第四部分：任务型阅读（每小题1分，满分10分）

    请认真阅读下列短文，并根据短文的内容要点完成文章后的表格。注意：补全填空应符合语法和搭配要求，每空只填一个单词。请将答案写在答题纸上的相应位置。

To tweet, or not to tweet?

A guide to the social networking/ microblogging service Tewitter

SINCE its creation in 2006, Twitter, the social networking service, has taken cyber space by storm. At first glance it might seem like Facebook, but Twitter is in a league of its own, connecting people with fast-paced updates. It has become a place for activities, celebrities, businesses and everyday people to let others know about videos, opinions, interesting news, advertisements-and, yes what they are eating for lunch.

Twitter: n. a free social networking service that connects users through fast-paced status updates.

Twitter-er: n. one who uses Twitter.

Tweet: n. short updates or messages, of 140 characters or less, wh ich are posted on your profile and sent to your followers.

Retweet (RT): n. unofficial Twitter feature that indicates a re-posting of a tweet from another user. Often uses the text RT@username (of the original source) before the post.

Follower: n. one who receives another user’s updates on his or her Twitter profile.

Direct message: n. a private message sent from one Twitter-er to another.

The phenomenon includes a host of new vocabulary terms and concepts that every self-respecting Twitter-er should know. Here’s a quick course on Twitter.

       So you’ve finally been swept up by the techno-tide and gotten a Twitter account. But what to write? Who knew 140 characters could be so overwhelming?

Darren Rowse of the TwiTip blog(www.twitip.com) recommends a two- step tweeting process: figure out what your follows want, and then give it to them. Some combination of cool links, conversation- starting quotes or questions , retweets and photos works well, Rowse writes.

Keep in mind that Twitter doesn’t directly offer photo hosting. You will need to use a third-party site like TwitPic (www.twitip.com) to upload your photos. Other sites, like TwitVid (tweetdeck.com/beta) can be used to post videos.

If you th ink the Twitter Web Site too complicated, try a Twiiter client—Tweetdeck(tweetdeck. Com/beta) and the Mac-only Tweetie(www. stebits. com)are popular, and both also are available as iPhone apps(应用程序).

Even without an iphone, you can update you Twitter on the go. After adding your phone number to your Twitter account, you can text updates to 40404(check Twitter’s Web site for numbers to use outside the United States)

But no matter how you tweet, remember that people can see what you post, and Twitter might not be the best place to complain about your boss, even if you make your Twitter private, your followers may not share your sense of discretion.

       Twitter is crowded with celebrith accounts. The famous , who once avoided the media in their private lives, are posting everything on Twitter for all the cyber world to see, gathering followers in the millions. Who’s leading the celebrity pack? TwitterCounter(www.twittercounter.com), a site that tracks the most popular Twitter users, lists Ashton Kuntcher and former fashion model, as the nost popular Twitter-er with, as of our publication date, 2,691,112 followers.

Title: To tweet, or not to tweet?

US universities enrolling a new wave of Chinese undergraduates, according to a report. While India was, for eight years on end, the leading country of origin for international students, China is rapidly catching up, spending 98,510 last year, which is a 21 percent increase. In China, the shift has been quite sharp. Last year, China sent 26,275 undergraduates and 57,451 graduate students to the US—compared with 8,034 undergraduates and 50,976 graduate students five years earlier.

Peggy Blumenthal, executive vice president of the Institute of International Education, said the growing share of undergraduates would change the face of the Chinese students’presence in the US. “It used to be that they were all in the graduate science and computer departments, but now, with the one-child policy, more and more Chinese parents are taking their considerable wealth and investing it in that one child getting an Amercian college education,” she said. “There’s a book getting huge play in China right now explaining liberal arts（人文） education.” The book, A Ture Liberal Arts Education, by three Chinese undergraduates in American universities, describes the education available at small liberal arts colleges and the concept of liberal arts, both relatively unknown in China.

“There’s growing disposable（支配）income in China, and not enough good universities to meet the demand, ”Leventhal at the University of Cincinnati said. “And in China, especially, studying in the United States makes a great difference, because when students get home, they speaking English. ”

Although the report tracks only the 2008-09 mumbers, a smaller survey by the institute last month found that over all, the increase in international students seems to be continuing, with China remaining strong. Of all the unversities surveyed this fall, 60 percent reported an increase in Chinese college students, and only 11 percent a decline.

63. The year before last, China sent about　　 international students aborad.

A．98510 B．26275 C．81413 D．57451

64. The number of　　 sent to the US from China has increased most sharply in recent years.

A．undergraduates B．graduates C．postgraduates D．art students

65. Why do more and more Chinese parents spend kids to study in the US？

A．They prerfer science and computer departments in American universities．

B．There is much better education for liberal arts in American universities．

C．They have realized the importance of liberal arts as well as science．

D．They are wealthier but can’t find enough good universities in China．

66. We can learn from the survey that　　 ．

A．all surveyed American universities enrolled more Chinese students than before

B．most American universities enrolled more Chinese international students

C．the mumber of Chinese college students fell in American universities

D．more and more Chinese students are sent to the US to learn English

阅读下面短文，从每题所给的四个选项中选出最佳答案.

　　Many people take for granted the fact that January 1,2000 marks the beginning of a new century for all mankind. However, this day does not have the same meaning everywhere in the world. Where did the date 2000 come from? Around 500 A.D., a leading religious man suggested that all Christians should start counting the date from the birth of Christ. After careful calculations, the year 1 A.D.（Christ's birth）was said to be the 28th year after Augustus became the emperor of Rome. Today, this calculation seems to be incorrect. Historians believe that Christ was actually born four years before this date, but changing the calendar now would only cause confusion around the world because most people are used to the current calendar.

　　There are several other major calendars used for calculating the date The Jewish calendar calculates the date from the day the earth was created. In 1000 B.C., Jewish scholars set the date the earth began, and according to this calendar, the year2000 A.D. would actually be 5760. The Buddhist calendar begins from the death of Buddha, so the year 2000 A.D. for Christians will be 2544 for Buddhists. Muslims start their calendar from the time when the Prophet Muhammad escaped from Mecca and went to Medina. The Muslim calendar also follows the moon instead of the sun, so the Muslim year is 10 or 11 days shorter than the Christian year. The year 2000 A.D. is really 1420 for Muslims. The official Hindu calendar, which was put into use in the 1950s, begins from the first year that King Kaniska took power in India. When Christians celebrate the year 2000 A.D., it will only be the year 1922 for Hindus.

　　Not all calendars set the date by historical or religious events. One other system used for calculating the date was created by the astronomer Joseph Scaliger in the1500s. For astronomers, one year is a very short time when looking at the movement of planets and stars. Therefore, Mr. Scaliger suggested using a time period for his calendar that would equal 7,980 years. The dates of the calendar are calculated by dividing one 7,980-year cycle of this calendar into smaller periods. These periods are more convenient for following the movements of the sun and the moon. Mr. Scaliger picked out the starting point of one of these cycles as January 14,713 B.C. In 2000 A.D. this calendar will set the date as 2,451,545.

（1）Historians now believe that Christ was born ________.

[　　]

A. before Augustus became emperor

B. 24 years after Augustus became emperor

C. in 1 A.D.

D. in the year 2000 A.D.

（2）What marks the beginning of the Jewish calendar?

[　　]

A. the birth of Muhammad

B. the death of Buddha

C. the beginning of the earth

D. the lunar cycle

（3）Why did Mr. Scaliger need to create a new calendar for keeping track of the movement of planets?

[　　]

A. History is very short.

B. Planets are too big.

C. Light travels too fast

D. Years are too short.

（4）The second paragraph is mainly about ________.

[　　]

A. how to measure time

B. many different calendars

C. major religions of the world

阅读下面短文，从每题所给的四个选项中选出最佳答案.

　　Many people take for granted the fact that January 1,2000 marks the beginning of a new century for all mankind. However, this day does not have the same meaning everywhere in the world. Where did the date 2000 come from? Around 500 A.D., a leading religious man suggested that all Christians should start counting the date from the birth of Christ. After careful calculations, the year 1 A.D.（Christ's birth）was said to be the 28th year after Augustus became the emperor of Rome. Today, this calculation seems to be incorrect. Historians believe that Christ was actually born four years before this date, but changing the calendar now would only cause confusion around the world because most people are used to the current calendar.

　　There are several other major calendars used for calculating the date The Jewish calendar calculates the date from the day the earth was created. In 1000 B.C., Jewish scholars set the date the earth began, and according to this calendar, the year2000 A.D. would actually be 5760. The Buddhist calendar begins from the death of Buddha, so the year 2000 A.D. for Christians will be 2544 for Buddhists. Muslims start their calendar from the time when the Prophet Muhammad escaped from Mecca and went to Medina. The Muslim calendar also follows the moon instead of the sun, so the Muslim year is 10 or 11 days shorter than the Christian year. The year 2000 A.D. is really 1420 for Muslims. The official Hindu calendar, which was put into use in the 1950s, begins from the first year that King Kaniska took power in India. When Christians celebrate the year 2000 A.D., it will only be the year 1922 for Hindus.

　　Not all calendars set the date by historical or religious events. One other system used for calculating the date was created by the astronomer Joseph Scaliger in the1500s. For astronomers, one year is a very short time when looking at the movement of planets and stars. Therefore, Mr. Scaliger suggested using a time period for his calendar that would equal 7,980 years. The dates of the calendar are calculated by dividing one 7,980-year cycle of this calendar into smaller periods. These periods are more convenient for following the movements of the sun and the moon. Mr. Scaliger picked out the starting point of one of these cycles as January 14,713 B.C. In 2000 A.D. this calendar will set the date as 2,451,545.

（1）Historians now believe that Christ was born ________.

[　　]

A. before Augustus became emperor

B. 24 years after Augustus became emperor

C. in 1 A.D.

D. in the year 2000 A.D.

（2）What marks the beginning of the Jewish calendar?

[　　]

A. the birth of Muhammad

B. the death of Buddha

C. the beginning of the earth

D. the lunar cycle

（3）Why did Mr. Scaliger need to create a new calendar for keeping track of the movement of planets?

[　　]

A. History is very short.

B. Planets are too big.

C. Light travels too fast

D. Years are too short.

（4）The second paragraph is mainly about ________.

[　　]

A. how to measure time

B. many different calendars

C. major religions of the world