【趣味英语】春节小知
世界节日（1）Spring （A）
A lady has a problem with her daughter:
My nine-year-old daughter, Maria, is in Year Four. Every evening we get into homework battles（争执）. Three afternoons a week, she has activities (netball, singing) after school and by the time we get home, homework is the last thing she feels like doing. The other two days, she gets home early and we argue（争论）about whether she should do her homework right after school, if she should have some time to rest and play first. When Maria at last sits down to do her homework, she seems to want me there helping all the time. I do want to help her, but I'm sure that she is going to need to he able to do it on her own. And in fact, most of the time, I have things I need to he doing. It seems that children these days have much more homework than we did, and some of it is really beyond（超越）their abilities（能力）. As you can see, I'm really worried about homework and I really don't know what I should do. Any ideas?
(1) The woman's daughter is________.
A. four years old B. six years old
C. eight years old D. nine years old
(2) Maria doesn't have any activities after school for________ afternoons.
A. two B. three C. five D. seven
(3) Maria wants to ________ first when she gets home early.
A. do her homework B. play netball and sing
C. have supper D. have a rest and play
(4) The woman thinks that her daughter should do her homework________.
A. by herself B. with the mother
C. with the father D. with the classmates
(5) Can yon guess where this passage is from?
A. A diary B. A newspaper.
C. A novel（小说） D. A story.
(B)
For several years, Americans have enjoyed teleshopping—watching TV and buying things by phone. Now teleshopping is starting in Europe（欧洲）. In a numb of European countries, people can turn on their TVs and shop for clothes, jewelry, food. toys, and many other thing.
Teleshopping is becoming popular in Sweden, for example. The biggest Swedish company sells different kinds of things on TV in 15 European countries, and in one year it made $100 million. In France there are two teleshopping channels, and the French spend about $ 20 million a year to buy things through those channels.
In Germany, until last year teleshopping was only possible on one channel for 1 hour every day. Then the government allowed（允许）more teleshopping. Other channels can open for telebusiness, including（包括）the largest American teleshopping company and a 24—hour teleshopping company. German businesses are hoping this new teleshopping will help them sell more things.
Some people like teleshopping because it allows them to do their shopping without leaving their homes. With all the problems of traffic in the cities, this is an important reason, but at the same time, other Europeans do not like this new way of shopping. They call teleshopping "Junk（垃圾）on the air". Many Europeans usually worry about the quality（质量）of the things for sale on TV. Good quality is important to them, and they believe they cannot be sure about the quality of the things on TV.
The need for high quality means that European teleshopping companies will have to be different from the American companies. They will have to be more careful about the quality of the things they sell. They will also have to work harder to sell things that the buyers cannot touch or see in person.
(6) Teleshopping is________ in Europe.
A. not popular B. growing
C. not possible D. cheap
(7) People like teleshopping because it is________.
A. American B. cheaper C. easier D. more popular
(8) Some Europeans don't like teleshopping because they________.
A. don't like to buy things
B. don't watch TV
C. believe the things sold on TV are expensive
D. think the things sold on TV are bad quality
(9) In Germany, teleshopping may________.
A. help businessmen get more money
B. keep the shops open longer
C. have fewer buyers
D. bring better TV programmes
(10) The best title of this passage is________.
A. American Teleshopping
B. Teleshopping Companies
C. Teleshopping in Europe
D. Teleshopping—Juck on the Air
Key: (A). (1) — (5) DADAB (B). (6) — (10) BCDAC
