Are you tired of looking for love in all the usual places? Nowadays, millions of lonely singles are now going online instead. The World Wide Web is quickly becoming the world’s most popular matchmaker. With so many singles online, dozens of dating sites like Yahoo Personals and Match.com are helping singles find that special someone. Around the world , from America to China , love is now very much online.
Singles are flocking to the Internet mainly because their busy lifestyles leave them little time to look for a significant other. Using dating sites is quick and convenient They can “meet ”a lot more people online than they could by hanging out at a club. Besides , many singles say the regular dating scene has just led them from one bad experience to another and are ready to try something else . They also appreciate the first distance of online dating, which allows them to hide themselves until they are ready to meet someone face to face. Dating sites also make it easy to avoid someone you are not interested in. In the real world , however , ignoring someone you don’t like can be awkward.
Despite all the advantages , online dating also presents its own set of problems . People aren’t always who they claim to be in their online profiles. For instance , someone who tells you he is “ handsome , successful and single ” might turn out to be homely, unemployed and married . Safety is another concern . You are just as likely to find a criminal online as you are Mr. or Miss Right.
Even so , Supporters of online dating see things in a positive way. In their opinion , singles can safely play the online dating game with a little common sense. Online dating experts recommend following a few safety tips:
Guard your personal information. Never give out your personal information online. This includes your last name, phone number, home address and place of work.
Watch for red flags. Do any of the people you are chatting with make disrespectful comments ? Do they try to control you ? Do they give false information about themselves? If so , forget them!
Meet in a safe place. when meeting someone in person , choose a public location with other people around .
Following these tips and you might be able to find the person of your dreams.
71. According to the passage, many lonely singles don’t appreciate the regular dating scene because it is _______.
A. unpopular B. troublesome C. convenient D. forgettable
72．This passage is mainly about _______.
A. getting tired of falling in love in a usual way
B. people with false information on the Internet
C. new technology to find love through the Internet
D. web sites such as Yahoo Personals and Match.com
73．The underlined words in the second paragraph “a significant other” means“_____”.
A. a true friend B. a matchmaker
C. a marriage partner D. a happy family
74．Which of the following is NOT a suitable place for meeting someone you get to know through the Internet for the first time according to the text?
A. At his / her house B. At the museum
C. At McDonald’s D. At the bookstore
75．From this passage , we can infer that ________.
A. there are mostly homely and unemployed people online
B. the police had better find criminals online
C. we can find love only through the dating sites
D. following safety tips ensures a safe online dating experience
When I stepped out the plane from Miami into Charlotte, North Carolina, airport for a connecting flight home, I immediately knew something was wrong. Lots of desperate people crowded the terminal. I quickly learned that flights headed to the Northeast were called off because of a storm. The earliest they could get us out of Charlotte was Tuesday. It was Friday. A gate agent stood on the counter and shouted, “Don’t ask us for help! We cannot help you!”
I joined a crowd that ran from terminal to terminal in search of a flight out. Eventually, I found six strangers willing to rent a van with me. We drove through the night to Washington, where I took a train the rest of the way to Providence.
The real problem, of course, is that incidents like this happen every day, to everyone who flies, more and more often. It really gets to me, though, because for eight years I was on the other side, as a flight attendant for Trans-World Airlines(TWA).
I know the days are gone when attendants could be written up if we did not put the lines napkins with the TWA logo in the lower right-hand corner of the first-class diners’ trays. As are the days when there were three dinner options on flights from Boston to Los Angeles in economy class. When, once, stuck on
a tarmac (机场停机坪) in Newark for four hours, a planeload of passengers got McDonald’s hamburgers and fries by thoughtfulness of the airline.
I have experienced the decline of service along with the rest of the flying public. But I believe everything will change little by little, because I remember the days when to fly was to soar (翱翔). The airlines, and their employees, took pride in how their passengers were treated. And I think the days are sure to come back one day in the near future. Many people crowded the terminal because ________.
| A．they were ready to board on the planes |
| B．something was wrong with the terminal |
| C．the flights to the Northeast were canceled |
| D．the gate agent wouldn’t help the passengers |
The writer got to Providence ________ at last.
| A．by air | B．by van | C．by train | D．by underground |
Which of the following is not true according to the passage?
| A．Incidents happened to those who fly quite often. |
| B．The writer used to be a flight attendant for Trans-World Airlines. |
| C．Even a small mistake might cause complaints from passengers in the past. |
| D．McDonald’s hamburgers and fries were among regular dinner options. |
What can be implied from the passage?
A．The writer lived in Charlotte, North Carolina. |
| B．The writer thought the service was not as good as it used to be. |
| C．The writer with other passengers waited to be picked up patiently. |
| D．Passengers would feel proud of how they were treated on the plane. |
Putting Movies on Mobiles
Movies in the theater get their recognition at awards ceremonies such as the Oscars. But how about movies for phones? They are getting their turn at MoFilm — the first mobile film festival.
The first MoFilm competition received 250 entries from more than 100 countries. Entries were restricted to films that were five minutes or less in length — ideal for viewing and sharing on mobile phones. An independent jury then selected a shortlist of five film-makers. The winner was chosen from the shortlist by an audience voting using their phones.
lNew Platforms
The awards highlight the increasing impact that mobile phones are making in the entertainment industry. Many grassroots filmmakers start out with short films. They are thwarted by the lack of opportunities to screen their work. Therefore, mobile phones are increasingly being seen as a new platform for these short works.
It is a good place for anyone who wants to express themselves and find a way to have that expression be seen by a wide audience. Just think about how many people have mobile phones in the world!
lNew Technology Advances
MoFilm is pioneering content for mobile and online services that is a world away from Hollywood. The majority of films made for mobiles are now short in length, taking into account the screen size. However this could be overcome as technology advances.
In the near future, longer films will likely be seen on the mobile phone. And there are mobile companies creating phones where users can watch movies at higher quality.
Wherever you see movies, one thing is certain: the quality of work, the simple ability at story telling, and the thing that inspires someone to tell a story can really come from anywhere.At the first MoFilm, ________.
| A．movies in the theater got their recognition |
| B．more than 100 countries took part in the competition |
| C．ideal films were five minutes or less in length |
| D．the winner was chosen by experts’ voting |
They are thwarted by the lack of opportunities to screen their work. The underlined word means “________”.
| A．disappointed | B．surprised | C．frightened | D．encouraged |
Nowadays the majority of films made for mobiles are short in length because of _______.
| A．online services | B．the screen size |
| C．technology advances | D．the mobile phone |
In a new study, 186 four-year-old kids were given regular carrots and, on other lunch days, they were given the same vegetables renamed X-ray Vision Carrots. On the latter days, they ate nearly twice as many.
The study suggests the influence of these names might persist. Children continued to eat about 50 percent more carrots even on the days when they were no longer labeled as anything special.
The research, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, was presented at the annual meeting of the School Nutrition Association in Washington, D.C..
“Cool names can make for cool foods,” said the lead author Brian Wansink of Cornell University. “Whether it be ‘power peas’ or ‘dinosaur broccoli trees’, giving a food a fun name makes kids think it will be more fun to eat. And it seems to keep working — even the next day,” Wansink said.
Similar results have been found with adults. A restaurant study showed that when the Seafood Filet was changed to Romantic Hawaii, sales increased 28 percent and taste rating increased by 12 percent. “Same food, but different expectations, and a different experience,” said Wansink, author of “Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think.”
The study was conducted in pre-schools, but the researchers believe the same naming tricks can work with children at home.
“I’ve been usi
ng this with my kids,” said researcher Collin Payne, “Whatever sparks(激发) their imagination seems to spark their appetite.” Those four-year-old kids ate ________ when the carrots were renamed X-ray Vision Carrots.
| A．twice more carrots | B．nearly double carrots |
| C．about 50 percent more carrots | D．as m any carrots as they used to |
According to the passage, _______ make(s) kids think it will be more fun to eat.
| A．power peas | B．dinosaur broccoli trees |
| C．fun names of food | D．cool foods |
The restaurant study didn’t show that ________.
| A．sales increased 28 percent when the name Romantic Hawaii was taken |
| B．taste rating increased by 12 percent after the Seafood Filet was renamed |
| C．same food would let people have a different experience with different names |
| D．the researchers got similar results when they work with children at home |
The purpose of the passage is to tell us ________.
| A．people prefer food with cool names |
| B．how to name the food which kids eat |
| C．how to help kids eat in a healthy way |
| D．kids often imagine when they eat food |
The idea came from Peter Omidyar, who was born in Paris and moved to Washington when he was still a child. At high school, he became very interested in computer programming and after graduating from Tuft University in 1988, he worked for the next few years as a computer engineer. In his free time he started eBay as a kind of hobby, at first offering the service free by word of mouth. By 1996 there was so much traffic on the website that he had to upgrade (升级) and he began charging a fee to members. Joined by a friend, Peter Skoll, and in 1998 by his capable CEO, Meg Whitman, he has never looked back. Even in the great.com crashes of the late 1990s, eBay has gone from strength to strength. It is now one of the ten most visited online shopping websites on the Internet.
eBay sells connections, not goods, putting buyer and seller into contact with each other. All you have to do is take an e-photo, write a description, fill out a sales form and you are in business: the world is your market place .Of course for each item (商品) sold eBay gets a percentage and that is great deal of money. Every day there are more than sixteen million items listed on eBay and eighty percent of the items are sold.We learn from the text that eBay provides people with_______.
| A．a website for them to upgrade | B．a way of buying and selling goods |
| C．a place to exhibit their own photos | D．a chance to buy things at low prices |
Why did Peter create eBay after graduating from university?
| A．For fun. | B．To make money. |
| C．For gathering the engineers. | D．To fulfill a task of his company. |
From “he has never looked back “in Paragraph 2, we learn that Peter______.
| A．did not feel lonely | B．was always hopeful |
| C．became more and more successful | D．did not think about the past |
How does eBay make money from its website?
| A．By bringing acallers together. | B．By charging for each sale |
| C．By listing items on line | D．By making e-photos. |
Downing Street sources say Oliver, the well-known chef, will cook using “honest high-street products” and avoid expensive or “fancy” ingredients (材料).
The prime minister is trying to avoid a repeat of the embarrassment last year when he sat down to an 18-course banquet at a Japanese summit to discuss world food shortages．
Obama，President Nicolas Sarkozy of France，Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany and other leaders will be served by apprentices (学徒) from the Fifteen London, a restaurant Oliver founded to help train young people in poverty in order to make a living by mastering a skill.ks.5u
Brown wants the dinner to reflect the emphasis of the London summit，which he hopes will lead to an agreement to lift the world out of recession. “To be invited to cook for such an important group of people，who are trying to solve some of the world’s major problems, is really a privilege,” said Oliver．
“I’m hoping the menu I'm working on will show British food and produce is some of the best in the world，but also show we have pioneered a high-quality apprentice scheme at Fifteen London that is giving young people a skill to be proud of..”
The chef has not yet finalized the menu，but is expected to draw inspiration from his latest book, Jamie's Ministry of Food,, which has budget recipes for beef and ale stew (啤酒炖菜) and “impressive” chocolate fudge cake.The underlined word “recession” in Paragraph 5 is closest in meaning to “ ______ ”.
| A．business | B．opposition | C．discussion | D．depression |
What can we learn about Oliver from the text?
| A．He is a well-known American cook． | B．He is invited to attend the G20 summit． |
| C．He has founded the Fifteen London． | |
| D．He is one of the apprentices serving leaders of the G20. |
The menu of the banquet for the leaders of the G20 is supposed to________. .
| A．include all delicious British foodks.5u | |
| B．use inexpensive produce with special characteristics | |
| C．be rich，varied and of high quality | D．imitate the menu of last Japanese summit |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the text?
| A．Oliver is honored to be invited to cook for the G20 leaders. |
| B．Altogether three presidents are mentioned in the text. |
| C．President Baraek Obama offers the cut-price menu. |
| D．The menu for the G20 dinner banquet has been decided. |
What is the Fifteen London?
| A．an apartment in London | B．a luxurious restaurant in London |
| C．a restaurant as well as a training center | D．a famous avenue |