Have you got a Facebook account? Are you thinking of getting one? Jamie Simmonds has just signed up. Let’s see how she’s getting along.
My Diary
MONDAY: I’m officially a Facebooker. I find a few people I used to know and I’ve soon got seven friends. I’ve never felt so popular! I wonder if my old university flatmate Steve is on here…What do you know! He is! Maybe Facebook has its uses.
TUESDAY: I’ve received lots of nice welcoming messages on my wall. Later, I meet up with Steve for a drink after not seeing him for five years. We get on really well! Then, he uses his Facebook app for iPhone to suggest me as a friend to some other former classmates. Some of them even come to the pub and it’s just like old times – possibly a bit too much like old times. During the night, photos are uploaded to Facebook.
WEDNESDAY: Disaster! My mum’s on Facebook! Has she seen the photos of me dancing on the table from last night? Has she shown them to dad? Oh. And I have a friend request – mum again!
THURSDAY: There’s a message from my boyfriend, “so, it’s over then, ;is it?” Evidently I haven’t changed my settings to show I’m “in a relationship”, and I haven’t even added him as a friend. Ah, well, I wonder what my ex-boyfriend is doing… Whoops! I accidentally type his name into my status box instead of the search ‘ and now every one can see it on their news feed.’
FRIDAY: Time to update my status:“Work is boring. Can’t wait for the weekend!” Yeah, that about sums it up. Oh, look, I’ve received a comment! Someone must feel the same way. Lots of my friends now“like” this status.
SATURDAY: Good news! I’ve got 100 friends But wait! Someone’s “un-friended” me! I look through my “friend list” to try to work out who it was. Why did they do that? Am I really such a terrible person? I never knew Facebook could be this cruel.
SUNDAY: Wake up. Check my Facebook page. Make coffee. Check my Facebook page again. Get ready to leave. Change my mind and check my Facebook page … again. I am becoming addicted to it! I think it’s time to end it all before it takes over my life. I delete my account. Back to good, old, simple e-mails. Oh, look, I’ve got a message: A friend invited you to join Twitter. . .
In July 2010, Facebook had more than 500 million active users. The average Facebook user has 130 friends. Facebook is translated into more than 70 different languages. The world spends 700 billion minutes a month on Facebook. Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook page says he’s a Harvard graduate, even though he actually dropped out to focus on Facebook. The site is valued at between $7.9 and $11 billion.
1. Why did Jamie’s boyfriend ask her whether she had broken up with him?
A. He had seen photos of Jamie dancing on the table.
B. She showed in her facebook that she was still not dating anyone.
C. Her boyfriend was angry that she refused to add him as her friend.
D. He saw the name of her ex-boyfriend on his news feed.
2.Which of the following is conveyed in this article?
A. Visiting Facebook website took up a large part of Jamie’s time and energy.
B. Jamie is enthusiastic about her present job.
C. Facebook was created by a Harvard graduate, Mark Zuckerberg.
D. Compared with Facebook, Twitter is a better choice for Jamie.
3.What does the word“un-friend” mean in“Someone’s ‘un-friended’ me!”?
A. Being unfriendly to others.
B. Having a quarrel with somebody.
C. Removing a name from the friend list.
D. Ending friendship with somebody.
4.Which of the following is true according to the passage ?
A. Steve was Jamie’s boyfriend in the university.
B. People all over the world spend 700 billion minutes a week on Facebook.
C. Jamie’s mother has seen the photos of her dancing on the table.
D. Jamie felt enthusiastic about Facebook at first.
5.It can be learned from the passage that the writer’s attitude towards Facebook is ______ .
A. approval B. objective C. negative D. positive
2010 was the year the Earth struck back.
Earthquakes, heat waves, floods, volcanoes, super typhoons, blizzards (暴风雪), landslides and droughts killed at least a quarter million people in 2010 – the deadliest year in more than a generation. More people were killed worldwide by natural disasters this year than have been killed in terrorism attacks in the past 40 years combined.
“It just seemed like it was back-to-back(接二连三) and it came in waves,” said Craig Fugate, who heads the US Federal Emergency Management Agency. It handled a record number of disasters in 2010.
“The term “100-year event’ really lost its meaning this year.”
And we have ourselves to blame most of the time, scientists and disaster experts say.
Even though many disasters have the ring of random chance, the hand of man made this a particularly deadly, costly, extreme and strange year for everything from wild weather to earthquakes.
Poor construction and development practices make earthquakes more deadly than they need be. More people live in poverty in vulnerable buildings（危房） in crowded cities. That means that when the ground shakes, the river floods, or the tropical cyclone hits, more people die.
Disasters from the Earth, such as earthquakes and volcanoes “are pretty much constant,” said Andreas Schraft, vice president of catastrophic perils for the Geneva-based insurance giant Swiss Re. “All the change that’s made is man-made.”
The January earthquake that killed well more than 220,000 people in Haiti is a perfect example. Port-au-Prince has nearly three times as many people – many of them living in poverty- and more poorly built shanties(棚户区) ,than it did 25 years ago. So had the same quake hit in 1985 instead of 2010; total deaths would have probably been in the 80,000 range, said Richard Olson, director of disaster risk reduction at Florida International University.
Climate scientists say Earth’s climate also is changing thanks to man-made global warming, bringing extreme weather, such as heat waves and flooding.
The excessive(过多的) amount of extreme weather that dominated 2010 is a classic sign of man-made global warming that climate scientists have long warned about. They calculate that the killer Russian heat wave – setting a national record of 111 degrees – would happen once every 100,000 years without global warming.
Data show that 18 countries broke their records for the hottest day ever.
“The Earth strikes back in response to bad human decision-making,” said Debarati Guha Sapir.” “It’s almost as if the policies, the government policies and development policies, are helping the Earth strike back instead of protecting from it. We’ve created conditions where the slightest thing the Earth does is really going to have a surprising impact.” White House science adviser John Holdren said we should get used to climate disasters or do something about global warming. “The science is clear that we can expect more and more of these kinds of damaging events unless and until society has sharply reduced the amount of heat-trapping gases and particles(颗粒).”
1.From paragraph 1 to paragraph 3, we learn ___________________________.
A. what natural disasters mean to the people all over the world
B. how terrorism attacks struck in the past four decades
C. how the Earth struck back in 2010
D. why the world saw so many disasters in 2010
2.The author gives the example of the big earthquake in Haiti to show that ___________ .
A. poor construction largely accounts for more deaths than expected
B. man’s behaviours are to blame for the constant occurrence of natural disasters
C. the extreme weather mainly contributes to the disaster of the quake
D. the country’s poverty and over- crowdedness results in the disaster
3. Which of the following would Debarati Guha Sapir most probably agree with?
A. Environment protection should be taken into account in policy-making.
B. Natural disasters are causing increase.
C. The earth wouldn’t strike back but for the destruction by man.
D. Conditions should be created to rid the influence of disasters.
4. According to John Holdren, the best way to cut back on the number of natural disasters is __________________ .
A. to forecast the happening of natural disasters accurately
B. to build stronger houses that can stand severe earthquakes and floods
C. to make better decisions and policies of city development
D. to send out much fewer greenhouse gases and particles
5.What is the real concern of the writer of this article?
A. The major causes of natural disasters.
B. The human unawareness of environment protection.
C. The harmonious relationship between humans and nature.
D. The serious results of global warming and earthquakes.
Let me take you back a couple of years. Come with me as we relearn a lesson, one that has stuck with me, in my present memory, and 36 me yet. We walked into Elida Road Hardware, an old-fashioned hardware 37___ . No automatic door, not a computer in the building. It was one that I went to fairly often. As we entered the door, two sounds 38 us. The sleigh bells of last year made that sweet, peaceful tinkle as we opened the door. The other sound was the electronic beeper that reminded Andy of our 39 .
“Good afternoon, Ryan,” 40 the cheerful greeting. Andy was a very 41 sort of owner. He was of medium build and height, and the smile on his face welcomed us.
We walked across the old wood floor. Andy asked us what he could help us with. I told him we were 42 a spring(弹簧). He very patiently replied, “l have lots of springs. You’re going to need to be more specific.”
“Just a spring for an old-fashioned screen door.”
“That’s it. A screen door spring, right down there. ” We 43 where he was pointing, and sure enough, there they were. And knew his store, and his products. That was why I came here instead of Meijer. The service couldn’t be beaten. The price; Yes. But service and 44 ;No.
I picked up one and followed him to the 45 .
He figured up the price, doing the math in his head, “ $1.88,with tax comes to $1. 99. ”
“ Put it on my dad’s account. ”
He nodded and smiled, “ Good dad’s account. ” He smiled. “I don’t know what you boys would do 46 dad’s account! ”
He handed me the ticket and as I 47 it, I asked, “You really trust my signature?”
His reply surprised,_ 48 delighted me. “ When I can’t trust Jerry Hoover’s boys, I can trust nobody! ”
We left, and the brain immediately started to forget things, in order of importance. But what Andy said that day rang in my ears. And it rings in my ears today. That’s a tall order to live up to. It’s a high standard of 49 .My father made a fame for that name, and I get to enjoy the benefits. But on account of this, I must maintain that fame. And that’s 50 business.
1.A.inspires B.excites C.shocks D.amazes
2.A.restaurant B.store C. park D.factory
3.A.hugged B.greeted C.heard D.sensed
4.A.presence B. dependence C. importance D. absence
5.A.shouted B.said C.went D.came
6. A. special B. ridiculous C. friendly D. appropriate
7.A. looking up B. looking for C. looking into D. looking after
8.A. turned to B. got to C. stuck to D. referred to
9.A. description B. determination C. satisfaction D. imagination
10..A.corner B.counter C.bank D.door
11.A.without B.within C.by D.for
12.A.saw B.wrote C.signed D.touched
13.A.yet B.still C.even D.also
14.A. honesty B. fortune C. consideration D. devotion
15.A. serious B. optimistic C. silent D. successful
Was it in the village ____we used to live _____ the accident happened?
A. that; where B. which; that C. where; that D. which; where
From his _____look , we could see that he hadn’t expected that we could raise such ______
questions to him.
A. confusing; confusing B. confused; confused
C. confusing; confused D. confused; confusing
--What do you think made Mary so upset ?
---______ her new bicycle.
A. As she lost B. Lost C. Losing D. Because of losing
