Whenever you send a letter or a postcard,you have to put stamps on the envelope or on the card.When did people first begin to use stamps?Who was the first to think of this idea?

    In the early nineteenth century,people did not use stamps.They had to pay postage when they receive letters.They unhappy about this,especially when they pay for a letter which they did not wish to receive at a11.The postage was high at that time,because the post offices had to send many people to cotlem the postage.

 RowIand Hill,a schoolnlaster in England,was the first to put forward a proposal to use stamps in the 50s of the nineteenth century.fie thought it would be much easier for people to use stamps to coover postage.They could go to the nearby post office to buy stamps and put them on envelopes before they sent the letters,The post office simply put seals on the stamps so that people could not use the staraps again.In this way,the post office did not need to send postmen to collect postage.It only needed to send fewer postmen to deliver letters.’That was a good idea and the governmern finally accepted it.

It was not until that people began to use stamps.

     A.!he early 19th Century    B.the middle 19th century

    C.the late 19th century    I).the beginning of the 19th century

Before stamps were used,postage    

    A.was paid by the letter—posters  B.was paid by the letter—receivers

     C.was collected by postmen D.BothBand C

After stamps were used,post offices needn’t        

    A.send postmen to collect the postage

    B.send postmen to collect letters

    C.send postmen to deliver jetters

    D.put seals on the used stamps

Which of the following may be the best title of the passage?

   A.When did people first begin to use stamps?

   B.Who was the first to think of using stamps?

   C.Why were postmen sent to collect postage?

   D.How did stamps come Into use?

The iPhone, the iPad: each of Apple’s products sounds cool and has become a fad(一时的风尚). Apple has cleverly taken advantage of the power of the letter “i” – and many other brands are following suit. The BBC’s iPlayer – which allows Web users to watch TV programs on the Internet –adopted the title in 2008. A lovely bear – popular in the US and UK – that plays music and video is called “iTeddy”. A slimmed-down version of London’s Independent newspaper was launched last week under the name “i”.

In general, single-letter prefixes(前缀) have been popular since the 1990s, when terms such as e-mail and e-commerce first came into use. Most “i” products are targeted at young people and considering the major readers of Independent’s “i”, it’s no surprise that they’ve selected this fashionable name.

But it’s hard to see what’s so special about the letter “i”. Why not use “a”, “b”, or “c” instead? According to Tony Thorne, head of the Language Center at King’s College, London, “i” works because its meaning has become ambiguous. When Apple uses “i”, no one knows whether it means Internet, information, individual or interactive, Thorne told BBC Magazines. “Even when Apple created the iPod, it seems it didn’t have one clear definition,” he said.

“However, thanks to Apple, the term is now linked with portability.” added Thorne.

Clearly the letter “i” also agrees with the idea that the Western World is centered on the individual. Each person believes they have their own needs, and we love personalized products for this reason.

Along with “Google” and “blog”, readers of BBC Magazines voted “i” as one of the top 20 words that have come to define the last decade.

But as history shows, people grow tired of fads. From the 1900s to 1990s, products with “2000” in their names became fashionable as the year was associated with all things advanced and modern. However, as we entered the new century, the trend inevitably disappeared.

1.People use iPlayer to ________.   

A.listen to music                          B.make a call

C.watch TV programs online                 D.read newspapers

2.We can infer that the Independent’s “i” is aimed at ________.

A.young readers      B.old readers        C.fashionable women  D.engineers

3.The underlined word “ambiguous” means “________”.

A.popular           B.uncertain          C.definite           D.unique

4.Nowadays, the “i” term often reminds people of the products which are ________.

A.portable                              B.environmentally friendly

C.advanced                             D.recyclable

5.The writer suggests that ________.

A.“i” products are often of high quality

B.iTeddy is a live bear

C.the letter “b” replaces the letter “i” to name the products

D.the popularity of “i” products may not last long

 

阅读理解。
Sunny
     Nowadays they are giving homework even during the holidays and I hate that very much. But I think there
is a reason for it. Homework is given so that we can remember whatever we have learnt. Regular drilling and
repetition make perfect. But teachers have started to give too much homework. Anything in excess (过度) is
bad. So homework should be given with the idea of giving students a practice and not to overwork them.
Jane
     What's the use of just homework without allowing children to get an insight (洞察) into the subject? It just
makes them bookworms but nothing else. Homework such as writing some things 5 times at home will just
make them memorize things but not put them into use. I regret to say that teachers find it easy to bundle (归拢)
the children with homework rather than making them get interested to understand what they learn. The same
trend continues even in college. I find that most of the so-called high scorers are unable to answer simple things
in an interview.
Sally
     It is OK to give homework. But it should be given less. We are spending most of our time in school and at
least we must be free in our home. If you give homework, we will be very tired and we wouldn't be able to
pay attention to extra-curricular (课外的) activities, which in turn may affect our physical and mental health.
So please give less homework to us.
Johnson 
    It is part of our work to give students homework. There will be some punishments if we won't do our
work. So I have to do that though I know such a teacher is not liked by students.
1. Who thinks that too much homework may do harm to students' physical and mental health?
[     ]
A. Sunny
B. Jane
C. Sally
D. Johnson
2. Who thinks homework should helps students learn something practical?
[     ]
A. Sunny
B. Jane
C. Sally
D. Johnson
3. According to the last paragraph, why do teachers give students homework?
[     ]
A. Because they care more about students'mental health.
B. Because they find it easy to control students in this way.
C. Because they will be punished if they don't give homework.
D. Because they want students to get interested in their studies.
4. What problem do the speakers talk about?
[     ]
A. Whether students should be punished without doing homework.
B. What kind of homework should be given to students.
C. What role homework plays in helping students to learn.
D. Whether teachers should give homework to students.

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