A new era is upon us. Call it what you will: the service economy, the information age, the knowledge society. It has changed the way we work. Already we’re partly there. The percentage of people who earn their living by making things has fallen dramatically in the Western World. Today the majority of jobs in America, Europe and Japan (two thirds or more in many of these countries) are in the service industry, and the number is on the rise. More women are in the work force than ever before. There are more part-time jobs. More people are self-employed. But the breadth (广度) of the economic transformation can’t be measured by numbers alone, because it also is giving rise to a basic new way of thinking about the nature of work itself. Long-held concepts about jobs and careers, the skills needed 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 (芯片), would transform our world thanks to its applications in personal computers, digital communications and factory robots. Tomorrow’s achievements in biotechnology, artificial intelligence or even some still unimagined technology could produce a similar wave of dramatic changes. But one thing is certain: information and knowledge will become even more important, and the people who possess it, whether they work in manufacturing (制造业) or services, will have the advantage and produce the wealth. Computer knowledge will become as basic a requirement as the ability to read and write. The ability to solve problems by applying information instead of performing routine tasks will be valued above all else. If you cast your mind ahead 10 years, information services will be predominant (最重要的). It will be the way you do your job.

1.One of the great changes caused by the knowledge society is that ______.

2.The future will probably belong to those who ______.

3.Which of the following would be the best title of the passage?

B

The government of Norway is planning to build an unusual storage center on an island in the Arctic Ocean. The place would be large enough to hold about two million seeds. The goal is to represent all crops known to scientists. The British magazine New Scientist published details of the plan last month. The structure will be designed to protect the world’s food supply against nuclear war, climate change and other possible threats. It will be built in a mountain on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen. The mountain is less than one thousand kilometers from the North Pole, the northernmost position on Earth.

An international group called the Global Crop Diversity Trust is working on the project. The director of the group, Cary Fowler, spoke to New Scientist. He said the project would let the world rebuild agriculture if, in his words,“the worst came to the worst.” Norway is expected to start work next year. The project is expected to cost three million dollars. Workers will drill deep in the side of a sandstone mountain. Temperatures in the area never rise above zero degrees Celsius. The seeds will be protected behind concrete walls a meter thick and high—security doors.

The magazine report says the collection will represent the products of ten thousand years of farming. Most of the seeds at first will come from collections at seed banks in Africa, Asia and Latin America. To last a long time, seeds need to be kept in very low temperatures. Workers will not be present all the time. But they plan to replace the air inside the storage space each winter. Winter temperatures on the island are about eighteen degrees below zero Celsius. The cold weather would protect the seeds even if the air could not be replaced.

Mr. Fowler says the proposed structure will be the world’s most secure gene bank. He says the plant seeds would only be used when all other seeds are gone for some reason. Norway first proposed the idea in the 1980s. But security concerns delayed the plan. At that time, the Soviet Union was permitted use of Spitsbergen. New Scientist says the plan won United Nations approval in October at a meeting in Rome of the Food and Agriculture Organization.

55.The project is meant to_______.

A.increase the world’s food production in the future

B.carry out some scientific experiments on plant genes

C.protect crop seeds from dying out in case of possible disasters

D.build an exhibition centre of the world’s plant seeds

56.Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the above passage?

A.The government of Norway will perform the project alone.

B.Seeds to be collected there were produced ten thousand years ago.

C.Spitsbergen is chosen because it is away from the threat of unclear war forever.

D.Temperature is a major consideration when choosing the storage place.

57.We can infer from the text that_______.

A.People will get newly?developed seeds from the center every year

B.The storage center will greatly promote the development of world agriculture

C.Norway meant to have built the storage centre more than 20 years ago

D.There haven’t been any seed storage centers in the world before

58.What is probably the best title of the passage?

A.Noah’s Ark(诺亚方舟) of Plant Seeds in Plan.      B.The Best Place to Store Seeds.

C.Concerns of World Food Supply.                 D.A New Way to Feed the World.

A new age is coming．Call it what you will: the service economy, the information age, the knowledge society．It all translates to a fundamental change in the way we work．Already we’re partly there, the percentage of people who earn their living by making things has fallen dramatically in the Western World．Today the majority of jobs in America, Europe and Japan are in the service industry, and the number is on the rise．More women are in the work force than ever before．There are more part-time jobs．More people are self-employed．But the range of the economic transformation can’t be measured by numbers alone, because it also is giving rise to important new way of thinking about the nature of work itself．Long-held ideas about jobs and careers, the skills needed 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 transform our world thanks to its applications in personal computers, digital communications and factory robots．Tomorrow’s achievements in biotechnology, artificial intelligence or even some still unimagined technology could produce a similar wave of dramatic changes．But one thing is certain: information and knowledge will become even more valid, and the people who possess it, whether they work in manufacturing or services, will have the advantage and produce the wealth．Computer knowledge will become as basic a requirement as the ability to read and write．The ability to solve problems by applying information instead of performing routine tasks will be valued above all else．If you cast your mind ahead 10 years, information service will be superior．It will be the way you do your job．

1．A characteristic of the new age mentioned in the passage is that _______．

      A．the service industry mainly relies on females

      B．manufacturing industries are steadily increasing

      C．more people are in the service industry than before

      D．the work in the service industry is more comfortable than that in manufacturing industry

2．Which of the following is true according to the passage?

      A．People’s traditional concepts about jobs need changing．

      B．The relation between employees and employers is becoming tense．

      C．More women than men are in the work force．

      D．Part-time jobs are more welcome than full-time jobs．

3．By mentioning the invention of “the chip”, the author means to say that_______．

      A．we haven’t paid enough attention to the importance of high technology

      B．the chip is the most important invention today

      C．the power of science and technology is beyond our imagination

      D．it’s a great challenge to apply new inventions to our life

4．We may draw a conclusion from the passage that _______．

      A．information will play a greater role in people’s work and daily life in the future

      B．we can foresee the future if technology develops fast enough

      C．the ability of performing routine tasks gives you an advantage in work

      D．robots will replace people to do all the work both in manufacturing and service industries

5．The author’s attitude to the coming age is _______．

      A．doubtful         B．enthusiastic     C．satisfied              D．uncertain

A new age is coming．Call it what you will: the service economy, the information age, the knowledge society．It all translates to a fundamental change in the way we work．Already we’re partly there, the percentage of people who earn their living by making things has fallen dramatically in the Western World．Today the majority of jobs in America, Europe and Japan are in the service industry, and the number is on the rise．More women are in the work force than ever before．There are more part-time jobs．More people are self-employed．But the range of the economic transformation can’t be measured by numbers alone, because it also is giving rise to important new way of thinking about the nature of work itself．Long-held ideas about jobs and careers, the skills needed 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 transform our world thanks to its applications in personal computers, digital communications and factory robots．Tomorrow’s achievements in biotechnology, artificial intelligence or even some still unimagined technology could produce a similar wave of dramatic changes．But one thing is certain: information and knowledge will become even more valid, and the people who possess it, whether they work in manufacturing or services, will have the advantage and produce the wealth．Computer knowledge will become as basic a requirement as the ability to read and write．The ability to solve problems by applying information instead of performing routine tasks will be valued above all else．If you cast your mind ahead 10 years, information service will be superior．It will be the way you do your job．

1．A characteristic of the new age mentioned in the passage is that _______．

      A．the service industry mainly relies on females

      B．manufacturing industries are steadily increasing

      C．more people are in the service industry than before

      D．the work in the service industry is more comfortable than that in manufacturing industry

2．Which of the following is true according to the passage?

      A．People’s traditional concepts about jobs need changing．

      B．The relation between employees and employers is becoming tense．

      C．More women than men are in the work force．

      D．Part-time jobs are more welcome than full-time jobs．

3．By mentioning the invention of “the chip”, the author means to say that_______．

      A．we haven’t paid enough attention to the importance of high technology

      B．the chip is the most important invention today

      C．the power of science and technology is beyond our imagination

      D．it’s a great challenge to apply new inventions to our life

4．We may draw a conclusion from the passage that _______．

      A．information will play a greater role in people’s work and daily life in the future

      B．we can foresee the future if technology develops fast enough

      C．the ability of performing routine tasks gives you an advantage in work

      D．robots will replace people to do all the work both in manufacturing and service industries

5．The author’s attitude to the coming age is _______．

      A．doubtful         B．enthusiastic    C．satisfied               D．uncertain

                          A Day Fly-Fly Aboriginal Rock Tour

Tour Details

Operator: Adventure North Australia

Destination: Cooktown

Departs From: Cairns

Tour Description

Voted as one of Australia's Must-Do-Experiences. Treat yourself to an amazing day out with Aboriginal Elder Willie Gordon.

Depart Cairns Domestic Airport for the Skytrans Flight to Cooktown. Flight departs Cairns at 6:45 a.m.

Enjoy a 45-minute flight with wonderful views from Cairns to Cooktown as you fly along the coast between the World Heritage rainforest and the Great Barrier Reef. On arrival in Cooktown you will be met by Willie Gordon, the traditional storyteller of the Nugal-warra clan(部落).

Willie Gordon takes guests to his ancestral rock art sites, set high in the hills above Hope Vale, outside Cooktown. Here he shares the stories behind the art, and explains how the paintings speak of the most basic and important quality of life and the knowledge of his people.

The tour takes you through an impressive view of six rock art sites, including an ancestral Birth Cave and the Reconciliation Cave. This includes a 30-minute bush walk on generally easy terrian(地形). (Covered closed-on shoes must be worn.)

Return to Cooktown at 1:15 p.m. where Willie will take you to the Nature Power House Museum, Cooktown's Visitor Information Centre. Lunch is included at the Verhandah Cafe.

The rest of the afternoon is free to explore historical Cooktown before your transfer to Cooktown airport and return flight to Cairns. Flight arrives at Cairns Domestic Airport at 6:40 p.m. Own arrangements on arrival in Cairns.

Prices

Adults: $ 549.00

Children: $ 390.00

Families(2 adults and 2 children): $ 1,869.00

56. According to the passage, how will tourists arrive in Cooktown?

A. By ship.            B. By car.                            C. By air.               D. By train.

57. What do we learn about Willie Gordon?

A. He acts as the guide of the tour.

B. He is the owner of the Verhandah Cafe.

C. He works in the Nature Power House Museum.

D. He is the manager of Adventure North Australia.

58. After viewing rock art, tourists will go to__________.

A. the World Heritage rainforest                  B. the Great Barrier Reef

C. rock art sites outside the town                D. the Nature Power House Museum

59. We learn from the passage that the whole trip lasts about__________.

A. six hours           B. eight hours               C. ten hours         D. twelve hours

60. From the passage, the tour is designed to let the tourists__________.

A. learn about the custom                           B. enjoy the ancient art

C. taste the delicious snacks                       D. experience the lifestyle