At one time, computers were expected largely to remove the need for paper copies of documents(文件) because they could be stored electronically. But for all the texts that are written, stored and sent electronically, a lot of them are still ending up on paper.

It is difficult to measure the quantity of paper used as a result of use of Internet-connected computers, although just about anyone who works in an office can tell you that when e-mail is introduced, the printers start working overtime. “I feel in my bones this revolution is causing more trees to be cut down,” says Ted Smith of the Earth Village Organization.

Perhaps the best sign of how computer and Internet use pushes up demand for paper comes from the high-tech industry itself, which sees printing as one of its most promising new markets. Several Internet companies have been set up to help small businesses print quality documents from a computer. Earlier this week Hewlett-Packard Co. announced a plan to develop new technologies that will enable people to print even more so they can get a hard copy of a business document, a medical record or just a on-line e-mail, even if they are nowhere near a computer. As the company sees it, the more use of the Internet the greater demand for printers.

Does all this mean environmental concerns (环境问题) have been forgotten? Some activists suggest people have been led to believe that a lot of dangers to the environment have gone away.

“I guess people believe that the problem is taken care of, because of recycling(回收利用),” said Kelly Quirke, director of the Rainforest Action Network in San Francisco. Yet Quirke is hopeful that high-tech may also prove helpful. He says printers that print on both sides are growing in popularity.

The action group has also found acceptable paper made from materials other than wood, such as agricultural waste.

1.The growing demand for paper in recent years is largely due to ________.

A.the rapid development of small businesses

B.the opening up of new markets

C.the printing of high quality copies

D.the increased use of the Internet

2.Environmentalists believe one possible way of dealing with the paper situation is ________.

A.to encourage printing more quality documents

B.to develop new printers using recycled paper

C.to find new materials for making paper

D.to plant more fast-growing trees

3.Hewlett-Packard Co. has decided to develop new technologies because ________.

A.people are concerned about the environment

B.printers in many offices are working overtime

C.small companies need more hard copies

D.they see a growing market for printers

4.What would be the best title for the text?

A.Computers and Printers

B. E-mail and the Business World

C. Internet Revolution and Environment

D. Modern Technology and New Markets

Being less than perfectly well-dressed in a business setting can result in a feeling of great discomfort that may well require treatment to eliminate. And the sad truth is that “clothing mismatches” on the job can ruin the day of the person who is wearing the inappropriate attire(着装)—and the people with whom he or she comes in contact.

Offices vary when it comes to dress codes. Some businesses have very high standards for their employees and set strict guidelines for office attire, while others maintain a more relaxed attitude. However, it is always important to remember that no matter what your company’s attitude is regarding what you wear, you are working in a business environment and you should dress properly. Certain items may be more appropriate for evening wear than for a business meeting, just as shorts and a T-shirt are better suited for the beach than for an office environment. Your attire should reflect both your environment and your position. A senior vice president has a different image to maintain than that of a secretary or sales assistant. Like it or not, you will be judged by your personal appearance.

This is never more apparent than on “dress-down days”, when what you wear can say more about you than any business suit ever could. In fact, people will pay more attention to what you wear on dress-down days than on “business professional ” days. Thus, when dressing in “business casual” clothes, try to put some good taste into your wardrobe choices, recognize that the “real” definition of business casual is to dress just one notch(等级) down from what you would normally wear of business-professional attire days.

Remember, there are borders between your career and our social life. You should dress one way for play and another way when you mean business. Always ask yourself where you are going and how other people will be dressed when you get there. Is the final destination the opera, the beach, or the office? Dress properly and you will discover the truth in the principle that clothes make the man—and the woman. When in doubt, always misjudge on the side of dressing slightly more traditionally than the situation demands.

1.What is the passage mainly about?

A. How to dress properly in a business setting.

B. A president of a company should dress differently from a secretary or sales assistant.

C. The differences between professional and casual dress.

D. Improper dress will make a person feel uncomfortable.

2.Which of the following statements is true?

A. Every company has strict rules regarding office dress.

B. You can wear whatever you like if your company doesn’t have standards for dressing.

C. You should dress according to the business setting even when there are no fixed rules.

D. In companies with relaxed rules on office dress, you can’t spot a manager among others.

3.Which statement best describes “dress-down days”?

A. We can’t judge a person’s taste by his clothes on dress-down days.

B. People’s clothes on dress-down days don’t receive much attention.

C. On dress-down days, you can wear whatever you like.

D. People are usually more careful about what they wear on dress-down days than on other occasions.

4.Which of the following is NOT the rule in the passage with regard to business dress?

A. For a business meeting and a concert, you should dress differently.

B. Remember to ask others for advice when you are not sure about what to dress.

C. Think about how other guests will wear if you are invited to a dinner.

D. Dress a bit traditionally if you are not sure about proper dress for a certain occasion.

I didn't cry when I learned I was the parent of a mentally handicapped child. I just sat still and didn't say anything.

When Kristi was old enough, we sent her to a kindergarten. It would have been comforting to cry the day I left her in that room full of kids. Kristi had spent hour upon hour playing by herself, but this moment, when she was the "different" child among them, she was probably the loneliest.

However, positive things began to happen to Kristi in her school, and to her schoolmates, too. Kristi's classmates always took pains to praise her: "Kristi got all her spelling words right today." No one bothered to add that her spelling list was easier than anyone else's.

Later, she faced a very special challenge. The final event of the term was a program based on a final outcome of the year's music and physical education activities. Kristi was behind in both. My husband and I dreaded the day as well.

On the day of the program, Kristi pretended to be sick. Desperately I wanted to keep her home. Surely missing one program couldn't matter. But my conscience wouldn't let me off that easily. So I practically got a pale, reluctant Kristi onto the school bus.

Just as I had forced my daughter to go to school, now I forced myself to go to the program. At the kindergarten, I felt worried because of her slow and clumsy reactions, she would surely hold up her team.

The performance went well until it was time for the sack race. Surely Jenny would find it tough. Now each child had to climb into a sack, hop to a goal line, return and climb out of the sack(袋子). I noticed Jenny standing near the end of her line of players.

But as her turn to join, a change took place in her team. The tallest boy behind Kristi placed his hands on her waist. Two other boys stood ahead of her. The moment the player in front of Kristi stepped from the sack, those two boys grabbed the sack and held it open while the tall boy lifted Kristi and dropped her into it. A girl ahead took her hand and supported her. Kristi gained her balance. Then off she hopped, smiling and proud.

At the cheers of teachers, schoolmates and parents, I silently thanked the warm, understanding people in life who make it possible for my disabled daughter to be like her fellow human beings.

Then I finally cried.

1.When sending her daughter to the kindergarten, the writer must have felt __________.

A. lonelyB. worriedC. cheerfulD. scared

2.What does the underlined sentence imply?

A. It didn't matter to miss one program because it was not important.

B. Kristi's illness prevented her from taking part in the program.

C. It gave the author a good excuse not to send Kristi to the program.

D. The teachers wouldn't blame Kristi for she was ill.

3.The author expressed her gratitude mainly because ________.

A. her daughter's teammates helped her experience the happy feeling of her age

B. her daughter Kristi won the competition with the help of her teammates

C. the teachers at the kindergarten arranged some teammates to help her daughter

D. the other kids' parents cheered for her daughter's good performance

4.What's the best title of the passage?

A. My disabled daughterB. An unforgettable experience

C. The day I criedD. A warm-hearted teamwork

The Future of Technology

William, a businessman, arrives in a foreign airport. He doesn’t show his passport. Instead, a machine in the wall reads the computer chip(芯片)in his arm. This contains information about him: his name, age, and I.D number. He exits the airport, and a car door opens when it “sees” him. The car takes him to his hotel. His room “knows” he has entered the building and it “reads” his body. He is cold, so the room becomes warmer. William then watches a business presentation on a video wall. When he takes a bath, the presentation “follows him and continues ”on the bathroom wall. Finally, the room plays music to help him sleep. It turns off the music when it “sees” him sleeping.

William doesn’t exist, and none of this is real. But it might be soon. “In five to ten years, computing and communications are going to be free and everywhere, in your walls, in your car, on your body,” says Victor Zue, leader of Project Oxygen.

Project Oxygen has one big idea: to create better relationships between machines and people. The dream is that computer will learn to understand what people want.

So, what changes will there be at work? Firstly, the building will know where everyone is, all the time. You want to talk to someone? Type the person’s name on the nearest computer. It will show you a map of the building and exactly where this person is. You then call this person, who picks up the nearest telephone, also shown on the computer. If he or she is busy with a client(客户)or in a meeting, the computer will tell you.

Is all this really possible? Visit the Siebel Center, Illinois and see for yourself: computers in the doors and walls, cameras everywhere, the technology of the future, but here today.

1.William doesn’t show his passport because ________.

A. his information can be read by a machine

B. he doesn’t need a passport in that airport

C. he is not required to show his passport

D. only a man from foreign country needs to show his passport

2.The computer chip in William’s arm contains his information except ________.

A. his name B. his age

C. his job D. his I.D. number

3.The dream of Project Oxygen is that computers will ________.

A. show you where the person is you are calling

B. let you pick up the nearest telephone

C. show you a map of every building

D. learn to understand what people want

4.In the Siebel Center, Illinois, ________.

A. computers are everywhere

B. the technology of the future is there today

C. there are cameras in the doors and walls

D. the future technology will be there in 5-10 years

Philo Farnsworth is not a name most people know. But his work changed the way we learn, the way we live, and even the way we think. Philo Farnsworth is responsible for one of the 20th century: television.

Philo Farnsworth was born in America in 1906. He was interested in science and technology at an early age. When he was twelve years old, he built an electric motor for his family’s washing machine. When he was fourteen, he was already giving a lot of thought to electrons(电子). As he was driving the family’s horse-drawn plowing machine, he noticed the evenly spaced rows of the potato fields. This sight gave him the idea that electrons could scan(扫描) an image one row at a time—an idea that was the key to electronic television.

By the time he was twenty-one years old, Farnsworth had started his own company and had managed to build the world’s first electronic television. It was a very simple device(设备). But after years of hard work, Farnsworth was able to introduce the kind of television we now use.

Farnsworth was a great inventor, but lived an unhappy life. He had a legal battle with the company, Radio Corporation of America (RCA) over who the real inventor of the TV was. He won the case, but the government stopped companies from making TVs during the war, so Farnsworth didn’t make much money from the invention.

When Farnsworth was young, he imagined television as a convenient way for distant audiences to enjoy lectures by famous professors, or entertainment by the best symphonies(交响乐) and ballets. When he was older, television became much more popular, but he was very disappointed in the silly programs on TV. He even told his own son, “There’s nothing on it worthwhile, and we’re not going to watch it in this household.”

1.What can we learn about Philo Farnsworth?

A. He had a strong physical advantage.

B. He had strong powers of observation.

C. He had a strong interest in journalism.

D. He had a strong sense of responsibility.

2.The underlined sentence showed Farnsworth was legally recognized as ________.

A. the real founder of RCA

B. the real inventor of the TV

C. the greatest inventor of his time

D. the organizer of the battle with RCA

3.The last paragraph mainly tells us that Farnsworth ________.

A. didn’t like to watch TV programs

B. couldn’t afford to buy a TV set

C. couldn’t listen to famous lectures

D. didn’t like what television became

4.What is the best title for the text?

A. How did Philo Farnsworth invent television?

B. What caused Philo Farnsworth to invent television?

C. Philo Farnsworth: the unhappy father of television

D. Philo Farnsworth: a well-known scientist and inventor

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