A press report stating that Microsoft has restarted talks to buy Yahoo's search business for 20 billion U. S. dollars. "It has no basis in fact," the San Francisco Chronicle said on Monday.

The Times of London reported on Sunday that the deal under discussion would put former AOL CEO Jonathan Miller and Ross Levinsohn, a former president of Fox Interactive Media, in charge of Yahoo. The report also said executives (管理人员) at both companies had agreed to the broad terms of a deal.

In fact, there are no current talks between the two companies. The Chronicle quoted an executive at one of the firms who requested his name to be kept secret as saying. Furthermore, the 20-billion-dollar price mentioned in the Times of London article for Yahoo's search business appears questionable given that the market capitalization (资本总额) for all of Yahoo is 16 billion dollars, said The Chronicle.

Yahoo and Microsoft had had on-again, off-again talks over several months earlier this year about a 47. 5-billion-dollar takeover, and later a proposal focused only on Yahoo's search business. Discussions regarding both plans collapsed without an agreement.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has said repeatedly that he is no longer interested in buying all of Yahoo, but that he is open to some sort of partnership involving their respective search businesses.

Brad Williams, a Yahoo spokesman, said Sunday "We don't comment on rumors." Frank Shaw, a Microsoft spokesman, declined to comment.

Yahoo's shares have plummeted since Microsoft withdrew its 33-dollar-a-share acquisition offer earlier this year, leaving people to think that discussions would eventually be restarted. Yahoo's shares closed Friday at 11. 51 dollars, nearly one-third of the original offer.

1. From this passage, we can know that ______.

  A. Microsoft has given up buying all of Yahoo but its search business 

  B. Microsoft has already taken over the whole company of Yahoo

  C. the market capitalization for all of Yahoo is over $ 20 billion

  D. the market capitalization for all of Microsoft is only $ 6 billion

2. What is the author trying to convince readers of in the third paragraph?

  A. Yahoo and Microsoft are talking about takeover.

B. Microsoft is buying Yahoo’s search businesses for $ 20 billion.

C. Yahoo would like to sell its search businesses to another company.

D. There are no current talks between Yahoo and Microsoft.

3. What does the underlined word “plummet” in the passage most probably mean?

  A. develop rapidly      B. increase quickly      C. fall quickly     D. keep balanced

4. You can find this passage most probably in ______ .

  A. an entertainment website       B. an economical newspaper

  C. a sports magazine              D. a biological dictionary

With only a click of the mouse, rumors can be forwarded between microblogs very quickly. As an example, recently, perceptive netizens discovered that some photos displayed on microblogs depicting Beijing’s June rainstorm had actually been fabricated.

Sina.com is one of the major internet portals(门户网站) in China with hundreds and thousands of users, and a majority of celebrities and renowned citizens have their microblog accounts on this portal. As recently as six months ago, the website decided to establish a specialized team to verify rumors and provide accurate information for its users. Tan Chao is in charge of the team.

“Before I took the job, I usually couldn’t identify what information was real and what was fake. But during the rumor verification process, we discovered that a lot of information was false, including fake photos, fake news stories and rumors that had been spread through microblogs.”

It‘s not just website portals which are taking on fact-checking responsibilities, but also a number of civic-minded netizens, who recently set up a Rumor Verification Federation on Sina.com’s microblog system to help netizens identify fake information online.

  Dianzizheng is the team leader of the federation. He says they’ve publicized more than 150 pieces which refute rumors, which attracted more than 10 thousand visitors within two months.

  “We live in an age of new media, so we can’t use the old methods to verify rumors. We can’t wait for the media to verify the facts with related administrative departments and then release a formal announcement. We can’t allow rumors to run rampant and then deal with it, we need to fight rumors while they’re spreading. I think that this is the best way to deal with rumors nowadays.”

  Some experts say this demonstrates the advantages of the internet compared to other traditional media. The open platform allows information to be examined and clarified by netizens. But experts like Ding Wenguo, President of the Journalism and Communication College at the China University of Political Science and Law says this self-correction function of the internet is still quite limited.

  “It’s still quite difficult to tell which information is true in such an open environment by just reading a number of different opinions on the same issue. This is something which we need to pay attention to. If society is deluged with too much false information, and it’s allowed to spread in such a fast manner, then people will be suspicious of all kinds of information including important information from authorities. It also exacerbates(恶化) problems relating to social communications and mutual-understanding, which in turn harms society as a whole.”

  Experts suggest that the government should react more quickly in the internet age. Once a rumor begins to spread, administrative departments should make announcements as early as possible to dispel rumors before they lead to bad outcomes.

1.Sina.com decided to found a specialized team to ____.

A. limit the number of microblogs    

B. advance the development of microblogs

C. prevent the spread of rumors on the Internet      

D. urge the government to react quickly to the rumors

2.Which of the following is TRUE according to the text?

A. All the rumors have been spread through microblogs.

B. Sina.com is the most popular Internet portal in China.

C. The photos displayed on microblogs might be fake.

D. Traditional media tend to get rumors examined and clarified.

3.The underlined word "fabricated" in the first paragraph can be replaced by "__". 

A. dug out      B. made up               C. got round                 D. given away

4.What is the best way to prove rumors on microblogs?

A. Examining and checking while they are spreading.

B. Substituting the Internet for traditionally media.

C. Shutting down the website immediately.

D. Making announcements after they are spread.

5.The writer cited Ding Wenguo's words in Paragraph 8 to __. 

A. draw a conclusion            B. support an argument

C. introduce a topic          D. describe a scene

 

World top-ranked badminton player Lin Dan said last Friday that he was a better player than Taufik Hidayat in the year of 2006 despite losing the Asian Games single title to the Indonesian Olympic champion.

“I have ranked No.1 in the world for two straight years and I think people can easily come to a conclusion on who is a better player for the whole year,” said Lin Dan, also known as Super Dan in the badminton world because of his marvelous performance in the sport.

Hidayat beat Lin 21-15, 22-20 to give Indonesia its second gold medal in Doha on December 9, retaining his Asian Games singles title and avenging(报仇) two losses to the badminton world champion.

Lin, 23, led China to the men’s team title after defeating Hidayat twice in three days, in the preliminary round and in the semifinals of the Asian Games.

In their third meeting, Lin came up against a better-prepared Hidayat than he had encountered previously.

Hidayat was cheered on by the noisy support from dancing and flag-waving Indonesian fans, who had converted the badminton arena into a national celebration even before the two players stepped onto the court.

There’s been a lot of acrimony(言语的刻毒) between Hidayat and Lin, who this year won the single title in the world championships after former champion Hidayat crashed out in the quarterfinals.

In Doha, Hidayat was quoted as calling Lin “arrogant” before the event began, but the two stars played down the rift (a situation where two people dislike each other).

“It’s no problem, we’re close friends,” said Hidayat. “The media fabricated it.”

Lin said last Friday in Beijing that he and Hidayat remain friends despite all the rumors(谣言).

“There is no problem between Taufik and me although we don’t talk to each other very much,” said Lin. “Media tends to make up things in order to make their stories juicy.”

1.What does the underlined word “fabricated” mean?

A.made up          B.reported          C.discovered        D.found out

2.What is the relationship between the two players like?

A.They are only opponents.

B.Lin looks down upon Hidayat.

C.They both think they are friends.

D.The media has worsened the relationship between them.

3.Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?

A.Lin beat Hidayat in all the games of 2006.

B.Lin won the single title in the world championships in 2006.

C.Indonesian fans held a national celebration after the two players stepped onto the court.

D.Hidayat beat Lin 21-15, 22-20 to give Indonesia its first gold medal in Doha on the ninth of December

4.This passage implies that ________.

A.Hidayat was in a better prepared condition than Lin in the Asian Games

B.Lin helped to win the men’s team title in the Asian Games of 2006

C.Both of them are the best badminton players in the world

D.Media tends to make up rumors

5.What is the best title for this passage?

A.Opponents Become Good Friends

B.True Friendship

C.World Top-ranked Badminton Players

D.Who Is a Better Player?

 

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