Nowadays, millions of lonely singles are now going online instead．The World Wide Web is quickly becoming the world’s most popular matchmaker（媒人）．
Singles are flocking（涌向）to the Internet mainly because their busy lifestyles leave them little time to look for a significant other．Using dating sites（约会网址）is quick and convenient．Many singles say the regular dating scene has just led them from one bad experience to another and are ready to try something else．Dating sites also make it easy to avoid someone you are not interested in．In the real world, however, ignoring someone you don’t like can be difficult．
Despite all the advantages, online dating also presents its own set of problems．People aren’t always those who they declare to be in their online description．Safety is another concern．You are just likely to find a criminal online as you are Mr．Or Miss Right．
Online dating experts recommend following a few safety tips:
Guard your personal information．Never give out your personal information online．This includes your last name, phone number, home address and place of work．
Watch for red flags．Do any of the people you are chatting with make disrespectful comments? Do they try to control you? Do they give false information about themselves? If so, forget them!
Meet in a safe place．When meeting someone in person, choose a public location with other people around．
Following these tips and you might be able to find the person of your dreams．
1.The underlined words in the second paragraph “a significant other” mean “________”．
A．a true friend B．a matchmaker C．a marriage partner D．a happy family
2.According to the passage, many lonely singles don’t appreciate the regular dating scene because it is
_________．
A．unpopular B．troublesome
C．convenient D．forgettable
3.From this passage, we can infer that ____________．
A．there are mostly homely and unemployed people online
B．the police had better find criminals online
C．we can find love only through the dating sites
D．following safety tips ensures a safe online dating experience.
4.Which of the following is NOT a suitable place for meeting someone you get to know through the Internet for the first time?
A．At his / her house． B．At the museum．
C．At McDonald’s． D．At the bookstore．
Students and Technology in the Classroom
I love my Blackberry—it’s my little connection to the larger world that can go anywhere with me．I also love my laptop computer，as it holds all of my writing and thoughts．Despite this love of technology, I know that there are times when I need to move away from these devices（设备） and truly communicate with others．
On occasion, I teach a course called History Matters for a group of higher education managers．My goals for the class include a full discussion of historical themes and ideas．Because I want students to thoroughly study the material and exchange their ideas with each other in the classroom, I have a rule —no laptops, iPads, phones, etc．When students were told my rule in advance of the class, some of them were not happy．
Most students assume that my reasons for this rule include unpleasant experiences in the past with students misusing technology．There’s a bit of truth to that．Some students assume that I am anti-technology．There’s no truth in that at all．I love technology and try to keep up with it so I can relate to my students．
The real reason why I ask students to leave technology at the door is that I think there are very few places in which we can have deep conversations and truly engage complex ideas．Interruptions by technology often break concentration and allow for too much dependence on outside information for ideas．I want students to dig deep within themselves for inspiration and ideas．I want them to push each other to think differently and to make connections between the course material and the class discussion．
I’ve been teaching my history class in this way for many years and the evaluations reflect student satisfaction with the environment that I create．Students realize that with deep conversation and challenge, they learn at a level that helps them keep the course material beyond the classroom．
I’m not saying that I won’t ever change my mind about technology use in my history class, but until I hear a really good reason for the change, I’m sticking to my plan．A few hours of technology-free dialogue is just too sweet to give up．
1.Some of the students in the history class were unhappy with______．
A．the course material B．others’ misuse of technology
C．discussion topics D．the author’s class regulations
2.The underlined word “engage” in Para．4 probably means ______．
A．explore B．accept C．change D．reject
3.According to the author, the use of technology in the classroom may ____．
A．keep students from doing independent thinking
B．encourage students to have in-depth conversations
C．help students to better understand complex themes
D．affect students’ concentration on course evaluation
4.It can be inferred from the last paragraph that the author ______．
A．is quite stubborn
B．will give up teaching history
C．will change his teaching plan soon
D．values technology-free dialogues in his class
Mapping Your World
Different forms of maps are appearing．They allow independent travelers to get local knowledge of places they are visiting, from the official to the unusual．Meanwhile, hi-tech developments are creating new ways for us to map the world．Here are two of our favorites：
Green Maps
Green Maps allows people to share with the world their knowledge of environmentally friendly places and attractions in the local areas．Users add information with a set of icons（图标）, making it easy to read any map, whatever the nationalities of those who produce it．At present there are over five hundred map projects being developed in 54 countries．Green Maps’ advertised idea is “think global, map local”．It is a wonderful way of gaining all sorts of information of a place, ranging from community gardens to good places of birdwatching．
Green Maps is not specifically intended for travelers．Not all of its maps are online, so it may be necessary for some users to communicate with the producers through the Green Maps website．
Maps Mashups
Many people use online maps developed by Google, but not many know about the mashups of them．Working in a similar way to Green Maps, Map Mashups allows people to add icons of their own to existing maps to express a certain topic．The mashups is so called because it combines all the knowledge you could ever need．It ranges from the extremely useful, such as where all the World Heritage Sites are, to the most bizarre （古怪的），such as where America’s drunkest cities are．With the mashups added to the basic Google Maps, a multi-layered （多层的） map can be created．
1.According to the passage, which of the following is a characteristic of Green Maps?
A．Introducing local attractions with icons
B．Aiming at environmental protection
C．Offering advice to independent travelers．
D．Collecting icons worldwide for local maps．
2.Which of the following icons is most probably NOT used in Green Maps?
3.“Map Mashups” is named with the word “mashups” because ．
A．it is produced by users all over the world B．it is a branch of Google Maps
C．it shares icons with Green Maps D．it gathers various kinds of information
4.What do Green Maps and Map Mashups have in common?
A．They are created by local people．
B．They are environmentally friendly．
C．Users can edit maps on the Internet．
D．Users need to communicate with producers．
In 1985 a France television company sent its reporters to the Paris Metro（地铁）．They took ___21___ to see what passengers would do if they saw someone ___22___ on the platform or trains．The incidents looked ___23___ and they were all done with the help of actors．However, very ___24___ people tried to help, and most passengers ___25___ not to notice．In one of the ___26___, a foreigner was attacked by three men．The attack was on a ___27___ which was quite full, and although the man tried to get ___28___ passengers to help, they all refused．This is not only a French ___29___．A British newspaper reported in 1991 that a professor of Social Psychology in New York had ___30___ his students out to rob their own cars．The students didn’t try to ___31___ what they were doing．About 80 people ___32___ 250 car thefts, and only twelve of them tried to ___33___ the student robbers．In a typical incident, one man stopped, looked, and then put his hands over his ___34___ and shouted “I didn’t see that!” About forty people ___35___ to help the thieves, and two people ___36___ sat down next to the car and ___37___ to buy a camera and a television set a student was ___38___ from the back seat of his own car．The professor ___39___ whether it is a problem of big cities or would be the ___40___ thing as happens anywhere．
1.A．notes B．trains C．cameras D．newspapers
2.A．attacked B．stolen C ．wounded D．struck
3.A．great B．real C．serious D．terrible
4.A．many B．old C．few D．large
5.A．pretended B．seemed C．managed D．asked
6.A．passengers B．actors C．accidents D．incidents
7.A．plane B．train C．truck D．bus
8.A．another B．all C．more D．the other
9.A．situation B．agreement C．problem D．accident
10.A．brought B．sent C．took D．put
11.A．expose B．hide C．tell D．find
12.A．watched B．discovered C．found D．realized
13.A．help B．refuse C．stop D．report
14.A．face B．head C．eyes D．ears
15.A．expected B．offered C．hated D．liked
16.A．bravely B．surely C．actually D．certainly
17.A．wanted B．loved C．needed D．waited
18.A．sending B．taking C．offering D．robbing
19.A．knows B．wonders C．learns D．asks
20.A．former B．different C．same D．small
The question came up at the meeting_____ we had enough money for our research．
A．that B．which C．whether D．if
This cake is very sweet．You __________ a lot of sugar in it．
A．should put B．could have put C．might put D．must have put
