Forget Twitter and Facebook, Google and the Kindle. Television is still the most influential medium around. Indeed ,for many of the poorest regions of the world, it remains the next big thing——finally becomes globally available. And that is a good thing, because the TV revolution is changing lives for the better.
Across the developing world, around 45% of families had a TV in 1995; by 2005 the number had climbed above 60%. That is some way behind the U.S. , where are more TVs than people, and where people now easily get access to the Internet. Five million more families in sub-Saharan Africa will get a TV over the next five years. In 2005 , after the fall of the Taliban（塔利班）,which had outlawed TV, 1 in 5 Afghans had one. The global total is another 150 million by 2013——pushing the numbers to well beyond two thirds of families.
Television’s most powerful effect will be on the lives of women. In India, researchers Robert Jensen and Emily Oster found that when TVs reached villages, women were more likely to go to the market without their husbands’ approval and less likely to want a boy rather than a girl. They were more likely to make decisions over child health care. TV is also a powerful medium for adult education. In the Indian state of Gujarat, Chitrageet is a popular show that plays Bollywood songs with words in Gujarati on the screen. Within six months, viewers had made a small but significant improvement in their reading skills.
Too much TV has been associated with violence, overweight and loneliness. However, TV is having a positive influence on the lives of billions worldwide. The underlined word “outlawed” in paragraph 2 probably means “ ”.
| A．allowed | B．forbidden | C．offered | D．refused |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．Americans used to get access to the Internet easily. |
| B．The world’s TV sets will total 150 million by 2013. |
| C．45% of families in the developing countries had a TV in 2005. |
| D．Over two thirds of families in the world will have a TV by 2013. |
The author intends to .
| A．stress the advantages of TV to people’s lives |
| B．persuade women to become more independent |
| C．encourage people to improve their reading skills |
| D．introduce the readers some websites such as Google |
What would be the best title for the passage?
| A．TV Will Rule the World | B．TV Will Disturb the World |
| C．TV Will Better the World | D．TV Will Remain in World |
From the passage, we know _______________.
| A．It is impossible for women in India to get access to TVs now. |
| B．Robert Jensen and Emily Oster are Indian women. |
| C．Women in India are more likely to want a girl than a boy because of the arrival of TV. |
| D．Viewers of a popular TV show can improve their reading skills greatly in half a year. |
Sydney Airport International Terminal—Arrival Area
SPECIALTY RETAIL
Newslink: Two separate Newslink stores cater to all your reading needs including newspapers, magazines and the latest bestsellers.
Downtown Duty Free: Make sure you shop at Downtown Duty Free for great savings on a range of items including perfume, alcohol, skincare and cigarettes. It’s your last chance before customs.
Beach Culture: A must for those into the latest in beach clothing. Top surfer street and fashion labels including Mambo, Stussy and Quicksilver, including children’s sizes.
DINING
Blue Sky Cafe: Speedy service leaves you time to keep an eye on the arrivals gate. Fresh milk, coffee, lemon juice, beer, whisky, ice-cream, soda water, cakes and dumplings are on sale.
Macdonald’s: hamburgers, fries, pancakes, toasted potatoes, muffins, Pepsi, Coca-Cola and chocolates—all your family favorites. Breakfast served until 10:30.
SERVICES
ATM: ATMs are conveniently located throughout Arrival and Departures. Dollars, pounds and francs and RMB are all available.
Vodafone Rentals: This communications center offers the very latest technology for mobile phone rentals, sales and serving.Where is the passage likely to appear?
| A．A morning newspaper. | B．A monthly magazine. |
| C．A geography book. | D．An official guide. |
The underlined phrase “cater to” probably means ________.
| A．satisfy | B．afford | C．support | D．help |
You may have better choices to deal with _________.
| A．your hunger problem in Blue Sky Cafe and your thirsty problem in Macdonald’s |
| B．your thirsty problem in Blue Sky Cafe and your hunger problem in Macdonald’s |
| C．your hunger and thirsty problems in the Blue Sky Cafe |
| D．your hunger and thirsty problems in the Macdonald’s |
Are some people born clever, and others born stupid? Or is intelligence developed by our environment and our experiences? Strangely enough, the answer to both these questions is yes. To some degree our intelligence is given us at birth, and no amount of special education can make a genius out of a child born with low intelligence. On the other hand, a child who lives in a boring environment will develop his intelligence less than one who lives in rich and varied surroundings. Thus the limits of a person's intelligence are fixed at birth, but whether or not he reaches those limits will depend on his environment. This view, now held by most experts, can be supported in a number of ways.
It is easy to show that intelligence is to some degree something we are born with. The closer the blood relationship between two people, the closer they are likely to be in intelligence. Thus if we take two unrelated people at random(随机地) from the population, it is likely that their degrees of intelligence will be completely different. If on the other hand we take two identical (完全相同的) twins they will very likely be as intelligent as each other. Relations like brothers and sisters, parents and children, usually have similar intelligence, and this clearly suggests that intelligence depends on birth.
Imagine now that we take two identical twins and put them in different environments. We might send one, for example, to a university and the other to a factory where the work is boring. We would soon find differences in intelligence developing, and this indicates that environment as well as birth plays a part. This conclusion is also suggested by the fact that people who live in close contact with each other, but who are not related at all, are likely to have similar degrees of intelligence.Which of these sentences best describes the writer’s point in Para. 1?
| A．To some degree, intelligence is given at birth. |
| B．Intelligence is developed by the environment. |
| C．Some people are born clever and others born stupid. |
| D．Intelligence is fixed at birth, but is developed by the environment. |
It is suggested in this passage that_______.
| A．unrelated people are not likely to have different intelligence |
| B．close relations usually have similar intelligence |
| C．the closer the blood relationship between people, the more different they are likely to be in intelligence |
| D．people who live in close contact with each other are not likely to have similar degrees |
of intelligenceIn Para. 1, the word "surroundings" means_______.
| A．intelligence | B．life | C．environments | D．housing |
The best title for this article would be_______.
| A．On Intelligence | B．What Intelligence Means |
| C．We are Born with Intelligence | D．Environment Plays a Part in Developing Intelligence |
There are labels(标签) inside all new clothes. The labels tell you how to take care of your clothes. The label for a shirt may tell you to wash it in warm water. A sweater label may tell you to wash in cold water. The label on a coat may say “dry clean only”, for washing may ruin this coat. If you do as the directions on the label, you can keep your clothes looking their best for a long time.
Many clothes today must be dry cleaned. Dry cleaning is expensive. When buying new clothes, check to see if they will need to be dry cleaned. You will save money if you buy clothes that can be washed.
You can save money if you buy clothes that are well made. Well-made clothes last longer. They look good even after they have been washed many times. Clothes that cost more money are not necessarily better made. They do not always fit better. Sometimes less expensive clothes look and fit better than more expensive clothes.If you want to save money, you had better buy clothes that ______.
| A．don’t fit you | B．don’t last long |
| C．need to be dry cleaned | D．can be washed |
The labels inside the clothes tell you______.
| A．how to keep them looking their best | B．how to save money |
| C．whether they fit you or not | D．where to get them dry cleaned |
We learn from the passage that cheaper clothes ______.
| A．are always worse made | B．must be dry cleaned |
| C．can not be washed | D．can sometimes fit you better |
The best title for the passage should be ______.
| A．Buy Less Expensive Clothes | B．Taking Enough Money When Shopping |
| C．Being a Clever Clothes Shopper | D．Choosing the Labels inside New Clothes |
The Haitian tsunami gave scientists a chance to find out how well vital and potentially life-saving warning systems were working.
Noaa’s Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory has developed a warning system that picks up signals of tsunamis directly from the sea-floor.
It is called Dart-the Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunamis. If seismometers(地震仪) detect an earthquake, the Dart buoys（浮标） will determine what is happening to sea levels, and whether a big wave might be on the way. This information is then sent via satellite to a central location which can organize an alarm. Within 50 minutes of the Haiti earthquake, this system was able to issue an alarm to other countries in the Caribbean to say that a small tsunami had been caused to start, and that was unlikely to affect them.
Dr Bernard said, “The first 30 minutes following the earthquake, we have to rely on education.” The critical aspects of this are: do you feel the earthquake; do you see the ocean draw down; and do you hear that loud roar? If so, you should run for higher ground.
“But after the first few minutes, it’s crucial that we have the technology—the measurements to avoid unnecessary evacuation(疏散撤离)and tell people when it is safe to return.” Right now, there are 50 of these Dart buoys all over the globe—four of which are in the Caribbean.
Dr Bernard says that, with 75 to 100 buoys worldwide, this system could provide global tsunami warnings within one hour.
“That’s for everywhere we know that tsunamis have happened. If we wanted to go to half an hour detection, we could probably double or multiply by four times that number,” he said.
“In some countries, including Haiti, there may not be enough resources to support a specific tsunami warning centre for something that happens so infrequently.”
He said that this system was relatively inexpensive to fix and operate.
“To get it down to an hour for everywhere affected would cost $50m initial investment and then 10% of that to maintain it,” he said.
“That’s not a terribly expensive system considering the potential savings of lives.”In which section would you probably read the passage in a newspaper?
| A．Education and Society |
| B．Culture and Leisure |
| C．Science and Technology |
| D．Health and Medicine |
How many buoys would at least be needed for global tsunami warnings within half an hour?
| A．150 |
| B．100 |
| C．75 |
| D．50 |
Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?
| A．The system can warn people of the coming of tsunami directly after the earthquake. |
| B．We can’t escape the danger of tsunami within 30 minutes following the earthquake. |
| C．Each country can easily afford a tsunami warning centre though it seldom happens. |
| D．It’s worthwhile to spend money on the warning system for possible savings of lives. |
Which of the following would be the best title for this passage?
| A．Tsunami Assessment |
| B．Earthquake detecting |
| C．Disaster Warning System |
| D．Life Saving System |
The New York Times announced Wednesday that it intended to charge frequent readers for access to its website, a step being debated across the industry that nearly every major newspaper has so far feared to take.
Starting in early 2011, visitors to NYTimes.com will get a certain number of articles free every month before being asked to pay a standard and fixed fee for unlimited access. Subscribers to the newspaper’s print edition will receive full access to the site.
But executives of The New York Times Company said they could not yet answer fundamental questions about the plan, like how much it would cost or what the limit would be on free reading. They stressed that the amount of free access could change with time, in response to economic conditions and reader demand. Still, publishers fear that money from digital subscriptions would not make up for the resulting loss of audience and advertising income.
NYTimes.com is by far the most popular newspaper site in the country, with more than 17 million readers a month in the United States, according to Nielsen Online, and analysts say it is the leader in advertising income, as well. That may make it better positioned than other general-interest papers to charge—and also gives The Times more to lose if the move produces an opposed result.
The Times Company has been studying the matter for almost a year, searching for common ground between pro-and-anti pay campaigns—a debate mirrored in dozens of media-watching blogs-- and the system will not go into effect until January 2011. Executives said they were not bothered by the possibility of absorbing barbs(挖苦) for moving cautiously.
“There’s no prize for getting it quick,” said Janet L. Robinson, the company’s president and chief executive. “There’s more of a prize for getting it right.” What’s the function of the first paragraph?
| A．It servers as a comment. |
| B．It serves as a background |
| C．It serves as a lead-in |
| D．It serves as a conclusion. |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．Non-paying subscribers will get no access to NYTimes.com. |
| B．Readers will be charged more to read articles on NYTimes.com. |
| C．Readers will get more free online articles to log on NYTimes. com more often. |
| D．Subscribers to the paper’s print edition will also enjoy full access to the site. |
Which of the words can best describe The Time Company’s attitude towards its announcement?
| A．Unwilling. |
| B．Serious. |
| C．Hasty |
| D．Doubtful |
What is the main idea about the passage?
| A．The Times to offer free access to its web site. |
| B．The Times to increase audience to its web site. |
| C．The Times to attract advertisement to its web site |
| D．The Times to charge for frequent access to its web site. |