Electronic waste, or e-waste, refers to electronic products that are no longer usable. This can include TVs, cell phones and computers and other office electronics, electronic toys and videos machines. Today, the average turnover（更换）rate for a computer in the United States is every two years, according to the environmental group, Greenpeace.
The group's Dai Yun says e-waste is a global problem. "The electronic industry is one of the fastest growing industries in the world. The high speed of growth in this industry means more and more electronic products are being wasted and thrown away. If no one decides to retrieve the old products and process them properly, the electronic waste will sweep over the earth like the huge wave behind me and pollute the Earth seriously."
Greenpeace works out that 20 to 50 million tons of e-waste are produced globally each year. The components（部件）in many electronic products contain harmful chemicals that pollute ground water and the environment.
At present , the U.S. has no federal law for the disposal (处理) of e-waste although a few states have e-waste recycling programs in place, but there is no law. The U.S. exports much of its e-waste to third world countries, such as India and China, where workers took apart computers for valuable parts, hoping to sell them for money. But harmful wastes expert, Dr. Bakul Rao, says that's a dangerous practice. "From now on, the recyclers are not very educated. All they know is they can retrieve copper or gold out of it. So, the easiest way to do that is leach (过滤) it out in an acid or burn it off to retrieve it. So, that's where they don't know how to deal with it, neither do they have any health systems in place. So, their exposure is more."
【小题1】What does the underlined word "retrieve" (paragraph 2) probably mean?

C
Still want a laptop? That was so yesterday. Get ready for the next stage in the personal computer revolution: It's the ultrathin (超薄的), cheap netbook.
According to a New York Times report last week, personal computers are about to go through their biggest change since the rise of the laptop. By the end of the year, consumers are likely to see laptops the size of thin paperback books that can run all day on a single charge and are equipped with touch screens or slide-out keyboards. The netbook is a kind of portable computer with learner functions for online surfing and basic computing activities, for example, word processing. To cut the cost and weight, they usually have a low-powered processor, small screen, narrow keyboard, and no ODD.
Currently, some of the devices look more like a toy than a full-feature computer. That's because most of the netbooks sold today run on an Intel chip called Atom. This is a lower-power version of the company's standard laptop chip, so they have trouble running demanding software like games and photo-editing programs.
This year, a group of companies who make cheap, power-saving chips used in cell phones are applying that expert skill to PCs. That means they will break Atom's netbook dominance (统治地位) and reduce the size while letting it run complicated programs.
The big winner in the rise of netbooks will be the consumer. AT&T announced last week that customers in Atlanta, Georgia, US, could get a netbook for just $50 (342 yuan) if they signed up for an Internet service plan. This trend will soon spread to Asia, according to industry experts.
University campuses are a major target of Shanzhai netbooks—uncopyrighted (无版权的) domestic copies of foreign brands. These products are usually sold at less than 2,000 yuan. But industry insiders suggest students not use these nameless products because many of them don't provide good after-safes services.
49．The following are all advantages of netbooks EXCEPT that      .
A．people can easily edit photographs with them
B．they cost less than other personal computers
C．they are very thin and easy to carry
D．they save power
50．Why are students advised not to use Shanzhai netbooks?
A．Because they are of poor quality.
B．Because they are not easy to operate.
C．Because they will soon be out of date.
D．Because they lack good after-sales services.
51．What can be inferred from the passage?
A．Laptops are becoming more and more popular.
B．University students seldom buy Shanzhai netbooks.
C．Shanzhai netbooks are sold better than those of famous foreign brands.
D．Atom's netbooks make up the largest part of the sales of portable computers at present.
52．What is the general idea of this passage?
A．Shanzhai netbooks are taking control of laptop market.
B．Netbooks have advantages over laptops in everything.
C．Netbooks are becoming the trend of personal computers.
D．Most of the netbooks sold today run on an Intel chip called Atom.

TAIBEI － Increasing numbers of Taiwanese students are joining the island’s “China rush”, seeking education on the Chinese mainland．

     According to official Chinese figures, the number of Taiwanese students admitted into college and postgraduate（研究生）programs on the mainland totaled 461 in 1996, 928 in 1997 and 839 in 1998．Although no latest official numbers were available,” Netbig. Com Said this number had risen between 30 to 50 percent annually in the past two years with well over 1000 entering mainland campuses last year.

     The Internet site, based in the Chinese city of Shenzhen, provides education service and information on Chinese mainland college and universities. “Many Taiwanese believe a Chinese education giving more knowledge about the people and culture in the mainland will increase their chances in the Chinese job market, Net. Com vice-president Ingrid Huang said．“I believe it will give me hands-on experience in the business field in the Chinese mainland and a better understanding of the Chinese mainland people,” said Lydia Chang, a 19-year-old majoring in journalism at Shih Shin University. Chang plans to go on to get a master’s degree in business administration in Shanghai, which she says offers the best environment for such studies.

     A journalism graduate student, surnamed Lin, at the National Taiwan University said he would like to study law on the Chinese mainland since “there will be better career prospects now that more Taiwanese companies are going there”. “They hope the children could build up connections which could later become useful in their business operations,” said Yang Ching-yao, professor of the Chinese mainland studies. A Netbig. Com survey showed the campuses favored by Taiwan students included Beijing, Qinghua and Renmin universities in Beijing, and Jinan and Zhongshan universities in Guangzhou. The most popular studies were law, business and Chinese medicine.

     At present, Chinese Taibei doesn’t recognize diplomas earned in the Chinese mainland nor help with any inquiries about studying there. But recognizing the trend, education authorities are giving a final form to a policy accepting certificates（证书）from selected universities.

1.More Taiwanese students study on the Chinese mainland because ___________.

    A．Taiwan will reunite with the mainland sooner or later

    B．the fees asked for are lower than those of Taiwan

    C．what they have learned on the mainland will bring them a bright future

    D．there are many famous universities for them to choose

2.Some business executives were sending their children to study in the Chinese mainland so that their children ___________.

    A．could receive better education     B．could learn more about the policy there

    C．could do well in the business operations   D．could make more friends there

3.The underlined word “it” in the third paragraph refers to __________.

A．Netbig. Com                      B．a Chinese education on the mainland

C．the Chinese job market           D．the university

4.The author wrote the article to tell us ______________.

    A．more Taiwanese students are studying on the mainland

    B．the number of Taiwanese students going to universities on the mainland had been increasing year after year

    C．education on the mainland is more attractive compared with that of Taiwan

    D．Taiwan and the mainland should cooperate with each other in every field.

5.Which is true according to the passage?

    A．Chinese Taibei recognizes diplomas earned on the Chinese mainland

    B．The number of Taiwanese students going to study on the mainland will surely be increasing in the next few years.

    C．Chinese Taibei doesn’t help with any inquiries about Taiwanese studying in the mainland

    D．Education of Taiwan is far behind the mainland.

第二节  语法填空(共10小题；每小题1.5分，满分15分)

阅读下面短文，按照句子结构的语法性和上下文连贯的要求，在空格处填人一个适当的词或使用括号中词语的正确形式填空，并将答案填写在答题卡标号为11～20的相应位置上。

It is important to fix our eyes on the protection of wildlife, because at present they are in danger. Every day some species of animals or plants are ___31___ (die) out.

On one hand, people hunt ___32___ for food or for clothing, because some have thick furs ___33___ can be made into clothes. On the other hand, man think some animals are ___34___ (fiercely) and attack them to death. For this reason, they can’t get along ___35___ with wildlife. And as a result, what they do ___36___ (danger) the wildlife.

In order to protect the wildlife ___37___ extinction, it is necessary to set up wildlife reserve ___38___ some special zones for wildlife. What’s more, leading the consciousness of wildlife protection to come into ___39___ (be) is the most important. Only when the above has a good effect___40___ wildlife can it be protected and the species develop gradually and safely.

A sandstorm, also known as a dust storm, is exactly what it sounds like. A very strong windstorm especially in the desert carries clouds of sand or dust that greatly reduces visibility. This wind is usually caused by convection currents (对流气流), which are created by intense heating of the ground, and is usually strong enough to move entire sand dunes. Air is unstable when heated, and this instability in the air will cause higher winds to mix with winds in the lower atmosphere, producing strong surface winds.
Sandstorms can disturb people’s travel, and can sometimes destroy whole roads, and dry flat areas. Similar dust storms can be found on the planet Mars, and are thought to be seasonal. Today, the destruction of forests and too much farming of farmland can lead to sandstorms. Too much use of water resources can also cause sandstorms.
In the United States of America, sandstorms are rare because of the lack of large deserts and more importantly the development of proper agricultural techniques. The last recorded destructive sandstorm in American history was the Dust Bowl, which occurred on July 16, 1971 and was widely recorded by meteorologists (气象学家).
To protect themselves from sandstorms, some people wear protective suits. Special equipment can be fixed in some cars to prevent sand from getting into the engine. Sandstorms can cause coughs, and the sand and dust has also been known to carry “infectious diseases”. Sand particles, unlike dust ones, will block air passages, and cause a person who breathes them in to choke. Dust particles may cause an allergic (过敏的) reaction.
【小题1】Which of the following plays the first part in forming sandstorms?