As for older people, some of the applications（应用程序）are hard to use because they didn't grow up with them. They don't have simple models of how it should work. They don't know what to do when it doesn't work.
I think there is huge potential, so I have designed some for them. The ability to connect to friends, who remember the same movies, news and music, is really important, especially as people get older. They end up in retirement homes and they aren't always close to their friends. Allowing the network to help them connect with friends and family members is a really powerful thing.
My wife likes using the Internet, although it took me years to get her to use e-mail. She was born with normal hearing, but lost it when she was three years old. She was totally deaf for many years until 53 when she got ear implants（移植）．They work really well. That is a big change for her. Before then, her friends couldn't call her on the phone, so they insisted that she use e-mails to communicate with them.
The younger people don't even think of this as technology. It's just there, and they use it .There's been a very interesting change in communication styles between the old and the young .A woman named Sharryturkle wrote about this phenomenon（现象）．There are some kids who are now in their teens and are tending not to make phone calls. And they think of e-mail as old-fashioned and slow.
The reason why teens don't make phone calls seems to be that they don't know what to say. When they call they often pause for a while. On the other hand, texting is considered proper, and it's OK if you don't answer. You might have been distracted（心烦意乱的）．It's not considered rude, but it's considered unusual if you're in this kind of voice conversation and simply stop talling.
1. We can infer from the text that the author is a____.
A. company manger B. program designer
C. college professor D. family doctor
2. Why did the author's wife connect with others by e-mail? Because she______.
A. didn't like to talk on the phone
B. didn't know how to use the phone
C. couldn't move or meet with her friends
D. was deaf and couldn't hear others on the phone
3. What do the young people think of the Internet according to the text?
A. Interesting. B. Amazing.
C．Common. D. Dull.
4. What is the best way for the teens to communicate with others?
A. Sending e-mail. B. Making phone call.
C. Writing letters. D. Sending text messages.
A British-designed electronic newspaper which is made of plastic and no larger than a table mat(垫子) is to enter the market next year. The new newspaper was conceived(想出) by Cambridge University scientists. They came up with the idea of replacing silicon chips (硅片) with plastic ones. it is being developed by Plastic Logic, a company based in Dresden, Germany.
"It looks just like a table mat, and is as light as a magazine. But you can download hundreds of newspapers at the touch of a button, and read them quite safely," the BBC reported on its website.
The plastic paper is produced in a safe "clean room" at the Plastic Logic factory, which opened last month as the world's first plastic-electronics factory. Every part of the product, from the screen to the electronics, is made of plastic. And it is described by engineer Dean Baker as "top quality". Baker says the plastic newspaper could help solve the problem of waste material associated with traditlional newspapers.
"There's a huge amount of waste . We have paper distributed（分发） all over the country each day and then thrown into the bin. This doesn't need to happen any more. All of the copies could be made electronically and stored on a single e-reader with the appearance of paper." he says.
People can expect to see the plastic newspaper next year, the BBC says.
1. According to the first paragraph, the electronic newspaper _____.
A. is made of silicon chips
B. is smaller than a table mat
C. was developed by a company in England
D. was designed by more than one person
2. What's special about the electronic newspaper compared with traditional ones?
A. It looks like a table mat
B. It's as light as a magazine.
C. People can download and read lots of newspapers on it
D. People can receive the BBC report at the touch of a button.
3. What can we learn about the electronic newspaper from the last two paragraphs?
A. It will produce a huge amount of plastic waste.
B. It will be harder to distribute than before.
C. It will have no visual (视觉的) appearance.
D. It will save a huge amount of paper.
4. What's people's attitude towards the electronic newspaper according to the BBC?
A. Hopeful. B. Doubtful.
C. Disappointed. D. Worried
Patty Griffin
Patty Griffin is a songwriter, and has been highly respected for her works in music. Her childhood. was full of music because both her mother and her grandmother liked singing. She bought her first guitar at 16, began writing songs in high school and soon started playing with a band called Patty the Executive.
Her song l,000 Kisses won her a Grammy nomination(提名) although she lost the award.
Judy Collins
Judy Collins was an important artist in the peace movement of the 1960s. She started her own record company, Wildflower. Records. She began as a classical pianist at 13. In the 40 years that followed, Judy became known as an important American folk singer.
Odetta
One thing you always hear when people talk about Odetta is the excellent power of her voice. Known for her powerful stage presence and her skillful ability to command the simplest instruments -- her voice as well as her guitar. Odetta rose to fame singing the classic African-American folk songs and spirituals.
She has also touched the blues.
Joan Baez
Joan Baez is one of the most remarkable singers in American folk music in the 20th century. Her Father was a physicist and was forced to move the family often throughout Joan's childhood. Inspired by her experiences as a could traveling the world, Joan's music includes the peace and civil rights movement
She has been a constant voice for peace and social justice .
1. What can we know about Patty Griffin?
A. She has created the best works in the world.
B. Her mother and her grandmother taught her to sing.
C. Her song l,000 Kisses didn't win the Grammy award
D. She founded her first band Patty & the Executive.
2. Who started her own record company?
A. Patty Griffin. B. Judy Collins.
C. Odetta. D. Joan Baez.
3. According to the paragraph 3, we can infer that Odetta is good at_____ .
A. using her voice and her guitar
B. writing African-American songs
C. mixing folk music with the blues
D. performing various classical songs
4. What was Joan's music mainly influenced by?
A. Her father.
B. Her traveling as a child.
C. The civil rights movement
D. The social justice.
I had a very good teacher named Leon Sultan .I liked him very much.
Mr. Sultan had just got a job at my high school but his name wasn't in the school's system. So when I got my schedule（课表），it read: Staff F. It was during roll-call that I realised that "Staff F" was Mr. Sultan. When he called my name, he asked if I remembered him. Then I realised that he was the teacher who had taught me English when I was in primary school.
Mr. Sultan was a very special teacher. Even though he was older and had been to college, but he was Still ready to learn from others. He would listen to your opinion carefully before expressing his opinion.
I think what he taught me more than anything else is to have an open mind Another thing I couldn't forget was his teaching method -group work
There were four members in the group. Each group had its own topic. Everyone in the group would play a certain role. One would keep the discussion moving, the other one would write down the thoughts of the group, another one would be responsible for gathering information, and another one would share everything the group had discovered with the rest of the class. This allowed us to become "experts" on one topic and teach the rest of our classmates.
Now ,I have become a more open-minded boy. That is because of my two and a half years in Mr. Sultan's class.
1.The underlined word, "roll-call ",in the second paragraph ,is closest in meaning to "_____"．
A. making a call B. calling one's name
C. having a meeting D. handing in homework
2.What was strange about the author's schedule?
A. It was picked up by Mr. Sultan
B. It was taken away by Mr. Sultan.
C. It didn't show Mr. Sultan's name.
D. t didn't have the courses that he had chosen.
3.What would be the best title for the text?
A.Mr Favourite Teacher一Mr. Sultan
B.My Childhood Memories
C.My Dream--To Be a Teacher
D.A Good Learning Method
There is one word that is on the lips of Americans , day and night -"Sorry."
Once as I was walling on the street, a young man ran by ,brushing against my handbag. Even as he continued on his .way, he back and said "sorry" to me. Even in a rush, he didn't forget to apologize.
One day, after I bought some apples, the salesman was giving me the change, but I wasn't ready for it And a dropped on the ground. "I'm sorry," he said while bending down to pick it up. I was -why would he apologize when it was my .
Another time ,I stepped a man's foot in a lift At the same time, we both said "sorry"．I thought it interesting at first - was it really for him to apologize?
Later on, an American friend to me that according to the American ideas, the lift is a place everyone should be able to stand in. After someone occupies （占据） a position in the lift, making it for someone else to find a place to stand in ,isn't it necessary to an apologize?
During my stay in America ,I gradually that when friction（摩擦）happen in daily life, Americans don't care much about who is responsible. Someone is troubled, a "sorry" is always necessary. The "sorry”would cool tempers（脾气） the other person is hurt. Perhaps this is why I saw anyone quarreling on the buses, subways or street in America.
1.A. excitedly B. hurriedly C. happily D. hopefully
2.A. drove B. held C. watched D. turned
3.A. coin B. handbag C. wallet D. bill.
4.A. impressed B. moved C. annoyed D. puzzled
5.A. duty B. attitude C. fault D. business
6.A. over B. on C. in D. at
7.A. necessary B. important C. surprising D. polite
8.A. lied B. explained C. pointed D. admitted
9.A. crowded B. common C. public D. free
10.A. unfit B. impossible C. narrow D. difficult
11.A. express B. receive C .expect D. tell
12.A. realized B .remembered C . agreed D. meant
13.A. Although B. What C. Unless D. If
14.A. as if B. even if C. as soon as D. before
15.A. always B. often C. never D. sometimes
Robert_______ me his address the other day, but I'm afraid I _______ it.
A. had given; lost B. has given ; have lost
C. gave ;have lost D. gives ;lost
