With only a click of the mouse, rumors can be forwarded between microblogs very quickly. As an example, recently, perceptive netizens discovered that some photos displayed on microblogs depicting Beijing’s June rainstorm had actually been fabricated.
Sina.com is one of the major internet portals(门户网站) in China with hundreds and thousands of users, and a majority of celebrities and renowned citizens have their microblog accounts on this portal. As recently as six months ago, the website decided to establish a specialized team to verify rumors and provide accurate information for its users. Tan Chao is in charge of the team.
“Before I took the job, I usually couldn’t identify what information was real and what was fake. But during the rumor verification process, we discovered that a lot of information was false, including fake photos, fake news stories and rumors that had been spread through microblogs.”
It‘s not just website portals which are taking on fact-checking responsibilities, but also a number of civic-minded netizens, who recently set up a Rumor Verification Federation on Sina.com’s microblog system to help netizens identify fake information online.
Dianzizheng is the team leader of the federation. He says they’ve publicized more than 150 pieces which refute rumors, which attracted more than 10 thousand visitors within two months.
“We live in an age of new media, so we can’t use the old methods to verify rumors. We can’t wait for the media to verify the facts with related administrative departments and then release a formal announcement. We can’t allow rumors to run rampant and then deal with it, we need to fight rumors while they’re spreading. I think that this is the best way to deal with rumors nowadays.”
Some experts say this demonstrates the advantages of the internet compared to other traditional media. The open platform allows information to be examined and clarified by netizens. But experts like Ding Wenguo, President of the Journalism and Communication College at the China University of Political Science and Law says this self-correction function of the internet is still quite limited.
“It’s still quite difficult to tell which information is true in such an open environment by just reading a number of different opinions on the same issue. This is something which we need to pay attention to. If society is deluged with too much false information, and it’s allowed to spread in such a fast manner, then people will be suspicious of all kinds of information including important information from authorities. It also exacerbates(恶化) problems relating to social communications and mutual-understanding, which in turn harms society as a whole.”
Experts suggest that the government should react more quickly in the internet age. Once a rumor begins to spread, administrative departments should make announcements as early as possible to dispel rumors before they lead to bad outcomes.Sina.com decided to found a specialized team to ____.
| A．limit the number of microblogs |
| B．advance the development of microblogs |
| C．prevent the spread of rumors on the Internet |
| D．urge the government to react quickly to the rumors |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the text?
| A．All the rumors have been spread through microblogs. |
| B．Sina.com is the most popular Internet portal in China. |
| C．The photos displayed on microblogs might be fake. |
| D．Traditional media tend to get rumors examined and clarified. |
The underlined word "fabricated" in the first paragraph can be replaced by "__".
| A．dug out | B．made up | C．got round | D．given away |
What is the best way to prove rumors on microblogs?
| A．Examining and checking while they are spreading. |
| B．Substituting the Internet for traditionally media. |
| C．Shutting down the website immediately. |
| D．Making announcements after they are spread. |
The writer cited Ding Wenguo's words in Paragraph 8 to __.
| A．draw a conclusion | B．support an argument |
| C．introduce a topic | D．describe a scene |
Canadian short story writer Alice Munro won the Nobel Prize for Literature. Eighty-two-year-old Munro is only the 13th woman to win the 112-year-old prize．
Munro didn’t publish her first collection of short stories until she was 37 years old, but her stories have always been well-received. Lots of her stories share similar themes and characters, but each story has its own twists and turns．
Even though she’s won Canada’s most famous literary award, the Giller Prize, twice, winning the Nobel Prize for Literature is the cherry on top of Munro’s career. “It brings this incredible recognition, both of her and her career, and of the dedication to the short story,” said one person．
Along with the well-respected title comes 1．3 million dollars．Munro said everything was “so surprising and wonderful” and that she was “dazed by all the attention and affection that has been coming my way．”
Munro knew she was in the running-she was named the second-most likely person to win this year’s prize, after Haruki Murakami（村上春树）of Japan-but she never thought that she would win．
Munro’s win also represents the long way Canadian writers have come．“When I began writing there was a very small community of Canadian writers and little attention was paid by the world．Now Canadian writers are read, admired and respected around the globe,” Munro said on Thursday．
She is technically not the first Canadian to win the Nobel Prize for Literature, but many like to think that she is．In 1976 Saul Bellow, who was born in Quebec but moved to Chicago when he was still a child, won the prize．Even though he was born in Canada, he is mostly considered to be an American writer．
“This is a win for us all．Canadians, by our very nature, are not very nationalistic,” said Geoffrey Taylor．“But things like this suddenly make you want to find a flag．”
She wasn’t sure if she would keep writing if she won the prize, saying that it would be “nice to go out with a bang．But this may change my mind．”What is the feature of Munro’s stories?
| A．They have their own complicated （复杂的）contents． |
| B．They have similar story backgrounds． |
| C．They have specific themes for children． |
| D．They have the same characters in each book． |
For Munro, the Nobel Prize is an award for______．
| A．her love for Canadian culture |
| B．her devotion to the short story |
| C．her special form of writing |
| D．her career of editing short stories |
What is implied in the sixth paragraph?
| A．Canadian writers paid little attention to the prize． |
| B．Canadian writers are just a small community． |
| C．Canadian writers have long been ignored． |
| D．Canadians have a long way to win the prize． |
What does the passage mainly tell us?
| A．How Alice Munro wins the Nobel Prize |
| B．An introduction to the Nobel Prize in Literature |
| C．Alice Munro wins the Nobel Prize in Literature |
| D．A world famous writer, Alice Munro |
D
Ms．Rossi owns the Roadside Motel（汽车游客旅馆），which has 50 units．She wishes to keep a handy record of the number of units occupied（占用）．To do this she uses a calendar and writes the number of units occupied in a small box in the right-hand square of each date．The following questions are based on the occupancy rate（率） for July．The total number of units occupied during the week of July 14 through July 20 was ______．
| A．234 | B．239 | C．240 | D．244 |
The average（平均） occupancy rate for Thursday was ________．
| A．29 | B．31 | C．27 | D．28 |
Ms．Rossi regards a 90% occupancy rate as excellent．On how many days during the month did the Roadside Motel have a 90% or better rate of occupancy?
| A．6． | B．5． | C．4． | D．1． |
After the Summer Olympics are over, when all the athletics have gone home and the television audience has switched off, another group of athletics and fans will arrive at the host city, and another competition will begin．These are the Paralympics, the games for athletes with a disability．But in Beijing in 2008, for the first time, one of the greatest Paralympics will not be taking part．
She is a British athlete by the name of Tanni Grey-Thormpson．Born with spina bifida （脊椎裂） which left her paralyzed from the waist down．Tanni used a wheelchair from the age of 7．At first, she was not keen on sport, apart from horse-riding, which gave her a sense of freedom．But in her teens, she started taking sports more seriously．She tried swimming, basketball and tennis．Eventually
she found athletics, and never looked back．
Indeed, Tanni’s athletic career took off．In 1984, when she was 15, she pulled off a surprise victory in the 100metres at the Junior National Wheelchair Games．
In 1988, Tanni went to her first Paralympic Games in Seoul．She won bronze in the 400 metres．Even greater success followed at the 1992 Barcelona．Paralympics．Tanni won gold in the 100, 200, 400 and 800 metres relay, setting two world records in the process．In the same year she achieved the first of her six London Wheelchair Marathon victories．
Tanni’s enduring success had been part motivation（动机）, part preparation, “The training I do that enables me to be a good sprinter（短跑运动员） enables me to be good at a marathon too．I train 50 weeks of the year and that keeps me prepared for whatever distance I want to race．I am still competing at a very high lever, but as I get older things get harder and I want to retire before I fall apart．”
Indeed Tanni retired finally after the Visa Paralympic World Cup in 2007．Her wish is to coach young athletes for Beijing 2008 Olympic Games．
In spite of ups and downs, she never take her fate lying down．In her splendid life, she has won an amazing eleven gold medals, four silvers and one bronze in series of Paralympics--- a top lever athletic career covering two decades．She has won the London Wheelchair Marathon six times, more than any other competitor, and she has set over thirty world records．
What advice does she have for young athletes? “Work hard at your studies, and then train, train and train again．”Which of the following sports did Tanni like before thirteen?
| A．Basketball | B．Swimming． |
| C．Tennis． | D．Horse-riding． |
When did Tanni win her first Olympic gold medal?
| A．In 1984． | B．In 1988． |
| C．In 1992． | D．In 2007． |
The underlined word “that” in the 5th paragraph refers to _______．
| A．fifty weeks’ training |
| B．being a good sprinter |
| C．training almost every day |
| D．part motivation and part preparation |
What’s the right order of the events related to Tanni?
a．She works as a coach．
b．She took up athletics．
c．She won four gold medals in Barcelona．
d．She competed in her first Paralympic Games．
e．She achieved a victory in her first London Wheelchair Marathon．
| A．b,d,c,e,a | B．a,d,b,c,e |
| C．a,d,c,e,b | D．b,d,a,e,c |
What can we learn from Tanni’s success?
| A．Union is strength． |
| B．Never too late to learn． |
| C．Well begun is half done． |
| D．No pains, no gains． |
I would never forget the time when we were standing at the top of a church tower．My father had brought me to this spot in a small town not far from our home in Rome．I wondered why．
“Look down, Elsa，” Father said．I gathered all my courage and looked down．I saw the square in the center of the village．And I saw the crisscross （纵横交错） of streets leading to the square．“See, my dear，” Father said gently．“There is more than one way to the square．Life is like that．If you can't get to the place where you want to go by one road, try another．”
Now I understood why I was there．Earlier that day I had begged my mother to do something about the awful lunches that were served at school．But she refused because she didn't believe the lunches were as bad as I said．
When I turned to Father for help, he would not interfere （干涉）．Instead, he brought me to this high tower to give me a lesson．By the time we reached home, I had a plan．
At school the next day, I secretly poured my lunch soup into a bottle and brought it home．Then I asked our cook to serve it to Mother at dinner．The plan worked perfectly．She swallowed one spoonful and sputtered, “The cook must have gone bad！” Quickly I told what I had done, and Mother stated firmly that she would deal with the matter of lunches at school the next day!
In the following years I often remembered the lesson Father taught me．I began to work as a fashion designer two years ago．I wouldn't stop working until I tried every possible means to my goal．Father's wise words always remind me that there is more than one way to the square．The author's father took her to the top of a church tower to ________．
| A．find out how many ways lead to the square |
| B．enjoy the beautiful scenery of the whole town |
| C．help her forget some unpleasant things earlier that day |
| D．inspire her to find out another way to solve her problem |
What did the author want her mother to do earlier that day?
| A．Do something delicious for lunch． |
| B．Speak to the school about lunch． |
| C．Taste her awful lunch． |
| D．Dismiss the cook． |
The underlined sentence in the fifth paragraph means ________．
| A．the cook agreed to serve the soup to Mother |
| B．the matter of lunch was successfully settled |
| C．her father persuaded her mother successfully |
| D．the method the author thought of was effective |
On a freezing cold day, a couple had to move into a small apartment because of their failure in business．The husband worked day and night to support the family but with no care of his wife．So she thought, “He doesn't love me any more, he just cares about his business ．．．not me”．
One day, she was about to take a shower when he stopped her at the door, “Let me take it first, okay？”“Why not me first？” she asked．“I am tired, honey, you take it later, okay？”She was entirely unhappy．
One day, she found nothing to do and turned on his computer．A few words came into her sight．Reading them, she burst into tears．It was his diary：
Today, I was quite sad．She asked me why I was always taking the shower first, and I said to her, I was exhausted．She was unhappy．In her mind, I treated her not as well as usual, but what could I do? I was not as rich as before! We moved to the small apartment, and there was only one shower in the bathroom．It was so cold to take a shower in such a cold winter．But I found that if one person took the shower first, the room could get a little warmer．So every day I rushed to the bathroom first．I was thinking that, when she took the shower, the room would get warmer, even if it was only 1℃．
Now I cannot give her a comfortable life, take her to good restaurants, or buy expensive dresses for her, but at least, I can give her 1℃love．Why did the couple move to the small apartment?
| A．Both of them were out of work． |
| B．They wanted to live a better life． |
| C．The man could take better care of his business． |
| D．They were too poor to live in the former house． |
Which of the following can replace the underlined word “exhausted”？
| A．Devoted． | B．Worried． | C．Tired． | D．Injured． |
What can be inferred from the passage?
| A．They would live a richer life soon． |
| B．The woman misunderstood her husband． |
| C．The man would care less about his business． |
| D．The woman would get angry after reading the diary． |
What's the best title of the passage?
| A．A Love Story | B．1℃Love |
| C．A Suffering Couple | D．Fight for the Bathroom |