B
People are being lured onto Facebook with the promise of a fun, free service without realizing they’re paying for it by giving up large amounts of personal information. Facebook then attempts to make money by selling their data to advertisers that want to send targeted messages.
Most Facebook users don’t realize this is happening. Even if they know what the company is up to, they still have no idea what they’re paying for Facebook because people don’t really know what their personal data is worth.
The biggest problem, however, is that the company keeps changing the rules. Early on, you keep everything private. That was the great thing about Facebook — you could create your own little private network. Last year, the company changed its privacy rules so that many things — your city, your photo, your friends' names—were set, by default (默认) to be shared with everyone on the Internet.
According to Facebook’s vice-president Elliot Schrage, the company is simply making changes to improve its service, and if people don’t share information, they have a “less satisfying experience”.
Some critics think this is more about Facebook looking to make more money. Its original business model, which involved selling ads and putting them at the side of the page, totally failed. Who wants to look at ads when they’re online connecting with their friends?
The privacy issue has already landed Facebook in hot water in Washington. In April, Senator Charles Schumer called on Facebook to change its privacy policy. He also urged the Federal Trade Commission to set guidelines for social-networking sites. “I think the senator rightly communicated that we had not been clear about what the new products were and how people could choose to use them or not to use them,” Schrage admits.
I suspect that whatever Facebook has done so far to invade our privacy is only the beginning, which is why I’m considering deactivating(撤销) my account. Facebook is a handy site, but I’m upset by the idea that my information is in the hands of people I don’t know. That’s too high a price to pay.What does the writer want to tell us in the passage?
| A．Mor1e people are being attracted to use Facebook. |
| B．People shouldn’t use Facebook. |
| C．Facebook is invading people’s privacy. |
| D．Facebook is selling more ads |
Why does the author plan to cancel his Facebook account?
| A．He is dissatisfied with its current service. |
| B．He doesn’t want his personal information abused. |
| C．He finds many of its users untrustworthy. |
| D．He is upset by its frequent rule changes. |
What is Charles Schumer’s attitude toward Facebook selling users’ data?
| A．Indifferent. | B．Unclear. |
| C．Supportive. | D．Disapproval. |
According to Elliot Schrage, Facebook keeps changing its rules because _______.
| A．it wants to better its service |
| B．it wants to adjust to new surroundings |
| C．it wants to expand its global business |
| D．it wants to improve its connectivity |
We can infer from the passage that ___________.
| A．Facebook makes profits by selling its users’ personal data. |
| B．Facebook often provides misleading information to its users. |
| C．Facebook protects users’ privacy |
| D．Facebook makes money only by advertising. |
After the examination, the doctor told my parents my sight would get worse and that I would lose my sight finally. On the way home from hospital, no one said a word. One day, would I only imagine the scenery beyond the glass rather than see it?
That September, I entered middle school. Most nights I had homework that included an armful of books to read. To keep up with other children, I took great trouble to finish the task. With my nose a couple of inches from the page, I was tired easily. What’s worse, after I had read several pages on my own, the words slipped off the page into inky pools.
However, then I did not have audio books and electronic devices like kids do now. Instead, Mom volunteered to read out loud. Mom worked part-time, cleaned the house, cooked and spent time with Grandma. In spite of being so busy, she showed up in my room like clockwork. She put on her reading glasses. Mom always thought those glasses made her look old. To me, she looked like a teacher.
In my room, Mom’s voice competed with the ticking of the clock. Being forced to focus on listening, I found a way to keep my marks up and compete with the other kids. When the teacher asked a question, I raised my hand with confidence. Teachers praised me for having a good memory. Reading removed my fear for my failing sight, reading also made me curious about other people’s challenges and how they managed. Though I could not use my eyes to fix on each passage, my mind lit up with every new book.
True to what the doctor said, the worst came, but thanks to Mom, my sense of hearing now allows me to “see”. This was the most precious gift from a mother to her child.Why did the author and his parents keep silent on their way back home from hospital?
| A．They all wanted to have a good rest. |
| B．What the doctor said made them worried. |
| C．The author didn’t do well in the exam. |
| D．They focused on the scenery along the road |
How did the author manage to get high marks?
| A．By listening carefully. |
| B．By being confident |
| C．By getting help from his classmates. |
| D．By reading as many books as possible. |
We can learn from the text that .
| A．the author’s sight recovered finally |
| B．reading made the author more sensitive |
| C．the author’s mother didn’t work to look after him |
| D．reading made the author not worry about his sight |
Which of the following could be the title of the text?
| A．My eyesight trouble |
| B．An unforgettable experience |
| C．About Mother’s love |
| D．With ears wide open |
There are many reasons that goals go unfulfilled. For many, goal setting is a never ending circle that starts, stops, and begins again. To help us succeed in reaching our goals, let’s examine the reasons why many people fail at reaching them. Here are 7 Reasons That You Won’t Reach Your Goals:
1. You Don’t Have Any Goals
Too many people are afraid to “set” their goals. Afraid of failing. Afraid of disappointment. Well, you definitely won’t complete them if you don’t try. Make a choice and set your goals. Otherwise you will end up wherever life takes you.
2. You Don’t Start
OK, so you have a goal. What have you done about it? Have you started it yet? What are you waiting for? Procrastination is responsible for the failure of many goals.
3. You Aren’t Willing to “Buy” Your Goals
Yes, you have to buy your goals. Why? Because every goal has a price. It has a cost. Time. Money. Sweat. Sacrifice. You will have to “pay” for your goals in some manner.
4. Your Goals Are Unrealistic.
Make sure that your goals are possible and that you set an adequate time frame for success.
5. You Won’t Stick With It
Over half of goals will be given up within 30 days. You set your goals .You started them. And then...you gave up. Are you using life’s daily happenings as excuses? Goals are not reached through one effort. Rather, they are made in small steps over time.
6. You Will Fail...And You Won’t Get Back Up!
No one succeeds immediately. Those who appear to have effortlessly succeeded have usually put in years of preparation and practice. You have to fall down many times before you will succeed. Skill is learned by doing.
7. You Quit Before The Finish Line
Too many people stop...right before the finish line. It’s almost like they are afraid of succeeding. Often a life event is used as the reason for not finishing. Something always comes up before you finish.
Are you reaching your goals? Which of these is keeping you from succeeding? Set your goals. Stay the course. Always get back up when you fail. And make sure you cross the finish line.What’s the author’s purpose of writing this passage?
| A．To remind people of the importance of setting life goals. |
| B．To convince people of keeping to their life goals. |
| C．To clarify the reasons leading to the failure of achieving goals. |
| D．To persuade people to have big life goals. |
What’s the probable meaning of the underlined word “procrastination” in the second tip?
| A．hesitation | B．delay | C．importance | D．contradiction |
According to the passage, you will not reach you goals, if you _______.
| A．are not willing to spend money seeking helping hands. |
| B．do not take time to make plans for them. |
| C．do not let life take you where it goes. |
| D．are not afraid of succeeding. |
What can be learned from the sixth tip?
| A．He who has hope has everything. |
| B．Two heads are better than one. |
| C．Practice makes perfect. |
| D．Keeping up contributes to success. |
Humans might be the most highly-evolved species on the planet, but most animals possess skills we can only dream of having. Imagine how much electricity we could save if we could see in the dark the way cats do. Imagine leaping from tree to tree like a monkey. Giraffes, which are otherwise calm and good-natured, sleep only 4.6 hours a day.
We realized a long, long time ago that nature provides the best blueprint for invention. We’ve borrowed canals from beavers and reflectors from cat’s eyes. Although the words “bionics”(仿生学) became popular only after the 1960s, history shows that nature has always provided ideas on solving everyday problems. Our archives(档案) don’t go back to the time of Leonardo da Vinci and his bird-like flying machines, but we can take you to the late 19th century, where we applied those same principles for building our first practical airplanes.
To prepare for their flight at Kitty Hawk, the Wright brothers studied the movements of pigeons to figure out how they stayed high up when they were heavier than air. Their success inspired scores of successors to improve on the airplane by studying various aspects of nature. One of Orville Wright’s pupils caught and stuffed seagulls to examine their wingspan. Meanwhile, two French inventors examined spinning sycamore(梧桐) seeds in an effort to apply those same motions, reversed, to a helicopter .
Some examples are more obvious than others. The outside of the airplane designed by the Wright brothers looks like a minimalistic(简单抽象艺术) structure. On the other hand, Barney Connett’s fish submarine actually looks like a fish.
Some bio-inspired concepts have yet to be invented. In the 1960s, the US Army commissioned several university professors to conduct research on the motor skills animals in hope of applying those same abilities to tanks. Tanks that run like horses or jump like grasshoppers(蚂蚱)-sounds shocking, doesn’t it? But imagine how life would change if we could achieve that.“Cats”, “monkeys” and “giraffes” mentioned in paragraph 1 are examples to show______.
| A．they are highly-evolved species as humans |
| B．animals have skills that humans do not possess |
| C．humans can learn animals’ skills |
| D．they are skillful in different ways |
What happened after the Wright brothers’ success?
| A．People carried out a systematic study on pigeons. |
| B．People studied more animals and plants to develop the airplane. |
| C．People could fly their airplane for fun. |
| D．People kept their airplane at a French gallery. |
Which of the following is true about the research carried out by the US Army?
| A．It has cost a large sum of money. |
| B．It has changed our life. |
| C．It has improved the abilities of tanks |
| D．It has not succeeded yet. |
What does the writer want to tell in the passage?
| A．many inventions get ideas from nature. |
| B．Some animals possess unique skills. |
| C．People should protect nature. |
| D．Bionics is far from perfect |
Rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are a major cause of climate change, and now a new study has confirmed that atmosphere CO2 is also affecting the ocean chemistry and potentially harming sea life.
Montana State University scientist Robert Dore has been researching the water in the Pacific Ocean for almost two decades. “We’ve been going to the same spot in the Pacific Ocean, and we try and characterize long-term change in the open ocean environment. And one of the key things that we measure is CO2 levels. And we’ve been able to record this increasing quantity of atmosphere CO2 into the ocean.”
Scientists expected that as atmosphere CO2 increased, more and more of the carbon dioxide would be absorbed into the ocean, affecting the chemical balance of the sea water, with a potentially harmful impact on shellfish and coral in particular.
“As carbon dioxide dissolves in the water or seawater in this case, it forms a weak acid, carbonic acid,” Dore explains. “And therefore, as the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere goes up and that exchanges with the surface seawater, it drives the pH down, and makes it more acidic.”
The seawater samples Dore and his colleagues have analyzed confirm what the theory predicts.
The effect was particular striking at about 250 meters down, and again at 500 meters. Dore and his colleagues came up with two possible explanations. It could be that surface water picked up CO2 and then moved to those depths. Or there could be a biological explanation.
“It’s important to realize that the oceans are really becoming acidic. And it can have negative impacts on a whole variety of sea life from fish to coral. It’s potentially catastrophic.”What can be the best title of the passage?
| A．Scientist Researching Seawater |
| B．Sea Life Facing Danger |
| C．Oceans Becoming More Acidic |
| D．Climate Change Affecting Seawater |
With the increase of atmospheric CO2, _______.
| A．more corals will appear in the sea |
| B．the chemical balance of the seawater is affected |
| C．the surface water is becoming warmer |
| D．the pH of the ocean out here has been increasing |
Which of the following shows the process of the impact of atmospheric CO2 on sea life?
a. Sea life is endangered.
b. CO2 goes into the surface water.
c. The ocean chemistry is affected.
d. CO2 decreases the pH and makes the seawater more acidic.
e. CO2 levels in the atmosphere go up.
| A．a→b→c→d→e | B．e→b→c→d→a |
| C．a→e→b→c→d | D．e→d→c→b→a |
Scientist Robert Dore came to the conclusion based on_______.
| A．the expectation of other scientists |
| B．some former theory |
| C．his research and analysis |
| D．a major cause of climate change |
You have the ability to decide if you are happy or not. Happiness is a choice.
You can't depend on someone else to make you happy. That is a lesson I learned early on in my marriage. I realized that I couldn't rely on my husband as my source of happiness. I learned that my happiness depended on me and not my husband's actions. I learned that you have to choose to be happy.
You can choose your emotions. True happiness comes from within; it can't be forced by outside forces. So how do you choose happiness? The same way you choose to smile or choose to wear a certain outfit. You choose it because that's what you want to experience in your life.
You want to buy a new pair of shoes so you choose a pair that you like and feel good. You wouldn't buy a pair of shoes that you don't like or that don't fit well, right? So why do we keep choosing emotions and feelings that don't make us feel good?
Choosing to be happy after you realize your anger has shown up (or even choosing to be calm) can be beneficial. We choose our feelings; no one can do that for us. If we let others get to us, influence our emotions ---we are giving them power over us. When others cause us anger or pain, we are giving them our power.
We need to keep our feelings in check and not react automatically to what is thrown at us. We need to think our actions out instead of just reacting to what someone says or does.
Remember that we can always choose happiness. At first it will be difficult to just switch your thoughts and feelings from anger, self-doubt, or fear to joy and happiness. But it is only a thought away. Don't dwell on what happens to you unnecessarily but realize what is causing you to feel that way. Realize that thoughts, feelings and emotions can change. Then move on and choose to be happy.What’s the best title of this passage?
| A．Choose to Be Happy | B．Pretend to Be Happ |
| C．Choose Your Emotions | D．Find Happiness |
The lesson the writer learned in her marriage is ________.
| A．balancing the relationship between the husband and wife is an art |
| B．one can’t rely on someone else to make himself or herself happy |
| C．she can depend on her husband to find happiness |
| D．happiness can be influenced by outside forces |
Why did the writer mention buying shoes?
| A．To offer advice on how to choose comfortable shoes. |
| B．To compare choosing shoes and choosing an outfit. |
| C．To help to move to the next paragraph easily. |
| D．To use it as an example to show the importance of choosing to be happy. |
The writer suggests that we should ________.
| A．hold back our feelings properly |
| B．let others control our feelings |
| C．respond immediately to others’ words |
| D．pay more attention to words than actions |
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