题目内容
（BBC）The "father of the personal computer" who kick-started the careers of Microsoft founders Bill Gates and Paul Allen has died at the age of 68. Dr Henry Ed
ward Roberts was the inventor of the Altair 8800, a machine that led to the home computer age.
Gates and Allen contacted Dr Roberts after seeing the machine on the front cover of a magazine and offered to write software for it. The program was known as Altair-Basic, the foundation of Microsoft's business. "Ed was willing to take a chance on us - two young guys interested in computers , and we have always been thankful to hi
m," the Microsoft founders said in a statement.
Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak told technology website CNET that Dr Roberts had taken " a critically important step that led to everything we have today".
Dr Roberts was the founder of Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems (MITS), originally set up to sell electronics parts to model rocket hobbyists. The company went on to sell electronic calculator parts, but was soon overshadowed by bigger firms.
In the mid-1970's, with the firm struggling with debt, Dr Roberts began to develop a computer kit(配套零件) for hobbyists. The result was the Altair 8800. The $395 kit (around £1,000 today) was featured on the cover of Popular Electronics in 1975, resulting in a flood of orders.
Amongst those interested in the machine were Paul Allen and Bill Gates. The pair contacted Dr Roberts, offering to write software that would help people program the machine. The pair finally moved to Albuquerque - the home of MITS - where they founded Micro-Soft, to develop their software.
Dr Roberts sold his company in 1977. He died in hospital on 1 April after a long period of pneumonia．(肺炎)
【小题1】Why did Dr Roberts probably decide to sell his company?
| A．Because he was in heavy debt in the mid-1980's . |
| B．Because he wanted to take a chance on Gates and Allen. |
C．Because he  wanted to develop a computer kit for hobbyists. |
| D．Because he had difficulty competing with big companies. |
| A．It was set up by Steve Wozniak. |
| B．It sold electronics parts to big firms. |
| C．It is located in Albuquerque. |
| D．It is a technology website. |
| A．a newspaper | B．a magazine | C．a Website | D．an organization |
| A．The story of the Altair 8800 |
| B．The founder of MITS |
| C．Father of the personal computer died |
| D．The story of Dr Roberts |
【小题1】D
【小题2】C
【小题3】B
【小题4】C
解析
根据短文内容，从下框的A-F选项中选出能概括每一段主题的最佳选项。选项中有一项为多余项。
| A．The secret of the writer’s success |
| B．A writer with enduring popularity |
| C．Well-received creation to encourage Brits |
| D．The insight into human nature |
F. The story appreciate for school students
1. ____________
Charles Dickens is often thought of as one of England’s great writers. Yet for many his language is old-fashioned and his story plots often improbable. Why, Dickens, out of so many other great English writers, has made the list? How then to explain Dickens’s enduring popularity?
2. _____________
One reason undoubtly is the British government’s insistence that every child studies a Dickens novel at school. Alongside Willian Shakespeare, Charles Dickens is a compulsory (必读的)writer on every English literature school reading list. His stories, though often over-long by today’s standard, are superbly written moral tales. They are filled with colorful characters.
3. ______________
But what makes his books stand out from other English writers is his insight into human nature. Dickens, like Shakespeare, tells us truths about human behavior that are as true to citizens of the 21st century as they were to his readers in the 19th century. Readers have returned to Dickens’s books again and again over the years to see what he has to say about readers’ own time.
4. _______________
The BBC adapted one of his less well-known novels, Little Dorrit, into a popular television drama that introduced many Brits to the novel for the first time. A dark story about greed and money, it was the perfect story to illustrate the bad times. No surprise then that it was Dickens Britons turned to, during the economic crisis last year, to make sense of world rapidly falling apart.
5. _______________
Readers of the 19th and early 20th century usually prized Dickens’s earlier novels for their humor and pathos(悲痛). While recognizing the virtues of these books, critics today tend to rank more highly the later works because of their formal coherence and acute perception(洞察力) of the human condition. For as long as Dickens’s novels have something to say to modern audiences, it seems likely that he will remain one of Britain’s best loved writers.
Do you now who Stefani Germanotta is? Perhaps not, but you’ll almost certainly know the star called Lady Gaga, a 24-year-old American famous for her cutting edge pop videos and strange fashion sense. She was the biggest winner at the MTV Europe Music Awards in Madrid on November 7, 2010. Her awards included the best female artist and the best song.
Her popularity doesn’t end there. The BBC reports that the University of South Carolina has a sociology course about the life, work and rise to fame of Lady Gaga. The course is due to start in spring 2011. “We’re going to look at Lady Gaga as a social event,” said professor Mathieu, who will teach Lady Gaga and the Sociology of Fame.
Germanotta, in fact, is a college student. She learned to play the piano by age 4. At age 17, she was one of the only 20 young people to get early admission to New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, the famous music school. Yet after her second semester, she took a big risk—she decided to quit and concentrate on a music career. But hwo did she manage to go from nowhere to supar star in just two years?
She may well have had a plan for the top. She created “The Ultimate Pop Burlesque Show” with another artist. It was the first of many strange images. The pair gained enough attention to get a spot at a famous music festival in Chicago. Later, a record company signed Germanotta.
While Lady Gaga enjoys popularity, there are critics accusing her of regularly using rude language in her lyrics(歌词) and wearing overly sexy clothing.
1. According to the article, Lady Gaga is famous for _______.
A. her fashion shows B. her strange images
C. her talents in university D. her winning awards
2. Which of the following is the correct order for the stages of Gaga’s career?
|
a. She appeared in a music festival in Chicago b. She won the award—the best female c. She decided to quit school d. She created a show with another artist e. She was signed by a record company f. Her success has become a university course |
A. b—f—c—a—d—e B. b—f—c—d—a—e
C. c—d—a—e—b—f D. c—d—a—e—f—b
3.The main reason why Lady Gaga could become famous is that ______.
A. she knew her dream of life B. she knew what she would do next
C. she learned music at a young age D. she ws brave enough to quit university
4. From this passage, we can infer that ________.
A. a good performance in university may lead to one’s success.
B. cooperation with other artists is important in becoming successful
C. Lady Gaga will become less famous because of her lyrics and clothing
D. Professor Mathieu believes that Lady Gaga’s success is worth studying