The most frightening words in the English language are, “Our computer is down.” You hear it more and more when you are on business. The other day I was at the airport waiting for a ticket to Washington and the girl in the ticket office said, “I’m sorry, I can’t sell you a ticket. Our computer is down.”
“If your computer is down, just write me out a ticket.”
“I can’t write you out a ticket. The computer is the only one allowed to do so.”
I looked down on the computer and every passenger was just standing there drinking coffee and staring at the black screen. Then I asked her, “What do all you people do?”
“We give the computer the information about your trip, and then it tells us whether you can fly with us or not.”
“So when it goes down, you go down with it.”
“That’s good, sir.”
“How long will the computer be down?” I wanted to know.
“I have no idea. Sometimes it’s down for 10 minutes, sometimes for two hours. There’s no way we can find out without asking the computer, and since it’s down it won’t answer us.”
After the girl told me they had no backup(备用) computer, I said. “Let’s forget the computer. What about your planes? They’re still flying, aren’t they?”
“I couldn’t tell without asking the computer.”
“Maybe I could just go to the gate and ask the pilot if he’s flying to Washington, ” I suggested.
“I wouldn’t know what gate to send you to. Even if the pilot was going to Washington, he couldn’t take you if you didn’t have a ticket.”
“Is there any other airline flying to Washington within the next few hours?”
“I wouldn’t know, ” she said, pointing at the dark screen. “Only ‘IT’ knows. ‘It’ can’t tell me.”
By this time there were quite a few people standing in lines. The word soon spread to other travelers that the computer was down. Some people went white, some people started to cry and still others kicked their luggage.The best title for the article is _______.
| A．When the Computer Is Down |
| B．The Most Frightening Words |
| C．The Computer of the Airport |
| D．Asking the Computer |
What could the girl in the ticket office do for the passengers without asking the computer?
| A．She could sell a ticket. |
| B．She could write out a ticket. |
| C．She could answer the passengers’ questions. |
| D．She could do nothing. |
Why do you think they had not a backup computer?
| A．Because it was easy down |
| B．Because it was very expensive. |
| C．Because it was not advanced enough. |
| D．Because it was not as big as the main computer. |
The last paragraph suggests that _______.
| A．a modern computer won’t be down. |
| B．computers can take the place of humans |
| C．sometimes a computer may bring suffering to people |
| D．there will be great changes in computers |
Who are these people rushing by you in the street? More than 215 million people now call America “home”, but most of them can trace their families back to other parts of the world. If you look at the names on shop windows, you will see that Americans come from many different lands. The idea that these people, who once were strangers to the United States, have lost the customs and cultures of their original countries and have become “American” is really not true. In fact, what exists in America is more often a kind of “side-by-side” living in which groups of people from other countries often have kept many of their customs and habits. They join the general American society only in certain areas of their lives—such as in schools, business, and sports—but they keep many of their own native customs and manners socially and at home. This living “side-by-side” has both advantages and disadvantages. Sometimes it may cause disagreements to develop between groups whose ways of life are very different from one another. however, there are also great advantages that come from the variety of cultures brought by settlers from other lands. There is great freedom of choice among ideas and dress, food, and social customs in America. Everyone can find some part of his or her familiar world in the United States, in churches, music, food, national groups, or newspapers.More than 215 million people call America “home” because_______.
| A．they have their houses there |
| B．they settle there now |
| C．they want to make their home there |
| D．they like that land very much |
“Side-by-side” living style means _______.
| A．to make friends with native people |
| B．to keep their own customs while sharing American ones in certain areas |
| C．the groups of people who live nearby |
| D．that they get closer to American society |
according to the passage, people in the USA ________.
| A．share American customs and culture |
| B．live in a kind of “side-by-side” society |
| C．keep their own customs and habits firmly |
| D．make no choice to accept American customs |
Which of the following statements is true?
| A．They always stick to their own customs and habits. |
| B．“Side-by-side” living style is not suitable. |
| C．They face the society they are not familiar with. |
| D．The advantages coming from the variety of cultures make life in America colorful. |
Which is the best title for this passage?
| A．Advantages and Disadvantages. |
| B．Different Customs and Habits. |
| C．Home for the People. |
| D．“Side-by-side” Living Style in America. |
It’s 10:30 p.m. and 11-year-old Brandon Blanco is sound asleep at home. Suddenly, a loud noise wakes him up. Naturally, Brandon reaches for his cell phone. He blinks twice, and the message on the screen becomes clear: “ R U awake?”
But the late-night text does not annoy Brandon. He gets frequent messages and calls, even after bedtime. And he can’t imagine life without them. “ If I didn’t have a cell phone, I wouldn’t be able to talk to my friends or family as often,” he told TFK.
Brandon’s use of technology doesn’t stop there. He also has a computer, a TV and three video-game consoles in his room. With so many choices, it is no surprise that when he is not at school, he spends nearly every waking minute using one or more of these devices. Brandon is hardly alone. According to a recent study by the Kaiser Family Foundation, kids aged 8 to 18 are spending more time than ever before using electronic devices. How much time? More than seven and a half hours a day on average, the study found. That’s about an hour more than just five years ago.
The jump is the result of a huge explosion in mobile devices, says Victoria Rideout, the lead author of the study. Today, nearly seven out of ten kids have cell phones. Just five years ago, it was four out of ten.
“ These devices have opened up many more opportunities for young people to use media, whether it’s on the bus, on the way to school or waiting in line at the pizza parlor,” says Rideout.
Often, kids multitask, or use more than one device at a time. “ If you’ve got a chance to do something on your computer and take a phone call and have the TV on in the background, why not?” Media expert Cheryl Olson says.
Most experts agree technology has much to offer kids. But some worry the kids could be missing out on other activities like playing outside or hanging out with friends. “ It’s a matter of balance,” says Olson. “ You’ve got to work on it.”
Multitasking while doing homework is another concern. Some kids listen to music, watch TV or use the phone while doing their homework. “It’s important to make sure that you can stop and concentrate on one thing deeply,” says Rideout.
Logan Jones, 11, of Maumelle, Arkansas, describes himself as a “game freak”. Still, he is glad not to have unlimited time with his PlayStation 2. “I’ll tell my mom I’m going to play a game, and she’ll say, ‘Okay, but only for 30 minutes,’”, Logan told TFK.
With new and exciting devices hitting stores every year, keeping technology use in check is more important than ever. “ Kids should try,” adds Rideout. “:But parents might have to step in sometimes.”The text is mainly about kids’ _________
| A．cell phone use | B．various hobbies |
| C．favorite video games | D．using electronic devices |
It can be learnt from the text that _________.
| A．Brandon feels annoyed about his late-night message. |
| B．Olson is against teenagers’ using mobile phones. |
| C．many teenagers lack friends in their middle school |
| D．kids have too many electronic devices to choose from |
Which of the following is an example of multitasking?
| A．Watching TV while using the computer |
| B．Talking on the phone while lying on the sofa. |
| C．Playing video games after having lunch. |
| D．Listening to loud music while relaxing. |
The underlined phrase “in check” in the last paragraph can be replaced by ______.
| A．in order | B．in store | C．in sight | D．in control |
According to the text, Victoria Rideout would probably agree that kids should ____.
| A．do homework while watching TV |
| B．do homework in a place without disturbance |
| C．spend more time on homework |
| D．have less homework |
Mom was right! If you say thank you, for even the smallest gift or slightest show of kindness, you’ll feel happy.
Gratitude, says Robert A. Emmons, a professor or psychology at the University of California, is an important element of happiness. In his recent took, Thanks!, Emmons uses the first major study on gratitude to prove mom’s point. In acknowledging and developing this much-ignored expression of thankfulness, he explains how people have benefited---- even improved their health.
As one of the leading scholars of the positive psychology movement, he admits gratitude may be difficult to express. He advises you to begin by admitting that life is good and full of events and elements that make daily existence a wonder. Second, recognize that the source of life’s goodness is more than just you. That source may be your mom, a friend, partner, child, colleague at work or play, or any combination of these.
Gratitude is always other-directed, notes Emmons. You can be pleased or angry with yourself and feel guilty about doing something wrong, but you can never be grateful to or for yourself.
Expressing gratitude shouldn’t be a reaction; it should be a state of mind. To feel grateful when life is a breeze and you have more than you need is easy. To feel grateful in time of crisis---- anger, hatred and bitterness----is easier. Also, too many people are aware of life’s blessings only after these are lost.
It’s crisis and chaos ---- danger, disease, disability and death ---- that bring many individuals to realize just how dependent they are on others. Yet it’s the way each of us begins life and ends it. It’s too bad that so many people waste those decades in between labouring under the illusion they are self-sufficient, says Emmons.
The abundance of voices expressing gratitude from his studies of individuals with chronic health problems is many. But Emmons goes beyond his “groundbreaking” science to make his case for gratitude by including the inspirational writings of philosophers, novelists and saints, as well as the beliefs of various religions and their respective scriptures. Taken together, these observations are summed up quite nicely by famous humanist Albert Schweitzer, who said the secret of life is “giving thanks for everything.”
To enable and embrace gratitude, Emmons encourages the readers of Thanks! To keep a gratitude diary. He even provides easy-to-follow directions on how to practice and develop gratitude.
I’m not a reader or advocate of self-help books, but I am thankful for the reference I found in a newspaper article to the research Emmons was conducting on gratitude involving organ donors and recipients. The chance discovery led me to this book.
Mom implied that kindness seems to find its way back to the giver because life really is all about giving, receiving and repaying. So I’ll pay attention to her professional advice and say: Thank you, professor Emmons.What is the text mainly discussed?
| A．There are many ways of being thankful. |
| B．Gratitude is important to happiness. |
| C．Mom is great for her being thankful. |
| D．Being thankful will keep you fit. |
The author mentions Robert A. Emmons’ book Thanks! In order to prove that ___.
A. Professor Emmons supports mom’s study on psychology.
B. mom is as great a psychologist as Professor Emmons.
C. Professor Emmons is a famous psychologist.
D. mom is right about her viewpoint on gratitude.It will be easier for you to feel grateful when ___________.
| A．you live a comfortable life |
| B．you receive gifts on your birthday |
| C．you get help during your hard times |
| D．you are congratulated on your success |
What is the opinion of Professor Emmons?
| A．It is enough to thank others orally. |
| B．Whether you are thankful is always up to you. |
| C．Remember to be thankful anytime and anywhere. |
| D．It is easier to be thankful for yourself than for others. |
In the writer’s opinion, Emmons’ book Thanks! On gratitude is _______.
| A．one-sided | B．reasonable | C．puzzling | D．helpful |
Steve Jobs, Apple’s chief executive, made his first public appearance since going on medical leave six weeks ago, taking the stage at a San Francisco media event to introduce the iPad 2, the second generation of the company’s tablet computer.
Thin but energetic, Mr. Jobs showed off a thinner iPad. “ We’ve been working on this product for a while and I just didn’t want to miss this day,” he said.
His absence has concerned investors, especially since the group has given no details of his condition. He was diagnosed with cancer in 2004 and had a liver transplant during almost six moths of medical leave in 2009. People close to him said last month his health had been changing.
Apple’s stock rose more than 2 percent in the minutes after Mr. Jobs began speaking, then gave up some of its gain as he detailed the iPad 2.
The iPad 2 will go on sale in black and white versions in the US on March 11 and in 26 other countries, including the UK and Germany, on March 25. The table is Apple’s biggest product launch since the iPhone three years ago, and is comparable to the iPhone as the most expected in Apple’s history.
Most of the improvements in the latest version had been expected, including front and rear-facing video, which allows video conferencing between iPads, Mac computers and the most recent iPhones and iPods, a larger speaker, a faster processor and other upgrades. The iPad 2 is one-third thinner than the original tablet and slightly lighter, with a 9.7-inch touchscreen. It can run movies, books, games and a complete range of applications. In the US it will work with AT&T and Verizon, the top two mobile carriers. The pricing will be the same to the 2010 iPad at its introduction, ranging from $499 to $829 in six models. But Apple dropped prices on the older iPad on Wednesday by $100 across the board.
Apple has made the most of its year-long head start in tablets, selling 15,000,000 units of the older iPad last year and taking about 85 percent of the market. Forrester predicted that the iPad 2 would clain 80 percent of the US market this year, or 20,000,000 out of 24,000,000 total shipped. This prediction was based on both the technical improvements to the iPad 2, and the distribution difficulties and higher prices for Apple’s rivals.
Motorola, BlackBerry maker Research in Motion, Samsung and others have brought out competing tablets, many based on Google’s Android software.
Mr. Jobs said the rest of the field was still catching up with the first iPad and their markets for applications designed for tablets had, at best, 100 small programs. This compares with 65,000 on Apple’s applications store.Why are the investors of Apple worried according to the text?
| A．Apple’s stock price changes a lot |
| B．Steve Jobs’ health condition is not stable |
| C．The iPad 2 has some technical drawbacks |
| D．Apple faces strong competition from other companies. |
In what respect are the iPad 2 and the 2010 iPad exactly alike?
| A．the weight | B．the speaker |
| C．the thickness | D．the pricing at the introduction |
How many tablet computers were sold in the market last year?
| A．about 15,000,000 | B．about 17,000,000 |
| C．about 20,000,000 | D．about 24,000,000 |
What makes Apple’s tablets superior to the competing tablets of other companies?
| A．the low price |
| B．the Android software |
| C．the full kinds of models |
| D．the tens of thousands of applications |
What is the best title for the text?
| A．Jobs on Stage to Introduce iPad 2 |
| B．iPad 2 Better than the Original |
| C．Best Applications for iPad 2 |
| D．iPad 2 vs. Competitors |
If I see one more article about how wonderful alternative energy is compared to oil, I will flip(翻页). Alternative energy sources can be good---- very good in fact. And it’s pretty obvious that we’re going to need them, and that our dependence on oil is a Bad Thing. But accepting that does not mean accepting that any kind of alternative energy is a good thing.
To be a good thing, it has to have three properties: 1) It has to help reduce our dependence on oil, 2) It has to be no worse for the environment, and 3) It has to be economically practical.
Many of the things praised meet one or even two of those properties. Solar panels, for example. They can reduce our need for oil, at least in certain regions, and they’re certainly not bad for the environment. But they’re expensive. If you spend the money to make your home solar-powered, you probably won’t get back your costs for at least 15 years, which approaches the lifespan of the panels.
Certainly we need to clean up our act big time and find workable sources of alternative energy. But we also have to keep in mind that every one of these alternative-energy sources comes at a cost, which is something people seem to forget. They hear the phrase “alternative energy” and automatically assume it’s got to be good. But green isn’t always good, and oil isn’t always bad.
One seemingly “green” technology that pops up again and again is electric cars. It is praised by well-meaning people as good for the environment and a way to reduce our oil dependence, especially as oil prices continue to rise.
Electric cars are dirty. In fact, not only are they dirty, they might even be more dirty than their gasoline-powered cousins.
People in California love to talk about “ zero-emissions vehicles”, but people in California seem to be clueless about where electricity comes from. Power plants mostly use fire to make it. Aside from the new folks who have their roofs covered with solar cells, we get our electricity from generators. Generators are fueled by something---- usually coal, oil, but also by heat generated in nuclear power plants. There are a few wind farms and geothermal（地热的） plants as well, but by far we get electricity mainly by burning something.
In other words, those “zero-emissions” cars are likely coal-burning cars. It’s just because the coal is burned somewhere else that it looks clean. It is not. It’s as if the California Greens are covering their eyes ---- “ If I can’t see it, it’s not happening. “ Gasoline is an incredibly efficient way to power a vehicle; a gallon of gas has a lot of energy in it. But when you take that gas ( or another fue) and first use it to make electricity, you waste a nice part of that energy, mostly in the form of wasted heat ---- at the generator, through the transmission（传送） lines, etc.
A gallon of gas may propel your car 25 miles. But the electricity you get from that gallon of gas won’t get you nearly as far ---- so electric cars burn more fuel than gas- powered ones. If our electricity came mostly from nukes; or geothermal, or hydro, or solar, or wind, then an electric car truly would be clean. But for political, technical, and economic reasons, we don’t use much of those energy sources.
In addition, electric cars’ batteries which are poisonous for a long time will eventually end up in a landfill. And finally, when cars are the polluters, the pollution is spread across all the roads. When it’s a power plant, though, all the junk is in one lace. Nature is very good at cleaning up when things are too concentrated, but it takes a lot longer when all the garbage is in one spot.Which of the following statements will the writer support?
| A．Any kind of alternative energy is a good thing. |
| B．Alternative energy is bound to take the place of oil. |
| C．People should have an objective view towards alternative energy. |
| D．Solar panel is a good example of alternative energy that meets three properties. |
What does “ clueless” mean in Paragraph 7?
| A．People see the California Greens everywhere. |
| B．People in California love to talk about zero-emissions vehicles. |
| C．People in California love to have their roofs covered with solar cells. |
| D．People there have no idea that so far electrically mainly comes from burning coal, oil, etc. |
What is the main idea for the text?
| A．Green technology is not always green. |
| B．Alternative energy is economically practical. |
| C．Electric cars are not clean at all. |
| D．Gasoline is an efficient way to power a vehicle. |
According to the text, electric cars ___________.
| A．are more environmentally friendly |
| B．burn more fuel than gas-powered ones |
| C．are very good at cleaning up when things are not too concentrated |
| D．are poisonous for a long time and will eventually end up in a landfill |
It can be inferred from the text that _________.
| A．being green is good and should be encouraged in communication |
| B．electric cars are not clean in that we get electricity mainly by burning something |
| C．zero-emissions vehicles should be chosen to protect our environment |
| D．electric cars are now the dominant vehicle compared with gasoline-powered cousins |
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