Microblogging is a broadcast medium in the form of blogging. A microblog differs from a traditional blog in that its content is typically much smaller, in both actual size and aggregate file size. Microblogs “allow users to exchange small elements of content such as short sentences, individual images, or video links”.
As with traditional blogging, microbloggers post about topics ranging from the simple, such as "what I'm doing right now," to the thematic(主题的), such as "sports cars.” Commercial microblogs also exist, to promote (促进) websites, services and/or products, and to promote collaboration within an organization.
Some microblogging services offer features such as privacy settings, which allow users to control who can read their microblogs, or other ways of publishing rights besides entering the web-based interface.(界面) These may include text messaging, instant messaging, E-mail, or digital audio.
The first microblogs were known as tumblelogs. The term was invented in a blog post on April 12, 2005. However, by 2006 and 2007, the term microblog came into greater usage for such services provided by Tumblr and Twitter. Other leading social networking websites Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, and XING also have their own microblogging features, better known as status updates.
Several studies, especially by Harvard Business School have tried to analyze the usage behavior of Microblogging services. Many of these studies show that for services such as Twitter, there is a small group of active users contributing to most of the activity.
Twitter, Facebook and other microblogging services are also becoming a platform for marketing and public relations, with a sharp growth in the number of social media marketers. The Sysomos study shows that this specific group of marketers on Twitter is much more active than general user population, with 15% following more than 2,000 people. Why is a microblog different from a traditional blog?
| A．Because a microblog doesn’t include pictures, but a traditional blog does. |
| B．Because a microblog doesn’t include videos, but a traditional blog does. |
| C．Because a microblog has smaller contents than a traditional blog in actual and total file size. |
| D．Because a microblog can only be written on the cell-phones. |
What is the meaning of the underlined word “collaboration” in the second paragraph?
| A．Competition. | B．Discussion. | C．Tradition. | D．Cooperation |
Microblogging can protect the following privacy EXCEPT_______.
| A．deciding the readers of the microblogs |
| B．allowing readers to publish their views |
| C．readers’ deleting what a microblog says |
| D．deciding whether readers can enter it |
We can infer from the passage that______.
| A．microbloggers always post about the thematic topics instead of the simple ones |
| B．microblogging has developed so quickly and brought the owners more and more benefits. |
| C．microblogging protects both the owners’ and the readers’ privacy |
| D．the studies by Harward Business School have analyzed the usage of microblogging services |
Would the voice of Amanda Holden saying “your city had talent” encourage you to use a litter bin? Or maybe former Monty Python star Michael Palin telling you no one had expected “the Spanish bin-quisition”？
Organizers of a plan persuading celebrities（名人）to lend their voices to “talking bins”believe it can make a real difference to keeping Britain tidy. They hope that by using humor, they will succeed where fines and warnings have failed in keeping streets and parks clean.
A similar experiment in Sweden found a talking bin received nearly three times as much rubbish as an ordinary one because people were attracted by its quality of being new and unusual value.
Twenty-five specially adapted bins to be installed（安装）in the streets of London and Liverpool next month will use a sound card to play a themed message when litter is placed inside. For example，one near the Royal Opera House will play a “thank-you” message sung by Janis Kelly to the tune of Nessun Dorina. Bins installed in Liverpool will play Beatles-themed messages. For others，Britain’s Got Talent judge Holden is expected to record the message：“This is Amanda, and this city’s got talent.”
The campaign，entitled Bin Thinking, is being organized by art group Sing London. If successful，talking bins could become a familiar feature on Britain’s streets.
Colette Hiller, director of Sing London, said, “ The idea is to reward people in a small way for changing their behavior and raise awareness through a sense of fun.”What is the plan persuading celebrities to lend their voices to “talking bins” aimed at？
| A．Attracting passers’-by attention on celebrities. |
| B．Encouraging people to use the litter bins to keep Britain tidy. |
| C．Making fun of those who won’t keep the streets and parks clean. |
| D．Thanking people for cleaning the litter bins through a sense of fun. |
The following stars’ voices are to be lent to “talking bins” except_________________.
| A．Amanda Holder’ s | B．Michael Palin’s |
| C．Janis Kelly’s | D．Nessun Dorma' s |
We can infer from the text that_________________.
| A．children are most attracted by “talking bins” |
| B．different messages will be played due to different streets |
| C．Britain is the first city where the experiment on “talking bins” was made |
| D．“talking bins” might take the place of ordinary litter bins in Britain |
What would be the best title for the text?
| A．Lending your voice to “talking bins” |
| B．Sing London art organization |
| C．A campaign named Bin Thinking |
| D．A new experiment on litter bins |
More than half of rich Americans have not shown their full wealth to their children, a new survey showed last Tuesday.
The survey, published by the Bank of America, studied the rich with＄3 million or more in possessions. It found that “surprisingly few of those surveyed have well-developed plans to preserve and pass on their possessions to their children”.
The majority of the 457 people surveyed are self-made, first-generation rich. Fifty-two percent of parents have not chosen not to tell their children just how wealthy they are，and 15 percent have given away nothing about the family wealth. One in three parents said they had never thought to do it.
They are worried that their children would become lazy, spend money freely，make bad decisions and even become a target for attractive women who use their looks to get money from rich men.
Only 34 percent strongly agreed that their children would be able to handle any inheritance（遗产）they plan to leave them.
“There is an expectation about the wealthy parents that they have a responsibility to pass down their fortune to the next generation,” said Sallie Krawcheck，president of the Global Wealth and Investment Management of the Bank of America. “Our research, however, uncovered changing views of what one generation owes the next.”
The trend is led by the world’s richest man Bill Gates, who promised in 2008 that he would leave his $58 billion fortune to the charity started by him and his wife, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation（基金会），and not to his children.
“ We want to give it back to society in the way that it will have the most positive effect,” he said.
Of his plans for his children , Gates said: “I will give the kids some money but not a meaningful percentage… they will need to work but they will feel reasonably taken care of.”We can learn from the passage that .
| A．rich parents may not know how to manage their inheritance |
| B．rich parents don’t equal rich kids, at least in the US |
| C．American children don’t get to inherit their parents’ wealth |
| D．poor children don’t expect themselves to be as rich as their parents |
According to the survey, most rich Americans ．
| A．think they owe their children nothing |
| B．think it best to give their money back to society |
| C．doubt their children’s ability to handle wealth |
| D．are confident of their children’s ability to handle wealth |
The underlined word “they” in Paragraph 6 refers to．
| A．responsible children |
| B．Bill Gates and his wife |
| C．first-generation rich |
| D．rich parents |
From the last paragraph，we can see that Bill Gates wants to show .
| A．the trend of leaving no inheritance to children |
| B．the positive effect of charity on society |
| C．the way of giving back to society |
| D．the importance of independence for children |
An 8-year-old girl was dragged about 900 feet by a school bus today in Livingston County.
According to State Police, the incident occurred about 2：40 pm on State Route 436 in the town of Ossian after three sisters were dropped off the bus.
As the last sister was leaving the bus, driver John Coley, 62 , of Wayland, Steuben County, told the police that he was not paying attention when he closed the door and trapped her backpack inside. Coley then continued 900 feet before he realized the girl was being dragged, State Police said.
The girl was hurt and was transported to Nicholas H Noyes Memorial Hospital in Dansville，Livingston County, by Dansville Ambulance.
Another 8-year-old child on the bus said he hit his head on the seat in front of him when the bus came to a sudden stop, causing an earache.
●Conservation staff in New Zealand have put down 33 stranded（搁浅的）whales after several attempts to refloat them failed.
The whales were shot on Farewell Spit on the South Island. Department of Conservation area manager John Mason says staff and hundreds of volunteers had tried all week to get the whales refloated.
He says they thought they were successful on Wednesday when they got the whales into deep water——but were saddened on Thursday to find that they had swum back ashore. He says the condition of the whales had significantly become worse.
As well as the 33 whales that were shot，36 had died naturally since Monday and 17 were successfully refloated. 13 remain unknown.The last sister was dragged by the bus because______________.
| A．she stood too close to the bus when getting off |
| B．the bus driver stopped the bus suddenly |
| C．something was wrong with the bus door |
| D．her backpack was stuck in the closed door |
It can be inferred from the first news that______________．
| A．three sisters were dragged about 900 feet by a school bus |
| B．the driver stopped the bus immediately he realized his mistake |
| C．two children were hurt and sent to hospital |
| D．a boy was hurt when the bus started suddenly |
How many whales were trapped ashore in total?
| A．33. | B．36. | C．99. | D．13. |
The 33 refloated whales returned ashore on______________.
| A．Monday | B．Tuesday | C．Wednesday | D．Thursday |
A jobless man applied for the position of “office boy” at Microsoft. The HR manager interviewed him and then watched him cleaning the floor as a test.
“You are employed,” he said. “Give me your e-mail address and I’ll send you the application to fill in, as well as date when you may start.”
The man replied，“But I don’t have a computer, neither an e-mail.”
“I’ m sorry，” said the HR manager.“If you don’t have an e-mail，that means , you do not exist. And who doesn’t exist cannot have the job.”
The man left with no hope at all. He didn't know what to do with only ten dollars in his pocket. He then decided to go to the supermarket and buy 10 kg tomatoes. He then sold the tomatoes from door to door. In less than two hours, he succeeded to double his capital. He repeated the operation three times, and returned home happily with 60 dollars.
The man realized that he could survive in this way, and started to go every day earlier, and return late. Thus, his money doubled or tripled every day. Shortly, he bought a cart, then a truck, and then he had his own fleet of delivery vehicles. Five years later, the man is one of the biggest food retailers(销售商) in the US.
He started to plan his family’s future and decided to have a life insurance. He called an insurance broker（经纪人）and chose a protection plan.
When the conversation was concluded the broker asked him his e-mail. The man replied, “I don’t have an e-mail.”
The broker answered curiously,“You don’t have an e-mail, and yet have succeeded to build an empire. Can you imagine what you could have been if you had an e-mail?" The man thought for a while and replied,“Yes，I’d be an office boy at Microsoft!”The underlined word “tripled” can be replaced by.
| A．became large | B．became 3 times |
| C．increased quickly | D．decreased quickly |
According to the passage，which of the following is TRUE?
| A．The man is one of the biggest food retailers in the world. |
| B．The man didn’t give up though he failed the interview. |
| C．He started his career by selling tomatoes in the Supermarket. |
| D．Those who have e-mails can work at Microsoft. |
The man can be described as.
| A．helpful and considerate |
| B．positive and generous |
| C．smart and hardworking |
| D．stubborn and unselfish |
Which proverb can best describe the story?
| A．Misfortune may be an actual blessing. |
| B．Where there is a will, there is a way. |
| C．Accidents will happen. |
| D．No pains, no gains. |
Have you ever wished you could solve complex math problems without thinking? What about learning to play the piano in just three days? Or mastering several foreign languages within a month?
Eddie Morra, the main character in the movie Limitless can do all these things. But he isn’t Superman or Harry Potter. Eddie has taken pills called NZT.
Thriller Limitless came out in China on October 13. In the movie, Eddie is faced with “writer’s block”. He hasn’t written a single word of a novel, and his deadline has passed. And there’s more bad news: his girlfriend breaks up with him. By chance, Eddie runs into a relative who is a drug dealer. He gives Eddie some pills called NZT that allow people to make use of 100 percent of their brains. With the magic pills, Eddie’s life changes completely. He can recall everything he has ever read, seen or heard. He gains a sixth sense that allows him to predict future events. He even becomes a kungfu master by simply memorizing actions in Bruce Lee’s movie.
Before long he has finished his novel, won back his girlfriend and stepped into the financial world. He becomes rich incredibly quickly and is soon employed by a powerful Wall Street company. However, bad side effects are just around the corner. The effects of the pill last for only one or two days, and Eddie has to find more supplies of the pills. Meanwhile, the pills start to have other effects on him. Eddies’ mind loses the ability to control the actions of his body. What does destiny hold for him? Will he be able to go back to his normal life?
“Eddie’s fate turns out to be a barbed （讽刺的） joke… a sharp-eyed comic fable for an age of greed (贪婪)and speed.” writes A. O. Scott, a movie critic with the New York Times.
The drug isn’t real-----yet, some researchers say such memory-enhancing drugs might not be far off. Would you take such a pill despite its side effects? Is the ability to remember everything a blessing or a curse?Which of the following happened to Eddie after he took the pill?
| A．He can easily call everyone in the world. |
| B．He can expect what will happen next with his sixth sense. |
| C．He can control a powerful Wall Street company and becomes rich. |
| D．He can make a special pill to improve his own memory. |
What’s A. O. Scott’s opinion of the movie?
A. The movie can help slow our pace in life.
B. The movie turned out to be only a joke.
C. The movie can help invent a memory-enhancing drug.
D. The movie aims to show something is wrong with our society.What can be inferred from the last paragraph?
| A．Memory-enhancing is sure to do good to us. |
| B．More people will take pills to enhance their memory. |
| C．People are soon likely to remember everything. |
| D．Such a pill to enhance memories may soon be invented. |
What is writer’s purpose of writing the passage?
| A．To give us the information of a new movie. |
| B．To inform us of a new research on a new drug. |
| C．To suggest a good way to improve memory. |
| D．To tell us something about a new drug to enhance our memory. |