“Get your hands off me, I have been stolen,” the laptop, a portable computer, shouted. That is a new solution to laptop computer theft: a program that lets owners give their property a voice when it has been taken.
The program allows users to display alerts (警报)on the missing computer’s screen and even to set a spoken message. Tracking software for stolen laptops has been on the market for some time, but this is thought to be the first that allows owners to give the thief a piece of their mind.
Owners must report their laptop missing by logging on to a website, which sends a message to the model: a red and yellow “lost or stolen” banner pops up on its screen when it is started. Under the latest version(版本) of the software, users can also send a spoken message.
The message can be set to reappear every 30 seconds, no matter how many times the thief closes it. “One customer sent a message saying, ‘You are being tracked. I am right at your door’,” said Carrie Hafeman, chief executive of the company which produces the program, Retriever.
In the latest version, people can add a spoken message. The default （系统设定）through the computer’s speakers is: “Help, this laptop is reported lost or stolen. If you are not my owner, please report me now.”
The Retriever software package, which costs $29.95 (￡21) but has a free trial period, has the functions of many security software programs. Owners can remotely switch to an alternative password immediately if they fear that the thief has also got hold of the access details.
If a thief accesses the internet with the stolen laptop, Retriever will collect information on the internet service provider in use, so that the police can be alerted to its location.
Thousands of laptops are stolen every year from homes and offices, but with the use of laptops increasing, the number stolen while their owners are out and about has been rising sharply.
Other security software allows users to erase data remotely or lock down the computer.
1.The expression “to give the thief a piece of their mind” can be understood as “_______”.
A. to give the thief an alert mind
B. to express the owners’ anger to the thief
C. to remind the thief of his conscience(良心)
D. to make the thief give up his mind
2.Different from other security software, Retriever can ______.
A. record the stealing process
B. help recognize the lost laptop
C. lock down the computer remotely
D. send a spoken message
3.One function of the program is that it allows the owner to ______ at a distance.
A. change some access details for switching on the laptop
B. turn on the laptop by using the original password
C. operate the laptop by means of an alternative password
D. erase the information kept in the stolen laptop
4.Which of the following can best summarize the main idea of the passage?
A. With no Retriever, thousands of laptops are stolen every year.
B. A new software provides a means to reduce laptop theft.
C. Retriever has helped to find thieves and lost computers.
D. A new program offers a communication platform with the thief.
For some people, music is no fun at all. About four percent of the population is what scientists call “amusic.” People who are amusic are born without the ability to recognize or reproduce musical notes (音调). Amusic people often cannot tell the difference between two songs. Amusics can only hear the difference between two notes if they are very far apart on the musical scale.
As a result, songs sound like noise to an amusic. Many amusics compare the sound of music to pieces of metal hitting each other. Life can be hard for amusics. Their inability to enjoy music set them apart from others. It can be difficult for other people to identify with their condition. In fact, most people cannot begin to grasp what it feels like to be amusic. Just going to a restaurant or a shopping mall can be uncomfortable or even painful. That is why many amusics intentionally stay away from places where there is music. However, this can result in social isolation( 隔离). “I used to hate parties,” says Margaret, a seventy-year-old woman who only recently discovered that she was amusic. By studying people like Margaret, scientists are finally learning how to identify this unusual condition.
Scientists say that the brains of amusics are different from the brains of people who can appreciate music. The difference is complex, and it doesn’t involve defective hearing. Amusics can understand other nonmusical sounds well. They also have no problems understanding ordinary speech. Scientists compare amusics to people who just can’t see certain colors.
Many amusics are happy when their condition is finally diagnosed . For years, Margaret felt embarrassed about her problem with music. Now she knows that she is not alone. There is a name for her condition. That makes it easier for her to explain. “When people invite me to a concert, I just say, ‘No thanks, I’m amusic,’” says Margaret. “I just wish I had learned to say that when I was seventeen and not seventy.”
1.Which of the following is true of amusics?
A. Listening to music is far from enjoyable for them.
B. They love places where they are likely to hear music.
C. They can easily tell two different songs apart.
D. Their situation is well understood by musicians.
2.According to paragraph 3, a person with “defective hearing” is probably one who _________.
A. dislikes listening to speeches
B. can hear anything nonmusical
C. has a hearing problem
D. lacks a complex hearing system
3.In the last paragraph, Margaret expressed her wish that __________.
A. her problem with music had been diagnosed earlier
B. she were seventeen years old rather than seventy
C. her problem could be easily explained
D. she were able to meet other amusics
4.What is the passage mainly concerned with?
A. Amusics’ strange behaviours.
B. Some people’s inability to enjoy music.
C. Musical talent and brain structure.
D. Identification and treatment of amusics.
Even at school there had been an unhealthy competition between George and Richard.
“I’ll be the first millionaire in Coleford!” Richard used to boast.
“And you’ll be sorry you knew me,” George would reply “because I’ll be the best lawyer in the town!”
George never did become a lawyer and Richard never made any money. Instead both men opened bookshops on opposite sides of Coleford High Street. It was hard to make money from books, which made the competition between them worse.
Then Richard married a mysterious girl. The couple spent their honeymoon on the coast—but Richard never came back. The police found his wallet on a deserted beach but the body was never found. He must have drowned.
Now with only one bookshop in town, business was better for George. But sometimes he sat in his narrow, old kitchen and gazed out of the dirty window, thinking about his formal rival. Perhaps he missed him?
George was very interested in old dictionaries. He’d recently found a collector in Australia who was selling a rare first edition. When the parcel arrived, the book was in perfect condition and George was delighted. But while he was having lunch, George glanced at the photo in the newspaper that the book had been wrapped in. He was astonished—the smiling face was older than he remembered but unmistakable! Trembling, George started reading.
“Bookends have bought ten bookstores from their rival Dylans. The company, owned by multi-millionaire Richard Pike, is now the largest bookseller in Australia.”
1.George and Richard were ______ at school.
A. roommatesB. good friends
C. competitorsD. booksellers
2.How did George feel about Richard after his disappearance?
A. He envied Richard’s marriage.
B. He thought of Richard from time to time.
C. He felt lucky with no rival in town.
D. He was guilty of Richard’s death.
3.What can we infer from this article?
A. Richard’ wife played an important part in his career.
B. Competition could make close friends become rivals.
C. George got information about Richard from the wrapping paper of a book.
D. Richard became a millionaire while George had no great success.
书面表达
假定你是李华，计划寒假找份兼职工作。下面的招聘广引起了你的注意，请根据要点（箭头所指内容）写一封申请信。
注意：
1. 词数100左右；
2. 可适当增加细节使行文连贯；
3. 开头已经给出，不计入总词数。
Dear Mr. Smith,
I’ve read your advertisement for an assistant teacher for a children’s winter camp.
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
Yours
LiHua
短文改错
假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文，请你修改你同桌写的以下作文。文中共有10处语言错误，每句中最多有两处，每处错误仅涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。
增加：把缺词处加个漏字符号（∧），并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线（\）划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1. 每处错误及其修改均仅限一词； 2. 只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。
More and more families are now rich enough to have their own cars. Cars do benefit the families as well the society in many ways. With a car, this is convenient for the family members to travel to or from work. They can also drive to the countryside on the weekends. At the same time, the development of motor industry will sure give a push to many other related industries, it is obviously beneficial to the social economy. On the other hand, the boom of private cars is also causing traffic and environmental problem. Waste gases from cars are causing serious pollution to the air, which do great harm to people’s health. With an increased number of cars on the roads, the traffic has become very heavily.
语法填空,阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容（1个单词）或括号内单词的正确形式。
Singles’ Day falls on November 11th every year in China . 1. is recognized as a day for people who have no girlfriend or boyfriend. Couples and lovers have Valentine’s Day in 2. (celebrate) of their love, but how about the singles? There must be a day they can celebrate even without a partner. That’s 3. people created Singles’ Day.
On Singles’ Day many singles choose to say goodbye to their single lives, 4. (attend) blind date parties, and some people even decide to get 5. (marry) to strangers. 6. this day has recently become more of a time for shopping, because many shops online will give customers great discount 7. (promote推销、促销) their goods.
More and more people are 8. (will) to shop online to get what they want, and I am one of them. I just can’t help buying things 9. I need them or not. 10. (honest) speaking, some of the things that I bought have been put aside forever in my closet.
