In the 60s, people asked about your astrological (about star) sign. In the 90s, they want to know your website.   51   Your website is an electronic meeting place for your family, friends and potentially, millions of people around the world. Best of all, you may not have to spend a cent. The web is filled with all kinds of free services and all it takes is some time and creativity.

      52   Like the table of contents of a book or magazine, the home page is the front door. Your site can have one or more pages, depending on how you design it.

    While web pages vary greatly in their design and content, most use a traditional magazine layout (版面设计). At the top of the page is a banner (横幅). Next comes a greeting and a short description of the site. Pictures, text, and links to other websites follow.

      53   Think about whom the site is for and what you want to say. Next, gather up the material that you want to put on the site.

While there are no rules you have to follow, there are a few things to keep in mind:   54  If you are too much at the beginning, you may never get the site off the ground. You can always add to your site.

    Less is better. Most people don’t like to read a lot of long text online.   55  . Smaller is better. Since it can take a long time to download large image files, keep the file sizes small.

    Have the rights. Don’t put any material on your site unless you are sure you can do it legally. Always remember to get the permission from the writer first.

Now it’s time to roll up your sleeves and start building

A. Start simply.

B. Break it into small pieces.

C. Draw a rough layout on a sheet of paper.

D. Many websites are considered very interesting.

E. These days, having a web address is almost as important as a street address.

F. Before you start building your site, do some planning.

G. Think of your home page as the starting point of your website.

A “blogger” is a person who writes on an Internet website called a “blog”. The word “blog” is a short way of saying “web log”, or “personal website”. Anyone can start a blog, and they can write about anything they like．

There are millions of blogs on the Internet today. They provide news, information and ideas to the people who read them．They contain links to other websites．And they provide a place for people to write their ideas and react to the ideas of others．

A research company called Perseus has studied more than 3,000 web logs. It says that blogs are most popular with teenage girls. They use them to let their friends know what is happening in their lives. The study also says that more than 100,000 bloggers stopped taking part in the activity after a year．

However, some people develop serious blogs to present political and other ideas. For example, the Republican and Democratic parties in the southern state of Kentucky recently started their own blogs. And American companies are beginning to use blogs to advertise their products．

At thesame time, some long-standing blogs have ended. Last week, blogging leader Dave Winer closed his free blog service “weblogs.com”． He said the site became too costly to continue. He started the blog four years ago, and thousands of people had written on it. They are now upset because they did not know that the site was closed．

One blog that is still going strong is called Rebecca’s Pocket．Rebecca Blood created the website in 1999. She wrote about the history of blogs on the site．That article led to a book called The Weblog Handbook．It has been translated into four languages so far．

Miss Blood says Rebecca’s Pocket gets about thirty thousand visitors a month．She writes about anything and everything —— politics, culture and movies. She recently provided medical advice． And she wrote about how to prevent people from being stolen from online bank accounts．

1.The text is mainly written to _______．

A．introduce an Internet website called “blog”

B．introduce a short way of saying “web log”

C．tell readers about blogs

D．tell readers how to write blogs

2.From the text we can learn that blogs cover almost everything except _______．

A．different ideas                         B．medical advice

C．advertisements                         D．account passwords

3.Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the text?

A．Politicians don’t use blogs at all．

B．A lot of bloggers no longer write or read blogs．

C．Those who like to use blogs are mostly teenage girls．

D．Dave Winer closed his “weblogs.com” because of the money shortage．

4.The reason why Rebecca’s Pocket is still going strong is that _______．

A．it was created by a woman

B．it is about the history of blogs

C．it provides useful information and advice

D．it has editions in atleast four different languages

Cellphone feels like a part of your body? A global survey has found that most people can’t live without their mobiles, never leave home without them and, if given a choice, would rather lose their wallet.

 Calling mobile phones the “remote control” for life, market research firm Synovate’s poll said cell phones are so ubiquitous that by last year more humans owned one than did not.

Three-quarters of the more than 8,000 respondents polled online in 11 countries said they take their phone with them everywhere, which Russians and Singaporeans the most attached.

More than a third also said they couldn’t live without their phone, topped by Taiwanese and again Singaporeans, while one in four would find it harder to replace the mobile than their purse.

Some two thirds of respondents go to bed with their phones nearby and can’t switch them off, even though they want to, because they’re afraid they’ll miss something.

Mobiles have changed the nature of relationships, with the survey finding a fifth of all respondents set up first dates via text and almost the same number use the same method to end a love affair.

Apart from the obvious calling and SMS-ing, the top three features people use regularly on their mobile phones globally are the alarm clock, the camera and the games.

As for email and Internet access, 17 percent of respondents said they checked their inboxes or surfed the Web on their phones, led by those in the United States and Britain.

One in 10 respondents log onto(注册) social networking websites such as Facebook and MySpace regularly via mobile, again led by Britain and the United States.

Not everyone is tech savvy(科技通), however,37 percent of respondents said they don’t know how to use all the functions on their phone.

1. How many people of all respondents end a love affair via text?

A. About 4,800.                          B. About 3,600.

C. About 2,400.                          D. About 1,600.

2. According to the survey,       like surfing the Internet with a cellphone most.

A. Singaporeans    B. Russians             C. Americans            D. Chinese

3. Which of the following functions of cellphones is the least used?

A. Calling.                                  B. Playing games.

C. Taking photos.                            D. Surfing the Internet.

4. Which would be the best title of the passage?

A. People can live better without the cellphone.

B. People would rather lose their wallet than their cellphone.

C. Different uses of the cellphone.

D. New functions of the cellphone.

Kalle Lasn was in a supermarket parking lot one afternoon when he had an experience that changed his life．In order to shop at the store, he needed to put money into the shopping cart to use it．Annoyed that he had to "pay to shop," Lasn jammed the coin into the cart so that it wouldn't work．It was an act of rebellion—the first of many—for Lasn．

Born in Estonia, Kalle Lasn moved to Australia as a young man and then later to Japan, where he founded a marketing research firm in Tokyo．Eventually, Lasn moved to Canada and for several years produced documentaries （纪录片） for public television．In the late 1980s, Lasn made an advertisement that spoke out against the logging industry and the deforestation going on in the Pacific Northwest．When he tried to show his ad on TV, though, no station in this area would give him airtime．In response, Lasn and a colleague founded Adbusters Media Foundation, a company for the "Human right to communicate．

Adbusters produces magazine, newspaper, and TV ads with a social message．Many use humor and irony to make their points: In one, for example, a man chain smokes a brand of cigarettes called "Hope"．In another, a child is dressed in an outfit used in fast-food ads．Next to the child is a note from its mother telling the restaurant to leave her child alone．

Adbusters also has a magazine and a web site, the Culture Jammers Network, whose members include students, artists, and activists as well as educators and businesspeople interested in social change．Many of these "culture jammers" are working to raise awareness about different social issues by hosting events like "Buy Nothing Day" , " No Car Day" and "TV Turnoff Week" ．Lasn and his partners hope these events will encourage people to think about questions such as;

·What kinds of things are we being encouraged to buy by the media?

·Should cars be our primary means of transportation?

·How are television and radio being used now? How could we be using them?

Some culture jammers are using other methods to challenge how people think．Some pretend to be shoppers．They move items in stores from one shelf to another making it difficult for people to find things easily．Other culture jammers break into large company well sites and jam them so that they become unusable．The goal in both cases ia to prevent "Business as usual" and to gel people to ask themselves questions such as "Why am I shopping here?" or "Why should I buy this product?"

Lasn and members of the Culture Jammers Network want to make people aware of social issues, but they also believe it's important to think of solutions, too．"A lot of people tell you everything that's wrong but they never say much about how to fix these problems," says Lasn．"But there is plenty we can do．If you start despairing, you have lost everything．"

Though many TV stations still won't show Adbusters' " uncommercials" , some cable TV stations have started to．People all over the world have joined the Culture Jammers Network and are doing their part to promote social change．

1.What does the underlined word "rebellion" in Paragraph 1 most probably mean?

2.What's the main point of the ad for "Hope" cigarettes?

3.Some culture jammers break into websites in order to ________．

4.It can be inferred from the passage ________．

5.Which of the following best describes what Lasn has done?

There is a wide and deep choice of a career. Whether he's a hand in construction or sitting behind the desk working on a computer, everyone has some ideas of what is an attractive career. However, making a career choice is not simply a matter of following a dream; for most people it means a lot of research and soul searching. Choosing the right career becomes one of the most important decisions of an individual's life.

It used to be that one followed in the footsteps of their father or grandfather or took over the family business when it came to making a career choice. These days, a career path can start anywhere and then veer off into something totally different.

Career choices must be realistic and well thought out. It is not uncommon for persons to start a career path and realize they have made a terrible mistake, feeling as if it may be too late to turn around. Not only does a career choice concern your strongest skills and interest, it is also something that you will be doing continuously to bring in income. This is why a career choice can be such a personal decision. Formerly it used to be unusual for someone to change occupations or careers more than once or twice in a lifetime; it is now even more unusual to keep the same career during someone's working life.

There are a great many measures in helping one choose the right profession. A number of websites offering tools such as career tests and information, educational resources, resume services and the kind can be found. It is important for one to research one's career in this changing economy situation, and choose the best from several related career choices.

1.According to the author choosing the right career ______.

A．is not difficult at all                      B．needs a lot of dreams

C．is an interesting thing                    D．needs a lot of thoughts

2.The underlined phrase "veer off" in the second paragraph probably means "______".

A．set out to do the same job                 B．change the former course

C．compare two different things              D．dream of getting an easy job

3.Nowadays it is common for one to _____.

A．change his job often                     B．do the same job all his life

C．find a few good jobs at a time              D．live without a job for many years

4.All of the following are the tools on profession offered by websites EXCEPT _____.

A．tests and information                    B．training courses

C．employers' phone numbers               D．instructions on resume