Someday a stranger will read your e-mail without your permission or scan the websites you’ve visited. Or perhaps someone will casually glance through your credit card purchases or cell phone bills to find out your shopping preferences or calling habits.
In fact, it’s likely some of these things have already happened to you. Who would watch you without your permission? It might be a spouse, a girlfriend, a marketing company, a boss, a cop or a criminal. Whoever it is, they will see you in a way you never intended to be seen—the 21st century equivalent (相等物) of being caught naked.
Psychologists tell us boundaries are healthy, that it’s important to reveal yourself to friends, family and lovers in stages, at appropriate times. But few boundaries remain. The digital bread pieces you leave everywhere make it easy for strangers to reconstruct who you are, where you are and what you like. In some cases, a simple Google search can reveal what you think. Like it or not, increasingly we live in a world where you simply cannot keep a secret.
The key question is: Does that matter?
For many Americans, the answer apparently is “no.”
When opinion polls (民意测验) ask Americans about privacy, most say they are concerned about losing it. A survey found a serious depression about privacy, with 60 percent of respondents saying they feel their privacy is “slipping away, and that bothers me.”
But people say one thing and do another. Only a tiny part of Americans change any behaviors in an effort to preserve their privacy. Few people turn down a discount at tollbooths (收费站) to avoid using the EZ-Pass system that can track automobile movements. And few turn down supermarket loyalty cards. Privacy economist Alessanfro Acquisti has run a series of tests that reveal people will surr
ender personal information like Social Security numbers just to get their hands on a pitiful 50-cents-off coupon (优惠券).
But privacy does matter—at least sometimes. It’s like health: when you have it, you don’t notice it. Only when it’s gone do you wish you’d done more to protect it.What would psychologists advise on the relationships between friends?
| A．Friends should open their hearts to each other. |
| B．Friends should always be faithful to each other. |
| C．There should be a distance even between friends. |
| D．There should be fewer disagreements between friends. |
Why does the author say “we live in a world where you simply cannot keep a secret”?
| A．Modern society has finally developed into an open society. |
| B．People leave traces around when using modern technology. |
| C．There are always people who are curious about others’ affairs. |
| D．Many search engines profit by revealing people’s identities. |
What do most Americans do about privacy protection?
| A．They change behaviors that might disclose their identity. | |
B．They use various loyalty cards for business deals. |
C．They rely more and more on electronic devices. |
| D．They talk a lot but hardly do anything about it. |
According to the passage, privacy is like health because __________.
| A．people will make every effort to keep it |
| B．its importance is rarely understood |
| C．it is something that can easily be lost |
| D．people don’t cherish it until they lose it |
Below is a selection from a popular science book.
If blood is red, why are veins (静脉) blue?
Actually, veins are not blue at all. They are more of a clear, yellowish colour. Although blood looks red when it's outside the body, when it's sitting in a vein near the surface of the skin, it's more of a dark reddish purple color. At the right depth, these blood-filled veins reflect less red light than the surrounding skin, making them look blue by comparison.
Which works harder, your heart or your brain?
Which works harder depends on whether you are busy thinking or busy exercising. Your heart works up to three times harder during exercise, and shifts enough blood over a lifetime to fill a supertanker. But, in the long run, your brain probably tips it, because even when you’re sitting still your brain is using twice as much energy as your heart, and it takes four to five times as much blood to feed it.
Why do teeth fall out, and why don't they grow back in grown-ups?
Baby (or "milk") teeth do not last long; they fall out to make room for bigger, stronger adult teeth later on. Adult teeth fall out when they become damaged, decayed and infected by bacteria. Once this second set of teeth has grown in, you're done. When they're gone, they’re gone. This is because nature figures you're set for life, and what controls regrowth of your teeth switches off.
Do old people shrink as they age?
Yes and no. Many people do get shorter as they age. But, when they do, it isn't because they're shrinking all over. They simply lose height as their spine(脊柱) becomes shorter and more curved due to disuse and the effects of gravity. Many (but not all) men and women do lose height as they get older. Men lose an average of 3-4 cm in height as they age, while women may lose 5 cm or more. If you live to be 200 years old, would you keep shrinking till you were, like 60 cm tall, like a little boy again? No, because old people don't really shrink! It is not that they are growing backwards — their legs, arms and backbones getting shorter. When they do get shorter, it's because the spine has shortened a little or, more often, become more bent and curved.
Why does spinning（旋转） make you dizzy (眩晕的)?
Because your brain gets confused between what you're seeing and what you're feeling. The brain senses that you’re spinning using special gravity-and-motion-sensing organs in your inner ear, which work together with your eyes to keep your vision and balance stable. But when you suddenly stop spinning the system goes out of control, and your brain thinks you're moving while you're not!
Where do feelings and emotions come from?
Mostly from an ancient part of the brain called the limbic system. All mammals have this brain area — from mice to dogs, cats, and humans. So all mammals feel basic emotions like fear, pain and pleasure. But since human feelings also involve other newer bits of the brain, we feel more complex emotions than any other animal on the planet.
If exercise wears you out, how can it be good for you?
Because our bodies adapt to everything we do to them. And as far as your body is concerned, it’s "use it, or lose it”! It's not that exercise makes you healthy; it's more that a lack of exercise leaves your body weak and easily affected by disease.What is the color of blood in a vein near the surface of the skin?
| A．Blue. | B．Light yellow. | C．Red. | D．Dark reddish purple. |
Why do some old people look a little shrunken as they age?
| A．Because their spine is in active use. |
| B．Because they are more easily affected by gravity. |
| C．Because they keep growing backwards. |
| D．Because their spine becomes more bent. |
Which of the following statements about our brain is true?
| A．In the long run, our brain probably works harder than our heart. |
| B．When our brain senses the spinning, we will fell dizzy. |
| C．The brains of the other mammals are as complex as those of humans. |
| D．Our feelings and emotions come from the most developed area in our brain. |
What is the main purpose of the selection?
| A．To give advice on how to stay healthy. |
| B．To provide information about our body. |
| C．To challenge new findings in medical research. |
| D．To report the latest discoveries in medical science. |
One might expect that theever-growing demands of the tourist trade would bring nothing but good for the countries that receive theholiday-makers. Indeed, a rosypicture is painted for the long-term future of the holiday industry. Every month sees the building of a new hotel somewhere,and every month another rock-bound Pacific island is advertised as the “last paradise (天堂) onearth”.
However, the scale andspeed of this growth seem setto destroy the very things tourists want to enjoy. In those countries where therewas a rush tomake quickmoney out of sea-side holidays, over-crowded beaches and theconcrete jungles ofendless hotels have begun to lose their appeal.
Those countries with little experience of tourism cansuffer most. In recentyears,Nepal set out to attract foreign visitors to fund developments in health andeducation. Its forests, full ofwildlife and rare flowers, wereoffered to tourists as one more untouched paradise. Infact, the nature all toosoon felt the effects of thousands of holiday-makers traveling through the forest land.Ancient tracks became major routes for thewalkers, with the consequent exploitation ofprecious trees and plants.
Not only the environment of a country can suffer from the sudden growth of tourism. The people as well rapidly feel its effects. Farmland makes way for hotels, roads and airports; the old way of life goes away. The one-time farmer is now the servant of some multi-national organization; he is no longer his own master. Once it was his back that bore the pain; now it is his smile that is exploited. No doubt he wonders whether he wasn’t happier in his village working his own land.
Thankfully, the tourist industry is waking up to the responsibilities it has towards those countries that receive its customers. The protection of wildlife and the creation of national parks go hand in hand with tourist development and in fact obtain financial support from tourist companies. At the same time, tourists are being encouraged to respect not only the countryside they visit but also its people.
The way tourism is handled in the next ten years will decide its fate and that of the countries we all want to visit. Their needs and problems are more important than those of the tourist companies. Increased understanding in planning world-wide tourism can preserve the market for these companies. If not, in a few years’ time the very things that attract tourists now may well have been destroyed.What does the author indicate in the last sentence of Paragraph 1?
| A．The Pacific island is a paradise. |
| B．The Pacific island is worth visiting. |
| C．The advertisement is not convincing. |
| D．The advertisement is not impressive. |
The example of Nepal is used to suggest _________.
| A．its natural resources are untouched |
| B．its forests are exploited for farmland |
| C．it develops well in health and education |
| D．it suffers from the heavy flow of tourists |
Which of the following determines the future of tourism?
| A．The number of tourists. |
| B．The improvement of services. |
| C．The promotion of new products. |
| D．The management of tourism. |
The author’s attitude towards the development of the tourist industry is __________.
| A．optimistic | B．doubtful | C．objective | D．negative |
“I stepped out and was flabbergasted,” local journalist Bahram Baloch told the BBC. “I could see this gray, dome-shaped (圆顶形的) body in the distance, like a giant whale swimming near the surface. Hundreds of people had gathered to watch it in disbelief.”
This island has become a global curiosity. How was it formed in just a few minutes?
As you might already know, many islands in the sea are formed by volcanoes. There are numerous volcanoes under the sea. As the hot lava erupts and cools down, it piles up and forms the shape of a mountain. When the mountain “grows” to higher than the sea level, the part that’s above the water is what we call an “island”.
This is how the island was formed after the Pakistan earthquake, except that instead of a regular volcano, it was a “mud volcano” that brought about this island. Lava is not the only thing that’s locked under the Earth’s crust — there is also gas. When an earthquake happens and breaks part of the crust, the gas is released at an extremely high speed, pushing mud up to the surface, according to National Geographic.
But only earthquakes that are extremely powerful can cause mud volcanoes to push up enough mud to produce islands — and this 7.7-magnitude earthquake in Pakistan was strong enough. The island is about 20 meters high, up to about 90 meters wide and 30 meters long, nearly the size of a soccer field.
In fact, mud volcano islands aren’t new. This is the fourth island of this kind in the region since 1945. But those islands usually didn’t last long.
“It will probably be gone within a couple of months,” said Bill Barnhart, a researcher with the US Geological Survey. After all, “it’s just a big pile of mud that was on the seafloor that got pushed up”.What is the article mainly about?
| A．The disastrous effects of coastal earthquakes. |
| B．The difference between mud volcanoes and regular volcanoes. |
| C．How islands are formed by mud volcanoes. |
| D．The great natural wonders of Pakistan. |
The underlined word “flabbergasted” in Paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to __________.
| A．surprised | B．disappointed | C．worried | D．curious |
We can infer from the article that __________.
| A．the new island near the coast of Pakistan actually took a few months to form |
| B．scientists still know little about different types of volcanoes |
| C．another earthquake is likely to happen in Pakistan within a couple of months |
| D．not all volcanoes change the geological appearance of the Earth |
According to the article, islands formed by mud volcanoes __________.
| A．are quite difficult to locate |
| B．usually disappear after a short period of time |
| C．are formed by hot lava from volcanoes |
| D．used to be part of the Earth’s crust |
A
Some years ago, writing in my diary used to be a usual activity. I would return from school and spend the expected half hour recording the day’s events, feelings, and impressions in my little blue diary. I did not really need to express my emotions by way of words, but I gained a certain satisfaction from seeing my experiences forever recorded on paper. After all, isn’t accumulating memories a way of preserving the past?
When I was thirteen years old, I went on a long journey on foot in a great valley, well-equipped with pens, a diary, and a camera. During the trip, I was busy recording every incident, name and place I came across. I felt proud to be spending my time productively, dutifully preserving for future generations a detailed description of my travels. On my last night there, I wandered out of my tent, diary in hand. The sky was clear and lit by the glare of the moon, and the walls of the valley looked threatening behind their screen of shadows. I automatically took out my pen.
At that point, I understood that nothing I wrote could ever match or replace the few seconds I allowed myself to experience the dramatic beauty of the valley. All I remembered of the previous few days were the dull characterizations I had set down in my diary.
Now, I only write in my diary when I need to write down a special thought or feeling. I still love to record ideas and quotations that strike me in books, or observations that are particularly meaningful. I take pictures, but not very often—only of objects I find really beautiful. I’m no longer blindly satisfied with having something to remember when I grow old. I realize that life will simply pass me by if I stay behind the camera, busy preserving the present so as to live it in the future.
I don’t want to wake up one day and have nothing but a pile of pictures and notes. Maybe I won’t have as many exact representations of people and places; maybe I’ll forget certain facts, but at least the experiences will always remain inside me. I don’t live to make memories — I just live, and the memories form themselves.Before the age of thirteen, the author regarded keeping a diary as a way of __________.
| A．observing her school routine |
| B．expressing her satisfaction |
| C．impressing her classmates |
| D．preserving her history |
What does the author put in her diary now?
| A．Notes and beautiful pictures. |
| B．Special thoughts and feelings. |
| C．Detailed accounts of daily activities. |
| D．Descriptions of unforgettable events. |
The author comes to realize that to live a meaningful life is __________.
| A．to experience it |
| B．to live the present in the future |
| C．to make memories |
| D．to give accurate representations of it |
Culture helps human societies survive in changing natural environment．For example, the end of the last Ice Age, beginning about 15,000 years ago, brought a big challenge to which humans had to adapt．Before this time, large parts of the northern hemisphere were covered in great sheets of ice that contained much of the earth' s water．In North America, large animals that wandered the vast tundra （冰原） provided people with food and materials for clothing and simple shelters．When the earth became warm, large Ice Age animals disappeared, and many land areas were covered by rising sea levels from melting ice．But people survived, they developed new technologies and learned how to survive on new plant and animal species． Finally some people settled into permanent villages, durable houses and farms．
Cultural adaptation has made humans one of the most successful species on the planet． Through history, major developments in technology, medicine, and nutrition have allowed people to reproduce and survive in ever-increasing numbers．The global population has risen from 8 million during the Ice Age to about 6 billion today．
However, the successes of culture adaptation can also create problems in the long run．Over the last 200 years, people have begun to use large quantities of natural resources and energy and to produce a great amount of material and chemical wastes．The global population now consumes some important natural resources—such as petroleum, wood, and minerals—faster than nature can produce them．Many scientists believe that in the process of burning fuels and producing wastes, people may be changing the global climate in unpredictable and possibly harmful ways．Thus, the adaptive success of the present-day global culture of production and trade may be temporary．What is the first paragraph mainly talking about?
| A．How the human beings survived in the Ice Age． |
| B．What the situation was like during the Ice Age． |
| C．What caused the Ice Age to come to an end． |
| D．Why the Ice Age was very important． |
To deal with the problems, human beings should ______according to the passage．
| A．stop developing any longer |
| B．reduce the overuse of natural resources |
| C．stop the global warming and using natural resources |
| D．save more animals in case they all die out |
Which of the following is the problem caused by cultural adaptation according to the passage?
| A．A very developed culture came into being． |
| B．New technologies have been developed． |
| C．Natural resources have been used up． |
| D．Human activities have done damage to the balance of nature． |
Which of the following can be the best tide of the passage?
| A．Natural Environment Should Be Protected． |
| B．The Success of Cultural Adaptation Is Not Permanent． |
| C．The Global Population Is Increasing Since Ice Age． |
| D．Human Beings Are Capable of Surviving on Earth. |