In the early days of the internet, many people worried that as people in the rich world embraced new computing and communications technologies, people in the poor world would be left stranded on the wrong side of a "digital divide." Yet the debate over the digital divide is founded on a myth that plugging poor countries into the internet will help them to become rich rapidly.
This is highly unlikely, because the digital divide is not a problem in itself, but a symptom of deeper, more important divides: of income, development and literacy（识字）. Fewer people in poor countries than in rich ones own computers and have access to the internet simply because they are too poor, are illiterate, or have other more immediate concerns, such as food, health care and security. So even if it were possible to wave a magic wand（棒） and cause a computer to appear in every household on earth, it would not achieve very much: a computer is not useful if you have no food or electricity and cannot read. Yet such Wand-waving - through the construction of specific local infrastructure（基础设施） projects such as rural tele-centers--is just the sort of thing for which the UN's new fund is intended.
This sort of thing is the wrong way to go about addressing the inequality in access to digital technologies: it is treating the symptoms, rather than the underlying（下面） causes. The benefits of building rural computing centers, for example, are unclear. Rather than trying to close the divide for the sake of it, the more sensible goal is to determine how best to use technology to promote bottom-up development. And the answer to that question turns out to be remarkably clear: by promoting the spread not of PCs and the Internet, but of mobile phones.
1. What is the main idea of this passage?
A. Plugging poor countries into the Internet will help them to become rich rapidly.
B. Poor countries should be given more basic devices other than advanced ones.
C. Rich countries should help poor ones become rich.
D. People in poor countries cannot afford devices such as computer.
2. What did the author mean by referring "digital divide." (Line 3, Para. 1)?
A. Digital technology will make the gap between rich world and poor world wider.
B. Digital technology will divide people into rich and poor world.
C. People can be divided digitally.
D. To divide people in digital world is wrong.
3. We can infer from the 2nd paragraph that_______.
A. people in poor countries cannot use computer because of illiteracy.
B. poor people cannot use computers.
C. there would be no magic to cause a computer to appear in every household on earth.
D. people in poor countries need more basic living conditions than computers.
4. Considering the following sentences, which one would the author most agree?
A. Digital technology is useless.
B. Digital divide will help poor countries become rich.
C. Poor people need more immediate concerns, such as food, health care and security.
D. Mobile phones should be promoted firstly.
5. The following passage will probably be:
A. How to promote using of mobile phones.
B. How to use technology to promote bottom-up development.
C. The benefits of building rural computing centers.
D. How to meet the need of food, health and security in poor countries.
A pioneer who made poor lands bloom is the winner of this year's World Food Prize. Daniel Hillel developed drip irrigation（滴灌） techniques that squeeze the most crop out of a drop of water, making farming possible in places where water is scarce（缺少）.
Farmers now rely on it in water-scarce regions from Spanish vineyards, to African onion fields, to America’s fruit and salad bowl. “We in California grow about 50 percent of the fruits and vegetables of the continental United States," says University of California at Davis hydrologist Jan Hopmans. "And the reason that is possible is because of, indeed, these drip and micro-irrigation techniques.”
Hillel got his start in dryland farming as a pioneer in Israel’s Negev Desert in the 1950s."The issue was efficient use of water," he says, "because land is available. It’s extensive. Water is limited.”These desert farmers did not have the luxury of running irrigation water through channels to their crops, the way farmers have since ancient times.So Hillel and others gave plants just what they needed, just where they needed it.
“The idea was to apply the water little by little, the way you spoon-feed a baby,” Hillel says.It worked so well that Hillel was soon traveling the world, showing others how to do it.Experts say drip irrigation is an innovation whose importance is growing, as climate change and rising population strain（使……紧张） water supplies in many parts of the world.
“This is where water use, water availability, water-use efficiency and climate change and crop production all converge," Hillel says. "And this has been really the essence of my career.”
A career whose legacy（遗产） can be measured drop by drop.What’s the main idea of Paragraph 2?
| A．Drip irrigation has made a difference to agriculture. |
| B．Daniel Hillel is becoming more popular worldwide. |
| C．Jan Hopmans takes pride in the American agriculture. |
| D．Drip irrigation plays an important role in American agriculture. |
Drip irrigation is popular because________.
| A．it can collect rainwater and show |
| B．it is more advanced than channel irrigation |
| C．it is water-saving and satisfactory |
| D．it can provide plants with what is need |
What makes drip irrigation seem increasingly important?
| A．Dryland farming. |
| B．Water shortages. |
| C．Food shortages. |
| D．Environmental pollution. |
The author considers Daniel Hillel’s career as _______.
| A．a bit undesirable | B．worthy of respect |
| C．very profitable | D．successful |
Ever feel like there aren't enough hours in the day? A group of timechallenged Canadian women are wishing for a 25hour clock.
Jessie Behan, president of the 25th Hour Coalition (联盟)which is a group of Canadian women who have changed to a longer day, said the struggle for women to maintain worklife balance motivated (激励) her to research the body's natural clock.“Many of my girlfriends are having kids，getting married, and I see the sufferings of dealing all that when you're a working woman，”she said.“Women like myself are sick of living their lives by a 24hour clock.”
A 2007 study by Charles Czeisler found a switch to longer days could be beneficial, especially for frequent travelers, shift workers, astronauts and those who experience trouble sleeping or waking.
In a similar study, Czeisler showed the body's natural clock averages 24 hours and 11 minutes in both young and older people.The current 360degree clock has 720 minutes, giving each minute 0.5 degree.With the new 25hour day, 30 minutes is added to each 12hour period making each minute 0.48 degree.
While still a relatively small movement－the 25th Hour Coalition has 160 Facebook members, Behan is hoping for large changes.“The goal is to get as many women on board; there's no harm in just trying it out and seeing.If it gets big, maybe the government will decide to standardize it.”
A recent online survey by Reader's Digest, which included 150 people in each of the 13 countries, suggests it's not just Canadians looking for longer days.Readers were asked“what would you do with an extra hour”if given a choice between sleep, work, exercise and family time.In Spain, half of respondents （被访者）said they'd like an extra hour in the day to devote to family time.The same was found for respondents in Brazil, the US and Britain, who chose family time over sleep, which came in at a close second.Only in India did work top the list with 50 percent of respondents claiming they could use an extra hour at the office.Some Canadian working women are campaigning for the 25hour day in order to ________.
| A．have more chances at work |
| B．keep a balance between life and work |
| C．experience something new |
| D．have a better sleep |
Charles Czeisler tends to think that ________.
| A．it's easy to adopt the 25hour clock |
| B．it's hard to abandon the 24hour clock |
| C．the 25hour clock fits the body's natural clock more |
| D．different people have different natural clocks |
Why does Jessie Behan want more women to join the 25th Hour Coalition?
| A．Because she intends to make more Facebook friends. |
| B．Because she hopes to get benefits from more people. |
| C．Because she considers it is harmless to form such an organization. |
| D．Because she thinks more women may allow the dream to come true. |
What is implied in the last paragraph?
| A．Respondents from most nations want more family time. |
| B．Respondents from developed countries experience more stress. |
| C．Most Canadian respondents claim that they need more family time. |
| D．Respondents from India are the most hardworking of the 13 nations. |
Ocean Park
If you love the sea, Ocean Park is the place for you! Situated on the south side of Hong Kong Island, this 870,000 square metre educational theme park provides many opportunities to learn about marine life.
To start with, the park boasts the Atoll Reef, one of the world’s largest aquariums, with about 2,500 fish from nearly 300 different species. What makes this aquarium special, however, is not just its size, but also its design. The Atoll Reef is built with an observation passageway that circles the aquarium on four different levels. This lets visitors view sea life from a variety of depths and angles.
Then there’s the Shark Aquarium, a tank with more than 200 sharks from more than 30 species. Like the Atoll Reef, this unique aquarium is designed to make sure guests get the most out of their visit. Shaped like an underwater tunnel, guests can watch as sharks swim overhead and dive at them from every side.
There’s also the Sea Jelly Spectacular, an aquarium that houses more than 1,000 jellyfish of all shapes, colours and sizes. And at the park’s Dolphin University, visitors can go on educational tours and watch the training of dolphins up close.
The park’s most popular attraction is the Ocean Theatre, a huge outdoor pool where dolphins and sea lions entertain the visitors. Sometimes a killer whale even takes part in the performance!
Although Ocean Parks focus is on the water, the theme park has plenty of other activities, too. For people seeking excitement, there are rides like the Abyss Turbo Drop, a roller coaster ride that takes passengers on a 20-storey drop straight down. There are also exhibits like the Dinosaur Discovery Trail and Bird Paradise. Finally, no trip to Ocean Park would be complete without visiting the park’s most popular animals--four giant pandas that were given as a gift from China’s central government.Hong Kong Ocean Park is called an educational theme Park because____________.
| A．it offers chances for visitors to enlarge their knowledge of sea life. |
| B．it provides chances for people to broaden their knowledge of science. |
| C．it is specially designed to attract the young who are interested in the sea. |
| D．it has a lot of activities for people to have fun. |
What makes the Atoll Reef so special?
| A．It is one of the symbols of Hong Kong Ocean Park. |
| B．It has thousands of fish from various species. |
| C．It allows visitors to watch sea life from all angles. |
| D．It is the largest aquarium in the world. |
Which of the following activities is NOT true according to the passage?
| A．Enjoying the show of dolphins and sea lions. |
| B．Visiting exhibitions about dinosaurs and birds. |
| C．Taking a roller coaster ride on a 20-storey drop. |
| D．Interacting with sea life in the huge outdoor pool. |
EVERY so often, a sensational (轰动的) story hits the media about the kind of role models influencing UK teenagers. Youth culture celebrates too many bad examples, the reports say, and the finger of blame is often pointed at celebrities (名人) who drink or take drugs, or who are seen as sexually casual. Yet according to parents and educationalists the media itself is partly to blame. They argue that television, newspapers and magazines are obsessed (迷恋的) with celebrity lives and over-promote a “celebrity culture” in which reality show stars are respected purely because they are on television.
Meanwhile child psychologists warn of the negative effects of unsuitable role models, claiming that young people are being brainwashed into wanting to become famous overnight. They are taught to value physical appearance over personal achievement and set themselves impossible goals. According to a 2010 Home Office study, too many girls think that they have to look “sexy” and “hot” like their idols , and when they can’t achieve this, they lose self-esteem (自尊) or suffer from depression and eating disorders.
But perhaps young people today are not as easily influenced as we think. The Girls’ Attitudes Survey by Girlguiding UK (2011), for example, showed that young girls aged 11 to 21 questioned the media’s description of women. Over half of the respondents disagreed with the statement that “girls and young women are portrayed fairly in the media”.
A Scout Association survey, of over a thousand 13- to 18-year-olds, showed that teenagers see their parents and siblings (兄弟姐妹) as far more positive role models than celebrities, and while many youngsters list celebrities like Kate Moss and Katie Price as role models, others list high achievers like David Beckham, Paralympian swimmer Eleanor Simmons, and grandparents who fought in the Second World War.What is the main purpose of this article?
| A．To analyze what influences UK’s youth culture. |
| B．To criticize the media’s influence on UK’s youth culture. |
| C．To figure out who is to blame for the celebrity obsession. |
| D．To discuss how much the media affects the role models UK’s young people choose. |
What’s the opinion of parents about role models according to the article?
| A．Bad role models should not appear on television. |
| B．Stars in the spotlight are actually not worthy of our respect. |
| C．The media should stop promoting a “celebrity culture” among teenagers. |
| D．The media somewhat encourages young people to admire bad role models. |
Which of the following is true according to psychologists, ______.
| A．those who set themselves high goals tend to achieve success faster |
| B．celebrities are famous because of their appearances rather than their achievement |
| C．young people should put more importance on achievement rather than appearance |
| D．role models have more negative effects on young people than positive ones |
What’s the best title of the passage?
| A．Role Modles | B．Celebrity Culture |
| C．Media Influence | D．Psychological Recognition |
BEIJING, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- Commander-in-chief of China's manned space program Chang Wanquan announced Thursday night that the launch of Tiangong-1 space lab module is successful.
China's first space lab module Tiangong-1 blasted off at 9:16 p.m. Beijing Time (1316 GMT) Thursday from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest desert area.
The unmanned module, carried by Long March-2FT1 rocket, will test space docking with a spacecraft later this year, paving the way for China to become the third country in the world to operate a permanent space station around 2020.
The Tiangong-1 will orbit the Earth for about one month to await Shenzhou-8 unmanned spacecraft. Once the two vehicles successfully rendezvous（对接）, they will conduct the first space docking at a height of 340 kilometers above Earth surface.
After two docking tests, Tiangong-1 will await Shenzhou-9 and Shenzhou-10 in the next two years, according to a plan of China's manned space program.
The 8.5-tonne Tiangong-1, with a length of 10.4 meters and maximum diameter of 3.35 meters, provides a room of 15 cubic meters for two to three astronauts to live and work.
Zhang Shancong, deputy chief designer of the Tiangong-1, told Xinhua that the module carries special cameras which will take hyperspectral（高光谱的） images of China's vast farmlands to detect heavy metal pollution and pesticide residue as well as plant disease.
Moreover, scientists on the ground will also conduct experiments on photonic crystal（光子晶体）, a new material expected to revolutionize information technology, in the low-gravity environment inside the Tiangong-1 as these experiments would be extremely difficult to conduct on Earth's surface.
"China is clearly becoming a global power and its investments in areas like technology and space exploration reflect this," said Peter Singer, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Brookings Institution.
"It is a natural result of the growth in political and economic power and is to be expected," said Zhou Jianping, chief designer of China's manned space program, "China will turn its future space station into an international platform for space research and application. A space station could provide a low-gravity environment for research on geography, astronomy and bio-technology, which will bring unimaginably greater achievements than those conducted on Earth's surface. " "The Chinese nation has pursued peace since ancient times," Zhou also said, "China's ultimate intention with the space program is to explore space resources and make use of them for mankind's well-being." From the passage we learn that________.
| A．China has become the third country in the world to operate a permanent space station. |
| B．Tiangong-1 will orbit the Earth for two years to await Shenzhou-9 and Shenzhou-10 unmanned spacecraft after a docking test. |
| C．The experiments inside the Tiangong-1 would be extremely difficult to conduct on the Earth. |
| D．A space station could provide a high-gravity environment for research on geography, astronomy and bio-technology |
Which word of the following has the same meaning with underlined word “paving” in paragraph 2?
| A．smoothing | B．rebuilding |
| C．removing | D．blocking |
Tiangong-1 will do the following things in the future Except that it will______.
| A．test space docking with a spacecraft later this year. |
| B．detect pollution and pesticide residue and disease. |
| C．provides a room for astronauts to live and work. |
| D．operate a permanent space station. |
According to what Zhou said, we can infer that________.
| A．The successful launch of Tiangong-1 contributes to the development of China’s politics and economy. |
| B．China will explore and share space resources peacefully with other countries. |
| C．A Chinese space station will bring unimaginably greater achievements than ever. |
| D．China's ultimate intention with the space program is helpful to its powerful future. |
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