San Francisco(People's Daily Online)-- Apple Inc. Tuesday introduced its mobile payment service Apple Pay alongside the company's iPhone 6 Plus and Apple Watch at the Flint Center in Cupertino, California.
What apple does is to replace consumers' wallet with its cell phone. Apple said it hopes to speed up the checkout process, make credit-card payments more secure and ultimately, to replace physical wallets.
With the near-field communication technology, Apple's gadgets like iPhone and Apple watch can transmit a radio signal between the device and a receiver when the two are in an inch apart. "To pay, just hold your iPhone near the contactless reader with your finger on Touch ID. You don’t even have to look at the screen to know your payment information was successfully sent," Apple says on its official website.
Apple said that each transaction (交易)would be authorized(授权) with a one-time, unique number, creating a security code that it said is more secure than the one on the back of your credit card because cashiers won’t see your name, card number or security code. The service will work with the three major payment networks — American Express, MasterCard and Visa — and Apple said that there are 220,000 merchant locations that accept these contactless payments.
When some applaud this disrupted service that will compete with Paypal and endanger other online payment companies, some others concern about its safety, especially when another retailer Home Depot confirmed a data opening yesterday and iCloud was reported exposing nude (裸体)pictures of celebrities (名人) a week ago.
Leo Zheng, a technology reporter in Silicon Valley said: "When Apple attracts consumers to put all their cards into one iPhone and promised the security, Jennifer Lawrence should say something."Which can be the best title for the passage?
| A．Apple announces mobile payment service to replace consumers' wallet. |
| B．Consumers can pay in cash through mobile phones. |
| C．Apple Inc. will introduce new models to the market. |
| D．Mobile payment will be popular soon. |
After reading the third paragraph, we know .
| A．Apple’s new products are popular |
| B．Apple can be used as an ID |
| C．Apple's gadgets can receive message easily |
| D．how Apple's gadgets work |
The attitude of the writer towards the mobile payment is .
| A．indifferent (冷漠的) | B．objective |
| C．skeptical | D．positive |
What could have happened to Jennifer Lawrence?
| A．She made great contributions to Apple. |
| B．She put all her cards into her iPhone. |
| C．Her nude pictures were spread online. |
| D．Her iPhone often broke down. |
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项。
C
China’s economic growth “hard to predict”
The worsening global economic situation makes it difficult for China to predict its growth for next year, a senior official said on Friday.
“How fast China’s economy will grow next year is uncertain,” Liu He, deputy director of the Office of the Central Leading Group on Finance and Economy Work, told China Daily.
“To a large extent, the rate will be decided by the external(外部) situation,” Liu said during a discussion with Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt and other economists in Beijing.
“This year, GDP is estimated to grow at 9.4 or 9.5 percent, down from 10.6 percent last year,” he said. “However, the impact of the current financial turbulence on our economy is much less than on the rest of the world.”
Nicholas Stern, a former UK government advisor, also told China Daily it will take at least one or two years for the world to recover from the recession, which is now spreading from the US and the UK to the rest of the world.
“We don’t know how long the recession will last, but it is unlikely to be short,” he said.
Liu said China can use the downturn(衰退) as an opportunity to restructure its economy, which has relied heavily on government investment, foreign trade and low-cost technology over the past years.
“When the economy is experiencing fast growth, companies are unwilling to upgrade their technologies,” Liu said.
“The slowdown gives such firms the opportunity to enhance(提高) their competitive edge through better technologies.”
(From China Daily 2009-01-11)How many people are mentioned in this passage?
| A．Only 2. | B．No more than 3. | C．Not more than 4. | D．At least 5. |
It can be inferred from Liu’s words that the impact of the current financial turbulence on China’s economy is ______.
| A．more | B．less | C．the most | D．the least |
The underlines word “extent” probably means ______.
| A．sense | B．degree | C．size | D．depth |
According to the passage, the reason why Liu said this downturn is an opportunity for China to restructure its economy is that ______.
| A．China’s economy will not depend on government investment in the future |
| B．Foreign trade will grow in the future |
| C．The downturn will force China’s companies to upgrade their technologies |
| D．Low-cost technologies will not exist in China |
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项。
B
In the hit film The bucket List, Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman meet in hospital in California after they have been diagnosed with cancer. Between them they cook up a “bucket list” – a to-do list of all they want to do before they kick the bucket. The movie makes you wonder what would be on your bucket list. So let’s pack up some and see what it would cost to go out and have a little fun.
THE PYRAMIDS, GIZA, EGYPT
On to the pyramids, surely on anyone’s bucket list. Exotik Tours can take you there on a variety of trips, including their popular Egypt Express which includes three nights in Cairo and a three-night Nile Cruise(乘船游览). From $1,384, including four-and five-star accommodation, 12 meals and a ton of sightseeing.
www.exotiktours.com416-646-3347
TAJ MAHAL, AGRA, INDIA
One of the world’s most fascinating images, India’s Taj Mahal makes even Nicholson and Freeman look calm. Toronto’s Goway Travel has many suggestions for India, including a three-day independent visit to Agra. Stay at the attractive Oberoi AmarVilas overlooking the Taj. Include two breakfasts, touring and airport transfer from $1,420.
www.gowaytravel.com416-322-1034
THE GREAT WALL, CHINA
If the Great Wall of China is on your bucket list, check into Tour East Holiday’s four-day Amazing Beijing Tour for $580 per person, four-star accommodation, sightseeing including the Forbidden City and the Great Wall, breakfasts and two lunches, transportation and guide.
www.toureastholidays.com 416-929-0888
THE HIMALAYAS, NEPAL
And on to the Himalayas. Talk about “something truly majestic(壮丽的). See the top of the world on GAP Adventures’ Everest Adventure tour, a 15-day exploration including Everest Base Camp, teahouse lodge stays, and walking through Sherpa villages. Incredibly affordable at just $665 plus local payment of $250. GAP Adventures warns that this is a physically demanding trip.
www.gapadventures.com 416-260-0999The underlined phrase “kick the bucket” in Paragraph 1 means ______.
| A．come to life | B．play a game | C．pass away | D．list interesting places |
If you take on the Everest Adventure tour, you should be aware that ____.
the sights may not be so good.
It is a tiring trip
you may not be used to the food there
it is an expensive tripAccording to the passage, where can you enjoy a view of the whole Taj Mahal?
| A．In Sherpa village. | B．Near the Forbidden City |
| C．Through Egypt Express. | D．At Oberoi AmarVilas |
Which of the following websites may offer you more information about Agra?
| A．www.gowaytravel.com | B．www.exotiktours.com |
| C．www.gapadventures.com | D．www.toureastholidays.com |
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项。
Ａ
Researchers who helped discover a new species of Mexican butterfly are offering to sell the naming rights to raise money to fund more research. Co-discoverer Andrew Warren is hoping to raise at least $50,000 by auctioning(拍卖) off the rights to name the 4-inch “owl eye” butterfly, which lives in Sonora, a Mexican state bordering Arizona.
“That would support at least two years of research for our team down in Mexico,” Warren said. “Money goes a long way down here in Mexico.”
According to the scientific tradition, discoverers of a new species have the say in naming it. In recent years, some discoverers have auctioned off their naming rights to raise money.
Warren said the amount being sought for the butterfly is not out of the question, noting that naming rights for a new monkey species brought in $650,000 two years ago. A group of 10 new fish species that went on the naming auction block at the same time earlier this year brought in a total of $2 million.
The butterfly discovered by Warren and researcher George Austin ranges as far north as Mexico.
The butterfly was actually in a collection, misidentified as an example of another new species, at the McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity at the Florida Museum of National History in Gainesville, said Warren. They soon began the hard process of determining that it was indeed a “new” model of butterfly.
After checking photos and comparing it with other known species, they determined it was a separate species.Where did the researchers discover the new species of butterflies?
| A．In Sonora. | B．In Mexico state. |
| C．In a place in US. | D．Near the US-Mexico border. |
Why will the researchers sell the naming rights of the butterfly?
To raise money for wildlife protection.
To raise money for more research.
To cause people’s attention to the new discovery.
To cover the cost of the research.When the butterfly was first discovered, people thought ______.
it was a new species at once
it wasn’t a species of American butterfly
it belonged to the monarch branches
it belonged to a new species We can infer from the passage that ______.
the new species of butterfly live both in the US and Mexico
it took the researchers a lot of efforts to determine the new species of butterfly
the researchers are not sure whether they can get the money they want from the auction
it is the first time that the new species of butterfly has been found
The saying that children don’t like reading any more has been proved untrue. A new study finds that 75 percent of kids between five and 17 say that although they love technology, they still want to read books．
The Kids & Family Reading Report also says that 62 percent of kids prefer reading printed books rather than those on a computer．At the same time, those who search an author’s website or use the Internet to find books by a particular author, are more likely to read books for fun every day．
The study also once again proves that the time kids spend reading books for fun decreases after the age of eight and continues to drop through the teen years．The report is a follow-up to a 2006 study．But this time the focus is on the role of technology and when kids’ interest in reading starts to drop．
“Despite the fact that after the age of eight more children go online daily than read for fun daily, high frequency Internet users are more likely to read books for fun every day,” says Heather Carter, a writer of the report．
One in four kids between five and 17 say they read books for fun every day and more than half of kids say they read books for fun at least two to three times a week．One of the key reasons kids say they don’t read more often is that they have trouble finding books they like - a requirement that parents underestimate(低估)．
The study also finds that parents have a strong influence on kids’ reading, but only about half of all parents begin reading to their kids before their first birthday．The percent of children who are read to every day drops from 38 percent among five-to eight-year-olds to 23 percent among nine-to 11-year-olds - exactly the same time that kids’ daily reading for fun starts to drop．
“Parents’ engagement in their child’s reading from birth all the way through the teen years can have a great influence on how often their children read and how much they enjoy reading,” adds Carter．What can we learn from the text?
| A．Children don’t like reading any more after the age of 8. |
| B．Most children like reading as well as going online. |
| C．All kids like reading e – books instead of printed ones. |
| D．Most children like going online instead of reading. |
It can be inferred from the passage that .
| A．the study of kids’ reading has been made before |
| B．most parents begin reading to their kids from their birth |
| C．all kids like to get information using the Internet |
| D．nowadays all children still like to read books |
Which of the following is true according to the text?
| A．The kids who often go online don’t like reading books. |
| B．Parents should teach their kids reading from an early age. |
| C．Sometimes it is difficult for kids to get the books they like. |
| D．When kids get older, parents spend more time with them. |
According to the text,contributes a lot to children’s interest in reading.
| A．the Internet | B．parents’ engagement |
| C．short supply of books | D．new technology |
What’s the best title of the passage?
| A．Do kids still like reading? | B．Kids’ interest in reading drops |
| C．New technology on kids’ reading | D．Parents’ influence on kids’ reading |
Researchers found that compared with teens who spent much of their free time in front of TV sets, those who were physically active often had higher self-respect, better grades and were less likely to have risky behavior like taking drugs, smoking, or drinking．The findings, based on a national survey of nearly 12,000 middle and high school students, were published in a journal．
"Across the board, children who engaged in any kind of activity were belier off than kids who watched a lot of TV," said study co author professor Penny Gordon Larsen of the University of North Carolina．
Other studies have linked certain content of television programs, such as violence and sex, to children’s behavior．But beyond this issue, Gordon-Larsen said that kids who spend hours watching TV "miss opportunities" to develop skills, learn teamwork and have other experiences that their more active peers benefit from．
That doesn’t mean, however, that kids have to be on the football team． The study found that some activities like skating and skateboarding——which adults sometimes frown upon——were also related to better self respect and less risk taking．
That skaters were better behaved than TV watchers might come as a surprise to some adults who consider these teens to be bad, according to Gordon-Larsen．Skateboarding is forbidden in many public areas, and some communities oppose building skating parks．But if kids who like to skate have nowhere to do it, "it’s a shame," said Gordon-Larsen．
Not only should parents encourage their kids to engage iii the physical activities they enjoy, she said, but schools and communities should also do more to create opportunities for children to be active．From the passage we know that .
| A．physically active kids get into less trouble |
| B．more skating parks are being built |
| C．kids who spend hours watching TV benefit a lot |
| D．kids who have nowhere to skate tend to take drugs |
If your kid is a football player, he is more likely to ____
| A．get into the habit of smoking or drinking |
| B．develop teamwork spirit |
| C．have risky behaviors |
| D．fail in the schoolwork |
This passage is mainly written to ___．
| A．offer some information to teachers and parents |
| B．persuade kids not to watch a lot of TV |
| C．urge the public to help children be active |
| D．show the author’s concern about children’s growth |
What does the underlined sentence "which adults sometimes frown upon" in the 4th paragraph mean?
| A．Some adults don’t understand the sports． |
| B．Some adults are impatient with kids． |
| C．Adults consider it dangerous to go skating or skateboarding. |
| D．Some adults think them related to bad behaviors. |
It can be inferred from the passage that .
| A．kids are not expected to be active by some parents |
| B．professor Penny is a famous writer and journalist |
| C．skateboarding is popular in schools and communities |
| D．kids are not encouraged to join the football team |