Everywhere you look, large quantities of information in the world are pouring. This data flood is already starting to transform business, government, science and everyday life. It has great potential for good — as long as consumers, companies and governments make the right choices about when to restrict the flow of data, and when to encourage it.
A few industries have led the way in their ability to gather and take advantage of the data. Credit-card companies monitor every purchase and can identify cheats with a high degree of accuracy. Stolen credit cards are more likely to be used to buy hard liquor than wine, for example, because it is easier to overlook. Insurance firms are also good at combining clues to spot doubtful claims: dishonest claims are more likely to be made on a Monday than a Tuesday, since policyholders (保险客户) who stage accidents tend to assemble friends as false witnesses over the weekend. By combining many such rules, it is possible to work out which cards are likeliest to have been stolen, and which claims are untrue. By analyzing “basket data”, supermarkets can make promotions to appeal to particular customers’ preferences. The oil industry uses supercomputers to help them before drilling wells.
But the data flood also poses risks. There are many examples of databases being stolen: disks full of social-security data go missing, laptops loaded with tax records are left in taxis, credit-card numbers are stolen by online purchase. The result can be privacy made public, identity stolen and cheats permitted large space. Rather than owning and controlling their own personal data, they very often find that they have lost control of it.
The best way to deal with the data flood is to make more data available in the right way, by requiring greater transparency in several areas. First, users should be given greater access to and control over the information held about them, including whom it is shared with. Google allows users to see what information it holds about them, and lets them delete their search histories or modify the targeting of advertising, for example. Second, organizations should be required to disclose details of security breaches, as is already the case in some parts of the world, to encourage bosses to take information security more seriously. Third, organizations should be subject to an annual security check, with the resulting grade made public (though details of any problems exposed would not be). This would encourage companies to keep their security measures up to date.
59. What is the best title for this passage?
A. Information Flood B. Benefits of Data Flood
C. Harms of Data Flood D. How to Use Data in a Right Way
60. From the passage we can infer that ________.
A. lots of data are lost because of hardware problems
B. online purchases are becoming more and more popular
C. credit cards are not so secure to use and will go out of use very soon
D. insurance firms have to investigate before they confirm their policyholders’ claims
61. Which of the following is the writer’s opinion about how to deal with the data flood?
A. Personal information should be used for public benefits.
B. The users should be given the right to access public information.
C. Companies should update their measures to guarantee their data safety.
D. Organizations should keep their resulting grade of security checks unknown to the public.
62. From the passage we can conclude that _________.
A. the data flood makes peoples’ life less convenient and more expensive
B. companies and insurance firms are responsible for the data flood
C. the information flood is more useful to organizations than to individuals
D. the information flood has both positive and negative influence on modern life
Air pollution is damaging 60% of Europe’s prime wildlife sites in meadows, forests and bushes, according to a new report.
A team of EU scientists said nitrogen emissions(氮排放) from cars, factories and farming were threatening biodiversity. It’s the second report this week warning of the on-going risks and threats linked to nitrogen pollution.
Nitrogen in the atmosphere is harmless in its inert(惰性的) state, but the report says reactive forms of nitrogen, largely produced by human activity, can be a menace to the natural world.
Emissions mostly come from vehicle exhausts(排气), factories, artificial fertilizers(肥料) and animal waste from intensive farming. The reactive nitrogen they emit to the air disrupts the environment in two ways: It can make acidic soils too acidic to support their previous mix of species. But primarily, because nitrogen is a fertilizer, it favors wild plants that can maximize the use of nitrogen to help them grow.
In effect, some of the nitrogen spread to fertilize crops is carried in the atmosphere to fertilize weeds, possibly a great distance from where the chemicals were first applied.
The effects of fertilization and acidification favor common aggressive species like grasses, brambles and nettles. They harm more delicate species like mosses(苔藓), and insect-eating sundew plants.
The report said 60% of wildlife sites were now receiving a critical load of reactive nitrogen. The report’s lead author, Dr Kevin Hicks from the University of York’s Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), told BBC News that England’s Peak District had a definitely low range of species as a result of the reactive nitrogen that fell on the area.
“Nitrogen creates a rather big problem that seems to me to have been given too little attention,” he said. “Governments are responsible for protecting areas like this, but they are clearly failing.”
He said more research was needed to understand the knock-on effects for creatures from the changes in vegetation accidentally caused by emissions from cars, industry and farms.
At the conference, the representatives agreed “The Edinburgh Declaration on Reactive Nitrogen”. The document highlights the importance of reducing reactive nitrogen emissions to the environment, adding that the benefits of reducing nitrogen outweigh the costs of taking action.The underlined word “menace” is used to express that the reactive nitrogen, largely produced by human activity can be ___________.
| A．frightening | B．threatening | C．unique | D．unusual |
We can infer from the passage that _________.
| A．it’s harmless to have reactive nitrogen existing in the atmosphere |
| B．reactive nitrogen emissions help aggressive species less than crops |
| C．the harm to those delicate species has a negative impact on biodiversity |
| D．reactive nitrogen can fertilize soils and keep their biodiversity |
The team of EU scientists released the second report of nitrogen emissions this week when __________.
| A．no action was taken to stop nitrogen emission |
| B．governments were willing to protect areas harmed by nitrogen |
| C．“The Edinburgh Declaration on Reactive Nitrogen” was agreed |
| D．nitrogen emissions were threatening wildlife sites’ biodiversity |
Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?
| A．Keeping Away From Nitrogen Emissions | B．Stopping Nitrogen Emissions |
| C．Air Pollution Damaging Europe’s Wildlife | D．Saving Europe’s Wildlife |
I think it was my mother who taught me the meaning of honesty. Not because she actually was honest, but because she lied all the time. She felt that the easiest way out of any given situation was generally the best way out. And, for her, that generally meant telling a “little white lie.” As a young child I thought it was kind of cool. And, naturally, when I would come to her with a concern or question wondering what I should do, she generally advised me to lie.
“Mom, I told Theresa that I would go over to her house, but now I would rather go to Sue’s house to play.”
“Tell Theresa you’re sick,” she would advise. And generally I did. But I didn’t seem blessed with her lack of conscience. On many painful occasions Theresa would find out that I really went to Sue’s house without her. These occasions taught me that it is more painful to be caught in a lie than it is to tell the truth in the first place. I wondered how it was possible that my mother had never learned that lesson.
I started thinking of all the lies that I’d heard her tell. I remembered the time she told someone that her favorite restaurant had closed, because she didn’t want to see them there anymore. Or the time she told Dad that she loved the lawn-mower he gave her for her birthday. Or when she claimed that our phone lines had been down when she was trying to explain why she hadn’t been in touch with a friend of hers for weeks. And what bothered me even more were all the times she had involved me into her lies. Like the time she told my guidance counselor that I had to miss school for exploratory surgery, when she really needed me to babysit. And it even started to bother me when someone would call for her and she would ask me to tell them that she wasn’t there.
So, I started my own personal fight against her dishonesty. When I answered the phone and it was someone my mother didn’t want to talk to, I said, “Louise, mom is here, but she doesn’t want to talk to you.” The first time I did it, she punished me, but I refused to apologize. I told her that I had decided that it was wrong to lie. And the next time it happened I did the same thing. Finally, she approached me and said, “I agree that lying is not the best thing to do, but we need to find a way to be honest without being rude.” She admitted that her methods weren’t right, and I admitted that mine were a bit too extreme.
Over the past few years, the two of us have worked together to be honest—and yet kind. Honesty should mean more than not lying. It should mean speaking the truth in kindness. Though I started by trying to teach my mom the importance of honesty, I ended up gaining a deeper understanding of the meaning of the term. The author’s mother __________.
| A．thought white lies were not lies |
| B．helped the author get out of trouble with white lies |
| C．told the author to lie when in trouble |
| D．taught the author the importance of being honest |
The author __________.
| A．was thankful to her mother’s advice |
| B．felt more awkward when being caught lying |
| C．found that telling the truth hurt more than telling a lie |
| D．felt guilty when hurting people with her honesty |
It can be inferred that the author’s mother __________.
| A．met her friends in the same restaurant regularly |
| B．didn’t get along with the author’s teachers |
| C．was not popular among her friends |
| D．wanted to have something else for her birthday |
Finally the author and her mother agreed that __________.
| A．kind-heartedness is more important than honesty |
| B．appropriate methods are the key to telling a good lie |
| C．honesty is defined as kindness as well as truthfulness |
| D．absolute honesty is basic to good interpersonal relationships |
You'd be forgiven for thinking that running after children each day would leave parents in the best shape of their lives.But a study has found that the mothers and fathers of young children are more unhealthy than their childless peers(同龄人）.
Mothers with young children are heavier and eat more calories and fatty foods,and consume more sugary dinks than chidless women,scientists said.And both sexes are less active than those in their age group without children.
Parents often choose quick,easily preparesd foods that are high in fat and calories,and by choosing these foods they may in turn serve them to their children,forming a cycle of unhealthy diet.
Dr.Berge,one of the study authors,said:“This isn't a study about blame,this is about spotting a very high-risk time period for parents that doctors should be aware of ,so they can offer solutions(解决办法）.”
According to the study ,mothers ate more fatty foods and drank about seven sugary drinks weekly,equal to about four chidless women.They also had an average of 2,360 calories daily,368 calories more than women without children,With that many calorise,women that age would need to be active to avoid to avoid gaining weight.
Fathers ate about the same amount of daily calories childless men and both had an average boby-mass index(指数）,but fathersgot less physical activity—about five hours weekly ,compared to almost seven hours among chidless men.
The study has several limitations－there's no data on how many women reccently had babies.Ther's also no information on the number of single parents,who likely face diet and exercise challenges.Sarah Kriger,an American dietician who works with new mothers said some of the mothers may have had postpartum(产后）depression,which might affect their eating and exercise habits.What does the author mainly aim to tell us in the passage?
| A．Childless couples live a much happier life than those with children. |
| B．Mothers will be unhealthy because of the postpartum deprdession |
| C．Couples of young children eat more fatty foods and lead unhealthier lives. |
| D．Fathers tend to eat high calorie foods because they should run after thrie children. |
The underlined part“in the best shape”in the first paragraph means that a person .
| A．is busy and tires | B．has a most harmonious family |
| C．enjoys the most happiness | D．is in the most healthy condition |
Which of the following is NOT mentioned about mothers with children?
| A．They are less active |
| B．They eat unhealthy foods |
| C．They may feel unhappy aftre having babies |
| D．They may lose their jobs aftre having babies |
What Dr.Berge says in Paragraph 4 suggests that .
| A．Parents should pay more attention to their chidren |
| B．doctors should do something with parents'high-risk time period |
| C．the study has drawn attention of doctors and young parents |
| D．parents should not be blamde for having an unhealthy lifestyle |
We can learn from the last paragraph that .
| A．the result of the study result in aan unscientific way |
| B．the study was carried out in an unscientific way |
| C．single mothers are surely facing quyite different situation |
| D．postpartum depression will help mothers to lead a healthier lirf |
Roslyn Hing School on long Island recently started a pilot program using iPads in some classrooms.
A growing number of schools across the U.S.are multimedia,history through gamse and math with step-by -step animation(动画）of complex problems.
As part of a pilot program,Roslyn High School handed out 47 iPads on Dec.20,2010 to the students and teachers in two humanities(人文学科）classes. The school district hopes to provide iPads eventually to all 1,100 of its students.
The iPads are to be used in class and at hom during the school year to replace texbooks,allow students to correspond with teachers and tum in papers and homework tasks,and preserve a rocord of student work in digital files.
“It allows us to extend the classes beyond these four walls.”said larry Reiff,an English teacher at Roslyn who now posts all his course mateials online.
But educators are still divided over whether practices to give every student a laptop have made a difference academically.
“Thre is very little evidence that kids learn more,faster of better by using these machines,”said Larry Cuban,a retried professor of eduction at Staford University.“IPads are excellent tools to attract kids,but then the fieshness wears off and you eget int hard-core problems of teaching and learning.”
But school leaders say the iPad is not just a cool new toy but rather a powerful and multifunctional tool with a number of applications,including thousands with educational uses.
“If there isn't an application that does something I need ,there will be sooner or later,”said Mr.Reiff,who said he now used an application that includes all of Shakespare's plays.The program of using iPads in class is .
| A．widely accepted by most schools in the United States |
| B．only an experimental one carried out in some schools |
| C．a compulsory one carried out by the U.S government |
| D．encouraged and organized by the iPad company |
The underlined part “these four walls”in paragraph 5 refers to .
| A．school dormitory | B．school campus |
| C．teacher's office | D．school classroom |
We can use iPads to do the following at school except .
| A．replace the school textbooks | B．keep digital record of homework |
| C．judge the teachers'teaching | D．communicate with teachers |
The school leaders tink highly of the iPad mainly because it is .
| A．cool and interesting | B．powerful and helpful |
| C．multifunctional and expensive | D．attractive and vivid |
We can infer from the passage that .
| A．most old teachers are against the pilot program |
| B．students have achieved a lot after using iPads |
| C．teaching will become less important with the help of ipads |
| D．iPads will be used is more and more schools in the US |
Ants have a reputation for strength,organization and teamwork.But researchers have now discovered that a key secret to the success of ants is their ability to identify the importance of age in the work place.
A study of Gentral American leaf-cutter ants has shown that the younger and stronger members are give the toughest job of cutting therough the leaves they harvest.Their sharp youn teeth do this job effectively,but as they get older their teeth become relatively worn and blunt.
But rather than being retired or abandoned by the group,the ageing ants are given a new role more suyted to their physical abilities.They become carriers and teansport the leaves back to the kingdom where they are harvested for food.
The findings by researchers from the University of Oregon and the Oregong State University support previous research showin the survival of a leaf-cutter kingdom depends on the efficiency(效率）of is workers.
“Cuting leaves is hard work,”said Dr.Robert Schofield,who led the research team.“Much of the cutting is done with a V-shaped blade(刀片）between teeth on their jaws.This blade starts out as sharp as the sharpest razor blade that humans have developed.”But over rime the teeth become blunter and the cutting job slows down.The team estimated that,because of this age-related wear,a colony(蚁群)spent twice the energy cutting leaves than it would if all the ants had sharp blades.Its findings support the idea that wear and break can be significant problems for insects as well as largre animals.
Like humans,leaf-cuttre ant recognize that older members of the group can still make a worhwhile contribution to society.“This study shows an advantage of social living that we are familiar with,”said Dr.Schofield.The younger and stronger ants do the toughest job because .
| A．they can teansport the leaves effectively |
| B．they have a sharp blade to cut leaves |
| C．other members are busy with other work |
| D．they can finish the job in a better organized way |
The undrelined word“blunt”in the second paragraph can be replaced by .
| A．quite loose | B．less sharp |
| C．quite fragile | D．more dirty |
What happens to the ants when they become old?
| A．They no longer hve work to do. |
| B．They keep doing the same work. |
| C．They have to leave and live on themselves. |
| D．They are given a new worthwhile job. |
It can be learned from the passage that .
| A．Dr.Schofield is the first to research leaf-cuttre ants |
| B．older ants are more powerful in carrying leaves |
| C．large animals can also suffer from some kind of wear |
| D．leaf-cutter ants are the most lever ants in the world |
What can be the best title for the passage?
| A．The key secret to the success of ants |
| B．The developed structure of ant colony |
| C．The most challenging job for leaf-cutter ants |
| D．No V-shaped blade,no success of ants |
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