Earlier this year, the social media website Facebook announced that it would work with several news organizations — including The New York Times, The Guardian, and the BBC — to place news stories directly into users’ personal Facebook webpage. Stories published using Facebook Instant will load more quickly and keep the style of the original publisher, who will keep all the advertising income the stories earn — at least for now. The deal shows how important social media has become to news organizations, and is a clear sign of how the world of news is changing — and has been for a while.
When Google News began in 2002, many saw it as the death of the newspaper. It had no human editor. Instead Google used, and still uses, a secret computer program that selects and displays news stories according to the reader’s personal interests. More recently, Associated Press and Yahoo! have been publishing computer-written articles. Both use special software to automatically produce stories about company financial results and sports reports — areas where the quality of writing is felt to be of secondary importance to the accuracy of the data.
Should we be worried about such developments? I think we should. One concern is that facebook, Google and other social media websites see journalism as a sideline, a way of putting people in front of advertisements. It isn’t their primary function — so if it stops making them lots of money, they're likely to stop doing it.
There’s also a concern that computer-written articles are not actually journalism at all, because what a human news team produces is actually quite complex. A well-written news story puts information in context, offers a voice to each side of an argument and brings the public new knowledge.
Though economics and speed of delivery mean readers will probably choose a computer-written story over a carefully shaped article — at least for daily news — I don't think the computers will be writing any in-depth articles for a while yet.
1. What is the main purpose of the article?
A. To report on a new computer service offered by Facebook..
B. To advise readers against reading computer-written news.
C. To express concern about recent trends in online news.
D. To describe the process of online news reporting.
2.Computer-written news reports have so far focused on sports and finance because ________.
A. these are the most popular topics for online readers
B. there are fewer journalists specializing in these areas
C. information on these topics is more easily available
D. writing style is less important than accuracy in these areas
3.What does the underlined word “It” in Paragraph 3 refer to?
A. Journalism. B. Advertising.
C. Facebook. D. Business.
4.In Paragraph 4, which of the following is mentioned as a characteristic of a well-written news article?
A. The information presented is up-to-date.
B. The author's opinion is clear.
C. Different views on the topic are presented.
D. The language used is vivid.
It was December 25, 1914, only 5 months into World War I. German, British, and French soldiers, already sick and tired of the senseless killing, disobeyed their superiors and started socializing with “the enemy” along two-thirds of the Western Front.
German troops held up Christmas trees with signs, “Merry Christmas”. Thousands of troops ran across the battlefields covered with dead bodies. They sang Christmas songs, exchanged photographs of loved ones back home, shared food and even played football. Soldiers hugged men they had been trying to kill a few short hours before. They agreed to warn each other if their officers forced them to fire their weapons, and to aim high.
Fear ran through the military leaders on both sides. They felt that their power was being challenged: soldiers declaring their brotherhood with each other and refusing to fight. Generals declared this unexpected peacemaking illegal and said that participating soldiers would face a military court. Those found guilty would be imprisoned or even shot. By March 1915 the socializing movement had been destroyed and the killing machine was back in full operation. Over the next three years more than fifteen million people died in the war.
Not many people have heard the story of the Christmas Truce (休战). On Christmas Day, 1988, a local radio host in Boston played “Christmas in the Trenches”, a song about the Christmas Truce, several times and was stunned by his listeners’ response. Thousands of people called in, praising the song, with many moved to tears by the amazing events it described.
You can probably guess why the callers were in tears. The Christmas Truce story goes against most of what we have been taught about people. It lets us see the world as it can be and says, “This really happened once.” It shows us the potential we have as humans, and contradicts all of those TV and newspaper stories that tell us how mean and heartless people are. It is like hearing that our deepest wishes really are true: the world really can be different.
1.The soldiers began socializing with the enemy because ________.
A. they couldn't bear the meaningless killing
B. it was the best way to avoid being killed
C. they feared that they would be caught
D. their enemies were from similar backgrounds
2.How did the generals finally put an end to the soldiers’ socializing?
A. They sent the soldiers’ loved ones to prison.
B. They moved the two groups of soldiers further apart.
C. They increased the number of officers to control the soldiers.
D. They warned the soldiers that they would face severe punishment.
3.The underlined word “stunned” in Paragraph 4 most probably means ________.
A. satisfied B. shocked C. amused D. confused
4.The author uses the story of the soldiers to imply that human beings ________.
A. are not trustworthy under stress
B. are naturally aggressive and war-like
C. are basically caring and kindhearted
D. will always do what is in their own self-interest
Welcome to one of the largest collections of footwear in the world that will make you green with envy. Here at the Footwear Museum you can see exhibits from all over the world. You can find out about shoes worn by everyone from the Ancient Egyptians to pop stars.
Room 1
The celebrity footwear section is probably the most popular in the entire museum. Started in the 1950s there is a wide variety of shoes and boots belonging to everyone from queens and presidents to pop stars and actors! Most visitors find the celebrities' choice of footwear extremely interesting.
Room 2
Most of our visitors are amazed-and shocked-by the collection of "special purpose" shoes on exhibition here at the Museum of Footwear. For example, there are Chinese shoes made of silk that were worn by women to tie their feet firmly to prevent them from growing too much!
Room 3
As well as shoes and boots the museum also exhibits shoe-shaped objects. The variety is unbelievable. For example, there is a metal lamp that resembles a pair of shoes, and Greek wine bottles that look like legs!
The Footwear Library
People come from all over the world to study in our excellent footwear library Designers and researchers come here to look up information on anything and everything related to the subject of footwear.
1.All exhibits in each room .
A. belong to the same social class
B. have the same shape
C. are made of the same material
D. share the same theme
2.Which of the following is true according to the text?
A. Researchers come to the Footwear Library for data
B. Room 2 is the most visited place in the museum.
C. Room 3 has a richer variety of exhibits than the other two.
D. The oldest exhibits in Room l were made in the 1950s
3.The purpose of the text is to get more people to _____________.
A. do research B. visit the museum
C. design shoes D. follow celebrities
书面表达
假设你是新华中学高三2班的学生李华,你的英国笔友Simon刚转学,感到一切都很陌生。他在邮件中向你询问如何尽快融入新环境。请你根据以下信息回信。
1.多跟同学交流沟通;
2.积极参加学校活动;
3.向老师寻求帮助。
注意:1.词数:100左右;
2.可适当增加细节,以使行文连贯;
3.开头和结尾已给出,不计入总词数。
Dear Simon,
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:在缺词处加一个漏字符号(∧),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:在错的词下画一横线,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。
One day,I was cooking in the kitchen while the telephone rang.I went to answer it immediately.She was my close friend,Lisa.When we were talking on a phone,the fire alarm sounded.I run back to the kitchen.The room was full smoke and the beef was bad burnt.I quickly turned off the gas,opening all the windows,and then went out of the house.To my great surprises,two fire engines were outside my house.I was rather worried.I told about the firemen that it was my careless cooking which caused the heavy smoke.
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。
Swedish businessman Nile Bergqvist is delighted 1.____ his new hotel, the world’s first igloo(冰屋) hotel.
2.______ (build) in an small town, it has been attracting lots of visitors but soon the fun will be over. In two weeks’ time Bergqvist’s ice creation 3.______ (be) nothing more than a pool of water. “We don’t see it as a big problem, ”he says. “We just look forward to 4._____(replace)it. ”
Bergqvist built his first igloo in 1991 for an art exhibition. It was 5._____ successful that he designed the present one, 6.______ measures roughly 200 square meters. Six workmen spent more than eight weeks piling 1,000 tons of snow onto a7._____(wood) base；when the snow froze, the base was removed.
After their stay, all visitors receive a survival certificate recording their success. With no windows, nowhere to hang clothes and temperatures 8.___ 0°C, it may seem more like a survival test9._____ a relaxing hotel break. “It’s great fun,” Bergqvist explains, “As well as a good start in survival training.’’
The 10.______ (popular)of the igloo is beyond doubt：it is now attracting tourists from all over the world. At least 800 people have stayed at the igloo this season even though there are only 10 rooms.
