阅读下面的短文，根据其内容写一篇60词左右的内容概要。
Recently, a professor of philosophy in the United States has written a book calledMoney and the Meaning of Life. He has discovered that how we deal with money in our day-to-day life has more meaning than we usually think. One of the things he asks his students to do is to keep a record of every penny they spend for a week. From the way they spend their money, they often see what they really value in life.
He says our relation with others often becomes clearly defined when money enters the picture. You might have wonderful friendship with somebody and you think that you are very good friends. But you will know him only when you ask him to lend you some money. If he does, it brings something to the relationship that seems stronger than ever before. Or it can suddenly weaken the relationship if he doesn’t. This person may say that he has a certain feeling, but if it is not carried out in the money world, there is something less real about it.
Since money is so important to us, we consider those who possess a lot of it to be very important. The author interviewed some millionaires in researching his book.
Answer: The most surprising thing is why people give me so much respect. I am nothing. I don’t know much. All I am is rich.
People just have an idea of making more and more money, but what is it for? How much do I need for ant given purposes in my life? In his book, the professor uncovered an important need in modern society: to bring back the idea that money is an instrument rather than the end. Money plays an important role in the material world, but expecting money to give happiness may be missing the meaning of life.
阅读下面短文, 在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。
Patricia Pania wanted to be a mother and homemaker. But 1.life was turned upside down when a motorist, 2. (distract) by his cellphone, ran a stop sign and crashed into the side of her car. The impact killed her 2-year-old daughter. Four months later, Pania reluctantly 3.courageously decided to try to educate the public and to fight 4.laws to ban drivers from using cellphones 5.a car is moving. In her first speech, Pania was visibly trembling and her voice was soft and uncertain. But as 6. got into her speech, a dramatic transformation took place. She stopped 7.(shake) and spoke with 8. strong voice. For the rest of her talk, she was a forceful and compelling speaker. She wanted everyone in the audience to know 9. she knew without having to learn it from a personal tragedy. Many in the audience were moved to tears and to action. In subsequent presentations, Pania gained reputation 10. a highly effective speaker.
It’s about 250 miles from the hills of west-central Iowa to Ehlers’ home in Minnesota. During the long trip home, following a weekend of hunting. Ehlers _______about the small dog he had seen _______ alongside the road. He had _______ to coax(哄) the dog to him but, frightened, it had _______.
Back home, Ehlers was troubled by that _______ dog. So, four days later, he called his friend Greg, and the two drove _______. After a long and careful _______, Greg saw, across a field, the dog moving _______ away. Ehlers eventually succeeded in coaxing the animal to him. Nervousness and fear were replaced with _______. It just started licking(舔) Ehlers’ face.
A local farmer told them the dog sounded like one ________ as lost in the local paper. The ad had a ________ number for a town in southern Michigan. Ehlers ________ the number of Jeff and Lisa to tell them he had ________ their dog.
Jeff had ________ in Iowa before Thanksgiving with his dog, Rosie, but the gun shots had scared the dog off. Jeff searched ________ for Rosie in the next four days.
Ehlers returned to Minnesota, and then drove 100 miles to Minneapolis to put Rosie on a flight to Michigan. “It’s good to know there’s still someone out there who ________ enough to go to that kind of ________,”says Lisa of Ehlers’ rescue ________.
“I figured whoever lost the dog was probably just as ________ to it as I am to my dogs,” says Ehlers. “If it had been my dog, I’d hope that somebody would be ________ to go that extra mile.”
1.A.read B.forgot C.thought D.heard
2.A.fighting B.trembling C.eating D.sleeping
3.A.tried B.agreed C.promised D.regretted
4.A.calmed down B.stood up C.rolled over D.run off
5.A.injured B.stolen C.lost D.rescued
6.A.home B.past C.back D.on
7.A.preparation B.explanation C.test D.search
8.A.cautiously B.casually C.skillfully D.angrily
9.A.surprise B.joy C.hesitation D.anxiety
10.A.predicted B.advertised C.believed D.recorded
11.A.house B.phone C.street D.car
12.A.called B.copied C.counted D.remembered
13.A.fed B.adopted C.found D.cured
14.A.hunted B.skied C.lived D.worked
15.A.on purpose B.on time C.in turn D.in vain
16.A.cares B.sees C.suffers D.learns
17.A.place B.trouble C.waste D.extreme
18.A.service B.plan C.effort D.team
19.A.equal B.allergic C.grateful D.close
20.A.suitable B.proud C.wise D.willing
Cell Phones: Hang Up or Keep Talking
Millions of people are using cell phones today. In many places, it is actually considered unusual not to use one.1. They find that the phones are more than a means of communication – having mobile phone shows that they are cool and connected.
The explosions around the world in mobile phone use make some health professionals worried. Some doctors are concerned that in the future many people may suffer health problems from the use of mobile phones. Mobile phone companies are worried about the negative publicity(负面报道)of such ideas. 2.
On the other hand, signs of change in the issues of the brain and head can be detected with modern scanning equipment. In one case, a traveling salesman had to retire at a young age because of serious memory loss. 3. This man used to talk on his mobile phone for about six hours a day, every day of his working week, for a couple of years.
4. The answer is radiation(辐射). High-tech machines can detect very small amounts of radiation from mobile phones. Mobile phone companies agree that there is some radiation, but they say the amount is too small to worry about.
As the discussion about the safety continues, it appears that it’s best to use mobile phones less often.
5. Use your mobile phone only when you really need it. In the future, mobile phones may have a warning label that says they are bad for your health. So for now, it’s wise not to use your mobile phone too often.
A. They say that there is no proof that mobile phones are bad for your health.
B. What do the doctors worry about?
C. In many countries, cell phones are very popular with young people.
D. Use your regular phone if you want to talk for a long time.
E. He couldn’t remember even simple tasks.
F. They will possibly affect their benefits.
G. What is it that makes mobile phones potentially harmful?
Kodak’s decision to file for bankruptcy (破产) protection is a sad, though not unexpected, turning point for a leading American corporation that pioneered consumer photography and dominated the film market for decades, but ultimately failed to adapt to the digital revolution.
Although many attribute Kodak’s downfall to “complacency (自满),” that explanation doesn’t acknowledge the lengths to which the company went to reinvent itself. Decades ago, Kodak anticipated that digital photography would overtake film — and in fact, Kodak invented the first digital camera in 1975 — but in a fateful decision, the company chose to shelf its new discovery to focus on its traditional film business.
It wasn’t that Kodak was blind to the future, said Rebecca Henderson, a professor at Harvard Business School, but rather that it failed to execute on a strategy to confront it. By the time the company realized its mistake, it was too late.
Kodak is an example of a firm that was very much aware that they had to adapt, and spent a lot of money trying to do so, but ultimately failed. Large companies have a difficult time switching into new markets because there is a temptation to put existing assets into the new businesses.
Although Kodak anticipated the inevitable rise of digital photography, its corporate (企业的) culture was too rooted in the successes of the past for it to make the clean break necessary to fully embrace the future. They were a company stuck in time. Their history was so important to them. Now their history has become a liability.
Kodak’s downfall over the last several decades was dramatic. In 1976, the company commanded 90% of the market for photographic film and 85% of the market for cameras. But the 1980s brought new competition from Japanese film company Fuji Photo, which undermined Kodak by offering lower prices for film and photo supplies. Kodak’s decision not to pursue the role of official film for the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics was a major miscalculation. The bid went instead to Fuji, which exploited its sponsorship to win a permanent foothold in the marketplace.
1.What do we learn about Kodak?
A.It went bankrupt all of a sudden.
B.It is approaching its downfall.
C.It initiated the digital revolution in the film industry.
D.It is playing a dominant role in the film market.
2.Why does the author mention Kodak’s invention of the first digital camera?
A.To show its early attempt to reinvent itself.
B.To show its effort to overcome complacency.
C.To show its quick adaptation to the digital revolution.
D.To show its will to compete with Japan’s Fuji photo.
3.Why do large companies have difficulty switching to new markets?
A.They find it costly to give up their existing assets.
B.They tend to be slow in confronting new challenges.
C.They are unwilling to invest in new technology.
D.They are deeply stuck in their glorious past.
4.What does the author say Kodak’s history has become?
A.A burden.
B.A mirror.
C.A joke.
D.A challenge.
5.What was Kodak’s fatal mistake?
A.Its blind faith in traditional photography.
B.Its failure to see Fuji photo’s emergence.
C.Its refusal to sponsor the 1984 Olympics.
D.Its overconfidence in its corporate culture.
Sunny countries are often poor. A shame, then, that solar power is still quite expensive. Eight19, a British company by Cambridge University, has, however, invented a novel way to get round this. In return for a deposit of around￡10 it is supplying poor Kenyan families with a solar cell able to generate 2.5 watts of electricity, a battery that can deliver a three amp (安培) current to store this electricity, and a lamp whose bulb is a lightemitting diode (二极管). The firm thinks that this system, once the battery is fully charged, is enough to light two small rooms and to power a mobilephone charger for seven hours. Then, next day, it can be put outside and charged back up again.
The trick is that, to be able to use the electricity, the system’s keeper must buy a scratch card — for as little as a dollar — on which is printed a reference number. The keeper sends this reference, plus the serial number of the household solar unit, by SMS to Eight19. The company’s server will respond automatically with an access code to the unit.
Users may consider that they are paying an hourly rate for their electricity. In fact, they are paying off the cost of the unit. After buying around￡80 worth of scratch cards — which Eight19 expects would take the average family around 18 months — the user will own it. He will then have the option of continuing to use it for nothing, or of trading it in for a bigger one, perhaps driven by a 10watt solar cell.
In that case, he would go then through the same process again, paying off the additional cost of the upgraded kit at a slightly higher rate. Users would therefore increase their electricity supply steadily and affordably.
According to Eight19’s figures, this looks like a good deal for customers. The firm believes the average energystarved Kenyan spends around￡10 a month on oil — enough to fuel a couple of smoky lamps — plus￡2 on charging his mobile phone in the marketplace. Regular users of one of Eight19’s basic solar units will spend around half that, before owning it completely. Meanwhile, as the cost of solar technology falls, it should get even cheaper.
1.The underlined word “get round” in the first paragraph can be replaced by “______”.
A.make use of B.come up with
C.look into D.deal with
2.What should the user do when the electricity in the battery is used up?
A.Buy a scratch card.
B.Recharge it outside.
C.Buy another solar cell.
D.Return it to the company.
3.How much would users pay for the cell and scratch cards before they own a 2.5watt solar cell?
A.Around￡10. B.Around￡80.
C.Around￡90. D.Around￡180.
4.It can be inferred from the last paragraph that .
A.Kenyan families would find it difficult to afford the solar cell
B.using the solar cell would help Kenyan families save money
C.few Kenyan families use mobile phones for lack of electricity
D.the company will make a great profit from selling solar cells
