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 (手册) 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 (格式).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.What can we know from the passage?
A.Scanning photos takes little time but costs a lot. |
B.The hard drive or flash drive is the cheapest and safest. |
C.Google Drive offers unlimited free photo storage on line. |
D.Caronite charges for backing up photos from hard drive. |
Which of the following allows storing files automatically?
A.Caronite. | B.Dropbox. | C.SkyDrive. | D.Flash drive. |
The main purpose of the passage is to ______.
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 |
Growing up in Philadelphia, Lieberman started cooking with his stay-at-home dad when he was seven. His food-loving family had two kitchens, and he quickly learned what was the best way to bake his cakes. Lieberman improved his kitchen skills greatly during a year abroad before college, learning from a cook in Italy and studying local specialties(地方特色菜)in Germany, Spain and France. At Yale, he was known for throwing dinner parties, single-handed frying and baking while mixing drinks for dozens of friends. Just for fun, he and some friends decided to tape a show named Campus Cuisine about his cooking. Lieberman was a real college student showing his classmates how to do things like making drinks out of dining-hall fruit. That helped the show become very popular among the students. They would stop Lieberman after classes to ask for his advice on cooking. Tapes of the show were passed around, with which his name went beyond the school and finally to the Food Network.
Food Network producer Flay hopes the young cook will find a place on the network television.He says Lieberman’s charisma is key.“Food TV isn’t about food any more,” says Flay. “It’s about your personality and finding a way to keep people’s eyeballs on your show.”
But Lieberman isn’t putting all his eggs in one basket. After taping the first season of the new show, Lieberman was back in his own small kitchen preparing sandwiches. An airline company was looking for someone to come up with a tasteful, inexpensive and easy-to-make menu to serve on its flights, Lieberman got the job.We can learn from the text that Lieberman’s family __________.
A.love cooking at home | B.have relatives in Europe |
C.often hold parties | D.own a restaurant |
The Food Network got to know Lieberman __________.
A.at one of his parties | B.from his teachers |
C.on a television program | D.through his taped show |
What does the underlined word “charisma” in the text refer to?
A.A way to show one’s achievement. |
B.A natural ability to attract others. |
C.Lieberman’s after-class interest. |
D.Lieberman’s fine cooking skill. |
Why did the airline company give Lieberman the job?
A.He could prepare meals in a small kitchen. |
B.He was famous for his shows on Food TV. |
C.He could cook cheap, delicious and simple meals. |
D.He was good at using eggs to make sandwiches. |
Before your child's final exam: and the graduation announcements, you face a significant task together: choosing the right college or university. There is no "one size fits all" approach to selecting a college—it's a very personal process for most teenagers. Consider a wide range of factors to help your child make the best possible choice.
Discuss with your child her post-high school choices, such as college, finding work or starting a business, or joining the army. If you determine together that college is the best choice for your child, talk about the importance of college, and her longer-term goals by going to college.
Talk to your child about what she thinks is important in a college experience and share your opinions as well. Identify the issues that will directly impact her college choice, such as her grades, test scores and family finances. Then make a list of the key criteria for her dream school, including factors such as the school's location, its size, the types of prograM:, the after school activities available and the type of financial aid available.
Prioritize the item: on your child's list, at least to the extent of sorting it into "must-haves," "highly desirable" and "nice-to-have" categories. Put these factors into an online search engine specifically designed to identify colleges and universities that best meet your criteria, such as that offered by CollegeBoard.org. Start with the most important criteria, then experiment with additional factors to narrow the search results to a number you can work with, such as 10 or 20 different schools.
Use the search results as a guide to further focus your college search. Research each school by reviewing its website, requesting information directly from the school and attending local presentations about the school.The underlined word "prioritize" in Paragraph 4 probably means "______".
A.list in order of importance | B.write down |
C.add to | D.do research into |
What can we learn from the passage?
A.It's better to decide the college for your child. |
B.It's necessary to take your child's opinion into consideration. |
C.There is a "one size fits all" way to select a college. |
D.An online search engine is of great help to you. |
What's the author's purpose of writing the passage?
A.To argue | B.To persuade |
C.To introduce | D.To amuse |
Which of the following shows the structure of the passage?
BEIJING — Rising smartphone star Xiaomi is moving upmarket and taking aim at Apple's iPhone. The Chinese maker known for low-priced phones on Thursday unveiled (发布) a new model that Chairman J un Lei said is comparable to Apple's iPhone 6 but thinner, lighter and much cheaper. The phone starts at 2, 299 yuan ($375), less than half the 5,288 yuan ($ 865) price of an iPhone 6 in China.
Xiaomi, founded in 2010, passed South Korea's SaM:ung Electronics Co. in the second quarter of last year as the best-selling smartphone brand in China by number of phones sold. The company is expanding into India and other developing markets but has yet to announce plans to enter the United States or Europe.
Xiaomi "is a respected brand that already has an Apple-like following" in China, said analyst Brian Blair, who tracks mobile device makers at Rosenblatt Securities. Apple is still a relatively small player in China, selling about 45 million iPhones there last year, Blair estimates, but will continue to grow.
"Apple is very much a premium (高端的) brand," said Blair. "The company that's more at risk is SaM:ung, which has been losing share in that market."
Privately held (私人控股的) Xiaomi said last year's sales tripled to 61. 1 million phones and revenue (收益) more than doubled to 74. 3 billion yuan ($12.2 billion). The company, based in Beijing, recently completed a round of fundraising from investors that it said valued Xiaomi at $ 45 billion, making it one of the world's most valuable technology brands.
Xiaomi ran into legal trouble in India in December after a court blocked sales while it hears a complaint by Sweden's LM Ericcson that the Chinese company violated its patents.
In a blog post earlier this month, Lei called the case a "rite of passage" (成年礼) for a young company.Which of the following statements is true?
A.Xiaomi sold more cellphones than SaM:ung in 2010 in China. |
B.Compared to Xiaomi, Apple's iPhone 6 is thinner and lighter. |
C.Low-price is Xiaomi's advantage over Apple's iPhones. |
D.The company is expanding into the United States or Europe. |
What can be inferred from the passage according to Brian Blair?
A.More than 45 million iPhones will be sold this year. |
B.Xiaomi can beat Apple in the market of China. |
C.He thinks Xiaomi is superior to Apple. |
D.SaM:ung will be closed for losing share in the market. |
How is the 5th paragraph developed?
A.By giving examples. |
B.By analyzing cause and effect. |
C.By providing data. |
D.By making comparisons. |
What's the attitude of Jun Lei towards the case of Xiaomi in India?
A.Negative. | B.Satisfied. |
C.Positive. | D.Doubtful. |
For light sleepers
Millions of people have trouble falling asleep each night, which is why Light Sleeper was created.
Developed in the United Kingdom, Light Sleeper's makers say it can help a person fall asleep and also help a person fall back to sleep after waking up in the middle of the night.
Light Sleeper works by projecting (投射) a light onto the ceiling while the person is lying down. The idea is to watch the light, because the light moving in a circle has a relaxing effect.
One of the advantages of the product is that it won't disturb other people in the room. The product can be easily moved and will switch itself off after 30 minutes to save power.
Stop the snoring (打鼾)
Here's a new product designed to slow down the frequency and level of your snoring. The Snore Stopper has a sensitive instrument that will detect when you're snoring. Once it does that, it will send a very mild electronic signal to your wrist. This consequently changes your sleeping position to stop you from snoring. The Snore Stopper; won't cause any damage to your body.
Get your true colors
Photoshop features a pen that will copy the color settings of what you are monitoring onscreen to use as a color in your program. Now an off-line product allows you to pick a color when not using the computer software.
The Color Picker is a concept pen. After placing the pen against an object, the user just presses the scan button. Color sensors (感应器) inside the pen send information to a box, which then mixes red, green and blue to produce the desired ink color.
Keep it fresh
More high technology products are showing up in the kitchen. A new Bagel dome (圆顶形物) advertises that it will keep your baked goods fresher for longer periods of time. The product, which is able to remove air, works for bread rolls, cakes and other perishables. To use it, you just push a button at the top.The Color Picker will probably be used while you're .
A.using the computer | B.drawing pictures |
C.collecting information | D.designing a program |
The underlined word "perishables" in the last paragraph refers to foods which .
A.are easy to keep | B.go bad easily |
C.are rich in vitamins | D.keep you thin |
It can be learned from the passage that .
A.the Color Picker is convenient to use |
B.Light Sleeper was designed by an American |
C.the Bagel dome mainly serves as decoration |
D.few people would like to try the Snore Stopper |
Walter Wetzel had met Ryan Lamantia nearly eight years ago in a hospital waiting room. Both were very sick——Ryan with brain cancer, Walter with leukemia (白血病). Ryan, who was 3 at the time, began making silly faces at Walter and chatted about going home to change into his Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles costume. Several days later, Ryan moved to another hospital. Though they saw each other only a handful of times after that, Walter never forgot Ryan.
"He inspired me to fight against my cancer," said Walter, now 17, a football player. Then one day, Walter saw a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles shirt at a mall, which made him decide to search out Ryan. Back home, Walter typed in "Ryan Lake in the Hills brain cancer" on his computer, and a link to a Facebook page for Ryan came up. But, the news was shocking.
Ryan had died on Sept. 8, 2005. He was 6. The Facebook page was for the Ryan Lamantia Foundation, a non-profit organization that Ryan's family formed after his death to raise money for brain cancer research.
Walter left this message right away: ."Ryan is my hero. My trips to the hospital were always horrible, until the day I met Ryan."
Ryan's mom's eyes were filled with tears as she read Waiter's message. "We always knew Ryan was special, but to hear it from somebody else, it really means the world to us," Lamantia said.
Walter wasn't the only person who was greatly impressed with Ryan.
"He was a little superhero," said Wendy Stellpflug, a nurse at Children' s Memorial Hospital. "Ryan always kept his spirits high, even after he suffered hearing loss and experienced 14 operations."
"Ryan didn’ t let his illness stop him. He always had a smile on his face," said Dr. Stewart Goldman, the doctor who treated Ryan.
Walter and his family have been in touch with the Lamantias for the past few weeks. And last week, they met for the first time since Ryan's death. The families told stories of being affected by cancer so young and Walter expressed his hope to volunteer with Ryan' s foundation.Walter finally wanted to get in touch with Ryan because___________.
A.he saw the news about Ryan on the Internet |
B.he wanted to thank Ryan in person |
C.an object reminded him of Ryan |
D.he raised money for Ryan |
After reading Walter's message online, Ryan' s mom felt_____.
A.proud of her son | B.grateful for his help |
C.happy about his recovery | D.sad again at her son' s death |
Which of the following can best describe Ryan?
A.Determined and considerate. | B.Optimistic and brave. |
C.Friendly and patient. | D.Brave and proud. |
We know from the text that Walter_________.
A.survived the cancer |
B.experienced 14 operations |
C.searched for Ryan on the Facebook |
D.founded the Ryan Lamantia Foundation |