Jonathan James looks like just another kid about to graduate from high school. But this 19-year-old Swede is anything but ordinary, from the computer in his parents’ home he helps the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) find out the world’s most wanted cyber criminals (网络犯罪分子).

Jonathan first made headlines when he and another Swede, Fredrik Bjoerck, found out the maker of the “Melissa” virus (病毒) in March 1999. He came to the aid of the FBI again on May 7, finding out the suspected (嫌疑的) sender of the dangerous “I LOVE YOU” virus. The suspect was caught in Manila on May 8.

Jonathan’s special skills are in hot demand as officials around the world express alarm at the “virtual” crimewave. In between studying for final exams, hanging out with friends and refereeing his younger brother’s football matches, the quiet, gentle teenager also gives lessons on e-security (电子安全) to large companies. He reads a lot and exchanges information with other computer experts to know much about the latest tricks of the hacker (黑客) trade.

Many companies have already tried to employ him, but he is not interested at the moment. Instead, he plans to begin law school in the autumn at Sweden’s Uppsala University and start up his own e-security company.

Although he works with the FBI now, his family insists he’s just “a regular kid”. “Jonathan is a great kid, he has his friends and he does a lot more than just play with the computer,” his little sister Tessa said, adding that he helps the FBI because “he likes to help”, not because he’s looking for fame and recognition.

When the world was hit by the “Love Bug” virus, Jonathan was too busy preparing a speech on e-security to look into the problem. “Finally on May 7, I had some free time, so I began looking.” Within a few hours, he had found the suspect and e-mailed his method and results to the FBI. He said his work on the “Melissa” virus, which took three weeks to solve, was a big help in finding the suspect so quickly.

“This time I knew exactly where to start, I knew what to disregard and what to look at.”

The passage mainly wants to tell us that ___________.

A. Swedish kid helps FBI find out the most wanted cyber criminals

B. Jonathan is really a quiet, gentle and ordinary boy

C. many companies want the young computer expert to join in

D. any cyber criminals will surely be found out wherever they are

The public started to know something about Jonathan just from _________.

A. his helping the US FBI to find out the sender of the dangerous “I LOVE YOU” virus

B. his work together with Fredrik Bjoerck to find out the maker of the “Melissa” virus

C. his little sister’s talk about his good qualities as a regular kid and a good programmer

D. his speech on e-security to many computer companies after his fight against hackers

From Jonathan’s success in finding out the sender of the dangerous ‘Love Bug” virus we can infer that _________.

A. where there’s a will, there’s a way                

B. experience is knowledge

C. hard work leads to success                            

D. failure is the mother of success

What do we know about Jonathan?

A. He is a good fame hunter with various abilities.

B. He is such a brave fighter that any criminal will feel afraid.

C. He is an expert on security, not interested in running a company.

D. He is a regular kid but does something unusual.

To face the music

Like every language, American English is full of special expressions, phrases that come from the day-to-day life of the people and develop in their own way. Our expression today is “to face the music”.

When someone says, “well, I guess I’ll have to face the music,” it does not mean he’s planning to go to the concert. It is something far less pleasant, like being called in by your boss to explain why you did this and did that, and why you didn’t do this or that. Sour music indeed, but it has to be faced. At sometime or another, every one of us has had to face the music, especially as children. We can all remember father’s angry voice, “I want to talk to you.” and only because we did not obey him. What an unpleasant business it was!

The phrase “to face the music” is familiar to every American, young and old. It is at least 100 years old. And where did this expression come from? The first explanation comes from the American novelist, James Fenimore Looper. He said, in 1851, that the expression was first used by actors while waiting in the wings to go on the stage. When they got their cue to go on, they often said, “Well, it’s time to face the music.” And that was exactly what they did — facing the orchestra which was just below them. And an actor might be frightened or nervous as he moved on to the stage in front of an audience that might be friendly or perhaps hostile, especially if he forgot his lines. But he had to go out. If he did not, there would be no play. So the expression “to face the music” come to mean “having to go through something, no matter how unpleasant the experience might be, because you knew you had no choice.”

Other explanations about the expression go back to the army. When the men faced an inspection by their leader, the soldiers would be worried about how well they looked. Was their equipment clean, shinny enough to pass the inspection? Still the men had to go out and face the music of the band as well as the inspection. What else could they do? 

Another army explanation is more closely related to the idea of facing the results and accepting the responsibility for something that should not have been done. As, for example when a man is forced out of the army because he did something terrible, he is dishonored. The band does not play. Only the drums tap a sad, slow beat. The soldier is forced to leave, facing such music as it is and facing the back of his horse.

How many ways does the phrase “to face the music” comes from?

A. 1        B. 2        C. 3       D. 4

What’s the meaning of “to face the music?”

A. To face something far less pleasant.

B. To face the stage.

C. To face the back of one’s horse.

D. To face one’s leader.

Which of the following is a situation of facing the music?

A. When we are playing basketball.  

B. When we are making a speech.

C. When we are having a party.

D. When we are talking with somebody. 

The underlined word “hostile” means _______. 

A. unfriendly               B. dislike        C. unkind                     D. unnecessary

Silence is unnatural to man.He begins life with a cry and ends it in stillness.In between he does all he can to make a noise in the world, and he fears silence more than anything else.Even his conversation is an attempt to prevent a fearful silence.If he is introduced to another person, and a number of pauses occur in the conversation, he regards himself as a failure, a worthless person, and is full of envy of the emptiest headed chatterbox (喋喋不休的人).He knows that ninety-nine percent of human conversation means no more than the buzzing of a fly, but he is anxious to join in the buzz and to prove that he is a man and not a waxwork figure (蜡塑人像).

         The aim of conversation is not, for the most part, to communicate ideas; it is to keep up the buzzing sound.There are, it must be admitted, different qualities of buzz; there is even a buzz that is as annoying as the continuous noise made by a mosquito (蚊子).But at a dinner party one would rather be a mosquito than a quiet person.Most buzzing, fortunately, is pleasant to the ear, and some of it is pleasant even to the mind.He would be a foolish man if he waited until he had a wise thought to take part in the buzzing -with his neighbors.

         Those who hate to pick up the weather as a conversational opening seem to me not to know the reason why human beings wish 1:0 talk.Very few human beings join in a conversation in the hope of learning anything new.Some of them are content .if they are merely allowed to go on making a noise into other people's ears, though they have nothing to tell them except that they have seen two or three new, plays or that they had food in a Swiss hotel.At the end of an evening during which they have said nothing meaningful for a long time, they just prove themselves to be successful conservationists.

1.According to the author, people make conversation to              .

         A.exchange ideas              B.prove their value

         C.achieve success m life          D.overcome their fear of silence

2.By "the buzzing of a fly" (Para.1), the author means"_____".

         A.the noise of an insect                 B.a low whispering sound

         C.meaningless talks                  D.the voice of a chatterbox

3.According to the passage, people usually talk to their neighbors___    

         A.about whatever they have prepared                       

         B.about whatever they want to

         C.in the hope of learning something new

         D.in the hope of getting on well

4.What is the author's purpose in writing the passage?

         A.To discuss why people like talking about weather.

         B.To encourage people to join in conversations.

         C.To persuade people to stop making noises.

         D.To explain why people keep talking.

 

Last weekend, I was walking across the village green(草坪) when I saw an elderly gentleman on the bench, just overlooking the duck pond. I thought he looked a bit forlorn(被遗弃的) so I went over and sat next to him.

         After a few   36    about how nice the weather was and how there were a lot of ducks in the pond today, he told me how he used to come with his wife and watch the children feed the ducks with their mums. They didn't have any   37    of their own..So they cherished being together even more.

         He explained he had been married for 54 years   38    his wife died and how much he missed    39     all the little things with her, like a beautiful sunset. He now lives in a care home. I remarked at how wonderful it must've been to have been married for so long and to have so many happy memories. He took out a large    40   and wiped his eyes and said he had one regret that in all that time he   41    told her how much he really loved her.

         He showed me a photograph of them when they were young. The photo was taken more than 50 years ago. He couldn't believe how the time had   42   . I tried to comfort him by explaining that his wife would be still    43    over him and he could talk to her   44    he wants and that she knows how much he loved her because she can see into his heart. 

         The old man tried to   45    for blurting out his life story but I hushed him and said how privileged I felt he could talk to me and how much it meant to me.

         The   46    I learned from this chance encounter is that we must tell the ones close to us how much we love and care for them and not take them for granted.

         Don't   47    your kind acts until tomorrow; do them today because time flies.

1.A. discussionB. comments   C. quarrels       D. communication

2.A. children   B. ducks       C. pond        D. home

3.A. before       B. when       C. after        D. unless

4.A. doing         B. carrying        C. sharing         D. buying

5.A. paper        B. rubber     C. brush       D. handkerchief

6.A. never         B. often        C. sometimes  D. constantly

7.A. passed on          B. passed awayC. passed by   D. passed off

8.A. watching  B. looking          C. seeing     D. observing

9.A. every timeB. any time      C. some time   D. the time

10.A. blame     B. cry            C. regret      D. apologize

11.A. thing       B. class        C. lesson      D. knowledge

12.A. put up     B. put down     C. put away      D. put off

 

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