When we think about giving help to developing countries, we often think about giving money so that these countries can build schools and hospitals, buy food and medicine, or find clean water supplies. These seem to be the most important basic needs of the people we are trying to help. However, it's far from enough. Ladies and gentlemen, we've got to come up with some better ideas to help them.
I was very surprised, then, when I read about a plan to make cheap laptop computers for children in developing countries. A man called Nicholas Negroponte invented a cheap laptop computer, which can run without electricity. He decided to invent this computer after he visited a school in Cambodia.
The laptop which Mr. Negroponte has designed is a little different from the normal laptop computers you can buy in the shops. One difference is that it is covered in rubber so that it is very strong and won't be damaged easily. As an electricity supply can be a problem in developing countries, the computer also has a special handle so that children can wind the computer up to give it extra power when needed.
These special laptop computers will cost less than 100 US dollars and Mr. Negroponte wants to build as many as 15 million machines in the first year of production. The idea is that these computers will help the children's education as they will be able to access the Internet. These computers might not help the people in developing countries immediately, but by improving children's education they should help people to find their own solutions to their problems in the long term.
Another idea to help children in developing countries is to recycle old mobile phones so that they can be used again. In the UK, and, probably in many other countries too, millions of mobile phones are thrown away every year. The waste created by throwing away these old phones is very bad for the environment, so it seems to be an excellent idea to recycle them. In this way we will be able to achieve two important goals at the same time. We will reduce the waste we produce and help others. In other words, we will be able to 'kill two birds with one stone', and that is always a good thing.It's an excellent idea to recycle old mobile phones because _______.
| A．it reduces waste and can help others |
| B．it prevents waste and can earn lots of money |
| C．it can send the waste produced by developed countries to other countries |
| D．it is good for the environment and very educative for phone users |
The author gives the example of Mr. Negroponte's cheap computers _______.
| A．to show what high tech can bring us. |
| B．to illustrate the kindness of people in the developed countries |
| C．to show how to find business opportunities in developing countries |
| D．to give an example of how to help developing countries |
Which of the following statements is TRUE about Mr. Negroponte's cheap computers?
| A．His computers don’t need any power to function well. |
| B．His computers are covered with rubber so that they are very cheap. |
| C．His computers will help children in developing countries to have better education. |
| D．His computers will help people in developing countries to find all the solutions. |
Where does this passage probably come from?
| A．A magazine | B．A newspaper | C．A lecture | D．An advertisement |
第二节：完形填空(共20小题；每小题1.5分，满分30分)
阅读下面短文，从短文后所给各题的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中，选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项。
It was on a winter past midnight of 1971 when I was driving our big V8 station wagon back to our hometown. Next to me, my husband was 36 asleep and snoring (打鼾) loudly.
It was true that he worked sixty or more hours per week, and then in the evenings he worked as my dance 37 . We had to travel away from home for the dance classes on four, or _38 five nights per week, and then he 39 have to be up and about again by six of the following dawn to get to his 40 job.
We had agreed that I should drive home on those late nights so he could at least get some _41 sleep. But I worked hard, too, and I would also be up at six of the following morning to get our half-dozen kids 42 for school. As well, I would then have to 43 the dance lessons for that evening.
On that long cold night I was fighting to stay 44 , but sticking to "the master's rule" of not playing my 45 . He needed his sleep, he said. I 46 down the window, yet the bitter-cold wind did little to revive (振奋) me. I was already driving about ten miles 47 the speed limit, 48 , we were still forty-five minutes away from home.
I studied the road up ahead and 49 in the near view mirror. There was not a car 50 a black night ahead and behind me. There were no Officers of the Law to be seen, and so I 51 the speed by another ten miles per hour. I had no great need for a speeding ticket, but I wanted to get home as quickly as I could.
"Get into the other lane!" sounded a loud and 52 voice.
I swiftly changed lanes, and as I did, a car without headlights pulled from the side of the road. I screamed at the top of my lungs, "I 53 that car by mere inches! The fool! Where did he come from?" The car that would have caused our death was now just a blur of an image (模糊的图像) in my rear view mirror. Instantly I knew where he had come from. He had rushed onto the road from that little roadside bar I 54 each week, and probably so drank and 'legless', he would never find out how 55 he came to killing himself and us.
36. A. slow B. fast C quick D. well
37. A. trainer B. coacher C partner D. student
38. A. still B. already C. yet D. even
39. A. would B. could C. should D. might
40. A. normal B. usual C regular D. common
41. A. extra B. enough C. another D. other
42. A. timely B. ready C late D. early
43. A. teach B. prepare for C. prepare D. have
44. A. alive B. asleep C. active D. awake
45. A. radio B. DVD C. TV D. piano
46. A. pulled B. took C. wound D. pushed
47. A below B. above C. over D. beneath
48. A. furthermore B. therefore C. however D. besides
49. A. noticed B. watched C. glanced D. observed
50. A. in sight B. in ease C. in result D. in fact
51. A. decreased B. declined C. increased D. reduced
52. A. urgent B. calm C. angry D. anxious
53. A. caught B. missed C. avoided D. escaped
54. A. passed B. served C. provided D. found
55. A. high B. straight C. hard D. close
You wake up in the morning, the day is beautiful and the plans for the day are what you have been looking forward to for a long time. Then, the telephone rings, you say hello, and the drama starts. The person on the other end has a depressing (令人沮丧的) tone in his voice as he starts to tell you how terrible his morning is and that there is nothing to look forward to. Are you still in a wonderful mood? Impossible!
Communicating with negative people can wash out your happiness. It may not change what you think，but communicating long enough with them will make you feel depressed for a moment or a long time.
Life brings ups and downs，but some people are stuck in the wrong idea that life has no happiness to offer. They only feel glad when they make others feel bad. No wonder they can hardly win others’pity or respect.
When you communicate with positive people，your spirit stays happy and therefore more positive things are attracted. When the knife of a negative person is put in you，you have the heavy feeling that all in all，brings you down.
Sometimes we have no choice but to communicate with negative people. This could be a co-worker，or a relative. In this case，say what needs to be said as little as possible. Sometimes it feels good to let out your anger back to the negative person，but all this does is to lower you to that same negative level and they won’t feel ashamed of themselves about that.
Negativity often affects happiness without even being realized. The negative words of another at the start of the day can attach to you throughout the rest of your day，which makes you feel bad and steals your happiness. Life is too short to feel negative. Stay positive and avoid negativity as much as possible.
1．The purpose of the first paragraph is to_________
A. make a comparisonB. offer an suggestion
C. introduce a topic D. describe a daily scene
2．How can negative people have effect on us?
A. By influencing our emotion.
B. By telling us the nature of life.
C. By changing our way of thinking.
D. By comparing their attitude to life with ours.
3. Some negative people base their happiness on_________.
A. other people’s pity for themB. making other people unhappy
C. building up a positive attitude D. other people’s respect for them
4．According to the passage，to reduce negative people’s influence on us，we are advised________
A. to change negative people’s attitude to life
B. to show our dissatisfaction to negative people
C. to make negative people feel ashamed of themselves
D. to communicate with negative people as little as possible
Mark Twain was a great writer. He was from the USA. He was born in 1835. He was also a famous speaker. He was famous for his sense of humour. Many people liked to listen to him talk because he liked to tell some interesting stories to make people laugh all the time.
One day Mark Twain was going to a small town because of his writing. Before he was going to leave, one of his friends said to him that there were always a lot of mosquitoes in the town and told him that he’d better not go there. Mark Twain waved his hand and said, “It doesn’t matter. The mosquitoes are no relatives of mine. I don’t think they will come to visit me.”
After he arrived at the town, Mark Twain stayed in a small hotel near the station. He went into his room, but when he was just about to have a rest, quite a few mosquitoes flew about him. The waiters felt very sorry about that. “I’m very sorry, Mr Mark Twain. There are too many mosquitoes in our town.” One of them said to him.
Mark Twain, however, made a joke, saying to the waiter, “The mosquitoes are very clever. They know my room number. They didn’t come into the wrong room.” What he said made all the people present laugh heartily.
But that night Mark Twain slept well. Do you know why? That was because all the waiters in the hotel were driving the mosquitoes away for him during the whole night.
1. That day Mark Twain went to the town _____.
A. to see one of his friends
B. because he wanted to do something there for his writing
C. because he was told there were a lot of mosquitoes there
D. to see one of his relatives
2. The waiters felt sorry because _____.
A. they did something wrong to Mark Twain
B. their hotel was too small
C. the room was not very clean
D. there were quite a few mosquitoes in Mark Twain’s room
3. All the people present laughed heartily because _____.
A. the mosquitoes were very clever and they didn’t come into the wrong room
B. the mosquitoes knew Mark Twain’s room number
C. Mark Twain gave the waiters some nice presents
D. Mark Twain made a joke
4. From the story we know _____.
A. no mosquitoes troubled Mark Twain in the night
B. the owner of the hotel told the waiters to look after Mark Twain well at night
C. Mark Twain didn’t have a good rest that night
D. there were not mosquitoes in the hotel any longer
I was reading these interesting stories behind a group of great logos in the world. Personally Nike is my favorite one it’s so simple. And I liked the stories behind them，which made me forget all other things. McDonald’s，Apple and Mercedes Benz own great logos as well，and they are among my very favorites.
Nike
In the Greek myth，Nike is the goddess of victory and the source of inspiration for soldiers. This logo represents the wing in the famous statue of the Greek goddess. Nike’s logo was designed by Carolyn Davidson in 1971 for＄35，and was registered as a trademark in 1995.
McDonald’S
The logo was designed in 1962 by Jim Schindler like the arch-shaped signs on the side of the company’s then a walk-up hamburger stand. Later on，the two golden arches were combined together to form the M. The McDonald’s name was added to the logo in 1968.
Apple
There are different stories behind Apple’s logo. The first logo was a reference to the religious story of Adam and Eve，in which the apple represented the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. One year later，the second logo was designed in 1977 by Steve Jobs and Ronald Wayne，and it described Sir Isaac Newton sitting under an apple tree. This logo didn’t stay long. One year later it was replaced almost immediately by Rob Janoff’s“rainbow apple”，a rain bow-colored silhouette（轮廓）of an apple with a bite taken out of it. And then the rainbow-colored apple was replaced by the one-colored logo in 1998．It has not been changed so far.
Mercedes Benz
The Mercedes Benz logo，which was originally created by Gottlieb Daimlar in 1909，consists of a simple description of a three-pointed star that represents its rule of the land，the sea and the air. The company was founded by Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach. Mercedes is the name of Maybach’s elder daughter，while Benz came as a result of a combination with Benz&Cie. and DMG.
1. What does the author think of the stories of the great logos？
A. They are boring. B. They are out of date.
C. They are attractive. D. They are practical.
2．What does Nike’s logo stand for?
A. The goddess of victory. B. The source of inspiration for soldiers.
C. The statue of the Greek goddess. D. The wing of the Greek goddess.
3．We can learn that Apple’s present logo is ______.
A. the religious story of Adam and Eve B. a bitten apple with only one color
C. Newton’s sitting under an apple tree D. the rainbow-colored bitten apple
4．Which of the following time orders describes the births of the great logos？
A. Mercedes Benz—McDonald’s—Nike—Apple
B. Nike一McDonald’s—Apple—Mercedes Benz
C. McDonald’s—Apple—Nike—Mercedes Benz
D. Nike—Mercedes Benz—McDonald’s—Apple
There was a story many years ago of a school teacher-Mrs. Thompson. She told the children on the first day that she loved them all the same. But that was a lie. There in the front row was a little boy named Teddy Stoddard. He didn’t play well with the other children and he always needed a bath. She did not like him.
Then Mrs.Thompson got to know that Teddy was actually a very good boy before the death of his mother. Mrs.Thompson got to know that Teddy was actually a very good boy before the death of his mother. Mrs.Thompson was ashamed of herself. She felt even worse when, like all her other students， Teddy brought her a Christmas present too. It was his mother’s perfume(香水).
Teddy said, “Mrs. Thompson, today you smell just like my Mom used to .”After the children left she cried for at least an hour. On that very day, she stopped teaching reading, writing and math. Instead, she began to teach children.
Mrs. Thompson paid particular attention to Teddy. The boy’s mind seemed to come alive. The more she encouraged him, the faster he improved. By the end of the sixth grade, Teddy had become one of the smartest children in the class.
Six years went by before she got a note from Teddy. He wrote that he had finished high school, third in his class, and she was still the best teacher he ever had in his whole life. He went to college. Mrs. Thompson got two more letters from him with the last one signed， Theodore F. Stoddard, M.D.(医学博士).
The story doesn’t end there. On his wedding day, Dr. Stoddard whispered in Mrs. Thompson’s ear, “Thank you, Mrs. Thompson, for believing in me. You made me feel important and showed me that I could make a difference.”
Mrs. Thompson, with tears in her eyes, whispered back, “Teddy, you have it all wrong. You were the one who taught me that I could make a difference. I didn’t know how to teach until I met you.”
1. What did Mrs. Thompson do on the first day of school?
A.She made Teddy feel ashamed.
B.She asked the children to play with Teddy.
C.She changed Teddy’s seat to the front row.
D.She told the class something untrue about herself.
2. What did Mrs. Thompson find out about Teddy ?
A.He often told lies. B.He was good at math.
C.He needed motherly care. D. He enjoyed playing with others.
3. In what way did Mrs. Thompson change ?
A.She taught fewer school subjects.
B.She became stricter with her students.
C.She no longer liked her job as a teacher.
D.She cared more about educating students.
4 Why did Teddy thank Mrs. Thompson at his wedding?
A.She had kept in touch with him. B.She had given him encouragement.
C.She had sent him Christmas presents. D.She had taught him how to judge people.