For many of us, printed books are satisfying in ways beyond the words they contain. Billions of printed books have been published, read and saved in the 600 years since movable type was invented, so why mess with a good things?
Sony Electronics is doing just that, betting that readers will be won over by the convenience of readability of its new electronic book devices. Sony's reader, the PRS-505, can hold 160 books in its fixed memory, enough to line the shelves on a good-sized wall in the average American home. The $299 device is about the size of a paperback book, but a half-inch thick and weighs less than a pound.
The Sony book reader is revolutionary not only in its storage capacity. The font(字体) is highly readable and adjustable by size. Unlike laptop computers, you can put the Sony in your purse, read it in direct sunlight and even bookmark the pages. And you can connect it to your PC to download books.
Surprisingly, though the reader has liberated the book from paper, electronic books aren't always a bargain. For example, David Baldacci's "Stone Cold" download retails(零售) for $15.19 at the Sony site, while Amazon(卓越网) will deliver a hard copy to your mailbox for $16.19.
The Sony reader also lets you store and play or display music. So what's not to like about the Sony? Well, for many bibliophiles, a lot. Book lovers like to have, hold and keep their volumes, which don't need charging. You can write notes in the margins, and enjoy the ambience they provide on your book shelves.
The need for electronic reading devices is likely to grow as more people worried about the billions of tons of paper used for printed material. Many believe the time will come when devices like the Sony reader are as common as printed newspapers and magazines today.
1.What would be the best title for the passage?
A. The age of the electronic book reader is coming
B. Printed books are out of date
C. The Sony reader meets many readers’ needs
D. The revolution in book readers
2.According to the passage, the Sony book reader _________.
A. is as light as a laptop computer B. can hold more than 200 books
C. is convenient to carry around D. cannot be connected to a PC
3.What is the author’s point when he mentions “Stone Cold”?
A. Amazon’s printed books are very cheap
B. “Stone Cold” can be got from the Sony site and Amazon
C. The Sony book reader is not very cheap to use
D. The Sony book reader can benefit its buyers a lot
4.The underlined word “bibliophiles” in Paragraph 5 refers to “__________”.
A. music lovers B. book lovers
C. electronic reading devices D. Sony readers
5.According to the author, what’s the future for the electronic reading devices?
A. They’ll replace printed newspapers and magazines
B. They’ll still be more expensive than printed newspapers
C. They’ll become a must in people’s daily life
D. They’ll become more popular as time goes on
Many people seem to think that science fiction is typified by the Bug-eyed Monster, embodying every feature that most people find unpleasant. This is unfortunate because it degrades a worthwhile literary endeavor. Instead, the basic interest of science fiction lies in the relation between man and his technology and between man and the universe. Science fiction is a literature of change and a literature of the future, and the aspects of human life that it considers make it well worth reading and studying for no other literary form does quite the same things. What is science fiction? To begin, the following definition should be helpful: science fiction is a literary subgenre which postulates(以…为前提) a change (for human beings) from conditions as we know them and follows the implications of these changes to a conclusion.
The first point that science fiction is a literary subgenre is a very important one, but one which is often overlooked. Specifically, science fiction is either a short story or a novel. There are only a few dramas which could be called science fiction; the body of poetry that might be labeled science fiction is only slightly larger. To say that science fiction is a subgenre of prose fiction(小说) is to say that it has all the basic characteristics and serves the same basic functions in much the same way as prose fiction in general, that is, it shares a great deal with all other novels and short stories.
Everything that can be said about prose fiction, in general, applies to science fiction. Every piece of science fiction, whether short story or novel, must have a narrator, a story, a plot, characters, setting, and language. The themes of science fiction are concerned with interpreting man’s nature and experience around him. Themes in science fiction are constructed and presented in exactly the same ways that themes are dealt with in any other kind of fiction. They are the result to a particular combination of a narrator, story, plot, character, setting, and language. In short, the reasons for reading and enjoying science fiction, and the ways of studying and analyzing it, are basically the same as they would be for any other story or novel.
51.From the first paragraph, we can infer that science fiction has been most popular in the 20th century because ____.
A with the growth of literacy, the size of the reading public has increased
B competition from television has created a demand for more exciting fiction
C science fiction is easier to understand than other kinds of fiction
D the increased importance of technology has given science fiction an increased relevance
52.According to the definition in the passage, a fictional work that places human beings in a prehistoric world inhabited by dinosaurs____.
A cannot be called science fiction because it does not deal with the future
B cannot be called science fiction because it doesn’t deal with technology
C can be called science fiction because it deals with man’s relation with the world
D can be called science fiction because it places people in an environment different from the one we know
53. Science fiction is called a literary subgenre because____.
A it is not important enough to be a literary genre
B it cannot be made into a dramatic presentation
C it shares characteristics with other types of prose fiction
D it has its limits
54.One implication of the final sentence in the passage is that____.
A the reader should turn next to commentaries on general fiction
B there is no reason for any reader not to like science fiction
C the reader should compare other novels and stories to science fiction
D those who can appreciate prose fiction can appreciate science fiction
55.An appropriate title for this passage would be____.
A Man and the Universe
B Toward a Definition of Science Fiction
C A Type of Prose Fiction
D The Bug-Eyed Monster
Uncertainty spreads through our lives so thoroughly that it dominates our language. Our everyday speech is made up in large part of words like probably, many, soon, great, little. What do these words mean?
Such verbal expression is not necessarily to be criticized. Indeed, it has a value just because it allows us to express judgments when a precise quantitative statement is out of the question.
We have been trying to pin down by experiments what people mean by these expressions in specific contexts, and how the meanings change with age. For instance, a subject is told “There are many trees in the park” and is asked to say what number the word many mean to him. Or a child is invited to take “some” sweets from a bowl and we then count how many he has taken. We compare the number he takes when he is alone with the number when one or more other children are present and are to take some sweets after him, or with the number he takes when told to give “some” sweets to another child.
First, we find that the number depends, of course, on the items involved. To most people some friends means about five, while some trees means about twenty. However, unrelated areas sometimes show parallel values. For instance, the language of probability seems to mean about the same thing in predictions about the weather and about politics: the expression “is certain to” (rain, or be elected) signifies to the average person about a 70 percent chance; “is likely to”, about a 60 percent chance; “probably will” about 55 percent.
Secondly, the size of the population of items influences the value assigned to an expression. Thus, if we tell a subject to take “a few” or “ a lot of” glass balls from a box, he will take more if the box contains a large number of glass balls than if it has a small number. But not proportionately more: if we increase the number of glass balls eight times, the subject takes only half as large a percentage of the total.
Thirdly, there is a marked change with age. Among children between six and fourteen years old, the older the child, the fewer glass balls he will take. But the difference between a lot and a few widens with age. This age effect is so consistent that it might be used as a test of intelligence.
46. What’s the right attitude towards the words like probably, many, soon?
A. They are inaccurate and we should avoid them.
B. They are necessary since we cannot be always precise.
C. They should be criticized because there are too many of them
D. Their value is not yet clear since we don’t know their meaning
47. Why do we do experiments with the words “many” and “some”?
A. To prove people are insensitive to these words.
B. To prove the words dominate our everyday speech
C. To find out how the meanings vary with age and contexts
D. To find out whether the words can mean a precise quantity
48. Which of the expressions means a larger chance in weather broadcast?
A. Possible B. Probable C. Be likely to D. Be certain to
49. Which of the following will least definitely influence the number of items a kid takes out of a box when he is invited to take “some”?
A. whether the quantity of items is large or small
B. whether the items are candies or toys
C. whether the kid is a toddler or a youngster
D. whether the kid is alone or accompanied by other children
50. What will tell us about the intelligence of a child?
A. The consistency of picking up a certain glass ball
B. How many glass balls he will take when he’s asked to
C. The difference between a lot and a few when he takes glass balls
D. Whether there are marked changes in his first pick and second one
III阅读(共两节,满分40分)
第一节阅读理解(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A、B、C、D 选项中,选出最佳选项,并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
A Magical Experience
One hot August afternoon, Deena Hoagland and her son Joe sat on a floating platform at Dolphins Plus, a marine(海洋)center near their home in Florida. Nearby, a large, powerful, six-hundred-pound dolphin circled to study the mother and her child. Suddenly, it splashed the Hoaglands with water. That is when something amazing happened. Three-year-old Joe Hoagland smiled. Sitting with Joe on her lap, Deena smiled, too, as her heart leapt with joy. It was the first sign of hope she had seen in Joe since his stroke(中风)six weeks earlier.
Joe Hoagland was born with a rare heart condition that had forced him to spend much of his first three years of life in hospitals. After a series of open-heart surgeries, Joe seemed to be doing better, but the last surgery on his heart resulted in a stroke, which left him unable to move one side and to see out of one eye.
Worse still, the spirit of the child, who had bravely battled his illness until then was seemingly broken. Afraid of his doctors and unwilling to participate in efforts at physical therapy(治疗), Joe grew listless, losing interest even in his favorite toys.
Having heard of a new therapeutic approach termed “dolphin-assisted therapy,” Deena phoned Dolphins Plus and asked permission to bring her son along. There Joe met Fonzie, the playful dolphin. With each passing visit, Joe seemed to make more progress. Before long, he was regaining some movement on his left side. Dolphins Plus trainers urged Joe to get into the water and swim with his new friend. Joe, however, was reluctant. Gradually, though, Joe became more comfortable with the large dolphin, and by mid-September, Joe was swimming with his friends.
Over the next two years, Joe fully recovered from the paralysis and partial blindness that his doctors thought irreversible. Now a healthy, active teenager, Joe lives a life similar to any of his friends. He visits and swims frequently with his friend Fonzie and helps his parent with Island Dolphin Care. Deena started Island Dolphin Care to work with Dolphins Plus to share the benefits of dolphin therapy with other special-needs children and their parents.
41.Deena Hoagland smiled when Fonzie splashed Joe with water because .
A.the dolphin’s action is amazing B.Joe’s reaction brought her hope
C.she was affected by Joe’s joy D.she realized Joe recovered
42.Paragraph 2-4 are written to.
A.expose the dangers of strokes
B.identify the problems Joe faced
C.describe Joe’s recovery from beginning to end
D.show readers the process of “dolphin-assisted therapy”
43.What does the underlined word mean in paragraph 3?
A.angry and inflexible B.more mature and silent
C.lacking energy and concern D.cautious and shy
44. Which statement about Joe is Not True?
A. Joe received several surgeries on the heart when he was a little child.
B. Joe was the first one to receive dolphin-assisted therapy.
C. Doctors used to think that Joe could not recover.
D. Now Joe worked with his parents in the Island Dolphin Care.
45.We may conclude from the passage that .
A.dolphin therapy has helped many children to improve their lives
B.Joe recovered faster because of his desire to live with Fonzie
C.doctors’ mistake during his surgeries brought Joe great pain
D.his mother’s company contributes greatly to Joe’s recovery
某同学在撰写研究性学习论文时,在“参考文献”中列出了以下文章(书籍):①《地理与文明之间的关系》;②《希腊城邦制度与民主政治》;③《宽松自由的社会环境与古希腊文明》;④《独特的自然环境孕育了古希腊文化》。据此判断,该论文的题目应该是
A.有利的地理环境孕育了古希腊的政治文明 |
B.古希腊城邦孕育了平等互利的观念 |
C.希腊政治文明与近代文明之间的关系 |
D.古希腊民主政治文明产生的条件 |
一个四棱锥和一个三棱锥恰好可以拼接成一个三棱柱.这个四棱锥的底面为正方形,且底面边长与各侧棱长相等,这个三棱锥的底面边长与各侧棱长也都相等.设四棱锥、三棱锥、三棱柱的高分别为,
,
,则
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