第二部分 阅读理解（共两节，满分40分）

第一节（共15 小题；每小题2 分，满分30 分）

阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C 和D）中，选出最佳选项。

　　When friends come to visit us in the evening, they spend their time telling us they are in a hurry and looking at their watches．It isn't that our friends are all very busy, it is just that we haven't got a television．People think that we are very strange．"But what do you do in the evening?" they are always asking．The answer is very simple．Both my wife and I have hobbies．We certainly don't spend our evenings staring at the walls．My wife enjoys cooking and painting and often attends evening classes in foreign languages．This is particularly useful as we often go abroad for our holidays．I collect stamps and I'm always busy with my collection．Both of us enjoy listening to music and playing chess together．

Sometimes there are power cuts and we have no electricity in the house．This does not worry us we just light candles and carry on with what we were doing before．Our friends, however, are lost---no television!---So they don't know what to do．On such evenings, our house is very full, they all come to us. They all have a good time．Instead of sitting in silence in front of the television, everybody talks and plays games．

21．The couple have not got a television, because ．

A. they are not rich enough B. they are strange people

C. they enjoy spending evenings in their own ways

D. they don't know what to do when there are power cuts

22． At night when there is no electricity, the couple ．

　 A. have to stare at the walls B. can do nothing but sit in silence

　 C. have to go out for candles D. will have many visitors

23． The writer tries to tell us that ．

A. electricity is important B. life is enjoyable with many friends

C. life is possible without a television D. television is useful