Whether you’re headed to another country for business or pleasure, it is likely that you need to keep in
touch with family or business partners in the United States. But if you plan to do that using your cell phone,
you could have an unwelcome surprise—U.S. cell phones don’t work abroad. U. S. companies use different
forms of technology, not like most of the international community, including Europe.
However, there is an easy, cost-effective solution to staying in touch while you’re traveling. You can rent a
phone that is guaranteed to work in the countries you’re traveling. Roadpost offers a 30-day cell phone rental
plan that includes free incoming calls, free voicemail and call waiting services.
The service is convenient and simple. You can place your order online and your phone will be shipped to
arrive on the date you want. If an unexpected business trip comes up, Roadpost can provide next - day delivery
for most cities. In addition to the phone, Roadpost provides a spare battery, travel charger and a leather carrying case.
When your phone is shipped from Roadpost, you receive an e-mail confirmation that contains your international cell phone number so you can leave it with family members and business partners; Roadpost even
provides business cards preprinted with your international phone number.
Those who don’t want to be without e-mail while traveling can rent an international BlackBerry. It can be hard
to stay in touch by e-mail when traveling. With an international BlackBerry, you can email as much as you like, without worrying about an expensive bill. If you’re traveling to very remote areas, you may want to consider
renting a satellite phone: Because they Receive their signals from satellites, these phones work anywhere on the
planet, including oceans and mountains. When you return, simply ship the phone or BlackBerry back to Roadpost using the return kit the company provides.
【小題1】According to the text, Roadpost probably is      .

A．a(chǎn)n organization that offers some free services

B．a(chǎn) person who offers some advice to foreign tourists

C．a(chǎn) company that rents cell phones to Americans going abroad

D．a(chǎn) person who makes travel plans for Americans

【小題2】The first paragraph mainly tells us that      .

A．Americans need to change their cell phones	B．European form of technology is different from America’s
C．U. S cell phones don’t work abroad	D．Americans who go abroad will meet an unwelcome surprise

【小題3】Which of the following will help you a lot in mountainous areas?

A．BlackBerry

B．The return kit

C．E-mail

D．Satellite phones

【小題4】According to the text, it can be inferred that       .

A．a(chǎn)n international BlackBerry is mainly used to send e-mail

B．Roadpost can offer cell phones using in different areas

C．you should select a bag used to send your cell phone

D．Roadpost’s service is convenient and simple

【小題5】Which of the free services can you get from Road post?

A．Voicemail

B．Sending e-mail

C．Shipping the phone back

D．Call waiting services

To what degree can a computer achieve intelligence(智力)? The answer to this question may lie in a newly-developed US computer program called Smarter Child and the Internet.
If you ran into Smarter Child online, you would be surprised at this kid’s huge memory. It can recite many facts. For example, Smarter Child knows every baseball player in every team this season.
He knows every word in the dictionary and the weather in every major city areas across the US. However, if you ask Smarter Child other questions, you get stranger answers. A question about Smarter Child’s age returns, “One year, 11 days, 16 hours, 7 minutes, and 47 seconds!” Asking where he lives gets, “In a clean room in a high-tech building in California.”
Smarter Child uses the vast information on the World Wide Web as his memory bank. To answer questions about spelling, for instance, Smarter Child goes to American Heritage Dictionary online. For the weather, he visits www. intellicast. com.
Some scientists believe that by joining the many systems of the Internet, an artificial being with the combined knowledge of, say, Albert Einstein, Richard Nixon and Britney Spears could be born. However if Smarter Child wants to think and learn on his own like the boy-computer David in the movie A. I., Artificial Intelligence, he must overcome two problems.
The first is that computers find it difficult to read web pages because the files are labeled in different ways. That’s why programmers need to tell Smarter Child where to look for the weather. It would be a much more difficult task to let him find it himself.
Another problem is that while Smarter Child can process(處理) information more exactly and faster than any human, he lacks common sense—a basic grounding of knowledge that is obvious to any young child.
【小題1】From the text we can infer that www. Intellicast. com is a website               .

A．which is specially designed to help Smarter Child

B．where we people can find Smarter Child

C．where weather forecasts are made

D．which is about artificial intelligence

【小題2】 It is probably most difficult for Smarter Child to               .

A．tell us how to spell a difficult word

B．tell us how the American government is run

C．provide us with a famous poem by Shakespeare

D．learn how to tell right behaviors from wrong ones.

【小題3】 Which of the following is TRUE according to the text?
A. Smart Child has his own memory bank big enough for all kinds of information.
B. A. I. Artificial Intelligence is probably the name of a film about a boy-computer.
C. Smart Child can recognize different files and find information needed on his own.
D. We have similar product now which has the knowledge of Einstein, Nixon and Spears.
【小題4】Which of the following is the best title for the passage?

A．A New Web Child	B．Smarter Child
C．The Future of Internet	D．Intelligence Development

If a person forgets names , places or facts —and has trouble with everyday things like reading or shopping —it may not mean you are getting old . It could be Alzheimer’s disease . So it’s important to see a doctor as soon as you can .
There is no cure for Alzheimer’s . But a drug called ARICEPT has been used by millions of people to help their symptoms (癥狀).
In studies , ARICEPT has been proved to work for Alzheimer’s . It has helped people improve their memory over time . It has also helped them to keep doing everyday things on their own .
Ask your doctor if ARICEPT is right for you or your loved one . It is the Number One drug for Alzheimer’s in the world . The sooner you know it’s Alzheimer’s , the better ARICEPT can help .
ARICEPT is good for many but may not be good for everyone . Some people may experience not sleeping well , feeling very tired , or not wanting to eat . In studies , these side effects weren’t serious at all and went away over time . Some people taking ARICEPT may feel light-headed . In this case you should tell your doctors because your condition may get worse .
【小題1】 If one suffers from Alzheimer’s ,           .

A．he can’t do everyday things on his own

B．he has trouble with his memory

C．he often forgets things because he is old

D．he can’t move about

【小題2】 What is ARICEPT ?

A．A medicine to cure Alzheimer’s

B．A medicine to delay signs of aging .

C．A medicine to cure brain damage .

D．A medicine to reduce the symptoms of Alzheimer’s .

【小題3】One who is taking ARICEPT should go to see a doctor if he        .

A．feels like a drunken man	B．feels tired out
C．has no desire to eat	D．can’t fall asleep

NASA’s twin Mars rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, have been exploring the Red Planet since 2004. But a little more than a year ago, NASA lost contact with Spirit. The space agency has tried several ways to make contact with the rover, but Spirit has not sent back any signals.
Spirit landed on Mars on January 4, 2004. Three weeks later, Opportunity arrived. Soon after, the rovers went to the opposite side of Mars. Spirit’s original mission was only designed to last for three months, but Spirit has worked for more than five years doing additional missions. Both rovers have made important discoveries about ancient Mars. They have taken thousands of images and found evidence in the rocks of a water, warmer past in Mars’ history.
Spirit is solar-powered. It got stuck in a sand trap in April 2009, trapped deep into the soil and with its wheels turning around and around but not able to move forwards or backwards. Spirit had to agree that there is nothing that can be done to change the situation—it’s never going to move again. However, even if it is a not moving station, it can still study the planet’s atmosphere and deep interior.
NASA has been concentrating on trying to position its solar panels to get as much energy from the sun as possible, or to get the rover leaning in a manner that will allow the most amount of sunlight falling on its solar panels, in order to keep it alive during the coming winter months. Engineers have planned to rock the vehicle back and forth to acquire a more favorable position. However, no matter how many efforts have been made, Spirit still could not get out of the soft soil and could not lean itself toward the sun as the Martian winter approached. Without enough energy reaching its solar panels and with so little energy in its batteries, it went into hibernation, just like a polar bear, and has not communicated with Earth since March 22, 2010.
Whatever the future holds for Spirit, its mission has been an outstanding success. When it landed on the Red Planet in January 2004, no one was really sure how long it would continue working in the cold and dusty environment. As a matter of fact, three months was its original goal.
After so many fruitless efforts, NASA scientists are losing hope of ever reconnecting with Spirit, but they will give it one more try. Ground controllers are contacting Spirit over a range of frequencies and at different times during the day in case its internal clock stopped working and it lost track of time. They also are commanding the rover to turn on its backup radio transmitter in case the main one is dead.
If this final effort to connect isn’t successful, NASA will shift the focus to its twin robot, Opportunity, which is in a different part of Mars. Opportunity is still on the move and continues to travel freely to this day. It has traveled 16.6 miles so far, and is currently rolling towards another crater it has yet to explore.
NASA has spent more than $900 million on the project but shows no sign of giving up on these determined and hard-working robots. The rovers are, though, experiencing gradual wear and tear, the expected damage to something caused by using it repeatedly over a period of time. Even before Spirit got trapped, one of its wheels had failed. And NASA says it’s just a matter of time before both robots break down completely.
【小題1】According to the passage, what can we know about Spirit?

A．It had explored Mars several times.

B．Its original mission was to work for five years.

C．It landed on Mars three weeks later than Opportunity.

D． It discovered that Mars was once a warm and wetter place.

【小題2】According to the passage, which of the following is NOT what NASA did?

A．Try to lean Spirit to make it get as much sunlight as possible.

B．Rock Spirit back and forth to make it acquire a more favorable position.

C．Make efforts to help Spirit get out of the soft soil where it is stuck.

D．Contact and order Spirit to turn on its backup radio transmitter.

【小題3】The reason why Spirit failed to communicate with the Earth is that ________.

A．it didn’t have enough energy	B．it had finished its task
C．something was wrong with its wheels	D．it met an unidentified creature

【小題4】By saying “NASA will shift the focus” in Paragraph 7, the author means that ______.

A．NASA will move the center of Spirit out of the sand

B．NASA will depend on Opportunity to do the exploration

C．NASA will do nothing but wait for some opportunity

D．NASA will make opportunity help Spirit

【小題5】The last paragraph mainly informs us that _______.

A．NASA has planned to spend more money on Spirit

B．Spirit will be brought back to Earth

C．Spirit will stop operating totally in the future

D．Spirit will cause damage to Mars

【小題6】 What’s the text mainly about?

A．NASA makes the last effort to contact Spirit.

B．Spirit has made many important discoveries on Mars.

C．How Spirit got stuck and couldn’t move on Mars.

D．Why NASA tried many ways to contact Spirit.

Sometimes, the simplest ideas are the best．For example, to absorb heat from the sun to heat water, you need large, flat, black surfaces．One way to do that is to build those surfaces specially, on the roofs of buildings．But why go to all that trouble when cities are full of     black surfaces already, in the form of asphalt （柏油） roads?
Ten years ago, this thought came into the mind of Arian de Bondt, a Dutch engineer．He finally persuaded his boss to follow it up．The result is that their building is now heated in winter and cooled in summer by a system that relies on the surface of the road outside．
The heat-collector is a system of connected water pipes．Most of them run from one side of the street to the other, just under the asphalt road．Some, however, dive deep into the ground．
When the street surface gets hot in summer, water pumped through the pipes picks up this heat and takes it underground through one of the diving pipes．At a depth of 100 meters lies a natural aquifer （蓄水層） into which several heat exchangers （交換器） have been built．The hot water from the street runs through these exchangers, warming the ground-water, before returning to the surface through another pipe．The aquifer is thus used as a heat store．
In winter, the working system is changed slightly．Water is pumped through the heat exchangers to pick up the heat stored during summer．This water goes into the building and is used to warm the place up．After performing that task, it is pumped under the asphalt and its remaining heat keeps the road free of snow and ice．
【小題1】Which of the following is true according to the first two paragraphs?

A．Arian de Bondt got his idea from his boss．

B．Large, flat, black surfaces need to be built in cities．

C．The Dutch engineer's system has been widely used．

D．Heat can also be collected from asphalt roads．

【小題2】For what purpose are the diving pipes used?

A．To absorb heat from the sun．	B．To store heat for future use．
C．To turn solar energy into heat energy．	D．To carry heat down below the surface．

【小題3】From the last paragraph we can learn that ________．

A．some pipes have to be re-arranged in winter

B．the system can do more than warming up the building

C．the exchangers will pick up heat from the street surface

D．less heat may be collected in winter than in summer

【小題4】What is most likely to be discussed in the paragraph that follows?

A．What we shall do if the system goes wrong．

B．What we shall do if there are no asphalt roads．

C．How the system cools the building in summer．

D．How the system collects heat in spring and autumn．

In a great many cities, hundreds of people ride bikes to work every day. In New York, some bike riders have even formed a group called Bike for a Better City. They declare that if more people rode bikes to work, there would be fewer automobiles in the downtown part of the city and so less dirty air form car engines.
For several years, this group had been trying to get the city government to help bike riders. For example, they want the city to draw special lanes(車道) for bikes on some of the main streets, because when bike riders must use the same lanes as cars there are accidents. Bike for a Better City feels that if there were special lanes, more people would use bikes.
But no bike lanes have been drawn. Not everyone thinks it is a good idea—they say it will slow traffic. Some store owners on the main streets don’t like the idea—they say that if there is less traffic, they will have less business.
The city government has not yet decided what to do. It wants to keep everyone happy. On weekends, Central Park—the largest place open ground in New York— is closed to cars, and the roads may be used by bikes only.
【小題1】In New York, a group of bike riders__________.

A．a(chǎn)re keeping practicing for health

B．have no cars of their own

C．a(chǎn)re complaining there are not enough buses

D．a(chǎn)re trying to settle the problem of air pollution

【小題2】 The bike riders suggest that __________.

A．bikes should be used instead of cars	B．bike lanes should be drawn
C．fewer buses or cars should be used	D．the number of special lanes should be decreased

【小題3】The advantage of the special lanes is that__________.

A．they will make cars and buses run slowly

B．they will make it easier for bike riders to go to parks

C．they will make the city more beautiful

D．they will prevent accidents

Ted Shreds doesn’t like cars. He wants people to stop driving because cars make the air dirty. Ted had an idea. He said,“I’m going to cycle around North America. I want to show everyone that cycling is a fun way to get around. If more people ride bikes, the air will be cleaner.”
He left his hometown with $160 in his pocket. When he got to San Diego, he met another cyclist. The cyclist invited Ted to speak at a big meeting about the environment. He said,“We’ll pay your airfare to Texas and we’ll pay you to talk about your cycling trip.”Two hours late, Ted was on a plane to the environmental conference and to a big surprise!
While he was at the conference, he met Deanna, it was love at first sight! They talked for six hours straight.
The next day, Ted called Deanna and asked her to finish the trip with him. Deanna said yes, sold everything in her apartment, gave her notice at work, and was on the road with Ted 20 days later!
“It was difficult at first,”said Deanna.“Ted got up every morning at 6:00 a.m., but I wanted to sleep until noon.”After a few days, they started having fun. As they cycled from Florida to Montreal and then back to Vancouver, every day was an adventure. People paid for their food in restaurants and gave them extra money. Some people gave them $50 or $100.They slept in people’s backyards and drank beer with motorcycle gangs.
On their way back to Vancouver, they stopped in Edmonton to visit Ted’s relatives. During the stopover, they got married. People tied a “Just Married” sign and tin cans to the backs of their bikes. They got married. They now want to write a book about their trip.“We want people to know that you can be an environmentalist and still have fun,”Shreds said.
【小題1】Ted Shreds went cycling because_________.

A．he loves adventure

B．cycling is a lot of fun

C．he wanted to find himself a wife

D．he supports environmental protection

【小題2】Ted got paid for_________.

A．giving a talk about his cycling trip

B．cycling throughout North America

C．traveling around North America by air

D．a(chǎn)ttending conferences on cycling

【小題3】The “big surprise” he had at the conference was that _________.

A．he met another cyclist who wanted to join him

B．he fell in love with a girl there

C．he gave a long talk lasting 6 hours

D．he had a lot of fun talking about his cycling trip

【小題4】During the trip, Ted and Deanna_________.

A．found it hard to get up early

B．were attacked by motorcycle gangs

C．did not have to pay for their meals in restaurants

D．decided to get married

Most of us spend our lives seeking the natural world. To this end, we walk the dog, play golf, go fishing, sit in the garden, drink outside rather than inside the pub, have a picnic, live in the suburbs, go to the seaside, buy a weekend place in the country. The most popular free time activity in Britain is going for a walk. And when joggers (慢跑者) jog, they don’t run the streets. Every one of them automatically heads to the park or the river. It is my firm belief that not only do we all need nature, but we all seek nature, whether we know we are doing so or not.
But despite this, our children are growing up nature-deprived (喪失). I spent my boyhood climbing trees. These days, children are robbed of these ancient freedoms, due to problems like crime, traffic, the loss of the open spaces and strange new ideas about what is best for children, that is to say, things that can be bought, rather than things that can be found.
The truth is to be found elsewhere. A study in the US: families had moved to better housing and the children were assessed for ADHD (多動癥). Those whose housing had more natural views showed an improvement of 19%; those who had the same improvement in material surroundings but no nice view improved just 4%.
A study in Sweden indicated that kindergarten children who could play in a natural environment had less illness and greater physical ability than children used only to a normal playground. A US study suggested that when a school gave children access to a natural environment, the entire school would do better in studies.
Another study found that children play differently in a natural environment. In playgrounds, children create a hierarchy (等級) based on physical abilities, with the tough ones taking the lead. But when a grassy area was planted with bushes, the children got much more into fantasy play, and the social hierarchy was now based on imagination and creativity.
Most bullying (恃強凌弱) is found in schools where there is a tarmac (柏油碎石) playground; the least bullying is in a natural area that the children are encouraged to explore. This reminds me unpleasantly of Sunnyhill School, with its hard tarmac, where I used to hang about in corners dreaming about wildlife.
But children are frequently discouraged from involvement with natural spaces, for health and safety reasons, for fear that they might get dirty or that they might cause damage. So, instead, the damage is done to the children themselves: not to their bodies but to their souls.
One of the great problems of modern childhood is ADHD, now increasingly and expensively treated with drugs. Yet one study after another indicates that contact with nature gives huge benefits to ADHD children. However, we spend money on drugs rather than on green places.
The life of old people is much better when they have access to nature. The most important for the growing population of old people is in quality rather than quantity of years. And study after study finds that a garden is the single most important thing in finding that quality.
In wider and more difficult areas of life, there is evidence to indicate that natural surroundings improve all kinds of things. Even problems with crime and aggressive behaviour are reduced when there is contact with the natural world.
Dr William Bird, researcher from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, states in his study, “A natural environment can reduce violent behaviour because its process helps reduce anger and behavior that people might regret later.” Wild places need encouraging for this reason, no matter how small their contribution.
We tend to think human beings are doing nature some kind of favor when we are protecting nature. The error here is far too deep: not only do humans need nature for themselves, but the very idea that humanity and the natural world are separable things is damaging.
Human beings are a species of animals. For seven million years we lived on the planet as part of nature. So we miss the natural world and long for contact with non-human life. Anyone who has patted a dog, stroked a cat, sat under a tree with a glass of beer, given or received a bunch of flowers or chosen to walk through the park on a nice day, understands that.
We need the wild world. It is necessary to our well-being, our health, our happiness. Without other living things around us we are less than human.
【小題1】What is the author’s firm belief?

A．People seek nature in different ways.

B．People should spend most of their lives in the wild.

C．People have quite different ideas of nature.

D．People must make more efforts to study nature.

【小題2】What does the author say people prefer for their children nowadays?

A．Personal freedom.	B．Things that are natural.
C．Urban surroundings.	D．Things that are purchased.

【小題3】What does a study in Sweden show?
　　A. The natural environment can help children learn better.
　　B. More access to nature makes children less likely to fall ill.
　　C. A good playground helps kids develop their physical abilities.
　　D. Natural views can prevent children from developing ADHD.
【小題4】Children who have chances to explore natural areas ________.

A．tend to develop a strong love for science

B．a(chǎn)re more likely to dream about wildlife

C．tend to be physically tougher in adulthood

D．a(chǎn)re less likely to be involved in bullying

【小題5】What does the author suggest we do to help children with ADHD?

A．Find more effective drugs for them.

B．Provide more green spaces for them.

C．Place them under more personal care.

D．Engage them in more meaningful activities

【小題6】In what way do elderly people benefit from their contact with nature?

A．They look on life optimistically.	B．They enjoy a life of better quality.
C．They are able to live longer.	D．They become good-humored

Ask someone what they have done to help the environment recently and they will almost certainly mention recycling．Recycling in the home is very important of course．However, being forced to recycle often means we already have more material than we need．We are dealing with the results of that over–consumption in the greenest way possible, but it would be far better if we did not need to bring so much material home in the first place．
The total amount of packaging has increased by 12% between 1999 and 2005．It now makes up a third of a typical household’s waste in the UK．In many supermarkets nowadays food items are packaged twice with plastic and cardboard．
Too much packaging is doing serious damage to the environment．The UK, for example, is running out of it for burying this unnecessary waste．If such packaging is burnt, it gives off greenhouse gases which go on to cause the greenhouse effect．Recycling helps, but the process itself uses energy．The solution is not to produce such items in the first place．Food waste is a serious problem, too．Too many supermarkets encourage customers to buy more than they need．However, few of them are coming round to the idea that this cannot continue, encouraging customers to reuse their plastic bags, for example．
But this is not just about supermarkets．It is about all of us．We have learned to associate packaging with quality．We have learned to think that something unpackaged is of poor quality．This is especially true of food．But it is also applied to a wide range of consumer products, which often have far more packaging than necessary．
There are signs of hope．As more of us recycle, we are beginning to realize just how much unnecessary materials are collected．We need to face the wastefulness of our consumer culture, but we have a mountain to climb．
【小題1】What does the underlined phrase “that over-consumption” refer to?

A．Using too much packaging．	B．Recycling too many wastes．
C．Making more products than necessary．	D．Having more material than is needed．

【小題2】The author uses figures in Paragraph 2 to show ___________．

A．the tendency of cutting household waste	B．the increase of packaging recycling
C．the rapid growth of supermarkets	D．the fact of packaging overuse

【小題3】According to the text, recycling ___________．

A．helps control the greenhouse effect	B．means burning packaging for energy
C．is the solution to gas shortage	D．leads to a waste of land

【小題4】What can be inferred from Paragraph 4?

A．Unpackaged products are of bad quality．

B．Supermarkets care more about packaging．

C．It is improper to judge quality by packaging．

D．Other products are better packaged than food．

【小題5】What can we learn from the last paragraph?

A．Fighting wastefulness is difficult．

B．Needless material is mostly recycled．

C．People like collecting recyclable wastes．

D．The author is proud of their consumer culture．

Personal computers and the Internet give people new choices about how to spend their time.
Some may use this freedom to share less time with certain friends or family members, but new technology will also let them stay in closer touch with those they care most about. I know this from personal experience.
E-mail makes it easy to work at home, which is where I now spend most weekends and evenings. My working hours aren’t necessarily much shorter than they once were，but I spend fewer of them at the office. This lets me share more time with my young daughter than I might have if she’d been born before electronic mail became such a practical tool.
The Internet also makes it easy to share thoughts with a group of friends. Say you do something fun -see a great movie perhaps and there are four or five friends who might want to hear about it. If you call each one, you may be tired of telling the story.
With E-mail, you just write one note about your experience, at your convenience, and address it to all the friends you think might be interested. They can read your message when they have time, and read only as much as they want to. They can reply at their convenience, and you can read what they have to say at your convenience.
E-mail is also an inexpensive way to stay in close touch with people who live far away. More than a few parents use E-mail to keep in touch, even daily touch, with their children off at college.
We just have to keep in mind that computers and the Internet offer another way of staying in touch. They don’t take the place of any of the old ways.
【小題1】The purpose of this passage is to ________.

A．explain how to use the Internet

B．describe the writer’s joy of keeping up with the latest technology

C．tell the value and usefulness of the Internet

D．introduce the reader to basic knowledge about personal computers and the Internet

【小題2】The use of E-mail has made it possible for the writer to ________.

A．spend less time working	B．have more time with his child
C．work at home on weekends	D．work at a speed comfortable to him

【小題3】 The best title for this passage is ________.

A．Computer: New Technological Advances

B．Internet: New Tool to Maintain Good Friendship

C．Computers Have Made Life Easier

D．Internet: a Convenient Tool for Communication