Professor Barry Wellman of the University of Toronto in Canada has invented a term to describe the way many North Americans interact(互动)these days. The term is “networked individualism”. This concept is not easy to understand because the words seem to have opposite meanings. How can we be individuals(个体)and be networked at the same time? You need other people for networks.
Here is what Professor Wellman means. Before the invention of the Internet and e-mail, our social networks included live interactions with relatives, neighbors, and friends. Some of the interaction was by phone, but it was still voice to voice, person to person, in real time.
A recent research study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project showed that for a lot of people, electronic interaction through the computer has replaced this person-to-person interaction. However, a lot of people interviewed for the Pew study say that’s a good thing. Why?
In the past, many people were worried that the internet isolated(孤立)us and caused us to spend too much time in the imaginary world of the computer. But the Pew study discovered that the opposite is true. The Internet connects us with more real people than expected—helpful people who can give advice on careers, medical problems, raising children, and choosing a school or college. About 60 million Americans told Pew that the Internet plays an important role in helping them make major life decisions.
Thanks to the computer, we are able to be alone an together with other people—at the same time!
1.The underlined phrase “networked individualism” probably means that by using computers people .
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A．stick to their own ways no matter what other people say |
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B．have the rights and freedom to do things of their own interest |
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C．do things in their own ways and express opinions different from other people |
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D．are able to keep to themselves but at the same time reach out to other people |
2.According to the Pew study, what do many people rely on to make major life decisions?
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A．Networks. |
B．Friends. |
C．Phones. |
D．Parents. |
3.It can be inferred from the Pew study that .
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A．people have been separated from each other by using computers |
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B．the Internet makes people waste a lot of time and feel very lonely |
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C．the Internet has become a new tool for a new kind of social communication |
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D．a lot of people regard the person-to-person communication as a good thing |
4.Which would be the best title for this passage?
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A．We’re Alone on the Internet |
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B．We’re Communicating on the Internet |
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C．We’re Alone Together on the Internet |
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D．We’re in the Imaginary World of the Internet. |
One of our biggest fears nowadays is that our kids might some day get lost in a “sea of technology” rather than experiencing the natural world. Fear-producing TV and computer games are leading to a serious disconnect between kids and the great outdoors, which will change the wild places of the world, its creatures and human health for the worse, unless adults get working on child’s play.
Each of us has a place in nature we go sometimes, even if it was torn down. We cannot be the last generation to have that place. At this rate, kids who miss the sense of wonder outdoors will not grow up to be protectors of natural landscapes. “If the decline in parks use continues across North America, who will defend parks against encroachment (蚕食)?” asks Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods.
Without having a nature experience, kids, can turn out just fine, but they are missing out a huge enrichment of their lives. That applies to everything from their physical health and mental health to stress levels, creativity and cognitive (认知的) skills. Experts predict modern kids will have poorer health than their parents—and they say a lack of outside play is surely part of it; research suggests that kids do better academically in schools with a nature component and that play in nature fosters (培养) leadership by the smartest, not by the toughest. Even a tiny outdoor experience can create wonder in a child. The three-year-old turning over his first rock realizes he is not alone in the world. A clump of trees on the roadside can be the whole universe in his eyes. We really need to value that more.
Kids are not to blame. They are over-protected and frightened. It is dangerous out there from time to time, but repetitive stress from computers is replacing breaking an arm as a childhood rite（仪式）of passage.
Everyone, from developers to schools and outdoor citizens, should help regain for our kids some of the freedom and joy of exploring, taking friendship in fields and woods that cement (增强) love, respect and need for landscape. As parents, we should devote some of our energies to taking our kids into nature. This could yet be our greatest cause.
1.The main idea of Paragraph 2 is that __________.
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A．kids missiiiu the sense of wonder outdoors |
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B．parks are in danger of being gradually encroached |
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C．Richard Louv is the author of Last Child in the Woods |
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D．children are expected to develop into protectors of nature |
2.According to the passage, children without experiencing nature will _________.
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A．keep a high sense of wonder |
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B．be over-protected by their parents |
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C．be less healthy both physically and mentally |
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D．change wild places and creatures for the better |
3.According to the author, children’s breaking an arm is ___________.
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A．the fault on the part of their parents |
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B．the natural experience in their growing up |
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C．the result of their own carelessness in play |
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D．the effect of their repetitive stress from computers |
4. In writing this passage, the author mainly intends to ________.
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A．blame children for getting lost in computer games |
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B．encourage children to protect parks from encroachment |
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C．show his concern about children’s lack of experience in nature |
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D．inspire children to keep the sense of wonder about things around |
There are three separate sources of danger in supplying energy by nuclear power.
First, the radioactive material must travel from its form of production to the power station. Although the power stations themselves are strongly built, the containers used for the transport of the materials are not. Normally, only two methods of transport are in use, namely road or rail. Unfortunately, both of these may have an effect on the general public, since they are sure to pass near, or even though, heavily populated areas.
Secondly, there is the problem of waste. All nuclear power stations produce waste that in most cases will remain radioactive for thousands of years. It is impossible to make these waste radioactive, and so they must be stored in one of the inconvenient ways that scientists have invented. For example, they may be buried under the ground, or dropped into deserted mines, or sunk in the sea. However, these methods do not solve the problem, since an earthquake could easily break the containers.
Third, there may occur the danger of a leak or an explosion at the power station. As with the other two dangers, this is not very likely, so it does not provide a serious objection to the nuclear program. However, it can happen.
Separately, these three types of dangers are not a great cause for worry. Taken together, though, the probability of disaster is extremely high.
1.Which of the following is FALSE ?
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A．It is possible that a leak or an explosion occurs at a power station. |
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B．It is unusual for radioactive materials to be transported across land. |
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C．The containers are likely to be broken by an earthquake. |
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D．Nuclear wastes remain dangerous in most cases for many years. |
2.The author thinks that the ways to store nuclear wastes are ____________.
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A．easy |
B．impossible |
C．reasonable |
D．ineffective |
3.What do we learn from the last paragraph ?
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A．The power station is a safe place. |
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B．The dangers of nuclear energy can be prepared. |
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C．The general public are strongly against the nuclear program. |
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D．Itself, none of the three dangers is very likely to cause much worry. |
4. What is this passage mainly about ?
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A．uses of nuclear power |
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B．Dangers from nuclear power |
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C．Public anger at nuclear power |
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D．Accidents caused by nuclear power. |
The basketball coach, as well as the players, interviewed shortly after the match for their outstanding performance.
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A．were |
B．are |
C．is |
D．was |
I like to have my photos taken _______ there are mountains and rivers.
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A．there |
B．in which |
C．when |
D．where |
Anyone, whether he is an official or a bus driver, should be respected.
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A．especially |
B．naturally |
C．equally |
D．normally |
