Cheaters called “pirates” often use camcorders(便携式摄像机) and cell phones to make illegal copies of blockbusters in the local theater. These pirates then sell those recordings on the street or over the Internet for very low prices. Some share them for free.
“It’s unfair for people to pirate movies,” says 15-year-old Hadaia Azad Ezzulddin. Movie piracy “takes money out of the pockets of thousands of people in the movie industry,” she notes. Victims include famous actors and directors as well as local theater owners and their employees.
Hadaia came up with an idea that could help stop movie piracy. Hadaia’s idea uses infrared(红外线的) light. This range of light is invisible to the human eye. It is visible, however, to many types of cameras. Theater owners could place small infrared lights on their movie screens. The lights would not disturb people watching the movie. It would, however, distort the recordings made by many types of cameras.
To test her idea, Hadaia built a box with a movie screen inside. Then, she projected images on that screen through a hole in the box. She took recordings of those images, using nine different types of cameras. These included the types found in cell phones as well as camcorders. During some tests, she also turned on light emitting diodes(发光二极管), or LEDs. The LEDs were embedded（植入的）in a certain place behind the movie screen. They gave out infrared light.
Sure enough, she showed, a pirated movie included odd stripes or spots if it had been recorded while the LEDs were on. It might be possible to use the LEDs to flash the date and time on the movie screen. The information would then appear in the illegal recordings. Theater owners or police might use the information to track down the pirates.
Cutting down on piracy might get more people into theaters to watch the real movie instead of an illegal copy. Six out of every ten films now produced aren’t profitable. They don’t make enough money to recover how much was spent to make and market them. Such a poor payback can discourage filmmakers from producing anything but the types expected to become blockbuster hits. It might also keep smaller theaters from showing a wider variety of movie types. From what Hadaia says in Paragraph 2, we can infer that _______.
| A．most people spend less money on pirates moves |
| B．the pirates don’t have to pay for the movie tickets |
| C．theater owners will increase the price of movie tickets |
| D．she strongly criticizes those who video movies in the theater |
Infrared lights are put on the movie screens to _______.
| A．adjust the brightness of the movie screens |
| B．make sure the images of movies are dark |
| C．make illegal copies of movies unpleasant to see |
| D．protect the eyesight of viewers in the darkness |
What is the correct order of the steps in Hadaia’s test?
a. She projected pictures on the screen.
b. She used cameras to record the pictures.
c. She turned on the LEDs placed behind the screen.
d. She made a special box with a movie screen inside.
| A．d c a b | B．d b a c |
| C．b a c d | D．b c a d |
According to the last paragraph, we can know that _______.
| A．forty percent of movies now are profitable |
| B．small theaters often choose to show low-cost movies |
| C．more and more people go to theaters to fight movie piracy |
| D．filmmakers prefer to produce ordinary movies than blockbusters |
Eight days for just￥12，000
Departs：May—October 2007
Includes：
● Return flights from 6 China’s airports to Naples
● Return airport to hotel transport
● Seven nights’accommodation at the 3-star Hotel Nice
● Breakfast
● The service of guides
● Government taxes
Join us for a wonderful holiday in one of the Europe’s most wonderful-Naples in Italy if you want to have a nice time in a beautiful small quiet place．The ancient Romans called the city“happy land”with attractive coastline，colorful towns，splendid views and the warm Mediterranean Sea．Your best choice for a truly memorable holiday!
Choose between the peaceful villages of Sant’ Agata，set on a hillside six miles away from Sorrento，or the more lively and well-known international resort(名胜) town of Sorrento，with wonderful views over the Bay of Naples．
Breathtaking scenery，famous sights and European restaurants everywhere．From the mysterious Isle of Capri to the hunting ruins of Pompeii，and from the unforgettable“Amalfi Drive”to the delightful resorts of Positano，Sorrento and Ravello，the area is a feast for the eyes! Join us，and you won’t be disappointed!
Price based on two tourists sharing a double room at the Hotel Nice．A single room，another￥2，000．A group of ten college students，￥10，000 for each．
Like to know more ? Telephone Newmarket Air Holidays Ltd on：0845-226-7788（All calls charged at local rates）．All the following are included in the price of ￥12，000 EXCEPT ___________
| A．transport between the airport and the hotel |
| B．double rooms for every two tourists |
| C．the service of guides to tourists |
| D．telephone calls made by tourists |
If you don’t like sharing a room with others，you have to pay __________ in all for the trip?
| A．￥12，000 | B．￥10，000 | C．￥14，000 | D．￥2，000 |
In which section of a newspaper can we see the ad?
| A．news | B．sports | C．life | D．book review |
A good modern newspaper is an extraordinary piece of reading. It is unusual for what it contains: the news from local crime to international politics, from sports to business to fashion to science, and the comments and special features(特写)as well, from editorial page to feature articles, from interviews to criticism of books, art, theatre, and music. A newspaper is even more unusual for the way one reads it never completely, never straight through, but always by jumping from here to there, in and out, glancing at one piece, reading another article all the way through, reading just a few paragraphs of the next.
A good modern newspaper offers a variety to attract many different readers, but far more than any one reader is interested in. What brings this variety together in one place is its topicality, that is, its immediate relation to what is happening in your world and your locality now. But this immediacy and the speed of production that goes with it also mean that much of what appears in a newspaper has no more than temporary value. For all these reasons, no two people really read the same paper: what each person does is to put together, out of the pages of that day’s paper, his own selection and order, his own newspaper. For all these reasons, reading newspapers efficiently which means getting what you want from them without missing things you need but without wasting time, demands skill and self-awareness(意识) as you change and apply the techniques of reading.What does the underlined word in the second paragraph mean ?
| A．wide coverage | B．speed in reporting news |
| C．various style | D．popularity among readers |
According to the passage, the reason why no two people really read the same newspaper is that ___________.
| A．people are interested in the same kind of news |
| B．different people prefer different newspapers |
| C．people scan for the news they are interested in |
| D．people have different views about what a good newspaper is |
A good newspaper offers “a variety” to readers because ___________.
| A．readers like to read different newspapers |
| B．it has to cover things that happen in a certain locality |
| C．readers are difficult to please |
| D．it tries to serve different readers |
The best title for this passage would be ___________.
| A．The Characteristics of a Good Newspaper |
| B．The Importance of a good Newspaper |
| C．Good Newspapers and Bad Newspapers |
| D．Some Advice on How to Read a Newspaper |
The young man arrived on the Massachusetts beach early carrying a radio, a shovel(铁锹), and a strange set of tools: a brick layer’s trowel, a palette knife, spatulas, spoons, and a spray bottle.
He walked down near the water — the tide(潮水) was out — and switched on the radio to listen to soft rock. Then he shoveled wet sand into a pile nearly four feet high and as many feet across. Then he created a square shape.
After that, he set to work with palette knife, spatulas, and spoons. He shaped a splendid tower, topped walls, fashioned beautiful bay windows, and carved (雕刻)out a big front gate.
The man knew his sand. He smoothly finished some surfaces and carved artistic designs on others. As the shapes began to dry, he gently kept them slightly wet with water from the spray bottle, in case they might break in the wind.
All this took hours. People gathered. At last he stood back, obviously satisfied with a castle worthy of the Austrian countryside or Disneyland.
Then he gathered his tools and radio and moved them up to drier sand. He had known for a while what many in the crowd still ignored: the tide was coming in. Not only had he practiced his art with confidence and style, he also had done so against a powerful, irresistible(不可抵抗的) deadline.
As the crowd looked on, water came at the base of the castle. In minutes it was surrounded. Then the rising flood began to eat into the base, walls fell, the tower fell, and finally the gate fell. More minutes passed, and small waves erased bay windows — soon no more than a small part was left.
Many in the crowd looked terribly sad; some voiced fear and discouragement. But the man remained calm. He had, after all, had a wonderful day, making beauty out of nothing, and watching it return to nothing as time and tide moved on.In this passage, why did the young man start early in the day?
| A．He needed the sun to help dry the sand. |
| B．It gave plenty of time for the crowd to gather. |
| C．He knew the tide was out on this particular morning. |
| D．It was easier to begin his work with only a few people around. |
In this passage, what does the incoming tide signal?
| A．It is time to begin working. |
| B．It is the end of a day’s work. |
| C．It is the busiest time of the day. |
| D．It is time for lookers-on to leave. |
How did the lookers-on react when the tide began to come in?
| A．They were disappointed to see the art ruined. |
| B．They tried their best to save the sand castle. |
| C．They were nervous about their own belongings. |
| D．They helped the artist finish the castle. |
We can tell that the young man’s reward for his work is ___________.
| A．payment for his work |
| B．personal satisfaction |
| C．popularity as an artist |
| D．attention from the crowd |
Puppy Food
A puppy (young dog) is a precious addition to any family. The excitement of bringing home a little furry friend will always live in our memories. Like all of us, though, your puppy must have adequate nutrition（营养） right from the start to make certain that it’ll have a long and healthy life.You might ask yourself what is the best for your new pet with all of the different varieties on the market in all of their attractive packaging. Some dry food produced specially for puppies is the best for the development of their teeth.
Contrary to the belief of many first-time puppy owners, it is not always the best idea to purchase food that is too high in calcium (钙), protein, and vitamin levels. In addition, a high intake of calcium is associated with bone disease in large-breed dogs. If you have a “small-breed” puppy, you can buy that kind of food.
It is not a good idea to feed the food you eat to your puppy frequently, as your puppy may become selective about food. Some people think that dog biscuits and other treats are fine, but they should not be a main part of puppy’s diet.
Young puppies should be fed three times a day. Each puppy is unique, however, so feeding them twice a day is acceptable. After ten to twelve weeks of age, feed your puppy twice per day. Allow your puppy to eat as much as he would like in fifteen minutes. If you let your puppy eat too much or too often by keeping food accessible at all times, he may become overweight and have health problems as an adult. Like humans, your puppy will not enjoy the food any longer if it is there at all times.
| A．Pick up the dish with the remaining food. |
| B．Proper food is a basic necessity for your puppies. |
| C．Remember to give your puppy the food he would like to have. |
| D．It can also cause an upset stomach due to an unbalanced diet. |
E. A further benefit is that it is less expensive than the canned food.
F. One example is that extra helpings of nutrients do harm to digestive organs.
G. It’s good to provide the extra nutrients a puppy needs until he grows larger.
Everywhere I look outside my home I see people busy on their high-tech devices, while driving, walking, shopping, even sitting in toilets.When connected electronically, they are away from physical reality.
People have been influenced to become technology addicted.One survey reported that “addicted” was the word most commonly used by people to describe their relationship to iPad and similar devices.One study found that people had a harder time resisting the allure of social media than they did for sleep, cigarettes and alcohol.
The main goal of technology companies is to get people to spend more money and time on their products, not to actually improve our quality of life.They have successfully created a cultural disease.Consumers willingly give up their freedom, money and time to catch up on the latest information, to keep pace with their peers or to appear modern.
I see people trapped in a pathological（病态的）relationship with time-sucking technology, where they serve technology more than technology serves them.I call this technology servitude.I am referring to a loss of personal freedom and independence because of uncontrolled consumption of many kinds of devices that eat up time and money.
What is a healthy use of technology devices?That is the vital question.Who is really in charge of my life?That is what people need to ask themselves if we are to have any chance of breaking up false beliefs about their use of technology.When we can live happily without using so much technology for a day or a week, then we can regain control and personal freedom, become the master of technology and discover what there is to enjoy in life free of technology.Mae West is famous for proclaiming the wisdom that “too much of a good thing is wonderful.” But it’s time to discover that it does not work for technology.
Richard Fernandez, an executive coach at Google acknowledged that “we can be swept away by our technologies.”To break the grand digital connection people must consider how life long ago could be fantastic without today’s overused technology.The underlined word “allure” in Paragraph 2 probably means ______.
| A．advantage | B．attraction | C． adaption | D．attempt |
From the passage, technology companies aim to ______.
| A．attract people to buy their products |
| B．provide the latest information |
| C．improve people’s quality of life |
| D．deal with cultural diseases |
It can be inferred from this passage that people ______.
| A．consider too much technology wonderful |
| B．have realized the harm of high-tech devices |
| C．can regain freedom without high-tech devices |
| D．may enjoy life better without overused technology |
What’s the author’s attitude towards the overusing of high-tech devices?
| A．Neutral.( 中立的） | B．Doubtful |
| C．Disapproving.(不赞成） | D．Sympathetic.（同情的） |