The personal computer has overtaken the family dog as man's best friend．according to a study．
Researchers found that just 6 per cent of us believe that“ most people rely more on their dog than they do on their PC”，while 67 per cent think the opposite to be true．
Even 38 per cent of dog owners admitted to relying more on their PC than on their dog, although 36 per cent disagreed.
And 71 per cent of 18 to 24-year-old dog owners said they relied more on their computer．
Paul Allen，editor of Computeractive magazine said：“These days you can even you’re your PC for fl walk，provided you have a laptop or tablet.”
“It's only a matter of time until the first PC that fetches your slippers．”
Researchers questioned 2，000 British adults to find out the change modern technology has brought to their home life．
They found that male dog owners are almost twice as likely as female owners to rely on their computer than a canine companion.
Mr．Allen said：“With broadband bringing them global news and newspaper sales falling，the family dog even misses out on the pleasure of taking the paper to his owner．”
But it's not all bad news for obedient dogs．
“The family PC has given dog owners access to a wealth of resources and information that can help with the long-term care that a dog needs，”Mr．Allen said．
【小题1】Who are most likely to rely on computers?

How would you like an easy way to earn $2,500? All you have to do is to sit around and wait for your meals. There's a catch however. You have to stay in a chicken cage with a stranger for a whole week. There are no books or television or radio for amusement. You can't leave until the week is up. And a camera will be recording your every move.

  Two people actually took the job. The idea came from Rob Thompson, a video artist. He wanted to make a film about the way animals are  treated. His goal was  to raise people's awareness of the living conditions of animals that are raised for food.

He decided to pay $5,000 out of his own savings to two people who were willing to live like chickens for a week.

  To Rob’s surprise, quite a few people answered his advertisement. He had interviewed and selected Eric, a 24-year-old restaurant worker, and Para, a 24-year-old chemist. The plan was for them to spend seven days together in a chicken cage that was six feet long and three feet wide. A camera would record their experiences, which would take place in an art museum.

  The week was long and difficult. They slept on a hard wooden floor. They couldn't stand up without hanging their heads. They ate vegetables and drank water from a garden hosepipe. Their only privacy was a toilet surrounded by a curtain. There were no sinks, mirrors, or toothbrushes in the cage. Their only inspiration was the two framed checks that hung on the wall outside the cage. Visitors who came here were warned, “Do not feed the humans.”

   Finally it was over, and Para and Eric appeared from their cage. They had survived the week, and they each had a $2,500 check in their hands. When Rob Thompson opened the cage,  Eric  came  out,  changed  into  clean clothes, and ate a chocolate bar right away. “It's great to be able to stand up,” he said. Para just changed her clothes and left. After a week of visitors and reporters watching her, she

didn't want to talk to anyone.

What kind of person is Rob Thompson?

   A. He is curious about people's personal life.

   B. He is kind-hearted to animals.

   C. He hates people around.

   D. He likes to help poor people.

The underlined word “catch” probably means _____.

   A. unsolved problem                                  B. surprising wonder

   C. unbelievable fact                                    D. hidden difficulty

Rob offered the money because he wanted _____ .

   A. to see if there were any people who would like to live in a cage

   B. to show the public how terrible animals' life could be

   C. to make more money by publishing the recorded videotapes

   D. to improve housing conditions of working people like Eric

Which of the following would be the best title for this passage?

   A. Easy Way to Earn $ 2,500.                     B. Do Not Feed the Humans.

   C. Living Like a Chicken.                   D. Getting Along Well Anyway.

Facebook users may feel socially successful in the web world but they are more likely to perform poorly in exams. The majority of students who use Facebook every day are doing badly compared with those who don’t. About 83% of British 16 to 24-year-old people are using social networking site such as Facebook and MySpace, to keep in touch with friends and organize their social activities.

“Our study shows people who spend more time on Facebook spend less time studying,” said Aryn Karpinski, a researcher. “Every generation has its distractions(娱乐), but I think Facebook is a unique phenomenon.” Karpinski and a colleague questioned 219 US undergraduates and graduates about their study and general Internet use, as well as their specific use of Facebook. They found 65% of Facebook users accessed their account daily, checking it several times to see if they had received new messages. The amount of time spent on Facebook at each log-in(登录) varied from just a few minutes to more than an hour.

Some UK students have already realized the potential danger. Daisy Jones, 21, an undergraduate, realized the time she was spending on Facebook was threatening her grades, urging her to deactivate(使无效) her account, “I was in the library and tried to write a 2,000-word essay when I realized my Facebook habit had got out of hand,” she said. “I couldn’t resist going online, when thinking about it. Before you know it , a couple of minutes have turned into a couple of hours and you haven’t written a word.”

Jones is among the few to have realized the risks. 79% of the users, however, believed the time they spent on the site had no impact on their work. The CEO of Facebook said, “There is also academic research that shows the benefits of services like Facebook. It’s in the hands of students to decide how to spend their time.”

1.What can we know from Paragraph 1?

2.Facebook users check their account frequently to ____________.

3.Why did Daisy Jones deactivate her account?

4.What’s the best title of the passage ?

How would you like an easy way to earn 2,500 dollars? All you have to do is to sit around and wait for your meals．There’s catch, however．You have to stay in a chicken cage with a stranger for a whole week．There are no books or television or radio for amusement．You can’t leave until the week is up．And a camera will be recording your every move．

Two people actually took the job．The idea came from Rob Thompson, a video artist．He wanted to make a film about the way animals are treated．His goal was to raise people’s awareness of the living conditions of animals that are raised for food．He decided to pay $ 5000 out of his own savings to two people who were willing to lie like chicken for a week．

To Rob’s surprise, quite a few people answered his advertisement．He had interviews and selected Eric, a 24-year-old restaurant worker, and Pam, a 27-year-old chemist．The plan was for them to spend seven days together in a chicken cage that was six feet long and three feet wide．A camera would record their experience, which would take place in an art museum．

The week was long and difficult．They slept on a hard wooden floor．They couldn’t stand up without banging（重击）their heads．They ate vegetarian mash（土豆泥）and drank water from a garden hosepipe（水龙头软管）．Their only privacy was a toilet surrounded by a curtain．There were no sinks, mirrors, or toothbrushes in the cage．Their only inspiration was the two framed checks that hung on the wall outside the cage．Visitors who came here were warned, “Do not food the humans．”

Finally it was over, Pam and Eric emerged from their cage．They had survived the week, and they each had a $2,500 check in their hands．When Rob Thompson opened the cage, Eric came out, changed into clean clothes, and ate a chocolate bar right away．“It’s great to be able to stand up,” he said．Pam just changed her clothes and left．After a week of visitors and reporters watching her, she didn’t want to talk to anyone．

What kind of person is Rob Thompson?

       A．He is curious about people’s personal life．

       B．He is kind-hearted to animals．

       C．He hates people around．      

       D．He likes to help poor people．

What made it most difficult for the two to stay in the cage?

       A．They didn’t know each other．     

       B．They couldn’t lie down to sleep in the cage．

       C．They didn’t have meat to eat．     

       D．They had to do almost everything under others’ eyes．

Rob offered the money because he wanted________．

       A．to see if there were any people who would like to live in a cage

       B．to show the public how bitter animals’ life could be

       C．to make more money by publishing the recorded video tapes

       D．to improve housing conditions of working people like Eric

Which of the following would be the best title for this passage?

       A．Easy Way to Earn $ 2 500．          B．Do Not Feed the Humans．

       C．Living Like a Chicken．                D．Getting Along Well Anyway．

A growing number of college students are applying to take entry tests for medical and dental （牙科的） schools among increasing graduate unemployment in Korea.
“I’ve decided to apply for the test to enter a medical college to become a doctor, changing from my original plan to prepare for a lawyer qualification exam in order to get a more stable job in the future,” said a 24-year-old college graduate, Lee, who majored in business administration during his undergraduate schooling.
The new medical and dental school system is getting popularity, attracting an increasing number of students every year since its appearance in 2004, as it is open to all college graduates regardless of their previous majors.
The Education Development introduced the new medical and dental education system, in which college students with bachelor’s degrees are allowed to study medicine or dentistry by taking the Medical Education Test (MET) and Dental Education Test (DET).
Ten medical schools and six dental colleges that have used the new system have received 4,377 applications (申请) for the entrance exams.
Applicants are getting younger compared with those in their 20s representing 76.9 percent of the total. The tests might be easier for students with biology and chemistry majors, but graduates from other majors are also applying for the tests.
Under the existing medical and dental education system, students should take a two-year premedical course followed by a four-year medical course.
Students graduating under the new medical or dental education system are given master’s degrees, while those graduates who studied under the previous system have bachelor’s degrees.
【小题1】Why do more and more Korean students apply for medical schools?