The young people who talk of the village as being"dead"are talking nothing but nonsense,as in their hearts they must surely know.
　　No,the village is not dead.There is more life in it now than there ever was.But it seems that"village life"is dead.Gone for ever.It began to decline about a hundred years ago.When many girls left home to go into service in town many miles away,and men also left home in increasing numbers in search of work,and home was where work was.There are still a number of people alive today who can remember what"village life"meant in the early years of the present century.It meant finding your entertainment in the village of within walking distance of it.It meant housewives tied to the home all day and every day.It meant going to bed early to save lamp-oil and coal.
　　Then came the First World War and the Second World War.After each war,new ideas,new attitudes,new trades and occupations were revealed to villagers.The long-established order of society was no longer taken for granted.Electricity and the motorcar were steadily operating to make"village life"and"town life"almost alike.Now with the highly developed science and technology and high-level social welfare for all,there is no point whatever in talking any longer about"village life."It is just life,and a better life.
　　Finally,if we have any doubts about the future,or about the many changes which we have seen in our lives,we have only to look in at the school playground any mid-morning;or see the children as they walk homeward in little groups.Obviously there children are better fed,better clothed,better educated,healthier,prettier and happier than any generation of children that ever before walked the village street.
　　1、From the passage we can see that the writer's attitude toward"village life"is _____.
　　A.positive
　　B.negative
　　C.neutral
　　D.unclear
　　参考答案：C
　　参考解析：作者在文章中只讲农村生活的变化，并未对农村生活进行评价，所以作者的观点是中立的。因此答案是C.
　　2、By saying that village is not dead,but"village life"is dead,the writer suggests that _____.
　　A.those young people who talk of the village as being"dead"are wrong
　　B.the two statements are against each other
　　C."village life"today is rather uninteresting
　　D."village life"today is no longer like what it used to be
　　参考答案：D
　　参考解析：本文第二段对过去和现在的农村生活进行对比，由此得出现在的农村生活已经不再像过去的农村生活那样了。所以本题正确参考答案：应该是D.而不是A：那些谈论农村已经不存在的年轻人是错误的，B：农村和农村生活相反，C：今天的农村生活很乏味。
　　3、The expression"...there is no point whatever in talking about..."in paragraph 3 means that _____.
　　A.there is no end to the talking about...
　　B.it is harmful to talk about...
　　C.it is not meaningless to talk about...
　　D.there is no reason for talking about...
　　参考答案：D
　　参考解析：point在这里可以理解成“有道理，有理由”所以，答案应该是D.
　　4、It was _____ that"village life"began to take a sharp turn.
　　A.about a century ago
　　B.during the two world wars
　　C.with electricity and motorcars introduced into the village
　　D.only recently
　　参考答案：C
　　参考解析：本题问的是从什么时候起，农村生活有了一个转折点。从文章第三段第四句话：“电和机动车辆在拉近农村生活和城市生活的距离方面起着决定性的作用”，可知选项C正确。
　　5、As is suggested in paragraph 2,villagers in the past _____.
　　A.lived a simpler life than villagers today
　　B.knew fewer people than villagers today
　　C.found it difficult to enjoy themselves
　　D.liked to wash themselves with cold water
　　参考答案：A
　　参考解析：第二段最后四句话讲述的是：过去的村子里的每一个人都相互了解；不必走很远就可以娱乐；家庭主妇们每天都呆在家里；为了节省煤和灯油，人们很早就睡了。由此，我们可知，选项A是正确答案。
　　示例模拟题：
　　那些把村里说成“死”的年轻人只会胡说八道，他们心里一定知道。
　　不，这个村庄没有死。现在的生活比以往任何时候都多。但似乎“乡村生活”已经死了。一去不复返了。大约一百年前开始下降。当许多女孩离家在数英里外的小镇上服役时，男人也越来越多地离家去寻找工作，而家就是工作的地方。今天仍有许多人能记住本世纪初“乡村生活”的含义。这意味着你可以在离村子不远的地方找到娱乐场所。这意味着家庭主妇整天和家里联系在一起。这意味着要早点睡觉以节省灯油和煤炭。
　　接着是第一次世界大战和第二次世界大战。每一次战争之后，新的想法、新的态度、新的行业和职业都向村民们展示。长期确立的社会秩序已不再被视为理所当然。电力和汽车稳定运行，使“乡村生活”和“城镇生活”几乎相同。现在，随着科学技术的高度发展，社会福利水平的不断提高，再谈“乡村生活”也没有意义，它只是生活，更美好的生活。
　　最后，如果我们对未来有任何疑问，或者对我们生活中所看到的许多变化有任何疑问，我们只需要在任何一个上午查看学校操场；或者看到孩子们成群结队地回家。很明显，那里的孩子们比任何一代以前走过村落街道的孩子们都有更好的食物，更好的衣服，更好的教育，更健康，更漂亮，更快乐。