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Dear Customers,
I love slipping into a comfortable chair for a long read –as I relax into the chair ,I also relax into the author’s word ,stories and ideas.The physical book is so elegant that it disappear into the background ,and what remains is the author’s world .
Today,we at Amazon are excited to announce Mindle, a wireless ,portable reading device with instant access to more than 90,000 books, magazines ,and newspapers .
We’ve been working on Mindle for more than three years.Our top design objective was for Mindle to disappear in your hands – to get out of the way –so you can enjoy your reading.We also wanted to go beyond the physical book .Mindle is wireless ,so whether you’re lying in bed or riding a train ,you can think of a book ,and have it in less than 60 seconds .No computer is needed –you do your reading directly from the device
We chose the same wireless technology used in advanced mobile phones .But unlike phones there are no monthly wireless bills ,no service or data plans ,and no yearly contracts. There is no software to install.We want you to get lost in your reading and not in the technology .
Mindle uses a new kind of display called electronic electronic paper. Sharp and natural with no strong light ,reading on Mindle is nothing like reading from a computer screen .Mindle weighs only 10.3 ounces –less than a paperback – but can carry two hundred books.
Enjoy learning about Mindle and many thanks!
Jeff Bezos
Founder ＆CED
68. This passage most probably is a(n)____
A. advertisement
B. news story
C. lab report
D. letter of thanks
69. From the passage we learn that the Mindle is a device which________
A. has neither wires nor weight
B. is operated by a computer
C. disappears while you read
D. can find a book within one minute
70. Which the device,the reader is able to ____
A. enjoy reading when driving a car
B. improve reading skills
C. gain access to free software
D. get rid of heavy books made of paper
71. Different from mobile phones,Mindle ______
A. has a much more friendly screen
B. can work in the absence of electricity
C. doesn’t involve regular fees
D. is wireless and can be used anywhere
(C)
Small discoveries in Indonesia are causing a stir in the science world .Researchers have unearthed (挖掘)tiny bones that they believe belong to an entirely new human species .If that’s true ,it will change how we think about our ancestors .
Clues that the little people may have lived long ago were first revealed last year in the scientific journal Nature .Scientists said that they had found the bones of a three-foot-tall female on the island of Flores, in Indonesia .When they looked more closely ,they saw that the nearly complete skeleton(骨骼)belonged to a full-grown adult. Researchers named her Hobbit,after the tiny heroes of the Lord of the Rings books.
Now the team is saying it has unearthed even more pieces of the puzzle ,including a jawbone and parts of arms ,legs and hands from several individuals, as well as stone tools .They reported their find in Nature this month. “The new evidence makes it very clear that these people are a new species ,distinct from modern humans,”Peter Brown, a scientist on the team ,said. They named these ancient humans Homo floresiensis.
Brown says that these little people lived as recently as 12,000 years ago.If Homo floresiensis was a different species from modern humans, that would make our family tree bigger than we knew. It means, says Brown, that “until recently ,a relative shared the planet with us. ”
Many scientists think a new species is unlikely .Some argue that the bones must have belonged to modern humans whose small size was the result of a genetic problem.
Daniel E. Lieberman,a scientist at Harvard University,thinks that the debate over the discovery is healthy. He believes that the questions and arguments raised by critics will help us learn more about these unusual skeletons.”Disagreement is an important part of the scientific process,”Lieberman said.“ As far as I’m concerned,the story’s only just begun. ”
72. Researchers name the skeleton Hobbit because ______
A. it is a figure described in the Lord of the Rings
B. it resembles the tiny heroes in a set of books
C. it proves to be a full-grown adult
D. it belongs to an ancient human species
73. Small discoveries in Indonesia are important because _____
A. they are revealed in the scientific journal Nature
B. they are made by Peter Brown ,a famous scientist
C. they are about ancestors of modern humans
D. they might provide new evidence for human study
74. According to Daniel E.Lieberman ________
A. Homo floresiensis doesn’t exist
B. Disagreement leads to further research
C. The investigation hasn’t begun yet
D. Our family tree is bigger than we knew
75. Which of the following might be the best title of the passage?
A. Comparison between Different Peoples
B. Arguments over Human Origin
C. Discovery of a Possible New Human Species
D. History of Indonesian People
(D)
Rail passengers are being forced to pay thousands of pounds more in fares as a result of poor advice from the national telephone helpline and individual stations, a consumer organisation reveals today .Research by Which? found that in some cases passengers are being charged almost double the cheapest price because of errors made by staff .
Which? asked 25 questions of both station staff and the National Rail Enquiries (NRES) helpline.Only half of the 50 questions were answered correctly. If customers had followed all the advice given ,they would have been ￡1,263.60 worse off .
Bad advice was given for the cheapest fare for a single journey between London and Grantham .For a ticket bought on the day of travel,both NRES and a King’s Cross station clerk quoted GNER’s ￡44.50 fare ,ignoring a Hull Trains service which leaves 10 minutes earlier and costs just ￡20.
Some of the most costly misinformation was given for journeys where season tickets should have been recommended .Passengers making a return journey between Swindon and Penzance twice in a week could buy a ticket from one company for ￡70 which would cover all the travel. But both NRES and station staff quoted ￡67 for each journey, making ￡134.However, the NRES website proved to be a much more reliable source of information .
Which ? also checked “the earlier you book, the cheaper the ticket” claims by five companies and found this was not always the case .On some services, prices went up and down at random .
Ithiel Mogridge,52,gave one example of poor advice :”Last Christmas I found my brother a ticket on the thetrainline.com to travel from Blackburn to Yate. While the direct route was ￡51, this one involved a change in Newport and cost just ￡21. I emailed the details to him and his partner.They went to Blackburn station ,where the clerk insisted the fare was ￡51.”
Malcolm Coles, editor of which.co.uk ,said :”Staff training needs to be improved.In the meantime ,we’ve designed a checklist, available at which.co.uk/ railadvice. “
76. According to the passage “which ?”is a _____
A. national telephone helpline
B. department under the British Rail
C. consumer organisation
D. website under the National Rail Enquiries
77.When the author said that customers “would have been ￡1,263.60 worse off”, he was telling us that customers would have _______
A. saved ￡1,263.60 if they had followed the advice
B. spend ￡1,263.60 more than the lowest price
C. used ￡1,263.60 for the survey of 25 questions
D. been cheated of ￡1,263.60 from the poor advice
78. The phrase at random in paragraph 5 is closest in meaning to “_________”
A. casually B. purposefully C. exactly D. inevitably
79. The passage is mainly concerned with the phenomenon that ________
A. train passengers get bad advice on fares
B. rail passengers are ill-treated by station staff
C. booking clerks and the telephone helpline offer reliable information
D. rail passengers can get cheaper tickets if they book earlier
(E)
Directions : Read the following text and choose the most suitable heading from A-F for each paragraph .There is one extra heading which you do not need.
A. Current situation and future of reality shows
B. Audience’s reaction to reality TV
C. Critics’ relevant comments
D. Attractions for producers and participants
E. Definition of “watch and dial ”show
F. Introduction to new reality shows
80.
European television had the idea of taking ordinary people and turning them into “stars ”by putting them in unusual situation .”Big Brother”(created in Holland )was one of the first.A group of people were locked in a small house with cameras running 24 hours a day .It was called a “watch and dial ”show because viewers vote by telephone to decide who should leave or stay.
81.
“Big Brother” was probably the fist of the new reality shows,but such a programme has developed.Many have found appeal by having a theme to them,but most are based on the principle of “survival of the fittest ”by eliminating participants as the series progresses .So we have the dating shows where winners either pair off or stay true to their partners outside the TV studio .Then there are those that test people’s abilities for specific jobs like running a kitchen, becoming an interior designer or a top model .
82.
Critics say these programmes are basically bad television, but people watch them. So why are there so many of them? For the viewer it’s an opportunity to “people watch”.It’s natural to like watching other people. They’re interesting.We can imagine what we would do in that situation.We get to know the characters and see them grow and develop week after week.And of course, television is the perfect place to watch people.Like the theatre or cinema we can look at other people and they can’t look back .But with television, we can watch in the privacy of our own homes, We watch,but we don’t have to admit it to anyone .
83.
The TV companies like reality shows because they are cheap to produce and attract younger viewers, which advertisers like.The last “Big Brother” in Britain attracted enormous advertising revenue. They aren’t dependent on “star” actors with enormous salaries. And your actors won’t go on strike. And why do people participate in them ?Well ,for fame and money of course.In the past ,appearing on television wasn’t for ordinary people.You had to be good at something ,like sport, or reading the news, or acting .But not any more
84.
It seems that most shows do well at the beginning but then the viewing figures begin to fall .And it varies from country to country too. For example ,one show had an adopted child try to guess the identity of her real father,and another had a family arguing over an inheritance .Both were cancelled after one episode.Perhaps the novelty has worn off.Certainly, reality TV seems to appeal much more to the younger audience. And now there are so many shows around even the young have become more critical. Reality show will probably survive—it’s just no longer so easy to make a successful one .