Do you want to live forever? By the year 2050, you might actually get your wish — if you are willing to leave your biological body and live in silicon circuits （半导体电路）．But long before then, perhaps as early as 2020, some measures will begin offering a semblance of immortality （虚拟的永生）.
Researchers are confident that technology will soon be able to track every waking moment of your life. Whatever you see and hear, all that you say and write, can be recorded, analyzed and added to your personal chronicles （履历）. By the year 2030, it may be possible to catch your nervous systems through electrical activities, which would also keep your thoughts and emotions.
Researchers at the laboratories of British Telecommunications have given the name of this idea as Soul Catcher. Small electronic equipment will make preparation for Soul Catcher. It would use a wearable supercomputer, perhaps in a wristwatch, with wireless links to micro sensors under your scalp（头皮） and in the nerves that carry all five sensory signals. So wearing a video camera would no longer be required.
At first, the Soul Catcher's companion system — the Soul Reader — might have trouble copying your thoughts in complete details. Even in 2030, we may still be struggling to understand how the brain is working inside, so reading your thoughts and understanding your emotions might not be possible. But these signals could be kept for the day when they can be transferred to silicon circuits to revitalize minds everlasting entities （永生实体）. Researchers can only wonder what it will be like to wake up one day and find yourself alive inside a machine．
For people who choose not to live in silicon, semblance of immortality would not be as useless as they thought. People would know their lives would not be forgotten, but would be kept a record of the human race forever. And future generations would have a much fuller understanding of the past. History would not be controlled by just the rich and powerful, Hollywood stars, and a few thinkers in the upper society. The main idea of this passage is that _______．
| A．human beings long for living forever |
| B．there are many difficulties in making the Soul Catcher |
| C．people might live forever as technology develops |
| D．the invention of Soul Catcher has great importance |
According to this passage, a Soul Catcher will be ______．
| A．a new machine on which research measures have already been made |
| B．a new invention in order to catch and keep human's thoughts and emotions |
| C．made by British scientists to offer something that looks like living forever |
| D．made of silicon circuits which can catch people's nervous activity |
According to the writer, semblance of immortality is ______．
| A．to be a reality sooner or later | B．far from certain |
| C．just an idea that couldn't t be realized at all | D．a fading hope |
The meaning of the underlined word "revitalize" in the fourth paragraph is close to .
| A．make dead | B．make famous | C．make known | D．make active |
Help or Not
Dear editor,
During last year's winter holiday, I went shopping with my grandmother. We saw several beggars. Some of them were disabled, which made me feel sad. Among them were old people, young people and even children! When I wanted to help them, my grandmother stopped me. She told me they were not worth showing mercy to because some beggars cheated people out of their money. Should I help them?
Yours,
Mary from Guangzhou
Dear Mary,
While I understand your grandmother’s point of view, I think that just because some beggars have cheated people, this doesn’t mean you should never help any beggars.
Showing mercy to people who are not as fortunate as us is one of the kindest things we can do. While some beggars may use dishonest means to get money, most beggars will not. Even those who use dishonest means are probably hungry for food and feel they have no choice but to cheat people. It is important to be careful for your own safety. But if you want to help, you don’t necessarily have to give it to beggars in the street.
Another way you can help is by donating money to the China Charity Federation. Visit its website at: www. china charity. cn.net.
18.From the grandmother’s point of view, we can learn that ________.
A. she has never helped the beggars.
B. she believes not all beggars are honest
C. she has surely been cheated by some beggars
D. she shows no pity for the poor
19. Mary felt sad for _______.
A. her grandmother B. the disabled beggars
C. the old people D. herself
20. The editor suggests that Mary should _______.
A. have her own mind B. follow her grandmother
C. do something for those unfortunate D. help the China Charity Federation
21. The underlined word “donating” probably means _______.
A. give out of kindness B. put into a business
C. earn through an organization D. give in return for some kindness
From poor beginnings to most expensive player
ZINEDINE Zidane，who dreams of leading France to its second World Cup title in a row next month，has always preferred to express himself with a football rather than with words．
Last Wednesday Zidane scored the decisive goal when Real Madrid of Spain won the Champions League final against Germany's Leverkusen 2一1．
He became one of the world’s most expensive players when he joined Real Madrid from Italy's Juventus for US $ 66 million．And he has been a national hero since he scored twice in the 3-O defeat of Brazil in the 1998 World Cup Final．
But despite his success，Zidane has always kept his feet on the ground．He leads a quite family life，there is hardly any gossip about him and he avoids putting his wife and two children in the spotlight．
“Just because I'm a public figure it doesn't mean I have to express myself on everything．I don't like to discuss some personal matters publicly．”he said．
Even as a child playing football in the slum area of Marseille，France，where he was raised by his Algerian parents，Zidane was shy．
He loved football even as a little kid．“I realized football is a wonderful mixture of a sharp mind and hard training rather than just talking，”he said．
Even when the match awards were just chocolate and bread，Zidane found that football made his poor childhood rich．
Before he was 10 years old，it was obvious that he could become a great footballer．He was offered his first professional contract(合同)when he was just 20．Now，at the age of 29，he has already picked up two World Player of the year awards．
This quiet striker has not yet spoken of his hopes for the coming World Cup．But his fans across the world will be eagerly watching him to see what he'll do this time． What did Zidane learn from his childhood football experience? He learned that_____________.
| A．he could become a great footballer |
| B．he could become rich if he became a footballer |
| C．football is a mixture of a sharp mind and hard training but not just talking |
| D．football is a favorite sport in the future |
According to the article，what are Zidane’s main characteristics?
| A．He is a shy but successful man． |
| B．H e loves his wife and children． |
| C．He doesn't like to speak in public． |
| D．He is a quiet，down—to earth person of few words． |
When the writer says“Zidane has always kept his feet on the ground”,he means_________.
| A．Zidane spends more time standing than sitting most days |
| B．Zidane is a down-to earth person |
| C．Zidane has spent most of his time training on the pitch |
| D．Zidane likes standing when he succeeds |
The sentence“Zidane found that football made his poor childhood rich”means___________．
| A．football made Zidane's poor family wealthy when he was a child |
| B．Zidane knew that football could bring him fame and wealth even when he was a child |
| C．football brought happiness to Zidane when he was a child in a poor family |
| D．Zidane knew that if he wanted to be rich he must play football from childhood |
Few people would defend the Victorian attitude on children, but if you were a parent in those days, at least you knew where you stood: children were to be seen and not heard. Freud and his colleagues did away with all that and parents have been puzzled ever since. The child’s happiness is all- important, they say, but what about the parents’ happiness? Modern child-rearing manuals（抚养孩子手册）would never permit cruelty to children .The trouble is you are not allowed even to shout. Who knows what deep psychological(心理的)wounds you might cause? The poor child may never recover from the dreadful experience. So it is the parents that bend over backwards to avoid giving their children complex which a hundred years ago hadn’t even been heard of. Certainly, a child needs love, and a lot of it. But the excessive permissive(纵容) of modern parents is surely doing more harm than good.
Psychologists(心理学家) have succeeded in weakening parents confidence in their own authority. And it hasn’t taken children long to get wind of the fact. In addition to the great modern classics on child care, there are countless articles in magazines and newspapers. With so much advice flying about, mum and dad just don’t know what to do any more. In the end, they do nothing at all. So, from early childhood, the kids are in charge and parents’ lives are regulated according to the needs of their kids. When the little dears develop into teenagers, they take complete control. Lack of authority over the years makes teenagers rebellion against parents all the more violent. If the young people are going to have a party, for example, parents are asked to leave the house. Their presence merely spoils the fun. What else can the poor parents do but obey?The author says that today’s parents _______.
| A．are bombarded with excessive amounts of child-care literature. |
| B．draw a distinction between permissiveness and carelessness. |
| C．are only towards children from happy home backgrounds. |
| D．weigh their children’s knowledge rather than intelligence. |
The phrase “get wind of” (Para.2) most likely means _______ .
| A．become used to | B．try to avoid |
| C．realize | D．become puzzled of |
Which of the following can be inferred from this passage?
| A．Victorian child rearing is a model for parents to follow. |
| B．Psychologists have much to answer for today’s problems on child care. |
| C．With the help of so much advice, raising children is easier than ever. |
| D．Parents like to enjoy the freedom when there is a party in the house. |
What’s the main idea of this passage?
| A．The excessive permissiveness of today’s parents is harmful to children. |
| B．Psychologists shouldn’t interfere so much with child care. |
| C．Parents should hold the Victorian attitudes towards children. |
| D．Children are too sensitive to be hurt. |
“The first and best of victories is for a man to conquer himself; to be conquered by himself is, of all things, the most shameful,” says Plato. Self-control is at the root of all the advantages. Let a man give in to his impulses (冲动) and feelings, and from that moment he gives up his moral (道德上的) freedom.
A single angry word has lost many a friend. When Socrates found in himself any temper or anger, he would check it by speaking low in order to control himself. If you are conscious of being angry, keep your mouth shut so that you can hold back rising anger. Many a person has dropped dead in great anger. Fits of anger bring fits of disease. “Whom the gods would destroy they first make mad.” “Keep cool”, says George Herbert, “for fierceness (狂怒) makes error a fault.”
To be angry with a weak man is to prove that you are not strong yourself. “Anger,” says Pythagoras, “brings with folly(愚蠢) and ends with regret.” You must measure the strength of a man by the power of the feelings he conquers, not by the power of those which conquer him.
Self-control is man’s last greatest victory.
If a man lacks self-control he seems to lack everything. Without it he can have no patience, no power to govern himself; he can have no self-confidence, for he will always be controlled by his strongest feeling. If he lacks self-control, the very backbone and nerve of character are lacking also. What does the reader learn from the first paragraph?
| A．The greatest victory for a man is to conquer everything except himself. |
| B．One’s moral freedom is based on the control of himself. |
| C．To control oneself is the most difficult in one’s life. |
| D．If a person is too stubborn, he will feel most shameful. |
What is the correct interpretation of “Whom the gods would destroy they first make mad” ?
| A．If the gods want to kill you, they make you crazy first. |
| B．If you always lose your temper, you will soon be finished. |
| C．If you cannot control yourself, you will become crazy. |
| D．If you are mad, you will be punished by the gods. |
If a man lacks self-control, he lacks all of the following EXCEPT _______.
| A．the very backbone and nerve of character |
| B．the patience and power to control himself |
| C．strong feelings |
| D．self-confidence |
The author’s main purpose in writing this article is to _______.
| A．explain that self-control is the key to success |
| B．teach people how to control everything in order to make a great success |
| C．distinguish all kinds of self-control and suggest ways for keeping it |
| D．advise people not to lose temper so as to make and keep more friends |
Manners nowadays in metropolitan cities like London are practically non-existence, it’s nothing for a big, strong schoolboy to elbow an elderly woman aside in the dash for the last remaining seat on the tube or bus, much less stand up and offer his seat to her.
This question of giving up seats in public transport is much argued by young men, who say that, since women have claimed equality, they no longer deserve to be treated with courtesy 礼貌、谦让) and that those who go out to work should take their turn in the rat race like anyone else. Women have never claimed to be physically as strong as men. Even if it is not agreed, however, that young men should stand up for younger women, the fact remains that courtesy should be shown to the old, the sick and the burdened. Are we really so lost to all ideals of unselfishness that we can sit there indifferently reading the paper or a book, saying to ourselves “First come, first severed”, while a grey-haired woman, a mother with a young child stands? Yet this is all too often seen.
Older people, tired and quick-tempered from a day's work, are not angels, either-far from it. Many a brisk argument or an insulting quarrel breaks out as the weary queues push and shove each other to get on buses and tubes. One cannot commend this, of course, but on does feel there is just a little more excuse.
If cities are to remain pleasant places to live in at all, however, it seems imperative（迫切的）, not only that communications in transport should be improved, but also that communication between human beings should be kept smooth and polite. All over cities, it seems that people are too tired and too rushed to be polite. Shop assistant's won't bother to assist, taxi drivers growl at each other as they dash dangerously round corners, bus conductors pull the bell before their desperate passengers have had time to get on or off the bus, and so on and so on. It seems to us that it is up to the young and strong to do their small part to stop such deterioration（恶化）. What is the writer's opinion concerning courteous manners towards women?
| A．Since women have claimed equality, they no longer need to be treated differently from men. |
| B．It is generally considered old-fashioned for young men to give up their seats to young women. |
| C．"Lady First" should be universally practiced. |
| D．Special consideration ought to be shown to them. |
According to the passage communication between human beings would not be smoother unless ________.
| A．people were more considerate towards each other |
| B．people were not so tired and quick-tempered |
| C．women were treated with more courtesy |
| D．public transport could be improved. |
The author probably does NOT agree that in big cities _______.
| A．Life will be even worse if no change is made |
| B．transport conditions are rather poor |
| C．it’s not uncommon to see people quarrel in public places |
| D．it’s unreasonable to require the tired people to be polite |
The main purpose of the author is to ________.
| A．call on people in big cities to pay more attention to politeness |
| B．blame the schoolboys’ rude behavior towards elderly women on the tube or bus |
| C．criticize the fast pace of city life |
| D．tell young men to give their seats to elderly people |
How could you describe the tone of this passage?
| A．acceptable | B．opponent |
| C．negative | D．encouraging |