More Americans are Googling themselves ------ and many are checking out their friends, co-workers and romantic interests, too.
In a report Sunday, the Pew Internet and American Life Project said 47 percent of U.S. adult Internet users have looked for information about themselves through Google or another search engine.
That is more than twice the 22 percent of users who did in 2002, but Pew senior research specialist Mary Madden was surprised the growth wasn't higher.
"Yes it's doubled, but many Internet users have never done this simple act of plugging their name with search engines," she said.
Americans under 50 and those with more education and income were more likely to self-Google because their jobs demand a certain online persona.
Meanwhile, Pew found that 53 percent of adult Internet users admit looking up information about someone else, not including celebrities.
Often, it's to find someone they have lost touch with. But looking up information about friends, relatives, colleagues and neighbors also was common.
Although men and women equally searched for online information about themselves, women were slightly more likely to look up information about someone they are dating.
In many cases, the search is done to find someone's contact information. But a third of those who have conducted searches on others have looked for public records, such as bankruptcies(破产) and divorce (离婚)proceedings. A similar number have searched for someone else's photo.
Few Internet users say they Google themselves regularly —— about three-quarters of self-searchers say they have done so only once or twice. And most who have done so consider what they find accurate.
Pew also found that teens were more likely than adults to restrict who can see their information at an online hangout(常去之处) like Facebook or News Corp's MySpace.The number of American adult Internet users______ Mary Madden.
A.frightened | B.pleased | C.disappointed | D.annoyed |
What does “ they” refer to in the seventh paragraph?
A.common people | B.scientists |
C.adults | D.53 percent adult Internet users |
How many people have checked others’ photos?
A.One- fifth | B.One-fourth | C.One- third | D.A half |
What is the best title of the passage?
A.Learn to Google Yourself | B.Googling Oneself Is Popular |
C.New Performance Online | D.Don’t Google Yourself Online |
In a book called Magnificent Obsession, by Lloyd C. Douglas, a description is given of people helping others but doing it secretly. When difficult problems worried an individual, friends nearby would meet to discuss possible solutions without the individual knowing their actions. When a solution was agreed upon, one or two of the friends would carry out the plan and solve the problem secretly, to the great delight of the worried individual. The helpers would stand by privately, content with their success. No reward was given to the problem solvers, not even a sincere “thank you”, because they were never known.
This concept is popular today but in a different way. The phrase “pay it forward” is now used when one person helps another. However, the person helped may not be able to repay the person or group that helped them. So rather than return the favor to their helpers, they are supposed to help someone else in the future, which means they pay it forward. It is a sense of responsibility which makes us want to give back in equal measure to the one who has helped us. But, in this case, the responsibility turns to helping someone in the future.
Suppose your elderly grandmother pays part of your schooling. She may tell you there is no need to repay her because it is a gift from someone who loves you very much. Nothing would please her more than to have you use her money to get a good education.
You may never be able to repay her for such a gift. However, she not only gave you some money, but she provided you with an example that you should also help other people who need it.
People with serious needs are everywhere. Many are children who need better clothes, more books and even better schools. Some are elderly people who can’t afford their medicine or a doctor’s care. Consider how you can “pay it forward” rather than pay money back to your grandmother.The helpers in the book “Magnificent Obsession” were not rewarded because ________.
A.they hadn’t solved the problems thoroughly |
B.they expected to be paid back in the future. |
C.they were friends of the worried individual |
D.they had solved the problems secretly |
The underlined word “pay it forward” means ________.
A.to repay someone who has helped you |
B.to help someone else who needs help |
C.to help someone who has helped you |
D.to pay someone else who needs help |
What does the writer suggest with the example of “your elderly grandmother”?
A.We should also lend a hand to other people in need of help. |
B.We should work hard to get a good education. |
C.We should learn to respect our grandparents. |
D.We should never forget to repay people for their help. |
By writing the passage, the author wishes people in the world to be ________.
A.honest | B.mysterious | C. unselfish | D.unforgettable |
Half a century ago, during the Sino-Japanese War, I was a student at National Southwest Associated University at Kunming in southern China, Lectures were often accompanied by the pitter-patter of rain on the tin roofs of the classrooms; that mud floors were full of holes; and wind blew through paneless windows. As for the library, it was a bare skeleton. A good reference book was used for years and journals usually arrived after a couple of years’ delay.
But despite such hardship, I had the best of my student days in Kunming. Although we were short of research materials, we were uncompromising(坚定的)in our pursue of knowledge and truth. I spent six years at Southwest and obtained my first and second degrees in physics here. I still value those days fervently. In fact it was at Southwest that I first came across Reader’s Digest. To me, the magazine’s insistence on perfection both in style and accuracy—as well as its celebration of life even in the face of hardship—is similar to the values I learned at Southwest.
Later, I went to the United States to study under Enrich Ferimi, the famous physicist who directed the world’s first nuclear chain reaction. One of the first things Ferimi emphasized to me was that physics shouldn’t be so overwhelming(压倒性的)that it is beyond the average man. Physics research, he said, should be connected with our daily lives and physicists should devote most of their efforts to solving practical problems. I couldn’t agree more. Indeed, I think this simple, close-to-life.
Approach applies other attempts too. Reader’s Digest is highly informative, but it is easy to read, and easy to understand, never exaggerating or mystifying. This truthful, down-to earth quality is what I treasure now.What is the author?
A.A soldier | B.A teacher | C.An editor | D.A physicist |
Which of the following is NOT true of the National Southwest Associated University?
A.The mud floors of the classrooms were uneven. | B.Its classroom windows had no glass. |
C.The only thing its library had was a skeleton. | |
D.It was short of research materials. |
What was the first thing Ferimi emphasized to the author?
A.Physics research should be related to daily lives. |
B.Physics should not be considered as the most important course. |
C. Theoretical problems need solving first. |
D.The results of physics research could be used in the national defense. |
What does the author think of Reader’s Digest?
A.It is far from perfect in style or accuracy. |
B.It devotes its efforts to solving practical problems. |
C.It gives much information. |
D.Its language is simple, but beautifully written. |
Facebook means never having to say goodbye. The social media web site has earned a reputation for reconnecting old friends. Last week, a guy whom I hadn't seen since my bachelor party five years ago sent me a friend request. I accepted and waited for him to send me a greeting of some kind. He had sought me out, after all.
I learned from his profile that he was in a relationship and had a son. However, I'm pretty sure we won’t ever write wall-to-wall, let alone e-mail each other. But he'll remain a friend of online until one of us makes a point of removing the other from his official list.
My pool of friends consists of family members, college buddies, co-workers from past and present, and friends of friends. There are 35 in all. If I spent some time uploading old e-mail addresses, I'm confident that I could increase my friend count actually.
A person could make a mission out of reconnecting with childhood friends, former classmates, distant cousins, and those one would like to get to know better. And some people can even handle hundreds of on-screen relationships, keeping up with the daily happenings of their small army of companions. After all, there are worse fates than having too many friends.
Thanks to e-mail, the inability to schedule face-to-face meetings no longer means a friendship must come to a close. But even with e-mail, people will lose touch if one or both parties stop writing back. That's normal. People move from school to school, job to job, city to city. You never have to feel guilty for breaking away.
Every day, the masterminds of Web 2. 0 find new ways of making human communication easier. However, convenience can be a crutch. Some things shouldn't be simplified. When it comes to friendship, there can be no shortcuts.According to Paragraph l, the web site is famous because _______.
A.it has an interesting name of “Facebook” |
B.it helps people get in touch with old friends |
C.it can send people a greeting of some kind |
D.it reminds people of events in the past |
From the second paragraph we can learn that the writer _______.
A.would write to the friend quite often |
B.asked the friend to e-mail him |
C.did get some information about the friend |
D.would keep in touch with the friend forever |
Which of the following statements is NOT true?
A.There are 35 people in the author's list of friends right now. |
B.The author communicates with all the 35 friends by e-mails. |
C.The list of 35 friends doesn't include the old e-mail addresses. |
D.It is not difficult for the author to increase his friend count. |
What does the author think of the convenience of communicating on line?
A.The technology could not keep true friendship forever. |
B.The social web site of Facebook means nothing at all. |
C.There will be no ways of making real friends on line. |
D.People will not lose friends with the help of the Facebook. |
Most young people enjoy some form of physical activity. It may be walking, cycling or swimming, or in winter, skating or skiing. It may be a game of some form---football, basketball, hockey, golf or tennis. It may be mountaineering.
Those who have a passion for climbing high and difficult mountains are often looked upon with astonishment. Why are men and women willing to suffer cold and hardship, and to take risks in high mountains? This astonishment is caused, probably, by the difference between mountaineering and other forms of activity to which men give their leisure.
Mountaineering is a sport and not a game. There are no man-made rules, as others, as there are for such games as golf and football. There are, of course, rules of different kind which it would be dangerous to ignore, but it is this freedom from man-made rules that makes mountaineering attractive to many people. Those who climb mountains are free to use their own methods.
If we compare mountaineering and other more familiar sports, we might think that one big difference is that mountaineering is not a “team game”. We should be mistaken in this. There are, it is true, no “matches” between “teams” of climbers, but when climbers are on a rock face linked by a rope on which their lives may depend, there is obviously teamwork.
The mountain climber knows that he may have to fight forces that are stronger and more powerful than man. He has to fight the forces of nature. His sport requires high mental and physical qualities.
A mountain climber continues to improve in skill year after year. A skier is probably past his best by the age of thirty. But it is not unusual for men of fifty or sixty to climb the highest mountains in the Alps. They may take more time than younger men, but they perhaps climb with more skill and less waste of effort, and they certainly experience equal enjoyment.Mountaineering is a sport, not a game because ________.
A.it has man-made rules |
B.it is too dangerous for climbers |
C.it can’t bring people joy and leisure |
D.it is free for climbers to use their own methods |
A mountain climber must be strong both mentally and physically because _______.
A.there are no regular man-made rules for him to follow![]() |
B.there is no teamwork and he has to depend on himself |
C.his component is not one or several people but nature |
D.mountaineering requires the s![]() |
We know from the passage that _______.
A.mountaineering has no appeal to people |
B.physical quality is more important than mental one for climbers |
C.it is possible for an old man in his fifties to climb the Alps |
D.a mountain climber would pass his best by the age of thirty |
Name: Off the Beaten Path
Cover price: $30.00
Our price: $l9.80
The best-selling Reader’s Digest travel book has 40% new content including over 200 new sites, over 200 new full-color photographs, and all-new, up-to-date maps. It spotlights over l, 000 of the United States’ most overlooked must-see destinations.
Name: Container Gardens by Number
Cover price: $l5.95
Our price: $9.49
A unique book contains 50 easy-to-follow container designs. Each design provides a simple numbered planting plan that shows exactly how to create each display, with an instruction of the finished planter and in-depth (深入的) plant information. The plans are easy to follow and for any type of living space or garden.
Name: Best Weekend Projects
Cover price: $l7.95
Our price: $l3.96
Choose from 80 unique ideas to create an extraordinary living space. The projects are practical, as well as attractive, and will improve your home and yard and can be made in a weekend. These 80 well-designed projects are presented in a clear, easy-to-follow style that addresses readers in an accessible, user-friendly tone.
Name: l80l Home Remedies
Cover price: $40.00
Our price: $29.96
Plenty of health complaints can be handled at home. Each and every remedy will be tested by a doctor to make sure it is safe and sound.
Dozens of conditions are covered, from headaches, sunburn, bad breath, and blisters (水泡) to allergies (过敏), and hiccups (打嗝). You can most probably read the passage in a ________.
A.newspaper | B.travel guide | C.reference book | D.textbook |
Which of the following could help you to improve your home environment?
A.Off the Beaten Path & l80l Home Remedies. |
B.Container Gardens by Number & Best Weekend Projects. |
C.l80l Home Remedies & Container Gardens by Number. |
D.Best Weekend Projects & Off the Beaten Path. |
What’s the purpose of the passage?
A.To share his opinion about the books with readers. |
B.To advise readers to read more in spare time. |
C.To share the pleasure of reading with readers. |
D.To advise readers to buy their books. |