In the early days of the internet, many people worried that as people in the rich world embraced new computing and communications technologies, people in the poor world would be left stranded on the wrong side of a "digital divide." Yet the debate over the digital divide is founded on a myth that plugging poor countries into the internet will help them to become rich rapidly.
This is highly unlikely, because the digital divide is not a problem in itself, but a symptom of deeper, more important divides: of income, development and literacy（识字）. Fewer people in poor countries than in rich ones own computers and have access to the internet simply because they are too poor, are illiterate, or have other more immediate concerns, such as food, health care and security. So even if it were possible to wave a magic wand（棒） and cause a computer to appear in every household on earth, it would not achieve very much: a computer is not useful if you have no food or electricity and cannot read. Yet such Wand-waving - through the construction of specific local infrastructure（基础设施） projects such as rural tele-centers--is just the sort of thing for which the UN's new fund is intended.
This sort of thing is the wrong way to go about addressing the inequality in access to digital technologies: it is treating the symptoms, rather than the underlying（下面） causes. The benefits of building rural computing centers, for example, are unclear. Rather than trying to close the divide for the sake of it, the more sensible goal is to determine how best to use technology to promote bottom-up development. And the answer to that question turns out to be remarkably clear: by promoting the spread not of PCs and the Internet, but of mobile phones.
1. What is the main idea of this passage?
A. Plugging poor countries into the Internet will help them to become rich rapidly.
B. Poor countries should be given more basic devices other than advanced ones.
C. Rich countries should help poor ones become rich.
D. People in poor countries cannot afford devices such as computer.
2. What did the author mean by referring "digital divide." (Line 3, Para. 1)?
A. Digital technology will make the gap between rich world and poor world wider.
B. Digital technology will divide people into rich and poor world.
C. People can be divided digitally.
D. To divide people in digital world is wrong.
3. We can infer from the 2nd paragraph that_______.
A. people in poor countries cannot use computer because of illiteracy.
B. poor people cannot use computers.
C. there would be no magic to cause a computer to appear in every household on earth.
D. people in poor countries need more basic living conditions than computers.
4. Considering the following sentences, which one would the author most agree?
A. Digital technology is useless.
B. Digital divide will help poor countries become rich.
C. Poor people need more immediate concerns, such as food, health care and security.
D. Mobile phones should be promoted firstly.
5. The following passage will probably be:
A. How to promote using of mobile phones.
B. How to use technology to promote bottom-up development.
C. The benefits of building rural computing centers.
D. How to meet the need of food, health and security in poor countries.
Mr. Peter Johnson, aged twenty-three, battled for half an hour to escape from his trapped car yesterday when it landed upside down in three feet of water. Mr. Johnson took the only escape route — through the boot (行李箱).
Mr. Johnson’s car had finished up in a ditch at Romney Marsin Kent after skidding on ice and hitting a bank. “Fortunately, the water began to come in only slowly,” Mr. Johnson said. “I couldn’t force the doors open because they were jammed against the walls of the ditch and dared not open the windows because I knew water would come flooding in.”
Mr. Johnson, a sweet salesman of Sitting Home Kent, first tried to attract the attention of other motorists by sounding the horn and hammering on the roof and boot. Then he began his struggle to escape.
Later he said, “It was really a half penny that saved my life. It was the only coin I had in my pocket and I used it to unscrew the back seat to get into the boot. I hammered desperately with a hammer trying to make someone hear, but no help came.”
It took ten minutes to unscrew the seat, and a further five minutes to clear the sweet samples from the boot. Then Mr. Johnson found a wrench and began to work on the boot lock. Fifteen minutes passed by. “It was the only chance I had. Finally it gave, but as soon as I moved the boot lid, the water and mud poured in. I forced the lid down into the mud and scrambled clear as the car filled up.”
His hands and arms cut and bruised (擦伤), Mr. Johnson got to Beckett Farm nearby, where he was looked after by the farmer’s wife, Mrs. Lucy Bates. Huddled in a blanket, he said, “That thirty minutes seemed like hours.” Only the tips of the car wheels were visible, police said last night. The vehicle had sunk into two feet of mud at the bottom of the ditch. Which of the following objects is the most important to Mr. Johnson?
| A．The hammer. | B．The coin. |
| C．The screw. | D．The horn. |
Which statement is true according to the passage?
| A．Mr. Johnson’s car stood on its boot as it fell down. |
| B．Mr. Johnson could not escape from the door because it was full of sweet jam. |
| C．Mr. Johnson’s car accident was partly due to the slippery road. |
| D．Mr. Johnson struggled in the pouring mud as he unscrewed the back seat. |
“Finally it gave” (Paragraph 5) means that _________.
| A．Luckily the door was torn away in the end |
| B．At last the wrench went broken |
| C．The lock came open after all his efforts |
| D．The chance was lost at the last minute |
It may be inferred from the passage that _________.
| A．the ditch was along a quiet country road |
| B．the accident happened on a clear warm day |
| C．the police helped Mr. Johnson get out of the ditch |
| D．Mr. Johnson had a tender wife and was well attended |
What is the best title for this newspaper article?
| A．The Story of Mr. Johnson, A Sweet Salesman |
| B．Car Boot Can Serve As The Best Escape Route |
| C．Driver Escapes Through Car Boot |
| D．The Driver Survived A Terrible Car Accident |
Drawings of human colonies on other planets often picture the entire community under a glass or plastic bubble. The bubble is intended to create an atmosphere with adequate oxygen and other essential elements. But similar bubble-like structures have also been constructed on earth. One of the most famous, and controversial, is a site in the Arizona desert.
Biosphere 2, as it is called, was built not far from Tucson in 1984 and is now run by Columbia University. This huge（7,200,000-cubic-foot）glass and steel construction contains several separate ecosystems, including a desert, a rain forest, and a 900,000-gallon “ocean.” The climatic conditions-humidity, temperature, air quality-are regulated by sensors and can be adjusted as needed or desired. For example, a rainstorm can be created to increase the humidity. The adjustable features of Biosphere 2 make it an ideal location to perform experiments to help determine the effects of such climatic changes as global warming.
The current conditions at Biosphere 2 are vastly different from those in 1993, when eight people who had moved into the environment with great fanfare two years earlier moved out in failure. Though promising to be self-sufficient（自足的）, these “colonists” had so much trouble regulating the environment that they reportedly had food smuggled into them. Oxygen levels became dangerously low; most plants and animals died. In taking over the unsuccessful site, Columbia hopes to erase its notorious past by focusing on small research projects that gradually answer some of Biosphere 1’s — that is, Earth’s most basic environment questions.This passage primarily deals with _________.
| A．conditions of life in Biosphere 2 |
| B．building controlled environments on other planets |
| C．why Biosphere 2 failed in the past |
| D．what makes a good biosphere colonist |
Biosphere 2 is now run by _________.
| A．a group of eight colonists |
| B．Columbia University |
| C．the city of Tucson |
| D．scientists who hope to establish Biosphere 3 |
The passage suggests that earlier colonists of Biosphere 2 _________.
| A．did not like living in a controlled environment |
| B．found it very difficult to live in a controlled environment |
| C．still are involved with Biosphere 2 |
| D．have now left the country in disgrace |
The writer helps you understand what Biosphere 2 is like by _________.
| A．comparing its features with those of an outer space biosphere |
| B．explaining the process by which it was constructed |
| C．referring to an interview with one of former inhabitants |
| D．describing its appearance and conditions |
In paragraph 3 the word “notorious” means _________.
| A．well known for something good | B．well known for something bad |
| C．very dangerous | D．quite interesting |
Making an apology is not the same as making amends. Sometimes we apologize just because it’s the easiest thing to do. What’s actually important is to identify where we go wrong, take full responsibility for our mistakes and , if possible, try to make up for them.
A recent case involving Hewlett-Packed, the US computer giant, shows the importance of presenting a sincere apology. The Chinese consumers who had bought notebook computers of certain models, which have been put on Chinese market since 2007, suffered a massive flash screen failures and overheating problems. Through investigation, Chinese AQSIQ (国家质检总局) identified these HP computers had quality problems and HP admitted this. HP made a proposal that they would extend the warranty (保修) period of such computers, but this could not satisfied the consumers. What they needed was a thorough description of the truth. HP has “sincerely” apologized. But the consumers remain angry, and say that only a product recall — as HP has done in the past — will prove that the apology is sincere.
Another apology that fell flat on its face was that of Thierry Henry, the famous French footballer. His deliberate handball in November 2009 created the goal which knocked Ireland out of the 2010 World Cup. The incident caused great anger in the football world, and eventually Henry issued an apology. Two days later, he wrote, “I’m not the referee…but if I hurt someone I’m sorry.” Better late than never, perhaps, but even then he passed the blame onto the referee!
Such high-profile cases, which attract a lot of publicity often under the spotlight, but similar incidents occur in our everyday lives. Stress caused by schoolwork and tiredness can sometimes result in outbursts of anger against friends and family. Have you ever lost your temper for minor reasons? After calming down, most people are quick to realize their mistake and apologize. But it’s just as important to identify what caused the error in the first place and take action to ensure it doesn’t happen again.
No one should hold a negative attitude to making a sincere apology. Empty words are easy to say, but they are as useless as they sound. A real show of remorse（痛悔;自责）demands hard work and commitment to put error right.What does the author intend to tell us in the case of HP?
| A．A true apology needs sincere actions. |
| B．HP should recall all the faulty computers. |
| C．Good quality makes a good company. |
| D．A company should apologize and pay for their mistakes. |
According to the author, when we do anything wrong we firstly _________.
| A．make an apology face to face honestly |
| B．admit we were wrong and try to make the wrong right |
| C．take the responsibility for apologizing to others |
| D．choose the easiest thing to do |
We can infer from the case of Thierry Henry that _________ .
| A．it’s never too late to say “I’m sorry.” |
| B．writing an apology is not a good idea |
| C．Henry didn’t identify his fault. |
| D．the football fans were mad with Henry. |
Which of the following can best explain the word “commitment” in the last paragraph?
| A．Decision. | B．Promise. | C．Agreement. | D．Responsibility. |
What’s the best title of this passage?
| A．What really puts things right |
| B．Don’t apologize easily |
| C．Making an apology — no one is out of exception |
| D．How to judge an apology — sincere enough? |
The idea about the phoenix goes back to Ancient Egypt, where we find the phoenix described as a handsome, eagle-like bird, with part-golden, part-red plumage, that spent most of its life in the Arabian deserts. It was rarely seen and according to one version of the story, only appeared in Egypt once every five hundred years, when it flew to Heliopolis, “city of the sun”, and deliberately burnt itself to ashes by settling on the altar (祭坛) flame there! However, it seems it did not really die because from those same ashes a young, fully formed phoenix was born and flew away, apparently back to Arabia.
It is pretty obvious that no one has ever seen or will see a living phoenix. The interesting thing is that we can find certain clues which may explain one aspect of the Egyptians’ idea. It may sound unbelievable, but some birds are apparently quite charmed by flames and small fires, especially members of the crow family. One zoologist actually proved this by setting fire to some straw near to a tame（驯养的）rook, a large black bird like a crow. Far from becoming nervous and backing away, the bird deliberately stood over the flames, with raised and vibrating wings. It didn’t get burnt, but the image it presented by its strange behavior was almost exactly like that shown in illustrations of the mythical phoenix!
Why birds should occasionally behave in this strange way is not clear. One idea is that they carefully use the heat of the flames to relieve the annoyance caused by their feather mites (虱) which all birds have. Whatever the reason, it is quite possible that the Ancient Egyptians saw birds behaving in this way, from time to time, and used it as the basis of their phoenix myth, adding fanciful details which closely linked it to their worship of the sun and their belief in resurrection.
Nowadays, the phoenix is much less important to us than it was to the Egyptians. But the logo of modern fire insurance companies, which employ the phoenix as one of their symbols, refers that in one sense the idea of it remains. According to the passage, the phoenix _________ .
| A．is a handsome and eagle-like bird living in Arab |
| B．used to be seen when the Egyptians held religious activities |
| C．has never really existed in the world |
| D．is the king of all kinds of birds |
The reason why birds stand above flames is probably that _________ .
| A．the phoenix used to do so | B．they may get rid of the mites |
| C．they want to burn their feather | D．they can heat themselves |
Which of the following statements is NOT correct?
| A．The ancient Egyptians worshiped the phoenix. |
| B．The scientists have discovered why birds are attracted by fire. |
| C．The modern people still favor the idea of the phoenix. |
| D．The mythical tales about the phoenix were based on facts. |
Which of the following is closest to the underlined word “resurrection” in the 3rd paragraph?
| A．living forever | B．offering warmth |
| C．coming back to life | D．staying healthy |
What does the phoenix probably mean in the logo of a fire insurance company?
| A．Our company can protect you from being harmed by fire. |
| B．If your property is destroyed by fire, we will help you build it up again. |
| C．Our company will always be energetic and wealthy. |
| D．If needed, we will save you at the risk of losing lives. |
阅读下面短文，按照句子结构的语法性和上下文连贯的要求，在空格处填人一个适当的词或使用括号中词语的正确形式填空，并将答案填写在答题卡标号为16 ~ 25的相应位置上。
As a child, I was always out exploring my local area, whether swimming at the beaches or hiking through the bush. Australia’s outdoor lifestyle had me hooked on adventure and nature. I always wanted to explore 16else was out there. Going on family holidays to many of the East Coast beach towns was always 17fun adventure into the 18(know). I came to love the beauty of world, and began to recognize just 19much the planet had to offer, even 20my experience of it was only in my backyard.
Also, Australia is very remote and detached from the rest of the world. 21(Europe) often drive into other countries for 22 summer vacations. We never had that luxury and international travel seemed all the more exotic and 23(adventure) to me. Very often, we 24(expose) to other countries through TV and movies, 25I wanted to experience it for myself.