Dear iPhone 4 Users,

The iPhone 4 has been the most successful product in Apple’s history. It is the best smartphone ever, and most users have told that they love it. So we were surprised when reading reports of reception (信号接收) problems, and we immediately began researching them.

To start with, holding tightly（紧紧地）almost any mobile phone in certain ways will reduce its reception by 1 or more bars of signal strength. This is true of iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, as well as many other phones. But some users have reported that iPhone 4 can drop 4 or 5 bars when tightly held in a way. This is a far bigger drop than normal, and as a result some have said the iPhone 4 has a faulty antenna(天线) design.

Upon research, we find that the formula（公式） we use to calculate how many bars of signal strength to display is totally wrong. Our formula usually mistakenly displays 2 more bars than it should for a given signal strength. The big drop in bars is because the high bars were never real in the beginning.

We will give a free software update to correct the formula. This software update （软件升级）will also be available for iPhone 3GS. If you are not fully satisfied, you can return your undamaged iPhone to any Apple Retail Store or the online Apple Store within 30 days of buying and get all your money back.

Thank you for your patience and support.

                                                                   Apple

1.The iPhone 4 drops more bars than normal when tightly held because of          .

A. a wrong antenna design           B. wrong usage

C. weak signal strength             D. a wrong formula

2.How many more bars does the iPhone 4 show than it should for a given signal strength?

A. 2            B. 3            C. 4           D. 5

3. What can we learn from the text?

A. The software update is fit for all cellphones produced by Apple.

B. The iPhone 4 has been the most successful product in history.

C. If a user is not satisfied with his iPhone 4, he will get ten times his money back.

D. The Apple company didn’t expect the reception problems of iPhone 4.

4. The text is a letter          .

A. from Apple about iPhone problems             B. to Apple about iPhone 4 problems

C. to introduce the new iPhone 4            D. on how to pay back buyers for the faults

I have never met a successful person who wasn’t 100% prepared. Once you realize the advantage that exceptional __21___ gives, it becomes a lifelong habit.

Ivan Lendl is a typical example. He has thought about every side to his game, _22___ it is playing plan against an opponent, or his diet, or fitness program. But what really __23____ me was when he told me he also knew the airline and flight number he was taking to the city in question. That is the way he __24___ everything. It is one element that has made him a champion.

One reason many of us aren’t prepared is that we rarely appreciate it. And if anyone does find out we have prepared carefully to make certain we __25___ our goal, we may well be laughed at. In fact, many people are afraid to be prepared: if they are, they lose an excellent _26____when they fail.

In sport, you meet athletes who let it be known they are not in top condition for a competition. It __27___ the pressure. If they lose, they were not at their best. If they win, they go beyond everyone’s __28___. This is a classic 50% solution: you win some, you lose some. Then there are the people who do their preparation in public. They constantly tell you how hard they are working. That way, if they fail, it is not because they did not try. This is the 75% solution: prepare well, give it your best, let things turn out as they will.

The very best performers, __29___ , spend hidden hours to make sure that they are No. 1. They don’t need or want the world to see them sweat. This is the 110% solution: First determine the __30__ result. Then calculate your effort.

21        A. chance            B. possibility         c. preparation         D. ambition

22        A. whether        B. when                c. whatever            D. if

23        A. amused           B. delighted           c. astonished          D. confused

24        A. works out     B. deals with          c. gets to         D. acts as

25        A. acquire            B. achieve             c. possess               D. have

26        A. reason             B. explanation        c. prediction          D. excuse

27        A. relieves           B. releases             c. rejects                D. regulates

28        A. expectations     B. wishes            c. ideas                  D. opinions

29        A. yet                 B. however        c. besides               D. furthermore

30        A. desired            B. acquired            c. admired             D. prepared

We tried so hard to make things better for our kids but we made them worse. For my naughty boys, I’d know better. I’d really like for them to know about hand-me-down clothes and home-made ice cream and leftover meatloaf. I really would.
My cherished boys, I hope you learn humility (谦逊) by surviving failure and that you learn to be honest even when no one is looking. I hope you get a black eye fighting for something you believe in. I hope you have to share a bedroom with your younger brother. And it is all right to draw a line down the middle of the room, but when he wants to crawl (爬) under the covers (被子) with you because he’s scared, I hope you’ll let him. And when you want to see a Disney movie and your kid brother wants to tag along, I hope you take him.
　　I hope you have to walk uphill with your friends and that you live in a town where you can do it safely. I hope you learn to dig in the dirt and read books, and when you learn to use computers, you also learn how to add and subtract (减) in your head.
May you skin your knee climbing a mountain, burn your hand on the stove and stick your tongue on a frozen flagpole (旗杆). I hope you get sick when someone blows smoke in your face. I don’t care if you try beer once, but I hope you won’t like it.
I sure hope you make time to sit on a porch with your grandpa or go fishing with your uncle.
I hope your father punishes you when you throw a baseball through a neighbor’s window, and that your mother hugs you and kisses you when you give her a plaster of pared mold (一个石膏模型) of your hand.
　 These things I wish for you—tough times and disappointment, hard work and happiness.
【小题1】Who wrote the letter?

So much to do, so little time. So much information, so little time to read. In this age there is more information than ever before. There is not enough time to read everything we want to read. However, you can take in and understand more information in shorter time through speed-reading. This article will not make you read 3,000 words per minute, but it will show you how to increase your speed greatly. You will also learn the basic techniques of speed reading, along with the dos and don’ts of speed-reading．

When you first learned to read, you would say the word out loud and sound it out. Then you might whisper the word because people can become annoyed when you read aloud. The stage you are now at is saying the word in your head．Most people tend to read this way. Saying the word in your head will cut your reading speed tremendously.

How do you calculate your reading speed? The speed is measured by how many words per minute you can read. Get some reading material, preferably a book. Find out how many words are on the page. Time yourself one minute. Start your timer and start reading. When the timer sounds, stop at once. If you counted 500 words on the page and you read half of the page, then you are probably reading at 250 words per minute.

The first thing about speed-reading is looking at the word and recognizing it. Don’t say the word in your mind, just look at it and recognize its appearance. Later you will recognize groups of four words or more to increase your speed. This is the first and most important step in speed-reading.

The next step is technique. As with any other skill, speed-reading requires technique. You should first be sitting up straight with your book on a horizontal surface, such as a table or desk. Next, should be able to see the entire page．This is necessary if you want to recognize clumps of words. Lastly, you should be focused. It’s hard to read a lot of noise. Find a quiet place to read. This will help your understand of the text. You need something to guide your eyes while reading. Then right, you should use your hand, Remember when you were little, you would read using your finger. That is a great technique, only now you're using your hand to underline each line．Move your finger smoothly across page．No need to go rush , start our slow. Keep your eyes focused on words as you recognize them while using your hand as a guide. This will increase you speed.

The third step is practice. Practice makes perfect. Set time intervals（时间间隔）. Read using different techniques, but make sure you understand what you’re reading.

Which of the following statements in true according to the text?

A．Now there is limited information than ever before.

B．Now conditions ask people to use less time to know more information.

C．No people can read what they like.

D．The less you read, the more time you will spend.

What is the subject discussed in the text?

A．What speed-reading is.

B．Why we need speed-reading.

C．Now it has much information, less time.

D．People should practice speed-reading in different kinds of ways.

Which of the following shows the right way for the speed-reading from the text?

a．Ask for some techniques.

b．Look at many words and recognize them.

c．Practice more.

       A．c, a, b      B．c, b, a       C．b, a, c       D．a, c, b

The underlined sentence “you should be focused” in the fifth paragraph means that          .

A．a person should devote his attention to it while reading

B．your feelings will be hurt while reading

C．a person should smooth away difficulties while he reads

D．you should pay attention to your faults while you are reading

To speed up your reading, you should       。

A．sit up straight with your book flat and use something to guide your eyes

B．say every word out loud and sound it out

C．know it is necessary to read quickly

D．underline some important words while you say them

完形填空（共20小题；每小题1分，满分20分）

阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从41─60各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

Nowadays 41  children go to school  42 few of them have ever asked themselves  43  they go there. Some children think that they go to school just to learn their mother tongue, English and other foreign languages, history, science,   44 and a few other  45 . But why do they learn these things? Are these the only things they should learn at school?

Actually children go to school to  46  themselves for the time when they will be grown up and will have to  47  themselves. They learn their own language   48 they will be able to  49 with people in foreign countries, make friends with them and learn  50  about their culture and history. They learn mathematics in order to be able to measure the things around them and calculate sums.  51 helps them understand something about the world around them and history teaches them about the past and people. Nearly everything they study at school has some use  52  in their  53 , but there is one more  54 reason why children go to school.

It is more important to receive education that just learning  55 .We go to school  56 to learn how to learn. Learning is not just for school but for life. So even after we have left school, we have to continue to learn. A man who  57 knows how to learn will always be  58 because whenever he is faced with a completely new task or problem, he will teach himself how to deal with it in the best way.  59 , children do not go to school just to learn languages, mathematics, geography, etc. They go to school to  60 how to learn.