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

A punctual person is in the habit of doing a thing at the proper time and is never late in keeping an appointment.

The unpunctual man, on one hand, never does what he has to do at the proper time. He is always in a hurry and in the end loses both time and his good name. A lost thing may be found again, but lost time can never be regained. Time is more valuable than material things. In fact, time is life itself. The unpunctual man is for ever wasting and mismanaging his most valuable asset (财产) as well as other’s. The unpunctual person is always complaining that he finds no time to answer letters, or return calls or keep appointments promptly. But the man who really has a great deal to do is very careful of his time and seldom complains of want of it. He knows that he can not get through his huge amount of work unless he faithfully keeps every piece of work when it has to be attended to.

Failure to be punctual in keeping one’s appointments is the sign of disrespect towards others. If a person is invited to dinner and arrives later than the appointed time, he keeps all the other guests waiting for him. Usually this will be regarded as a great disrespect to the host and all other guests present.

Unpunctuality, moreover, is very harmful when it comes to do one’s duty, whether public or private. Imagine how it would be if those who are put in charge of important tasks failed to be at their proper place at the appointed time. A man who is known to be habitually unpunctual is never trusted by his friends or fellow men.

1. What does the author think is the main difference between a punctual person and an unpunctual person?

A. A punctual person does everything ahead of time while an unpunctual person does everything behind schedule.

B. A punctual person does everything at the right time while an unpunctual person seldom does anything at the correct time.

C. A punctual person has a lot of appointments while an unpunctual person has few appointments.

D. A punctual person has much time to do everything while an unpunctual person has little time to do anything.

2. According to the passage, the main reason that a person is always unpunctual is that _______.

A. he has more work to do than other people

B. he is always in a hurry when he works

C. he doesn’t care much about time

D. he always mismanages and wastes his time

3. According to the third paragraph, when you are invited to dinner, you should arrive there _______.

A. after other guests have arrived

B. before all other guests

C. at the appointed time

D. after the host has got things ready

4. Which of the following statements best describes the harm of unpunctuality?

A. If you are an unpunctual person, you cannot be in charge of any important task.

B. If your friends know that you are unpunctual, they may not see you again.

C. Unpunctuality may bring about heavy losses for both public and private affairs.

D. Unpunctuality may make you miss a lot of appointments and lose friends.

A new study shows one of the largest glaciers① in Greenland is becoming smaller and speeding to the sea faster than scientists expected. If it continues, Greenland itself could become much smaller during this century and global seas could rise as much as 3 feet.

The rates② of change that we’re noticing are much higher than expected. If these rates continue, it is not unlikely that Greenland could shrink③ by several tens of percent this century. However, it’s not known how quickly this coastal response of the Greenland ice sheet melting will have an effect on the vast inland ice.

Greenland is the world’s largest island, covering an area more than three times the size of Texas. Some 81 percent of it is covered by ice, and there are many glaciers. Glaciers are like slow-moving rivers of ice. Where a glacier meets the sea, its weight keeps it firmly resting on the bottom. A glacier’s front is the point where the water is deep enough that the glacier floats.

Since the 1970s, the front of Helheim stayed in the same place. Then it began melting rapidly, moving back 4.5 miles from 2001 through this past summer. It has also grown thinner, from top to bottom, by more than 130 feet since 2001. And over these past four years, its trip to the sea has sped up from about 70 feet per day to nearly 110.

The melting is driven by a warmer climate. Temperatures in Greenland have risen more than five degrees Fahrenheit in the last decade. Since most of Greenland’s ice is on land, seas will rise as the ice melts. If all Greenland’s ice sheet melted, oceans would be 15-20 feet higher. Nobody expects that to happen anytime soon.

Notes:

① glacier  n.  冰川

② rate  n.  比率

③ shrink  v.  缩小

1. Which of the following about the glaciers is TRUE?

  A. Glaciers only lie in Greenland.        B. Water in glaciers is more than sea water.

  C. Glaciers sometimes float on the water.  D. Glaciers can increase the water level of lakes.

2. According to the text, we know that Greenland ______.

  A. belongs to Canada                  B. is the largest island in North America

  C. is all covered with glaciers            D. is sinking under the sea level

3. Which of the following may be the result of the disappearing of Greenland glaciers?

  A. the climate of the world will be warmer.

  B. the glaciers in other area will be bigger.

  C. It will be easy for explorers to visit the island.

  D. Some coastal cities may be under the sea.

A Tour City—Pompeii

Every year thousands of tourists visit Pompeii, Italy. They see the sights that Pompeii is famous for its stadium(运动场) and theatres, its shops and restaurants. The tourists do not, however, see Pompeii's people. They do not see them because Pompeii has no people. No one has lived in Pompeii for almost 2,000 years.

Once, Pompeii was a busy city of 22,000 people. It lay at the foot of Mount Vesuvius, a grass－covered volcano(火山). Mount Vesuvius had not erupted(喷发)for centuries, so the people of Pompeii felt safe. But they were not.

In August of AD 79, Mount Vesuvius erupted. The entire top of the mountain exploded,_and a huge black cloud rose into the air. Soon stones and hot ash began to fall on Pompeii. When the eruption ended two days later, Pompeii was buried under 20 feet of stones and ashes. Almost all of its people were dead.

For centuries, Pompeii lay buried under stone and ash. Then, in the year 1861, an Italian scientist named Ginseppe began to uncover Pompeii. Slowly, carefully, Ginseppe and his men dug. The city looked almost the same as it had looked in AD 79. There were streets and fountains, houses and shops. There was a stadium with 20,000 seats. Perhaps the most important of all, there were everyday objects, which tell us a great deal about the people who lived in Pompeii. Many glasses and jars had some dark blue colour in the bottom, so we know that the people of Pompeii liked wine. They liked bread too. Metal bread pans were in every bakery. In one bakery there were 81 round, flat loaves of bread—a type of bread that is still sold in Italy today. Tiny boxes filled with a dark, shiny power tell us that women liked to wear eye－makeup.

Ginseppe has died, but his work continues. One－fourth has not been uncovered yet. Scientists are still digging, still making discoveries that draw the tourists to Pompeii.

1. Why do large numbers of people come to Pompeii each year?

A. To visit the volcano.

B. To shop and eat there.

C. To watch sports and plays.

D. To see how Pompeiians lived.

2. Why had so many people remained by volcanic Mount Vesuvius?

A. The city nearly offered all kinds of fun.

B. The area produced the finest wine in Italy.

C. Few people expected the volcano to erupt again.

D. The mountain was beautiful and covered with grass.

3. Why did the city uncovered look almost the same as it had looked in AD 79?

A. Because Ginseppe and his men dug it slowly and carefully.

B. Because the city was buried alive and remained untouched.

C. Because scientists successfully rebuilt the city with everyday objects.

D. Because nobody had lived in the city ever since the volcano erupted.

4. What's the meaning of the underlined word “exploded” in the third paragraph?

A. 爆发       B. 震动       C. 倒塌       D. 爆裂

5. What do we know about the Pompeiians who lived 2,000 years ago?

A. They lived more or less the same as Italians now do.

B. They liked women wearing all kinds of makeup.

C. They enjoyed a lazy life with drinking and eating.

D. They went back to Pompeii after the eruption in AD 79.

A new era is upon us.Call it what you will:the service economy,the information age,the knowledge society.It all translates to a basic change in the way we work.Already we are there now.The percentage of people who earn their living by making things has fallen fortunately in the Western World.Today the majority of jobs in America,Europe and Japan(two thirds or more of these countries) are in the service industry,and the number is on the rise.More women are in workforce than ever before.There are more part-time jobs.More people are self-employed.But the wideness of the economic change can’t be measured by numbers alone,because it also is giving rise to a radical new way of thinking about the nature of work itself.Long-held views about jobs and careers,the skills to succeed,even the relation between individuals and employers—all these are being challenged.

We have only to look behind us to get some sense of what may lie ahead.No one looking ahead 20 years possibly could have foreseen the ways in which a single invention the chip,would change our world,thanks to its use in personal computers,digital biotechnology,artificial intelligence or even some still unimagined technology could produce a similar wave of unexpected changes.But one thing is certain:information and knowledge will become even more important,and the people who have it,whether they work in manufacturing or services,will have the advantage and problems by vices will be predominant.It will be the way you do your job.

1.A characteristic of the information age is that.

A.the service industry is depending more and more on female workforce

B.manufacturing industries are steadily increasing?

C.people find it harder and harder to earn a living by working in factories

D.most of the job opportunities can now be found in the service industry

2.One of the great changes brought about by the knowledge society is that _____.

A.the difference between the individuals and the employers has become less

B.people’s traditional ideas about work no longer hold true

C.most people have to take part-time jobs

D.people have to change their jobs from time to time

3.By referring to computers and other inventions,the author means that.

A.people should be able to respond quickly to the advancement of technology

B.future achievements in technology will bring about unbelievable changes

C.the importance of high technology has been overlooked

D.computer science will play a leading role in the future information service

4.The future will probably belong to those who.

A.possess and know how to make use of information

B.give full play to their brain potential

C.involve themselves in service industry

D.looking forward instead of looking back