NEW YORK—Microsoft on Monday made another effort to challenge Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android in the exploding smartphone market—launching a wireless operating system，Windows Phone 7.
Consumers will consider it“always delightful and thoroughly mine，”Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said at a launch event. Ballmer said last year that Microsoft had“screwed up”with its Windows Mobile operating system.For example，it failed to keep up with touch-screen innovations that make iPhones and Android phones easy to use.
Microsoft fell from third to fourth place in market share this year，behind BlackBerry，iPhone and Android. Only 10.8% of smartphone owners used Microsoft’s system in August，down from 18% last December.
But Windows Phone 7 is“a total departure from anything they’ve done”.Microsoft says it sought to simplify common activities. For example，you can instantly take a picture with a phone’s camera by pushing a button on the device. You don’t have to first awaken it from its sleep mode and launch the camera application. You also can program the phones to automatically upload photos to Facebook or other social network sites in a couple of seconds. Users can easily work with Microsoft Office contact and calendar information as well as documents created in Microsoft’s Word，Excel and PowerPoint.
The phones will not show videos built on Adobe’s Flash platform，widely used by services including YouTube and Hulu.
AT&T will offer the first Windows Phone 7 smartphone，the Samsung Focus，on Nov.8.Soon after，it will have the LG Quantum and HTC Surround. Each will cost S| 199.99 with a two-year service contract. T-Mobile will have two Windows Phone 7 models out for the holiday shopping season：the HTC HD7 and Dell Venue Pro. It did not say how much they’ll cost.
1.What is the main idea of paragraph 4？
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A．Why Microsoft fell behind others. |
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B．How to use Windows Phone7. |
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C．Advantages of Windows phone7. |
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D．Speed of Windows phone7. |
2.What does the underlined phrase“screwed up”in the 2nd paragraph probably mean？
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A．To make a bad mistake. |
B．To make big progress. |
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C．To achieve main goals. |
D．To keep up with others. |
3.Which of the following phones will NOT use Windows Phone 7 operating system？
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A．Quantum. |
B．Surround. |
C．Android. |
D．Focus. |
4.Why did Microsoft see a drop in market share last year？
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A．Because its operating system didn’t catch up with changes. |
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B．Because its phones can’t show videos from YouTube. |
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C．Because it was inconvenient to take photos using its phones. |
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D．Because its system was based only on Microsoft soft wares. |
5.Which of the following can be the best title of the passage？
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A．Smartphone Market Welcomes New Giant |
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B．Microsoft to Fight Back on Smartphone |
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C．Mobile Phones Getting Smarter and Easier |
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D．Microsoft Proved a Failure in Smartphone |
Surveys of American teenagers find that about half of them do not get enough sleep on school nights. They get an average of 60 to 90 minutes less than experts say they need.
Experts say teens are biologically programmed to go to sleep later and wake up later than other age groups. Yet many schools start classes as early as seven in the morning.
As a result，many students go to class feeling like Danny，16 years old. He plays two sports，lacrosse and football. He is an active teen—except in the morning. DANNY：“Getting up in the morning is pretty terrible. I’m just very out of it and tired. And through first and second period I can hardly stay awake.”
Michael Breus，a clinical psychologist with a specialty in sleep disorders says：“These aren’t a bunch of lazy kids—although，you know，teenagers can of course be lazy. These are children whose biological rhythms，more times than not，are off.”Teens，he says，need to sleep eight to nine hours or even nine to ten hours a night. He says sleepy teens can experience a form of depression that could have big effects on their general well-being. It can affect not just their ability in the classroom but also on the sports field and on the road because any tired driver is dangerous，especially a teenager with a lack of experience.
So what can schools do about sleepy students？The psychologist says one thing they can do is start classes later in the morning.
Eric Peterson，head of St.George’s School in the northeastern state of Rhode Island，says，“In the end，schools ought to do what’s the right thing for their students，first and foremost.”And he wanted to see if a 30-minute delay would make a difference. It did.
1.According to the passage，which of the following is the chief cause of sleepy teenagers？
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A．Persona haibits. |
B．Early school hours. |
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C．Sports activities. |
D．Too much home work. |
2.According to Michael Breus， .
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A．Teenagers are too lazy to get up early for school. |
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B．Teenagers should change their biological rhythms. |
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C．Lacking sleep can cause serious problems. |
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D．Sleepy teenagers shouldn’t drive to school. |
3.What is Eric Peterson’s opinion on the issue？
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A．Schools should try their best to help students. |
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B．Students should adjust to their school’s schedule. |
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C．Changing school schedule is their last choice. |
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D．Something has to change at the end of a school day. |
4.What does the underlined word“It”in the last sentence might refer to？
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A．St.George School. |
B．Rhode Island State. |
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C．Students in St.George School. |
D．30-minute delay of school day. |
5.What can you infer might follow the passage immediately？
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A．Some positive changes in St.George’s school. |
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B．Some complaints from teachers and parents. |
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C．Some tips on how to help students foremost. |
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D．Some unexpected outcome of the delay. |
“It was cool，because I got a chance to be in a studio and see how a record is made，”says 14-year-old Javon Martin，who joined the music clubhouse 3 years ago.“It has impacted my life in a big way. People are actually starting to see me as an artist.”Ten-year-old Akheylah Hunter didn’t play an instrument when she became a club member last year. Now，she plays piano and sings with the band. What she likes best，she says，is performing.“We performed in different places，”she says.“We go on trips and it is fun.”
Since the Music Clubhouse opened three years ago，it’s served almost 500 kids.Aggeler says performing in front of different audiences helps the young musicians build self-esteem.Coming to the club to prepare for those performances helps them learn how to deal with their personal problems and concerns.
“I can see what it does for them and it just develops confidence，”he explains.“It’s also an escape from the big problems we have in the neighborhood. So whether they feel embarrassed about a zit on their face，or they feel embarrassed because they’re not as tall as somebody，they can rap about it and let it out a little bit.”
To expand the club and help more kids learn music，Aggeler sought the support of the community. The Berklee College of Music and local music stores have provided free equipment. The club has also gotten support from the Music and Youth Initiative，a nonprofit that develops after school music education programs in underserved communities in Massachusetts. All these have made it possible to provide kids who may not have the means to get private music lessons the opportunity to still learn music and get all the benefits that music education brings.”
1.Why does the writer mention the two children in the first paragraph？
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A．To tell readers that all children like music. |
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B．To provide examples of how children like the club. |
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C．To convince readers that music can solve many problems. |
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D．To show readers how to discover children’s potentials. |
2.Which of the following was NOT mentioned as a benefit of joining the club？
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A．Helping the youngsters to build self-confidence. |
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B．Helping its members escape from problems. |
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C．Learning to deal with personal problems. |
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D．Learning to get help from nonprofit groups. |
3.What is Mr.Aggeler’s possible post？
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A．An organizer of the club. |
B．A conductor of the band. |
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C．An expert in child problems. |
D．A parent of one of the children. |
4.What does the writer intend the passage to be？
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A．An advertisement for a club. |
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B．A promotion of some non-profit groups. |
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C．An introduction of a music club for children. |
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D．A try to call for attention on children’s needs. |
5.Which of the following might NOT be included in activities of the club？
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A．Putting on performances. |
B．Making records. |
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C．Traveling to different places. |
D．Giving private music lessons. |
In 1883，an engineer named John Roebling intended to build a bridge connecting New York with the Long Island. 36 ，experts throughout the world thought it impossible and not 37 .
Roebling couldn’t 38 the vision in his mind of this bridge. He knew deep in his heart it could be done. He just had to 39 the dream with someone else. After much persuasion he managed to 40 his son Washington，a young engineer，that the bridge 41 could be built.
Working together，the father and son developed concepts of 42 it could be accomplished and how the difficulties could be 43 . With great 44 and inspiration，they hired their crew and began to build their dream bridge.
The project started well，but unfortunately an accident took the life of John. Washington was injured and left with a brain damage， 45 him not being able to walk or talk or even move.
Everyone had a 46 comment to make and felt the project should be trashed. In 47 of his disability，Washington still had a burning 48 to complete the bridge and his mind was still as 49 as ever.
He tried to pass on his 50 to some of his friends. Suddenly an idea 51 him as he lay in hospital. All he could do was move one finger and he decided to make the best 52 of it. By moving this，he slowly developed a code of communication with his wife. He used the method of tapping her arm to tell the engineers what to do. It seemed foolish 53 the project was under way again.
For 13 years Washington tapped out his instructions with his finger on his wife’s arm，until the Brooklyn Bridge was finally completed.
Perhaps this is one of the best examples of a never-say-die 54 that overcomes a terrible physical handicap and 55 an impossible goal.
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—Can we go camping tomorrow，as planned？
—I’m afraid not. The dark clouds a heavy rain.
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A．forecast |
B．instruct |
C．expect |
D．promise |
Our English teacher，Billy，never criticizes us，but uses to make us work hard.
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A．courage |
B．praise |
C．surprise |
D．duty |
