Searching for love is no longer just a favorite subject for songs. It has also become a huge industry. Researchers say the online dating industry in the US earned 649 million dollars in 2006. They expect this number to increase to more than 9 million dollars by 2011.
Experts say that the industry has grown because traditional social ties have weakened. Many young people leave behind a close community of friends and family to find work in bigger cities. People work longer hours, so they have less time to meet new people.
This helps explain the popularity of online dating. Some estimates say120 thousand marriages a year result from matches made on the Internet.
The dating industry has also been expanding in new ways. Many companies offer personalized services for finding the perfect mate. These companies are answering a large demand by single people. They are willing to invest their time and money to find love with carefully planned methods, instead of leaving love to chance.
AskRomeo is a company in Virginia. It provides single people with advice on how to meet a person for the first time.
Also in Virginia, the company True Life Partners provides a more costly and detailed dating service. The company hires a team of professional persons who help couples meet. But this level of service comes at a high price. Men pay thousands of dollars for the service. But women get to take part at no cost.
There are lots of other costs linked to dating. And we wonder how the economic recession(衰退) has affected dating in the US.

  1. 1.

    What can we infer from the first paragraph?

    1. A.
      Songs were only written to express love in the past.
    2. B.
      Many people will take part in the industry in two thousand eleven.
    3. C.
      The industry will increase the interest by nine hundred million dollars.
    4. D.
      Love is not only the soul of some songs but also the heart of an industry now.
  2. 2.

    According to the passage, we can know ______.

    1. A.
      most of the marriages result from the Internet.
    2. B.
      the dating industry is popular now
    3. C.
      women won’t spend money when dating
    4. D.
      single people like love at the first sight now
  3. 3.

    The author took AskRomeo and True Life Partners for examples to ______.

    1. A.
      emphasize the important role of the companies
    2. B.
      praise the two companies’ good work
    3. C.
      show how the companies help expand the dating industry
    4. D.
      show the companies are the base of the industry
  4. 4.

    What will the author talk about in the following paragraph?

    1. A.
      The situation of dating now in the economic recession
    2. B.
      How to deal with the economic recession
    3. C.
      What the economic recession is.
    4. D.
      Whether the cost of dating is decreasing now in the US.
練習冊系列答案
相關習題

科目：高中英語 來源：2012屆湖南省株洲市南方中學高二上學期期中考試英語試卷（帶解析） 題型：填空題


Directions：Complete the following passage by filling in each blank with one word that best fits the context.
Search engines are a type of computer program. The links that you get are not classified by subject. These engines search the Internet for you based 1_______ the key words you type in, 2______choose web pages for you 3_____contain the words you ask for. The contents they search have not been evaluated. This means that the information has never been checked—it could be reliable, true information 4_____ false information written by a person 5_____ qualifications or someone who does not have solid facts. 6_____links you obtain from the search engine go to full articles or pages. This requires 7_____ to be patient as you have to read the information to decide whether it is linked to 8____ you are searching. Examples of famous search engines are Google, Yahoo and Baidu. You can also go to the www.thesearchenginelist.com website and check their list of search engines.

查看答案和解析>>

科目：高中英語 來源：2013-2014學年四川省成都市高三下學期英語入學考試試卷（解析版） 題型：閱讀理解

We all have our ways of marking time. As a photographer, my life is measured from one story to the next. My oldest son was born in the middle of a long story about the Endangered Species Act. My daughter came along with a pack of gray wolves.

Twenty stories later, though, it’s the story in Alaska that I’ll remember best. It was the story about the loss of wilderness — and the story during which my wife Kathy got cancer. That’s the one that made time stand still. I stopped taking pictures on the day when she found that tumor (腫瘤). Cruelly, it was Thanksgiving. By Christmas, she had become very weak. Some days she was so sick she couldn’t watch TV.

Early examination saves time. But ours was not early. By the time you can feel it yourself, it’s often bigger than the doctor want it to be.

Cancer is a thief. It steals time. Our days are already short with worry. Then comes this terrible disease, unfair as storm at harvest time. But cancer also has the power to change us, for good. We learn to simplify, enjoying what we have instead of feeling sorry for what we don’t. Cancer even made me a better father. My work had made me a stranger to my three kids. But now I pay attention to what really matters. This is not a race. This is a new way of life and new way of seeing, all from the cancer.

In the end each of us has so little time. We have less of it than we can possibly imagine. And even though it turns out that Kathy’s cancer has not spread, and her prognosis (診斷) is good. We try to make it all count now, enjoying every part of every day.

I’ve picked up my camera again. I watch the sky, searching for beautiful light. When winter storms come, Kathy and I gather our children and take the time to catch snowflakes (雪花) on our tongues. After all, this is good. This is what we’re living for.

1.As a photographer, the author used to ______.

A. leave his daughter with a pack of gray wolves

B. express his love for his family in a special way

C. miss a great many important historical moments

D. devote much more to his career than his family

2.Why did the author decide to stop taking pictures?

A. To cure his own disease.                                    B. To spend more time with his wife.

C. To seek a better position.                                   D. To leave the wilderness alone.

3.What is the biggest change the cancer has brought to the author?

A. He treasured every bit of time with his family.

B. He has become a stranger to his children.

C. He takes his work more seriously.

D. He focuses more on medical care.

4.The author and his family catch snowflakes on their tongues probably because ______.

A. the snowflakes taste very good                       

B. snowflakes are what they feed on

C. they regard that as a way to enjoy life            

D. there is beautiful light in the snowflakes

 

查看答案和解析>>

科目：高中英語 來源：2014屆浙江省紹興市高三上學期期中考試英語試卷（解析版） 題型：閱讀理解

Many people look fondly at their school days.     a lot of these memories are often attached to events that have little to do      learning, many people are surprised by how much they miss being in the      and actually learning something new.

 Although most people feel that their lives would be      by going back to school for further study, some people find that their busy schedules would make this     . However, with the rise of technology like the     , it is now easier than ever to continue feeding your mind without     obligations like family and work. This is due to the rise of online education options.

 Online education is a subset of what is known as electronic learning or e-learning. All that you need to successfully use online education is      to a computer that has an internet     . There are so many online education options,      it is quite common for colleges to    online education courses to assist people who are      in distance education.

The main      of online education is that it allows you to     at your own pace and on your own time. Depending on the nature of the courses, online education will provide you with a certain time      for you to compete it .

    One of the biggest     of online education is that it does not provide you with the face-to-face interaction with a teacher. But you can      with other students through the use of discussion boards, messaging programs,     and web-conferencing programs.

    As people become busier, online education has      in popularity. It has greatly improved the number of services it provides and is considered a great education option. So if you are busy but your mind is still     more of a challenge, you may find that online education is the perfect food for your mind!

1.A．When         B．While              C．As           D．Since

2.A．in    B．by        C．with    D．for

3.A．classroom         B．office  C．dormitory   D．workshop

4.A．controlled        B．a(chǎn)djusted      C．damaged     D．enriched

5.A．out of question         B．out of the question  C．likely    D．easy

6.A．walkman  B．radio   C．TV        D．Internet

7.A．sacrificing         B．satisfying     C．possessing  D．sticking

8.A．a(chǎn)pproach B．a(chǎn)dministration     C．a(chǎn)ccess          D．permission

9.A．system     B．connection C．program      D．instrument

10.A．however         B．but      C．a(chǎn)nd     D．yet

11.A．offer      B．sell      C．choose        D．decide

12.A．failing     B．lacking         C．a(chǎn)voiding      D．participating

13.A．benefit  B．function      C．disadvantage       D．shortcoming

14.A．work      B．learn   C．read    D．chat

15.A．span       B．facility          C．limit    D．lag

16.A．points    B．views  C．ideas   D．criticisms

17.A．chat        B．communicate      C．cooperate   D．concentrate

18.A．e-mails   B．letters          C．messages    D．speeches

19.A．evolved B．improved    C．boomed      D．a(chǎn)bandoned

20.A．hunting for  B．searching for   C．calling for     D．longing for

 

查看答案和解析>>

科目：高中英語 來源：2014屆江蘇省高三上學期第一次月考英語試卷（解析版） 題型：閱讀理解

Pacing and Pausing

Sara tried to befriend her old friend Steve's new wife, but Betty never seemed to have anything to say. While Sara felt Betty didn't hold up her end of the conversation, Betty complained to Steve that Sara never gave her a chance to talk. The problem had to do with expectations about pacing and pausing.

Conversation is a turn-taking game. When our habits are similar, there's no problem. But if our habits are different, you may start to talk before I'm finished or fail to take your turn when I'm finished. That's what was happening with Betty and Sara.

It may not be coincidental that Betty, who expected relatively longer pauses between turns, is British, and Sara, who expected relatively shorter pauses, is American. Betty often felt interrupted by Sara. But Betty herself became an interrupter and found herself doing most of the talking when she met a visitor from Finland. And Sara had a hard time cutting in on some speakers from Latin America or Israel.

The general phenomenon, then, is that the small conversation techniques, like pacing and pausing, lead people to draw conclusions not about conversational style but about personality and abilities. These habitual differences are often the basis for dangerous stereotyping (思維定式). And these social phenomena can have very personal consequences. For example, a woman from the southwestern part of the US went to live in an eastern city to take up a job in personnel. When the Personnel Department got together for meetings, she kept searching for the right time to break in --- and never found it. Although back home she was considered outgoing and confident, in Washington she was viewed as shy and retiring. When she was evaluated at the end of the year, she was told to take a training course because of her inability to speak up.

That's why slight differences in conversational style --- tiny little things like microseconds of pause --- can have a great effect on one's life. The result in this case was a judgment of psychological problems --- even in the mind of the woman herself, who really wondered what was wrong with her and registered for assertiveness training.

1.What did Sara think of Betty when talking with her?

A. Betty was talkative.                                                       B. Betty was an interrupter.

C. Betty did not take her turn.                              D. Betty paid no attention to Sara.

2.57. According to the passage, who are likely to expect the shortest pauses between turns?

A. Americans.                     B. Israelis.                 C. The British.            D. The Finns.

3.58. We can learn from the passage that ______.

A. communication breakdown results from short pauses and fast pacing

B. women are unfavorably stereotyped in eastern cities of the US

C. one's inability to speak up is culturally determined sometimes

D. one should receive training to build up one's confidence

 

查看答案和解析>>

科目：高中英語 來源：2014屆安徽省高三第一次月考英語卷（解析版） 題型：完型填空

閱讀下面短文，從短文后各題所給的四個選項中，選出可以填入空白處的最佳選項，并在答題卡上將該項涂黑。

After years of searching, a truth seeker was told to go to a cave, in which he would find a well. “Ask the well what is   36  , ” he was advised, “and the well reveal (告訴，揭露) it to you.” Having found the well, the seeker asked that most basic and important   37  . And from the depths came the answer: “Go to the village crossroad, and there you shall find what you are seeking.”

Full of   38   the man ran to the crossroad to   39   only three rather uninteresting shops. One shop was selling pieces of metal, another sold   40  , and thin wires were for sale in the third. Nothing and no one there seemed to   41   much to do with the revelation of truth.

Disappointed, the seeker returned to the well to demand an   42  , but he was told only: “You will   43   in the future.”

As years went by, the   44   of his experience at the well gradually   45   until one night, while he was walking, the sound of sitar (西塔琴) music   46   his attention. It was wonderful and it was   47   with great skill and inspiration.

Deeply  48  , the truth seeker felt drawn towards the   49  . He looked at the fingers dancing over the strings. And then suddenly he let out a cry of joyful   50  : the sitar was made out of wires and pieces of metal and wood just like   51   he had once seen in the three stores.

At last he understood the   52   of the well: we have already been given everything we need; our   53   is to assemble (聚集) and use them in the proper way. Nothing is   54   so long as we recognize only fragments (碎片). But as soon as the pieces are put together, something new appears, whose nature we could not have   55   by considering the fragments alone.

1.A. truth                    B. hope                        C. future                               D. music

2.A. fact                       B. reason                     C. question                           D. well

3.A. energy                          B. hope                        C. mystery                            D. surprise

4.A. get                        B. count                       C. find                                   D. open

5.A. instruments                 B. clothing                   C. food                                  D. wood

6.A. connect               B. have                        C. prepare                            D. offer

7.A. explanation                  B. advice                     C. excuse                              D. opportunity

8.A. succeed              B. discover                  C. pay                                    D. understand

9.A. bitterness           B. failure                     C. memory                           D. secret

10.A. doubled            B. forgot                      C. disappeared                    D. recovered

11.A. paid                   B. lost                           C. split                                   D. caught

12.A. played               B. broadcast               C. enjoyed                            D. conducted

13.A. annoyed           B. moved                     C. confused                          D. frightened

14.A. adviser              B. director                  C. composer                        D. player

15.A. admiration        B. distinction              C. recognition                      D. imagination

16.A. those                          B. that                          C. it                                        D. them

17.A. secret                B. message                  C. theory                              D. benefit

18.A. target                          B. difficulty                 C. task                                   D. shortcoming

19.A. interesting                 B. meaningful             C. accessible                        D. successful

20.A. foreseen(預見)         B. decided                  C. judged                              D. formed

 

查看答案和解析>>

同步練習冊答案