4、   Photos that you might have found down the back of your sofa are now big business!

   In 2005, the American artist Richard Prince’s photograph of a photograph, Untitled (Cowboy), was sold for $ 1, 248, 000.

   Prince is certainly not the only contemporary artist to have worked with so-called “found photographs”—a loose term given to everything from discarded(丟棄的) prints discovered in a junk shop to old advertisements or amateur photographs from a stranger’s family album. The German artist Joachim Schmid, who believes “basically everything is worth looking at”, has gathered discarded photographs, postcards and newspaper images since 1982. In his on-going project, Archiv, he groups photographs of family life according to themes: people with dogs; teams; new cars; dinner with the family; and so on.

   Like Schmid, the editors of several self-published art magazines also champion (捍衛(wèi)) found photographs. One of them, called simply Found, was born one snowy night in Chicago, when Davy Rothbard returned to his car to find under his wiper(雨刷) an angry note intended for Someone else: “Why’s your car HERE at HER place?” The note became the starting point for Rothbard’s addictive publication, which features found photographs sent in by readers, such a poster discovered in our drawer.

   The whole found-photograph phenomenon has raised some questions. Perhaps one of the most difficult is: can these images really be considered as art? And if so, whose art? Yet found photographs produced by artists, such Richard Prince, may riding his horse hurriedly to meet someone? Or how did Prince create this photograph? It’s anyone’s guess. In addition, as we imagine the back-story to the people in the found photographs artists, like Schmid, have collated (整理), we also turn toward our own photographic albums. Why is memory so important to us? Why do we all seek to freeze in time the faces of our children, our parents, our lovers, and ourselves? Will they mean anything to anyone after we’ve gone?

     In the absence of established facts, the vast collections of found photographs give our minds an opportunity to wanders freely. That, above all, is why they are so fascinating.

1. The first paragraph of the passage is used to _________.

A. remind readers of found photographs      

B. advise reader to start a new kind of business

C. ask readers to find photographs behind sofa       

D. show readers the value of found photographs

2. According to the passage, Joachim Schmid _________.

A. is fond of collecting family life photographs      

B. found a complaining not under his car wiper

C. is working for several self-published magazines   

D. wondered at the artistic nature of found photographs

3. The underlined word “them” in Para 4 refers to __________.

A. the readers                B. the editors         

C. the found photographs       D. the self-published magazines

4. By asking a series of questions in Para 5, the author mainly intends to indicate that ________.

A. memory of the past is very important to people

B. found photographs allow people to think freely

C. the back-story of found photographs is puzzling

D. the real value of found photographs is questionable

5. The author’s attitude towards found photographs can be described as _________.

A. critical         B. doubtful           C. optimistic         D. satisfied

3、One of our biggest fears nowadays is that our kids might some day get lost in a “sea of technology” rather than experiencing the natural world. Fear-producing TV and computer games are leading to a serious disconnect between kids and the great outdoors, which will changes the wild places of the world, its creatures and human health for the worse, unless adults get working on child’s play.

   Each of us has a place in nature we go sometimes, even if it was torn down. We cannot be the last generation to have that place. At this rate, kids who miss the sense of wonder outdoors will not grow up to be protectors of natural landscapes. “If the decline in parks use continues across North America, who will defend parks against encroachment (蠶食)?” asks Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods.

   Without having a nature experience, kids, can turn out just fine, but they are missing out a huge enrichment of their lives. That applies to everything from their physical health and mental health, to stress levels, creativity and cognitive (認(rèn)知的) skills. Experts predict modern kids will have poorer health than their parents—and they say a lack of outside play is surely part of it; research suggests that kids do better academically in schools with a nature component and that play in nature fosters (培養(yǎng)) leadership by the smartest, not by the toughest. Even a tiny outdoor experience can create wonder in a child. The three-year-old turning over his first rock realizes he is not alone in the world. A clump of trees on the roadside can be the whole universe in his eyes. We really need to value that more.

   Kids are not to blame. They are over-protected and frightened. It is dangerous out there from time to time, but repetitive stress from computers is replacing breaking an arm as a childhood rite（儀式）of passage.

   Everyone, from developers, to schools and outdoorsy citizens, should help regain for our kids some of the freedom and joy of exploring, taking friendship in fields and woods that cement (增強(qiáng)) love, respect and need for landscape. As parents, we should devote some of our energies to taking our kids into nature. This could yet be our greatest cause.

1. The main idea of Paragraph 2 is that __________.

A. kids missing the sense of wonder outdoors      

B. parks are in danger of being gradually encroached

C. Richard Louv is the author of Last Child in the Woods

D. children are expected to develop into protectors of nature

2. According to the passage, children without experiencing nature will _________.

A. keep a high sense of wonder                 

B. be over-protected by their parents

C. be less healthy both physically and mentally

D. change wild places and creatures for the better

3. According to the author, children’s breaking an arm is ___________.

A. the fault on the part of their parents         

B. the natural experience in their growing up

C. the result of their own carelessness in play

D. the effect of their repetitive stress from computers

4. In writing this passage, the author mainly intends to ________.

A. blame children for getting lost in computer games

B. encourage children to protect parks from encroachment

C. show his concern about children’s lack of experience in nature

D. inspire children to keep the sense of wonder about things around

1、假設(shè)你是王平，李華是你的同窗好友，請(qǐng)根據(jù)下列要點(diǎn)，用英文給李華寫一篇畢業(yè)留言。

   要點(diǎn)：1. 簡(jiǎn)要表述李華在你心目中的印象；

　　　　 2. 用一到兩個(gè)相關(guān)的事例進(jìn)行具體描述；

　　　　 3. 對(duì)他李華表示美好的祝愿。

　 注意：1. 內(nèi)容積極向上，語意連貫，結(jié)構(gòu)完整。詞數(shù)120左右。

         2. 不能寫成詩歌形式；不能使用真實(shí)姓名和學(xué)校名稱。

26、- Could I use your computer for a few moments, please? 

-        . I’m not using it myself.

A. Come on                  B. It depends         C. Go ahead                  D. That’s great

25、Though he started late. Mr. Guo played the piano as well as, if      ,  

A. not better than   B. not better           C. no better than    D .better

24、        parents say and do has a life-long effect on their children.

A. That                        B. Which                      C. What                       D. As