By today's standards, my mobile phone is pretty rubbish. It's a Nokia 1616. If that doesn't mean much to you (it's not the kind of phone you see advertised on television), all you need to know is that it's a small, not very heavy device with which you can send and receive telephone calls and text messages. It also has a very handy torch on the top for when you can't find your keys, or when you drop something on the floor in the cinema. Other than that, my phone doesn't do much. Well, it has an alarm, and it probably has a calculator and things like that, but it's nothing compared to a smartphone. Why would I want one of those?
I have often been told that the big advantage of having a smartphone is that "you can do everything with them!" But when was the last time you saw someone doing "everything" with a smartphone? Okay, so they may have an endless list of functions, but generally they are used for checking social networking sites, playing games, and receiving and replying to emails. I'm happy just doing all of those things at home on my laptop.
As far as I can tell, the best thing about having a smartphone is that you can be connected to the Internet all the time. Don't get me wrong, I love the internet, but I just don't see the point of constantly being online. I can't remember the last time I received a Facebook update which was so very urgent that I had to read it as soon as it appeared, and I can't imagine ever having a job which was so important that I would need to read work-related emails immediately. I would think that if someone needed me urgently, they would just ring me rather than send an email. And my trusty Nokia can manage that.
One of the most peculiar（独特的）effects of the smartphone is, in my opinion, the newly-found addiction to maps and navigation (导航) systems. Is there anything more boring than knowing exactly where you are all of the time?! How do you get to know an area if you don't get lost there a few times? And if you are dependent on online maps, what happens to those great places you find just by chance? You can't exactly find out from Google maps the journey from "here" to" that hidden cafe with the tasty-looking cakes" , or to "that pond next to the church which looks really pretty in the evening sun. " It is, of course, true that we all occasionally need to be pointed in the right direction, but I find that there are often real life humans you can ask.
There are many benefits of having a very basic mobile phone, like the fact that it cost me about twenty pounds, and that I don't have to worry too much about it being stolen .But the main benefit has to be the fact that it provides me with the word 'greatest excuse for my bad habits’. Whether it's turning up late to events ,or getting lost on a trip, or missing buses or trains ,or forgetting about an appointment at work ,I'm pretty sure I'm covered with the following explanation: “I’m really sorry, I don't have a smartphone."
The writer uses his Nokia 1616 mainly to _______.
| A．play online games |
| B．do calculating work |
| C．check social network sites |
| D．make calls and text messages |
It can be inferred from the above passage that_______.
| A．work-related emails should be answered immediately |
| B．a laptop and a smartphone share many functions |
| C．smartphones should always be connected to the net |
| D．a Facebook update is usually very important |
According to the passage, if you use navigation systems, you may _____
| A．miss some really wonderful places |
| B．find a boring trip actually exciting |
| C．be persuaded to eat in a certain café |
| D．be misled to a totally wrong place |
The writer’s purpose for writing this article is to______
| A．explain why he doesn’t want a smartphone |
| B．warn readers of the risks of using smartphones |
| C．complain about the troubles caused by smartphones |
| D．inform readers of the latest development of mobile phones |
Top lists are lecturing people on everything from “100 books to read”. Aren’t you just tired of being told what to do with your time?
Now you have a list to end all lists!
Take a look at the following two examples from the list of “101 things not to do”:
Swim with Dolphins(海豚)?
Swimming with dolphins is one of the world’s most profitable tourist activities. However, every dolphin will welcome having their busy, tiring day interrupted by tourists screaming pushing around them in the water. Worse yet, when dolphins get too near to the boats loaded tourists, they could get caught up in ropes and killed by propellers(螺旋桨).
Here’s a little secret. Dolphins look like smiling at you, but actually they’re just opening mouths.
Go to See the Mona Lisa?
There must be something about the mysterious(神秘的) smile. The 6 million people who the lady in the Louvre every year can’t all be wrong after all. But they can be quite annoying standing in front of you, holding up their cameras to prevent you from seeing anything. In fact it is hard for you to see the painting clearly because you have to stay away from it for security read. After queuing for hours, many tourists can remain in front of the painting only for 15 seconds most.
If the mysterious lady in the picture knew her fate, she wouldn’t just be smiling, she laughing.
So, still long to see the Mona Lisa? If you want to find out more about the list, read 101 Things NOT to Do Before You Die. Visit www.not2dobeforeidie.co.uk and buy the book at a 20% discount.According to the passage, swimming with dolphins.
| A．is the world’s most popular tourist activity |
| B．gives fun to both tourists and dolphins |
| C．will make tourists busy and tired |
| D．can cause danger to dolphins |
What does the author think about going to see the Mona Lisa?
| A．It is wrong to go and see the mysterious smile. |
| B．It is not as satisfying as expected. |
| C．Fifteen seconds in front of the painting is enough. |
| D．Queuing for hours is worthwhile. |
The list of “101 things not to do” is made most probably because its author.
| A．thinks it boring to do the things suggested by other lists |
| B．believes other lists are not humorous enough |
| C．intends to persuade people to read more lists |
| D．wants to provide a list different from other lists |
What is the main purpose of the passage?
| A．To advertise a book |
| B．To introduce a website |
| C．To comment on popular lists |
| D．To recommend tourist activities |
On the first day of college our professor introduced himself and challenged us to get to know someone we didn’t already know.
I stood up to look around when a gentle hand touched my shoulder. I turned around to find a wrinkled, little old lady beaming up at me with a smile that lit up her entire being. She said, “Hi, handsome! My name is Rose. I’m eighty-seven years old. Can I give you a hug?” I laughed and enthusiastically responded, “Of course you can!” and she gave me a giant squeeze.
“Why are you in college at such a young, innocent age?” I asked. She jokingly replied, “I’m here to meet a rich husband, get married, have a couple of children, and then retire and travel.”
“No seriously,” I asked. I was curious what may have motivated her to be taking on this challenge at her age. “I always dreamed of having a college education and now I’m getting one!” she told me.
After class we walked to the student union building and shared a chocolate milkshake. We instantly became friends. Every day for the next three months we would leave class together and talk non-stop.
I was always mesmerized(催眠) listening to this “time machine” as she shared her wisdom and experience with me. Over the course of the year, Rose became a campus icon(偶像) and she easily made friends wherever she went.
At the year end, Rose finished the degree she had begun all those years ago. One week after graduation Rose died peacefully in her sleep. Over two thousand college students attended her funeral to pay their respects to the wonderful woman who taught by example that it’s never too late to be all you can possible be.Why did Rose go to college at her age?
| A．She wanted to marry a rich husband. |
| B．It was her dream to receive college education. |
| C．She wanted to change her present situation. |
| D．She wanted to get a Bachelor Degree. |
Which of the following can best describe Rose?
| A．Serious, helpful and hard-working. |
| B．Outgoing, humorous and determined. |
| C．Brave, warm-hearted and optimistic. |
| D．Rich, sensitive and graceful. |
It can be inferred from the passage that.
| A．Rose didn’t have any relatives when she died |
| B．Rose had lived a very hard life |
| C．the author was unwilling to understand Rose |
| D．the author learned a lot from his old friend Rose |
By writing the passage the author intends to.
| A．encourage old people to receive a good education |
| B．describe the author’s college life |
| C．introduce an admirable old college student |
| D．teach young people to value their school life |
Recently a Beijing father sent in a question at an Internet forum(论坛) asking what “PK” meant. “My family has been watching the ‘Super Girl’ singing competition TV program. My little daughter asked me what ‘PK’ meant, but I had no idea,” explained the puzzled father.
To a lot of Chinese young people who have been playing games online, it is impossible not to know this term. In such Internet games, “PK” is short for “Player Kill”, in which two players fight until one ends the life of the other.
In the case of the “Super Girl” singing competition, “PK” was used to refer to the stage where two singers have to compete with each other for only one chance to go up in competition ranking.
Like this father, Chinese teachers at high schools have also been finding their students’ compositions using Internet jargons(行话) which are difficult to understand. A high school teacher from Tianjin asked her students to write compositions with simple language, but they came up with a lot of Internet jargons that she didn’t understand.
“My ‘GG’ came back this summer from college. He told me I’ve grown up to be a ‘PLMM’. I loved to ‘FB’ with him together; he always took me to the ‘KPM’,” went one composition.
“GG” means Ge Ge(Chinese pinyin for brother). “PLMM” refers to Piao Liang Mei Mei(beautiful girl). “FB” means Fu Bai(corruption). “KPM” is short for KFC, Pizza Hut and McDonald’s.
Some specialists welcome Internet jargons as a new development in language.
If you do not even know what a Kong Long(dinosaur, referring to an ugly looking female) or a Qing Wa(frog, referring to an ugly looking male) is, you will possibly be regarded as a Cai Niao!By writing the article, the writer tries to.
| A．explain some Internet language |
| B．suggest common Internet language |
| C．laugh at the Beijing father |
| D．draw our attention to Internet language |
What does the writer think about the term “PK”?
| A．Fathers can’t possibly know it. |
| B．The daughter should understand it. |
| C．Online game players may know it. |
| D．“Super Girl” shouldn’t have used it. |
The examples of the Beijing father and the Tianjin teacher are used to show that Internet jargons.
| A．are used not only online |
| B．can be understood very well |
| C．are welcomed by all the people |
| D．cause trouble to our mother tongue |
What would be the best title for the passage?
| A．A puzzled father | B．Do you speak Internet-ish? |
| C．Keep away from Internet-ish | D．Kong Long or Qing Wa? |
It’s such a happy-looking library, painted yellow, decorated with palm-tree stickers and sheltered from the Florida sun by its own roof. About the size of a microwave oven, it’s pedestrian-friendly, too, waiting for book lovers next to a sidewalk in Palm Beach country Estates, along the northern boundary of Palm Beach Gardens.
It’s a library built with love.
A year ago, shortly after Janey Henriksen saw a Brian Williams report about the Little Free Library organization, a Wisconsin-based nonprofit that aims to promote literacy and build a sense of community in a neighborhood by making books freely available, she announced to her family of four, “That’s what we’re going to do for our spring break!”
Son Austin, now a 10th-grader, didn’t see the point of building a library that resembles (像)a mailbox. But Janey insisted, and husband Peter unwillingly got to work. The 51-year-old owner of a ship supply company modified a small wooden house that he’d built years earlier for daughter Abbie’s toy horses, and made a door of glass.
After adding the library’s final touches (装点), the family hung a signboard on the front, instructing users to “take a book, return a book,” and making the Henriksen library, now one of several hundred like it nationwide and among more than 2,500 in the world, the only Little Free Library in Palm Beach County.
They stocked（贮存） it with 20 or so books they’d already read, a mix of science fiction, reference titles, novels and kids’ favorites. “I told them, keep in mind that you might not see it again,” said Janey, a stay-at-home mom.
Since then, the collection keeps replenishing (补充) itself, thanks to ongoing donations from borrowers. The library now gets an average of five visits a day.
The project’s best payoff, says Peter, are the thank-you notes left behind. “We had no idea in the beginning that it would be so popular.” (317 words) The library was built __________.
| A．by a ship supply company | B．on the basis of toy horses |
| C．like a mailbox | D．with glass |
What can we infer about the signboard?
| A．It was made by a user of the library. |
| B．It marked a final touch to the library. |
| C．It aimed at making the library last long. |
| D．It indicated the library was a family property. |
The passage tells us that the users __________.
| A．donate (捐)books to the library |
| B．get paid to collect books for the library |
| C．receive thank-you notes for using the library |
| D．visit the library over 5 times on average daily |
Last night’s meteor(流星) shower left many people in the community dissatisfied and demanding answers. According to Gabe Rothsclild, Emerald Valley’s mayor, people gathered in the suburbs of the city, carrying heavy telescopes, expecting to watch the brightly burning meteors passing through the sky. What they found instead was a sky so brightened by the city’s lights that it darkened the light of the meteors passing overhead.
“My family was so frustrated,” admitted town resident Duane Cosby, “We wanted to make this an unforgettable family outing, but it turned out to be a huge disappointment. ”
Astronomers—scientists who study stars and planets—-have been complaining about this problem for decades. They say that light pollution prevents them from seeing objects in the sky that they could see quite easily in the past. They call on people and the government to take measures to fight against it.
There is yet a population besides professional and amateur star observers that suffers even more from light pollution. This population consists of birds, bats frogs, snakes, etc. For example, outdoor lighting severely affects migrating(迁徙的)birds. According to the International Dark-Sky Association. “100 million birds a year throughout North America die in crashes with lighted buildings and towers. ”
Countless more animals casualties(伤亡）result from the use of artificial lighting. Clearly, people enjoy the benefits of lighting their evenings, but some scientists think it can be harmful for humans, too. They worry that exposure to light while sleeping can increase person’s chances of getting cancer.
Emerald Valley is only one community that is becoming aware of the negative effects of light pollution. For years, Flagstaff,Arizona,has enforced lighting regulations in its city in order to assist astronomers at the Lowell Observatory. Similar efforts have been made worldwide, and a movement is underway to remind us to turn off lights when we are not using them, so that other creatures can share the night. What is the author concerned about according to Paragraph 4?
| A．Birds may take other migration paths |
| B．Animals’ living habits may change suddenly |
| C．Varieties of animals will become sharply reduced |
| D．Animals’ survival is threatened by outdoor lighting |
Lighting regulations in Flagstaff, Arizona are put into effect to
| A．Lessen the chance of getting cancer |
| B．create an ideal observation condition |
| C．ensure citizens a good sleep at night |
| D．enable all creatures to live in harmony |
What message does the author most want to give us?
| A．Saving wildlife is saving ourselves |
| B．Great efforts should be made to save energy |
| C．Human activities should be environmentally friendly |
| D．New equipment should be introduced for space study |