Imagine a classroom missing the one thing that's long been considered a necessary part to reading and writing ? Paper. No notebooks, no textbooks, no test paper. Nor are there any pencils or pens, which always seem to run out of ink at the critical (关键的) moment.
A "paperless classroom" is what more and more schools are trying to achieve.
Students don't do any handwriting in this class. Instead, they use palm (手掌) size, or specially-designed computers. The teacher downloads texts from Internet libraries and sends them to every student's personal computer.
Having computers also means that students can use the Web. They can look up information on any subject they're studying ? from maths to social science.
High school teacher Judy Herrell in Florida, US, described how her class used the Web to learn about the war in Afganistan (阿富汗) over one year ago.
"We could touch every side of the country through different sites ? from the forest to refugee camps (难民营)," she said. "Using a book that's three or four years old is impossible."
And exams can go online too. At a high school in Tennessee, US, students take tests on their own computers. The teacher records the grades on the network for everyone to see and then copies them to his own electronic grade book.
A paperless classroom is a big step towards reducing the waste of paper. High school teacher Stephanie Sorrell in Kentucky, US, said she used to give about 900 pieces of paper each week to each student.
"Think about the money and trees we could save with the computers," she said.
But, with all t
his technology, there's always the risk (危险) that the machines will break down. So, in case of a power failure or technical problems, paper textbooks are still widely available (可用的) for these hi-tech students. What does the part of the last sentence in the first paragraph, “run out of ink at the critical
moment”, mean?
| A．Pens may not write well at the critical moment. |
| B．Pens get lost easily, so you may not find them at the critical moment. |
| C．Pens may have little or no ink at the critical moment. |
| D．Pens use ink, while pencils don't. |
In a paperless classroom, what is a must?
| A．Pens. | B．Computers. | C．Information. | D．Texts. |
The high school teacher, Judy Herrell, used the example of her class to show that _______.
| A．the Web could take them everywhere | B．the Web taught them a lot |
| C．the Web is a good tool for information | |
| D．the Web, better than the textbooks, can give the latest and comprehensive (全面的) information |
The paperless classrooms will benefit _____ the most.
| A．students | B．teachers | C．trees | D．computers |
What does the phrase in the last paragraph, “break down”, mean?
| A．Break into pieces. | B．Stop working. | C．Fall down. | D．Lose control. |
Edward Snowden—the fugitive （逃亡者） former U．S．intelligence employee —appears to be stuck in Moscow, unable to leave without a valid American passport, according to interviews Sunday with two men who had sought to aid him: WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange and Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa．
Snowden, 30, arrived at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo International Airport last weekend, after previously taking refuge in Hong Kong． Moscow was only supposed to be a stopover．WikiLeaks, the anti-secrecy organization, had said Snowden was headed on to Ecuador—whose president has been critical of the United States — and that he would seek asylum there．
Now, however, both men said Snowden is unable to leave．
"The United States, by canceling his passport, has left him for the moment trapped in Russia," said Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, on ABC ' s " This Week With George Stephanopoulos"． The United States canceled Snowden' s passport last weekend． Assange criticized the United States, saying: " To take a passport from a young man in a difficult situation like that is a disgusting action．"
President Correa spoke to the Associated Press in Puerto Viejo, Ecuador． For now, he told the AP, Snowden was "under the care of the Russian authorities． "
"This is the decision of Russian authorities． He doesn't have a passport． I don't know the Russian laws, I don' t know if he can leave the airport, but I understand that he can' t," Correa said． He said that the case was now out of Ecuador' s hands． "If Snowden arrives at an Ecuadoran Embassy, we' 11 analyze his request for asylum．"
Snowden traveled from Hong Kong to Moscow on his U．S．passport． Although the U．S．had already revoked it, Hong Kong authorities said they hadn’t received the official request to cancel the passport before Snowden left．
An official at the Ecuadoran Embassy in London had also issued a letter of safe passage for Snowden． But Snowden apparently did not use it for his trip to Moscow．
And it doesn’t appear that the Ecuadoran government would make a similar gesture again．
On Sunday, Correa told the AP that an Ecuadoran official at that embassy had committed "a serious error" by issuing the first letter without consulting officials back home． Correa said the consul would be punished, although he didn’t specify how．
Correa' s tone seemed to have shifted after a conversation with Vice President Biden on Friday．Where Correa had earlier been aggressive and determined, he now voiced respect for U．S．legal procedures．Edward Snowden is a person who once worked in a federal department ______．
| A．to assist the governor of one state |
| B．to collect information secretly for the US |
| C．to organize overseas promotion campaign |
| D．to educate intelligence employees |
Which of the following word can take the place of the underlined word in Para．2 ?
| A．shelter． | B．praise． | C．position． | D．forgiveness． |
By what means did Edward Snowden leave Hong Kong for Moscow' s Sheremetyevo International Airport?
| A．A letter of safe passage from the Ecuadoran Embassy． |
| B．Permission from Chinese government |
| C．Invitation of the Russian authorities． |
| D．An American passport． |
What can be inferred from the last paragraph?
| A．Edward Snowden will live in Moscow forever． |
| B．Ecuadoran government will provide Edward Snowden protection． |
| C．Through U．S．legal procedures Edward Snowden has been caught． |
| D．Correa hesitated to assist Edward Snowden． |
Being able to experience a different environment and custom will give us a new perspective on everything we thought we knew and understood． Maybe, going abroad is an opportunity to look again at not only the country and the people who live there but also ourselves．
I had never expected to visit Paris． The French culture didn' t interest me that much, and Paris seemed too big, too touristy, too much． But when I found myself standing next to the Opera National de Paris, completely alone and totally lost, I knew I was in for an interesting ride． I had decided to take a summer history class abroad, and Paris just happened to be where it was set． My teacher eventually found me and other jet-lagged students and walked us down to where we would be staying． Even then, tired, hungry, and feeling displaced, I was unable to keep myself from marveling at the beauty of the city．
The next day in the grocery store, trying to decide if the box I was holding contained butter or cream cheese, I suddenly realized I was a foreigner that didn’t speak the language．The cashier and I had a conversation completely with gestures． For the most part, it didn't seem to bother the French that I was utterly incompetent in speaking their language． In fact, from my first unclear "bonjour" , many of them would directly switch over to English．
Time Hew by． In the mornings we had class, and in the afternoons we were given a lot of freedom to do what we pleased． We explored everywhere in the city, becoming experts at using the Metro, and walking so much that our legs were sore every night．
Living in Paris was a huge change in my lifestyle． Everything I did was more relaxed． I stopped worrying about the future and instead focused on living in the present． I stopped wearing a watch because time didn’t matter．We ate when we were hungry, went to bed when we were tired and explored in between．I no longer mind that Paris is so big; it' s an old, beautiful metropolis full of culture and history．On one of my last days there, standing on top of the Arc du Triumph with a 360 degree view of Paris, I finally admitted something to myself．The city that I had never wanted to visit had turned into the city that I never wanted to leave．The writer came to Paris because ______．
| A．he wanted to have an interesting ride |
| B．he attended a course in summer |
| C．he admired its beautiful scenery |
| D．he was alone and lost his way |
On the first day in Paris, the writer felt _____．
| A．lonely in the big city | B．bored with his visit |
| C．surprised at its beauty | D．interested in its culture |
The example of the grocery store is used to illustrate _____．
| A．the little influence of language barrier |
| B．the big difficulty of living abroad |
| C．the great importance of gestures |
| D．the intelligence of French people |
By mentioning the uselessness of the watch, the author probably wants to prove ______
| A．time in Paris is not worth counting |
| B．he enjoys the time in Paris very much |
| C．life seems meaningful without time |
| D．he has to spend a long time to visit the big city |
January l: It has happened. I got a call today saying a little girl in Russia is now my little girl. There are a lot of papers to prepare, and we have to travel to Russia to bring her home,
but now it is certain. I think I'll tell some close friends. Jason is so excited. I haven't told Steven yet. How can I tell a seven-year-old that he has a sister who is already five years old?
January 10: Today I received a picture of Katerina. The picture is small and not very clear, but I look at it over and over again. I don't know anything else about her. She has lived in a home for children without parents for most of her life. I wonder how I will talk to her. I don't speak Russian, and she doesn't speak English.
February l: Today I showed Katerina’s picture to Steven* He is very happy and wants to tell all his friends about his new sister. I want to buy some new clothes for Katerina, but I don't know her size. I haven' t received any information from the adoption organization, and I'm feeling a little worried.
February 16: Finally! Today we received good news! All the papers are ready and tomorrow we will go to Russia to bring Katerina home with us．
February 18: Today I met my daughter for the first time．She is very small, very thin, and very shy． On the way home in the airplane, she slept most of the time．When she woke up, she cried． I am very worried and hope that I can be a good mother to Katerina．
February 19: Steven met his sister this morning． Although Katerina was quiet at first, soon she and Steven began to talk in a mix of Russian, English, and hand movements． Steven and his sister get along well together． In fact, he is able to help her talk with Jason and me． I am worried about how Katerina will be in school． Next week she will start school． How will she understand her teacher?
March 21: Katerina looks much better now． She is heavier, her hair looks good, and her skin is clear． She loves to watch television with her brother, and she has learned to roller-skate． She is doing well in school, and her English gets better every day． Although she sometimes looks sad, and sometimes cries, most of the time she is happy． I think she is slowly my life without her．Who is Katerina?
| A．Steven's elder sister． | B．An adopted girl． |
| C．Jason's close friend． | D．The writer's niece． |
When back at home, what is the writer most worried about?
| A．How Steven can get along well with Katerina． |
| B．How Katerina can communicate with Jason and her． |
| C．Whether Katerina will adapt herself to the school life． |
| D．Whether she can be a good mother to Katerina． |
From the passage we know that in her new family Katerina ______．
| A．gets very fat | B．becomes depressed |
| C．remains frightened | D．is well treated |
Where is the passage most probably from?
| A．A diary． | B．An advertisement |
| C．An essay． | D．A speech |
“Indeed，” George Washington wrote in his diary in 1985, “some kind of fly, or bug, had begun to eat the leaves before I left home.” But the father of America was not the father of bug. When Washington wrote that, Englishmen had been referring to insects as bugs for more than a century, and Americans had already created lighining-bug(萤火虫)。But the English were soon to stop using the bugs in their language, leaving it to the Americans to call a bug a bug in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
The American bug could also be a person, referring to someone who was crazy about a particular activity. Althoug fan became the usual term. sports fans used to be called racing bugs, baseballbugs, and the like.
Or the bug could be a small machine or object, for example, a bug-shaped car. The bug could also be a burglar alarm, from which comes the expression to bug, that is, “to install (安装) an alarm”. Now it means a small piece of equipment that people use for listening secretly to others’ conversation. Since the 1840s, to bug has long meant “to cheat”, and since the 1940s it has been annoying.
We also know the bug as a flaw in a computer program or other design. That meaning dates back to the time of Thomas Edison. In 1878 he explained bugs as “little problems and difficulties” that required months of study and labor to overcome in developing a successful product. In 1889 it was recorded that Edison “had been up the two previous nights discovering ‘a bug’ in his invented record player.”We learn from Paragraph 1 that ___________.
| A．Americans had difficulty in learning to use the word bug |
| B．George Washington was the first person to call an insect a bug |
| C．the word bug was still popularly used in English in the nineteenth century |
| D．both Englishmen and Americans used the word bug in the eighteenth century |
What does the word “flaw” in the last paragraph probably mean?
| A．Explanation. | B．Finding. | C．Origin. | D．Fault. |
The passage is mainly concerned with__________.
| A．the misunderstanding of the word bug |
| B．the development of the word bug |
| C．the public views of the word bug |
| D．the special characteristics of the word bug |
LONDON --- A British judge on Thursday sentenced a businessman who sold fake(假冒的) bomb detectors(探测器) to 10 years in prison, saying the man hadn't cared about potentially deadly consequences.
It is believed that James McCormick got about $77.8 million from the sales of his detectors - which were based on a kind of golf ball finder - to countries including Iraq, Belgium and Saudi Arabia.
McCormick, 57, was convicted(判罪) of cheats last month and sentenced Thursday at the Old Bailey court in London.
"Your cheating conduct in selling a great amount of useless equipment simply for huge profit promoted a false sense of security and in all probability materially contributed to causing death and injury to innocent people," Judge Richard Hone told McCormick. "you have neither regret, nor shame, nor any sense of guilt."
The detectors, sold for up to $42,000 each, were said to be able to find such dangerous objects as bombs under water and from the air. But in fact they "lacked any grounding in science" and were of no use.
McCormick had told the court that he sold his detectors to the police in Kenya, the prison service in Hong Kong, the army in Egypt and the border control in Thailand.
"I never had any bad results from customers," he said.Why was McCormick sentenced to prison?
| A．He sold bombs. | B．He caused death of people. |
| C．He made detectors. | D．He cheated in business |
According to the judge, what McCormick had done _______.
| A．increased the cost of safeguarding |
| B．lowered people's guard against danger |
| C．changed people's idea of social security |
| D．caused innocent people to commit crimes |
Which of the following is true of the detectors?
| A．They have not been sold to Africa. |
| B．They have caused many serious problems. |
| C．They can find dangerous objects in water. |
| D．They don't function on the basis of science. |
It can be inferred from the passage that McCormick _______.
| A．sold the equipment at a low price |
| B．was well-known in most countries |
| C．did not think he had committed the crime |
| D．had not got such huge profit as mentioned in the text |