  ) 38. Why does the writer write the first paragraph?

A. Because it was the first time that he had seen young people flying kites.

B. Because he wants to share his feelings in nature with the readers.

C. Because he wants to tell the readers how to make beautiful kites.

D. Because he wants to use his life experience to make readers understand the article better.

(  ) 39. By writing t he  second and third paragraphs, the writer seems to let the readers know____.

A. anyone who wants no restraints is sure to be a sad end

B. what a pity it is that one kite flew down to the ground

C. man with freedom can’t be like that kite which fell down

D. the unkind wind is the cause of the falling kite

(  ) 40. From the passage, we can learn that the string of the kite represents           .

A. rules B. freedom C. success D. failure

(  ) 41. In the writer’s opinion, ____________.

A. without restrictions and rules we can make progress

B. kites are good examples to those who want to get freedom

C. restrictions are unnecessary for us human beings

D. we don’t need any freedom at all

D

Time is in the year 2095. It is reported that a comet(彗星) is rushing towards the Earth. Most of it will miss our earth, but two pieces will probably hit the southern half of our planet.

On 15 July, a piece about four kilometers wide enters the Earth’s atmosphere with a massive explosion(爆炸). About half of the piece is destroyed, but the remaining part hits the South Atlantic at 200 times the speed of sound. A hole is made in the sea bed. Huge waves spread outwards from the hole. The wall of water, a kilometer high, rushes towards southern Africa at 800 kilometers an hour. Cities on the African coast are totally destroyed and millions of people are drowned.

Before the waves arrive in South America, the second piece of the comet hits Argentina. Earthquakes and volcanoes(火山爆发) are set off in the Andes Mountains. The shock waves move north into California and all around the Pacific Ocean. The cities of Los Angeles, San Francisco and Tokyo are completely destroyed by earthquakes. Millions of people in the southern half of the earth are already dead, but the north won’t escape for long. Because of the explosions, the sun is hidden by clouds of dust, temperatures around the world fall to almost zero. Crops are destroyed. The sun won’t be seen again for many years. Wars break out as countries fight for food. A year later, no more than 10 million people remain alive.

Could it really happen? In fact, it has already happened more than once in the history of the Earth. The dinosaurs were on the Earth for over 160 million years. Then 65 million years ago they suddenly disappeared. Many scientists believe that the Earth was hit by a piece of object in space. The dinosaurs couldn’t live through the cold climate that followed and they died out. Will we meet the same end?