The inventor of the world wide web，Tim BernersLee，has won an important award which comes with a prize bag of one million euros (￡671,000)．The “Father of the Web” was named as the first winner of the Millennium Technology Prize by the Finnish Technology Award Foundation.He said he had just been “in the right place at the right time” and did not want his photo taken.
In 1991，he came up with a system to organize，link and browse(浏览) Net pages which revolutionized the Internet.The British scientist was knighted(封爵) for his pioneering work in 2003.
Sir Tim created his program while he was at the particle physics institute，Cern，in Geneva.The computer code he came up with let scientists easily share research findings across a computer network.In the early 1990s，it was called the “world wide web，” and is still the basis of the web as we know it.
The famous man never went on to commercialize his work.Instead he worked on expanding the use of the Net as a channel for free expression and cooperation.
“The web is encouraging new types of social networks and opening up new ways for information management and business development.The web has significantly improved many people’s ability to obtain information central to their lives，”said Pekka Tarjanne，chairman of the Millennium Technology Prize award committee.
Just under 80 people from 22 countries were nominated(提名) for the prize for their work in the areas of health，communication，new materials and the environment.
The Millennium Technology Prize was set up by the Finnish Technology Award Foundation，an independent body backed by the public and private money which aims to recognize outstanding creations.
Sir Tim currently heads up the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston，where he is now based as an academic.It can be learned from the first two paragraphs that ________.
| A．it is Tim BernersLee that invented the Internet |
| B．no one was able to surf the Net before the world wide web was invented |
| C．the Internet can’t be used so widely without Tim BernersLee’s invention |
| D．the Millennium Technology Prize was set up for Tim BernersLee |
After inventing the world wide web，Tim BernersLee ________.
| A．became the first person to receive the Millennium Technology Prize |
| B．became the first person to be knighted by the Queen of England |
| C．began to cooperate with many scientists in other areas |
| D．was given over one million pounds for his great contribution |
Which of the following best describes Tim BernersLee?
| A．Optimistic. | B．Modest. |
| C．Ambitious. | D．Careful. |
What would be the best title for the text?
| A．The Millennium Technology Prize |
| B．Tim BernersLee |
| C．The World Wide Web |
| D．New Honor for the Web’s Inventor |
The Touchstone
When the great library of Alexandria burned, the story goes, one book was saved. But it was not a valuable book, and so a poor man, who could read little, bought it for very little money.
The book wasn’t very interesting, but between its pages there was something very interesting indeed. It was a thin strip of vellum on which was written the secret of the “Touchstone”! The touchstone was a small pebble that could turn any common metal into pure gold.
The writing explained that it was lying among thousands and thousands of other pebbles that looked exactly like it. But the secret was this: The real stone would feel warm, while ordinary pebbles are cold.
So the man sold his few belongings, bought some simple supplies, camped on the seashore, and began testing pebbles. He knew that if he picked up ordinary pebbles and threw them down again because they were cold, he might pick up the same pebble hundreds of times. So, when he felt one that was cold, he threw it into the sea. He spent a whole day doing this but none of them was the touchstone. Yet he went on and on this way. Pick up a pebble. Cold, throw it into the sea. Pick up another. Throw it into the sea. Pick up another. Throw it into the sea. The days continued over a long period of time.
One day, however, about mid-afternoon, he picked up a pebble and it was warm. He threw it into the sea before he realized what he had done. He had formed such a strong habit of throwing each pebble into the sea that when the one he wanted came along he still threw it away.
So it is with opportunity. Unless we are careful, it’s easy to fail to recognize an opportunity when it is in hand and it’s just as easy to throw it away.The man bought the book because ______.
| A．he wanted to read it | B．it was very interesting |
| C．there was a secret in the book | D．he wanted to find the touchstone |
We can learn from the passage that the touchstone is ______.
| A．pure | B．cold | C．magic | D．big |
What does the author want to tell us in the passage?
| A．We should offer opportunities in our life. |
| B．We should seek for opportunities in the world. |
| C．We may seize opportunities when we are watchful. |
| D．We may discover opportunities when forming habits. |
People living in the UK take quite a few holidays abroad and in the country each year. Choices made about where to go, how to get there and what to do can either benefit or harm the environment.
While on holiday
Many of the things you can do to the greener on holiday will be the same things you can do at home—but there are also some extra things too, like avoiding gifts made from endangered plants and animals. Here are some suggestions:
●Making the most of locally produced food and drink, and local activities and attractions will support people in the area you are visiting and reduce the need for further environmental influence from transport.
●Switching off any air conditioning, heating and lights will help reduce climate change effect.
●Save water—some countries suffer from water shortages and saving water can help avoid damage to our natural habitats（栖息地）.
Endangered species(物种)
Some gifts and foods available in some countries can be made from endangered plants or animals. Check before you buy, but if you doubt, avoid animal and plant gifts. More details of the types of products to avoid any illegal trade hotspots can be found on the Souvenir Alert webpage.
Making a positive contribution to the place you are visiting.
There are ways in which your holiday can help support local people and the environment.
●There are many opportunities to volunteer and help with projects that conserve and improve natural habitats.
●When you are away, or if you are looking for somewhere to visit, you can support projects or attractions which protect wildlife, such as nature reserves and conservation projects.According to the passage, we can to help reduce climate change effect.
| A．make good use of water | B．buy local food and drink |
| C．save electricity | D．go around on foot |
We should check the gifts and foods before buying because ______.
| A．sometimes they are of poor quality |
| B．they may not be typical local products |
| C．some of them will do harm to our health |
| D．they may be made from endangered animals or plants |
We can infer from the passage that ______.
| A．it is not easy for people to travel abroad |
| B．not everyone can tell an illegal souvenir |
| C．green holidays have been accepted by people |
| D．volunteer work is a must for protecting natural habitats |
The passage is mainly about ______.
| A．travel enjoyment | B．the harm to the environment |
| C．greener choices for holiday | D．protection of endangered animals |
Robert is nine years old and Joanna is seven. They live at Mount Ebenezer. Their father has a big property. In Australia they call a farm a property.
Robert and Joanna like school very much. At school they can talk to their friends but Robert and Joanna cannot see their friends. They live 100, perhaps 300, miles away and like Robert and Joanna, they all go to school by radio.
Mount Ebenezer is in the center of Australia. Not many people live in “The Center”. There are no schools with desks and blackboards and no teachers in “The Center”. School is a room at home with a two-way radio. The teacher also has a two-way radio. Every morning she calls each student on the radio. When all students answer, lessons begin… Think of your teacher 300 miles away! The children in “The Center” do not go to a school because ______.
| A．they live too far away from one another | B．they do not like school |
| C．they are not old enough to go to school | D．their families are too poor |
In order to send their children to school, parents in “The Center” of Australia must have ______.
| A．a property | B．a car |
| C．a school room at home | D．a special radio |
Teachers in “The Center” of Australia teach ______.
| A．not in a classroom but at the homes of the students |
| B．by speaking only and not showing anything in writing |
| C．without using any textbooks or pictures |
| D．without knowing whether the students are attending |
A “property” in Australia is a ______.
| A．house | B．school | C．farm | D．radio |
When I lived in Spain, some Spanish friends of mine decided to visit England by car. Before they left, they asked me for advice about how to find accommodation (住所). I suggested that they should stay at ‘bed and breakfast’ houses, because this kind of accommodation gives a foreign visitor a good chance to speak English with the family. My friends listened to my advice, but they came back with some funny stories.
“We didn’t stay at bed and breakfast houses,” they said, “because we found that most families were away on holiday.”
I thought this was strange. Finally I understood what had happened. My friends spoke little English, and they thought ‘VACANCIES’ meant ‘holidays’, because the Spanish word for ‘holidays’ is ‘vacaciones’. So they did not go to house where the sign outside said ‘VACANCLES’, which in English means there are free rooms. Then my friends went to house where the sign said ‘NO VACANCLES’, because they thought this meant the people who owned the house were not away on holiday. But they found that these houses were all full. As a result, they stayed at hotels!
We laughed about this and about mistakes my friends made in reading other signs. In Spanish, the word ‘DIVERSION’ means fun. In English, it means that workmen are repairing the road, and that you must take a different road. When my friends saw the word ‘DIVERSION’ on a road sign, they thought they were going to have fun. Instead, the road ended in a large hold.
English people have problems too when they learn foreign languages. Once in Paris, when someone offered me some more coffee, I said “Thank you” in French. I meant that I would like some more. However, to my surprise, the coffee pot was taken away! Later I found out that “Thank you” in French means “No, thank you.”My Spanish friends wanted advice about ______.
| A．learning English | B．finding places to stay in England |
| C．driving their car on English roads | D．going to England by car |
‘NO VACANCIES’ in English means ______.
| A．no free rooms | B．free rooms | C．not away on holiday | D．holidays |
When someone offered me more coffee and I said “Thank you” in French, I ______.
A didn’t really want any more coffee B. wanted them to take the coffee pot away
C. really wanted some more coffee D. wanted to express my politeness I was surprised when the coffee pot was taken away because I ______.
| A．hadn’t finished drinking my coffee | B．was expecting another cup of coffee |
| C．meant that I didn’t want any more | D．was never misunderstood |
I love charity shops and so do lots of other people in Britain because you find quite a few of them on every high street. The charity shop is a British institution, selling everything from clothes to electric goods, all at very good prices. You can get things you won’t find in the shops anymore. The thing I like best about them is that your money is going to a good cause and not into the pockets of profit-driven companies, and you are not damaging the planet, but finding a new home for unwanted goods.
The first charity shop was opened in 1947 by Oxfam. The famous charity’s appeal to aid postwar Greece had been so successful it had been flooded with donations(捐赠物). They decided to set up a shop to sell some of these donations to raise money for that appeal. Now there are over 7,000 charity shops in the UK. My favourite charity shop in my hometown is the Red Cross shop, where I always find children’s books, all 10 or 20 pence each.
Most of the people working in the charity shops are volunteers, although there is often a manager who gets paid. Over 90% of the goods in the charity shops are donated by the public. Every morning you see bags of unwanted items outside the front of shops, although they don’t encourage this, rather ask people to bring things in when the shop is open.
The shops have very low running costs: all profits go to charity work. Charity shops raise more than ￡110 million a year, funding（资助）medical research, overseas aid, supporting sick and poor children, homeless and disabled people, and much more. What better place to spend your money? You get something special for a very good price and a good moral sense. You provide funds to a good cause and tread lightly on the environment. The author loves the charity shop mainly because of _______.
| A．its convenient location |
| B．its great variety of goods |
| C．its spirit of goodwill |
| D．its nice shopping environment |
The first charity shop in the UK was set up to ____.
| A．sell cheap products |
| B．deal with unwanted things |
| C．raise money for patients |
| D．help a foreign country |
Which of the following is TRUE about charity shops?
| A．The operating costs are very low. |
| B．The staff are usually well paid. |
| C．90% of the donations are second-hand. |
| D．They are open twenty-four hours a day. |
Which of the following may be the best title for the passage?
| A．What to Buy a Charity Shops. |
| B．Charity Shop: Its Origin & Development. |
| C．Charity Shop: Where You Buy to Donate. |
| D．The Public’s Concern about Charity Shops. |