In 1992, I had just launched a new business called Video News International.
It was the world's first video journalist network. The idea was to cover news and sell the service to news organizations.
One day, a young intern (实习生) who was working for us named Anthony Lappe pulled me aside.
"There is something you have to see," he told me. "Comcast is doing this really cool thing."
"What?"
"The Internet," he said. "It's going to be really big."
Anthony later introduced me to the head of the Internet project.
"We are looking for content to put on our network here," the guy said to me.
Well, I said I had lots of content to offer.
The guy's eyes lit up. "Cool," he said. "We would like to put it on our network."
Well, I was always looking for new clients.
"What are you going to pay?" I asked.
He said that they could not pay anything for the content, but they would set up a URL for me.
"What's that?" I asked.
"It's kind of like your address on the web."
"What would I do with this URL thing?"
"Well, it could be your business."
"I don't see how it is a business, and there's not even any advertising," I cleverly replied.
"Not yet," he said. "But one day there might be."
I thought about it for two seconds.
"Naah..." I said. "I've got bigger fish to fry. I've got to be going now. Maybe we can cooperate next time."
And I walked out.
Idiot!
Well, that Internet thing turned out to be so much bigger than I had thought. I wish I had never made such a mistake. Sorry Anthony. You were right.The head of the Internet project expected the author to _______.
| A．become a user of their product |
| B．put advertisements on their web |
| C．provide video news for their network |
| D．get an email address from the Internet |
The guy's offer was rejected because the author ______
| A．didn't think it a good deal |
| B．was unwilling to trust a stranger |
| C．was too occupied to start a new business |
| D．was worried about the safety of e-business |
What does the underlined sentence mean?
| A．I don't believe your words. |
| B．I ought to cook dinner now. |
| C．I need to get more payment. |
| D．I have something more important to do. |
Which of the following can be the best title for this text?
| A．Power of New Technology |
| B．Never Too Old to Learn |
| C．My Biggest Mistake Ever |
| D．Building a Business Partnership |
There was a story many years ago of a school teacher--- Mrs. Thompson. She told the children on the first day that she loved them all the same. But that was a lie. There in the front row was a little boy named Teddy Stoddard. He didn’t play well with the other children and he always needed a bath. She did not like him.
Then Mrs. Thompson got to know that Teddy was actually a very good boy before the death of his mother. Mrs. Thompson was ashamed of herself. She felt even worse ,when like all her other students, Teddy brought her a Christmas present too. It was his mother’s perfume(香水)。
Teddy said, “Mrs. Thompson, today you smell just like my Mom used to.” After the children left she cried for at least an hour. On that very day, she stopped teaching reading, writing and math. Instead, she began to teach children.
Mrs. Thompson paid particular attention to Teddy. The boy’s mind seemed to come alive. The more she encourage him, the faster he improved. By the end of the sixth grade, Teddy had become one of the smartest children in the class.
Six years went by before she got a note from Teddy. He wrote that he had finished high school, third in his class, and she was still the best teacher he ever had in his whole lift. He went to college. Mrs. Thompson got two more letters from him with the last one signed, Theodore F. Stoddard, M. D.(医学博士).
The story doesn’t end there. On his wedding day, Dr. Stoddard whispered in Mrs. Thompson’s ear, “Thank you, Mrs. Thompson, for believing in me. You made me feel important and showed me that I could make a difference.”
Mrs. Thompson, with tears in her eyes, whispered back, “Teddy, you have it all wrong. You were the one who taught me that I could make a difference. I didn’t know how to teach until I met you.”
41. What did Mrs. Thompson do on the first day of school?
A. She made Teddy feel ashamed.
B. She asked the children to play with Teddy.
C. She changed Teddy’s seat to the front row.
D. She told the class something untrue about herself.
42. What did Mrs. Thompson find out about Teddy?
A. He often told lies. B. He was good at math.
C. He needed motherly care. D. He enjoyed playing with others.
43. In what way did Mrs. Thompson change?
A. She taught fewer school subjects. B. She became stricter with her students.
C. She no longer liked her job as a teacher. D. She cared more about educating students.
44. Why did Teddy thank Mrs. Thompson at his wedding?
A. She had kept in touch with him. B. She had given him encouragement.
C. She had sent him Christmas presents. D. She had taught him how to judge people.
Recently, tests have proved that Beethoven died from lead（铅）poisoning. Bill Walsh directed the Beethoven Research Project. Mr Walsh and his team examined pieces of bone belonging to Beethoven. They found a large amount of lead in the bone pieces. They said the lead levels were equal to those found in pieces of his hair in earlier studies of other scientists.
Genetic tests proved the bone pieces and hair came from Beethoven. The researchers also examined bone fragments（碎片 from someone else who lived during the same period. Both were from the top of the skull. The fragments from Beethoven had more lead than those from the other person. Their study didn’t find measurable levels of cadmium (镉) or mercury (汞), which scientists used to consider were the causes of his health problems.
Beethoven was sick for much of his life. He experienced strong stomach pains, a sign of lead poisoning, and a change of personality when he was around 20. He also got angry easily, and suffered from depression and hearing loss. His health problems became worse as Beethoven grew older.
Walsh said the lead levels found in Beethoven’s skull（颅骨） suggested the metal might have been present in his body for many years. He said although there had been recognized cases of deafness caused by lead poisoning, there was no strong evidence to suggest that lead poisoning was the cause of Beethoven’s deafness.
Ludwig van Beethoven visited many doctors to find a cure for his health problems. In a letter he wrote to a friend, he asked researchers to examine his body after he died so that other people would not have to suffer as he did.During the research, Walsh and his team didn’t ______.
| A．examine the bone pieces of Beethoven |
| B．examine the bone pieces of another person |
| C．examine the lead levels of Beethoven’s hair |
| D．measure the cadmium or mercury in Beethoven’s bones |
From the passage, we can learn that ___________.
| A．this is the first research into the cause of Beethoven’s death |
| B．any amount of lead will do great harm to people’s health |
| C．more lead was found in Beethoven’s bones than in his hair |
| D．scientists used to think that Beethoven’s death was caused by other metals instead of lead |
In which section（版）of the newspaper might you read this report?
| A．Health. | B．Technology | C．Entertainment. | D．Culture. |
What is the best title of the passage?
| A．A surprising discovery about Beethoven. |
| B．Beethoven died from lead poisoning. |
| C．Lead — a killer metal for human beings. |
| D．New examination of Beethoven’s body. |
David Beckham was born in 1975 in London, at a place called Leytonstone. When he was a young boy, his greatest passion was in football. He played it whenever he had the chance. Sometimes he would go and watch a game with his friends. When David Beckham was 12 years old, he won the Bobby Charlton Soccer Skills award. This was an important step forward for this young boy, and it led him to go for a visit to a football training camp in Spain. As a boy he played for schools of Essex and also for his county team.
In 1991, he become a trainee with Manchester United. This meant that he could practise football as much as he wanted to and play for the highly successful Manchester United Youth Cup team and Under-21. In April, 1995 he played his first football league game against Leeds United. During 1995and 1996, David became a regular member of the team and Manchester United won in both football seasons, with David scoring many goals.
His goals made him a household name. In the first game of the 1996~1997 season, he scored a surprising goal from beyond the halfway line; seeing the goalkeeper a little way out of his goal, Beckham sent the ball over the goalkeeper’s head and into the goal. It was a wonderful goal and Beckham became famous overnight. He continued to score astonishing goals, Especially from free-kicks. The speed of one of his shots was timed at 157 kph. He also had the ability to make the ball go from left to right, or right to left, whenever he chose. Goalkeepers were never sure where the ball was going, and it regularly ended up in the goal.Which word can take the place of the underlined word “passion” in Paragraph 1?
| A．success | B．interest. | C．prize | D．skill |
The unusually surprising way that he scored goals___________.
| A．helped him to gain many prizes for Essex |
| B．kept him playing for Leeds United |
| C．offered him the chance to join the national team |
| D．made him popular in many British homes |
Which of the following shows the right order of what Beckham experienced ?
a. Beckham played his first football league game.
b. Beckham won the Bobby Charlton Soccer Skills award.
c. Beckham played for Manchester United Youth Cup team.
d. Beckham went to Spain to join a football training camp.
e. Beckham played for the schools of Essex.
| A．e, d, a, c, b | B．b, e, d, a, c | C．e, b, a, d, c | D．b, d, e, c, a |
The passage is mainly talking about_________.
| A．how Beckham became a successful football player |
| B．what abilities Beckham had to score so many goals |
| C．when Beckham became famous all over Britain |
| D．why Beckham could win in football league games |
This year some twenty-three hundred teenagers(young people aged from13~19)from all over the world will spend about ten months in U.S. homes. They will attend U.S. schools, meet U.S. teenagers, and form impressions of the real America. At the same time, about thirteen hundred American teenagers will go to other countries to learn new languages and gain a new understanding of the rest of the world.
Here is a two-way student exchange in action. Fred, nineteen, spent last year in Germany with George’s family. In turn, George’s son Mike spent a year in Fred’s home in America.
Fred, a lively young man, knew little German when he arrived, but after two months’study the language began to come to him. School was completely different from what he had expected—much harder. Students rose respectfully when the teacher entered the room. They took fourteen subjects instead of the six that are usual in the United States. There were almost no outside activities.
Family life, too, was different. The father’s word was law, and all activities were around the family rather than the individual. Fred found the food too simple at first. Also, he missed having a car.
“Back home, you pick up some friends in a car and go out and have a good time. In Germany, you walk, but you soon learn to like it.”
At the same time, in America, Mike, a friendly German boy, was also forming his idea. “I suppose I should criticize(批评)American schools,” he said. “It is far too easy by our level. But I have to say that I like it very much. In Germany we do nothing but study. Here we take part in many outside activities. I think that maybe your schools are better in training for citizens. There ought to be some middle ground between the two.”This year ________teenagers will take part in the exchange programme between America and other countries.
| A．twenty-three hundred | B．thirteen hundred |
| C．over three thousand | D．less than two thousand |
The whole exchange programme is mainly to__________.
| A．help teenagers in other countries know the real America |
| B．send students in America to travel in Germany |
| C．let students learn something about other countries |
| D．have teenagers learn new languages |
Fred and Mike agree that__________.
| A．America food tasted better than German food |
| B．German schools were harder than American schools |
| C．Americans and Germans were both friendly |
| D．There were more cars on the streets in America |
What is particular in American schools is that________.
| A．there is some middle ground between the two teaching buildings |
| B．there are a lot of after-school activities |
| C．students usually take fourteen subjects in all |
| D．students go outside to enjoy themselves in a car |
A young man applied for a job as a farmhand. When the farmer asked for his qualifications (资历), he said, “I can sleep when the wind blows.”
This puzzled the farmer. But he liked the young man, and hired him.
A few days later, the farmer and his wife were awakened in the night by a violent storm. They quickly began to check things to see if all was safe from damage. They found that the doors of the farmhouse had been safely fastened, and a lot of wood had been set next to the fireplace.
The young man slept soundly.
The farmer and his wife then looked at their property (财产) carefully. They found that the farm tools had been placed in the storage room, safe from the bad weather. The tractor had been moved into the garage. The barn was properly locked. Even the animals were calm. All was well.
The farmer then understood the meaning of the young man’s words, “I can sleep when the wind blows.”
The farmhand did his work loyally. When the sky was clear, he had prepared for the storm in case it broke. So when the wind blew, there was no need for him to be afraid. He could sleep in peace. The underlined word “fastened” in Para. 3 can be replaced by ______.
| A．moved | B．damaged | C．taken | D．closed |
The best title for this passage is ______.
| A．A clever farmer | B．A young man and his dream |
| C．A violent storm | D．Sleeping in peace through the storm |
Which of the following proverbs can best explain the story?
| A．Lookers-on see more than players | B．Two heads are better than one |
| C．A stitch（针）in time saves nine | D．No man can do two things at a time |
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