Host family accommodation, or living with host families, remains popular among language travel students
for its advantages. These days, host families are trying to offer more in terms of quality, for they still have
something to worry about.
Host family accommodation is often seen as the number-one choice for its advantages in language study,
cultural communication and cost of living. Staying alongside host families enables students to get enough
practice for the short time of their studying so that their language acquisition is likely to become faster. Living
in host families also has the advantage for students of being able to spend a lot of time communicating with
their "host parents", and get to know the local way of life, people and culture. Another advantage is that host
family accommodation can sometimes be the least expensive. It attracts students for it ensures them a family
type of living at a low cost.
The advantages, however, have not prevented host families form worrying. On one hand, some host families
are losing their unique selling point. The problem is that the majority of hosts in big cites, now generally single
and young, have less times available for students but the selling point for host family accommodation is
communication practice. One the other hand, students"expectations have risen. They are becoming more
demanding and asking for more than ever from their accommodation, as they come mainly from high socio-
economic groups in their own countries.
To get out of the difficult situation, host families are now making efforts to improve the quality of service.
They are trying to making living conditions better, including broadband Internet service, private bathroom,
and access to plenty of hot water for long showers. They are also providing students with structured family
activities.
It is believed that host family accommodation will keep the popularity vote with language travel students.
( )1. A.get on ( )2. A.broke ( )3. A. should ( )4. A.is ( )5. A.daily ( )6. A. them ( )7. A. only ( )8. A. speaking ( )9. A. However ( )10. A. phone ( )11. A. experiment ( )12. A. not ( )13. A. to ( )14. A. as ( )15. A.are ( )16. A. machine ( )17. A.spent ( )18. A. Very ( )19. A. sending ( )20. A.some | B. listen B. went B. could B. are B. family B. another B. mostly B. listening B. Of course B. laugh B. improvement B. hardly B. nor B. so B. were B. possible B. spending B. So B. giving B. much | C. see C. set C. shouldn"t C. becomes C. school C. one another C. quickly C. close C. Therefore C. call in C. discovery C. yet C. and C. not so C. stay C. clear C. talking C. Much C. taking C. little | D. call up | |||||||||||
阅读理解。 | ||||||||||||||
The Internet brings us many advantages. With the Internet, people can send and receive e-mails. On the Internet, people can skim over news. Using the Telnet, the user anywhere on the Internet can log into any other machine on which he has an account. It is possible to use the FIP program to copy files from one machine on the Internet to another. But the Internet also brings us troubles. Internet use seems to cause a fall in psychological (心理的) health, according to research at Camegie Mellon University. Even people who spent just a few hours a week on the Internet experienced more depression and loneliness than those who logged on less often, the two-year study showed. And it wasn"t that people who were already feeling bad spent more time on the Internet, but that using the Net actually seemed to cause the bad feelings. Researchers are puzzled over the results, which were completely opposite to what they had expected. They expected that the Net would prove socially healthier than television, since the Net allows users to choose their information and to communicate with others. The fact that Internet use reduces time used for family and friends may be the reason for the drop in health, researchers said. Faceless, bodiless"virtual" (虚拟的) communication may be less psychologically satisfying than actual conversations, and the relationships formed through it may not be so deep. Another possibility is that exposure to the wider world through the Net makes users less satisfied with their lives. "But it"s important to remember this is not about the technology; it"s about how it is used," said one of the researchers. "It really points to the need for considering social factors (因素) when you design new inventions." | ||||||||||||||
1. The writer mainly wants to tell us that _____. | ||||||||||||||
A. the Internet can bring people many advantages B. the Internet use may cause psychological problems C. the Internet users are not satisfied with their lives D. we shouldn"t use the Internet | ||||||||||||||
2. Why are the researchers puzzled over the results? | ||||||||||||||
A. Because the results were completely different from what they had thought. B. Because the Net proved socially healthier than television. C. Because the Internet users were all healthier. D. Because the Internet users experienced less depression and loneliness. | ||||||||||||||
3.What may be the reasons why the Internet use causes a fall in psychological health? | ||||||||||||||
A. Internet use reduces time used for family and friends. B. Virtual communication is less psychologically satisfying than actual conversations. C. Exposure to the wider world through the Net makes users less satisfied with their lives. D. All the above. | ||||||||||||||
4. What does the underlined part in the last paragraph mean? | ||||||||||||||
A. What matters is not the technology but how it is used. B. This passage is not about the technology but about how it is used. C. We should remember to learn about the technology. D. We should remember to learn how to use computers. | ||||||||||||||
完形填空。 | ||||||||||||||
Most of us can remember the days when we didn"t use e-mail as an everyday vehicle for communication. | ||||||||||||||
|