Back those photos up
The images were striking. Homes on the East Coast were washed away by Super storm 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 Sky Drive 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 Sky Drive. 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 Super storm Sandy?
| A．To tell the background of the scanning photos. |
| B．To describe a severe natural disaster. |
| C．To attract the readers’ interest in the backups. |
| D．To win the readers’ sympathy. |
What can we know from the passage?
| A．Scanning photos take 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．Dropbox. | B．SkyDrive. | C．Caronite. | D．Flash drive. |
The main purpose of the passage is to _____.
| A．introduce some of the storage services |
| B．tell real stories about storage services |
| C．describe the functions of storage services |
| D．argue about the advantage of storage services |
Hundreds of years ago, life was much harder than it is today. People didn’t have modern machines. There was no modern medicine, either.
Life today has brought new problems. One of the biggest is pollution. Water pollution has made our rivers and lakes dirty. It kills our fish and pollutes our drinking water. Noise pollution makes us talk louder and become angry easily. Air pollution is the most serious kind of pollution. It is bad for all living things in the world.
Many countries are making rules to fight pollution. We need to do many other things. We should put waste things in the dustbins instead of on the ground. We can go to work by bus or with our friends in the same car. If there are fewer people driving, less pollution will be made. Rules are not enough to solve the problems. Every person must help to fight pollution.Hundreds of years ago, life was much harder than it is today because _____.
| A．there were not any modern machines | B．there was no modern medicine |
| C．there were not many people | D．both A and B |
What is the most serious problem in today’s life?
| A．water pollution | B．air pollution | C．noise pollution | D．pollution |
Why do people speak louder now than before?
| A．people are stronger | B．people are afraid of nothing |
| C．there is much noise | D．people have problem in hearing |
What does the writer ask readers to do?
| A．each country should make its own rules to fight pollution |
| B．every person must help to fight pollution |
| C．all people should take buses |
| D．we should control the population |
From the passage, we know that _____.
A. the pollution is not serious
B today people don’t talk in loud voice
C. we have to drink dirty water
D. people are making rules to control pollution
The world is not hungry, but it is thirsty. It seems strange that nearly 3/4 of the earth is covered with water while we say we are short of water. Why? Because about 97% of water on the earth is sea water which we can’t drink or use for watering plants directly. Man can only drink and use the 3% the water that comes from rivers and lakes. And we can’t even use all of that, because some of it has been polluted.
Now more water is needed. The problem is: can we avoid a serious water shortage later on? First, we should all learn how to save water. Secondly, we should find out the ways to reuse it. Scientists have always been making study in this field. Today, in most large cities water is used only once and then runs to the sea or rivers. But it can be used again. Even if every large city reused its water, still there would not be enough. What could people turn to next?
The sea seems to have the best answer. There is a lot of water in the sea. All that needs to be done is to get the salt out of the sea water. This is expensive, but it’s already in use in many parts of the world. Scientists are trying to find a cheaper way of doing it. So you see, if we can find a way out, we’ll be in no danger of drying up.The world is thirsty because ___________.
| A．3/4 of the earth is covered with water |
| B．we have enough sea water |
| C．we haven’t used all the water in rivers and lakes |
| D．about 97% of water on the earth can’t be drunk or used for watering plants directly |
Which of the following is TRUE?
| A．3% of drinkable water on the earth is from rivers and lakes. |
| B．75% of water on the earth is in the sea. |
| C．97% of the earth is covered with water. |
| D．3% of water on the earth is sea water. |
From the passage we learn that __________.
| A．if every city reuses its water, we’ll be in no danger of drying up |
| B．man can only drink and use about 25% of water on the earth |
| C．today in most large cities water is used only once |
| D．water can be used only once |
The dream of flying into outer space, cherished by the Chinese people for centuries, will soon come true.
China launched its fourth unmanned spacecraft （飞船）“Shenzhou Ⅳ” on December 30 at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in Gansu Province. It was the 27th consecutive（连续的 ）and successful launch of China - made rockets since October 1996. This launch has made it more realistic for China to send a person into space on its own following Russia and the USA.
Qi Faren，leading designer of the spacecraft system, said all the functions （功能） designed for manned flights have withstood （经受住）the test of three previous, successful launches and return landings of the “Shenzhou” spaceships.
China launched the “Shenzhou Ⅰ ”, “Shenzhou Ⅱ ”and “Shenzhou Ⅲ ”spacecrafts in 1999,2001 and 2002 respectively.
“Shouzhou Ⅳ” was to make it a more comfortable place in which astronauts can live and work. All parts of the application system for manned flight are aboard the “Shenzhou Ⅳ”craft in all test flights.
China’s manned flight programme began in 1992. A number of unmanned test flights will be launched before Chinese astronauts are sent into space.
Leading scientists in charge of China’s manned space programme said the successful launch of the “Shenzhou Ⅳ” laid a solid foundation for the country’s future task of sending Chinese astronauts to outer space.
The spacecraft returned to the earth on January 5, after completing seven experiments in space.
Officials at the centre said that“ Shenzhou Ⅴ”, a manned spacecraft, is expected to be launched later this year.How many countries can send a person into space on its own by now？
| A．Not mentioned. | B．3. | C．4. | D．2. |
.China’s manned flight programme began in ________.
| A．1992 | B．October 1996. | C．1999 | D．January 2003 |
As a matter of fact, ________ .
| A．“Shenzhou Ⅴ ”has been launched |
| B．“Shenzhou Ⅳ” was a manned spacecraft |
| C．“Shenzhou Ⅲ ”and“ Shenzhou Ⅳ” were not launched in the same year |
| D．the dream of man flying into outer space has come true in China |
.Which is the most suitable title for the passage?
| A．The Successful Launching of “Shenzhou Ⅳ ”. |
| B．The Landing of “Shenzhou Ⅳ ”. |
| C．Chin a’s Manned Flight Programme. |
| D．The Third Country Sending a Person into Outer Space. |
America is growing older. Fifty - eight years ago, only 4 out of every 100 people in the United States were 65 or older. To day, 10 out of every 100 Americans are over 65. The aging of the population will affect（影响）American society in many ways—education, medicine, and business. Quietly, the graying of America has made us a very different society—one in which people have a quite different idea of what kind of behavior（行为） is suitable（合适）at various , ages.
A person s age no longer tells you anything about his/her social position, marriage or health. There’s no longer a particular year in which one goes to school or goes to work or gets married or starts a family. The social clock that kept us on time and told us when to go to school, get a job, or stop working isn’t as strong as it used to be. It doesn’t surprise us to hear of a 29 - year - old university president or a 35 - year -old grandmother, or a 70 year - old man who has become a father for the first time. Public ideas are changing.
Many people say, “I am much younger than my mother— or my father— was at my age. ”No one says“Act your age” any more. We’ve stopped looking with surprise at older people who act in youthful ways.It can be learnt from the text that the aging of the population in America ________ .
| A．has made people feel younger |
| B．has changed people’s social position |
| C．has changed people’s understanding of age |
| D．has slowed down the country’s social development |
The underlined word “one” refers to ________ .
| A．a society | B．America |
| C．a place | D．population |
“Act your age” means people should ________ .
| A．be active when they are old |
| B．do the right thing at the right age |
| C．show respect for their parents young or old |
| D．take more physical exercise suitable to their age |
If a 25 - year - old man becomes general manager of a big firm, the writer of the text would most probably consider it ________ .
| A．normal | B．wonderful |
| C．unbelievable | D．unreasonable |
It is difficult for parents of nearly every family to teach their children to be responsible （有责任的）for housework, but with one of the following suggestions, you really can get your children to help at home.
If you give your children the impression that they can never do anything quite right, then they will regard themselves as unfit or unable persons. Unless children believe they can succeed, they will never become totally independent.
My daughter Carla’s fifth - grade teacher made every child in her class feel special. When students received less than a prefect test score, she would point out what they had mastered and declared firmly they could learn what they had missed.
You can use the same technique when you evaluate （评价）your child’s work at home. Don’t always scold and give lots of praise instead. Talk about what he has done right, not about what he hasn’t done. If your child completes a difficult task, promise him a Sunday trip or a ball game with Dad.
Learning is a process（过程）of trying and failing and trying and succeeding. If you teach your children not to fear a mistake of failure, they will learn faster and achieve success at last.The whole passage deals with ________.
| A．social education | B．school education |
| C．family education | D．pre - school education |
The author thinks that________.
| A．there is no way to get children to help at home |
| B．the more encouragement and praise you give, the more responsible and helpful children will become |
| C．it is very difficult to make children responsible for housework |
| D．children can be forced to help with housework |
The article gives us a good suggestion about how to evaluate（评价）your child’s work at home. That is to ________.
| A．praise his success | B．promise him a trip |
| C．give him a punishment | D．promise him a ball game |
The author advises readers to________.
| A．learn from himself, for he has a good way of teaching |
| B．take pride in Carla’s fifth - grade teacher |
| C．do as what Carla’s teacher did in educating children |
| D．follow Carla’s example because she never fails in the test |