(BBC)The "father of the personal computer" who kick-started the careers of Microsoft founders Bill Gates and Paul Allen has died at the age of 68.Dr Henry Edward Roberts was the inventor of the Altair 8800, a machine that led to the home computer age.
Gates and Allen contacted Dr Roberts after seeing the machine on the front cover of a magazine and offered to write software for it.The program was known as Altair-Basic, the foundation of Microsoft's business."Ed was willing to take a chance on us - two young guys interested in computers , and we have always been thankful to him," the Microsoft founders said in a statement.
Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak told technology website CNET that Dr Roberts had taken " a critically important step that led to everything we have today".
Dr Roberts was the founder of Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems (MITS), originally set up to sell electronics parts to model rocket hobbyists.The company went on to sell electronic calculator parts, but was soon overshadowed by bigger firms.
In the mid-1970's, with the firm struggling with debt, Dr Roberts began to develop a computer kit(配套零件) for hobbyists.The result was the Altair 8800.The $395 kit (around £1,000 today) was featured on the cover of Popular Electronics in 1975, resulting in a flood of orders.
Among those interested in the machine were Paul Allen and Bill Gates.The pair contacted Dr Roberts, offering to write software that would help people program the machine.The pair finally moved to Albuquerque - the home of MITS - where they founded Micro-Soft, to develop their software.
Dr Roberts sold his company in 1977.He died in hospital on 1 April after a long period of pneumonia (肺炎) .
Why did Dr Roberts probably decide to sell his company?
A.Because he was in heavy debt in the mid-1980's. |
B.Because he wanted to take a chance on Gates and Allen. |
C.Because he wanted to develop a computer kit for hobbyists. |
D.Because he had difficulty competing with big companies. |
What do we know about MITS?
A.It was set up by Steve Wozniak. |
B.It sold electronics parts to big firms. |
C.It is located in Albuquerque. |
D.It is a technology website. |
We can learn that Popular Electronics is likely to be ____.
A.a newspaper | B.a magazine |
C.a Website | D.an organization |
What is the best title of thi
s passage?
A.The story of the Altair 8800 |
B.The founder of MITS |
C.Father of the personal computer died |
D.The story of Dr Roberts |
Habits, whether good or bad, are gradually formed. When a person does a certain thing again, he is driven by some unseen force to do the same thing repeatedly, then a habit is formed. Once a habit is formed, it is difficult, and sometimes impossible, to get rid of.It is therefore very important that we should pay great attention to the formation of habits.Children often form bad habits, some of which remain with them as long as they live.Older persons also form bad habits lasting as long as they live, and sometimes become ruined by them.
There are other habits which, when formed in early life, are of great help.Many successful men say that much of their success has something to do with certain habits in early life, such as early rising, honesty and so on.
Among the habits which children should not form are laziness, lying, stealing and so on.These are all easily formed habits.Unfortunately older persons often form habits which could have been avoided .
We should keep away from all these bad habits, and try to form such habits as will be good for ourselves and others.________ are formed little by little.
A.Good habits |
B.Bad habits |
C.Both good habits and bad habits |
D.Either good habits or bad habits |
The underlined word "them" in the first paragraph refers to ________.
A.bad habits |
B.good habits |
C.children |
D.other persons. |
Why should we pay much attention to the formation of habits?
A.Because habits are of great help to every one of us. |
B.Because a man can never get rid of a habit. |
C.Because it's hard and sometimes even impossible to throw away bad habits. |
D.Because we are forced to do them again and again. |
According to the passage, early rising ________.
A.has something to do with success |
B.is an easily formed habit |
C.is such a habit as should have been avoided |
D.is such a habit as will be kept |
Directions:Read the following three passages.Each passage is followed by several questions or unfinished statements.For each of them there are four choices marked A, B, C and D.Choose the one that fits best according to the information given in the passage you have just read.
LT123 Workshops
‘I’m pleased to say that 2015 is our third year sponsoring the IATEFL information desk.This year, we are running three workshops covering some of the key areas of our wide-ranging special skills: testing, editing and vocabulary.We how to see you.’
—— Russell Whitehead Director
Vocabulary testing: why, what and how? By Felicity O’ Dell & Russell Whitehead
Saturday 11thApril 3:50-4:35 pm Charter 4
Should vocabulary be one of the language features that we test and, if so, why? What vocabulary - and what aspects of vocabulary - should we focus on in our tests? What methods can we use to test vocabulary?
We will discuss answers to these questions, considering the strengths and weaknesses of different types of vocabulary test for different teaching contexts.
There’s something missing from your project - the editor! By David Baker & Fiona MacKenzie
Sunday 12 April 10:25-11:10 am Charter 8
Big publishing companies no longer offer the single route to publication.Whether you are self-publishing, a teaching institution developing its own materials, or a digital start-up, in a highly competitive environment it isn’t enough to write something and just put it out there.
Quality still matters - you can’t afford to forget one of the key roles in successful publishing.
Vocabulary levels: which words are at which level? By Stephen Bullon
Monday 13thApril 1:35-2:20 pm Charter 8
While students develop their competence in the four skills and in their ability to master grammatical structures, they are together building their vocabulary.
We will try to establish the standards involved in selecting appropriate vocabulary at the various levels students pass through: frequency, teaching requirements, and register are all factors that need to be weighed in the balance.
LT123 is the new name for Language Testing 123, and we are proud sponsors of the 49thAnnual
International IATEFL Conference and Exhibition.
Manchester, April 2015.To help improve vocabulary teaching and testing, the workshops will focus on ________.
A.how to employ more scientific methods in vocabulary testing |
B.how to test vocabulary as the most important language feature |
C.what advanced standards to set for the students of different levels |
D.what to be concentrated on rather than four basic language skills |
From this handout we can know that ________.
A.the audience are editors in the field of language teaching |
B.the director of LT123 will be talking in one of the workshops |
C.some publishing companies will sponsor similar workshops soon |
D.each workshop lasts 45 minutes in the same meeting room |
What is the purpose of this handout?
A.To sell newly published books on language testing. |
B.To get the audience informed of the events |
C.To show the breakthrough in vocabulary teaching. |
D.To attract the attention of the host of 2015 IATEFL. |
Directions:Read the following three passages.Each passage is followed by several questions or unfinished statements.For each of them there are four choices marked A, B, C and D.Choose the one that fits best according to the information given in the passage you have just read.
Friends and fellow citizens:I stand before you tonight under accusation of the unproven crime of having voted at the last presidential election, without having a lawful right to vote.It shall be my work this evening to prove to you that in thus voting, I not only committed no crime, but, instead, simply exercised my citizen's rights, guaranteed to me and all United States citizens by the National Constitution(宪法), beyond the power of any state to deny.
Our democratic-republican government is based on the idea of the natural right of every individual member to a voice and a vote in making and executing the laws.We declare the duty of government to be to secure the people in the enjoyment of their unchallengeable right.We throw to the winds the belief that government can give right.
‘All men are created equal, and gifted by their Creator with certain undeniable rights.Among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.To secure these, governments are established among men, gaining their just powers from the agreement of the governed.’
Here is no shadow of government authority over rights, or exclusion of any class from their full and equal enjoyment.Here is pronounced the right of all men, and ‘therefore,’ as the Quaker minister said, ‘of all women,’ to a voice in the government.And here, in this first paragraph of the Declaration, is the declaration of the natural right of all to the vote; for how can ‘the agreement of the governed’ be given, if the right to vote be denied?
The introduction of the Federal(联邦的) Constitution says: ‘We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic peacefulness, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity(子嗣), do establish this Constitution for the United States of America.’
It was we, the people; not we, the white male citizens; not we, the male citizens; but we, the whole people, who formed the Union.And we formed it, not to give the blessings of liberty, but to secure them; not to the half of ourselves and the half of our posterity, but to the whole people - women as well as men.And it is absolute ridicule to talk to women of their enjoyment of the blessings of liberty while they are denied the use of the only means of securing them provided by this democratic-republican government - the vote.The speaker was standing in front of the audience to ________.
A.accuse the government of having denied treating her unfairly |
B.fight for the legal right to vote in the United States as a woman |
C.share a recent victory on voting for the president of the States |
D.guarantee that they could better understand the National Constitution |
The expression ‘throw to the winds’ (Paragraph 2) is closest in meaning to ‘________’.
A.abandon |
B.emphasize |
C.shake |
D.spread |
Which of the following statements is true according to the speech?
A.The Quaker minister holds conflicting opinions on women’s right to vote. |
B.Government authority has the right to bar some of the governed out of liberty. |
C.The policy is undeniably adopted that all the governed in America have the equal rights. |
D.There’s no way to the real agreement of the governed if women’s vote right is robbed. |
It can be inferred from the speech that ________.
A.it’s more important to have liberty than have good wishes of it |
B.the Federal Constitution comes from the National Constitution |
C.it’s ridiculous that women enjoy liberty while their rights are not secured |
D.racial and gender issues are among the major social problems of the USA |
Which of the following might be the best title of the speech?
A.For the Sake of Liberty and Happiness |
B.Vote on the Women’s Rights |
C.In the Name of Equal Right to vote |
D.Power of American Constitution |
Directions:Read the following three passages.Each passage is followed by several questions or unfinished statements.For each of them there are four choices marked A, B, C and D.Choose the one that fits best according to the information given in the passage you have just read.
Death is a serious theme worthy of great poets.For example, John Keats’s ‘When I Have Fears That I May Cease to Be’ and John Donne’s ‘Death, Be Not Proud’ both discuss death in reflective ways.However, the imagery(意象) in these poems shows that while Keats believes that death can only destroy, Donne believes that death can be overcome.
Keats is afraid of death, because to him death means the loss of those things that make his life worth living: ‘On the shore/ of the wide world I stand alone, and think/ Till Love and Fame to nothingness do sink.’ Earlier in the poem, Keats says that he hopes this ‘Love’ will be a ‘high romance’ with a ‘fair creature.’ He also says that he hopes the ‘Fame’ he seeks will be the result of the ‘high piled books’ produced by his ‘crowded brain.’ In other words, Keats’s fear is that death is a ‘nothingness’ that will arrive before he can finish his life’s work or find his true love.
Donne has a different attitude toward death, and so the imagery in his poem is different, too.To Donne, death should ‘be not proud,’ because it is not ‘mighty and dreadful.’ Unlike Keats, Donne sees death as weak and merely a ‘slave to Fate, chance, kings, and desperate men.’ He also says that death is like ‘rest and sleep’.Donne believes that we will all wake from the sleep of death to everlasting life, just as we wake from our normal sleep to our everyday lives.In fact, Donne believes that it is death itself that will die: ‘One short sleep past, we wake forever,/ And Death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.’
Keats and Donne both know that death is a prat of life, and both poets use powerful imagery to talk about that difficult theme.The differences in this imagery show two very different attitudes toward the subject, one of which is much more positive than the other.Which poet to believe is up to the reader to decide.
Not surprisingly, the readers’ own experiences may play a part in the way they respond to these poets’ approaches.Like the two poets and their beliefs, contemporary readers also may be divided on the subject.This may explain why Keats’s and Donne’s poetry remains fascinating years after their won deaths.According to the passage, ________ makes Keats’s life worth living.
A.expressing his grand passion for poetry |
B.walking on the shore with a pretty lady |
C.defeating nothingness with his true love |
D.pursuing the fame of being a romantic poet |
In Donne’s poems he believes that death is ________ .
A.generally powerful and terrible |
B.only a ceaseless sleep |
C.merely the loss of work and love |
D.hardly worth the fear |
Contemporary readers may view the two poets’ serious subject differently because ________.
A.they are attracted to the two poets’ everlasting opposite beliefs |
B.they are divided naturally by their positive or negative personalities |
C.their own life experiences affect the understandings of the poems |
D.their preferences for the poets’ strong imageries are various |
Which of the following best describes the main writing style of the passage?
A.Analysis. |
B.Argument. |
C.Comparison. |
D.Reasoning. |
Traveler
My fifteen-year-old son has just returned from abroad with rolls of exposed film and a hundred dollars in uncashed traveler’s checks, and is asleep at the moment.His blue duffel(粗呢) bag lies on the floor where he dropped it.Obviously, he postponed as much sleep as he could: when he walked in and we hugged, his electrical system suddenly switched off, and he headed directly for the bed, where I imagine he beat his old record of sixteen hours.
It was his first trip overseas, so weeks before it, I pressed travel books on him, and a tape cassette of useful French phrases; drew up a list of people to visit; advised him on clothing and other things.At the luggage store where we went to buy him a suitcase, he headed for the duffels, saying that suitcases were more for old people.
During the trip, he called home three times: from London, Paris, and a village named Ullapool.Near Ullapool, he climbed a mountain in a rainstorm that almost blew him off.In the village, a man spoke to him in Gaelic, and, too polite to interrupt, my son listened to him for ten or fifteen minutes, trying to nod in the right places.The French he learned from the cassette didn’t hold water in Paris.The French he talked to shrugged and walked on.
When my son called, I sat down at the kitchen table and leaned forward and hung on every word. His voice came through clearly, though two of the calls were like ship-to-shore communication.When I interrupted him with a “Great!” or a “Really?”, I knocked a little hole in his communication.So I just sat and listened. I have never listened to a telephone so attentively and with so much pleasure.It was wonderful to hear news from him that was so new to me.In my book, he was the first man to land on the moon, and I knew that I had no advice to give him and that what I had already given was probably not much help.
The unused checks are certainly evidence of that.Youth travels light.No suitcase, not much luggage and a slim expense account, and yet he went to the scene, and came back safely.I sit here amazed. The night when your child returns with dust on his shoes from a country you’ve never seen is a night you would gladly turn into a week.During the trip, the author’s son ______.
A.ran out of money |
B.had inadequate sleep |
C.forgot to call his mother |
D.failed to take good pictures |
According to the passage, which of the following could best describe the author’s son?
A.Polite and careless. |
B.Creative and stubborn. |
C.Considerate and independent. |
D.Self-centered and adventurous. |
What does the underlined word “that” in the last paragraph refer to?
A.It is important to listen to your child’s story. |
B.It’s easy to interrupt the chat with your child. |
C.The author is proud of her son landing on the moon. |
D.The son no longer needs much help from his mother. |
What can we infer from the passage?
A.Good parents should protect their children from potential dangers. |
B.The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page. |
C.It’s a win-win choice to give a child space to experience and explore. |
D.Communication between parents and children is extremely important. |