San Francisco(People's Daily Online)-- Apple Inc. Tuesday introduced its mobile payment service Apple Pay alongside the company's iPhone 6 Plus and Apple Watch at the Flint Center in Cupertino, California.
What apple does is to replace consumers' wallet with its cell phone. Apple said it hopes to speed up the checkout process, make credit-card payments more secure and ultimately, to replace physical wallets.
With the near-field communication technology, Apple's gadgets like iPhone and Apple watch can transmit a radio signal between the device and a receiver when the two are in an inch apart. "To pay, just hold your iPhone near the contactless reader with your finger on Touch ID. You don’t even have to look at the screen to know your payment information was successfully sent," Apple says on its official website.
Apple said that each transaction (交易)would be authorized(授权) with a one-time, unique number, creating a security code that it said is more secure than the one on the back of your credit card because cashiers won’t see your name, card number or security code. The service will work with the three major payment networks — American Express, MasterCard and Visa — and Apple said that there are 220,000 merchant locations that accept these contactless payments.
When some applaud this disrupted service that will compete with Paypal and endanger other online payment companies, some others concern about its safety, especially when another retailer Home Depot confirmed a data opening yesterday and iCloud was reported exposing nude (裸体)pictures of celebrities (名人) a week ago.
Leo Zheng, a technology reporter in Silicon Valley said: "When Apple attracts consumers to put all their cards into one iPhone and promised the security, Jennifer Lawrence should say something."Which can be the best title for the passage?
| A．Apple announces mobile payment service to replace consumers' wallet. |
| B．Consumers can pay in cash through mobile phones. |
| C．Apple Inc. will introduce new models to the market. |
| D．Mobile payment will be popular soon. |
After reading the third paragraph, we know .
| A．Apple’s new products are popular |
| B．Apple can be used as an ID |
| C．Apple's gadgets can receive message easily |
| D．how Apple's gadgets work |
The attitude of the writer towards the mobile payment is .
| A．indifferent (冷漠的) | B．objective |
| C．skeptical | D．positive |
What could have happened to Jennifer Lawrence?
| A．She made great contributions to Apple. |
| B．She put all her cards into her iPhone. |
| C．Her nude pictures were spread online. |
| D．Her iPhone often broke down. |
Recently, a study was carried out to determine who was the greatest American president．Sixty-five presidential historians took part in it, and they judged the past forty-two American leaders based on ten leadership qualities, including public persuasiveness(信服), crisis leadership, management of the economy, moral leadership, and conduct of international relations．The historians also looked at administrative ability (管理能力), relations with Congress, ability to set goals, and the pursuit of equal justice for all．Finally, the experts took into consideration the historical period in which the president lived．
The historians chose Abraham Lincoln as American’s greatest president．He had also been named best president in a similar study in 2000．Abraham Lincoln was the president who led the nation through the Civil War in the 1860s, and was able to unite it in the end．He also took the first steps to abolish slavery in America．
Edna Medford, a professor of history at Howard University in Washington, D.C., was an adviser on this study and the earlier one．She says Abraham Lincoln is seen to represent the values the nation most honors, such as truthfulness, moderation, and respect for human rights．
The historians put American’s first president, George Washington, second on the list, while Franklin D．Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt, and Harry Truman follow in that order．John F．Kennedy, the country’s first Roman Catholic president, is sixth on the list．Like Lincoln, Kennedy was murdered while in office．
Among recent presidents, Ronald Reagan was named the tenth best and Bill Clinton rated fifteenth, while the historians put former president George W．Bush at number thirty-six．His father, George H.W．Bush, did much better, being placed at number eighteen．We learn from the text that ___________．
| A．this is the second time that Abraham Lincoln has been chosen as America’s greatest president |
| B．Edna Medford didn’t take part in the study conducted in 2000． |
| C．George H.W．Bush was thought to have done worse in office than George W．Bush |
| D．Harry Truman was rated the fourth-best president by the study |
Which of the following belong to the ten leadership qualities considered?
a．Being able to persuade the public
b．Taking effective measures during a financial crisis．
c．Balancing home life and career．
d．Pursuing equal justice for all．
| A．a,b,c | B．b,c,d | C．a,b,d | D．a,c,d |
Who is rated worst among the following four presidents?
| A．John F．Kennedy | B．George Washington |
| C．Bill Clinton | D．George W．Bush |
The text is mainly about ________．
| A．the ten qualities a great president needs |
| B．a study of American presidents |
| C．the values the American nation honors most |
| D．how Abraham Lincoln improved the country |
The London Eye is a giant 135---meter tall Ferris wheel situated on the banks of the River Thames in the British capital. Since 20 January 2011, it has been officially known as the EDF Energy London Eye following a three---year deal with the company. It is the tallest Ferris wheel in Europe, and the most popular paid tourist attraction in the United Kingdom, visited by over 3.5 million people every year. The London Eye is located at the western end of Jubilee Gardens, on the South Bank of the River Thames In the London Borough of Lambeth in England, between Westminster Bridge( which has longer history than the famous Severn Bridge to the west of London) and Hungerford Bridge. When erected in 1999, it was the tallest Ferris wheel in the world, until surpassed first by the 160 m Star of Nanchang in 2006, and the 165m Singapore Flyer in 2008. A breathtaking feat of design and engineering, passengers in the London Eye’s capsules can see up to 40 kilometers in all directions. The London Eye is the vision of David Marks and Julia Barfield, a husband and wife architect team. The wheel design was used as a metaphor for the end of the 20th century, and time turning into the new millennium(千禧年). Back in 2000, the London Eye was known as the Millennium wheel. In 2009, a 4D Film Experience was added as a free extra to enjoy before your ride on the Eye. Once you get high enough and start coming down the other side, you will see people reach for their cameras. Here’s where the good stuff is right at your fingertips(or seems so). Parliament and Big Ben are beneath you, as are so many other historical things . If you are interested in other attractions in London, you can refer to the homepage. Which of the following statements is NOT correct ?
| A．It is so popular that every year, more than 3.5 million people visit the London Eye. |
| B．London Eye is called the EDF Energy London Eye from 2011 because the company bought it. |
| C．It is designed by David Marks and Julia Barfield, a husband and wife architect team. |
| D．It is 135---meter tall and is the tallest Ferris wheel in Europe. |
What cannot be seen from the London Eye ?
| A．The beautiful sights of the River Thames. |
| B．The Westminster Bridge. |
| C．The famous Seven Bridge. |
| D．Big Ben |
We can infer from the passage that___________.
| A．London Eye is the third tallest Ferris wheel in the world. |
| B．London Eye was named the Millennium Wheel at first. |
| C．London Eye is free of charge, and that's why so many people come here. |
| D．Before your ride on the London Eye, you can first enjoy a 4D film now. |
You can find this passage_________.
| A．in a magazine | B．in a newspaper | C．from a guidebook | D．on a website |
One thing the tour books don’t tell you about London is that 2,000 of its residents are foxes. They ran away from the city about centuries ago after developers and pollution moved in. But now that the environment is cleaner, the foxes have come home, one of the many wild animals that have moved into urban areas around the world.
“The number and variety of wild animals in urban areas is increasing,” says Gomer Jones, president of the National Institute for Urban Wildlife, in Columbia, Maryland. A survey of the wildlife in New York’s Central Park last year tallied the species of mammals, including muskrats, shrews and flying squirrels. A similar survey conducted in the 1890s counted only five species. One of the country’s largest populations of raccoons (浣熊) now lives in Washington D.C., and moose (驼鹿) are regularly seen wandering into Maine towns. Peregrine falcons(游隼) dive from the window ledges of buildings in the largest U.S. cities to prey on (捕食) pigeons.
Several changes have brought wild animals to the cities. Foremost is that air and water quality in many cities has improved as a result of the 1970s pollution-control efforts. Meanwhile, rural areas have been built up, leaving many animals on the edges of suburbs. In addition, urban wildlife refuges (避难处)have been created. The Greater London Council last year spent￡750,000 to buy land and build 10 permanent wildlife refuges in the city. Over 1,000 volunteers have donated money and cleared rubble from derelict lots. One evening last year a fox was seen on Westminster Bridge looking up at Big Ben.
For peregrine falcons, cities are actually safer than rural cliff dwellings (悬崖栖息地). By 1970 the birds had died out east of the Mississippi because the DDT had made their eggs too thin to support life. That year, scientist Tom Cade of Cornell University began raising the birds for release in cities, for cities afforded abundant food.
Cities can attract wild animals without turning them harmful. The trick is to create habitats where they can be self-sufficient but still be seen and appreciated. Such habitats can even be functional. In San Francisco, the local government is testing different kinds of rainwater control basins to see not only which ones retain (保持) the cleanest water but which will attract the most birds.The first paragraph suggests that ________.
| A．environment is crucial for wildlife |
| B．tour books are not always a reliable source of information |
| C．London is a city of fox |
| D．foxes are highly adaptable to environment |
Which of the following is NOT a reason that wildlife is returning to the cities?
| A．Food is plentiful in the cities. |
| B．Wildlife is appreciated in the cities. |
| C．Wildlife refuges have been built in the cities |
| D．Air and water quality has improved in the cities |
The underlined word “tallied” in Para. 2 means __________.
| A．distinguished | B．described | C．counted | D．excluded |
It can be inferred from the passage that _________.
| A．Londoners are putting more and more wild animals into their zoos. |
| B．Londoners are happy to see wild animals return to their city |
| C．Londoners are trying to move wild animals back to the countryside |
| D．Londoners have welcomed the wild birds, but found foxes a problem |
What is the passage mainly about?
| A．Wildlife returning to large cities |
| B．Foxes returning to London |
| C．Wild animals living in zoos |
| D．A survey of wildlife in New York |
About this time every year, I get very nostalgic(怀旧的). Walking through my neighborhood on a fall afternoon reminds me of a time not too long ago when sounds of children filled the air, children playing games on a hill, and throwing leaves around in the street below. I was one of those children, carefree and happy. I live on a street that is only one block long. I have lived on the same street for sixteen years. I love my street. One side has six houses on it, and the other has only two houses, with a small hill in the middle and a huge cottonwood tree on one end. When I think of home, I think of my street. Only I see it as it was before. Unfortunately things change. One day, not long ago, I looked around and saw how different everything has become. Life on my street will never be the same because neighbors are quickly grown old, friends are growing up and leaving, and the city is planning to destroy my precious hill and sell the property to contractors.
It is hard for me to accept that many of my wonderful neighbors are growing old and won’t be around much longer. I have fond memories of the couple across the street, who sat together on their porch swing almost every evening, the widow next door who yelled at my brother and me for being too loud, and the crazy old man in a black suit who drove an old car. In contrast to those people, the people I see today are very old neighbors who have seen better days. The man in the black suit says he wants to die, and another neighbor just sold his house and moved into a nursing home. The lady who used to yell at us is too tired to bother any more, and the couple across the street rarely go out to their front porch these days. It is difficult to watch these precious people as they near the end of their lives because at once I thought they would live forever.
The “comings and goings” of the younger generation of my street are now mostly “goings” as friends and peers move on. Once upon a time, my life and the lives of my peers revolved around home. The boundary of our world was the gutter at the end of the street. We got pleasure from playing night games or from a breathtaking ride on a tricycle. Things are different now, as my friends become adults and move on. Children who rode tricycles now drive cars. The kids who once played with me now have new interests and values as they go their separate ways. Some have gone away to college like me, a few got married, two went into the army, and one went to prison. Watching all these people grow up and go away makes me long for the good old days.
Perhaps the biggest change on my street is the fact that the city is going to turn my precious hill into several lots for now homes. For sixteen years, the view out of my kitchen window has been a view of that hill. The hill was a fundamental part of my childhood life; it was the hub of social activity for the children of my street. We spent hours there building forts, sledding, and playing tag. The view out of my kitchen window now is very different; it is one of tractors and dump trucks tearing up the hill. When the hill goes, the neighborhood will not be the same. It is a piece of my childhood. It is a visual reminder of being a kid. Without the hill, my street will be just another pea in the pod.
There was a time when my street was my world, and I thought my world would never change. But something happened. People grow up, and people grow old. Places changes, and with the change comes the heartache of knowing I can never go back to the times I loved. In a year or so, I will be gone just like many of my neighbors. I will always look back to my years as a child, but the place I remember will not be the silent street whose peace is interrupted by the sounds of construction. It will be the happy, noisy, somewhat strange, but wonderful street I knew as a child.The writer calls up the memory of the street _____________.
| A．every year when autumn comes |
| B．in the afternoon every day |
| C．every time he walks along his street |
| D．now that he is an old man |
The writer finds it hard to accept the fact that _____________.
| A．many of his good neighbors are growing old |
| B．the lady next door who used to yell at him and his brother is now a widow |
| C．the life of his neighbors has become very boring |
| D．the man in his black suit even wanted to end his own life |
The writer thinks of the past all the more when he sees those who had grown up with him _____________.
| A．continue to consider home to be the center of their lives |
| B．leave the neighborhood they grew up in |
| C．still enjoy playing card games in the evenings |
| D．develop new interests and have new dreams |
The biggest change on the writer's street is _____________.
| A．removing the hill to make way for residential development |
| B．the building of new homes behind his kitchen window |
| C．the fact that there are much fewer people around than in the past |
| D．the change in his childhood friends' attitude towards their neighborhood |
What does the writer mean by saying “my street will be another pea in the pod”?
| A．his street will be very noisy and dirty |
| B．his street will soon be crowded with people |
| C．his street will have some new attractions |
| D．his street will be no different from any other street |
Which could be a good title for the passage?
| A．The Past of My Street will Live Forever |
| B．Unforgettable People and Things of My Street |
| C．Memory Street Isn't What It Used to Be |
| D．The Big Changes of My Street |
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NEMS |
NEWRI Environmental Master of Science |
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| NEWRI: Nanyang Environment & Water Research Institute |
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| Be a leader in environmental science and engineering through the NEMS programme |
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| NEWRI Environmental Master of Science（NEMS） is a primary graduate education and research programme conducted by Nanyang Technological University’s （NTU’s） NEWRI, with summer attachment at Stanford University. It aims to train engineers and scientists to meet the increasing environmental challenges for Asia and the wider region. |
NEWRI-Nanyang Environment & Water Research Institute NEWRI is enabling Singapore to be a global center of environmental science and technology in providing technological solutions to the world. It is committed to environmental and water technologies through its ecosystem of education, research and developmental activities. NEWRI is trying its best to pull together NTU’s water and environment-related centers and institutes, gathering one another’s strengths for the benefit of industry and society. |
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| Master of Science Applications ●Applications open now and close on 30 May 2012 for Singapore applicants. ●Graduates having relevant engineering or science background, including final-year students, are invited to apply. ●Applicants are required to have a certificate of GRE. Further information and application materials are available at the Website: www.ntu.edu.sg/cee/program/postgrad.asp |
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| Highlights of Programme: ★Students spend a full summer term at Stanford taking regular courses and continue with the rest of their academic programme at NTU. ★It is a 12-month full-time course in environmental science & engineering. ★Students under NEMS will have opportunities to do research projects under NEWRI as well as to continue for the Doctor’s degree. ★Graduating students receive the NTU degree and a certificate from Stanford for their summer attachment. |
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| Scholarship for tuition grants and living expenses at both Stanford and NTU are available |
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| Enquiry contact: Ms Christian Soh Tel：（65） 6861 0507 Fax:（65） 68614606 Email: nems@ntu. edu. sg Information on other graduate programmes available at： www.ntu.edu.sg/cee/program/postgrad.asp |
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If one wants to apply for the NEMS programme, it is essential for him to __________.
| A．have passed the GRE test. |
| B．make contact with Ms Soh |
| C．possess a university diploma |
| D．major in engineering or science |
Students admitted to the NEMS Programme __________.
| A．will first have regular courses at Stanford |
| B．needn’t be released from their regular jobs |
| C．are required to obtain a Doctor’s degree |
| D．can receive degrees of both NTU and Stanford |
What’s the main purpose of the NEMS programme?
| A．To offer scholarship for tuition grants and living expenses. |
| B．To strengthen the cooperation between NTU and Stanford. |
| C．To cultivate experts on environmental science and engineering. |
| D．To introduce Nanyang Environment & Water Research Institute |
We can learn from the passage that _________.
| A．applications for the NEMS programme are open for applicants from Asia and the wider region. |
| B．applications for the NEMS progamme are open only to graduates having relevant engineering or science background. |
| C．there are still some other graduate programs conducted by Nanyang Technological University. |
| D．graduating students from the NEMS programme will have opportunities to continue for the doctor’s degree at Stanford |
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