The 2012 London Olympics had enough problems to worry about. But one more has just been added - a communications blackout caused by solar storms.
After a period of calm within the Sun, scientists have detected the signs of a flesh cycle of sunspots that could peak in 2012, just in time for the arrival of the Olympic torch in London.
Now scientists believe that this peak could result in vast solar explosions that could throw billions of tons of charged matter towards the Earth, causing strong solar storms that could jam the telecommunications satellites and interact links sending five Olympic broadcast from London.
"The Sun's activity has a strong influence on the Earth. The Olympics could be in the middle of the next solar maximum which could affect the functions of communications satellites," said Professor Richard Harrison, head of space physics at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Oxfordshire.
At the peak of the cycle, violent outbursts called coronal mass ejections (日冕物质抛射) occur in the Sun's atmosphere, throwing out great quantities of electrically-charged matter. " A coronal mass ejection can carry a billion tons of solar material into space at over a million kilometres per hour. Such events can expose astronauts to a deadly amount, can disable satellites, cause power failures on Earth and disturb communications," Professor Harrison added. The risk is greatest during a solar maximum when there is the greatest number of sunspots.
Next week in America, NASA is scheduled to launch a satellite for monitoring solar activity called the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), which will take images of the Sun that are 10 times clearer than the most advanced televisions available.
The Rutherford Appleton Laboratory helped to make the high-tech cameras that will capture images of the solar flares (太阳耀斑) and explosions as they occur.
Professor Richard Hold away, the lab's director, said that the SDO should be able to provide early warning of a solar flare or explosion big enough to affect satellite communications on Earth "If we have advance warning, we'll be able to reduce the damage. What you don't want is things switching off for a week with no idea of what's caused the problem," he said.
1. The phrase "communications blackout" in paragraph 1 most probably refers to during the 2012 Olympics.
A. the extinguishing of the Olympic torch
B. the collapse of broadcasting systems
C. the transportation breakdown in London
D. the destruction of weather satellites
2. What can be inferred about the solar activity described in the passage?
A. The most fatal matter from the corona falls onto Earth.
B. The solar storm peak occurs in the middle of each cycle.
C. It takes several seconds for the charged matter to reach Earth.
D. The number of sunspots declines after coronal mass ejections.
3. According to the passage, NASA will launch a satellite to _________.
A. take images of the solar system B. provide early warning of thunderstorms
C. keep track of solar activities D. improve the communications on Earth
4. Which of the following might be the best title of the passage?
A. Solar Storms: An Invisible Killer
B. Solar Storms: Earth Environment in Danger
C. Solar Storms: Threatening the Human Race
D. Solar Storms: Human Activities to Be Troubled
Computers. Love them or hate them, it is impossible to escape from them in the modern age. They are so much a part of our everyday lives—from instant messaging to e-mails. With many people preferring to use e-mail rather than traditional regular mail, it has become very important to be aware of how we express ourselves when using e-mail. The requirement of etiquette（网络礼仪）is obviously needed.
Grammar and spelling
Firstly, if you are dealing with a formal e-mail, pay close attention to grammar and spelling. Don’t forget to run your spell-check (program) at the end of the document, but don’t treat it as the final word. Carefully re-read it yourself, as sometimes even spell and grammar checking programs come up with some strange explanations. Remember, your first e-mail to a potential employer or college could be your last — you won’t want to spoil your first impression by making basic errors.
E-mail addresses
Also, for official e-mails, carefully consider your existing e-mail address. A funny e-mail address (such as pinkfluffycutiepie@…com) may be fine for using with your friends, but what impression do you think this address might give to an employer or college admissions officer? Consider using one address for personal e-mails and a different one for formal use.
Upper case（大写字母）
Take care also NOT TO TYPE UNNECESSARILY IN UPPER CASE, as this is the e-mail version of shouting.
Personal information
You should beware too about giving away too much personal information over the Internet. It may feel much more comfortable to “talk” using instant messages as there are no uncomfortable silences or awkward moments, but never forget that—unless the person you are speaking to is a friend or family member—you really know nothing about them, so be careful. Further to this, NEVER agree to meet a stranger that you have spoken to online, as it can be extremely dangerous.
My final message though is—have fun! The Internet is exciting, useful and informative. But, as with so many things that we believe we can’t live without, it is a much better servant than a master.
60．The text is mainly about______.
A．how to express ourselves when using e-mail
B．computers, so much a part of our everyday lives
C．the Internet, a much better servant than a master
D．paying close attention to grammar and spelling when dealing with a formal e-mail
61．What does the underlined word “beware” mean?
A．think B．be careful C．care D．know
62．If you use all capital letters, it looks like you are______.
A．yelling B．careful C．unprofessional D．childish
63．Which of the following statements would the writer agree to?
A．As time goes by, many people prefer to use traditional regular mail again.
B．It’s fun to meet a stranger that you have spoken to online.
C．If you want to apply for a job, you can’t use a funny e-mail address when writing e-mails..
D．Grammar and spelling are not important when you write e-mails.
Targeting teens
But using the Web also makes teens a target. Posting too much personal information for those millions of cyber eyes to see can cause some big problems and can even invite a threat to your life.
As Mary learned, not everyone on the Internet is who he or she says they are. Adults will sometimes pose as other teens, posting fake photos and nice messages to gain trust. They use their fake identity to access the personal information of others, such as home address, phone number, or school name.
"That's not the most common scenario", says David Finkelhor, a sociology professor at the University of New Hampshire. "Only 3 percent of teens aged 10 to 18 who use the Internet report being asked to meet offline. But the danger is real.
Safety measures
Mary's My Space profile is set to "private", which means that only the people she adds under the "friend" category can access her page. She also doesn't have any pictures of herself on her site. The only self-identifying material she has posted is her name, grade, and a list of hobbies.
"People can only add me if they know my last name or my e-mail, "Mary says. " I don't want random people to see my profile. I just go online to talk to my friends."
Stay safe and have fun online
Experts say almost 90 percent of U.S. Teens are online. But not everyone knows how to surf the Web in a smart way. With these tips, you can have fun, stay safe, and avoid embarrassment!
Pick a safe password. Make sure your password is something that other people won't be able to guess. Use numbers in between letters. "spar123ky" is better than "sparky 123."
Pick a safe username. Make sure yours doesn't say too much about you, "Happygirl13" is better than "AliceWaters13." Don't include your name, age, or where you are from. Never tell a stranger your name, school, address, age, birthday, phone number, or friends' names.
56．Who is most likely to be a victim online?
A．A liar. B．A teenager. C．A stranger. D．An honest person.
57．In Mary's opinion, _________.
A．one shouldn't trust everyone online B．one shouldn't trust anyone online
C．there are many liars online D．all people online pretend to be others
58．One of the safety measures mentioned in the passage is that _________.
A．one should not chat with strangers
B．one should not post his or her photos online
C．one should tell his parents about strange information
D．one should keep his web as a secret
59．Why are numbers used when we pick a safe password?
A．Numbers are easy to write.
B．Using numbers are cool online.
C．The safe password is more unlikely to be guessed.
D．Numbers are popular online.
It is impossible not to make a mistake at some points in your life. We may as well accept that some thing will go wrong and we will be to blame. It is therefore sensible to work out some strategies for apologizing, and the best way to apologize is by letter. This way you can take care over every work you write— which you can’t do if you say sorry to someone in person.
We all say or do something that we wish we hadn’t said or done. You may say something that accidentally hurts someone, or you may provide a service which doesn’t come up to the standards that a client or customer expected.
You may feel that it was a genuine mistake which couldn’t be avoided. Rather than dwell on the mistake, you should quickly try to remedy（修补）the problem. An effective letter of apology is an important part of that process.
For the contents of the letter, just remember TABS—Timing, Action, Brevity, Sincerity.
The timing of a letter of apology is essential—it must be sent as soon as possible. Any delay in our sending the letter will only compound(add to) the problem. In this case “Better late than never” is not the best motto! The longer you wait before you wait before writing a letter of apology, the more it will seem that you have been coerced（被迫）into writing it.
Although it is important to recognize what has gone before, it is also essential to detail the action you plan to take to rectify whatever it was you did wrong. Research has shown that some indication that you have thought about what future action you plan to take is always well received.
A letter of apology should be brief and the word “sorry” should appear no more than twice. Indicate that you are aware using it a second time—“once again, I am so sorry for…” or “as I said earlier, I am really sorry about…”. Finally, the tone of the letter has to be sincere. In fact, the combination of all the above factors will help in this respect.
And don’t think that letters are out of date in the email—oriented 21st century. An apology email can be worse than no apology at all!
72．What kind of advice does the text suggest about apologizing?
A．It’s a good idea to write a letter of apology as soon as something has gone wrong.
B．It’s a good idea to send several emails to apologize.
C．Write a long letter apologizing several times to make your point.
D．Wait to see how they react to your letter before planning to do anything.
73．What kind of things do you NOT apologize for?
A．A service that is not as good as it should be.
B．Genuine mistakes.
C．Car accidents.
D．Causing offence or hurt.
74．The underlined expression “Rather than dwell on the mistake” in the third paragraph means you _____.
A．should not waste time worrying about what happened.
B．should consider the problem
C．should forget about what happened.
D．should analyse who was at fault.
75．How can timing compound problems?
A．If you write immediately, they will be suspicious.
B．If you leave it for a few days, they will know it is your idea to write.
C．Waiting for a few days before you write will show your sincerity.
D．Waiting too long will make it worse because they won’t believe you mean it.
A new weapon is on the way in the fight against smoking in Europe.
Soon when smokers buy cigarettes, they might see a shocking photo of
a blackened lung or a cancer patient staring back at them from the packet.
Some boys may think of smoking as cool and sexy. Their friends won’t
agree when they see their packets of cigarettes lying on the table.
The European Union announced on October 22, that it had chosen 42 photos that showed the damage cigarettes could do to the body. It called on member nations to put these pictures on packets to discourage young smokers.
To catch the attention of teenagers, the special packets warn of long-term medical dangers, like cancer. Short-term effects, like bad skin, are also on the list.
“The true fact of smoking is disease, death and horror. That is the message we should send to the young,” said David Byrne, an EU health official. “Hopefully these pictures will shock students out of their love for cigarettes.”
The EU head office hoped the pictures would work better than current written warnings on packs of cigarettes. The warning included “smoking kills” and “smoking can lead to a slow and painful death.”
So far, Ireland and Belgium have shown interest in the photos. Canada has used similar pictures and warnings on cigarette packs since 2000．The country has recently seen a fall in the number of smokers.
According to studies, smoking is the single biggest cause of avoidable death in EU. Every year more than 650,000 smokers die, more than one person a minute.
68．What would be the best title for the text?
A．New Ways to Stop Smoking. B．Pictures to Shock Smokers.
C．New Packers of Cigarettes. D．Dangers of Smoking.
69．We can learn from the test that _______.
A．The EU countries have put the new warning method into practice
B．only a small number of the EU countries have used the new warning method
C．the new warning method has worked in some EU countries
D．countries in the EU still use the old warning method
70．Which country is most successful in stopping smoking?
A．Ireland. B．Belgium. C．Canada. D．EU
71．The underlined sentence in the last paragraph suggests that ________.
A．It’s hard to stop smoking in EU
B．deaths caused by smoking could have been avoided
C．smoking is the biggest cause of deaths in EU
D．EU has the largest number of deaths caused by smoking
The physical memory dump(电脑死机) error is a big problem that affects even the most advanced computer systems．Although it's quite a rare error, it's one of the most stopping what you're doing and restarting your computer—making you lose all your unsaved data．This is a big problem, but there is actually a very easy way to fix it．
There are two reasons why the physical memory dump happens．The first is pretty simple and is to do with the "hardware", and if any of these pieces are not fit for your system, it will cause the physical memory dump．So, if you've recently added any hardware to your PC, then take that out and see if it works．
The other reason is your system, the "registry"．The registry is a big database(数据库)that operates in the background of Windows, storing all sorts of settings and information about your PC．The problem with the registry is that since it has so many important files inside, it's constantly got hundreds of files open every time you use your PC．And because there are so many files to open at once, Windows is constantly getting confused, leading it to save many of these files in the wrong way．These files go wrong when saved wrongly, making them difficult for your computer to read．However, if it can't read the files at all, it has no choice but to stop everything it's doing and restart your PC．This is why the physical memory dump error appears so easily—because when a registry file is so wrong that it can't be read, your computer needs to refresh itself immediately．
This latter reason for causing the physical memory dump is actually extremely common and the likelihood is that your PC is suffering from it, if you're seeing this error．Luckily, it's also incredibly easy to fix—you just need to use a software tool called a "registry cleaner" to go through the registry and fix all the problems in there．
72．From the text we can infer that ________．
A．the dump error often happens to your PC
B．the dump canbe dealt with easily
C．only the advanced computers suffers from the error
D．the dump error can cause the data in your PC to be lost
73．The reason that your PC has the dump error is that ___________．
A．the the hardware loses its memory
B．your Windows needs to be upgraded
C．you have saved wrong files in the PC
D．you have stored too many files in the PC．
74．What’s problem with the registry when your PC goes wrong?
A．The register can’t read the files correctly．
B．It must open 100 files every time you use your PC．
C．The register doesn’t agree with the database．
D．The register must save many important files inside．
75．What does a registry cleaner means?
A．A softwar which can help you save time．
B．A software which can remove unnecessary files
C．A software which can repair the machine．
D．a software which makes your PC down．