News that Microsoft made a $44.6 billion bid to buy Yahoo resulted in heated discussions made by many Internet users. Here are some responses:
Diane Burke of Weeks bury, Kentucky
I think it would definitely be an interesting combination. Everyone recognizes the names Yahoo and Microsoft, but everyone also says, “Did you Google it?” Such a catchphrase (时髦话) is going to be hard to beat.
Shaun Carney of Laurelville, Ohio
I think the merger (合并) will provide more competitions for Google. I don’t think the merger will allow Microsoft to develop faster than Google, though. I believe the increased competition this merger brings will force Google to stay on top of its game by offering more fresh and original Internet tools and expanding on the tools it already offers.
Toni Suarez of Hacienda Heights, California
I view the merger as a necessary element in preventing a monopolization (垄断). Perhaps it would bring better high technology innovations to e-mail and help in researching and developing a better Internet!
Rick R. of Edgewater, Florida
It sounds like a disaster to me. If this were to happen, I would stop using my Yahoo e-mail account because I don’t like the feeling of Microsoft spying upon my business. I will sign up for Google.
Antonio Glosser of Kansas City, Missouri
Right now, Yahoo offers a lot of features and tools at no cost for all different levels of Internet users. Microsoft seeks nothing but profit. Undoubtedly, they’ll do nothing other than find ways to start removing Yahoo’s formerly non-priced features. Microsoft’s greed will ruin the great thing that Yahoo currently is.How many companies are mentioned in the passage?
| A．One. | B．Two. | C．Three. | D．Four. |
Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?
| A．Shaun’s attitude towards Google is passive. |
| B．Toni believes the Internet will have a promising future. |
| C．Rick will support Google after the merger. |
| D．Antonio is afraid that the merger will cost Yahoo’s free features. |
The passage is mainly about ______.
| A．the future of Yahoo and Microsoft |
| B．the strengths of Yahoo and Microsoft |
| C．the strengths and weaknesses of large companies |
| D．opinions on the merger of Yahoo and Microsoft. |
A powerful earthquake struck the northeastern coast of Japan at two forty-six p.m. local time on March eleventh.2011. Japan's Meteorological Agency released its first tsunami（海啸） warnings just three minutes later. The country has one of the best earthquake early warning systems in the world.
There are more than four thousand Seismic Intensity Meters in place throughout Japan to measure earthquake activity. These meters provide information within two minutes of an earthquake happening. Information about the strength and the center of the earthquake can be learned within three minutes.
There are also concrete(混凝土) sea walls around much of the Japanese coastline. But these measures proved no match for the powerful earthquake and tsunami.
Costas Synolakis ，a tsunami expert at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles said，"Japan is one of those most well-prepared countries on earth in terms of tsunami warning. They had a warning. I think what went wrong is that they had not expected the size of this event."
He says there are two reasons for this. Japan has not had any event anywhere near as big as this one in the last one hundred fifty years. And scientists had not expected such a large earthquake happening off the coast of Japan.
The nine point zero magnitude earthquake was the fourth most powerful earthquake ever recorded worldwide. It was also the worst earthquake ever to hit Japan. The tsunami waves that followed were reported to have reached as high as thirteen meters in some areas.
Costas Synolakis says Japan's concrete sea walls were not built to handle such high waves.
Experts say early warning systems will continue to be limited by these facts until earthquakes and tsunamis can be predictedWhere can this passage probably be adapted from?
| A．A magazine on science | B．A fairy Tale |
| C．A scientific fantasy book | D．A newspaper |
Which of the following statements NOT true ?
| A．A terrible earthquake hit the northeastern coast of Japan |
| B．It was also the worst earthquake in Japan |
| C．The 9.0 earthquake was the fourth most powerful earthquake ever recorded in Japan |
| D．Japan's concrete sea walls was unable to handle such high waves. |
According to Costas Synolakis, why did Japan suffer such a loss?
| A．The country has never experienced any event as big as this one over the past 150 years |
| B．Japan has the best earthquake early warning systems in the world. |
| C．There are not concrete sea walls around all of the Japanese coastline |
| D．The government didn’t announce its first tsunami warnings three minutes earlier. |
Long before the white man came to the America, the land belonged to the American Indian nations, The nation of the Cherokees lived in what is now the southeastern part of the United States.
After the white man came, the Cherokees copied many of their ways. One Cherokee named Sequoyah saw how important reading and writing was to the white man. He decided to invent a way to write down the spoken Cherokee language. He began by making word pictures. For each word he drew a picture. But that proved impossible; there were just too many words. Then he took the 85 sounds that made up the language. Using his own imagination and an English spelling book, Sequoyah invented a sign for each sound. His alphabet proved amazingly easy to learn. Before long, many Cherokees knew how to read and write in their own language. By 1828, they were even printing their own newspaper.
In 1830, the US congress passed a law. It allowed the government to remove Indians from their lands. The Cherokees refused to go. They had lived on their lands for centuries. It belonged to them. Why should they go to a strange land far beyond the Mississippi River?
The army was sent to drive the Cherokees out. Soldiers surrounded their villages and marched them at gunpoint into the western territory. The sick, the old and the small children went in carts, along with their belongings. The rest of the people marched on foot or rode on horseback. It was November, yet many of them still wore their summer clothes. Cold and hungry, the Cherokees were quickly exhausted by the hardships of journey. Many dropped dead and were buried by the roadside. When the last group arrived in their new home in March 1839, more than 4000 had died. It was in deed a march of death. The Cherokee Nation used to live____________.
| A．on the American continent | B．in the southeastern part of the US |
| C．beyond the Mississippi River | D．in the western territory |
One of the ways that Sequoyah copied from the white man is the way of__________.
| A．writing down the spoken language | B．making word pictures |
| C．teaching his people reading | D．printing their own newspaper |
A law was passed in 1830 to__________.
| A．allow the Cherokees to stay where they were |
| B．send the army to help the Cherokees |
| C．force the Cherokees to move westward |
| D．forbid the Cherokees to read their newspaper |
When the Cherokees began to leave their lands, __________.
| A．they went in carts | B．they went on horseback |
| C．they marched on foot | D．all of the above |
Many Cherokees died on their way to their new home mainly because________.
| A．they were not willing to go there |
| B．the government did not provide transportation |
| C．they did not have enough food and clothes |
| D．the journey was long and boring |
Satellites are an important part of our ordinary lives．For example, the information for weather forecasts is sent by satellite．Some satellites have cameras which take photographs of the Earth to show how clouds are moving．Satellites are also used to connect our international phone calls．
Computer connections of the World Wide Web and Internet also use satellites. Many of our TV programs come to US through satellites．Airplane pilots also sometimes use a satellite to help them find their exact location．
We use satellites to send television pictures from one part of the world to another．They are usually 35，880 kilometers above the equator．Sometimes we can see a satellite in the sky and it seems to stay in the same place．This is because it is moving around the world at 11，000 kilometers an hour—exactly the same speed that the earth rotates．A satellite must orbit the Earth with its antennae(天线)facing the earth．Sometimes, it moves away from its orbit，So there are little rockets on it which are used to put the satellite back in the right position．This usually happens about every five or six days．
Space is not empty! Every week, more and more satellites are sent into space to orbit the Earth．A satellite usually works for about 10-12 years．Satellites which are broken are sometimes repaired by astronauts or sometimes brought back to Earth to be repaired．Often，very old or broken satellites are left in space to orbit the Earth for a very long time．This is very serious because some satellites use nuclear power and they can crash into each other．Which of the following is NOT done by satellites according to the passage?
| A．Sending information for weather forecast． |
| B．Taking photographs of the Earth． |
| C．Sending TV pictures． |
| D．Providing food for airplane pilots． |
What’s the speed the earth rotates at?
| A．35,880 kilometers per hour． | B．335,880 kilometers per hour． |
| C．11,000 kilometers per hour． | D．110,000 kilometers per hour |
Why does the satellite move around the world at the same speed as the Earth rotates?
| A．In order to take photographs． |
| B．In order to stay in a certain position in the orbit． |
| C．In order to move away from its orbit． |
| D．In order to send television pictures． |
What does the underlined word “This” in the 3rd paragraph refer to?
| A．A satellite． | B．A little rocket． |
| C．A satellite seems to stay in the same place in the sky． | |
| D．The satellite puts the rockets in the right position． |
Which is true of satellites?
| A．A satellite usually works for about 10-12 years． |
| B．Every time a satellite gets broken，it is brought back to the Earth to be repaired． |
| C．A broken satellite is never left in space. |
| D．They often crash into each other. |
Thanksgiving Day is special holiday in the United States and Canada. Families and friends gather to eat and give thanks for their blessing.
Thanksgiving Day is really a harvest festival. This is why it is celebrated in late fall, after the crops are in. But one of the first thanksgivings in America had nothing to do with a good harvest. On December 4, 1619, the Pilgrims from England landed near what is now Charles City, Virginia. They knelt down and thanked God for their safe journey across the Atlantic.
The first New England Thanksgiving did celebrate a rich harvest. The Pilgrims landed at what is now Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1620. They had a difficult time and the first winter was cruel. Many of the Pilgrims died. But the next year, they had a good harvest. So Governor Bradford declared a three-day feast（盛宴）. The Pilgrims invited Indian friends to join them for their special feast. Everyone brought food.
In time, other colonies（殖民地）began to celebrate a day of thanksgiving. But it took years before there was a national Thanksgiving Day. During the Civil War, Sarah Josepha Hale persuaded Abraham Lincoln to do something about it. He proclaimed（宣布）the last Thursday of November 1863 as a day of thanksgiving. Today, Americans celebrate this happy harvest festival on the fourth Thursday in November. Canadians celebrate Thanksgiving Day in much the same way as their American neighbours. But the Canadian thanks-giving Day falls on the second Monday in October. Thanksgiving Day is celebrated .
| A．in spring | B．summer |
| C．in autumn | D．in winter |
The first to celebrate thanksgiving were .
| A．some people from England |
| B．the American Indians |
| C．Sarah Josepha Hale |
| D．Governor Bradford |
We can infer from the passage that New England must be .
A. in the U. S. A. B. in Great Britain
C. in Canada D. on some island off the Atlantic Which of the following is NOT true?
| A．Thanksgiving Day used to be a holiday to celebrate a good harvest. |
| B．Abraham Lincoln was not the first to decide on thanksgiving celebrations. |
| C．Thanksgiving Day is celebrated to express the American and Indian people’s thanks to God. |
| D．There’s little difference between the American way and the Canadian way to celebrate Thanksgiving Day. |
The passage mainly tells us .
A. how Thanksgiving Day is celebrated in the U. S. A.
B. how Thanksgiving Day came into being and the different ways it is celebrated
C. that Thanksgiving Day is in fact a harvest holiday
D. how the way to celebrate Thanksgiving Day changed with the time and places
I arrived at the bus station much too early for the London bus, which was not to leave until five to twelve. I pushed through the crowds, looking for somewhere to sit down. Scores of people were standing about, or struggling along with their bags and the cases to find the right lines. There was a party of school girls. I could see teachers trying to keep them in order. But there was nowhere for me to sit.
I stepped into the station buffet. I looked up at the clock there. It was only twenty to twelve. I found a seat opposite a large mirror on the wall. Just then a friend of mine called Jim came in and sat with me. "What time is your bus?" asked Jim. "Oh, there's a plenty of time yet," I answered. "Oh, I'll get some drinks then," said Jim. We talked while drinking. Then I looked at the clock again. "Good heavens! It's going backward!" I cried. "A moment ago it was twenty to twelve and now it's half past eleven." "You are looking at the clock in the mirror," said Jim. I could kick myself for being so stupid. I had not realized that the marks for one and eleven on the face of the clock were the same. The next bus was not to leave for another hour. I have never liked mirror since then. The London bus left ________.
| A．at five to twelve | B．before five to twelve |
| C．after five to twelve | D．until five to twelve |
The writer went to the station buffet because ________.
| A．he was thirsty |
| B．he saw the station buffet was not so crowded |
| C．it was still early for his bus and he couldn't find a place to sit at the bus station |
| D．he had changed his mind; he wouldn't go to London |
The writer sat ________.
| A．behind a mirror | B．facing a mirror |
| C．under a mirror | D．near a mirror |
Jim came to the station buffet at about ________.
| A．twenty to twelve | B．twenty past twelve |
| C．half past one | D．twenty past eleven |
What time was it when the writer looked at the clock again?
It was ________.
| A．half past eleven | B．twelve thirty |
| C．twelve twenty | D．eleven thirty |
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