Sina Weibo, one of the country’s most popular micro-blogging sites, has launched a paid service. For a 10 yuan ($ l.57) monthly fee, users get a membership on their Sina Weibo accounts.
According to Xu Yuanyuan, a member of the marketing team at Sina, the move is to guarantee a more convenient and safer environment for users. But despite the company’s efforts to increase income, it seems that most of its 300 million users still prefer the free version.
The premium membership (高级会员) plans ,announced by the company on Monday, brought about negative comments from its users .
“The current service is good enough for me”, said a Beijing-based micro-blogger. “I don’t really need those value-added services and it might be a waste of money. I might consider paying for it if some more features are added.”
Dong Xu, an analyst with consulting firm Analysys International, said that Sina shouldn’t expect a great increase in income brought by the new services. The free services are enough for most users, Dong said. “The company has been making attempts at different profit models since last year. A potential source of income could be gaming. Games and advertisements are so far the two biggest sources of income.” she said.
Other micro-blogging service providers have not yet followed suit. Fang Gang, vice-president of rival Sohu, said via e-mail on Tuesday that Sohu’s micro-blogging service will never charge users. “It’s good news for us. Users can come to our website if they have to pay for services (at Sina).” Fang said.
Most of Sina Weibo’s users______.
| A．aren’t satisfied with its free version |
| B．show no interest in its paid services |
| C．are looking forward to new services |
| D．think highly of its new paid version |
What’s Dong Xu’s attitude towards Sina Weibo’s new services increasing income?
| A．Negative. | B．Confident . |
| C．Indifferent. | D．Positive . |
Why did Fang Gang consider Sina Weibo’s charging its users good news?
| A．Because Sina will make more money. |
| B．Because Sina will lose the whole Weibo market. |
| C．Because Sohu will attract more users. |
| D．Because Sohu will offer free services. |
What can be inferred from the text?
| A．Most of Weibo websites will charge their users. |
| B．Sina Weibo’s new move will be a great success. |
| C．Sina Weibo’s users will enjoy more services. |
| D．A large number of Weibo users like playing games. |
What can be the best title for the text?
| A．Sina Weibo Faces Great Challenges |
| B．Sina Weibo Launches Paid Services |
| C．Sina Weibo Expects Income Increase |
| D．Sina Weibo Becomes More Convenient |
三、阅读理解（共20小题，满分40分）
As one approaches some crossroads, one comes to a sign which says that drivers have to stop when they come to the main road ahead. At other crossroads, drivers have to go slow, but they do not actually have to stop (unless, of course, there is something coming along the main road); and at still others, they do not have either to stop or to go slow, because they are themselves on the main road.
Mr. Williams, who was always a very careful driver, was driving home from work one evening when he came to a crossroads. It had a “Slow” sign, so he slowed down when he came to the main road, looked both ways to see that nothing was coming, and then drove across without stopping completely.
At once he heard a police whistle, so he pulled in to the side of the road and stopped. A policeman walked over to him with a noteb ook and pencil in his hand and said, “You didn’t stop at the crossing.” “But the sign there doesn’t say “Stop”,” answered Mr. Williams. “It just says “Slow”, and I did go slow.” The policeman looked around him, and a look of surprise came over his face. Then he put his notebook and pencil away, scratched his head and said, “Well, I’ll be blowed. I am in the wrong street!”
1. Which of the following statements is correct?
A. Stop signs can be found at every crossroads.
B. At crossroads with a “Slow” sign, drivers never have to stop.
C. At crossroads with a “Slow” sign, drivers have to stop and then go slow.
D. At some crossroads, drivers needn’t stop or go slow.
2. What do you think the policeman would do in the end?
A. Fine Mr. Williams. B. Take him to the police station.
C. Apologize to Mr. Williams.D. Give Mr. Williams his notebook and pencil.
3. Which might be the best title for this passage?
A. Signs at the crossroads B. A careful driver
C. A policeman and a driverD. Policeman in the wrong street
Australians have been warned that they face a life or death decision over their water — drink recycled sewage (污水) or die.
With the drought (干旱) continuing, the country is set to be forced to use purified (净化的) waste water for drinking, even though there is great opposition to the measure.
Queensland has become the first state to introduce the policy after a warning from its premier.
"I think in the end, because of the drought, all of Australia is going to end up drinking recycled purified water," said Peter Beattie.
"These are difficult decisions, but you either drink water or you die. There's no choice. It's liquid gold, it's a matter of life and death."
Beattie said Australia's second largest state would become the first to use recycled water for drinking.
Water is recycled in Britain and parts of northern Europe along with the US and Israel.
But Australians have never liked the idea.
To try to change the way Australians think, Prime Minister John Howard and Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull have adhered to Queensland's move.
"I am very strongly for recycling and Mr. Beattie is right and I agree with him completely," Howard said.
“Australian cities, all now facing water shortages because of the worst drought on record, must start to use recycled water.” added Turnbull, "All of our big cities have to widen (使变宽) the range of water sources to include sources which do not depend on rainfall."
1. What is the text mainly about?
A. Continuing drought forces Australians to drink recycled sewage
B. Australians face the choice of life and death
C. Premier Beattie is worried about his people’s health
D. We should avoid drinking recycled water to keep healthy
2. The underlined phrase “adhered to” in Paragraph 9 probably means_________.
A. disliked B. gone against C. supported D. doubted
3. According to the passage, which of the following is TRUE?
A. Nobody disagrees to the idea of drinking recycled purified water
B. Australia's second largest state has become the first state to introduce the policy
C. No other countries but Australia decide to drink recycled water
D. The drought is the worst one in the droughts recorded in Australian history.
4. It can be inferred from what Premier Peter Beattie said that________.
A. he gives orders to drink purified waste water
B. It is painful for him to see his people drink recycled sewage
C. If the decision is made, people won’t survive the drought
D. It’s up to you to either make a life or death decision
John H. Johnson was born in a black family in Arkansas city in 1918. His father died in an accident when John was six. He was reaching the high school age, but his hometown offered no high school for blacks.
Fortunately he had a strong-willed (意志坚强的) caring mother. John remembered that his mother told him many times, “Son, you can be anything you want really to be if you just believe.”She told him not to depend on others, including his mother. “You have to earn success, ”she said. “All the people who work hard don’t succeed, but the only people who do succeed are those who work hard.”
These words came from a woman with less than a third grade education. She also knew that believing and hard work don’t mean everything. So she worked hard as a cook for two years to save enough to take her son, who was then 15, to Chicago.
Chicago in 1933 was not the promised land that black southerners were looking for. John’s mother and stepfather could not find work. But here John could go to school, and here he learned the power of words—as an editor of the newspaper and yearbook at Du Sable High School. His wish was to publish a magazine for blacks.
While others discouraged him, John’s mother offered him more words to live by. “Nothing beats a failure but a try. ”She also let him pawn(典当)her furniture to get the $ 500 he needed to start the Negro magazine.
It is natural that difficulties and failures followed John closely until he became very successful. He always keeps his mother’s words in mind.“Son, failure is not in your vocabulary!”
Now John H. Johnson is one of the 400 richest people in America—worth $ 150 million.
1. John’s mother decided to move to Chicago because _____.
A. his father died when John was very young
B. life was too hard for them to stay on in their hometown
C. John needed more education badly
D. there were no schools for Negroes in their hometown
2. John’s mother ________________________.
A. didn’t believe in or depend on others
B. thought one could be whatever one wanted to be
C. believed one would succeed without working hard
D. thought no one could succeed without working hard
3. The underlined sentence“Nothing beats a failure but a try. ”means _____.
A. if you try, you would succeed
B. a failure is difficult to beat, even if you try
C. a try is always followed by a failure
D. no failure can be beaten unless you try
4. The story mainly tells us _____.
A. how John H. Johnson became successful
B. about the mental (心理的) support John’s mother gave him
C. about the importance of a good education
D. about the key to success for blacks
The Oregonian(俄勒冈报) is the daily newspaper for the state of Oregon where the Hagens live. Since it is published in the largest city, which is Portland, most of the readers live within 50 miles of Portland.
From Monday to Saturday, the paper has about 75 pages, of which 20 pages are advertisements. It normally has 5 sections which are called Nation, Sports, Metro(大都会), Living and Business.
Nation is national news mostly with some international news about earthquakes, floods, and tensions(紧张)around the world. Sports cover the professional sports in season, college sports, and high school sports. Metro is local news of the city of Portland which includes political stories, crimes, and good neighbor articles. Living is the section with television programs, movies, comics, music, stories about pets, and advice. Business has listing of more than 10,000 stocks and a regular report about the stock market and business news. The advertising section includes apartments and houses, employment opportunities and items to buy, especially cars and trucks.
On Sunday, the paper is very large weighing more than two kilos. There are additional sections called Art, Books, International, and Travel. Since this is the day most Americans do not work, they have more time for reading. Each of the daily sections is longer so the newspaper is twice the size of the daily sections. However, the advertisements are nearly as many pages as the news on Sunday so the entire paper is more than four times larger than the daily paper.
Some companies print their own advertisements and pay to put them in The Oregonian. These include grocery(杂货) stores, clothing stores, car agencies(代理处), camera and video equipment stores, toy stores, and computer stores. All of the companies feel that the best way to advertise is to put a beautiful color advertisement in every Sunday.
1. The Sunday edition of The Oregonian probably has _____.
A. 75 pages B. less than 300 pages
C. more than 300 pages D. less than 75 pages
2.If you want to seek information about the stock market from The Oregonian, you refer to the section “_____”.
A. Metro B. Living C. Nation D. Business
3. Who are the regular readers of The Oregonian ?
A. The Hagens. B. Residents of the Portland area.
C. Businessmen. D. People who have more time to read newspapers.
4. One reason that the Sunday paper is very large is that _____.
A. it adds four additional sections
B. it has five sections
C. most Americans do not work that day
D. some companies like to print advertisements in it
四、阅读理解（共16小题；每小题2分，满分32分）
You Mi, a lovely and confident 17-year-old student, is the first Chinese high school student to appear on the cover of the popular young adults’ fashion magazine Seventeen.
“You is IN,” said Wang Lihua, Editor-in-Chief of Seventeen. “She is active and mature(成熟的) because of her knowledge on everything from academic studies, to books on art, to movies. We found she’s the very style we’re looking for to represent young people’s attitudes.”
You also impressed Wang with her fluent English when they first met last year. As the hostess of an English broadcasting programme at the High School Affiliated to Renmin University, You is always praised for speaking English almost like a native speaker. “I’ve built up my English by watching thousands of English DVDs since I was 10,” she explained.
But for You, watching isn’t enough. Last year, while in Senior 1, she met a talented boy who showed self-made DV movies at the English Corner in her school.
“I thought it was so cool and I knew that I should start making my own films,” she said. So she wrote a campus(校园) story, persuaded schoolmates to star in it and then began shooting a 30-minute DV movie, all in English. “I played one of the leading roles, actually I was everything in my film. I worked on it every single day during the SARS holidays,” she recalled. The movie finally became a big hit on campus, earning You a strong reputation(名气) as a DV movie director.
But this is not the only field she wants to master. Despite being a science student, You likes art, literature and fashion design very much.
“There are people who can be artists, there are people who edit books, and there are people who become film producers. But I just hope to mix all the things up!” she said. “There is an old saying I believe: Chance favours only the prepared mind.”
1. You Mi’s fluent English is based on _____.
A. her chance to host an English broadcasting programme
B. the influence of her parents
C. her deep interest in it
D. her making DV movie
2. The author mentioned a talented boy to show _____.
A. the great influence he had on You Mi
B. he was admired by his schoolmates
C. the young can do things as well as the adults do
D. self-made DV movies are popular at school
3.In the 30-minute DV movie, You Mi didn’t act as a(n) _____.
A. director B. musician C. actress D. producer
4. We can learn from the passage that _____.
A. You Mi hopes to be a mixed talent
B. the success of a 30-minute DV movie shocked You Mi
C. You Mi dreams of becoming a scientist
D. the outbreak of SARS delayed You Mi’s studies