5、In the age of reality television, success isn’t the only way to the public eye. Failure can also create fame, just like William Hung, 21, a native of Hong Kong.

Hung recently has made an agreement with US-based entertainment firms Koch Records and Fuse Music Network. They will publish a full-length record, titled “The True Idol” on April 6.

The idol （偶像） is a civil engineering student at the University of California at Berkeley. He did a version （改寫本） of Ricky Martin’s “She Bangs” on the television show “American Idol 3", on January 27. The Fox TV singing contest searches for pop stars among ordinary people. In the case of Hung, however, his act was so bad that the judges cut him off in mid-act. Hung’s response? “I already gave my best, so I have no regrets at all.” That’s interesting, because any common person would have found plenty to regret: the off-key singing, the blue Hawaiian shirt worn with pants pulled up too high, the terrible dancing, the hips jerking （搖擺） to a beat that did not belong to the song, maybe not even to this planet. It was, by all accounts, bad.

But, it was this very bad act that sold well.

Marc Juris, president of Fuse, explained it this way: “Every one of us is happily guilty of singing our favorite song at the top of our lungs with complete freedom, completely off-key and completely unworried．That’s what William did and immediately won the hearts of America．”

Whatever it is, for the moment it’s big. Three websites devoted to Hung have gone up on the Internet in the past few weeks. Versions of his performance have been remixed with hip hop and techno music and have made it to the top 10 request list at a Chicago radio station.

So, what does Hung think of this?

“There were all these people saying things about me. A lot were saying I was very courageous and that I was great on the show, but some didn’t have much respect for me and some were kind of mean.”

Now he says he’s not so sure whether to distance himself from the glamour （魅力） or to accept it. Returning to normal hasn’t been easy.

1．What is the main idea of this passage?

A．Sometimes an idol behaves quite foolishly.

B．Hung's performance attracted the public eye.

C．How an unsuccessful person became famous.

D．Success sometimes does not require hard work.

2．Hung was popular in America for all the following reasons EXCEPT ________

A．his shirt and pants　　　　           B．his off-key singing

C．his jerking hips　　　　　            D．his excellent version

3．What does the underlined word “it” in paragraph 6 refer to?

A．William Hung.　　　　　             B．Hung's bad performance.

C．Hung’s website.　　　　            D．The public’s opinion.

4．Which of the following shows the correct order of what happened to Hung?

a．The entertainment firms made an agreement with Hung.

b．The judges cut Hung off in mid-act in the singing contest.

c．Hung became popular among Americans.

d．Hung gave a terrible performance though he tried his best.

e. Three websites put Hung’s funny performance on the Internet.

A．d, b, e, c, a           B．a(chǎn), c, d, b, e　          C．a(chǎn), d, b, c, e　        D．d, b, a, e, c

5．Why was Hung able to win the hearts of America?

A．His success was based on luck rather than his own hard work.

B．He attracted people’s attention and won wide praise in the contest.

C．He was good-looking in his pants and shirt though he didn’t sing well.

D．In the contest he did what every one of us is happy to do in daily life.

4、Psychiatrists（精神病專家），who work with older parents say that maturity can be an asset（資產(chǎn)） in child raising----older parents are more thoughtful, use less physical discipline and spend more time with children. But raising kids takes money and energy, many older parents find themselves balancing their limited financial resources, declining energy and failing health against the growing demands of an active child．Dying and leaving young children is probably the older parents’ biggest and often unspoken fear. Having late-life children, says an economics professor, often means parents, particularly fathers, “end up retiring much later.” For many, retirement becomes an unobtainable dream.

Henry Metcalf, a 54-year-old journalist, knows it takes money to raise kids. But he’s also worried that his energy will give out first. Sure, he can still ride bikes with his athletic fifth grader, but he’s learned that, young at heart doesn’t mean young. Lately he’s been taking afternoon naps to keep up his energy.” My body is aging,” says Metcalf, “You can’t get away from that.”

Often, older parents hear the ticking of another kind of biological clock. Therapists who work with middle-aged and older parents say fears about aging are nothing to laugh at. “They worry they’ll be mistaken for grandparents, or that they’ll need help getting up out of those little chairs in nursery school.” Says Joann Galst, a New York psychologist .But at the core of those little fears there is often a much bigger one. “that they will not be alive long enough to support and protect their child, ” she says .

Many late-life parents, though, say their children came at just the right time. After marrying late and undergoing years of fertility（受孕） treatment, Marilyn Nolen and her husband, Randy, had twins. “We both wanted children,” says Marilyn, who was 55 when she gave birth. The twins have given the couple what they desired for years, “a sense of family.”

Kids of older dads are often smarter, happier and more sociable because their fathers are more involved in their lives. “The dads are older, more mature,” says Dr. Silber, “and more ready to focus on parenting.”

1．Why do psychiatrists regard maturity as an asset in child raising?

A．Older parents can better balance their resources against children’s demands.

B．Older parents are usually more experienced in bringing up their children.

C．Older parents are often better prepared financially.

D．Older parents can take better care of their children.

2．What does the author mean by saying “For many, retirement becomes an unobtainable dream”

A．They have to go on working beyond their retirement age.

B．They can’t get full pension unless they work some extra years.

C．They can’t obtain the retirement benefits they have dreamed of.

D．They are unwilling to retire when they reach their retirement age

3．The author gives the examples of Henry Metcalf to show that______.

A．many people are young in spirit despite their advanced age

B．taking afternoon naps is a good way to maintain energy

C．older parents tend to be concerned about their aging bodies

D．older parents should exercise more to keep up with their athletic children

4．What’s the biggest fear of older parents according to New York psychologist Joann Galst?

A．Being laughed at by other people           B．Slowing down of their pace of life

C．Being mistaken for grandparents           D．Approaching of death

5． What do we learn about Marilyn and Randy Nolen?

A．They thought they were an example of successful fertility treatment

B．Not until they had the twins did they feel had formed a family

C．They believe that children born of older parents would be smarter.

D．Not until they reached middle age did they think of having children.

3、1．He sat on the chair, listening to his mother________________（不耐煩地）.

2．The whole teaching building_______________（坍塌） during the big earthquake this year.

3．The dog has______________（咬） a hole in my trousers.

4．No one_____________（反對） the plan when it was made.

5．Do you think that success lies in ______________（勤奮）?

6．It is said that many _____________（學(xué)者） will attend the conference.

7．I think there will be a good opportunity____________（等候）you.

8．The economy has_____________（繁榮） since he took charge of the city.

9．He apologised to us for his______________（過失）.

10．The girl is unlikely to_____________（恢復(fù)） from the bad illness.

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22、

You could fill a store with all the energy drinks available. They promise to make people feel more energetic and think more clearly. These products have names like Red Bull, Monster, Ripped Force, Speed Stack and 5-How Energy. They appeal mainly

to young people.

Professor Chad Reissig, at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimor, is a medical researcher who studies drug dependence. He says the team he works on got interested in studying energy drinks.

He says the researchers have found three things. One : there are hundreds of brands of energy

Drinks in most major countries. Two : the drinks are not clearly labeled（標(biāo)簽標(biāo)明）with enough

Information. And three: the amount of caffeine（咖啡因）differs greatly. Some contain as little as fifty milligrams, others as much as five hundred.

Some people combine energy drinks with alcohol. They think they can drink more alcohol that way and not be affected. Studies, however, suggest that they are still under the influence of the alcohol even if they do not feel that way.

Some makers of energy drinks do provide warnings. For example a popular energy warns against use by people who are under the age of twelve. The directions also advise people to limit caffeine products and to drink only half the bottle.

    The team at Johns Hopkins University published a report in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence. They suggested that better labeling with the amount of caffeine and other ingredients （成分）be clearly listed on the drink. The researchers are continuing to study energy drinks. They are seeking young people who have had a bad experience after drinking them.

1．According to the passage, the energy drinks mainly attract        .

       A．young people                                       B．a(chǎn)lcohol drinkers

       C．university professors                            D．twelve-year-old children

2．The team thinks that the biggest problem of the energy drinks is that          .

       A．there are too many brands                    B．they are not clearly labeled

       C．there is too much caffeine                    D．they are not available in some stores

3．The purpose of the passage is to tell readers        .

       A．to identify caffeine in energy drinks

       B．to take a closer look at energy drinks

       C．whether energy drinks are good or bad

       D．whether energy drinks make people addicted

20、---Is he leaving tomorrow?

---No. He’ll continue to stay here for     four or five days.

A．a(chǎn)nother            B．other           C．the other         D．every other

19、Please put the medicine on the top of the shelf. It’s       our children can’t reach it.

A．what        B．that          C．where           D．how