Switching telephone providers used to be the only way homeowners could save money on telephone bills. Now thanks to new technology, comsumers have another choice-making phone calls over the internet. And this can be completely free if you call another person with an internet phone set-up.
The technology is called voice over internet protocol (协议), or VoIP. In 2005, consumer demand for VoIP dramatically grew. In the US, where popularity has grown faster than here in the UK, 8.4 million are predicted to subscribe this year. For the past couple years, VoIP pioneers such as Skype have accounted for the majority of internet phone subscribers.
VoIP is attractive to consumers because it’s cheaper than traditional phone services. With the basic equipment of PC, microphone and headset, and VoIP software and broadband internet for optimum (最适宜的) voice quality, consumers can save a fortune chatting for free to other internet phone owners and save money calling regular landlines (通讯电缆). But, as the saying goes, you get what you pay for. Many of these services suffer from uncontinuous lapses (失效) in quality. While some users may tolerate echoes or a dropped call, improved quality is needed to attract more customers.
Computing has examined the benefits of using a PC as a telephone with VoIP in how easy they were to set up, how effective they were and the range of their features.
Skype(www. skype.com) came top for its bother-free approach, easy set-up and exceptional voice clarity. Sipgate (www. sipgate. co. uk), MSN(www. messenger. msn. co. uk) and Yahoo! Messenger (uk. messenger. yahoo. com) provide an audio “wizard” that improves sound levels. Google Talk (www. google. com/ talk) was less helpful and Babble. net (www. babble. net) was let down by its poor help files. Yahoo! Messenger provides some of the best features, including the option of landline calls, webcam chats, instant messaging, voice-mail and conference calls.
1.Which one of the following if you call others?
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A．VolP,voice over internet protocol |
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B．Switching telephone |
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C．New technology |
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D．letters |
2.The underlined sentence in Paragraph 3 implies that ______.
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A．VoIP can save money but it has some disadvantages |
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B．whatever you buy is related to how much you pay |
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C．what you pay for will belong to you forever |
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D．what you buy is not always high in quality |
3.Which of the following statement is true according to the passage?
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A．Sipgate is less helpful. |
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B．Yahoo! Messenger offers some best features. |
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C．Skype is the best one in the new technology. |
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D．Google Talk provides very good audio “wizard”. |
A new era is upon us. Call it what you will: the service economy, the information age, the knowledge society. It has changed the way we work. Already we’re partly there. The percentage of people who earn their living by making things has fallen dramatically in the Western World. Today the majority of jobs in America, Europe and Japan (two thirds or more in many of these countries) are in the service industry, and the number is on the rise. More women are in the work force than ever before. There are more part-time jobs. More people are self-employed. But the breadth (广度) of the economic transformation can’t be measured by numbers alone, because it also is giving rise to a basic new way of thinking about the nature of work itself. Long-held concepts about jobs and careers, the skills needed to succeed, even the relation between individuals and employers — all these are being challenged.
We have only to look behind us to get some sense of what may lie ahead. No one looking ahead 20 years possibly could have foreseen the ways in which a single invention, the chip (芯片), would transform our world thanks to its applications in personal computers, digital communications and factory robots. Tomorrow’s achievements in biotechnology, artificial intelligence or even some still unimagined technology could produce a similar wave of dramatic changes. But one thing is certain: information and knowledge will become even more important, and the people who possess it, whether they work in manufacturing (制造业) or services, will have the advantage and produce the wealth. Computer knowledge will become as basic a requirement as the ability to read and write. The ability to solve problems by applying information instead of performing routine tasks will be valued above all else. If you cast your mind ahead 10 years, information services will be predominant (最重要的). It will be the way you do your job.
1.One of the great changes caused by the knowledge society is that ______.
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A．most people have to take part-time jobs |
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B．people have to change their jobs from time to time |
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C．people’s traditional concepts about work are no longer completely true |
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D．the difference between the employee and the employer has become unimportant |
2.The future will probably belong to those who ______.
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A．have more brains |
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B．are involved in the service industries |
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C．cast their mind ahead instead of looking back |
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D．possess and know how to make use of information |
3.Which of the following would be the best title of the passage?
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A．Computers and the knowledge society |
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B．Features and meanings of the New Era |
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C．Service Industries in the Modern Society |
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D．Rapid Advancement of Information Technology |
Welcome every morning with a smile. Let your first hour set the theme of success and positive action that is certain to echo through your entire day. Today will never happen again. Don’t waste it with a false start or no start at all. You were not born to fail.
Starting the day right can give good momentum (动力) for the rest of the day. Having a power morning is a key factor for a fruitful day. Here are some tips on getting the most out of the morning.
Wake up early. In theory, there’s no difference in waking up early or late as long as you get the proper amount of sleep. However, there is a psychological advantage when you wake up earlier than the average person and then you’ll have more time to do preparation before engaging in the real world.
Exercise. Good health is always a benefit with exercise, but studies have also shown that morning exercise helps you to sleep better at nights.
Eat breakfast. It’s the most important meal of the day. According to the Mayo Clinic, we should choose three from the following four: fruits and vegetables, grains, dairy, and protein. Did you know that you can actually gain weight when you skip breakfast?
Take a shower. When you shower, do you do it in the morning or at night? I used to shower in the evenings, but I found that morning showers helped me to be more alert.
Prioritize (优先) your To-Do list. Leo coined the acronym MIT to mean “most important tasks.” Our to-do list might be never ending, but put on top of the list a couple of urgent tasks that will define the day to be a successful one.
Check your emails. Only once. Getting a lot of emails can be very distractive. You actually are more productive when you check them only a few times at fixed time of the day. I only do them 2-3 times a day—once in the morning, once at lunch, and one more as it gets toward the end of the day.
1.The purpose for the author to write this passage is to .
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A．tell you to get up early every day |
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B．offer you the best way to start the day |
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C．give you advice about how to arrange a day |
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D．advise you to prioritize your to-do list every morning |
2.If you don’t have breakfast, you may .
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A．lose weight. |
B．be productive. |
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C．put on weight. |
D．be more alert. |
3.The underlined word “coined” in Paragraph 6 means .
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A．invented |
B．designed |
C．founded |
D．defined |
4.The author advises you to check your emails only once because .
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A．the emails are not important |
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B．reading e-mails is distractive |
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C．you can only read e-mails at fixed time |
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D．getting so many emails can distract your attention |
Dinah is one of the most good-natured children that ever lived, but she is very, very lazy. There is nothing she likes, or used to like, so much as to curl up in some warm corner in the sun and do nothing.
Dinah’s mother wished very much that her child should learn to read, but the lady who tried to teach her soon give it up. “It is no 16 ,” she said, “Dinah 17 not learn. She is not stupid, but too lazy.”
It happened soon that a young man from Massachusetts came to the house where Dinah lived. He brought with him something no one else in the neighborhood had ever seen before－a pair of roller-skates.
When Dinah saw the young man going rapidly up and down the piazza (广场) on his skates she was so 18 . She ran after him like a cat, her black eyes shining.
One day the young man allowed her to 19 the skates. The child was too happy for words. Of course she fell down, but did not 20 at all.
“Look here, Dinah,” said the young man, “I understand that my aunt has been trying to teach you to read. Why didn’t you learn? Now, if you can read, I will send you a pair of good roller-skates.”
For a moment she said 21 , then exclaimed decidedly, “I’ll have those skates, sure.”
And she did. When she 22 her mind on her work, she could always do it well, 23 it was.
The lady who had before this found her 24 difficult a child to teach, now had no trouble. If Dinah showed the least 25 of her former laziness, the word SKATES was enough to draw her attention back to her lesson instantly.
On New Year’s morning she received a box marked in large printed letters:
MISS DINAH MORRIS,
Care of Mrs. Lawrence Delaney,
NEW ORLEANS, LA.
If she can read what is on the outside of this box she can have what is inside.
And as Dinah read every word clearly and quickly, of course she had the fine roller-skates the box held. And now sitting curled up in the sun, doing nothing, is not the thing she likes to do best.
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That dog ought to be destroyed it attacks any more children.
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A．until |
B．since |
C．after |
D．before |
So tired of corn-bread that he eats it with tears in his eyes.
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A．is he |
B．he is |
C．he was |
D．was he |
