Mr William Shakespeare and the Internet
Explanation of Contents
This is the fourth edition of these pages. It is hard to believe, but once again they are new and improved. My motive in publishing these pages remains to help and stimulate others in Shakespeare studies, and especially those who might contribute their work to the Internet. The spirit of altruism (利他主义) that originally built the Internet is not quite gone, though, sadly, through the pressure of time and profit has lessened.
A major new addition to the pages is a Shakespeare Timeline, which is an online biography mounted at this site. The problems with searching for Shakespeare resources using the available Search Engines are:
---- It is difficult to focus most searches so that you get a manageable number of relevant hits;
---- It is impossible by simply reading an abstract to make any distinction between the output of a Junior High School student and that of a professional researcher.
Another change in these pages over previous editions is the “What’s News” page. If you come away from these pages with the feeling that they are very useful but slightly pedantic (学究的), I will have realized my goal.
An Apology
I am continually apologizing to the many who have written me requesting revisions of the pages. We are all too busy. I simply have not had the time to dedicate to these pages that I wish. But I love the material and so have, at long last, made some time to update them.
A Reminder to Young Students
These pages contain the best links I can find to Shakespeare on the Internet. As a reminder, I would say I very much enjoy hearing from people who view and use these pages. If you want to do Shakespeare research using the web, this page is a great starting point, and I keep it as current as I can. The web is in its infancy in bringing good, scholarly content to students. Don’t forget the best, if not quickest, resources are still in your library.
57. The passage is written to ____.
A. introduce the fourth edition of these pages
B. make an apology to readers
C. show off these pages to readers
D. let Shakespeare researchers buy these pages
58. Which of the following is the new addition to the pages?
A. The writer’s apology.
B. Search Engines.
C. A Shakespeare Timeline.
D. Receiving readers’ e-mails.
59. When searching for Shakespeare resources using Search Engines, you ____.
A. will waste some time in finding what you want
B. can easily recognize what the abstract means
C. will often come into the “What’s News” pages
D. will find something special on your computers
60. Which of the following can best conclude the last paragraph?
A. The writer will often read letters from those who use these pages.
B. The writer of the passage is very selfish.
C. The web was just created four years ago.
D. Shakespeare researchers should first of all refer to these pages.
A “blogger” is a person who writes on an Internet computer web site called a “blog”．The word “blog” is a short way of saying web log, or personal web site．Anyone can start a blog, and they can write about anything they like．
There are millions of blogs on the Internet today．They provide news, information and ideas to many people who read them．They contain links to other web sites．And they provide a place for people to write their ideas and react to the ideas of others．
A research company called Perseus has studied more than 3,000 web logs．It says that blogs are most popular with teenage girls．They use them to let their friends know what is happening in their life．The study also says that more than 100,000 bloggers stopped taking part in the activity after a year．
However, some people develop serious blogs to present political and other ideas．For example, the Republican and Democratic parties in the southern state of Kentucky recently started their own blogs．And American companies are beginning to use blogs to advertise their products．
At the same time, some long-standing blogs have ended．Last week, blogging leader Dave Winer closed his free blog service, weblogs．com．He says the site became too costly to continue．He started the blog four years ago, and thousands of people had written on it．
One blog that is still going strong is called Rebecca’s Pocket．It involves much useful information for readers．Rebecca Blood created the web site in 1999．She wrote about the history of blogs on the site．That article led to a book called “The Weblog Handbook”．It has been translated into four languages so far．
Ms Blood says Rebecca’s Pocket gets about 30,000 visitors a month．She writes about anything and everything----politics, culture and movies．She recently provided medical advice．And she wrote about how to prevent people from stealing money from online bank accounts．The text is written mainly to _____
| A．introduce an Internet computer web site called “blog” |
| B．introduce a way of reading on blogs． |
| C．tell readers how to write blogs |
| D．tell readers about blogs |
From the text we can learn that blogs cover almost everything except ____．
A．different ideas B．medical advice C．account codes D advertisements．According to this passage, which of the following is NOT true?
| A．A lot of bloggers no longer write or read blogs |
| B．Politicians don’t use blogs at all |
| C．Those who like to use blogs are mostly teenage girls |
| D．Dave Winer closed his “weblogs．com” because of money shortage |
The reason why Rebecca’s Pocket is still going strong is that_____
| A．it provides plenty of useful information and advice |
| B．it was created by a woman |
| C．it is about the history of books |
| D．it has editions in at least four different languages |
Some time ago ,I discovered that one of my chairs had a broken leg. I didn’t think there would be any difficulty in getting it mended , as there are a whole lot of antique shops near my home. So I left home one morning carrying the chair with me. I went into the first shop expecting a friendly reception. I was quite wrong. The man wouldn't even look at my chair.
The second shop, though slightly more polite, was just the same, and the third and the fourth - so I decided that my approach must be wrong.
I went into the fifth shop with a plan in my mind. I placed the chair on the floor and said to the shopkeeper,“ Would you like to buy a chair?” He looked it over carefully and said, “ Yes, not a bad chair. How much do you want for it, sir?” “Twenty pounds,” I said. “OK, ”he said, “I’ll give you twenty pounds. ”“It ‘s got a slightly broken leg,” I said. “Yes, I saw that, it's nothing.”
Everything was going according to plan and I was getting excited. “What will you do with it?”I asked. “Oh, it will be easy to sell once the repair is done. ”“I'll buy it,” I said. “What do you mean？ You’ve just sold it to me,” he said. “Yes, I know but I’ve changed my mind. I'm sorry, I'll give you twenty -seven pounds for it. ”“ Your must be crazy, ”he said. Then, suddenly the penny dropped. “I know what you want. You want me to repair your chair. ”“ You’re right, ”I said. “And what would you have done if I had walked in and said, Would you mend this chair for me?I wouldn't have agreed to do it,” he said. “We don’t do repairs, not enough money in it and too much trouble. But I’ll mend this for you, shall we say for a fiver?”He was a very nice man and was greatly amused by the whole thing.We can learn from the text that in the first shop the writer ________.
| A．was rather impolite | B．was warmly received |
| C．asked the shopkeeper to repair his chair | D．asked the shopkeeper to buy his chair |
The expression “the penny dropped” in the last paragraph means the shopkeeper ________.
| A．changed his mind | B．accepted the offer |
| C．decided to help the writer | D．saw the writer’s purpose |
How much did the writer pay?
| A．￡ 5. | B．￡ 7. | C．￡ 20. | D．￡ 27. |
From the text, we can learn that the writer was ________
| A．honest | B．careful | C．funny | D．smart |
From the beginning rivers have played an important in the life of man．Man of the earliest times used the rivers as a means of travel．Today rivers still serve as a great waterway for the transport and people．
In ancient times, man settled near rivers or on river banks and built up large empires．
Water is nature’s most valuable gift to man．Man needs water to irrigate his crops, to cook and to wash．In nations all over the world, rivers mean life and wealth．They feed and clothe the nations around them．
Water is also a source of energy and power．Man build huge dams across the rivers to control the water for irrigation and get the energy needed to drive generators．The electrical power is then directed to homes, cities, factories and television stations．
Man uses water each day．In a small way rivers help to keep man in good health and provide for his amusements．Various forms of water sports keep man strong and healthy．Rivers have been important to man _______．
| A．since they came into being | B．since the last century |
| C．since a few hundred years ago． | D．since the beginning of BC |
Man in old times traveled from one continent to another ______．
| A．by air | B．by sea | C．by train | D．by bus |
Generators are machines that are used ______．
| A．to direct electrical power | B．to control the water |
| C．to produce electricit | D．to build dams y |
Which of the following statements is true?
| A．People get energy by building bridges across rivers． |
| B．In ancient times large empires grew up near dams． |
| C．People can be provided with amusements in small rivers． |
| D．Large rivers are still useful for transportation in modern times． |
The Mississippi is the major river system in the United States. The Yangtze is China’s longest river.
Although a world apart, the two waterways share conservation concerns that provide a cultural bridge between students in the United States and China, as well as from around the world.
The Mississippi flows almost 3,800 kilometers from a small lake in Minnesota, gathering the waters of 250 other rivers and streams before reaching the Gulf of Mexico.
In mid-May, as spring flowers began to open, about 41 students from a dozen colleges, mostly in the Midwest, explored a section of the river in Wisconsin and Iowa, to learn about the environment, and each other.
The students, from the U.S., China and around the world, came to join the River Spirit Exchange program.
The cross-cultural educational experience - set up by the University of Wisconsin, Madison-based Environment and Public Health Network for Chinese Students - focuses on the Mississippi and China’s longest river, the Yangtze.
This three day get-together featured story-telling, hiking, camping and canoeing, all part of a larger lesson about conservation projects that can be used on both the Yangtze and Mississippi.
While the students learned about the problems challenging the Mississippi and Yangtze, Jeb Barzen, a wildlife biologist, explained they should also learn about the importance of bridging each other’s culture.
The president of the Environment and Public Health Network for Chinese Students, Xiaojun Lu, said the Mississippi and Yangtze Rivers are uniting these students from opposite ends of the earth.
Organizers say the success and spirit of this first gathering of students will lead to other trips, including one down the Yangtze.Where is the source of the Mississippi?
| A．Minnesota | B．the Gulf of Mexico | C．Wisconsin | D．Iowa |
According to the passage, the get-together .
| A．lasted a week | B．took place in May |
| C．was held in China | D．was organized by students |
According to Paragraph 8, Barzen believes that .
| A．China and the U.S. should work together to protect the environment |
| B．the Mississippi is more important than the Yangtze to the world |
| C．cultural exchange between different countries is of great importance |
| D．the program encourages technical cooperation between China and the U.S. |
What is the passage mainly about?
| A．A major river system in the United States. |
| B．The differences between the Mississippi and the Yangtze. |
| C．An educational program about tourism. |
| D．An international cultural exchange program. |
Where is the passage most probably taken from?
| A．A personal diary | B．A news report |
| C．An official document | D．An advertisement |
Health insurance can be very expensive. Some working people do not make enough money to pay for it. In the US there is a program called Healthy Families. This program offers people health insurance at a low cost.
Families are charged about ￥7.00 a month for every child, and ￥10.00 for every adult. It costs much less than any other kind of health insurance. Having health insurance is very important. With this insurance, people can see a doctor when they are sick or hurt.
The program is not expensive at all, but many people are still not enrolling in it. People say that it still costs too much money. They need all of their money to pay for things like food and rent.
It would be great if everyone could have health insurance. People are working hard to come up with ways to make this happen. One idea is to make the Healthy Families Program free for some people.
It is important for people to see a doctor when they need to. The Healthy Families Program makes it possible for more people to do this. Many ideas are being considered. Hopefully some of them will allow even more families to get health insurance.
The Healthy Families Program is made to help those who don’t have welfare (社会保障金) and cannot earn enough to pay for private health insurance. It is an important program, but officials say that too many people are signing up for it and then dropping out because of the Healthy Families Program’s cost. The aim of the Healthy Families Program is to __________.
| A．help people earn more and pay for the program |
| B．help more families get health insurance |
| C．make it free for people to see a doctor |
| D．help families pay for private health insurance |
If a couple has two children, how much would health insurance cost every month in the family?
| A．￥24. | B．￥28. | C．￥34. | D．￥40. |
Why is it very important for people to have health insurance?
| A．They can afford to see a doctor when they need to. |
| B．They can get special medical care. |
| C．They can see a doctor free of charge. |
| D．They can go to see a doctor as soon as possible. |
In the passage we can learn all of the following EXCEPT that __________.
| A．health insurance is very important for ordinary people |
| B．the program is still too expensive for many people |
| C．people should make more money to pay for private health insurance |
| D．many people don’t make enough money to pay for health insurance |
The passage is mainly about __________.
| A．health insurance at a low cost | B．the benefits of health insurance |
| C．the cost of health insurance | D．the Healthy Families Program |