When I first got an e-mail account ten years ago, I received communications only from family, friends, and colleagues. Now it seems that every time I check my e-mail, I have an endless series of advertisements and other correspondence that do not interest me at all. If we want e-mail to continue to be useful, we need specific laws that make spamming(发送垃圾邮件) a crime.
If lawmakers do not do something soon to prohibit spam, the problem will certainly get much worse. Computer programs allow spammers to send hundreds of millions of e-mails almost instantly. As more and more advertisers turn to spam to sell their products, individual(个人的) e-mail boxes are often flooded with spam e-mails. Would people continue to use e-mail if they had to deal with an annoying amount of spam each time?
This problem is troubling for individuals and companies as well. Many spam e-mails contain computer viruses that can shut down the entire network of a company. Companies rely on e-mail for their employees to communicate with each other. Spam frequently causes failures in their local communications networks, and their employees are thus unable to communicate effectively. Such a situation results in a loss of productivity and requires companies to repeatedly repair their networks. These computer problems raise production costs of companies, which are, in the end, passes on to the consumer.
For these reasons, I believe that lawmakers need to legislate (立法) against spam. Spammers should be fined, and perhaps sent to prison if they continue to disturb people. E-mail is a tool which helps people all over the world to communicate conveniently, but spam is destroying this convenience.According to the text, what is the major cause of the flooding spam?
| A．Companies rely on e-mail for communications. |
| B．More people in the world communicate by e-mail. |
| C．More advertisers begin to promote sales through spam. |
| D．Many computer viruses contain spam e-mail. |
According to Paragraph 3, who is the final victim of spam?
| A．The business | B．The advertiser | C．The consumer | D．The employee |
What is the purpose of the text?
| A．To inform | B．To educate | C．To instruct | D．To persuade |
Have you ever suddenly felt that someone you know was in trouble ― and he was? Have you ever dreamed something that came true later? Maybe you have ESP.
ESP stands for Extra Sensory Perception. It may be called a sixth sense. It seems to let people know about events before they happen, or events that are happening some distance away.
Here is an example: A woman was doing washing. Suddenly she shouted, “My father is dead! I saw him sitting in the chair!” Just then, a telephone came. The woman’s father had died of a heart illness. He died sitting in a chair.
There are thousands of stories like this on record. Scientists are studying them to find out what is behind these strange mental messages. Here’s another example —— one of hundreds of dreams that have come true.
A man dreamed he was walking along a road when a horse and carriage came by. The driver said, “There’s room for one more.” The man felt the driver was Death, so he ran away. The next day the man was getting on a crowded bus. The bus driver said, “There’s room for one more”. Then the man saw the driver’s face was the same face he had seen in the dream. He wouldn’t get on the bus. As the bus drove off, it crashed and burst into fires. Everyone was killed!
Some people say stories like these are lies or coincidences. Others say that are ESP in true, from studies of ESP, we may some day learn more about the human mind.ESP lets people know about _________.
| A．their dream | B．events after they happen |
| C．events before they happen | D．heart illness |
The example of the man shows the ability to _______.
| A．avoid traffic accidents |
| B．know the good and bad of a person |
| C．know about the events happening some distance away |
| D．sense a danger that will happen later on |
The best title of this passage is _________.
| A．Sixth Sense | B．The Human Mind |
| C．A Big Lie | D．A Terrible Dream |
How to Order
Ordering from BooksFirst is easy and safe.
Selecting Your Books
When you have found a book you would like to order, just click on Add to Basket and it will be added to your shopping basket. To make it easy to keep track of the books you’ve selected, My Shopping Basket will display your choices wherever you are on the site. When you’re ready to place your order, select View Basket.
View Basket
This is where you select the postal destination for your order, indicate whether you would like Next Day Delivery in the UK and choose gift-wrapping. You can also amend (修改) the contents of your basket by making any changes and then selecting Update Basket.
Overseas customers ordering three or more books can also request reduced airmail charges here. When you’re happy with the contents of your shopping basket, go to the Secure Checkout.
The Order Form
After you’ve completed the order form, you will receive an on-screen acknowledgment. This will be followed by an email confirming the details of your order.
We will then inform you when your order has been sent. If this is your first order, we will also inform you of your personal BooksFirst account number.
Your First Order
We’ll send you a personal account number after you have placed your first order. For following orders all you need to do is enter your personal account number and email address.
Returning Customers
If you have ordered from us before, online, by mail or telephone, you will have already owned a personal account number. You then only need to complete the full order form. Using your account number allows us to find your details from our records (they are not accessible online).
However, you do not need your BooksFirst personal account number to place an order—simply present all the required details on the order form. If you don’t have a note of your account number just Contact us so that we can supply it to you.We can probably read this advertisement ______.
| A．in a newspaper | B．in a magazine | C．on the Internet | D．on TV |
Yours choices will be displayed in order to ______.
| A．To make it easy to keep track of the books. |
| B．To make sure you’ve selected a book. |
| C．To make an advertisement. |
| D．To show this is the postal destination. |
Which of the following is true?
| A．You must put what you choose in a basket as you do in a supermarket. |
| B．You can find your Shopping Basket nowhere but in View Basket. |
| C．You will get your personal account number the third time you order.. |
| D．You can get an account number after you place an order online |
The purpose of this advertisement is______.
| A．to promote the sale of books |
| B．to show the procedure of ordering books online |
| C．to help readers apply for account numbers |
| D．to supply account numbers to readers |
The organization representing British universities has expressed concern about the potential effect of tuition fees（学费）after figures showed a drop of more than 6% in student applications with less than a month to go before the deadline for 2013 applications.
Data from the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (Ucas) showed there were 265,784 university applications by UK-based candidates up to 17 December, 6.3% down on the parallel period in the admissions cycle the year before. While this is less than the 8.4% year-on-urea fall seen in earlier Ucas figures, released in mid-November, the coming January deadline makes it ever more likely that the total 2013 applicant figure will see a second sizeable fall following the introduction of annual fees of up to ￡9,000.
Nicola Dandridge, the chairman of Universities UK, said: “However, we must be concerned about any drops in the numbers applying to university and in particular; we must look closely at how the increase in graduate contributions in England may be affecting the decisions of promising students. However, the December figures show a drop in numbers across the UK, suggesting that it is not only a question of tuition fees in England putting off from applying.”
A report of the Uncas figures to mid-December shows a 6.5% fall for applicants in England and 11.7% for those in Wales, with smaller drops of 3.9% for Scotland and 0.5% for Northern Ireland. Scottish students at home institutions pay on fees, while those from Northern Ireland have fees capped to ￡3,575 for Northern Irish universities.
Dandridge added: “No one should be put off applying to university because of worries about finance.”
“It is important that no one is put off applying to university because they do not have information about the student support available to them. Most new students don’t need to pay directly. There will be more financial support for those from poorer families and everyone will make lower loan repayments than they do now once they are in well paid jobs.”A drop of more than 6% for 2013 applications is probably the effect of .
| A．The increased tuition fees |
| B．The approaching deadline |
| C．The concern from applicants |
| D．The difficulties with applications |
Compared with the previous year, the fall in student applications is.
| A．3.9% | B．2.1% | C．6.3% | D．8.4% |
Why is the fall for application the smallest in Scotland and Northern Ireland?
| A．Because they have more financial support |
| B．Because the tuition is much cheaper for them |
| C．Because the education is better there |
| D．Because the universities are free for them. |
The last paragraph tells us that.
| A．Everyone should apply to university |
| B．Students may get financial supports |
| C．Lower loan repayments is unavailable |
| D．Most new students will not pay fees |
It was your birthday, and you just opened your biggest gift — a smooth silver laptop. You can’t wait to instant-message your friends with the news, but first you have to get rid of your old desktop computer. Do you just throw away the monitor and keyboard in the trash? Not anymore!
Three states, that is, California, Maine, and Maryland, recently passed laws prohibiting people from throwing away electronic waste, or e-waste, includes televisions, computers, and cell phones. Although they don’t make you sick when you use them, they do when they are destroyed, for they contain heavy metals that can be harmful to human bodies. For example, cell phone batteries contain a kind of chemical causing damage to kidneys and deserted computer monitors can damage brains. And flat TV screens may cause injury to the nervous system. Those metals can leak into the ground or give off pollutants when burned.
It is required that e-waste be placed at special sites rather than usual landfills. Several other states are considering similar laws and California is also pushing for a law banning the application of such dangerous substances.
Government officials are not the only people taking aim at e-waste; environmentalists are also urging people to recycle their outdated equipment.
“It is just a waste … to not recycle,” Patrick, an associate professor of occupational and environmental health at university of Iowa, told The Daily Iowan, “Allowing dangerous chemicals to leak into the environment for decades seems irresponsible.”
What Can You Do?
Reduce. Be a responsible shopper, and take care of your electronics so they will last longer.
Re-use. Donate or sell your old high-tech equipment.
Recycle. To find a responsible recycler, contact a local or state environmental group.What’s the best title of this passage?
| A．E-waste is being made good use of. |
| B．E-waste, a big threat to us. |
| C．E-waste is dangerous to us all the while. |
| D．Goodbye, e-waste. |
Why is e-waste harmful and dangerous to human beings?
| A．Because they can go off at times and threaten us. |
| B．Because they can make people sick, as long as people use them. |
| C．Because they contain poisonous chemical substances. |
| D．Because they take too much space when placed in trashes. |
What can we know from Patrick’s words?
| A．Waste can’t be recycled. |
| B．Waste can be made use of by recycling |
| C．We have to recycle e-waste to protect the environment. |
| D．Protecting the environment is important. |
Which of the following is NOT given as a piece of advice to help with e-wastes?
| A．Taking care of your electronics so they will last longer. |
| B．Donating or selling your old high-tech equipment. |
| C．Contacting a local or state environmental group. |
| D．Asking fewer people to use electric products. |
The early 1900s were very different from today, when toys were still the delight of children everywhere.
Theodore Roosevelt's Presidency marks the beginning of the “Teddy Bear”. In the year 1902，toy bears were named “Teddy” after the president's nickname. The Teddy Bear became known worldwide and it was only a few years later that the Teddy Bears were mass produced.
In 1913，an item called the Erector Set was invented. It was a steel，motorized toy that children could use to build models of anything. Its creator was A．C.Gilbert，a medical doctor.
Charles Pajeau created a similar wooden set called Tinker Toys in the year 1914.Tinker Toys were made for younger children.
Raggedy Ann dolls first came on the scene after newspaper cartoonist Johnny Gruelle reproduced the doll he made for his daughter. That was in 1915.
The following year，an architect's son named John Lloyd Wright，invented Lincoln Logs，which were interlocked to make structures.
Two years after Mickey Mouse was created，stuffed(填塞)Mickey Mouse dolls were made by Charlotte Clark. This was the start of Disney merchandise.
The yoyo became popular in the United States after Donald Duncan bought a yoyo company in 1929.
The ViewMaster，a three dimensional viewer，was developed by a camera enthusiast named William Gruber. The toy became popular when Gruber licensed Disney characters to make still, 3D images from Disney movies and television programs.
Finally，in 1940，model airplanes were mass produced. They started out as a way for manufacturers to sell planes to the military，but later caught on as a toy.
The toys that we know and love today have had their roots from these ancient times. Thanks to all these creative man’s efforts, we know otherwise what we may never know.Why were toy bears named “Teddy”？
| A．To be suitable for mass production |
| B．To be easily pronounced by children. |
| C．To meet the advertisers' needs. |
| D．To memorize President Theodore Roosevelt |
In which aspect do the toys created by Gilbert differ from those by Charles?
| A．Shape | B．Material used | C．Themes | D．Price |
When did the ViewMaster become popular?
| A．After William Gruber was born |
| B．After Gruber licensed Disney characters |
| C．Two years after Mickey Mouse was created. |
| D．When Disney merchandise was started |