What is a six-letter word that immediately comes to mind when you need some information on the Internet? You probably thought of Google. But Google wasn’t always the name of the famous search engine. In fact, the original name was BackRub!

BackRub was the name two graduate students gave to the new search engine they developed in 1996. They called it BackRub because the engine used backlinks to measure the popularity of Web sites. Later, they wanted a better name — a name that suggests huge quantities of data. They thought of the word googol. (A googol is a number followed by 100 zeros.) When they checked the Internet registry of names to see if googol was already taken, one of the students misspelled the word by mistake, and that’s how Google was born.

Google is just one example of a name change in the business world. Many other companies have decided to change their names or the names of their products. Here are some more examples:

Jerry Yang and David Filo, two young computer specialists, developed a guide to Internet content in 1994. They called it “Jerry and David’s Guide to World Wide Web.” But they soon realized that this wasn’t a very catchy name, so they searched through a dictionary and found a better one: “Yahoo.”

Sometimes companies change their names because of the popularity of one of their products. In 1962, a young runner named Phil Knight started a company called Blue Ribbon Sports. In 1971, Knight decided to design and manufacture his own brand of shoes. He named the shoes after the Greek goddess of victory — Nike. Nike shoes became so well known that Knight changed the name of the whole company to Nike.

1.According to the text, Google .

A. has been famous since 1996 B. is a result of a spelling mistake

C. means a number followed by 100 zeros

D. is the original name of the search engine

2.Jerry and David changed the guide’s name to Yahoo because the original name .

A. had been registeredB. had been forgotten

C. was not attractiveD. was too short

3. The company Nike got its name from .

A. its foundersB. its customers

C. its popular productsD. its advanced techniques

4.Which of the following can be the best title for the text?

A. The name changesB. The history of Google

C. How to choose a name?D. Why are names important?

In our world today, the media and entertainment industries are constantly focusing on beauty over brains. Movies, television shows, commercials, and magazines all make use of models and actors whose physical attributes(特性) will sell their product.

As our country is trying to reduce the obesity numbers, eating disorder statistics continue to increase due to the push for thinner people. While obesity is a serious medical condition that can lead to many health problems, many of us try to lose weight for appearance purposes. Children as young as elementary school age have begun to worry about the numbers that appear on the scale. In my opinion, it seems that “fat” has become the new“ugly”.

Two weeks ago, 37-year-old Wisconsin television reporter Livingston, who is 235 pounds, received an email from a man named Krause. In the email Krause attacked her, writing,“Your physical condition hasn’t improved for many years. Surely you don’t consider yourself a suitable example for this community’s young people, girls in particular.”

Today, it seems that a vast majority of people care more about how they look and appear to their peers rather than what is inside. The truth is that every person is built differently; we all come in different shapes and sizes. Just because someone is heavier, that doesn’t mean they eat large amounts of junk food around the day. Likewise, even though a person is thin, that doesn’t mean they are necessarily healthy and fit.

If you are reading this and you struggle with your weight or your appearance, please recognize that you are beautiful and special in your own way. You are worth so much more than you realize, and even if I don’t know you, understand that I respect and support you. Beauty is not defined by size; it is defined by how we treat others and respect ourselves. In the words of the talented film actress Kirstie Alley, “There’s a lot more to life than how fat or thin you are.”

1. With so many people losing weight, it will end in .

A. models’ and actors’ appearance in ads

B. the fall of media and entertainment industries

C. more and more people becoming obesity

D. more people’s suffering from eating disorder

2.The underlined phrase “the numbers that appear on the scale” in the second paragraph may mean .

A. intelligenceB. weightC. patienceD. strength

3. The writer used the example of Jennifer Livingston to show .

A. people think “fat” looks uglyB. fat people are becoming cleverer

C. physical condition is goodD. young people never follow example

4. What Kirstie Alley said means .

A. people should pay attention to the appearance

B. there is no need for any people to go on diet

C. people are beautiful when they concern others

D. there’s always someone who understands and supports you

My grandmother Adele loved culture and was generous with its gifts. When I was a child, she took me to museums, restaurants, dances. She showered me with gifts from her travels around the world. But I can only remember her giving me one book—a book that, to this day, I have not read. She presented me with her own favorite childhood book: Hans Brinker. My grandmother was happy to share this book with me. She even decorated the title page with her proud writing.

I tried to read it. I adored reading, and would dive into a new pile of books from the library all at once. But something about Hans Brinker just wouldn’t let me in. The story was set in Holland, a long time ago. It felt dull and unfamiliar—even though I was a fan of classics of other times and places. I simply read the first pages over and over. I could not progress.

Standing on a bookshelf in our living room, the book was like something I avoided. It scolded me for not being interested, for not trying hard enough, for disappointing my grandmother.

The book started to fit in, almost forgotten, until Adele asked. Had I read it? Did I like it? Always determined, she wanted to know the answer. I would make some kind of excuse, feel bad, and open it again, hoping for a new reaction. The book weighed on me.

Years passed and finally Adele and I both accepted that I would never read Hans Brinker. Eventually I cleared the book from the shelf. The Hans Brinker experience led me to set a rule that I’ve lived by ever since: Do not ask about a book given as a gift. Don’t ask, despite your desire to discuss it to grow closer. The desire for such connection is what gives book-giving with special meaning—and increases the owner’s possibility to be a letdown.

Guilt is basically the same as for all gifts, though. If the giver doesn’t have the pleasure of seeing or hearing about the gift being enjoyed, and asks whether it is, then the owner—unless she can truthfully say “yes”—either has to admit to not liking the present, or else lie on the spot. Neither is pleasant. So, don’t ask.

1. When the author was a kid, his grandmother ________.

took him to travel around the world a lot

loved to take him to museums and stores

shared her childhood stories with him

gave him many gifts

2.What does the author think about the book his grandmother gave him?

A. Boring.B. Interesting.C. Puzzling.D. Disappointing.

3.The underlined sentence “The book weighed on me” in Paragraph 4 probably means _______.

A. the book is too heavy for the author to carry

B. the author feels stressful facing the book

C. the book is full of powerful viewpoints

D. the author keeps reading the book

4.. The author learns from the Hans Brinker’s experience that never________.

A. give others books as gifts

B. lie to people who give you gifts

C. get close to others through gifts

D. talk about the books given as gifts

It has become the modern substitute of glancing at your watch—the furtive(偷偷的)look at a phone screen to check for new messages or have a quick look at Facebook．Researchers have now found why we often feel such a strong urge to glance at our handset．Using your mobile，they say，is easily affected by other people．

A University of Michigan team say people are twice as likely to pull out their phones to check their messages or emails if they’re with someone who has just done the same．It also found that females were more likely to use their mobile than men because it was more ‘consistent’ with the daily lives of women．

The team watched students in dining halls and coffee shops around campus，observing pairs of students sitting at tables for as long as 20 minutes and recorded their cellphone use at 1 0-second intervals．

“What we found most interesting was just how often people were using their mobile phones，” Dr Daniel Kruger， the study’s co-author, said．“Every person we observed used his／her phone at least once while one woman was on hers about half of the time．You may see others checking their incoming messages and be encouraged to check your own．’’

Overall，the students used their cellphones in an average of 24 percent，the researchers found．But they were significantly more likely to use their phones(39．5 percent)when their companion had just done so in the previous 10-second interval than without the social clue，the researchers said，adding that this behavior was often repeated．

Cell phones create an alternative way for one’s attention and may both promote and interrupt ongoing social activities，the researchers wrote．

Kruger believes this pattern could be related to the effects of social acceptance and rejection．If one person in a pair engages in another conversation through their phone，his or her companion may feel rejected．That companion then might be forced to connect with others from outside so as not to feel left out．

1.People’s strong desire to check their messages partly results from ___________．

A．the modern substitute of their watches

B．the new messages of their handsets

C．the same behavior of other people

D．the update service of Facebook

2.Why do women use their phones more frequently?

A．They want to show off their modern mobiles．

B．They are more likely to be influenced by others．

C．They try to set a good example for others．

D．They desire to meet the demands of society．

3.How might one feel when his companion is busy checking messages?

A．Relaxed． B．Ashamed．

C．Surprised．D．Ignored．

4. The underlined part“this behavior” in Paragraph 5 refers to _______________．

A．using the cellphones B．receiving social clues

C. joining in activities D．engaging in conversations

5.Which of the following can be the best title of the passage?

A．Social Acceptance And Rejection

B．Females Use Mobiles More than Men

C．How Do People Check Messages?

D．Cellphone Use Is Spreading

I work in a busy Emergency Room( E. R. ) . This weekend, I had a patient who was very nervousand paranoid.

After looking at his chart, I saw that he was seeking treatment for alcoholism. There is an immediate prejudice against substance abuse in my E. R. One -we do not have a detox(戒酒) facility.The people seeking treatment for addiction are sometimes looked down on as being less worthy of treatment than other serious physical " ailments" .

At first glance, I found out that the man was now somewhere in his mid-thirties, was very weak and had a generally aggressive character. He could not sit still and had a cough. He had not had a drink in four days. His hands were shaking and there was a scared look in his eyes.

He told me that he began drinking about age 11 when his mother supplied him with it. He had tried to quit many times before but had not been able to." So . what's different this time ?"I asked.

"Because I'm starting to be mean to the people I love, but now I don't want to be. I ca:n see that I'm changing into something else. "

That answer helped change my attitude toward him. I could see the pain behind his eyes. Behind the appearance, there was a terrified person whose goodness was being claimed by the alcohol. He was desperate for help, but not so sure that his condition could be changed.

I, thank this man for showing me that the goodness is dressed in all sorts of disguises(伪装) . Sometimes we have to undress it. It's worth doing. My patient was admitted to the hospital for help ,despite us not having a detox facility.

1. What does the underlined word " ailments" me

A. build B. energy C. illness D. ability

2. How long has the man been drinking?

A. 20 years B. 11 years C. Over 30 years D. Over 20 years

3.From the passage we know that___ .

A. The patient was refused mainly for the hospital's lack of equipment

B. The patient once didn't want to treat the people he loved kindly

C. The patient was strong and brave at first glance

D. The patient once succeeded in giving up drinking alcohol

4.What conclusion can we draw from the passage?

A. Where there is a will, there's a way.

B. A friend in need is a friend indeed.

C. Never judge a book by its cover.

D. Good is rewarded with good.

While Andrew was getting ready for work one Friday morning, he announced to his wife that he had finally decided to ask his boss for a salary raise. All day Andrew felt nervous and anxious as he thought about the upcoming showdown. What if Mr. Larchmont refused to grant his request? Andrew had worked so hard in the last 18 months and landed some great accounts for Braer and Hopkins Advertising Agency. Of course, he deserved a wage increase.

The thought of walking into Larchmont’s office left Andrew weak in the knees. Late in the afternoon he was finally courageous enough to approach his superior. To his delight and surprise, the ever frugal Harvey Larchmont agreed to give Andrew a raise!

Andrew arrived home that evening—despite breaking all city and state speed limits—to a beautiful table set with their best china, and candles lit. His wife, Tina, had prepared a delicate meal including his favorite dishes. Immediately he figured someone from the office had tipped her off!

Next to his plate Andrew found a beautiful lettered note. It was from his wife. It read: “Congratulations, my love! I knew you’d get the raise! I prepared this dinner to show just how much I love you. I am so proud of your accomplishments!” He read it and stopped to reflect on how sensitive and caring Tina was.

After dinner, Andrew was on his way to the kitchen to get dessert when he observed that a second card had slipped out of Tina’s pocket onto the floor. He bent forward to pick it up. It read: “Don’t worry about not getting the raise! You do deserve one! You are a wonderful provider and I prepared this dinner to show you just how much I love you even though you did not get the increase.”

Suddenly tears swelled in Andrew’s eyes. Total acceptance! Tina’s support for him was not conditional upon his success at work.

The fear of rejection is often softened and we can undergo almost any setback or rejection when we know someone loves us regardless of our success or failure.

1. What was Andrew’s plan that Friday?

A. To request a wage increase from his boss.

B. To land some great accounts for the company.

C. To celebrate his success with his wife at home.

D. To get a job in the Braer and Hopkins Advertising Agency.

2. The underlined word “frugal” in Paragraph 2 most probably means “_________”.

A. wasteful B. simple C. economical D. effective

3.Why did Tina prepare a grand dinner for Andrew that day?

A. She was confident of his getting a pay raise.

B. She meant to show her support whatever the result would be.

C. She believed that her husband was the best in his company.

D. She wanted to express her gratitude for his devotion to the family.

4. We can conclude from the text that ______.

A. many fears turn out to be unfounded

B. work hard and you will be rewarded

C. we should never be afraid to ask for what is due to us

D. unconditional love brings courage and strength

Fortunately, I've been able to avoid the traffic jam brought by presidential visits because ! don't have to commute anywhere. Barack Obama visited Los Angeles recently which paralyzed large sections of a city and you could almost hear the collective pain of unhappy commuters.

I am among the l0 percent of people in the US that regularly work from home. You could include Obama among them, although I suspect his working area in the White House is better-equipped than my small space on to the back of the garage. He also probably doesn't have a problem with three little kids interrupting his phone calls or bursting into his office at inappropriate moments.

Every day there they are, knocking on my window and peering inside, as if looking at an animal in a zoo. Once, a telephone interview I was doing with the former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was interrupted by my older son, then three years old, and completely naked "Ahaaar!" he shouted to my face. "What was that?" said Schwarzenegger. I stammered(结巴地说出) something about the joys of children and silently managed to shoo the boy out of the room without putting down the phone.

I shouldn't complain. I no longer have to stand having someone's armpit(腋窝) being pressed into my face on a crowded train and home status means ! should be a more productive worker although working from home could also lead to "avoiding duties from home". I would argue that a bigger problem is going nuts: Staring at the same walls every day and not going anywhere can do strange things to a person.

I realized I had to get out of the house at least once a day to avoid turning into an unshaven and unshoweredrecluse(隐士) who was still in his pyjamas at dinner time. I would work for an hour or so in a local coffee shop but, like most routine, this became boring because I would constantly see the same faces: Screenwriters poring over screenplays, elderly women heading to the yoga studio next door and hordes of overweight middle-aged male cycling by.

And yet here I am several years later, still working from home consciously and, I'm happy to report, not sitting at my desk in my pyjamas. Not since last Tuesday, anyway.

1.The author may agree that __

A. it's a bad decision to work from home

B. presidential visits bring inconvenience to the locals

C. if a person wants to be more productive, he must work from home

D. the former California governor was angry at the interruption during the interview

2.The incident of three-year-old son is described to prove that___

A. working from home has some drawbacks

B. working from home is a pleasant experience

C. Barack Obama has better working conditions than the author

D. it's unfortunate for the author to have a naughty boy

3. The reason why the author goes to the coffee shop is that __

A. he wants to get familiar with the people around B. he doesn't like working in his pyjamas at home

C. he becomes bored with being a commuter D. he needs some changes to get relaxation

4.The whole passage suggests that __

A. the author has to work from home B. any routine definitely means boredom

C. the author is a humorous person D. working from home contributes to avoiding duties

I had an experience once which taught me something about the ways people made a bad situation worse by blaming themselves. One January, I officiated(主持) at two funerals for two elderly women. Both died a natural death. At the first home, the son of the deceased(已故) woman said, “If only I had sent my mother to Florida and gotten her out of this cold and snow, she would be alive today. It’s my fault that she died.” At the second home, the son said, “If only I had not insisted her going to Florida, she would be alive today. That long airplane ride was more than she could take. It is my fault.”

When things don’t turn out as we would like them to, we tend to assume that had we done things differently, the story would have had a happier ending. Any time there is a death, the survivors will feel guilty. Because the course of action they took turned out bad, they believe that the opposite course, for example, keeping mother at home, would have turned out better. After all, how could it have turned out any worse?

There seem to be elements involved in our readiness to feel guilty. The first lies in our belief that the world makes sense——there is a reason for everything that happens.   

The second is the thought that we are the cause of what happens, especially the bad things that happen. The roots of this feeling may lie in our childhood. A baby comes to think that the world exists to meet his needs, and that he makes everything happen in it. He wakes up in the morning and calls the rest of the world to its tasks. He cries, and someone comes to attend to him. When he is hungry, people feed him, and when he is wet, people change him. Very often, we do not completely abandon that childish thought that our wishes cause things to happen.

1. What is true about the two deceased elderly women?

   A. They died from accidents.       

B. They both died of old age.    

   C. They died due to lack of care by family members.

D. They weren’t accustomed to the change in life.

2. People feel guilty for the death of their loved ones because______.

   A. they cannot find a better way to express their sorrow

   B. they don’t know that natural course of events

C. they believe that it is their fault  

   D. they don’t know things often turn out in the opposite direction

3.People have believed since early childhood that.

A.everybody is at their command

B.life and death is an unsolved mystery

C.every story should have a happy ending

D.their wishes are the cause of everything that happens

4. What is the main idea of this passage?

A.Two sons blamed themselves for their mother's death.

B.Things don't always go well as we expect.

C.Two factors account for guilty sense.

D. Baby's wishes lead everything to happen.

The cash machine is 47 years old, but where was the birthplace of this world-beating invention? New York? Tokyo? No. The first ever cash machine was born in Enfield Town, north London. It was a Scottish inventor, John shepherd Barron, who realized the concept of a self-service machine that could be used 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to withdraw cash from one’s own bank account. It struck the inventor while he was in the bath. He hit upon the idea of a chocolate bar dispenser, replacing chocolate with cash.

On September 2 in 1969, America’s first automatic teller machine (ATM) appeared in public, giving out cash to customers at Chemical Bank, New York. It was only able to give out cash, but in 1971, an ATM that could handle many functions, including depositing(存款) money, was introduced. Today there are over one million ATMs around the world, with a new one added every five minutes. It is reported that Americans over the age of 18 use their ATM card six to eight times a mouth. Not surprisingly, ATMs get their busiest workouts on Fridays. In the 1990s, banks began charging fees to use ATMs, a profitable move for them and an annoying one for consumers.

Consumers were also faced with an increase in ATM crimes. Robbers preyed(抢夺) on people using money machines in poorly lit or otherwise unsafe locations, and criminals also thought up ways to steal customers’ PINs (personal identification numbers), even setting up fake money machines to capture the information. In response, city and state governments passed laws such as New York’s ATM Safety Act in 1996, which required banks to install such things as surveillance cameras (监控摄像头), reflective mirrors and locked entryways for their ATMs.

1. What does the underlined word, “It”, in the first paragraph, probably refer to?

A. The opening time of the bank.

B. The concept of an ATM.

C. Ordinary banking service.

D. The act of withdrawing cash.

2. Which of the following is true about ATM?

A. It appeared earlier than the chocolate bar dispenser.

B. It was invented by a Scottish man in 1971.

C. It was at first free of charge for its consumers.

D. It was originally designed to deposit money.

3. What can we learn from the text? "

A.Americans under the age of 18 are not allowed to have an ATM card.

B.People are more likely to turn to ATMs for banking service on Fridays.

C.Criminals usually choose unsafe locations to steal customers' PINs.

D.The ATM crime rate in New York is much lower than that in other state

4. Which of the following might be the best title for the text?

A.How to Operate on an ATM

B.What is Waiting for ATMs in the Future?

C.The First ATM Opened for Business

D. The Unknown Truth about ATM

How to apologize properly is much more difficult than we think. Provided you want to teach your children to apologize, you must be good at saying sorry yourself, especially to your own children. But how you say it can be quite tricky.

If you say to your children “I’m sorry I got angry with you, but …” what follows that “but” can make the apology ineffective: “I had a bad day” or “your noise was giving me a headache ” leaves the person feeling that he should be apologizing for his bad behavior in expecting an apology.

Another method by which people appear to apologize without actually doing so is to say “I’m sorry you’re upset”; this suggests that you are somehow at fault for allowing yourself to get upset by what the other person has done.

Then there is the general, all covering apology, which avoids the necessity of identifying a specific act that was particularly hurtful or insulting, and which the person who is apologizing should promise never to do again. Saying “I’m useless as a parent” does not make any sense.

These false apologies are used by people who believe saying sorry shows weakness. Parents who wish to teach their children to apologize should see it as a sign of strength, and therefore not voice these false apologies.

But even when presented with examples of really being sorry, children still need help to become aware of the complexities of saying sorry. A three-year-old might need help in understanding that other children feel pain just as he does, and that hitting a playmate over the head with a heavy toy requires an apology. A six-year-old might need reminding that spoiling other children’s expectations can require an apology. A 12-year-old might need to be shown that taking the biscuit without asking permission is acceptable, but that borrowing a parent’s clothes without permission is not.

1. If a mother adds “but” to an apology,________.

A. the child may feel that he owes her an apology

B. she knows that the child has been hurt

C. the child may find the apology easier to accept

D. she feels that she should have apologized

2. According to the author, saying “I’m sorry you’re upset” most probably means “_______”.

A. You have good reason to get upset

B. I apologize for hurting your feelings

C. I’m aware you’re upset , but I’m not to blame

D. I’m at fault for making you upset

3. We learn from the last paragraph that iiS teaching children to say sorry

A.the complexities involved should be ignored

B.parents need to set them a good example

C.their ages should be taken into account

D parents should be patient and tolerant

4.It can be inferred from the passage that apologizing properly is

A.to say sorry in a general way

B.a way to improve your relationships

C.a sign of social progress and social harmony

D. not as simple as it seems