Now many young people are traveling around the world on their own,not because they have no one to travel with,but because they prefer to go alone.

Kristina Wegscheider from California first traveled alone when she was at college and believes that it is something everyone should do at least once in their life. "It opens up your mind to new things and pushes you out of your comfort zone." Wegscheider has visited 46 countries covering all seven continents.

In foreign countries,with no one to help you read a map,look after you if you get ill,or lend you money if your wallet is stolen,it is challenging. This is what drives young people to travel alone. It is seen as character building and a chance to prove that they can make it on their own.

Chris Richardson decided to leave his sales job in Australia to go traveling last year. He set up a website,The Aussie Nomad,to document his adventures. He says he wished he had traveled alone earlier. "The people you meet,the places you visit,or the things you do,everything is up to you and it forces you to grow as a person," said the 30-year-old man.

Richardson describes traveling alone like "a shot in the arm",which "makes you a more confident person that is ready to deal with anything". He said,"The feeling of having overcome something on my own is a major part of what drives me each day when I’m dealing with a difficult task. I walk around with my head up because I know deep down inside that nothing is impossible if you try."

The great 19th century explorer John Muir once said,"Only by going alone in silence can one truly get into the heart of the wilderness."

1.Which of the following will Kristina Wegscheider agree with?

A. It is comfortable to travel around without a friend.

B. It is more meaningful to travel in foreign countries.

C. Traveling alone is a necessary experience for everyone.

D. Traveling abroad helps people to find new things.

2.Traveling alone is challenging because ________.

A. you can only depend on yourself whatever happens

B. it is hard for you to prove yourself to others

C. you have to make things on your own

D. it will finally build your character

3.What can we infer about Chris Richardson?

A. He started traveling alone at an early age.

B. He was once shot in the arm.

C. His website inspires others a lot.

D. He used to work as a salesman.

4.What is the best title for the passage?

A. Travel Abroad B. Travel Light

C. Travel Alone D. Travel Wide and Far

Do you want to live forever? By the year 2050,you might actually get your wish-if you are willing to leave your biological body and live in silicon circuits (半导体电路). But long before then, perhaps as early as 2020,some measures will begin offering a semblance of immortality (虚的永生).

Researchers are confident that the technology will soon be able to track every waking moment of your life? Whatever you see and hear, all that you say and write, can be recorded, analyzed and added to your personal chronicles (履历). By the year 2030, it may be possible to catch your nervous systems through electrical activities, which would also keep your thoughts and emotions.

Researchers at the laboratories of British Telecommunications have given the name of this idea as Soul Catcher. Small electronic equipment will make preparation for Soul Catcher. It would use a wearable supercomputer, perhaps in a wristwatch, with wireless links to microseosors under your scalp (头皮) and in the nerves that carry all five sensory signals. So wearing a video camera would no longer be required.

At first, the Soul Catcher's companion system-the Soul Reader-might have trouble copying your thoughts in complete details. Even in 2030, we may still be struggling to understand how the brain is working inside, so reading your thoughts and understanding your emotions might not be possible. But these signals could be kept for the day when they can be transferred to silicon circuits to revitalize minds everlasting entities (永生实体). Researchers can only wonder what it will be like to wake up one day and find yourself alive inside a machine.

For people who choose not to live in silicon, semblance of immortal it would not be as useless as they thought. People would know their lives would not be forgotten, but would be kept a record of the human race forever. And future generations would have a much fuller understanding of the past. History would not be controlled by just the rich and powerful, Hollywood stars, and a few thinkers in the upper society.

1.The main idea of this passage is that_____ .

A. human beings long for living forever

B. there are many difficulties in making the Soul Catcher

C. people can live forever as technology develops

D. the invention of Soul Catcher has great importance

2.According to this passage, a Soul Catcher will be______ .

A. a new machine on which research measures have already been made

B. a new invention in order to catch and keep human's thoughts

C. made by British scientists to offer something that looks like living forever

D. made of silicon circuits which can catch people's nervous activity

3.We can infer from the passage that semblance of immortality is______.

A. to be a reality sooner or later

B. far from certain

C. just an idea that couldn't be realized at all

D. a fading hope

4.The meaning of the underlined word revitalize, in the fourth paragraph is close to___ .

A. make dead B. make famous

C. make known D. make active

I had to knock on the taxi to get his attention. Finally, the driver, a man about 60, looked up from behind the wheel and apologized, “I’m sorry, but I was reading a letter.” He sounded as if he had a cold or a cough.

Since I was in no hurry, I told him to finish his letter. He shook his head, explaining that he had already read it several times and almost knew it by heart. Curious, I asked whether it was from a child or maybe a grandchild. “This isn’t family,” he replied. “though he might just as well have been a regular member of the family. Old Ed and I grew up together.”

They were always friends. But since he moved away from the neighborhood 30 years ago, it’d generally just been postcards at Christmas time between them. A couple of weeks ago, Ed died. “I should have kept in touch.” He repeated this, more to himself than to me. To comfort him, I said sometimes we just didn’t seem to find the time. “But we used to find the time,” he said. “Take a look.” He handed the letter over to me.

The first sentence “I’ve been meaning to write for some time, but I’ve always delayed it.” reminded me of myself. It went on to say that he often thought about the good times they had had together. When I read the part where it said “Your friendship really means a lot to me, more than I can say because I’m not good at saying things like that”, I found myself nodding in agreement.

We had gone several kilometers and were almost at my hotel, so I read the last paragraph: “So I thought you’d like to know that I was thinking of you.” And it was ended with “Your Old Friend, Tom.”

“I thought your friend’s name was Ed,” I said.

“I’m Tom,” he explained. “It’s a letter I wrote to Ed before I knew he’d died. I never put it in the mailbox. I guess I should have written it sooner.” His face was pale as he wiped his eyes with a handkerchief.

When I got to my hotel room I didn’t unpack right away. I had to write a letter and post it.

1. From Paragraph 4, we learn that the author of the passage _______.

A. often fails to write to his friends

B. doesn’t want to write to his friends

C. had many great moments with his friends

D. was good at expressing his feelings to friends

2. Who wrote the letter?

A. Old Ed B. The driver’s grandchild

C. The author D. Tom

3. What message does the passage probably try to convey?

A. Comfort your friends when they are feeling down.

B. Life is unpredictable so live each day as if it were your last.

C. Always make time to value and experience your lasting friendships.

D. Remember to always mail your letters after expressing your words.

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