Libraries everywhere in the world have always been people’s only access to important sources of information. This historical function of libraries has worked out for centuries and has made libraries a necessity to people. Now, that function has been called into question by the fast development of digital media over the past several decades. In order to continue to hold the public interest, libraries everywhere are forced to develop means of granting access to these expensive new services to average people.
In the past, the publishing industry maintained the rights of libraries to freely provide published materials on the condition that libraries bought so many of their books. Since the new electronic publications can easily be copied in their completeness by the library readers, the publishing industry is reconsidering its former support of the library system. There have even been attempts to stop libraries from delivering digital media.
In addition to the reluctant cooperation of the publishing industry, there is the problem that the newer forms of information are much more specialized than those which they replace. Deciding how to transfer already limited resources is increasingly difficult as there are more methods. While a single reference index(索引) might have covered an entire field in the past, now there are frequently several specialized indexes available in electronic form. Above all, in order to continue to make use of the newer technology, libraries must decide which kinds of material are most useful to the majority of their readers. There are many different solutions being applied, but only the process of trial and error will help find out the most effective method.
(Note: Answer the questions or complete the statements in NO MORE THAN 20 WORDS)
1. What has been called into question?
2. In the past, publishers cooperate with libraries because ______________.
3. The most important way to use the new technology is to determine ________
4. According to the passage, how can best solutions be found?
Directions: Read the following text and choose the most suitable heading from the list A-F for each paragraph. There is one extra heading which you do not need.
A. The reasons for the problematic food situation in Britain. B. The effect of the situation on farmers. C. The variety of British food. D. The surface richness of food and questions it brings. E. The different situations at home and abroad. F. The recent reason for the huge supply of food. |
1 |
The long years of food shortage in Britain have suddenly given way to huge food supply. Stores and shops are crowded with food. Rationing(定量供应) has already seemed too distant to today’s Britons. Even overseas suppliers have been asked to hold back deliveries. Yet, instead of joy, there is widespread uneasiness and worries. Why do food prices keep on rising, when there seems to be so much more food about? Is the surface huge amount of food only temporary, or has it come to stay? Does it mean that we need to think less now about producing more food at home?
2 |
The recent growth of food supply on the world food market has certainly been unexpectedly great, partly because two continuous big grain harvests in North America are now being followed by a third. Most of Britain’s overseas suppliers of meat, too, are offering more this year and home production has also risen.
3 |
Then why is the food situation in Britain still faulty? On the one hand, The British government has gradually cut down support for food. On the other hand, the shops are overstocked with food not only because there is more food available, but also because people, frightened by high prices, are buying less of it.
4 |
Moreover, the rise in food prices at home has come at a time when world prices have begun to fall, with the result that imported food, with the exception of grain, is often cheaper than the home-produced variety. And now grain prices, too, are falling internationally. British consumers are beginning to ask why they should not be able to benefit from this trend.
5 |
The significance of these developments is not lost on farmers. The older generation have seen it all happen before. Despite the present price and market guarantees, farmers fear they are about to be squeezed between cheap food imports and a smaller home market. Present production is running quickly compared with years ago. However, farmers haven’t shared any benefit from the change.
Motherhood may make women smarter and may help prevent dementia (痴呆) in old age by bathing the brain in protective hormones (荷尔蒙) , U.S. researchers reported on Thursday.
Tests on rats show that those who raise two or more litters of pups do considerably better in tests of memory and skills than rats who have no babies, and their brains show changes that suggest they may be protected against diseases such as Alzheimer’s (早老痴呆症). University of Richmond psychology professor Craig Kinsley believes his findings will translate into humans.
“Our research shows that the hormones of pregnancy are protecting the brain, including estrogen (雌激素), which we know has many neuroprotective (保护神经的) effects,” Kinsley said.
“It’s rat data but humans are mammals just like these animals are mammals,” he added in a telephone interview. “They go through pregnancy and hormonal changes.”
Kinsley said he hoped public health officials and researchers will look to see if having had children protects a woman from Alzheimer’s and other forms of age-related brain decline.
“When people think about pregnancy, they think about what happens to babies and the mother from the neck down,” said Kinsley, who presented his findings to the annual meeting of the Society of Neuroscience in Orlando, Florida.
“They do not realize that hormones are washing on the brain. If you look at female animals who have never gone through pregnancy, they act differently toward young. But if she goes through pregnancy, she will sacrifice her life for her infant—that is a great change in her behavior that showed in genetic alterations (改变) to the brain.”
1. How do scientists know “Motherhood may make women smarter”?
A. Some researchers have told them.
B. Many women say so.
C. They know it by experimenting on rats.
D. They know it through their own experience.
2. What does the phrase “litters of pups” mean in the second paragraph?
A. Baby rats. B. Animals. C. Old rats. D. Grown-up rats.
3. What can protect the brain of a woman according to the passage?
A. Estrogen. B. The hormones of pregnancy.
C. More exercise. D. Taking care of children.
4.“It’s rat data but humans are mammals just like these animals are mammals.” What does the sentence suggest?
A. The experiments on the rats have nothing to do with humans.
B. The experiments on the rats are very important for animals.
C. The experiments on the rats are much the same on humans.
D. The experiments on the rats are much the same on other animals.
I love this healthy diet program because, it helps you lose weight, lose inches, feel healthy and look beautiful.
This healthy diet is an 8 week's program which is unlike other diet regimes (食物疗法). In that it focuses on proper nutrition first and weight loss second. Your body must have proper levels of minerals, vitamin, and protein in order to work well. It provides a simple lifestyle change to give you more energy and improve your health most greatly. It offers control over stomach and continuing hunger with a dense diet allowing 1,700 to 2,000 calories a day. If a person has a weight problem, their body probably is not working at proper levels of basic nutrients. We invite you to follow this program, so you can be the slim person who lives inside you.
You too, can love dieting especially if you are losing weight and losing inches.
For more information about our program, please get to our address in the internet:
http://www. Shaidee. net/lifestyle-for-heath/products
1. This passage is mainly about ________.
A. how people should keep fit B. a healthy diet program
C. why people should keep fit D. ways to lose weight
2.The underlined phrase "lose inches" in the passage means ________.
A. become shorter B. become taller
C. become fatter D. become thinner
3. According to this passage, all of the following are true except that ________.
A. this program makes a change in your lifestyle
B. this program can stop you from feeling hungry all the time
C. this program allows you 1,700 to 2,000 calories for each meal
D. this program tries to tell us what people should do to become slim
I decided early in my college years that I wanted to experience living abroad before entering in the real world. During my senior year, while most of my friends were interviewing for “real world” jobs, I was investigating how I could go work in a different country. At that early stage of my inquiry I was pretty open about where to go and what kind of work to undertake. My desire to live abroad was so strong that I was willing to do anything anywhere.
Soon I learned about BUNAC, a program that seemed to be designed precisely for student with such interests. BUNAC offers work visas ( 签证 ) for students or recent graduates to work overseas. Of the six countries available, I chose England because of the language and opportunities for employment.
Two months after I graduated from college I went to Britain. I traveled throughout Europe for six weeks before arriving in London. I got to London on August 24, 1997 with a work visa, but no job or place to live. I have to admit it was pretty scary! The day after I arrived, I experienced my first British holiday --- a Bank Holiday, a national holiday that everything is closed for the day. It wasn’t until my third day that I visited the BUNAC office and I learned all about living and working in Britain, paying taxes, getting health insurance, traveling around Britain, finding accommodations and most importantly, finding a job. I was most scared about finding a job since my financial resources were running low and I needed to get my pay soon.
It turned out that finding a job was not so difficult. The BUNAC program is very well known in London and many employers participate in the program. As a result there are many employers in many different fields to choose from. My job search began when I chose three different business employers and faxed them my resume (简历). That first week I had three interviews. I accepted my first offer working for Merrill Lynch International Bank. The Merrill Lynch office I worked at was in a beautiful, old building located two blocks from Buckingham Palace. The people were nice and the work interesting.
It was easy to adjust to life in London. And there is so much to see that after six months exploring I probably covered only half of what I intended.
1. When the author studied at college she decided _________.
A. to enter the “real world” after graduation
B. to go and work in a foreign country
C. to settle in a different country
D. to find a job in the home country
2.The author chose England because ______.
A. it is a beautiful country and people there are nice
B. England is spoken there and it is easy to find a job
C. it is in Europe, not far from her own country
D. the BUNAC office is located there
3. After the author arrived in London, what worried her most was ________.
A. getting a job B. buying health insurance
C. traveling around Britain D. finding a place to live
4.Which of the following might be the best title for the passage?
A. A Trip to Britain B. What I Want to Be
C. Living in a Different Country D. My Work Experience
Directions: For each blank in the following passages there are four words or phrases marked A, B, C and D. Fill in each blank with the word or phrase that best fits the context.
The universities are schools of education and research but the main reason for their existence is not in the knowledge taught to the students or in the opportunities for the economic or social ___50___ resulting from the research findings.
The true function of a university is that it keeps the ___51___ between knowledge and the real life. It unites the students with ordinary life in a ___52___ way. The university passes on information, but it ___53___ the information imaginatively. Imagination is the driving force for the society’s future development. Students’ imagination is the very ___54___ every university should protect and encourage. A university which ___55___ to do so has no reason for existence. With imagination, knowledge is not only knowledge: it includes all possibilities. It’s no longer a ___56___ on students’ memory. It’s food for thought and ___57___ for creative inventions.
Imagination is not ___58___ knowledge. Instead, it is a way leading to more knowledge. It works by thoroughly studying the current knowledge and then exploring every possibility about the knowledge. In the exploration, new knowledge ___59___. Imagination enables men to construct a new vision of the world and it adds ___60___ to life through endless possibilities. Imaginative people are restless all along.
Youth is imaginative and if the university can help preserve this precious wealth, the power of imagination can ___61___ change the world. Besides, it should also be made clear that imagination won’t be most effective without necessary experience. The problem of the current world is that those who are imaginative have only little experience ___62___ those who are experienced have weak imaginations. The ___63___ left for the universities is to hold together these two factors for the whole human race to ___64___ greater development and happiness.
1. A. problem B. development C. life D. inquiry
2. A. connection B. attraction C. difference D. tradition
3. A. technical B. difficult C. creative D. basic
4. A. supposes B. conveys C. expects D. weighs
5. A. spirit B. goods C. message D. theory
6. A. tries B. pretends C. fails D. means
7.. A. burden B. treasure C. schedule D. science
8.A. result B. material C. cost D. figure
9. A. superior to B. familiar with C. separate from D. strict with
10. A. takes shape B. steps in C. sets off D. speeds up
11. A. proof B. excitement C. greed D. seed
12. A. temporarily B. carefully C. reluctantly D. finally
13. A. because B. unless C. while D. until
14.A. sympathy B. solution C. condition D. purpose
15. A. require B. fix C. imagine D. achieve