The Entropia Universe
The Entropia Universe is a virtual world on the Internet, which seems very like our real life．It is set in a distant future and based on a planet called Calypso．Entropia was the brainchild of a group of Swedish computer lovers who decided to see if they could create a three dimensional (维度的) virtual world that could be placed on the Internet．They did manage after they received the financial backing they needed．
The game can be played for free, but nearly all in-game activities require personal resources that you have available to use．Although there are various activities to keep you busy on Calypso, what most people do first is to find themselves a profession, such as hunting the fierce animals on Calypso, mining the precious minerals and making tools．Then they can think about buying their virtual house or paying a visit to a virtual nightclub or doing any of the other activities that make life bearable．
Entropia has its very own economy (经济) and its own currency, the PED (Project Entropia Dollars)．Players move real world money into PED which they then use to pay for their life on Calypso．However, the virtual things inside Entropia do have a real value in the outside world, and careful business deals mean that players can actually make real money there．PED can be changed into dollars any time at a rate of 10PED to 1US$．
What’s so impressive about The Entropia Universe is the number of players; currently more than 600,000 representing over 220 countries from planet Earth．A number of players insist that it’s a good way to make money．However, the reality of Entropia’s economic system is that most people end up paying more than they earn and it’s not uncommon to find players who are paying up to $200 a month into their PED account．This might not be the most economical way of spending one’s free time．However, some people say that for them the fact that they can escape the realities of the earthbound life and become a different person with a completely different life for a few hours every week is worth the use of money, even if they don’t get any interest rates on it．What can we learn about The Entropia Universe?
| A．It costs nothing to join． |
| B．It focuses on business plans． |
| C．It is designed for computer lovers． |
| D．It presents what life is like on other planets． |
What does Paragraph 2 mainly talk about?
| A．What people do on Calypso． |
| B．When people buy houses there． |
| C．How people make life bearable． |
| D．Why people often find a job first． |
According to the author, playing on The Entropia Universe ______．
| A．may be very annoying |
| B．can be quite expensive |
| C．is a cheap way to kill time |
| D．is a good way to earn money |
What can be inferred about The Entropia Universe?
| A．It is technical． |
| B．It is satisfying． |
| C．It is ridiculous． |
| D．It is educational． |
The Lego Group had a very humble beginning in the workshop of Ole Kirk Christiansen, a carpenter from Denmark. Christiansen began creating wooden toys in 1932. Two years later, he stumbled on the Lego name by putting together the first two letters of the Danish words Leg and Godt, which mean “play well.” The name could be interpreted as “I put together” in Latin; it also corresponds to the Greek verb meaning “gather” or “pick up.”
In 1947, the company expanded to making plastic toys. At first, the use of plastic for toy manufacture was not highly regarded by retailers and consumers of the time. Many of the Lego Group’s shipments were returned, following poor sales. However, Christiansen’s son, Godtfred Kirk Christiansen, saw the immense potential in Lego bricks to become a system for creative play. As the junior managing director of the Lego Group, he spent years trying to improve the “locking” ability of the bricks and made the bricks more versatile. In 1958, the modern interlocking brick design was finally developed and patented.
Today Lego is sold in more than 130 countries. Every minute 33,824 Lego bricks are made, and kids around the world spend 5 billion hours a year playing with Lego. There will be more than 400 million people playing with Lego bricks this year. On average, every person in the world owns 62 Lego bricks, and about seven Lego sets are sold every second.
This year Lego fans all over the world are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the tiny building blocks. Though already 50 years old, Lego is still the same product it was in the 1950s. Bricks bought then are still compatible with current bricks and that is probably the reason the toy has never fallen out of favor.
65. Which of the following is true about the name Lego?
A. It is a combination of Greek and Latin words.
B. It was created by Ole Kirk Christiansen’s son.
C. It was created in 1947 for naming the plastic toys.
D. It came from Danish words meaning “play” and “well.”
66. When did the Lego brick become as a creative form of toy?
A. 1958 B. 1947 C. 1934 D. 1932
67. Which of the following is true in describing the popularity of Lego?
A. More than 5 billion people in the world own Lego sets.
B. Children spend an average of 62 dollars on Lego bricks each year.
C. People in the world spend 400 million hours playing with Lego every year.
D. The Lego Group now produces more than 30 thousand toy bricks every minute.
68. What is the main reason that Lego remains popular up to now?
A. Old Lego bricks may still be connected to new ones.
B. The company hasn’t changed its name since 1947.
C. The material for the bricks has proved to be safe.
D. The price of the toy is relatively reasonable.
任务型阅读（共10小题；每小题1分，满分10分）
认真阅读下列短文，并根据所读内容在文章后表格中的横线上填入最恰当的单词。
注意：每空只填一个单词。
There are a number of languages spoken throughout the world. Every person knows at least one language, which he learns in his childhood and is routinely used for speaking and writing. However, many people are fond of learning two or more languages, so they try to be bilingual, which means that they try to have the knowledge of two or more languages. And being bilingual can bring a person a number of benefits in various aspects. For example:
A person can get cognitive(认知的) benefits from it. The bilingual people have two or more words for each idea and object. Therefore, a bilingual person can develop a creative thinking. The bilinguals are aware of which language should be spoken with which person in a particular situation. So they are more sensitive(敏感的) to the needs of the listener than the people who only use one language: Being bilingual also improves and enriches a person's mental development.
Being bilingual has a positive effect on a person's character. The bilinguals are able to switch between different languages and talk to different people in various languages. It increases a sense of self-esteem( 自尊). Being bilingual creates a powerful link in different people from different countries.
A bilingual education offers better curriculum(课程) results. The bilinguals tend to show a higher performance in examinations and tests. The bilinguals find it quite easy to learn and speak three, four or more languages.
Being bilingual offers potential employment benefits. It offers a wider choice of jobs in various fields. The bilinguals can get a great many career opportunities in transport, tourism, public relations, marketing and sales, banking, translation, law, teaching and so on.
So it can be concluded from the above that we should try our best to learn and master two or more languages.
Title: 71.__________ of being bilingual
| 72._________ |
Having the knowledge of two or more languages. |
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Benefits
|
Cognition |
● Make a person think 73.__________. ● Make a person more sensitive to the listener's 74.__________. ● Improve and enrich a person's mental development. |
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75._________ |
● Increase a person's sense of 76.__________. ●Create a powerful link in different people from different countries. |
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| Curriculum |
● Enable a person to 77.__________ better in examinations and tests. ● Make a person easily learn and speak more languages. |
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| 78._________ |
● Offer a person more 79.__________ in finding jobs. |
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| 80.________ |
We should try our best to learn and master two or more languages. |
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Although women lead healthier, longer lives, the cruel perception that they reach their sell-by date and become “old” sooner than men is widespread in the workplace, research shows.
A survey of more than 2,600 managers and personnel professionals showed that age discrimination is not only common in the workplace, but is full of inconsistencies(矛盾). Six in ten managers thought that they had suffered from age discrimination——usually because they were turned down for a job for being too old or too young. Yet more than a fifth admitted that they used age as a condition when they employ new workers.
Although the survey found widespread agreement that older workers were better than younger colleagues when it came to reliability, commitment, loyalty and customer service, these qualities were not necessarily considered to be worthy of advancement. More than half of respondents believed that workers between 30 and 39 were the most likely to be advanced in their company, with only 2 per cent citing (引证)50-year-olds or above.
Dianah Worman of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development said that there was anecdotal evidence that people were considered old at different ages in different sectors. “We heard of one man working in IT who said he was considered too old by the age of 28,”she said.“There was no evidence to suggest that older workers were less valuable to companies than younger workers, in fact the opposite was often true because older workers often brought experience.” she added.
The findings also suggested that the Government’s ideas on age in the workforce may also be out of step with reality.
68. The text is mainly about ______.
A. the government’s idea on age in workforce
B. age discrimination in the workforce
C. the people who find work
D. the discussion about who is worth promoting
69. The underlined word “sell-by date” in paragraph 1 probably refers to______.
A. the age when they retire
B. the age when they should be promoted
C. the date on which they’re sold
D. the date when they sell goods
70. The writer’s purpose in writing the text is to ______.
A. tell the government to employ older workers
B. criticize managers who treat workers unfairly
C. report the findings of a survey
D. show he objects to age discrimination
Thousands of jobs come into our Job Centre every week, but they get snapped up (抢购) quickly. So although we shall do all we can to help you, it’s important for you to do all you can to help yourself. This passage tells you how.
Registered for work
Once you have registered for work we will match you with available vacancies. If you want to claim unemployment benefit (失业津贴), you also have to get registered at our Job Centre. But you actually apply for and claim it at the local Unemployment Office.
Getting a job through self-service
Jobs that come in are put on self-service show as soon as possible. Half the people who find jobs through our Job Centre find them through self-service. You can call in at any time to look at the jobs shown.
Come to our Employment Advisers
If you want more help or advice, don’t forget that’s what we’re here for. Our Employment Advisers can help you with things like:
★thinking about the different sorts of jobs you could do and which are best for you.
★jobs available locally or elsewhere.
★whether you are suitable for a TOPS training course.
★funds to help you look for, and move to, work in other parts.
Even though you have a clear idea of the sort of job and pay you want, you may find that something different will suit you quite well. Keep this in mind when you are talking with Employment Advisers.
If you don’t find a job on your first visit
Go into self-service as often as you can to look at the jobs on show there. Good vacancies are coming in all the time just because you’ve been registered for work.
64.The purpose of the passage is to .
A. tell people how to become an Employment Adviser
B. teach the unemployed people how to get registered for work
C. give information about services available for the unemployed
D. introduce the TOPS training course for the unemployed
65.The unemployed people can claim unemployment benefit from .
A. the Job Centre B. all the Unemployment Offices
C. the Employment Advisers D. the local Unemployment Office
66.Employment Advisers can .
A. help you find out what kind of jobs suits you best
B. help you register for work and use self - service
C. help you claim as much unemployment benefit as possible
D. help you find a job suitable for you on your first visit
67.The underlined word “vacancies” in the passage means .
A. jobs B. benefits C .suggestions D. services
Fear and its companion pain are two of the most useful things that man and animals possess if they are used. If fire didn’t hurt when it burned, children would play with it until their hands were burned away. Similarly, if pain existed but fear didn’t, a child could burn itself again and again because fear would not warn it to keep away from the fire that had burnt it before. A really fearless soldier—and some do exist—is not a good soldier because he is soon killed; and a dead soldier is of no use to his army. Fear and pain are therefore two guards without which man and animals might soon die out.
In our first sentence we suggested that fear ought to be properly used. If, for example, you never go out of your house because of the danger of being knocked down and killed in the street by a car, you are letting fear rule you too much. The important thing is not to let fear rule you, but instead, to use fear as your servant and guide. Fear will warn you of dangers; then you have to decide what action to take.
In many cases, you can take quick and successful action to avoid the danger. For example, you see a car coming straight towards you; fear warns you, you jump out of the way, and all is well.
In some cases, however, you decide that there is nothing that you can do to avoid the danger. For example, you cannot prevent an airplane crashing into your house, and you may not want to go and live in a desert where there are no airplanes. In this case, fear has given you its warning, you have examined it and decided on your course of action, so fear of the particular danger is no longer of any use to you, and you have to try to overcome it.
60. Children would play with fire until their hands are burnt away if _________.
A. they were not well educated at school B. they had never played with fire before
C. they had no sense of pain D. they were fearful of pain
61. People sometimes succeed in timely avoiding danger because _________.
A. they have gained experience B. they are warned of the danger and take quick action
C. they jump out of the way in time D. they are calm in face of danger
62. What is implied but not stated in the passage?
A. Too much fear is harmful B. Fear is always something helpful
C .Fear is something that can be avoided
D. Fear ought to be used as our guide in our life
63.The best title for this passage should be __________.
A. No Pains, No Gains B. Pain and Actions
C. The Value of Fear D .The Reason Why People Fear