The Internet has led to a huge increase in credit-card fraud. Your card information could even be for sale in an illegal web site.
Web sites offering cheap goods and services should be regarded with care.
On-line shoppers who enter their credit-card information may never receive the goods they thought they bought. The thieves then go shopping with your card number — or sell the information over the Internet. Computers hackers have broken down security systems, raising questions about the safety of cardholder information. Several months ago, 25, 000 customers of CD Universe, an on-line music retailer(零售商), were not lucky. Their names, addresses and credit-card numbers were posted on a Web site after the retailer refused to pay US $157, 828 to get back the information.
Credit-card firms are now fighting against on-line fraud. Mastercard is working on plans for Web — only credit card, with a lower credit limit. The card could be used only for shopping on-line. However, there are a few simple steps you can take to keep from being cheated.
Ask about your credit-card firm’s on-line rules: Under British law, cardholders have to pay the first US $78 of any fraudulent(欺骗性的) spending.
And shop only at secure sites; Send your credit-card information only if the Web site offers advanced secure system.
If the security is in place, a letter will appear in the bottom right-hand corner of your screen. The Website address may also start https: //—the extra “s” stands for secure. If in doubt, give your credit-card information over the telephone.
Keep your password safe: Most on-line sites require a user name and password before placing an order. Treat your passwords with care.What do most people worry about the Internet according to this passage?
A.Many stolen credit-cards were sold on the Internet. |
B.Too much fraud on the Internet. |
C.Many Web sites are destroyed. |
D.Many illegal Web sites are on the Internet. |
What is the meaning of “fraud” in the passage?
A.Cheating. | B.Sale. | C.Payment. | D.Safety. |
How can the thieves get the information of the credit card?
A.The customers give them the information. |
B.The thieves steal the information from Web sites. |
C.The customers sell the information to them. |
D.The thieves buy the information from credit-card firms. |
You are shopping on the site: http: // www. Shopping. com, and you want to buy a TV set, what does this article suggest to do?
A.Order the TV set at once. |
B.Do not buy the TV set on this site. |
C.E-mail the site your credit-card information. |
D.Tell the site your password and buy the TV set for you. |
Four people in England back in 1953, stared at Photo 51,It wasn’t much—a picture showing a black X. But three of these people won the Nobel Prize for figuring out what the photo really showed –the shape of DNA The discovery brought fame and fortune to scientists James Watson, Francis Crick, and Maurice Wilkins. The fourth, the one who actually made the picture, was left out.
Her name was Rosalind Franklin.”She should have been up there,” says historian Mary Bowden.” If her photos hadn’t been there, the others couldn’t have come up with the structure.” One reason Franklin was missing was that she had died of cancer four years before the Nobel decision. But now scholars doubt that Franklin was not only robbed of her life by disease but robbed of credit by her competitors
At Cambridge University in the 1950s, Watson and Click tried to make models by cutting up shapes of DNA’s parts and then putting them together. In the meantime, at King’s College in London, Franklin and Wilkins shone X-rays at the molecule(分子). The rays produced patterns reflection the shape.
But Wilkins and Franklin’s relationship was a lot rockier than the celebrated teamwork of Watson and Crick, Wilkins thought Franklin was hired to be his assistant .But the college actually employed her to take over the DNA project.
What she did was produce X-ray pictures that told Watson and Crick that one of their early models was inside out. And she was not shy about saying so. That angered Watson, who attacked her in return, “Mere inspection suggested that she would not easily bend. Clearly she had to go or be put in her place.”
As Franklin’s competitors, Wilkins, Watson and Crick had much to gain by cutting her out of the little group of researchers, says historian Pnina Abir-Am. In 1962 at the Nobel Prize awarding ceremony, Wilkins thanked 13 colleagues by name before he mentioned Franklin, Watson wrote his book laughing at her. Crick wrote in 1974 that “Franklin was only two steps away from the solution.”
No, Franklin was the solution. “She contributed more than any other player to solving the structure of DNA . She must be considered a co-discoverer,” Abir-Am says. This was backed up by Aaron Klug, who worked with Franklin and later won a Nobel Prize himself. Once described as the“Dark Lady of DNA”, Franklin is finally coming into the light.What is the text mainly about?
A. The disagreements among DNA researchers.
B. The unfair treatment of Franklin.
C. The process of discovering DNA.
D. The race between two teams of scientists.Watson was angry with Franklin because she .
A.took the lead in the competition | B.kept her results from him |
C.proved some of his findings wrong | D.shared her data with other scientists |
Why is Franklin described as“Dark Lady of DNA”?
A. She developed pictures in dark labs.
B. She discovered the black X-the shape of DNA.
C. Her name was forgotten after her death.
D. Her contribution was unknown to the public.What is the writer’s attitude toward Wilkins, Watson and Crick?
A.Disapproving. | B.Respectful. | C. Admiring. | D.Doubtful. |
TimetableWhich of the following is true of the membership card?
A.Its number is l0865 305305. |
B.It belongs to Mr. E. M. Driscoll. |
C.It is valid through the year of 2010. |
D.It gets the owner a discount when used. |
If one wants to attend a business lunch in London at l2:00 ,the latest train that he should take at Oxford leaves at .
A.11:45 | B.11:15 | C.10:35 | D.10:05 |
If you would like to have some vegetable beef, what may be your choice?
A.French Slam®![]() |
B.Chicken-Fried Steak® |
C.The Super Bird® | D.Sandwich with Salad or Soup® |
The chart shows that from 2005 to 2008, .
A.the percentage of the Spanish families with a computer rose 35 points |
B.the percentage of the White families with a computer remained unchanged |
C.the number of the Black families with a computer was on the decrease |
D.the number of the Asian families with a computer showed the sharpest increase |
How I Turned to Be Optimistic
I began to grow up that winter night when my parents and I were returning from my aunt's house, and my mother said that we might soon be leaving for America. We were on the bus then. I was crying, and some people on the bus were turning around to look at me. I remember that I could not bear the thought of never hearing again the radio program for school children to which I listened every morning.
I do not remember myself crying for this reason again. In fact, I think I cried very little when I was saying goodbye to my friends and relatives. When we were leaving I thought about all the places I was going to see—the strange and magical places I had known only from books and pictures. The country I was leaving never to come back was hardly in my head then.
The four years that followed taught me the importance of optimism, but the idea did not come to me at once. For the first two years in New York I was really lost—having to study in three schools as a result of family moves. I did not quite know what I was or what I should be. Mother remarried, and things became even more complex for me. Some time passed before my stepfather and I got used to each other. I was often sad, and saw no end to “the hard times. ”
My responsibilities in the family increased a lot since I knew English better than everyone else at home. I wrote letters, filled out forms, translated at interviews with Immigration officers, took my grandparents to the doctor and translated there, and even discussed telephone bills with company representatives.
From my experiences I have learned one important rule: Almost all common troubles eventually go away! Something good is certain to happen in the end when you do not give up, and just wait a little! I believe that my life will turn out all right, even though it will not be that easy. How did the author get to know America?
A.From her relatives | B.From her mother |
C.From Books and pictures | D.From radio programs |
Upon leaving for America the author felt.
A.confused | B.excited | C.worried | D.amazed |
What can we learn about the author from Paragraph 4?
A.She worked as a translator |
B.She attended a lot of job interviews |
C.She paid telephone bills for her family |
D.She helped her family with her English |
The author believes that.
A.her future will be free from troubles |
B.it is difficult to learn to become patient |
C.there are more good things than bad things |
D.good things will happen if one keeps trying |
When you practice reading with passages shorter than book length, do not try to take in each word separately, one after the other. It is much more difficult to grasp the broad theme of the passage this way, and you will also get the stuck on individual words which may not be absolutely essential to a general understanding of the passage. It is a good idea to skim through the passage very quickly first to get the general idea of each paragraph. Titles, paragraph headings and emphasized word can be a great help in getting this skeleton outline of the passage. It is surprising how many people do not read titles, introductions or paragraph headings. Can you, without looking back, remember the title of this passage and the heading of this paragraph?
Most paragraphs of a passage or chapter have a 'topic sentence' which expresses the central idea. The remaining sentence expand or support that idea. It has been estimated that between 60% and 90% of all expositive(说明的)paragraphs in English have the topic sentence first. Always pay special attention to the first sentence of a paragraph; it is most likely to give you the main idea.
Sometimes , though , the first sentence in the paragraph does not have the feel of 'main idea' sentence. It does not seem to give us enough new information to justify a paragraph. The next most likely place to look for the topic sentence is the last sentence of the paragraph.
Remember that the opening and closing paragraphs of a passage or chapter are particularly important . The opening paragraph suggests the general direction and content of the piece, while the closing paragraph often summarizes the very essence (精髓).It is a good idea to skim through a passage quickly first ________.
A.at about 350 w. P.m.(words per minute) |
B.to get the general idea of each paragraph |
C.so that you can take in each word separately |
D.to make sure you get to the end at least once |
The topic sentence of an expository paragraph in English_______.
A.usually comes in the middle |
B.is most likely to be found at the end |
C.is most often at the beginning |
D.is usually left out in expository writing |
Most expository paragraphs in English have a clearly defined topic sentence. In such paragraphs the topic sentence comes first ________.
A.in about 40% of cases | B.in about 80% of cases |
C.in about 20% cases | D.very rarely |
Some times we know the first sentence is not the topic sentence because ________.
A.it does not seem to give us enough new information |
B.it is not long enough |
C.it does not come at the beginning |
D.it does not make complete sentence |
Mark Twain left school when he was twelve. He had little school education. In spite of this, he became the most famous writer of his time. He made millions of dollars by writing. His real name was Samuel Langhorne Clemens, but he is better known all over the world as Mark Twain, his penname.
Mark Twain was born in 1835 and he was not a healthy baby. In fact, he was not expected to live through the first winter. But with his mother’s care, he managed to survive. As a boy, he caused much trouble for his parents. He used to play jokes on all his friends and neighbors. He didn’t like to go to school, and he often ran away from home. He always went in the direction of the nearby Mississippi(密西西比河). He was nearly drowned nine times.
After his father’s death, Mark Twain began to work for a printer, who only provided him with food and clothing. Then, he worked as a printer, a river-boat pilot and later joined the army. But shortly after that he became a miner. During this period, he started to write short stories. Afterwards he became a full time writer.
In 1870, Mark Twain got married. In the years that followed he wrote many books including Tom Sawyer in 1876, and Huckleberry Finn in 1884, which made him famous, and brought him great fortune.
Unfortunately, Mark Twain got into debts in bad investments(投资) and he had to write large numbers of stories to pay these debts. In 1904, his wife died, and then three of his children passed away.
At the age of 70, his hair was completely white. He bought many white suits and neckties. He wore nothing but white from head to foot until his death on April 21, 1910.In his childhood, Mark Twain, ________.
A.learned a lot at school |
B.he often went swimming with other boys |
C.his mother often worried about his safety |
D.he often played games with other boys |
Which of the following shows the right order about Mark Twain?
a. He became a miner. b. He worked as a printer.
c. He got into debts. d. His father died.
e. He became a full-time writer. f. He joined the army.
A.a—d—b—c—e—f | B.d—b—f—a—e—c |
C.d—a—f—e—b—c | D.c—b—d—f—e—a |
In order to make a living, Mark Twain _______.
A.first worked as a printer |
B.did many kinds of work |
C.wrote stories in the beginning |
D.joined the army after he worked in a mine |
Before his death, Mark Twain _______.
A.became a white man | B.was in low spirits |
C.liked to buy all kinds of clothes | D.had nothing on |