If you hear the sound of a handset beeping(手机响) in a bag or pocket, you could be forgiven for thinking that someone has received a text message. But nowadays there are so many different ways of messaging someone that it could spell the death of the traditional text as we know it.
Text messaging, or texting, is the art of sending a short, electronic message between two mobile phones or tablets(平板电脑). Users pay a certain amount to send messages via(通过) SMS—short message service. But in the last few years, messaging in this way has been on the decline(下降).
The rise of smartphones and tablets has seen an increase in the use of instant messaging apps(即时通信应用程序) , which take the place of traditional texts. Using wireless Internet connections, people can send limitless numbers of IMs to their friends for very little cost. Unlike traditional mobile texts, the user usually only has to pay to download the app once, after which each message they send is free.
Web developers soon got the message. Instant messaging apps have become popular all over the world. WhatsApp in America and Europe, WeChat in China and Kakao Talk in South Korea are but a few which have attracted hundreds of millions of people, who use the apps to chat to their friends in real time. These apps allow people to send picture messages for free—something which previously was quite costly.
Research company Informa said that almost 19 billion messages were sent per day using chat apps in 2012, compared with 17. 6 billion SMS texts. And it expects the chat app market to grow t0 50 billion per day by 2014. So does this really mean the end for communication by text?
Pamela Clark—Dickson from Informa doesn't think so. She says that there are a large number of people who use normal mobile phones, particularly in developing countries, who prefer the SMS messaging tool. There is an awfully big base of mobile phone users who are still going to find that SMS is the best messaging experience for them for a while.
根据材料内容选择最佳答案，并将其标号填人题前括号内。 According to Paragraph 3 , which of the following is NOT true?
| A．Instant messaging apps are becoming more and more popular nowadays. |
| B．Compared with instant messaging, traditional texts are more popular now. |
| C．Instant messaging and SMS messaging are both ways we can chat with others. |
| D．More and more people choose to use smartphones and tablets. |
The underlined phrase "got the message" in Paragraph 4 means ______
| A．received an SMS message | B．got an instant message |
| C．understood what was wanted | D．got a piece of information |
Which of the following is true?
| A．people sent 19 billion SMS texts every day in 2012 |
| B．All the messages sent on mobile phones and computers are free |
| C．Picture messages can be sent at a high price if you use Wechat |
| D．To send instant messages , people usually have to download the app first |
What can we learn from the last paragragh?
| A．p amela Clark-Dickson doesn’t support the SMS messaging |
| B．Few people like sending messages via SMS at phones |
| C．Many people are still senging messages on mobile phones |
| D．SMS messaging has disappeared in developed courtries. |
What is the best title for text?
| A．the death of text messaging |
| B．How to send messages via SMS |
| C．SMS costs less than IMs |
| D．WeChat in China is popular. |
Hello, my dear friends, today here’s a funny cartoon for you! It is a Chinese cartoon. Its name is Happy Sheep(喜羊羊) and Big Big Wolf(灰太狼).
In this cartoon, there are some sheep and three wolves. Happy Sheep is the leading role(主角). He likes playing football and running. He runs faster than the other sheep. Pretty Sheep(美羊羊) likes making clothes and growing flowers. She is very beautiful. Lazy Sheep(懒羊羊) is clever. But he doesn’t like doing sports. He likes sleeping best. Force Sheep(沸羊羊) is stronger than the other sheep. Warm Sheep is the class monitor(班长) at school. Slow Sheep is 68 years old. He is old. He is the village head. Every sheep has a lovely pet. Big Big Wolf wants to eat sheep. Red Wolf is Big Big Wolf’s wife(妻子). She is very bad. Banana Wolf is nice. He is the friend of the sheep. He likes eating bananas very much.________ doesn’t like sports.
| A．Lazy Sheep | B．Force Sheep |
| C．Warm Sheep | D．Happy Sheep |
Pretty Sheep likes ________.
| A．playing football | B．sleeping |
| C．making clothes | D．eating bananas |
________ is the sheep’s friend.
| A．Big Big Wolf | B．Banana Wolf |
| C．Red Wolf | D．Little Wolf |
There are ________ sheep in the passage(短文).
| A．four | B．five | C．six | D．seven |
Which is NOT right?
| A．Happy Sheep runs slower than the other sheep. |
| B．Slow Sheep is old. |
| C．Warm Sheep has a lovely pet. |
| D．Red Wolf is Big Big Wolf’s wife. |
(1) The weather in Australia is not the same as ours, because the seasons are opposite. When it is winter in China, it is summer there. Australia is a southern country. It is in the south of the world. June, July and August are the winter months; September, October and November are spring; the summer is in December, January and February; March, April and May are the autumn months.
A very large part of the country has no rain at all. The east coast(海岸)has rain all year round. There are no dry months there. The southeast winds blow all the year.(2) bring, they, rain, from, sea, the. There is not much rain on the west side. The southeast part of Australia has summer rain from the southeast winds. They only blow here in summer.将（1）处翻译成中文。
将（2）处的词语连成一个完整句。
Which part of the world is Australia in?
Why does the east coast have rain all year round?
What’s the Chinese meaning of “opposite”?
A man and his wife had a small restaurant near a train station. The restaurant often stayed open until after midnight, because people came to drink and have meals while they were waiting for trains.
At two o'clock one morning, a farmer was still sitting at a table there. He was asleep. The wife of the owner of the restaurant was very sleepy and wanted to go to bed. She looked at the farmer several times and waited for him to wake up and go, but each time she looked, the farmer was still there sleeping. Then at last she went to her husband and said to him, “You have woken him six times now, but why haven't you sent him away? It's very late.”
“Oh, no, I don't want to send him away,” answered her husband with a smile. “You see, whenever I wake him up, he asks for his bill(账单), and when I give him the bill, he pays it and then goes to sleep again."The persons who come to the restaurant are those who .
| A．want to stay for night |
| B．want to meet friends |
| C．wait for the train |
| D．want to buy train tickets |
The wife did not go to bed because she was waiting for the farmer to _____.
| A．get on the train | B．talk to her |
| C．pay his bill | D．wake up and go |
The underlined phrase “send him away” may mean _____.
| A．invite him to stay longer |
| B．make him leave |
| C．tell him to drink more |
| D．ask him to pay the money |
Why didn't the man send the farmer away?
| A．Because he wanted the farmer to sleep a little longer. |
| B．Because he wanted the farmer to feel sleepy |
| C．Because he wanted the farmer to give more money |
| D．Because he wanted the farmer to have more food |
From the passage we know the husband is _____.
| A．honest | B．gentle |
| C．unkind | D．warm-hearted |
“If you want to see a thing well, reach out and touch it!”
That may seem a strange thing to say. But touching things can help you to see them better. Your eyes can tell you that a glass ball is round. But by holding it in your hands, you can feel how smooth and how cool the ball is. You can feel how heavy the glass is. When you feel all these about the ball, you really see it. With your skin (皮肤), you can feel better . For example, your fingers can tell the difference between two coins in your pocket. You can feel a little drop of water on the back of your hand, too. All children soon learn what “Don’t touch!” means. They hear it often. Yet most of us keep on touching things as we grow up. In shops, we touch things as we buy food and clothes. To see something well, we have to touch it. There are ways of learning to see well by feelings. One way is to close your eyes and try to feel everything that is touching your skin. Feel the shoes on your feet, the clothes on your body, the air on your skin. At first, it is not easy to feel these things. You are too used to (习惯于) them. Most museums are just for looking. But today some museums have some things for you to touch. Their signs say, “Do touch!” There you can feel everything on show. If you want to see better, reach out and touch. Then you will really see.By touching things, _____________.
| A．you will have a strange feeling |
| B．you will learn how to reach out your hand |
| C．you can tell the difference of the things |
| D．you can tell what colours they are |
Why does it say “At first, it is not easy to feel these things.”?
| A．Because the things are used by people, too. |
| B．Because people use the things too often. |
| C．Because people know how to use the things. |
| D．Because the things are easy to feel. |
Which of the following is TRUE?
| A．Touching is more important than seeing. |
| B．Our feet, fingers, hands and skin can help us buy food |
| C．People have to learn to see by feeling as they grow up. |
| D．Visitors can feel the things on show in some museums |
Which of the following can be the best title of the story?
| A．Touching by feeling | B．To see or to feel |
| C．Feel to See Better | D．Ways of Feeling |
| Canbury Youth Hotel |
|
| Facilities(设施) 120 beds Open 24 hours, all year Car park No family rooms Games room Washing machines No smoking Camping |
Meal Times Breakfast: 7:00 a.m. Dinner: 6:00 p.m. --- 7:00 p.m. |
| Travel Information City centre three kilometers Bus service to city centre No. 14 (takes ten minutes), last bus 8:00 p.m. |
Next Hotels Charlestown 8 kilometres Kinscombe 15 kilometres Oxton 20 kilometres |
| Charges Under 18 ＄6.15 Adult ＄9.10 |
If you stay in Canbury Youth Hotel, you can’t ______.
| A．smoke | B．play games |
| C．park your car | D．camp |
What is the nearest hotel?
| A．Canbury | B．Kinscombe |
| C．Oxton | D．Charlestown |
How much is it for two 15-year-olds to stay one night?
| A．＄6.15 | B．＄9.10 |
| C．＄12.30 | D．＄18.20 |