When I opened my e-mail the other day, a blond woman named Rachel appeared on my computer screen. She greeted me by name and started talking with great enthusiasm. Every now and then she stopped to smile and blow a kiss. I guess that the e-mail she was reading to me came from my brother, and that a lot of it was about the trouble he was having getting the phone company to set up his high-speed Internet hookup. Still, it was pretty cool.

    Rachel was there thanks to a new technology called Facemail. Facemail lets you send e-mail that gets read to the recipient (接收者) by an attractive male or female form or by a devil or clown (小丑). The software, which is free, can be downloaded at www.facemail.com. And you can choose the face from an array (列表). If Facemail catches on—yes, I’d have to say that's still as if—it could change e-mail as we know it.

    Facemail is about to get a lot more interesting. In a few weeks you will be able to speak into a microphone in your computer and have your own voice read thee-mail you send. The company has signed a deal with Kodak so that sometimes next year you will be able to submit a photo and your own face will be the one reading your e-mail.

    The main thing Facemail has for it right now is that it's fun. That's no surprise, since the company's chief executive is Lucie Salhany, founder of UPN and former head of Fox Broadcasting. As its new capabilities kick in, Facemail could become a lot more popular. After all, what grandparent wouldn't prefer e-mail with the voice and picture of a grandchild instead of coldly impersonal text?

1．We can see from this passage the Rachel  ________.

    A. is a friend of the writer's brother

    B. is working at a computer company

    C. is an attractive woman hired to read e-mail for others

    D. is not a real person

2．How can you get Facemail if you are interested in it?

    A. You can get it at a very low price.

    B. You can send e-mail at www.facemail.com.

    C. You can get it through Internet for nothing.

    D. You can place an order at www.facemail.com.

3．Sometime next year, you will _________________.

    A. hear your own voice reading your e-mail

    B. see your own picture while reading your e-mail

    C. have your own face reading e-mail you send others

    D. hear your own e-mil read together with your picture

4．We can infer from the second paragraph that the writer ________.

    A. doesn't believe that the Facemail would become popular

    B. doubts whether Facemail will be hot soon

    C. is sure that Facemail will work wonders for e-mail

    D. believes that Facemail has a good market ahead of it

5．The writer believes that Facemail could become a lot more popular mainly because ________.

    A. it is convenient and fun

    B. more and more advanced technology will be used in it

    C. Lucie Salhany is in charge of it

    D. it can make communications by computer more personal

阅读理解

When I opened my e-mail the other day, a blond woman named Rachel appeared on my computer screen. She greeted me by name and started talking with great enthusiasm. Every now and then she stopped to smile and blow a kiss. I guess that the e-mail she was reading to me came from my brother, and that a lot of it was about the trouble he was having getting the phone company to set up his high-speed Internet hookup. Still, it was pretty cool.

    Rachel was there thanks to a new technology called Facemail. Facemail lets you send e-mail that gets read to the recipient (接收者) by an attractive male or female form or by a devil or clown (小丑). The software, which is free, can be downloaded at www.facemail.com. And you can choose the face from an array (列表). If Facemail catches on—yes, I’d have to say that's still as if—it could change e-mail as we know it.

    Facemail is about to get a lot more interesting. In a few weeks you will be able to speak into a microphone in your computer and have your own voice read thee-mail you send. The company has signed a deal with Kodak so that sometimes next year you will be able to submit a photo and your own face will be the one reading your e-mail.

    The main thing Facemail has for it right now is that it's fun. That's no surprise, since the company's chief executive is Lucie Salhany, founder of UPN and former head of Fox Broadcasting. As its new capabilities kick in, Facemail could become a lot more popular. After all, what grandparent wouldn't prefer e-mail with the voice and picture of a grandchild instead of coldly impersonal text?

1．We can see from this passage the Rachel  ________.

    A. is a friend of the writer's brother

    B. is working at a computer company

    C. is an attractive woman hired to read e-mail for others

    D. is not a real person

2．How can you get Facemail if you are interested in it?

    A. You can get it at a very low price.

    B. You can send e-mail at www.facemail.com.

    C. You can get it through Internet for nothing.

    D. You can place an order at www.facemail.com.

3．Sometime next year, you will _________________.

    A. hear your own voice reading your e-mail

    B. see your own picture while reading your e-mail

    C. have your own face reading e-mail you send others

    D. hear your own e-mil read together with your picture

4．We can infer from the second paragraph that the writer ________.

    A. doesn't believe that the Facemail would become popular

    B. doubts whether Facemail will be hot soon

    C. is sure that Facemail will work wonders for e-mail

    D. believes that Facemail has a good market ahead of it

5．The writer believes that Facemail could become a lot more popular mainly because ________.

    A. it is convenient and fun

    B. more and more advanced technology will be used in it

    C. Lucie Salhany is in charge of it

    D. it can make communications by computer more personal

He has vowed that he will not stop building his business until it is worth £100 million. But hard-working Owens can stop for at least a moment's celebration after making his first £1 million at the age of 16. Owens, who has used a computer since the age of seven, began teaching himself basic web design at the age of ten when he was given his first Mac computer. He used his pocket money to fund his first business project, website Mac Box Bundle at just 14 which has made £700,000 since its establishment in 2008. Mac Box Bundle sells a combination of popular Mac applications which are worth up to $400 together for under just $100 and donates 10 percent of the money to charities.

He then established an advertising company Branchr a year later and worked on the business after school and at weekends. Branchr made a surprising £500,000 in its first year. Branchr works as a platform for website owners to sell advertising.

Owens, from Northampton, currently employs eight staff---all adults---around the UK and America as sales and technical assistants. The young man lives with his parents. His mother who is a company secretary said he was inspired to go into business after observing the huge success achieved by Apple's chief executive officers(首席执行官) Steve Jobs.

Owens said, "I think everyone has business sense in them, and they just need to gain experience and be determined to make it. There is no magical formula(法则) for business, It takes hard work, determination and the drive to do something great. My aim is to become a leading name in the world of Internet and mobile advertising and push myself right to the top of the game.

The teenager insists his professional success has not affected his personal life, and says his interests include photography and playing the guitar. "My friends and I don't really talk about my success. To them I'm just a normal teenager and it doesn't change anything between us."

1. What can we know from Paragraph 1?

   A. Owens' company is worth £1 million now.

   B. Owens learned to use computers at the age of 10.

   C. Owens made £700,000 from Mac Box Bundle in 2008.

   D. Owens is successful and enthusiastic about public welfare.

2.From Paragraph 2 we know that Branchr _____________.

   A. takes up all Owens' spare time

   B. offers a platform for advertising business

   C. designs practical software for website owners

   D. takes up advertising business for Nac Box Bundle

3.Why did Owens come up with the idea of doing business?

   A. Because eight adults were ready to help.

   B. Because it was easy to establish web companies.

   C. Because his parents wanted him to have a try.

   D. Because he drew inspiration from Steve jobs.

4.Owens tends to think that ____________.

   A. every person has potential talent for business

   B. getting experienced in business needs determination

   C. it is hard work for people to decide to do something great.

   D. he is sure to play a leading part in the world of the Internet.

5.What do Ownes' friends think about him?

   A. He sets a good example.  B. He does quite well in music.

   C. He is a common school boy.  D. He puts friendship above anything else.

He has vowed that he will not stop building his business until it is worth £100 million. But hard-working Owens can stop for at least a moment's celebration after making his first £1 million at the age of 16. Owens, who has used a computer since the age of seven, began teaching himself basic web design at the age of ten when he was given his first Mac computer. He used his pocket money to fund his first business project, website Mac Box Bundle at just 14 which has made £700,000 since its establishment in 2008. Mac Box Bundle sells a combination of popular Mac applications which are worth up to $400 together for under just $100 and donates 10 percent of the money to charities.

He then established an advertising company Branchr a year later and worked on the business after school and at weekends. Branchr made a surprising £500,000 in its first year. Branchr works as a platform for website owners to sell advertising.

Owens, from Northampton, currently employs eight staff---all adults---around the UK and America as sales and technical assistants. The young man lives with his parents. His mother who is a company secretary said he was inspired to go into business after observing the huge success achieved by Apple's chief executive officers(首席执行官) Steve Jobs.

Owens said, "I think everyone has business sense in them, and they just need to gain experience and be determined to make it. There is no magical formula(法则) for business, It takes hard work, determination and the drive to do something great. My aim is to become a leading name in the world of Internet and mobile advertising and push myself right to the top of the game.

The teenager insists his professional success has not affected his personal life, and says his interests include photography and playing the guitar. "My friends and I don't really talk about my success. To them I'm just a normal teenager and it doesn't change anything between us."

61. What can we know from Paragraph 1?

   A. Owens' company is worth £1 million now.

   B. Owens learned to use computers at the age of 10.

   C. Owens made £700,000 from Mac Box Bundle in 2008.

   D. Owens is successful and enthusiastic about public welfare.

62.From Paragraph 2 we know that Branchr _____________.

   A. takes up all Owens' spare time

   B. offers a platform for advertising business

   C. designs practical software for website owners

   D. takes up advertising business for Nac Box Bundle

63．Why did Owens come up with the idea of doing business?

   A. Because eight adults were ready to help.

   B. Because it was easy to establish web companies.

   C. Because his parents wanted him to have a try.

   D. Because he drew inspiration from Steve jobs.

64.Owens tends to think that ____________.

   A. every person has potential talent for business

   B. getting experienced in business needs determination

   C. it is hard work for people to decide to do something great.

   D. he is sure to play a leading part in the world of the Internet.

65.What do Ownes' friends think about him?

   A. He sets a good example.  B. He does quite well in music.

   C. He is a common school boy.  D. He puts friendship above anything else.

As a teenager in 1972, Bill Gates boasted that he would be a millionaire by the time he was 20. While he did not quite achieve that goal, only 15 years later, he was a millionaire. And by 1992, as head of the Microsoft company, he became the richest man in America with assets（资产）of nearly US $ 6.3 billion.

Born in Seattle, Washington on 28, October, 1956, Gates was named William Henry after his father and grandfather. From the beginning, he was an extremely energetic and intelligent child. He had read the entire world book encyclopedia（百科全书）by the age of nine. His favorite subjects at school were science and math and his favorite pastime was "thinking".

Gates first started to play with computers at the age of 13. Before long he became an expert at working the school's computer. After his graduation from secondary school, Gates was accepted by the three top universities in the USA-Princeton, Harvard and Yale. He chose Harvard and began classes there the next autunm, majoring maths. But he was still obsessed（占据心里）with computers and spent as much time in the computer laboratories as he did in the lecture halls.

By 1975, Gates and a partner, Paul Allen, had developed a software program called BASIC. This was not the first program ever created, but its inventors were the first to decide that people who wanted to use it should pay for it.

BASIC was a success because until it came along, there had been no efficient way of getting computers to carry out instructions. Although he had not completed his degree, Gates left university and went to work full time for the new company he had formed called Microsoft.

His next project was the software program that made him famous and very rich. It was called DOS, short for Disk Operating System, and it was purchased by IBM in 1980. Today it is the operating system used in more than 14 million personal computers around the world.

As chief executive officer（首席行政长官）of Microsoft, Gates is known as a bright man, but one who is not easily satisfied. He is quick to criticize his staff and hates to be questioned about decisions he has made. He was regarded as a loner and unfashionable boring computer nut until his marriage to Microsoft manager Melinda French on New Year's Day 1994. Yet to many people now, Gates, is a person who is, in spite of his great wealth, humble（谦恭）and ordinary. He spends his money carefully. He eats in fast food restaurants and flies economy class. And when praised for Microsoft's great success, he has been heard to say, "All we do is put software in a box and if people see it in the stores and like it, they buy it."

1.When he was a teenager, Bill Gates wanted to be a ______.

A．teacher           B．doctor            C．businessman       D．professor

2.When Gates went to Harvard, he ______.

A．was only interested in maths

B．spent most of his time in computer laboratories

C．developed the first computer software program

D．divided his time between his maths studies and the computer laboratories

3.Before the development of BASIC, ______.

A．no one was interested in computer software

B．software programs were not considered commercial projects

C．software programs were very expensive

D．no one wanted to pay for computer software

4.When the writer says "He was regarded as a loner and unfashionable boring computer nut", he means ______.

A．Bill was so strong-minded that no one could change his mind

B．The only thing that could interest Bill in his life was computer

C．Bill was such a boring young man that nobody would like to talk to him

D．Bill couldn't work out the boring computer programs

5.Most people think that Bill Gates is ______.

A．a crazy person                         B．a person obsessed with making money

C．someone who spends money freely         D．a quite common, normal person