Someday a stranger will read your e-mail without your permission or scan the Website you’ve visited，Or perhaps someone will casually glance through your credit card purchases or cell phone bills to find out your shopping preferences or calling habits.
In fact, it’s likely some of these things have already happened to you. Who would watch you without your permission? It might be a spouse, a girl friend, a marketing company, a boss, a cop or a criminal. Whoever it is, they will see you in a way you never intended to be seen --- the 21st century equivalent of being caught naked.
Psychologists tell us boundaries are healthy, that it's important to reveal yourself to friends, family and lovers in stages, at appropriate times.But few boundaries remain. The digital bread crumbs (碎屑) you leave everywhere make it easy for strangers to reconstruct who you are, where you are and what you like. In some cases, a simple Google search can reveal what you think. Like it or not, increasingly we live in a world where you simply cannot keep a secret.
The key question is: Does that matter?
For many Americans, the answer apparently is “no.”
When opinion polls ask Americans about privacy, most say they are concerned about losing it. A survey found an overwhelming pessimism about privacy, with 60 percent of respondents saying they feel their privacy is “slipping away, and that bothers me.”
But people say one thing and do another. Only a tiny fraction of Americans change any behaviors in an effort to preserve their privacy. Few people turn down a discount at tollbooths (收费站) to avoid using the EZ-Pass system that can track automobile movements. And few turn down supermarket loyalty cards. Privacy economist Alessandro Acauisti has run a series of tests that reveal people will surrender personal information like Social Security numbers just to get their hands on a pitiful 50-cents-off coupon (优惠卷).
But privacy does matter - at least sometimes. It’s like health: When you have it, you don’t notice it. Only when it’s gone do you wish you’d done more to protect it.What does the author mean by saying “the 21st century equivalent of being caught naked” (Lines 3-4, Para. 2)?
| A．People's personal information is easily accessed without their knowledge. |
| B．In the 21st century people try every means to look into others’ secrets. |
| C．People tend to be more frank with each other in the information age. |
| D．Criminals are easily caught on the spot with advanced technology. |
What would psychologists advise on the relationships between friends?
| A．Friends should open their hearts to each other. |
| B．Friends should always be faithful to each other. |
| C．There should be a distance even between friends. |
| D．There should be fewer disputes between friends. |
Why does the author say “we live in a world where you simply cannot keep a secret” ( Line5, para. 3)?
| A．Modern society has finally evolved into an open society. |
| B．People leave traces around when using modern technology. |
| C．There are always people who are curious about others’ affairs. |
| D．Many search engines profit by revealing people’s identities. |
What do most Americans do with regard to privacy protection?
| A．They change behaviors that might disclose their identity. |
| B．They use various loyalty cards for business transactions. |
| C．They rely most and more on electronic devices. |
| D．They talk a lot but hardly do anything about it. |
According to the passage, privacy is like health in that .
| A．people will make every effort to keep it |
| B．its importance is rarely understood |
| C．it is something that can easily be lost |
| D．people don’t cherish it until they lose it |
Thanksgiving is an important festival in North America. We interviewed several students from the US and Canada. Here is what they have told us about their Thanksgiving experiences.
Josie from New York, USA
“In America, Thanksgiving is celebrated every year at the end of November. It is to remember the first group of people from Europe to live in America. When they first arrived, they found the environment strange. But they learned to survive after some native American friends showed them how to grow and find food. Thanksgiving is meant to be a traditional celebration.”
Todd from California, USA
“Thanksgiving is the first day of Christmas shopping. That means we have four weeks to buy Christmas presents for our families and friends. For me and my friends, the most important part of the festival is the big football game on TV. The match is watched by millions of people all over America. Thanksgiving is seen as an exciting day for football!”
Ian from Saskatoon, Canada
In Canada, Thanksgiving is held on the 2nd Monday in October. On the Sunday before Thanksgiving Day, many people go to church. Thanks is given for all the good things that happened to them during the year. I always give thanks for the nice big turkey I’m going to have at the family dinner! Like all festivals, Thanksgiving is about food!
Katie from Maritimes, Canada
On Thanksgiving Day, we have dinner with all our cousins, aunts and uncles. It is always very busy. Sometimes we have two Thanksgiving dinners because we go to both our grandparents’ houses. The dinner is usually attended by more than twenty people at each house! My mother and my aunts do all the cooking but the washing-up is done by me and my cousins. And that’s not an easy job! But I don’t mind because Thanksgiving is meant to be a time to give thanks.People in the USA and Canada ____________.
| A．all have the same opinion of Thanksgiving |
| B．have different opinions of Thanksgiving |
| C．feel that Thanksgiving is about food |
| D．have no interest in Thanksgiving |
Which of the people interviewed feels that Thanksgiving is all about football?
| A．Ian | B．Josie | C．Todd | D．Katie |
Where does the person who thinks that Thanksgiving is a traditional celebration come from?
| A．New York | B．California | C．Saskatoon | D．Maritimes |
For what reasons do people give thanks at Thanksgiving?
| A．All the good things that have happened |
| B．Presents, a big turkey |
| C．Grandparents, food |
| D．Football, traditions |
When Albert Einstein was young, he was a quiet child who spent much of his time alone. He was slow to talk and had difficulty in learning to read.
When Albert was five years old, his father gave him a compass. Albert was filled with wonder when he discovered that the compass needle always pointed in the same direction ---- the north. He asked his father and his uncle what caused the needle to move. Their answers were difficult for Albert to understand. Yet he spent a lot of time thinking about them. He said later that he felt something must be hidden behind things.
Albert didn’t like school. The German schools of that time were not pleasant. Students couldn’t ask questions. Albert said he felt as if he were in prison..
One day Albert told his uncle Jacob how much he hated school, especially mathematics. His uncle told him to solve mathematical problems by pretending to be a policeman. “You are looking for someone,” he said, “but you don’t know who he is. Call him X. Find him by using your mathematical tools.”
Albert learned to love mathematics. He was studying the complex mathematics of calculus while all his friends were still studying simple mathematics. Instead of playing with his friends he thought about things such as “What would happen if people could travel at the speed of his light?”
Albert wanted to teach mathematics and physics. He graduated with honors, but it was a pity that he could not get a teaching job.According to Paragraph 2, we can learn that Albert Einstein ________.
| A．was interested in the compass |
| B．wanted to be a great scientist |
| C．was not clever enough |
| D．didn’t like thinking by himself |
Why did Albert Einstein hate school?
| A．He couldn’t play with his friends there |
| B．Students were not allowed to ask questions. |
| C．The schools were like prisons at that time |
| D．He had to learn mathematics that he didn’t like. |
What does the underlined word ‘complex’ probably mean?
| A．Useful | B．Difficult | C．Boring | D．Interesting |
We can learn from the passage that ________.
| A．Einstein became a mathematics teacher after graduation |
| B．Einstein gradually loved mathematics with his uncle’s help. |
| C．Einstein’s uncle was a policeman. |
| D．Einstein liked playing with other children. |
John H. Johnson was born in a black family in Arkansas City in 1918. His father died in an accident when John was six. He was reaching the high school age, but his hometown offered no high school for blacks.
Fortunately he had a strong-willed caring mother. John remembered that his mother told him many times, “Son, you can be anything you really want to be if you just believe.” She told him not to depend on others, including his mother. “You have to earn success,” she said. “All the people who work hard don’t succeed, but the only people who do succeed are those who work hard.”
These words came from a woman with less than a third grade education. She also knew that believing and hard work don’t mean everything. So she worked hard as a cook for two years to save enough to take her son, who was then 15, to Chicago. Chicago in 1933 was not the promised land that black southerners were looking for. John’s mother and stepfather could not find work. But here John could go to school, and here he learned the power of words---as an editor of the newspaper and yearbook at Du Sable High School. His wish was to publish a magazine for blacks.
While others discouraged him, John’s mother offered him more words to live by: “Nothing beats a failure but a try. ” She also let him pawn(典当)her furniture to get the $500 he needed to start the Negro magazine for blacks.
It is natural that difficulties and failures followed John closely until he became very successful. He always keeps his mother’s words in mind.: “Son, failure is not in your vocabulary!”
Now John H. Johnson is one of the 400 richest people in America---worth $150 million.John’s mother decided to move to Chicago because_______.
| A．his father died when John was very young. |
| B．life was too hard for them to stay on in their hometown |
| C．John needed more education badly |
| D．there were no school for Negroes in their hometown |
John’s mother________.
| A．didn’t believe in or depend on others |
| B．thought one could be whatever one wanted to be |
| C．believed one would succeed without working hard |
| D．thought no one could succeed without working hard. |
The sentence “Nothing beats a failure but a try” means _______.
| A．if you try, you would succeed |
| B．a failure is difficult to beat, even if you try |
| C．a try is always followed by a failure |
| D．no failure can be beaten unless you try |
Bolivia has a population three and a half million . About one tenth of the total population are white ; one-fourth are mixed Indians and white ; and more than half are full-blooded Indians . The government and the industries are under the control of the white people .
The Indians today live in much the same way as their ancestors . Most of them are farmers . Many work in the mines , for mining is the most important industry on Bolivia’s . Of all the mining products , tin is the most important , which makes up three-fourths of all Bolivia’s exports . The eastern slopes of the Andes , since there are very few roads there , are fertile but not highly developed . The two primary means of transportation are river boats and porters . East of the hill region are the great plains where tropical plants are grown . A serious problem for Bolivia is the transport of food from the warm regions , where it is grown to the mountainous regions , where most of the people live .
Bolivia gained its independence from Spain about a hundred years ago . It has been slow in developing , but its rich resources promise a better future in it .The majority of the Bolivian population are .
| A．full-blooded Indians |
| B．mixed Indian and white |
| C．white citizens |
| D．all whites and mixed-blooded people |
The Indian’s way of life today is
| A．quite different from that of their ancestors |
| B．quite interesting |
| C．almost the same as their ancestors’ |
| D．very exciting |
The main product Bolivia exports is
| A．tropical plants | B．gold and silver | C．tin | D．food |
Bolivia has been slow in developing , but it has hope for a better future because of its .
| A．mining products | B．rich resources |
| C．independence from Spain | D．two primary means of transportation |
There was a gardener who looked after his garden with great care. To water his flowers, he used two buckets. One was a shiny and new bucket. The other was a very old and dilapidated one, which had seen many years of service, but was now past its best.
Every morning, the gardener would fill up the two buckets. Then he would carry them along the path, one on each side, to the flowerbeds. The new bucket was very proud of itself. It could carry a full bucket of water without a single drop spilled (溢出). The old bucket felt very ashamed because of its holes: before it reached the flowerbeds, much water had leaked（漏水） along the path.
Sometimes the new bucket would say, “See how great I am! How good it is that the gardener has me to water the flowers every day! I don't know why he still bothers with you. What a waste of space you are!”
And all that the old bucket could say was. “I know I am not very useful, but I can only do my best. I am happy that the gardener still finds a little bit of use in me, at least.”
One day, the gardener heard that kind of conversation. After watering the flowers as usual, he said, “You both have done your work very well. Now I am going to carry you back. I want you to look carefully along the path.”
Then the two buckets did so. All along the path, they noticed, on the side where the new bucket was carried, there was just bare（光秃秃的）earth; on the other side where the old bucket was carried, there was a joyous row of wild flowers, leading all the way to the garden.What does the underlined word “dilapidated” probably mean?
| A．dirty | B．dark | C．dusk | D．broken |
What was the old bucket ashamed of?
| A．His leaking. | B．His aging. | C．His manner. | D．His past. |
The new bucket made conversations with the old one mainly to_________.
| A．show off its beautiful looks | B．feel sorry about the old one |
| C．laugh at the old one | D．praise the gardener’s kindness |
Why was the old bucket still kept by the gardener?
| A．Because it was used to keep balance（平衡） |
| B．Because it stayed in its best condition |
| C．Because it had its own value |
| D．Because it was treated as a treasure |