Question

    When it comes to giving help to developing countries, we often think about donating money so that these countries can build schools and hospitals, buy food and medicine, or find clean water supplies. These seem to be the most important basic needs of the people we are trying to help. However, the traditional way is far from enough. We need better ideas to help them.

Recently, I read about a plan to make cheap laptop computers for children in developing countries. A man called Nicholas Negroponte invented a cheap laptop computer, which can run without electricity. He decided to invent this computer after he visited a school in Cambodia.

The laptop which Mr. Negroponte has designed is a little different from the normal laptop computers you can buy in the shops. Covered in rubber, this computer is very strong and won’t be damaged easily. As an electricity supply can be a problem in developing countries, the computer also has a special handle (把手) so that children can wind (摇) the computer up to give it extra power when needed.

These special laptop computers will cost less than 100 US dollars and Mr. Negroponte wants to build as many as 15 million machines in the first year of production. The idea is that these computers will help the children’s education as they will be able to access the Internet.

These computers might not help the people in developing countries immediately, but by improving children’s education they should help people to find their own solutions to their problems in the long term.

Another idea to help children in developing countries is to recycle old mobile phones so that they can be used again. In the UK, and probably in many other countries too, millions of mobile phones are thrown away every year. The waste created by throwing away these old phones is very bad for the environment, so it seems to be an excellent idea to recycle them. In this way we will be able to achieve two important goals at the same time. We will reduce the waste we produce and help others. In other words, we will be able to “kill two birds with one stone”, and that is always a good thing.

1.Which of the following words can be best used to describe Nicholas Negroponte?

A.Determined and devoted. B.Independent and successful.

C.Responsible and selfless. D.Creative and caring.

2.What can we infer from the passage?

A.The computer invented by Nicholas Negroponte runs without electricity.

B.Recycling old phones is a traditional way to help developing countries.

C.Improving education can help developing countries in the long run.

D.The UK creates most of the waste by throwing mobile phones.

3.What is the author’s purpose in writing this passage?

A.To introduce some new and better ways to help developing countries.

B.To call on people to help developing countries.

C.To talk about different ways to help developing countries.

D.To tell readers how to help developing countries.

Answer

1.D

2.A

3.A

【解析】

本文是说明文。文章主要讲了Nicholas Negroponte发明了一种便宜的手提电脑和循环使用手机来帮助发展中国家。

1.

推理判断题。根据第三段的A man called Nicholas Negroponte invented a cheap laptop computer, which can run without electricity. (一个叫尼古拉斯·内格罗蓬特的人发明了一种廉价的笔记本电脑，它可以在没有电的情况下运行)可推断，Negroponte发明了这种笔记本电脑，因此他是有创造力的；由第四段的As an electricity supply can be a problem in developing countries, the computer also has a special handle (把手) so that children can wind(摇) the computer up to give it extra power when needed.(由于电力供应可能是发展中国家的一个问题，计算机也有一个特殊的手柄，这样孩子们就可以在需要的时候把电脑卷起来给它额外的电源)可推断，Negroponte是充满爱心的，想要帮助发展中国家的人。故选D。

2.

细节理解题。根据第二段的A man called Nicholas Negroponte invented a cheap laptop computer, which can run without electricity.可知，尼古拉斯·内格罗蓬特发明的电脑没有电可以运行。故选A。

3.

推理判断题。文章第一段最后一句提到帮助发展中国家传统的方式是远远不够的。我们需要更好的想法来帮助他们；二到四段讲述了尼古拉斯·内格罗蓬特发明的电脑不用电可以运行，帮助孩子们得到教育让他们能够上网，改善发展中国家的教育；最后一段讲述了帮助发展中国家儿童的另一个想法是回收旧手机，使它们能够再次使用。因此推断，作者写这篇文章的目的是介绍一些帮助发展中国家的新的更好的方法。故选A。