If you’ve been joining in chat room conversations, or trading e-mail with net pals(网友), you have become one of the millions who write in a special, short form of English.
Throughout the world, every night children and their elders are “talking” online — many of them are talking at the same time.
It’s fast: trying talking to six people once. It’s convenient: three or four words per exchange. It takes cleverness, concentration and quick fingers.
And it requires very simple language. There’s neither time nor space for explanations. Why waste valuable time telling six friends you have to leave for a moment to take care of your little brother when BRB (=be right back) will do?
Want to enter a conversation? Just type PMFJI (=pardon me for jumping in).
Interested in whom you’re talking to? Type A/S/L, the common request to know your pal’s age, sex and location. You may get 15/M/NY as a reply from your pal.
If something makes you laugh, say you’re OTF (=on the floor), or LOL (=laughing out loud), or join the two into ROTFL (=rolling on the floor laughing).
And when it’s time to get back to work or go to bed, you type GTG (=got to go) or TTYL (=talk to you later).
People want to write as fast as possible, and they want to get their ideas across as quickly as they can. Capital letters are left in the dust, except when expressing feeling, as it takes more time to hold down the “shift” key and use capitals. Punctuation is going too.
1.When people are online, they talk by ______.
A. using body language
B. drawing some strange pictures
C. making phone calls
D. making use of a special short form of English
2.The sentence “There’s neither time nor space for explanations” means that ______.
A. people should use words properly
B. people should know what time it is when they are talking
C. people online have to express themselves in a simple way
D. people should communicate in a funny way
3.If you get 17/F/NY as an answer to your A/S/L, it means ______.
A. the people on the other end is 17 from New York and he is fine
B. you are talking to a girl who is 17 and lives in New York
C. you are talking to 17 girls who are from New York
D. the people you are talking to is a 17-foot tall New York girl
4.Which of the following is a way to save online time?
A. People seldom use capital letters or punctuation marks.
B. Many people draw pictures.
C. People only use the mouse instead of the keyboard.
D. People never use the “shift” key.
A new robot, Pepper, has been designed. It is considered as the world's first with the ability to read human emotions. Pepper looks slightly like Michelin Man. It is four-feet tall with a computer in its chest and human-like hands. Although it is not tall, Pepper is able to talk about everything from the weather to the latest events about the country.
Using its functions, Pepper can react(反应) to people nearby -- making jokes, dancing and even singing in different languages. Pepper can understand expressions, human voice and actions, then react through computer programmes. The designer hopes to create a robot that can understand people well, then it can take action. He also hopes robots can play roles in many ways, not just work in the industry. They provide fun at the home or store. Pepper is designed to be a family robot. It is powered by love inside a family. He not only makes people laugh, but also comforts those people who are sad or lonely and encourage them when natural disasters come.
Pepper will be on sale in Japan for around US$2,000 in February 2015. For now, several Peppers are shown at some stores in Tokyo for visitors. The designers want the robots to get so much knowledge that they can succeed in communicating with humans better before sale.
Several thousand Peppers are going to learn at some stores. Everything they learned and got is going to be stored into the i-cloud service. So that they can share wisdom with each other
We are sure Pepper can bring amazing changes into our lives.
1.According to the passage, “Pepper” is ______.
A. a kind of food B. a computer
C. a robot D. a designer
2.What does the underlined word “emotions” mean?
A. words B. feelings C. minds D. worries
3.From the passage, we can infer(推断) ______
A. Pepper will be sold in many countries
B. Pepper can speak only Japanese.
C. People can buy Pepper in Japan now.
D. Peppers can’t share wisdom with each other
4.In which part of a newspaper can we probably read this passage?
A. Travel B. Culture C. Advertisement D. Technology
There’s always something deep in our soul that never dies. I moved to the small, busy town of Edison in New Jersey six years ago. It was during the second term of my fifth grade. My parents got new jobs and higher income, so they decided it was time to move from Woodbridge to a better, more educational town.
In the US, it is unnecessary to take a test to get into a “good” middle or high school. You just attend the school close to where you live. So, many parents will think about the quality (质量，品质) of the local school when they decide to buy a new house. My parents did the same. We finally chose Edison mainly because of the high quality of its school.
In New Jersey, an area with a good school usually means a concentration of Asian people. There are about 300 students in our school. 55% are Asians and just under half of that are Chinese. There are so many Chinese people nearby that we even have our own Chinese school.
Edison is an old town, just like thousands of others in the United States. However, I have treated it as my hometown. That’s where I spend much of my youth, and the memories there can’t be moved at all.
1.Why did the writer’s parents move to Edison?
A. Because they were born there.
B. Because it was a better educational town.
C. Because the writer began his fifth grade.
D. Because the writer didn’t need to take a test.
2.How many students are from Asia in the writer’s school?
A. About 80. B. About 160.
C. About 220. D. About 300.
3.What does the underlined expression “a concentration of” mean in Paragraph 3?
A. None of B. The whole of
C. A large number of D. A small number of
完形填空
阅读下列短文，从文后各题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中选出一个最佳答案。
Andi Davise, 49, regularly crossed the trail through the Phoenix Mountains Preserve with a few other hikers before sunrise. This morning, however, she met ______ and heard only the sounds of animals.
Some time later, Andi got to the steep slope(陡坡), she climbed up to the top by using her hands. When she finally reached the ______ , she noticed a dark shape several inches from her left foot. She was______ and then looked carefully. “It’s a dog and it’s dead,” she said to ______ . It took her a few seconds to realize that the dog’s eyes were ______ . A thin, dirty bull dog was looking at her.
She greeted in a low and soft voice to show she was ______ . The bull dog shook when he heard her voice.
Andi inched closer and dropped some water into the dog’s mouth. He tried to stand up but
______ . Something was wrong with his ______ front leg. Andi pulled out her phone to contact her husband, Jason, but he didn’t ______ . She knew that if she didn’t carry the dog ______ the mountain, he would die.
She carefully put her arms under the dog’s body. He was so ______ that he fell into her chest.
Andi had great trouble going down the steep, rocky mountainside with the 50-pound animal in her arms. Even her arms and back started aching, she didn’t ______ . The trip up had taken 30 minutes while going back down took twice that.
Andi’s ______ received her messages at last. He and their son, Justin, jumped into the car and drove to pick up Andi.
Later that morning, an X-ray showed that the bull dog was ______ hurt, he was likely to lose his left leg.
A few days later, the Davises ______ to the animal hospital. “The first thing he did was to give me a kiss, then he went right to my son.” Andi said. They named the dog Elijah and brought him home that day.
1.A. somebody B. anybody C. nobody D. everybody
2.A. top B. foot C. front D. behind
3.A. happy B. excited C. frightened D. interested
4.A. me B. herself C. itself D. it
5.A. closed B. small C. big D. open
6.A. unfriendly B. friendly C. sad D. open
7.A. failed B. fail C. failure D. failing
8.A. right B. left C. each D. either
9.A. say B. tell C. speak D. answer
10.A. up B. climb C. over D. down
11.A. weak B. strong C. fat D. thin
12.A. go on B. give up C. run away D. go back
13.A. son B. mother C. husband D. father
14.A. ill B. bad C. a little D. badly
15.A. went B. came C. returned D. left
— My friend has achieved his goal after years of hard work.
— Great! ______.
A.One tree can’t make a forest
B. Where there is a will, there is a wa
C. Many hands make light work
D. A friend in need is a friend indeed
— Are you willing to live on Mars one day?
— ______. It sounds exciting, but it still worries me.
A. Of course. B. I’m not sure.
C. Why not? D. Are you joking?
