Today, there’s hardly an aspect of our life that isn’t being upended by the tons of information available on the hundreds of millions of sites crowding the Internet, not to mention its ability to keep us in constant touch with each other via electronic mail. “If the automobile and aerospace technology had exploded at the same pace as computer and information technology,” says Microsoft, “a new car would cost about $ 2 and go 600 miles on a small quantity of gas. And you could buy a Boeing 747 for the cost of a pizza.”
Probably the biggest payoff, however, is the billions of dollars the Internet is saving companies in producing goods and serving for the needs of their customers. Nothing like it has been seen since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, when power-driven machines began producing more in a day than men could turn out in nearly a year. “We view the growth of the Internet and e-commerce as a global trend,” says Merrill Lynch, “along the lines of printing press, the telephone, the computer, and electricity.”
You would be hard pressed to name something that isn’t available on the Internet. Consider: books, health care, movie tickets, construction materials, baby clothes, stocks, cattle feed, music, electronics, antiques, tools, real estate, toys, autographs of famous people, wine and airline tickets. And even after you’ve moved on to your final resting place, there’s no reason those you love can’t keep in touch. A company called FinalThoughts.com offers a place for you to store “afterlife e-mails” you can send to Heaven with the help of a “guardian angel”.
Kids today are so computer literate that it in fact ensures the United States will remain the unchallenged leader in cyberspace for the foreseeable(能预测的) future. Nearly all children in families with incomes of more than $75,000 a year have home computers, according to a study by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. Youngsters from ages 2 to 17 at all income levels have computers, with 52% of those connected to the Internet. Most kids use computers to play games (some for 30 hours or more a week), and many teenage girls think nothing of rushing home from school to have e-mail chats with friends they have just left.
What’s clear is that, whether we like it or not, the Internet is an ever growing part of our lives and there is no turning back. “The Internet is just 20% invented,” says cyber pioneer Jake Winebaum. “The last 80% is happening now.”
【小题1】What can we learn from the Microsoft’s remark?

After the violent earthquake that shook Los Angeles in 1994, earthquake scientists had good news to report: The damage and death toll(死亡人数)could have been much worse.

More than 60 people died in this earthquake. By comparison, an earthquake of similar intensity(强度)that shook America in 1988 claimed 25, 000 victims.

Injuries and deaths were relatively less in Los Angeles because the quake occurred at 4：31 a．m. on a holiday, when traffic was light on the city's highways. In addition, changes made to the construction codes in Los Angeles during the last 20 years have strengthened the city's buildings and highways, making them more resistant to quakes(抗震)．

Despite the good news, civil engineers aren't resting on their successes. Pinned to their drawing boards are blueprints(蓝图)for improved quake－resistant buildings. The new designs should offer even greater security to cities where earthquakes often take place.

In the past, making structures quake－resistant meant firm yet flexible materials, such as steel and wood, which bend without breaking. Later, people tried to lift a building off its foundation, and insert rubber and steel between the building and its foundation to reduce the impact of ground vibrations. The most recent designs give buildings brains as well as concrete and steel supports. Called smart buildings, the structures respond like living organisms to an earthquake's vibrations. When the ground shakes and the building tips forward, the computer would force the building to shift in the opposite direction.

The new smart structures could be very expensive to build. However, they would save many lives and would be less likely to be damaged during earthquakes.

6．One reason why the loss of lives in the Log Angeles earthquake was comparatively low is that______.

A．new computers had been installed in the buildings

B．it occurred in the residential areas rather than on the highways

C．large numbers of Los Angeles residents had gone for a holiday

D．improvements had been made in the construction of buildings and highways

7．The function of the computer mentioned in the passage is to______.

A. counterbalance(起平衡作用)an earthquake's action on the building

B. predict(预测)the coming of an earthquake with accuracy

C. help strengthen the foundation of the building

D. measure the impact of an earthquake's vibrations

8．The smart buildings discussed in the passage________.

A. would cause serious financial problems

B. would be worthwhile though expensive

C. would reduce the complexity of architectural design

D. can reduce the ground vibrations caused by earthquakes

9．It can be inferred from the passage that in minimizing(使……最小)the damage caused by earthquakes, attention should be focused on________.

A．the increasing use of rubber and steel in capital construction

B．the development of flexible building materials

C．the reduction of the impact of ground vibrations

D．early forecasts of earthquakes

10．The author's main purpose in writing the passage is to________.

A．compare the consequences of the earthquakes that occurred in the US

B．encourage civil engineers to make more extensive use of computers

C．outline the history of the development of quake－resistant building materials

D．report new developments in constructing quake－resistant buildings

Prediction(预言) has always been a serious business .In the old days ,astrologers(星占学家) were employed(从事于) to predict the future .Today futurologists(未来学家) make scientificall based predictions which are taken seriously .Basically ,the methods used in the past and those used today are similar.You look at what is happening in the present and then project(设想) into the future.

Take something like the motor-car ,for example .It's obviously wasteful , noisy ,dangerous , etc. So perhaps in the future it will have been replaced by something better. Projecting in the same way we can say that the common cold will have been cured; pollution will be got rid of; Antarctica will have been developed; money will have been replaced by credit cards; floating cities will have been built; the Jupiter(木星) will have been visited ;a cure for cancer will have been discovered .The world's mineral supplies will have been used up ,and so on .But only one thing is really certain：most of us will have been completely forgotten!?

1.What do astrologers and futurologists have in common??

A.They use scientific methods.?

B.They make predictions.?

C.They tell us something about the past.?

D.They tell us something about the present.?

2.Forecasts(预测)about the future are _______.?

A.based on the present

B.made by astrologers?

C.taken seriously

D.scientifically based?

3.As far as human beings are concerned,the only really certain thing is that_______.

A.pollution will be got rid of?

B.money will be replaced?

C.we will disappear from the world?

D.we will visit Jupiter?

4.Which is the best title for the passage??

A.The Past,the Present and the Future?

B.Astrologers and Futurologists?

C.The Changing World?

D.Tomorrow's World

The Kingdome in Seattle was destroyed on March 26, 2000. It was taken down to make room for a new stadium. The blast(爆破) from the falling building caused the earth to shake as if an earthquake had happened.
Scientists placed more than 200 earthquake recorders in the earth to measure the movement. They found which parts of the city shook the most. This information helped them know which parts of the city would be damaged in a real earthquake at an early time.
A real earthquake happened on February 28, 2001 in Seattle. The Nisqually earthquake was 6.8 on the Richter scale(里氏6.8级). It damaged the same parts of Seattle that scientists had predicted(预测) from the pulling down of the Kingdome. It was a plate quake. It started deep in the earth, 37 miles below the surface on the Juan de Fuca Plate. Sometimes, huge plates under the earth cause earthquakes when the plates move against each other suddenly.
Scientists have learned that deep earthquakes have very few aftershocks(余震). The Nisqually earthquake had only 4 ones. Another earthquake in California that was close to the surface had over 120 aftershocks. Scientists do not know why the deep earthquakes have fewer aftershocks.
Scientists plan to blast in the ground near Seattle with the purpose of testing the plate. The shockwaves from the blast will jump off the plate and give them an idea of where the plate is and how it is moving. This will give them more information in case another real earthquake hits the area.
72． According to the passage, ______ have the most aftershocks.
A．shockwave earthquakes     B．shallow earthquakes
C．deep earthquakes          D．earthquakes more than 6.8 Richter scale
73．What do scientists hope to learn from the blast above the Juan de Fuca Plate? 
A．They hope to learn where the plate is and how it is moving.
B．They want to destroy the Kingdome.
C．They want to know which places are likely to have the most damage.
D．They hope to find out how many plates there are in the ground there.
74．Why were the scientists interested in the pulling down of the Seattle Kingdome? 
A．They wanted to see which areas near the Kingdome would shake the hardest.
B．They wanted to predict what might happen in a real earthquake.
C．They wanted to measure the movement of the Earth with earthquake recorders.
D．All of the above.
75．What will happen after a deep earthquake according to the scientists? 
A．There will be many aftershocks.
B．There will be very few aftershocks.
C．The Richter scale of the quakes will be a 6.8 or more.
D．There will be little damage.

Today, there’s hardly an aspect of our life that isn’t being upended by the tons of information available on the hundreds of millions of sites crowding the Internet, not to mention its ability to keep us in constant touch with each other via electronic mail. “If the automobile and aerospace technology had exploded at the same pace as computer and information technology,” says Microsoft, “a new car would cost about $ 2 and go 600 miles on a small quantity of gas. And you could buy a Boeing 747 for the cost of a pizza.”

Probably the biggest payoff, however, is the billions of dollars the Internet is saving companies in producing goods and serving for the needs of their customers. Nothing like it has been seen since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, when power-driven machines began producing more in a day than men could turn out in nearly a year. “We view the growth of the Internet and e-commerce as a global trend,” says Merrill Lynch, “along the lines of printing press, the telephone, the computer, and electricity.”

You would be hard pressed to name something that isn’t available on the Internet. Consider: books, health care, movie tickets, construction materials, baby clothes, stocks, cattle feed, music, electronics, antiques, tools, real estate, toys, autographs of famous people, wine and airline tickets. And even after you’ve moved on to your final resting place, there’s no reason those you love can’t keep in touch. A company called FinalThoughts.com offers a place for you to store “afterlife e-mails” you can send to Heaven with the help of a “guardian angel”.

Kids today are so computer literate that it in fact ensures the United States will remain the unchallenged leader in cyberspace for the foreseeable(能预测的) future. Nearly all children in families with incomes of more than $75,000 a year have home computers, according to a study by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. Youngsters from ages 2 to 17 at all income levels have computers, with 52% of those connected to the Internet. Most kids use computers to play games (some for 30 hours or more a week), and many teenage girls think nothing of rushing home from school to have e-mail chats with friends they have just left.

What’s clear is that, whether we like it or not, the Internet is an ever growing part of our lives and there is no turning back. “The Internet is just 20% invented,” says cyber pioneer Jake Winebaum. “The last 80% is happening now.”

1.What can we learn from the Microsoft’s remark?

A. Today’s cars and airplanes are extremely overpriced.

B. Information technology is developing at an amazing speed.

C. Information technology has reached the point where improvement is difficult.

D. There’s more competition in information technology industry than in car industry.

2.According to the author, the biggest benefit of the Internet is that___.

 A. it saves companies huge amounts of money        B. it speeds up profit making

 C. it brings people incredible convenience       D. it provides easy access to information 

3.The author gives the example of FinalThoughts.com to make the point that____.

 A. there are some genius ideas on the Internet       B. almost anything is available on the Internet

 C. people can find good bargains on the Internet      D. some websites provide novel services to increase hits

4.What can we learn from the fourth paragraph?

 A. There is a link between income and computer ownership.

 B. Many American children don’t put computers to good use.

 C. Studies show that boys are more computer literate than girls.

 D. The U.S. will stay ahead in the information technology in years.

5.Which sentence has the phrase that possesses the same meaning as the one underlined in the fifth paragraph?

A. Some can tell you that he has changed their lives, while others think nothing of him.

B. Think nothing of it. It was my pleasure.

C. He thinks nothing of staying up all night in the Café bar.

D. He thinks nothing of the pain in his back for the moment.

6.What is the message the author intends to convey?

 A. The Internet is going to get firm hold of our lives some day.

 B. The Internet is going to influence our lives even more greatly.

 C. We should have a positive attitude towards the changes the Internet brings.

 D. Children should be well prepared for the challenges in the information age.