As we know, it’s the beginning of the end for TV. Apple has released Apple TV, a tiny white box that connects the shows and movies you’ve downloaded from the computer, and wirelessly sends them to your TV screen.
No longer will you have to pay a monthly fee to your cable (有线的) company to watch your favourite show. Apple’s iTunes has made it possible to download a TV show for about $ 2, keep it stored on your computer and watch it whenever you want. It’s a blow to the cable networks, which offer services that are often expensive and make hundreds of channels and thousands of shows nothing to watch.
American networks have gone one step further, allowing audiences to watch their shows for free online. If the cable companies don’t keep up with technology, we’ll soon be giving them up.
“This is the biggest kind of entertainment in history，” says Colin Dixon.“I don’t think that traditional broadcasts — cable and satellite — are going away tomorrow, but they must change to keep market share.”
The Internet changes businesses at an unbelievable speed. Now it’s happening with video. Canadians are being kept behind the times. Some Canadian channels are starting to follow American companies. Global offered Survivor: Cook Islands online, and CTV is doing the same for Degrassi: The Next Generation. And cable companies say that video on demand and personal video recording technology can compete with the Net.
“You watch when you want it，” says Michael Lee，adding that the Net doesn’t give viewers the opportunity to just sit on the couch and flip (翻阅) through channels.
However, it takes time.
“Up until this year even the US sites didn’t offer a lot of online content. We’ve seen an explosion of it this fall，” she says.
1.According to the text, Apple TV ________.
A. marks the end of TV
B. makes its users more convenient
C. can download movies from computers
D. can send movies to TV by wire
2.The appearance of Apple’s iTunes means ________.
A. good news for cable companies
B. the cable companies can earn a lot more
C. the serious situation for cable companies
D. the rapid development of technology
3.According to Colin Dixon’s words, which of the following agrees with his idea?
A. Cable companies need to turn to technology for help.
B. Cable and satellite will disappear at last.
C. There’s no need for cable companies to change.
D. Traditional broadcasts are the only entertainment now.
4.According to the text, what does the underlined word “it” refer to?
A. The cable company.
B. The online content.
C. Viewers’ opportunity.
D. The change of cable networks.
请认真阅读下面文字，并按照要求用英语写一篇150词左右的文章。
Should parents leave all of their money to children and let them live a carefree life without even the necessity of earning money to support themselves? Here are two pieces of news about two celebrities:
Bill Gates: Bill Gates has promised to give all of his $ 58 billion fortune to charity he has set up with his wife, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which funds health and education projects around the world. He wanted to make a positive contribution to the world.
Zuckerberg: We will give 99% of our Facebook shares during our lives to advance human potential and promote equality. We know this is a small contribution compared to all the resources and talents of those already working on these issues. But we want to do what we can, working alongside many others.
Many world-famous wealthy businessmen choose to donate almost all of their possessions to the charity instead of leaving their fortune to their children. In their opinion, it is better to develop the quality of independence of their children, making them possess the competence of living by themselves.
（写作内容）
1. 以约30个词概括上述材料的主要内容。
2. 以约120个词谈谈你对以上材料的看法，内容包括：
⑴ 你是否赞同这些名人的做法以及你的理由；
⑵ 请你就父母如何培养孩子的独立性方面，谈谈你的看法(两到三点)。
（写作要求）
1. 写作过程中不能直接引用原文语句;
2. 作文中不能出现真实姓名和学校名称;
3. 不必写标题。
（评分标准）
内容完整, 语言规范，语篇连贯, 词数适当。
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请认真阅读下列短文, 并根据所读内容在文章后表格中的空格里填入一个最恰当的单词。注意: 每个空格只填1个单词。请将答案写在答题纸上相应题号的横线上。
What do you do when somebody hurts you? Do you want to hurt that person back, or do you hold it against them for the rest of your life? If you answered “yes” to these questions, know that you are like most people. To forgive is something that most people generally have difficulty with.
People don’t forgive readily, because it is easier to hate than to forgive. Some people think to forgive is a sign of weakness, but actually to forgive takes courage and effort.
Forgiveness is a gift from a generous heart. It is not a reward for good behavior. It is not based on whether the person deserves it or whether the person has asked for it.
Besides, forgiveness is an act and a process, which often takes time. The deeper your pain, the longer it usually takes to completely forgive. It is an act because it is not just the words you say, but also your actions which show if you’ve truly forgiven someone.
Forgiveness is necessary because it helps removes the burden of bitterness and hate. It takes a lot of energy to hate and to keep that hate in place. Hate puts unnecessary stress on your body. It is a well-known fact, proven by numerous studies, that bitterness and hate can actually make you sick. The moment that people forgive and let go of their hate, they will start to get well. Forgiveness brings freedom, whereas revenge (报复) is neither sweet nor satisfying.
I have personal experience of this. I used to be very cynical about life and didn’t forgive easily. At the time, I also struggled in every area of my life. Things just didn’t seem to work out for me. It is as if everything that could go wrong, always went wrong. That was until somebody told me to take a look at my attitude. And when I forgave those who wronged me and changed my attitude, everything else changed. It didn’t happen overnight. It took a while, but I could see and feel the difference.
Are things not working out in your life, despite you doing all the “right” things? Is it possible that you are holding “unforgiveness” in your heart? It is worth thinking about.
Introduction | It is common that people find it difficult to forgive those 1.them. |
Myth of forgiveness | To forgive is a sign of weakness. |
Truth of forgiveness | To forgive is in fact a sign of 2. |
To forgive shows you have a generous heart, not that someone has done something good that is 3. your forgiveness.. | |
The time it takes to forgive someone is decided by the 4. of the pain. It is your action rather than words that really 5.. | |
Reasons for forgiveness | To hate requires much energy, thus 6. unnecessary stress on the body. Forgiveness 7. you from bitterness and burden. |
Author’s experience | Everything seemed to go wrong until I was 8. of my own attitude towards things happening to me. Everything changed in 9. to my changed attitude. |
Conclusion | When you find everything going wrong 10. your effort, think about your attitude toward forgiveness. |
My dearest daughter, as I looked across at you sitting on the sofa watching The X Factor, I noticed that you are no longer a child, and that having just celebrated your 14th birthday, you are now a young woman starting a journey into becoming an adult woman. As I looked at you, I remembered myself at 14, and the vastly different places we are beginning this journey from.
Your identity as a mixed-race young woman, with an English father and a Pakistani mother, has already influenced how you place yourself in this world. As yet, you are unaware of the personal struggles that I took at the age of 25 to marry. How it felt when my mother refused to come to my wedding. The sharp criticisms of the Asian community that such marriages do not work out and always end in divorce. The confidence I had to grow, as we chose to live in a multicultural community, as I refused to be shamed into living in the leafier white suburbs.
Then, at the age of 30, I became your mum with all the joys and struggles this brought, as I refused the Asian traditions for a new baby's arrival. From your birth, your life could not have been more different from mine. I was brought up on a council estate, within a tight-knit extended Muslim family, through which poverty, racism and neglect were woven. I was never given the freedoms or the opportunity to experience new things. Now, as I hear you play your piano. I am grateful that you have these opportunities.
So many doors were closed to me as a young person, and as I fought for small steps of freedom, I soon learned that it was better to do what I wanted without the knowledge of my parents, and so deceit and deception(欺骗) became woven into my life too. The pressures to obey, to be a "good Muslim" girl and keep the family honour, were choking. Behind closed doors at home, the neglect and abuse took place. It was hidden, I felt the shame, lived with the fear and suffered alongside my sister and two younger brothers. Oh, the power we thought our parents had over us! I was convinced that one day my father would indeed beat us so hard that leaving us for dead, he would, as his threats said he would, bury us in the large back garden, and tell the school he had taken us back to Pakistan for good. My sister and I longed for a different blue sky to live under.
As a daughter of immigrant parents, I carried their hopes of a better education for their children--my own veins(血管) pulsing with the hard- work ethic(道德) and need to be grateful for the opportunity of a free education. And it was education that provided me with the strength to find my own blue sky. I fought to leave home to go to university at the age of 18, and never returned to live with my parents again.
Now as you explore your mixed-race heritage, which I hope we have supported you to do with visits to Pakistan and ensuring you go to multi-cultural schools, I want you to take the very best of all that is Asian with you as you become a woman.
I want you to know that although your journey has been vastly different. I am excited as I watch you standing on the threshold of becoming a woman for all the adventures and possibilities the future holds for you.
May you fly your blue sky with grace, confidence and hope as you find your place in this beautiful and crazy world.
Loving you now and always. Mommy
1.Mommy's mother refused to attend her wedding party because _________.
A. she struggled to break away from the family before it
B. her marriage was against the tradition of the community
C. she would leave the family to settle in the white suburbs
D. she refused the Asian tradition for a new baby’s arrival
2.What can be inferred from mommy's Muslim family life?
A. She was forced to drop out of school.
B. She behaved like a good Muslim girl.
C. She fought against her Muslim identity.
D. She suffered much abuse in the family.
3.From the fourth paragraph, we can see that Mommy was very _________.
A. determined B. realistic
C. ambitious D. tolerant
4.Mommy sends her daughter to multicultural schools to _________.
A. prepare the daughter for different adventures in future
B. ensure the daughter more opportunities to visit Pakistan
C. increase the daughter’s exposure to different cultures
D. encourage the daughter to grow up to be a better woman
5.We can learn from the passage that Mommy _________.
A. is regretful for giving her daughter the mixed-race identity
B. encourages her daughter to explore her origin and pursue her dream
C. won’t forgive her parents for the sufferings she had during childhood
D. criticizes the social traditions and prejudice in her community
University graduates Mallorie Brodie and Lauren Hasegawa, who invented a smartphone app that tracks construction defects（缺陷）for commercial builders, had a tiger by the tail.
Bridgit, which they founded in 2012, launched a cloud-based communications platform that helped manage defects on construction sites, which can delay projects and result in costly repairs if left unchecked. The smartphone application lets site supervisors take photos of cracks or damaged paint, share them with employees and track the problems to solution.
More than 600 subcontractors used the pilot version in many building sites before the commercial version, called Closeout, officially launched.
Feedback(反馈)was so good that they began to wonder: Why limit their invention to a specific industry? Why not turn it into some kind of a handy tool for consumers too? This became their dilemma. In other words, should they stay the course or look for wider applications of their app?
The experts polled all agreed Bridgit should stay focused on its original goal. Ms. Hasegawa and Ms. Brodie took that advice.
As more business customers signed on, it became clear that they made the right decision. Since then, the company’s growth has been rapid.
Earlier this year, Bridgit launched Closeout ,which is designed so that even the least tech-savvy can use it easily. Today, the app is being used on sites across Canada and the United States and even by top general contractors(承包商).
In October, Bridgit was named to the Canadian Innovation Exchange’s top 20 list of Canada’s most innovative companies working in digital media and information and communication technology .
But Ms. Hasegawa and Ms. Brodie are not resting on their glories. They have also been collecting feedback on Closeout from customers, and they’ll launch a new version in the spring. It will target not only general contractors but developers and building owners, too.
1.The two graduates invented the smartphone application to _______.
A. track construction sites and commercial builders
B. provide a communication platform to share photos
C. avoid project delay or costly repairs in construction
D. enable supervisors to take and share photos of buildings
2.The underlined word in Paragraph 7 most probably means _______?
A. keen on technology B. weak in technology
C. addicted to technology D. good at technology
3.According to the passage, what may contribute to the graduates’ success?
A. Investing in your strengths B. Serving more customers
C. Innovating technology D. Simplifying technology
4.The graduates’ future plan is to _______.
A. launch a new application in the spring
B. collect feedbacks from customers on Closeout
C. include different people in construction industry
D. target more consumers from various industries
In mid-January, Cape Town officials announced that the world-class South African city of four million residents would run out of water on April 12. The date, nicknamed “Day Zero,” has since been postponed multiple times, thanks to the intense conservation efforts by locals, a sharp reduction in agricultural water usage, and a 10 billion-liter donation from the private reservoirs(水库) of the Groenland Farmers Association.
The city now has enough water to sustain the current level of usage until July 9, giving residents hope that the rainy season, which begins in June, will be more regular than has been the case lately.
Four years ago, Cape Town’s water disaster would have seemed impossible given that the city’s six dam, which can hold 230 billion liters of water, were filled to the brim. However, three years of low rainfall – a third of normal levels – and the ever-increasing population, have reduced the dams to puddles.
In an attempt to avoid Day Zero, the government has imposed a strict 50-liter daily limit for all households. Residents are being urged to reduce their water usage by making small changes like taking shorter showers and reusing bathing water to flush toilets. Those that use more have to pay heavy fines.
When Day Zero strikes, a million homes or about 75 percent of the city will lose access to running water. Residents will instead have to wait in line at the over 200 water distribution centers established around the city to obtain 25 liters a day.
Though conservation measures will help in the short run, only nature can solve the problem. If the city gets enough rainfall during its winter season from June to August, it will provide much-needed relief. However, the local officials are not sure it will happen.
1.What does the underlined word “brim” in the second paragraph probably mean?
A. bottom B. top edge
C. extended part D. central part
2.What effort is being made now to avoid Day Zero?
A. Limiting the daily usage of water to 25 liters.
B. Establishing 200 water distribution centers in the city.
C. Reducing the city population as much as possible
D. Restricting water usage in agriculture significantly
3.What does the last paragraph mainly want to convey?
A. Tomorrow is still unknown. B. Current efforts will pay off.
C. Man is at the mercy of nature. D. It’s time to make joint efforts.
4.What is the author’s purpose in writing this passage?
A. To inform us of the severe situation of water shortage in Cape Town.
B. To appeal to the world to come together to help people Cape Town.
C. To explain the cause of the severe water shortage in Cape Town.
D. To applaud the efforts by people in Cape Town to address water shortage.
