Back those photos up
The images were striking. Homes on the East Coast were washed away by Superstorm Sandy. People were in tears, picking up faded photographs, among their only remaining possessions.
If that doesn’t move you to get serious about safekeeping your lifetime of memories, what will? The digital age offers tools never imaginable before—including one-click access to a lifetime of family photos.
Here is a brochure on how to back up (存) your photos and save them online, where they can live forever and be accessible in good times and bad.
Scanning
The first step for those old photos is to scan them and save them to a digital format. Most printers come with scanners these days, so that’s an easy but extremely time-consuming step.
Storing the photos
With your scans in place, import the photos into your computer, and back them up.
You could make multiple copies of the disks and spread them to loved ones. Or you could choose external(外接的) hard drives or USB thumb drive, and add your photo and video collection from your computer.
Online backup
If you need lots of space, look at a pure online backup service, Caronite.
Caronite backs up 300 million files daily. Once you sign up, it starts to pick up everything you have on your hard drive. But photo collection on your computer’s main hard drive charges for $59 a year.
Cloud Storage
For folks who don’t need automatic backup, but instead want to take a more active approach, Dropbox, Google Drive and Microsoft’s SkyDrive let you store files online by yourself, share and instantly access them. All offer free options—2GB of free storage for Dropbox, 5GB for Google and 7GB for SkyDrive. But if you want more, you need to pay.
Bottom Line
The hard drive or flash drive is the cheapest and easiest. But drives can fail. Online services are more expensive, but more secure. With more of us switching back and forth between our computers, such services are the best way to get access to our data from wherever we are. Why does the author mention Superstorm Sandy?
| A．To tell the background of the scanning photos. |
| B．To attract the readers’ interest in the backups. |
| C．describe a severe natural disaster. |
| D．To win the readers’ sympathy. |
What can we know from the passage?
| A．Scanning photos takes little time but costs a lot. |
| B．Caronite charges for backing up photos from hard drive. |
| C．Google Drive offers unlimited free photo storage on line. |
| D．The hard drive or flash drive is the cheapest and safest. |
Which of the following allows storing files automatically?
| A．Caronite. | B．Dropbox. | C．SkyDrive. | D．Flash drive. |
What’s the passage mainly about ?
| A．tell real stories about storage services |
| B．introduce some of the storage services |
| C．describe the functions of storage services |
| D．argue about the advantage of storage services |
Everybody hates rats. But in the earthquake capitals of the world—Japan, Los Angeles, Turkey—rats will soon be man’s new best friends.
What happens after an earthquake? We sent in rescue dogs. Why? Because they can smell people. Dogs save lives. They help rescuers to find living people. But dogs are big and they can’t get into small spaces. So now a new research project is using a smaller animal to save lives: the rat.
How does it work? First, the rat is trained to smell people. When this happens, the rat’s brain gives a signal (信号). This is sent to a small radio on its back, and then the rescuers follow the radio signals. When the rat’s brain activity jumps, the rescuers know that someone is alive. The rat has smelled that person.
Although there are already robots which can do this job, rats are better. Christian Linster at Cornell University, New York, says, “‘Robots ’noses don’t work well when there are other smells around. Rats are good at that.” Rats can also see in the dark. They are cheaper and quicker to train than dogs, and unlike robots, they don’t need electricity(电)!
The “rat project” is not finished, but Julie Ryan of International Rescue Corps in Scotland says, “It would be fantastic. A rat could get into spaces we couldn’t get to and a rat would get out of it if it wasn’t safe.” Perhaps for the first time in history, people will be happy to see a rat in a building (but only after an earthquake, of course).In the world earthquake capitals, rats will become man’s best friends because they can.
| A．take the place of man’s rescue jobs |
| B．find the position of people alive who are trapped in buildings |
| C．serve as food for people alive who are trapped in buildings. |
| D．get into small spaces |
In doing rescue jobs, .
| A．rats smell better than dogs |
| B．dogs don’t need to be trained to smell people |
| C．robots’ sense of smell can be affected by other smells around |
| D．rats can see in the dark and smaller than robots |
Rats have all the following advantages EXCEPT that .
| A．they are more fantastic than other animals |
| B．they are less expensive to train than dogs |
| C．they don’t need electricity |
| D．they are small and can get into small places |
After reading the passage we can know .
| A．at present rats have taken the place of dogs in searching for people |
| B．the “rat project” has been completed |
| C．people are now happy to see a rat in a building |
| D．now people still use dogs and robots in performing rescues |
If you are planning on traveling, there are few simple rules about how to make life easier both before and after your journey.
First of all, always check and double-check departure (出发) time. It is surprising how few people really do this carefully. Once I arrived at he airport a few minutes after ten. My secretary had got the ticket for me and I thought she had said that the plane left at 10:50. When I arrived at the airport, the person at the departure desk told me that my flight was closed. Therefore, I had to wait three hours for the next one and missed an important meeting.
The second rule is to remember that even in this age of credit cards (信用卡), it is still important to have some local money in cash (现金). Once I arrived at a place at midnight and the bank at the airport was closed. The only way to get to my hotel was by taxi but because I had no dollars, I offered to pay in pounds instead. “Listen! I only take real money!” the driver said angrily. You can imagine how terrible I felt at that moment.
The third and the last rule is to find out as much as you can about the weather at your destination(目的地) before you leave. I feel sorry for some of my workmates who travel in heavy suits and raincoats in May, when it is still fairly cool in London or Manchester, to places like Athens, Rome of Madrid, where it is already beginning to get quite warm during the day.Where is the writer most probably from?
| A．Britain | B．The USA | C．Italy | D．Greece |
When the writer found he had no dollars to pay the taxi driver, he.
| A．asked the driver to give him a free ride |
| B．offered to pay in pounds |
| C．gave the driver some fake(假) money |
| D．tried to pay by credit card |
Generally, in May the weather in London is.
| A．warm and dry | B．cold and dry |
| C．hot and wet | D．cool and rainy |
The writer mainly tells us.
| A．how to make life easier |
| B．how to be well prepared for a trip |
| C．how to enjoy ourselves on trip |
| D．how to schedule our trip |
Sarah Williams went to a boarding school. Here is one of the
letters she wrote to her parents from the school.
Wentworth Girls' School
Beachside
July 20th
Dearest Mom and Dad,
I'm afraid I have some very bad news for you. I have been very naughty and the school principal is very angry with me. She is going to write to you. You must come and take me away from here. She does not want me in the school any longer.
The trouble started last night when I was smoking in bed. This is against the rules, of course. We are not supposed to smoke at all.
As I was smoking, I heard footsteps coming towards the room. I did not want a teacher to catch me smoking, so I threw the cigarette away.
Unfortunately, the cigarette fell into the waste-paper basket, which caught fire.
There was a curtain near the waste-paper basket which caught fire, too. Soon the whole room was burning.
The principal phoned for the fire department. The school is a long way from the town and by the time the fire department arrived, the whole school was in flames. Many of the girls are in the hospital.
The principal says that the fire was all my fault and you must pay for the damage. She will send you a bill for about a million dollars.
I’m very sorry about this.
Much love,
Sarah
P. S. None of the above is true, but I have failed my exams. I just want you to know how bad things could have been!Why did Sarah write home?
| A．To tell her parents about the fire. |
| B．To ask for a lot of money. |
| C．To tell her parents she had failed her exams. |
| D．To tell her parents she had to leave school. |
Why did Sarah tell her parents the story about the fire?
| A．She wanted to worry them. |
| B．She wanted to make them laugh. |
| C．She wanted to make them less angry at the real news. |
| D．She wanted to warn them about what the principal was going to do. |
The letter before the. P. S. was .
| A．mostly true | B．partly true |
| C．completely true | D．completely untrue |
Mr. and Mrs. Wu were fed up with their neighbor. He was always borrowing things from them.
“It’s not right.” Mr. Wu said to his wife one evening. “At some time or another that man has borrowed nearly everything we have. Almost every day he comes over to borrow something.”
“You are quite right,” his wife replied, “and most of the things he’s never returned.”
“What I want to know,” her husband said, “is why he can’t buy the things he needs like everyone else.”
“Because people like us are foolish enough to lend him what he needs.” she replied. “As long as we are willing to lend, he’ll keep on borrowing.”
“Then we’ll never lend him anything again.” Mr. Wu said. “The next time he asks to borrow something, I’ll say no.”
“We must have a good reason for saying no,” his wire said, “and we must always try to be polite to him. We don’t want to make an enemy of the man.”
It was not long before their decision not to lend their neighbor anything ever again was put to the test.
The next morning there was a knock on the door.
Mr. Wu went to answer it.
Their neighbor was standing there. Mr. Wu knew he was going to ask to borrow something, and was ready to refuse him politely.
“Good morning,” their neighbor said, “I’m sorry to trouble you, but I wonder if I could borrow your garden scissors.”
“I’m sorry,” Mr. Wu said, “but I’m afraid my wife and I will be using them today. We’ll be spending all day working in the garden.”
“Oh, ! see.” the neighbor said, “In that case, may I borrow your golf clubs? You won’t be needing them if you are working in the garden all day, will you?”What did the neighbor do with most of the things he had borrowed?
| A．He hid them. |
| B．He never returned them. |
| C．He lent them to others. |
| D．He broke them. |
Mr. and Mrs. Wu’s decision to treat their neighbor was
| A．not to lend anything more |
| B．to be impolite to him in order to show their dislike |
| C．to give him anything he would ask |
| D．to keep on lending |
When did the neighbor want to borrow again?
| A．The next day. |
| B．A week later. |
| C．The morning after the following month. |
| D．A few days later. |
How did the neighbor manage to get what he really wanted?
| A．He first asked for something else. |
| B．He asked for it earnestly (诚挚地). |
| C．He worked for them. |
| D．He spoke highly of Mr. Wu. |
Norm Pethrick, a 36-year-old man in Australia’s northern city Darwin, was praised on Thursday for jumping onto a crocodile’s back to save his wife Wendy at Litchfield National Park, a popular tourist spot southwest of Darwin, a local newspaper reported.
Ms Pethrick was standing on a river bank Wednesday afternoon when the saltwater crocodile lunged (扑), locking its jaws on both her legs as it tried to drag her underwater.
Norm Pethrick, who with his wife had been collecting water, immediately went to help her. He jumped onto the back, poked (戳) the eyes of the crocodile and finally got his wife free.
Ms Pethrick was later taken to Royal Darwin Hospital for a medical treatment. The doctors said she was suffering eight puncture wounds (伤口) in her right leg, a puncture wound in her left leg and a serious cut to one of her fingers.
“This could have been a fatal and tragic situation,” said the general manager of Royal Darwin Hospital (RDH), Dr Len Notaras, according to a local report.
He said Ms Pethrick was saved by her husband’s “quick and diligent actions”.
Dr Notaras also said she would remain in hospital for three to four days and have an operation to clean the wounds, which are easy to get infected because of bacteria (细菌) on the teeth of the crocodile.This passage is most likely to be found in _____.
| A．a travel guide | B．a newspaper | C．a textbook | D．a novel |
The crocodile attacked Ms Pethrick when she was ______.
| A．standing on the river bank |
| B．swimming in the river |
| C．watching the crocodile |
| D．fishing in the water |
Which of the following statements is TRUE about Ms Pethrick?
| A．Her eyes were badly poked. |
| B．She had eight wounds altogether. |
| C．One of her fingers also got hurt. |
| D．One of the crocodile’s teeth was found in her leg. |
According to the passage, Norm Pethrick can be described as following EXCEPT _______.
| A．brave | B．diligent | C．quick | D．humorous |
Which of the following would be the best title for this passage?
| A．A man saves wife’s life from crocodile’s jaws |
| B．The husband should save the wife |
| C．A crocodile is not so dangerous as people imagine |
| D．Human beings can beat crocodiles sometimes |