Count Me Out

Call me old-fashioned. Call me old. Call me what you want, but I refuse to become part of this new Internet world.

I do not possess a computer at home or at the office. Actually, I stopped going to an office 35 years ago, when all communications were done with a pen, a typewriter, or, if the matter was of world-shaking importance, over the telephone. Likewise, if you like something advertised in a newspaper or magazine, you visited the shop selling it at the given address, or you phoned the number shown. Then you spoke to the fellow and asked for further details.

Tell me what you think of the following ad that appeared the other day in the newspaper. It was for a cure for cancer and this is what it said: “Awareness is the key. Visit spfulford. com at the awareness site.” There was no address or telephone number for the site. So what do unfortunate people without a computer do if they are seeking a cure for their illness?

There are, I am told, certain advantages in having access to the Internet. You can, for example, send love messages across the world or even get married to someone that you meet online. This bit doesn’t interest me; I have been happily married for 60 years. There are, of course, other activities for Internet users besides finding love. They can pay bills, order groceries, or discuss with their doctors.

And this is by no means all. More amazing things are yet to come in the near future. I read a newspaper report recently that quoted Stephen Hawking, an important British scientist. “The complexity of a computer as it exists today is probably less than the brain of an earthworm,” he said. “But, as technology advances, computers will become more complex, and a time may come when the Internet may develop ‘consciousness.’ In other words, the Internet will be able to think, have feelings, and may well be able to act on its own.”

If Professor Hawking is right, I may change my attitude to computers. As I grow older each day, I would like one of those that not only thinks for me but also accepts responsibilities for all my mistakes.

1.

What’s the meaning of the title “Count Me Out”?

2.

According to Paragraph 2, the author thinks computers are         .

3.

What might the author like about the future computer?

When we read books we seem to enter a new world. This new world can be similar to the one we are living in, or it can be very      . Some stories are told       they were true. Real people who live in a       world do real things; in other words, the stories are about people just like us doing what we do. Other stories, such as the Harry Potter books, are not       . They are characters and creatures that are very different from us and do things that would be       for us.

But there is more to books and writing than this. If we think about it, even realistic writing is only      . How can we tell the difference between what is real and what is not real? For example, when we read about Harry Potter, we       seem to learn something about the real world. And when Harry studies magic at Hogwarts, he also learns more about his real life than      . Reading, like writing, is an action. It is a way of      . When we read or write something, we do much more than simple look at words on a page. We use our       -- which is real-- and our imagination-- which is real in a different way --- to make the words come to life in our minds. www.zxxk.com

　　Both realism and fantasy(幻想)       the imagination and the “magic” of reading and writing to make us think. When we read       realistic, we have to imagine that the people we are reading about are just like us, even though we       that we are real and they are     . It sounds       , but it works. When we read, we fill in missing information and     about the causes and effects of what a character does. We help the writer by   52   that what we read is like real life. In a way, we are writing the book, too.

Most of us probably don’t think about what is going on in our       when we are reading. We pick up a book and lose       in a good story, eager to find out what will happen next. Knowing how we feel       we read can help us become better readers, and it will help us discover more about the real magic of books.

1.A. possible              B. easy                        C. new                        D. different

2.A. that                     B. what                       C. whether                 D. as if

3.A. usual                            B. normal                   C. certain                   D. common

4.A. realistic              B. reasonable            C. moral                      D. instructive

5.A. difficult               B. impossible    C. important              D. necessary

6.A. thinkable            B. designed                C. imagined                D. planned

7.A. do                        B. make                      C. have                       D. are

8.A. lessons               B. dreams                   C. experience           D. magic

9.A. working              B. thinking                  C. living             D. understanding

10.A. knowledge                B. skill                         C. words            D. grammar

11.A. make                          B. get                          C. use                          D. have

12.A. a newspaper   B. something             C. everything             D. a story

13.A. find                            B. learn                       C. know                      D. hope

14.A. too                             B. not                          C. all                            D. so

15.A. dangerous                B. serious                   C. strange                   D. terrible

16.A. talk                             B. learn                       C. read                        D. think

17.A. telling                        B. pretending            C. promising              D. guessing

18.A. mind                          B. life                          C. world            D. society

19.A. heart                          B. time                        C. money                    D. ourselves

20.A. what                           B. how                        C. when                      D. why

请阅读下列应用文及相关信息，并按照要求匹配信息。
BAIDU (www.baidu.com) is a daily miracle to millions of people. It is one of the most popular search engines on the web, a challenging competitor to Google! Type words, names of pictures or videos into the space given and in a second it can comp up with hundreds of related resources. Baidu leads to the entrance to the entrance to vast information.
A. In 1993, “the father of NetEase” ( www.163.com )—Ding Lei wanted to make Internet-surfing easy for Chinese. At that time, most websites are run in English and only few in Chinese at a low speed but high price. To enable Chinese people remember this new website name, instead of English letter, he chose Arabia Number---“163.com”, which provides users with the largest e-mail and network hard disk.
B. YAHOO( www.yahoo.com) was the first wonder of the web. It started in January 1994 by two students, but before the end of the year, it had become famous as Yahoo we know today.
C. Taobao(www.taobao.com), which deals with companies online trading services, is one of the largest Internet companies where people buy and sell goods and services worldwide. It has opened up a global marker="place" where the online service allows sellers or buyers to bargain.
D. Gamedom(www.7k7k.com) started out as a fun world, offering a variety of games which suits people in different ages. It also does some business like selling popular computer games. Software. Or download hot music at a certain price.
E. To meet the wordwide common belief-saving energy, news provided in electronic form is becoming necessary. News center (www.chinaenglish.com) can update the latest news daily and store old news. Pictures, comments, videos are offered as well.
【小题1】 Zhang Lin is always proud of being a Chinese and he never buys anything made in foreign countries. The net world set up by Chinese certainly is his favorite choice. Can you guess what will be his “e-mail address”?
【小题2】Everybody knows that “Rome is not built in one day”, but what surprised Sam is that a famous website is setup by two students and become world="known" within one year. Which web will he really admired most?
【小题3】Li Lei has got an assignment from his teacher to write an essay. He’d like to surf the Internet to search for rich information. A search engine with fast speed and various resources will be of great help to him. Which web will he refer to?
【小题4】 Safeguard TianJun is lying in bed because of his brave fighting against several robbers. Being bored of reading books or sleeping, he borrowed a laptop to play computer games to relax himself and kill time. Which website suits his taste?
【小题5】As a busy white-collar girl, Susan hardly has much time to go window shopping. But it no longer upsets her because during her working break, she can search for different goods online and even bargain. Where can she do this?

请阅读下列应用文及相关信息，并按照要求匹配信息。

BAIDU (www.baidu.com) is a daily miracle to millions of people. It is one of the most popular search engines on the web, a challenging competitor to Google! Type words, names of pictures or videos into the space given and in a second it can comp up with hundreds of related resources. Baidu leads to the entrance to the entrance to vast information.

A.  In 1993, “the father of NetEase” ( www.163.com )—Ding Lei wanted to make Internet-surfing easy for Chinese. At that time, most websites are run in English and only few in Chinese at a low speed but high price. To enable Chinese people remember this new website name, instead of English letter, he chose Arabia Number---“163.com”, which provides users with the largest e-mail and network hard disk.

B.  YAHOO( www.yahoo.com) was the first wonder of the web. It started in January 1994 by two students, but before the end of the year, it had become famous as Yahoo we know today.

C.  Taobao(www.taobao.com), which deals with companies online trading services, is one of the largest Internet companies where people buy and sell goods and services worldwide. It has opened up a global marker=place where the online service allows sellers or buyers to bargain.

D.  Gamedom(www.7k7k.com) started out as a fun world, offering a variety of games which suits people in different ages. It also does some business like selling popular computer games. Software. Or download hot music at a certain price.

E.  To meet the wordwide common belief-saving energy, news provided in electronic form is becoming necessary. News center (www.chinaenglish.com) can update the latest news daily and store old news. Pictures, comments, videos are offered as well.

1. Zhang Lin is always proud of being a Chinese and he never buys anything made in foreign countries. The net world set up by Chinese certainly is his favorite choice. Can you guess what will be his “e-mail address”?

2.Everybody knows that “Rome is not built in one day”, but what surprised Sam is that a famous website is setup by two students and become world=known within one year. Which web will he really admired most?

3.Li Lei has got an assignment from his teacher to write an essay. He’d like to surf the Internet to search for rich information. A search engine with fast speed and various resources will be of great help to him. Which web will he refer to?

4. Safeguard TianJun is lying in bed because of his brave fighting against several robbers. Being bored of reading books or sleeping, he borrowed a laptop to play computer games to relax himself and kill time. Which website suits his taste?

5.As a busy white-collar girl, Susan hardly has much time to go window shopping. But it no longer upsets her because during her working break, she can search for different goods online and even bargain. Where can she do this?

If you haven’t seen or heard anything about Road Rage in the last few months, you’ve probably been avoiding the media. There have been countless stories about this new and scary phenomenon, considered a type of aggressive driving. You have most likely encountered aggressive dnriving or Road Rage recently if you drive at all.

   While drunk driving remains a critical problem，the facts about aggressive driving are surely as disturbing. For instance，according to the National Highway Transportation Safety Association, 41，907 people died on the highway last year．of those deaths,the agency estimates that about two-thirds were caused at least in part by aggressive driving behavior．

Why is this phenomenon occurring more than ever now and why is it something that seemed almost nonexistent a few short years ago?Experts have certain theories，and all are probably partially correct．One suggestion is over crowding．In the last decade，the number of the cars on the roads has increased by more than 11 percent，and the number of miles driven has increased by 35 percent．However,the number of new road miles has only increased by 1 percent．That means more cars in the same amount of space；and the problem is even serious in urban areas．Also，people have less time and more things to do．With people working and trying to fit extra chores and activities into the day，street levels have never been higher．Stress creates anxiety,which leads to short tempers．These factors，when combined in certain situations，Can induce Road Rage.

You may think you are the last person who would drive aggressively，but you might be surprised．For instance, have you ever yelled out loud at a slower driver,sounded the horn long and hard at another car, or sped up to keep another driver from passing?If you recognize yourself in any of these situations，watch out!

Whether you are getting angry at other drivers，or another driver is visibly upset with you，there are things you can do to avoid any major conflict.If you are easily influenced to Road Rage，the key is to discharge your emotion in a healthy way.If You are the target of another driver’s rage，do everything possible to get away from me other drive safely，including avoiding eye contact and getting out of their way． www.sdzxlm.com

1.What can we learn from the first paragraph?

A．Most people are angry at media reports and want to avoid them

B．Most drivers have bad manners

C.Road Rage has received much media attention in the past few months

D.People showing no interest in the media know little about recent happenings

2.According to the passage，what are the causes of overcrowding?

A．Stress，anxiety and short tempers．

B．People working together in a big city．

C．More cars stopping in the same amount of space

D．Quickly increasing cars and slowly increasing new road miles

3.The underlined“induce”in Paragraph3 Call be replaced by“

A．relax    B．cause    C．reduce  D．destroy

4.Which of the following is“aggressive driving”?

A．Phoning while driving．

B．Driving at a low speed．

C．Shouting loud at another driver．

D．Sounding the horn when driving．

5.What does the writer want to tell US by writing the last paragraph?

A．Flow to control our anger

B．How to deal with Road Rage．

C，How to recognize aggressive drivers．

D．How to avoid eye contact with other drivers．