D

To us it seems so natural to put up an umbrella to keep the water off when it rains．But actually the umbrella was not invented as protection against rain．Its first use was as a shade against the sun．

Nobody knows who first invented it, but the umbrella was used in very ancient times．Probably the Chinese were the earliest to use it in the eleventh century BC．We know that the umbrella was used in ancient Egypt and Babylon as a sunshade．And there was a strange thing connected with its use: it became a symbol of honor and authority．In the Far East in ancient times, the umbrella was allowed to be used only by royalty or by those in high offices．

In Europe, the Greeks were the earliest to use the umbrella as a sunshade．And the umbrella was allowed in common use in ancient Greece．But it is believed that the earliest persons in Europe to use the umbrella as protection against rain were the ancient Romans．

During the Middle Ages, the use of the umbrella practically disappeared．Then it appeared again in Italy in the late sixteenth century．And again, it was considered a symbol of power and authority．In around 1680, the umbrella appeared in France and later on in England．

By the eighteenth century, the umbrella was used against rain throughout most of Europe．Umbrellas have not changed much in style during all this time, though they have become  much lighter in weight．It wasn’t until the twentieth century that women’s umbrellas began to be made in a whole variety of colors．

1.The first use of umbrella was as ______________．

A．protection against rain                   B．shade against the sun

C．a symbol of power and authority            D．a symbol of honor and authority

2.In Europe, the umbrella was first used against rain ___________．

A．in Greece         B．in Rome           C．in England         D．in France

3.From the text, we can infer that _________．

A．the umbrella changed much in style in the eighteenth century．

B．no one knows why the umbrella was used in very ancient times．

C．once ordinary people had no right to use umbrellas．

D．during the Middle Ages the umbrella was common in Europe．

4.This passage talks mainly about ____________．

A．when and how the umbrella was invented．

B．why the umbrella was so popular in Europe．

C．the development of the umbrella．

D．the history and use of the umbrella．

D

To what degree can a computer achieve intelligence (智力)? The answer to this question may lie in a newly-developed US computer program called Smarter Child and the Internet．

If you ran into Smarter Child online , you would be surprised at this kid’s huge memory．It can recite many facts． For example , Smarter Child knows every baseball player in every team this season．

He knows every word in the dictionary and the weather in every major city areas across the US．However , if you ask Smarter Child other questions , you get stranger answers．A question about Smarter Child’s age returns． “One year, 11 days, 16 hours, 7 minutes, and 47 seconds!” Asking where he lives gets , “In a clean room in a high-tech building in California．”

Smarter Child uses the vast information on the World Wide Web as his memory bank．To answer questions about spelling , for instance , Smarter Child goes to American Heritage Dictionary online．For the weather , he visits www．intellicast．com．

Some scientists believe that by joining the many systems of the Internet , an artificial being with the combined knowledge of , say , Albert Einstein, Richard Nixon and Britney Spears could be born．However if Smarter Child wants to think and learn on his own like the boy-computer David in the movie A．I．, Artificial Intelligence , he must overcome two problems．

The first is that computers find it difficult to read web pages because the files are labeled in different ways．That’s why programmers need to tell Smarter Child where to look for the weather．It would be a much more difficult task to let him find it himself．

Another problem is that while Smarter Child can process (处理) information more exactly and faster than any human , he lacks common sense—a basic grounding of knowledge that is obvious to any young child．

67．From the text we can infer that www．intellicast．com is a website___________．

       A．which is specially designed to help Smarter Child

       B．where we people can find Smarter Child

       C．where weather forecasts are made

       D．which is about artificial intelligence

68．It is probably most difficult for Smarter Child to_______．

       A．tell us how to spell a difficult word

       B．tell us how the American government is run

       C．provide us with a famous poem by Shakespeare

       D．learn how to tell right behaviors from wrong ones。

69．Which of the following is TRUE according to the text?

       A．Smart Child has his own memory bank big enough for all kinds of information．

       B．A．I．Artificial Intelligence is probably the name of a film about a boy-computer．

       C．Smart Child can recognize different files and find information needed on his own．

       D．We have similar product now which has the knowledge of Einstein , Nixon and Spears．

70．Which of the following is the best title for the passage?

       A．A New Web Child       B．Smarter Child

       C．The Future of Internet    D．Intelligence Development

C

Of all the websites，one that has attracted attention recently is myspace.com．Most of this attention has come from the media and tells every reason why the website should be shut down．The threat of internet predators（窃掠者）is indeed a tough reality，but shutting down the site is not the answer．If myspace.com were shut down，another site would quickly take its place．Therefore，the right way is to teach teens how to use the site safely and educate them about who may be predators and how to avoid them.

The key to staying safe on the Internet is to make sure that your profile（个人资料）is secure．The simplest way is to change the privacy setting on your profile to “private”, which protects your information so that only the people on your friend list can view it．Although this is effective，it is not perfect．Predators can find ways to view your profile if they really want to，whether through hacking in or figuring out their way onto your friend list．Thus，you should never post too much personal information．Some people actually post their home and school addresses，date of birth，and other personal information, often letting predators know exactly where they will be and when．The most information that is safe is your first name and province．Anything more is basically inviting a predator into your life.

Another big issue is photos. I suggest completely skipping photos and never posting a photo of a friend online without asking permission．

Most importantly, never，under any circumstances，agree to a real-life meeting with anyone you meet online．No matter how well you think you know this person, there are no guarantees that they have told the truth．But you could feel free to chat with people you meet on the site, but just remember that not everyone is who they say they are．Hopefully，the next time you edit your profile，you’ll be more informed about the dangers of internet predators and take the steps to defend yourself.

50．Kids can avoid web predators successfully by_________.

A．attracting more public attention

B．shutting down the website “myspace . com”

C．showing the kids ways to try other sites

D．recognizing and getting away from them

51．The safest basic personal information that you can share online is_________.

A．your home address and birthday    B．school address and your first name

C．your first name and province       D．your province and cell phone number

52．We can learn from the passage that_____.

A．not everybody you meet on line is honest and reliable

B．it is not acceptable to post a photo of a friend on line

C．it is not safe by chatting with grown-ups on the website

D．only you and your friends can view your personal profile

53．What could be the best title of this passage?

A．Personal Safety                B．Web Safety for teens

C．Web Hackers in the past         D．Predators’ Tricks

A woman renewing her driver’s license at the County Clerk’s office was asked to state her occupation．She hesitated, uncertain how to classify herself．

“What I mean is,” explained the recorder, “do you have a job, or are you just a …”

“Of course I have a job,” said Emily．“I’m a mother.”

“We don’t list ‘mother’ as an occupation… ‘housewife’ covers it,” said the recorder.

       One day I found myself in the same situation．The clerk was obviously a career woman, confident and possessed of a high sounding title．“What is your occupation?” she asked．

       The words simply popped out．“I’m a Research Associate in the field of Child Development and Human Relations.”

       The clerk paused, ballpoint pen frozen in midair.

       I repeated the title slowly, and then I stared with wonder as my statement was written in bold, black ink on the official questionnaire.

       “Might I ask,” said the clerk with new interest, “Just what you do in this field?”

       Coolly, without any trace of panic in my voice, I heard myself reply, “I have a continuing program of research (what mother doesn’t）, in the lab and in the field (normally I would have said indoors and out)．Of course, the job is one of the most demanding in the humanities (any mother care to disagree?), and I often work 14 hours a day (24 is more like it)．But the job is more challenging than most careers and rewards are more of a satisfaction rather than just money.”

       There was an increasing note of respect in the clerk’s voice as she completed the form, stood up, and showed me out．

       As I drove into our driveway, buoyed up (依托) by my glamorous new career, I was greeted by my lab assistants---ages 13, 7, and 3.

       Upstairs I could hear our new experimental model (a 6 month old baby), in the child-development program, testing out a new vocal pattern．

       I felt proud! I had gone on the official records as someone more distinguished and indispensable (不可缺少的) to mankind than “just another mother.”

       Motherhood…What a glorious career! Especially when there’s a title on the door.

What can we infer from the conversation between the woman and the recorder at the beginning of the passage?

       A．The woman felt ashamed to admit what her job was.

       B．The recorder was impatient and rude.

       C．The author was upset about the situation that mothers faced.

       D．Motherhood was not recognized and respected as a job by society.

How did the female clerk feel at first when the author told her occupation?

       A．curious        B．indifferent    C．puzzled             D．interested

How did the author feel when describing her job to the clerk?

     A．calm     B．panic-stricken      C．confident      D．cool

Why did the woman clerk show more respect for the author?

       A．Because the author cared little about rewards.

       B．Because she admired the author’s research work in the lab.

       C．Because she thought the author did admirable work.

       D．Because the writer did something she had little knowledge of.

What is the author’s purpose of writing the passage?

       A．To show how you describe your job affects your feelings toward it.

       B．To argue that motherhood is a worthy career and deserves respect.

       C．To show that the author had a grander job than Emily.

       D．To show that being a mother is hard and boring work．                                   

A "lost tribe" that reached America from Australia may have been the first Native Americans, according to a new theory.

If proved by DNA evidence, the theory will break long established beliefs about the southerly migration of people who entered America across the Bering Strait, found it empty and occupied it.

On this theory rests the belief of Native Americans to have been the first true Americans. They would be classified to the ranks of escapee, beaten to the New World by Aboriginals (土著人) in boats.

To a European, this may seem like an academic argument, but to Americans it is a philosophical question about identity (身份), Silvia Gonzales, of Liverpool University said .

Her claims are based on skeletons found in the California Peninsula of Mexico that have skulls (头骨) quite unlike the broad Mongolian features of Native Americans. These narrow-skulled people have more in common with southern Asians, Aboriginal Australians and people of the South Pacific Region.

The bones, stored at the National Museum of Anthropology (人类学) in Mexico City, have been carbon-dated and one is 12,700 years old, which places it several thousand years before the arrival of people from the North. "We think there were several migration waves into the Americas at different times by different human groups," Dr. Gonzales said． "The timing, route and point of origin of the first colonization of the Americas remains a most contentious topic in human evolution."

But comparisons based on skull shape are not considered conclusive by anthropologists, so a team of Mexican and British scientists, backed by the Natural Environment Research Council, has also attempted to take out DNA from the bones. Dr. Gonzales declined yesterday to say exactly what the results were, as they need to be checked, but indicated that they were consistent（一致） with an Australian origin.

It is generally considered that the first Native Americans came from _____.

       A．North Asia      B．Australia   C．South Pacific   D．South Asia

The skeletons found in the California Peninsula of Mexico have _____.

       A．the broad skull shape     

       B．the narrow skull shape

       C．different features of Aboriginal Australians   

       D．the same features of Native Americans

The underlined “contentious” is similar in meaning to “_____”.

       A．likely to cause great interest    B．difficult to solve

       C．well-known to all           D． likely to cause argument

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

       A．Research on skulls can draw an exact conclusion.

       B．DNA tests have proved the fact that the first Native Americans came from Australian.

       C．Scientists are still not sure about the origin of the Native Americans.

       D．People began to enter America across the Bering Strait about 12,700 years ago.