News that Microsoft made a $44.6 billion bid to buy Yahoo resulted in heated discussions made by many Internet users. Here are some responses:
Diane Burke of Weeks bury, Kentucky
I think it would definitely be an interesting combination. Everyone recognizes the names Yahoo and Microsoft, but everyone also says, “Did you Google it?” Such
a catchphrase is going to be hard to beat.
Shaun Carney of Laurelville, Ohio
I think the merger will provide more competitions for Google. I don’t think the merger will allow Microsoft to develop faster than Google, though. I believe the increased competition this merger brings will force Google to stay on top of its game by offering more fresh and original Internet tools and expanding on the tools it already offers.
Toni Suarez of Hacienda Heights, California
I view the merger as a necessary element in preventing a monopolization. Perhaps it would bring better high technology innovations to e-mail and help in researching and developing a better Internet!
Rick R. of Edgewater, Florida
It sounds like a disaster to me. If this were to happen, I would stop using my Yahoo e-mail account because I don’t like the feeling of Microsoft spying upon my business. I will sign up for Google.
Antonio Glosser of Kansas City, Missouri
Right now, Yahoo offers a lot of features and tools at no cost for all different levels of Internet users. Microsoft seeks nothing but profit. Undoubtedly, they’ll do nothing other than find ways to start removing Yahoo’s formerly non-priced features. Microsoft’s greed will ruin the great thing that Yahoo currently is.
1. How many companies are mentioned in the passage?
A. One.B. Two.C. Three.D. Four.
2.Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?
A. Shaun’s attitude towards Google is passive.
B. Toni believes the Internet will have a promising future.
C. Rick will support Google after the merger.
D. Antonio is afraid that the merger will cost Yahoo’s free features.
3.The passage is mainly about ______.
A. opinions on the merger of Yahoo and Microsoft
B. the strengths of Yahoo and Microsoft
C. the strengths and weaknesses of large companies
D. the
future of Yahoo and Microsoft
Some people in Manchester, Britain, will soon be paying for goods and services with so-called “smart” credit cards. These cards are more secure than the traditional magnetic-strip version and can be used to travel on buses, check bank accounts and do shopping.
The Manchester project is one of the biggest smart card schemes in the world. Every time people use the cards on a bus or train, the fare is deducted (reduced) from the value of the card. When they have no credit left, the cards can be recharged at a local shop.
A smart card looks just like a normal plastic card but it has a silicon chip in it. It is possible for the same silicon chip to perform a number of different functions, so one plastic card in your pocket could do a large number of different jobs. The card has much more memory space than a magnetic-strip card, so many more things can be recorded on it.There are two types of smart cards. One is the contact card which is used in the same way as a magnetic-strip card.
Information is transferred by running the card through a narrow opening in an electronic reader. In the slot, electronic probes make contact with the magnetic-strip or silicon ship and read the information. The other type is the contactless smart card where the electronic reader communicates with the card by short-range radio waves. This makes the card quicker and more convenient to use because it does not have to leave your wallet. It is also more reliable as it is not easily influenced by scratches or dirt. However, the biggest advantage that smart cards have over magnetic-strip cards is that they are more secure. They are much more difficult to make than conventional cards and they have to be made by specially trained manufacturers. In addition, they have a large number of extra security features on them and if a smart card gets lost or stolen a quick phone-call to the distributor ensures that its individual number is made invalid and unreadable. This can be done more quickly than with a magnetic-strip card.
1.A smart credit card can do many kinds of jobs because ____ .
A. it is smart B. it is a plastic card
C. it has a silicon chip in it D. it can be recharged
2.“ The cards can be recharged” means that ____ .
A. the card can be put into a new charge of electricity
B. the cards can be changed into new ones
C. the cards can be put to use again
D. the cards can be recycled
3.What are the advantages of smart credit cards over traditional ones?
A. they can store more information B. they are more secure
C. they are more convenient to use D. all of the above
4.Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?
A. Contactless cards are more convenient to use than contact ones
B. Smart cards are more expensive to manufacturer
C. By means of long-range radio waves contactless cards can communicate with the electronic reader
D. A smart credit card and a normal plastic card are the same thing
About six years ago I was eating lunch in a restaurant in New York City when a woman and a young boy sat down at the next table. I couldn’t help overhearing parts of their conversation. At one point the woman asked,“So, how have you been?”And the boy who could not have been more than seven or eight years old replied,“Frankly, I’ve been feeling a little depressed lately.”
This incident stuck in my mind because it strengthened my growing belief that children are changing. As far as I can remember, my friends and I didn’t find out we were“depressed”until we were in high school.
The evidence of a change in children has increased steadily in recent years. Children don’t seem childlike any more. Children speak more like adults, dress more like adults and behave more like adults than they used to.
Whether this is good or bad is difficult to say, but it certainly is different. Childhood as it once was no longer exists. Why?
Human development is based not only on born biological states, but also on patterns of access to social knowle
dge. Movement from one social role to another usually involves learning the secrets of the new situation. Children have always been taught adult secrets, but slowly and in stages: traditionally, we tell sixth graders things we keep hidden from fifth graders.
In the last 30 years, however, a secret-revelation machine has been fixed in 98 percent of American homes. It is called television. Television passes information, indiscriminately, to all viewers alike, whether they are children or adults. Unable to resist the temptation, many children turn thei
r attention from printed texts to the less challenging, more vivid moving pictures.
Communication through print, as a matter of fact, allows for a great deal of control over the social information to which children have access. Reading and writing involve a complex code of symbols that must be memorized and practised. Children must read simple books before they can read complex materials.
1.Traditionally, a child is supposed to learn about the adult world _________ .
A. through touch with society
B. gradually and under guidance
C. naturally and by biological instinct
D. through exposure to social information
2.In the author’s opinion, the phenomenon that today’s children seem adultlike is caused by _____.
A. the widespread influence of television
B. the poor arrangement of teaching content
C. the fast step of human intellectual development
D. the constantly rising standard of living
3. Why is the author in favor of communication through print for children?
A. It enables children to gain more social information.
B. It develops children’s interest in reading and writing.
C. It helps children to memorize and practise more.
D. It can control what children are to learn.
4.What does the author think of the change in today’s children?
A. He feels amused by the children’s adultlike behavior.
B. He thinks it is a phenomenon worthy of note.
C. He considers it a positive development.
D. He seems to be upset about it.
经过调查，人们对于学生上网交友持不同意见（见下表）。请你以“Should students make friends on line?”为题，用英语写一篇关于学生上网交友的短文，介绍人们的不同观点，并表达自己的看法。
词数：120左右
参考词汇： 网络朋友 on-line friend（s）；
上当受骗 to be cheated
I have a good friend w_1.___ name is Liu Mei. She is our____2._ （班长）and one of the excellent students in our class. Clever ___3.__ she is, she works very hard. We have a lot in c____4.___ and have a lot to talk about. One evening shetold me that something h____5.__ when her parents were out.She was doing her homework one Sunday morning __6.___ she smelt something __7.__（燃烧）.She stopped to look out of the window ____8._ found a cloud of smoke coming outof her neighbour’s house. She called 119 ___9.___ （立刻）. Ten minutes later, firemen came and put o__10.___ the fire. Her neighbor was very thankful for her help.
A recent study of ancient and modern elephants has come up with the unexpected conclusion that the African elephant is divided into two distinct(不同的) species.
The discovery was made by researchers at York and Harvard Universities when they were examining the genetic relationship between the ancient woolly mammoth and mastodon to modern elephants — the Asian elephant, African forest elephant, and African savanna elephant.
Once they obtained DNA sequences(序列) from two fossils(化石), mammoths，and mastodons the team compared them with DNA from modern elephants. They found to their amazement that modern forest and savanna elephants are as distinct from each other as Asian elephants and mammoths.
The scientists used detailed genetic analysis to prove that the African savanna elephant and the African forest elephant have been distinct species for several million years. The divergence of the two species took place around the time of the divergence of Asian elephants and woolly mammoths. This result amazed all the scientists. There has long been debate in the scientific community that the two might be separate species, but this is the most convincing scientific evidence so far that they are indeed different species.
Previously, many naturalists believed that African savanna elephants and African forest elephants were two populations of the same species, despite the elephants’ significant size differences. The savanna elephant has an average shoulder height of 3.5 metres while the forest elephant has an average shoulder height of 2.5 metres. The savanna elephant weighs between six and seven tons, roughly double the weight of the forest elephant. But the fact that they look so different does not necessarily mean they are different species. However the proof lay in the analysis of the DNA.
Alfred Roca, assistant professor in the Department of Animal Sciences at the University of Illinois, said, “We now have to treat the forest and savanna elephants as two different units for conservation purposes. Since 1950，all African elephants have been conserved as one species. Now that we know the forest and savanna elephants are two very distinctive animals, the forest elephant should become a bigger priority(优先) for conservation purposes.”
1.One of the fossils studied by the researchers is that of _____.
A. the Asian elephant B. the forest elephant
C. the savanna elephant D. the mastodon elephant
2.The researchers’ conclusion was based on a study of the African elephant’s _____.
A. DNA B. height
C. weight D. population
3.What are Alfred Roca’s words mainly about?
A. The conservation of African elephants.
B. The purpose of studying African elephants.
C. The way to divide African elephants into two units.
D. The reason for the distinction of African elephants.
4.Which of the following can be the best title for the passage?
A. Naturalists’ Beliefs about Elephants
B. Amazing Experiments about Elephants
C. An Unexpected Finding about Elephants
D. A Long Scientific Debate about Elephants
