Many expels say that Billy Wilder changed the history of American movies．He is often called the best movie maker Hollywood has ever had．

He was known for making movies that offered sharp social comment and adult sexual situations．Wilder was one of the first directors to do this．

Between the middle 1930s and the 1980s，Billy Wilder made almost fifty movies．During that time he received more than twenty nominations(提名)from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences．He won six of the Oscar awards．Wilder made famous movies like “Sunset Boulevard”．and “Double Indemnity．”He also directed“ The Lost Weekend”，and “The Seven Year Itch．”   

Wilder was born in 1906 in the former Austro-Hungarian Empire．He started law school in Vienna，Austria at the beginning．Then he decided to abandon the major．By the 1920s，he was writing movies in Germany．However，the Nazis had risen to power in the nation．Wilder was Jewish，and he recognized that he had no future in Nazi Germany．Then he left Europe for America．

Billy Wilder had only eleven dollars when he arrived to settle in the United States in 1934．He formed a writing team with Charles Brackett．The two writers created many films together．

Wilder and Brackett wrote several successful movies．Wilder always praised this man as a friend and teacher whose humor and expert direction greatly influenced his work．

In his love stories．Billy Wilder did not follow the Hollywood tradition of sweet boy-meets-girl situations．He had an unusual way of showing relations between men and women．For example，one of his most successful films was “Hold Back the Dawn．” In 1944，Billy Wilder made a film called “Double Indemnity．” Some critics(评论家)said this movie established him as one of the greatest Hollywood directors．Billy Wilder died in Los Angeles in 2002 after battling health problems．

21．What does the text mainly talk about?

  A．The history of American movies．

  B．The famous director—Billy Wilder．   

  C．The famous movies by Billy Wilder．

  D．Billy Wilder and his friends．

22．What’s the proper order of Wilder’s life events?

  a．He formed a writing team．          b．He won six of the Oscar awards．

  c．He started law school in Vienna．       d．He settled in the United States．

  A．c，d，a，b    B．a，b，d，e    C．b，c，d，a  D．d，a，b，c

23．Why did Wilder leave Europe?

  A．He wanted to make a fortune in America．

  B．Nobody helped him make films．

  C．The Nazis came into power．

  D．He was in great need of Charles’s help．

24．For what purpose does the author use the example “Hold Back the Dawn”?

  A．To explain it’s a most successful film．

  B．To show Wilder’s different directing style．

  C．To argue the traditional influence on Wilder’s film．

  D．To indicate Wilder’s unusual character．

For Canadians, backpacking Europe is a special ceremony signifying a new life stage. Unlike package tours, backpacking is a struggle, full of discovery and chance connections. It is about focusing on something different from our own lives and losing ourselves in a new world, if only for a moment.

Well, that's what backpacking Europe is supposed to do. That’s what it used to do before modern communications, social media, and commercial hostelling (旅社). Older Canadians would not recognize the Europe that they backpacked in the 1960s, 1970s and even the 1980s. Far from a rough adventure into foreign cultures, the European experience has been shattered in part by today's technology.

A few years ago, I took my then 60-year-old father on a backpacking trip across part of Europe and Turkey. As he is an experienced traveler and someone who possesses a strong sense of adventure, I decided that we'd travel on a budget, staying in hostel dorms. For him, backpacking through Europe in 1969 was about independence and struggle. But two things surprised him at the end of our journey. First was how technology-based backpacking had become: Young people were so directly connected to home that they were hardly away in any meaningful sense. Second, the lack of connections we made with locals. Instead of making us feel closer to a place, he found commercial hostelling actually made us more alienated (疏远的).

But there was some room for hope. While technology takes our attention away from the beauty and history before us, there were also ways in which it helped us to connect with our surroundings. Websites like Airbnb have made it easier to stay with enthusiastic locals. Couch Surfing helps organize meet-ups between locals and travelers. The online marketplace Dopios offers a chance to meet locals through enjoyable experiences like a personalized city tour.

Backpacking can never be the way it was for our parents’ generation. But doing a little study of history and culture before leaving, and bravely getting rid of any electronic devices while traveling, will help give young travelers a taste of the glory days.

25. The underlined word “shattered” in Paragraph 2 most probably means ________.

 A. broadened                  B. relived        C. ruined                 D. acquired

26. After the recent backpacking trip in Europe, the author’s father finds ________.

A. backpackers connect less with locals than before

B. young people dislike getting in touch with their family

C. a hostel is a nice place for travelers to meet each other

D. backpacking in Europe becomes more difficult than before

27 .What’s the author’s attitude towards technology?

 A. Negative.        B. Objective.      C. Uncertain.              D. Uninterested.

28. The text mainly discusses the relationship between ________.

A. adventures and cultures            B. technology and traveling

C. young people and their family       D. Canadian travelers and Europeans

Now that newsrooms are becoming less popular in the US，young people have begun to tell their own stories．

GlobalGirl Media，a nonprofit organization that teaches teenage girls digital storytelling skills，was started by award-winning filmmakers Amie Williams and Meena Nanji in Los Angeles in 2010．

“By giving girls a voice，you introduce a different story，and change the existing one，”said Danny Glover，a member of the GlobalGirl Media advisory board．

“When the camera’s in my hands，I feel like I can’t lose，”Said Cheyenne Grisez，14．“It makes me happy and I feel like I can do anything．”

On the final day of the summer academy in California，Williams worked with Grisez and Camila Prado，15，on a short film about Prado’s fight against an eating disorder．In the film，Prado bravely interviewed her parents and sister about how she was able to beat her depression and eating disorder．This film and others the girls had made were shown to parents and friends on the last day of the academy，celebrating their hard work．

“It’s their story，and nobody knows how to tell it better than they do，”Williams said．

“These girls are from really difficult backgrounds．They feel trapped sometimes．They feel alone．”Williams said．“The camera gives them a way to look at their world in a different way and get out of that feeling．’’

Girls in the program practice their skills and build confidence by going out in the community and interviewing people for the short films．Many of them had no experience，but found they had good storytelling skills．

“I work with these girls．Every day I leave inspired and completely grateful，because I know that．due to the work we're doing with them，things will be better，”said GlobalGirl Media summer academy project director Heather Faison．

29．Why do many American girls like to tell stories using the camera?

  A．Their parents hate to give them a hand．

  B．The camera can help them out of their trouble．

  C．They can make profits from their documentaries．

  D．They desire to improve their photo skills．

30．What do we learn about GlobalGirl Media from the text?

  A．It gives girls digital storytelling skills．

  B．It gets much money from girl students．

  C．It was founded by the government．

  D．It has newsrooms in California．

31．What difficulty did Prado overcome by making her film?

  A．Self-harm．            B．An eating disorder.

  C．Poor school scores．  D．Teenage depression．

32．Who directed GlobalGirl Media summer academy project in California?

  A．Meena Nanji．         B．Amie Williams．

  C．Danny Glover．       D．Heather Faison.

Death rates for heart disease in Britain have dropped by more than 40 percent in a decade，UK scientists will report today．

Wide uptake of cholesterol—busting statin drugs(降胆固醇药)，healthier lifestyles and better medical practices have seen a huge reduction in deaths caused by heart attacks，stroke and other cardiovascular(心血管的) problems．

However，heart disease remains Britain’s biggest killer．

The new study，by experts at Oxford University，shows there has been a 44.4 percent drop in death rates among men in the UK and a 43.6 percent drop among women linked to heart problems in the ten years to 2011．

The team compared death rate associated with cardiovascular disease across Europe．They found that Britain has one of the best records in Europe，with 342 deaths as a result of heart disease per 100，000 men in 2011，and 232 per 100，000 women．

Some nations-including Ukraine，Macedonia and Moldova—see more than 1,000 heart deaths per 100，000 of the population．

Overall，heart disease causes 45 percent of all deaths across Europe，but only 27 percent in the UK．The study，led by Dr Nick Townsend，showed that cardiovascular disease is mainly a disease of old age．

But researchers said that across Europe it still causes more than 1.4million deaths in those aged under 75 and nearly 700，000 deaths in under 65s．Dr Townsend said：‘Cardiovascular disease results in 49 percent of deaths among women and 41 per cent among men．’

33．From the text we can know_____．

  A．heart disease no longer threatens the British

  B．the heart death rate among British men is lower than among women

  C．the old mainly dies of stroke in Europe

  D．the heart death rate in Ukraine is higher than in Britain

34．What does the word “it” in the last paragraph refer to?

  A．Stroke．          B．Cardiovascular disease．

  C．Lung disease．    D．Heart attacks．

35．How does the author support his idea?

  A．By analyzing data．

  B．By following processes．

  C．By describing his own experiences．

  D．By discussing research experiments．

Today it is common to see people who walk about with colored wires hanging from their ears wherever they go. They move about in their personal bubbles, sometimes unaware of what’s happening around them.   36    Outside life is shut out. So are you one of “them”?

       For me, walking around in my own personal bubble is perfect.   37    What’s even better, wearing earphones seems to give a signal to people which says: “I’m not available for chatting at the moment!”

       Suppose you’re at work and about to make an incredible breakthrough, but a colleague suddenly turns up. At this precise moment, the slightest disturbance would break your concentration.   38                 Once again, those wires hanging from your ears would be sure to give that “Go away!” signal.

         39    It’s probably part of the growing up stage when they just want to ignore their whole family. While their mothers give them lectures about why they should do their homework, they can just turn up the volume(声音) on their MP3 player, smile, and say “Yes, Mum.” Problem solved.

       Pretty soon, not only will we have pretty colored wires hanging from our ears—but also our brains will be directly plugged into some new high-tech instrument. We’ll be in a virtual(虚拟) world, communicating with everyone else, or choosing not to, as we like. In this world, we will all be permanently plugged in.   40   And they are changing our social habits along the way.

       In the end, there is a thin line between using technology as a tool for making life better and being a slave to it! It’s so strange—suddenly, I don’t feel like wearing my earphones any more!

A.  Listening to music through earphones is the perfect way to ignore such interruptions.

B. I also have wires hanging from my ears.  

C. They walk around in their own spaces, with their personal “digital noise reduction systems.”

D. I don’t have to deal with the noise from the environment.

E. After all, I am listening to my favorite music and would rather not be disturbed.

F. Our instruments are changing quickly.  

G. In the home situation, teenagers love these wires.