A press report stating that Microsoft has restarted talks to buy Yahoo's search business for 20 billion U. S. dollars. "It has no basis in fact," the San Francisco Chronicle said on Monday.

The Times of London reported on Sunday that the deal under discussion would put former AOL CEO Jonathan Miller and Ross Levinsohn, a former president of Fox Interactive Media, in charge of Yahoo. The report also said executives (管理人员) at both companies had agreed to the broad terms of a deal.

In fact, there are no current talks between the two companies. The Chronicle quoted an executive at one of the firms who requested his name to be kept secret as saying. Furthermore, the 20-billion-dollar price mentioned in the Times of London article for Yahoo's search business appears questionable given that the market capitalization (资本总额) for all of Yahoo is 16 billion dollars, said The Chronicle.

Yahoo and Microsoft had had on-again, off-again talks over several months earlier this year about a 47. 5-billion-dollar takeover, and later a proposal focused only on Yahoo's search business. Discussions regarding both plans collapsed without an agreement.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has said repeatedly that he is no longer interested in buying all of Yahoo, but that he is open to some sort of partnership involving their respective search businesses.

Brad Williams, a Yahoo spokesman, said Sunday "We don't comment on rumors." Frank Shaw, a Microsoft spokesman, declined to comment.

Yahoo's shares have plummeted since Microsoft withdrew its 33-dollar-a-share acquisition offer earlier this year, leaving people to think that discussions would eventually be restarted. Yahoo's shares closed Friday at 11. 51 dollars, nearly one-third of the original offer.

1. From this passage, we can know that ______.

  A. Microsoft has given up buying all of Yahoo but its search business 

  B. Microsoft has already taken over the whole company of Yahoo

  C. the market capitalization for all of Yahoo is over $ 20 billion

  D. the market capitalization for all of Microsoft is only $ 6 billion

2. What is the author trying to convince readers of in the third paragraph?

  A. Yahoo and Microsoft are talking about takeover.

B. Microsoft is buying Yahoo’s search businesses for $ 20 billion.

C. Yahoo would like to sell its search businesses to another company.

D. There are no current talks between Yahoo and Microsoft.

3. What does the underlined word “plummet” in the passage most probably mean?

  A. develop rapidly      B. increase quickly      C. fall quickly     D. keep balanced

4. You can find this passage most probably in ______ .

  A. an entertainment website       B. an economical newspaper

  C. a sports magazine              D. a biological dictionary

A Strange Greeting, a True Feeling Last week I was invited to a doctor’s meeting at the Ruth hospital for incurables. In one of the wards a patient, an old man, got up shakily from his bed and moved towards me. I could see that he hadn't long to   1   , but he came up to me and placed his right foot close mine on the floor.

    “Frank！” I cried in astonishment. He couldn’t   2  , as I knew, but all the time   3   his foot against mine.

    My   4   raced back more than thirty years to the   5   days of 1941, when I was a student in London. The   6   was an air-raid shelter, in which I and about hundred other people slept every night. Two of the regulars were Mrs. West and her son Frank.

      7   wartime problems, we shelter-dwellers got to   8   each other very well. Frank West   9   me because he wasn’t   10  , not even at birth. His mother told me he was 37 then, but he had   11   of a mind than a baby has. His “  12  ” consisted of rough sounds——sounds of pleasure or anger and   13   more. Mrs. West, then about 75, was a strong, capable woman, as she had to be, of course, because Frank   14   on her entirely. He needed all the   15   of a baby.

    One night a policeman came and told Mrs. West that her house had been flattened by a 500-pounder. She   16   nearly everything she owned.

    When that sort of thing happened, the rest of us helped the   17   ones. So before we   18   that morning, I stood beside Frank and   19   my right foot against his. They were about the same size. That night, then, I took a pair of shoes to the shelter for frank. But as soon as he saw me he came running and placed his right foot against mine. After that, his   20   to me was always the same.

1．A．work         B．stay   C．live   D．expect

2．A．answer       B．speak C．smile        D．laugh

3．A．covering     B．moving     C．fighting    D．pressing

4．A．minds        B．memories  C．thoughts   D．brains

5．A．better         B．dark  C．younger          D．old

6．A．cave          B．place C．sight         D．scene

7．A．Discussing        B．Solving    C．Sharing           D．Suffering

8．A．learn from        B．talk to      C．help         D．know

9．A．needed      B．recognized       C．interested        D．encouraged

10．A．normal           B．common   C．unusual           D．quick

11．A．more       B．worse       C．fewer       D．less

12．A．word       B．speech      C．sentence          D．language

13．A．not          B．no     C．something       D．nothing

14．A．fed          B．kept  C．lived        D．depended

15．A．attention         B．control     C．treatment        D．management

16．A．lost         B．needed      C．destroyed        D．left

17．A．troublesome     B．unlucky    C．angry       D．unpopular

18．A．separated        B．went  C．reunited          D．returned

19．A．pushed     B．tried  C．showed           D．measured

20．A．nodding          B．greeting    C．meeting          D．acting

A newly trained teacher named Mary went to teach at a Navajo Indian reservation. Every day, she would ask five of the young Navajo students to __1__ the chalkboard and complete a simple math problem from   2   homework.

    They would stand there, silently,  3   to complete the task. Mary couldn’t figure it out.   4   she had studied in her educational curriculum helped, and she   5   hadn’t seen anything like it in her student-teaching days back in Phoenix.

     What am I doing wrong? Could I have chosen five students who can’t do the  6  ? Mary would wonder. No,  7  couldn’t be that. Finally she   8   the students what was wrong. And in their answers, she learned a   9   lesson from her young   10   pupils about self-image and a(n)   11   of self-worth.

     It seemed that the students  12  each other’s individuality and knew that  13  of them were capable of doing the problems.   14  at their early age, they understood the senselessness of the win-lose approach in the classroom. They believed no one would  15  if any students were shown up or embarrassed at the  16  . So they   17   to compete with each other in public.

     Once she understood, Mary changed the system   18   she could check each child’s math problem individually, but not at any child’s expense  19  his classmates. They all wanted to learn,  20  not at someone else’s expense.

1．  A．go to B．come to    C．get close to      D．bring

2．  A．his    B．their  C．his own    D．her

3．  A．happy       B．willingly   C．readily      D．unwilling

4．  A．Anything  B．Nothing    C．Everything       D．Neither

5．  A．almost      B．certainly   C．hardly      D．never

6．  A．question   B．chalkboard       C．problem    D．homework

7．  A．they  B．it      C．everything       D．each

8．  A．asked       B．questioned       C．told   D．understood

9．  A．outstanding      B．surprising C．annoying  D．frightening

10．A．sunburned B．tender       C．Indian      D．naughty

11．A．sense B．image       C．way   D．aspect

12．A．had   B．ignored     C．respected  D．cared

13．A．none        B．no one      C．each  D．not all

14．A．Especially B．Even though    C．Even so    D．Even

15．A．lose   B．win   C．achieve     D．answer

16．A．time  B．situation   C．chalkboard       D．condition

17．A．refused     B．rejected    C．tried  D．promised

18．A．if      B．so that      C．unless       D．in case

19．A．in favour of    B．of     C．by means of     D．in front of

20．A．and   B．but    C．so     D．or

A typical① Chinese Internet user is a young male who prefers instant messaging to e-mail, seldom makes online purchases② and favors news, music and games sites. According to a study, about two-thirds of survey participants③ use the Internet for news — often entertainment-related — or for online games. About half download music and movies.

They also tend to prefer instant messaging to e-mail, and they are depending on the Internet more frequently than before to communicate with others who have the same professions, hobbies and political interests. Online purchases still remain unpopular in China. Three-quarters of users surveyed have never bought anything over the Internet, and only 10 percent make purchases even once a month. Among those who do buy online, most pay for entertainment while others buy phone cards, or computer hardware or software.

“Many people don’t trust the quality of goods bought online,” Guo said Wednesday. “If they buy it in a store and don’t like it, they can easily bring it back.”

The survey was done in five major cities: Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu and Changsha. Results do not necessarily project countrywide because Internet use in rural areas is lower than in cities. Guo describes the typical netizen in the five cities surveyed as young, male, richer and more highly educated. Males make up two-thirds of the Internet community, and more than 80 percent of users are under 24. Among people ages 25 to 29, 60 percent to 80 percent go online.

China has more than 100 million people online, second in the world to the United States.

1. A typical Chinese Internet user will be the one who ______.

  A. likes to send e-mails                 B. likes to buy goods online

  C. likes to pay for entertainment          D. likes the games sites

2. Online purchases still remain unpopular in China mainly because ______.

  A. it is more difficult for sales returns        B. people haven’t computers

  C. people can’t have a look at the goods      D. goods bought online are of low quality

3. Which of the following words fails to describe the typical netizens in the five cities?

  A. well educated     B. richer     C. female     D. young

4. According to the text, which of the following shows the right relation between online people and their ages?

   A.     B.

 C.      D.

A Strange Greeting, a True Feeling Last week I was invited to a doctor’s meeting at the Ruth hospital for incurables. In one of the wards a patient, an old man, got up shakily from his bed and moved towards me. I could see that he hadn't long to   1   , but he came up to me and placed his right foot close mine on the floor.

 “Frank！” I cried in astonishment. He couldn’t   2  , as I knew, but all the time   3   his foot against mine.

My   4   raced back more than thirty years to the   5   days of 1941, when I was a student in London. The   6   was an air-raid shelter, in which I and about hundred other people slept every night. Two of the regulars were Mrs. West and her son Frank.

      7   wartime problems, we shelter-dwellers got to   8   each other very well. Frank West   9   me because he wasn’t   10  , not even at birth. His mother told me he was 37 then, but he had   11   of a mind than a baby has. His “  12  ” consisted of rough sounds——sounds of pleasure or anger and   13   more. Mrs. West, then about 75, was a strong, capable woman, as she had to be, of course, because Frank   14   on her entirely. He needed all the   15   of a baby.

One night a policeman came and told Mrs. West that her house had been flattened by a 500-pounder. She   16   nearly everything she owned.

When that sort of thing happened, the rest of us helped the   17   ones. So before we   18   that morning, I stood beside Frank and   19   my right foot against his. They were about the same size. That night, then, I took a pair of shoes to the shelter for frank. But as soon as he saw me he came running and placed his right foot against mine. After that, his   20   to me was always the same.

1．A．work            B．stay            C．live            D．expect

2．A．answer          B．speak         C．smile          D．laugh

3．A．covering        B．moving          C．fighting         D．pressing

4．A．minds         B．memories       C．thoughts        D．brains

5．A．better            B．dark           C．younger            D．old

6．A．cave             B．place          C．sight                  D．scene

7．A．Discussing        B．Solving      C．Sharing             D．Suffering

8．A．learn from         B．talk to        C．help               D．know

9．A．needed            B．recognized  C．interested          D．encouraged

10．A．normal            B．common    C．unusual          D．quick

11．A．more             B．worse        C．fewer                  D．less

12．A．word            B．speech       C．sentence           D．language

13．A．not               B．no          C．something         D．nothing

14．A．fed               B．kept        C．lived             D．depended

15．A．attention           B．control       C．treatment          D．management

16．A．lost               B．needed       C．destroyed          D．left

17．A．troublesome     B．unlucky      C．angry                  D．unpopular

18．A．separated        B．went          C．reunited                 D．returned

19．A．pushed          B．tried        C．showed                 D．measured

20．A．nodding          B．greeting      C．meeting            D．acting