阅读理解。
How long are you willing to wait for a webpage to open before you start to lose your patience? Half a minute? A few seconds? Google engineers have discovered that even 400 milliseconds―as short as the blink of an eye―is too long for most Internet users.
A millisecond is one thousandth of a second. People hardly notice such a small time difference, but it does cause them to stop searching, reported The New York Times. “Without question, nobody likes to wait,” said Arvind Jain, a Google engineer. “Every millisecond matters.”
Nowadays, millions of smart-phones and computers are continually gathering and sending out information. With so many people downloading maps, sports videos, news and restaurant recommendations, you can get digital “traffic jams”. Meanwhile, users are expecting faster and faster service.
Google found that if one website is 250 milliseconds slower than another website, then people will visit it less often. This is why technology companies are now competing to be the fastest. Google said people do expect different things from different websites because they realize not all loading times are the same. For example, a person will be more patient waiting for a video to load than for a search result.
Even so, four out of five online users will click away if a video takes too long to load. This makes it difficult for video websites to choose between the quality of pictures and fast loading times.
Trying to get a higher speed has always been part of the history of the Internet. In the 1990s, when the World Wide Web first started to become popular, it was very crowded and slow; people called it the “World Wide Wait”. But engineers managed to fight the problem with new inventions. They laid a lot of fiber optic cables (光缆)for sending in high speed; they improved software so it would work more smoothly; they placed computer servers all around the world to be nearer to users; all this increased speed.
Nowadays we can enjoy much faster Internet. Famous search engines such as Google and Microsoft’s Bing usually find search results in less than a second. However, in order to meet the requirement of Internet users, these tycoons should never stop their steps.
1.The report from The New York Times suggests that
A. A millisecond is one thousandth of a second.
B. 400 milliseconds is not so long for most Internet users.
C. A millisecond has nothing to do with the Internet speed.
D. A millisecond really makes a difference to the Internet users.
2.The engineers did something to improve the speed, including _____.
a. making software work more smoothly
b. laying a number of fiber optic cables inside
c. placing computer servers throughout the world
d. developing the quality of pictures on the Internet
A. a b c B. b c d C. a c d D. a b d
3.Which of the following is true according to the passage?
A. The quality of pictures comes first for video websites.
B. Google is 250 milliseconds slower than other websites
C. Microsoft’s Bing is the fastest engine the world now
D. People are more likely to wait for loading films than maps
4.What does the underlined sentence mean?
A. Internet users are willing to see more search engines set up
B. Google and Microsoft’s Bing should help find the searching results
C. These companies should mind their steps, or they will break down soon.
D. These companies need to catch up with the developing needs of Internet users
5.What can be the best title of this passage?
A. Don’t make me “www.wait”.
B. Search engines work faster.
C. Traffic jams keep us waiting.
D. The WWW becomes popular.
阅读理解。
One year, a college in the Unites States announced that it would offer a lot of money for the pure white marigold(金盏花). The high reward attracted so many people, but in the nature, besides golden, the marigold is brown, and it is not easy to get the white one. So after they were excited for a time, many people had forgotten the announcement.
One normal day after 20 years, the college received a letter and 100 seeds of pure white marigold. It turned out to be an old woman of over 70 years old. Some experts in the college doubted it , but in order not to let her down, those seeds finally took root(根) in the earth. The miracle appeared after one year: the field was covered by pure white marigold. Therefore, the old woman who was always unknown to the public became a new focus.
The old woman was a flower-lover. When she read the announcement 20 years ago, she got very excited like others. But her right children were totally against her decision. After all, a woman who never knew the seed genetics(遗传学) couldn’t complete what the experts could never do, so her thought was only a day dream.
Still, the old woman didn’t change her mind and went on working. She planted some of the most common seeds and took good care of them. A year later, when the marigold came out, she chose one faintest(最暗淡的) from those golden and brown flowers and get the best seed. The next year, she again grew them and chose…. Day after day, year after year, through many seasons, the old woman’s husband died, her children flew far and high, a lot of things happened in her life, but only the desire to grow the pure white marigold took root in her heart.
Finally, after 20 years on the day we all know, in the garden she saw a marigold which was not nearly white, but as white as sliver or snow.
A problem even experts couldn’t deal with was solved by an old woman who didn’t understand genetics. Wasn’t it a miracle?
To take root in the heart, even the most common seed can grow into a miracle!
1.According to the passage, ________ marigold is unusual.
A. white B. purple
C. brown D. golden
2.The underlined part “focus” is closets in meaning to “center of ________”.
A. energy B. activity
C. attention D. creativity
3.It can be learned from the passage that ________.
A. the children didn’t agree on their mother’s decision
B. the woman needed the great reward for her big family
C. the experts also succeeded in growing the white marigold
D. the woman took good care of the flowers instead of her family
4.The woman successfully grew the white marigold at last because she ________.
A. was luckier than experts
B. put her heart into flowers
C. got support from her family
D. studies the seed genetics well
5.The passage mainly talks about ________.
A. the difficulties
B. the possibility of going beyond experts
C. the unforgettable development of marigold
D. the importance of holding on to dreams
阅读理解。
1.Food It’s Mango Time! How much do you know about one of the world's most popular fruit Some people call mangoes the “king of fruit,” while others just call them delicious! Those who love mangoes anxiously await the first fully grown ones of the season. And not only do mangoes taste great but they also are good for you. Did you know…? —People think mangoes were first cultivated over 5,000 years ago in India. —The countries of India and the Philippines have named mango their national fruit. —A mango tree can live up to 300 years. —Countries that are major mango producers include Mexico, Egypt, Pakistan, Brazil, Indonesia, Australia and Israel. —A cup of the fruit has only 100 calories and is nearly fat-free. —Mangoes are an important food source for millions of people. —One cup of mango has 100 percent of the daily need for vitamin C. —Mangoes have over 20 vitamins and minerals, making them a “super food”. So treat yourself to a mango today. | 2.Health A good night’s sleep Do you get the sleep you need? When the morning sun looks in through our window, do you jump out of bed or go on lying? Having enough sleep can make the difference between a great day and a terrible one! Here are the tips for a good night’s sleep: First, go to bed and get up at the same time, even if you haven’t gotten a good night’s sleep. Sleeping late for just a few days can change your body clock to a different cycle. Also, avoid big meals at night. Eating heavy, rich food within two hours of bedtime can keep you awake. Your stomach works hard because of those fatty foods, and that may keep you up. Your body produces a chemical called melatonin that helps you sleep. Light changes the amount of melatonin. It produces more in the evening and less in the daytime. So at night turn off your TV and PC. Also, don’t read from a backlit device(有背光的设备) like an iPad. Some scientists think that light from those devices stops your body from making melatonin. So turn those screens off at least an hour before bedtime. After a good night’s sleep, you’ll be able to face a new day. |
1.According to the first passage, we can learn that ________.
A. Australians consider mango as the national fruit
B. mangoes are rich in fat to meet people’s daily need
C. there are all kinds of vitamins and minerals in mangoes
D. people enjoy mangoes because they are healthy and tasty
2.The underlined word “cultivated” in the first passage means ________.
A. bought B. made
C. planted D. invented
3.According to the second passage, we can make our body produce more melatonin by ________.
A. surfing the Internet on the computer or ipad
B. changing our body clocks to different cycles
C. turning off TVs at least an hour before sleeping
D. enjoying some outdoor activities in the open air
4.The second passage mainly tells us that people ________.
A. can do something to have a good night’s sleep
B. should do to bed early and get up early every day
C. should jump out of bed quickly when the sun rises
D. shouldn’t eat fatty food two hours before going to bed
5.These two articles may come from ________.
A. a story book B. a magazine
C. a guide book D. a news report
完形填空
I moved to a new neighborhood two months ago. A taxi driver lived in a house with a large garage across the road. He’s single parent with two school-age children. At the end of the day, he would _______ his taxi on the road. “ Why he did not park it in the garage?” I asked myself.
Then, one day I _______that he had another car in his garage. In the afternoon he would come home _______ work, leave his taxi and go out for his _______ car, not in his taxi. I felt it was _______.
I was curious to see his personal car but did not _______ it until I happened to be outside one evening two weeks later, when the garage door was _______ and he drove out in his “own” car: a Rolls-Royce(劳斯莱斯)! It shook me completely_______ I realized what that meant. You see, he was a taxi driver. But deep inside, he saw himself as something else: a Rolls-Royce owner and a(n) ________. He drove others in his taxi but himself and his children in his Rolls-Royce. The world looked at his taxi and called him a taxi driver. But for him, a taxi was _______something he drove for a life.
We go to bed every night and _______ every morning as parents or children, not as bankers, CEOs or professors. We go for a _______ as close friends or go for a vacation as a family. We love life as it is. Yet often, we base our entire happiness and _______ on how high we climb the social ladder(梯子)—how much bigger and better a_______ we have. And we fail to notice Rolls-Royce, by keeping it dusty in our garage. We should pay more attention to _______ we are than what we do!
1.A. park B. drive C. check D. repair
2.A. learnt B. understood C. told D. remember
3.A. for B. at C. without D. from
4.A. another B. other C. third D. first
5.A. useful B. careful C. wasteful D. painful
6.A. get B. make C. buy D. have
7.A. broken B. closed C. painted D. open
8.A. once B. before C. when D. until
9.A. father B. son C. driver D. engineer
10.A. yet B. never C. just D. still
11.A. stay up B. wake up C. take up D. warm up
12.A. Competition B. Performance C. test D. party
13.A. success B. plans C. beauty D. wishes
14.A. garden B. garage C. car D. taxi
15.A. who B. what C. which D. where
— Give me a minute to check out, and I’ll meet you at the gate.
—____, Mike, I’m not in a hurry.
A. Enjoy yourself B. Don’t mention it
C. Leave me alone D. Take your time.
— Could you tell me ____?
—OK, let me check it for you.
A. where can I buy the movie tickets
B. how will the weather be next week
C. when the last train to Beijing leaves
D. what time will the supermarket close
