The iPhone, the iPad, the iPod, each of apple's products sounds cool and has become a pad (一時(shí)的風(fēng)尚). Apple has cleverly taken advantage of the power of the letter “i”，-- and many other brands are following suit. The BBC’s iPlayer —which allows Web users to watch TV programs on the internet—adopted the title in 2008. A lovely bear—popular in the US and UK—that plays music and video is called “iTeddy”.A slimmed-down version of London’s Independent newspaper，was launched last week under the name “i”.
In general，single-letter prefix have been popular since the 1990s，when terms such as e-mail and e-commerce first came into use.
Most “i”products are targeted at young people and considering the major readers of the Independent’s “i”，it’s no surprise that they’ve selected this fashionable name.
But it’s hard to see what’s so special about the letter “i”.Why not use “a”，“b”or “c”instead？According to Tony Thorne，head of Language Center at King’s College，London，“i”works because its meaning has become ambiguous .When Apple uses “i”，no one knows whether it means internet，information，individual or interactive，Thorne told BBC magazines “even when Apple created the iPod，it seems it didn’t have one clear definition，”he says.
“However，thanks to Apple，the term is now associated with portability （輕便）， ”adds Thorne.
Clearly the letter “i”also agrees with the idea that the Western World is centered on the individual. Each person believes they have their own needs，and we love personalized products for this reason.
Along with “Google”and “blog”，readers of  BBC magazines voted “i”as one of the top 20 words that have come to define the last decade.
But as history shows，people grow tired of fads. From the 1900s to the 1990s，products with “2000”in their names became fashionable as the year was associated with all things advanced and modern. However，as we entered the new century，the trend inevitably disappeared.
小題1:
We can infer that the Independent’s “i”is aimed at _______.
A．young readersB．old readersC．fashionable womenD．engineers
小題2:

小題1:A
小題1:B
小題1:A
小題1:B
略
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科目：高中英語(yǔ) 來(lái)源：不詳 題型：閱讀理解

閱讀下面的短文，并根據(jù)短文后的要求答題（請(qǐng)注意問(wèn)題后的字?jǐn)?shù)要求）。
[1] I was walking in the park with a friend recently, and his cell phone rang, interrupting our conversation. There we were, walking and talking on a beautiful sunny day. But I became invisible, absent from the conversation.
[2] The telephone used to connect you to the absent. Now it makes people sitting next to you feel absent. Recently I was in a car with three friends. The driver told us to be quiet because he could not hear the person on the other end of his cell phone. There we were, four friends going down the highway, unable to talk to one another because of a tool designed to make communication easier.
[3]Why is it that the more connected we get, ________________________ ? Every advance in communications technology is a hurt to the closeness of human interaction (互動(dòng)). With e-mail and instant messaging over the Internet, we can now communicate without seeing or talking to one another. With voice mail, you can conduct entire conversations without ever reaching anyone.
[4] More and more, l find myself hiding behind e-mail to do a job meant for conversation. Or being relieved that voice mail picked up because I didn’t really have time to talk. The industry devoted to helping me keep in touch is making me lonelier.
[5] So I've put myself on technology restriction: no instant messaging with people who live near me, no cell-phoning in the presence of friends, no letting the voice mail pick up when I' m home.
小題1: What does the author say about communications technology according to the first two paragraphs? (within 15 words)
_________________________________________________________________________
小題2:Which sentences in the text is the closest in meaning to the following one?
However, I felt left out as if we were not conducting the conversation.
_________________________________________________________________________
小題3: Fill in the blanks in Paragraph 3 with proper words. (within 10 words)
_________________________________________________________________________
小題4: Does the author restrict (約束) his own activity to improving the situation? Give an example. How？(within 15 words)
_________________________________________________________________________
小題5: Translate the underlined sentences in Paragraph 4 into Chinese.
________________________________________________________________________

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科目：高中英語(yǔ) 來(lái)源：不詳 題型：閱讀理解

A recent study of ancient and modern elephants has  come up with the unexpected conclusion that the African elephant is divided into two distinct (不同的) species
The discovery was made by researchers at York and Harvard universities when they were examining the genetic relationship between the ancient woolly mammoth and mastodon to modern elephants—the Asian elephant, African forest elephant and African savanna elephant
Once they obtained DNA sequences (序列) from two fossils (化石)，mammoths and mastodons the team compared them with DNA from modern elephants. They found to their amazement that modern forest and savanna elephants are as distinct from each other as Asian elephants and mammoths.
The scientists used detailed genetic analysis to prove that the African savanna elephants and the African forest elephants have been distinct species for several million years. The divergence of the two species took place around the time of the divergence of Asian elephants and woolly mammoths. This result amazed all the scientists.
There has long been debate in the scientific community that the two might be separate species but this is the most convincing scientific evidence so far that they are indeed different species.
Previously, many naturalists believed that African savanna elephants and African forest elephants were two populations of the same species despite the elephants’ significant size differences. The savanna elephant has an average shoulder height of 3.5metres while the forest elephant has an average shoulder height of 2.5metres. The savanna elephant weighs between six and seven tons, roughly double the weight of the forest elephant. But the fact that they look so different does not necessarily mean they are different species. However, the proof lay in the analysis of the DNA.
Alfred Roca, assistant professor in the department of Animal Sciences at the University of Minois, said, “We now have to treat the forest and savanna elephants as two different units for conservation purpose. Since 1950 all African elephants have been conserved as one species. Now that we know the forest and savanna elephants are two very distinct animals, the forest elephant should become a bigger priority (優(yōu)先)for conservation purpose .”
小題1:One of the fossils studied by the researchers is that of ________.
A．the Asian elephantB．the forest elephant
C．the savanna elephantD．the mastodon elephant
小題2:The underlined word “divergence” in paragraph 4means “________”
A．evolutionB．exhibitionC．separationD．examination
小題3:The researcher’s conclusion was based on a study of the African elephant’s ____________
A．DNAB．heightC．weightD．population
小題4: What were Alfred Roca’s words mainly about?
A．The conversation of African elephants.
B．The purpose of studying African elephants
C．The way to divide African elephants into two units
D．The reason for the distinction of African elephants
小題5: Which of the following can be the best title for the passage?
A．Naturalist’s Belief about Elephants.
B．Amazing Experiment about Elephants
C．An Unexpected Finding about Elephants
D．A Long scientific Debate about Elephants

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科目：高中英語(yǔ) 來(lái)源：不詳 題型：閱讀理解

★The regular use of text messages and e-mails can lower the IQ more than twice as much as smoking marijuana(大麻). Psychologists say that sending/receiving messages or looking through the many menu options your mobile phone has, lowers a person’s IQ by almost 10 points. British researchers have named this situation “infomania”. Instead of fixed on what they are doing, people’s minds are constantly focused on reacting to the technology surrounding them. This means they don’t pay full attention to the work they are paid to do. The report also added that the brain can not do so many things at once. If you try to do too many things, mistakes begin to occur. And while modern technology can have huge benefits, too much use can be damaging not only to a person’s mind, but to their social life.
★The more televisions 4-year-old children watch, the more likely they are to become bullies later on in school, a newest U.S. study said. At the same time, children whose parents read to them, take them on outings and just generally pay attention to them are less likely to become bullies, said the  report from the University of Washington. Researchers also found gaps in learning and understanding such things as social skills early in life makes it more difficult for children to relate with other children. Watching violence on television leads to aggressive behavior.
★You could soon be able to add your favorite perfume to your e-mails. UK net provider Telewest Broadband is testing a system to let people send e-mails over the Internet with sweet smell. It has developed a kind of hi-tech air freshener that plugs into a PC and sprays a smell linked to the message. Telewest says it could be used by supermarkets to attract people with the smell of fresh bread or by holiday companies seeking to stir up images of sun-kissed beachers.
小題1:.
What does “infomania” refer to according to the first part of the text?
A．A situation in which a person uses his mobile phone too much.
B．A situation in which a person has his IQ lowered using his mobile phone.
C．A situation in which a person performs badly at work..
D．A situation in which a person lowers his IQ using his mobile phone improperly.
小題2:.
According to the second part of the text, _____ are less likely to become bullies.
A．children whose parents care about them
B．children whose parents give them more freedom
C．children whose parents direct them over watching TV
D．children whose parents stop them watching TV
小題3:.
The children who watch TV  frequently will not ______.
A．be aggressive
B．be likely to become bullies
C．have difficulty in communicating with other children
D．understand socially skills as easily
小題4:.
The new system provided by Telewest Broadband can _____.
A．be used as a kind of air freshener
B．make people have imagination of sun kissed beachers
C．make people smell fresh bread
D．make e-mails smelly over the Internet

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科目：高中英語(yǔ) 來(lái)源：不詳 題型：閱讀理解

Europe's first major university department to promote research into government and public policy will open in Oxford under new plans．
In a hugely significant move, Oxford University will create a new school of government in 2012 following a￡75 million donation by Leonard Blavatnik, the American industrialist and philanthropist（慈善家）．The school is intended to train outstanding graduates from across the world in the skills and responsibilities of government．The move is being backed by world leaders including Nelson Mandela, Bill Clinton and Kofi Annan．
Andrew Hamilton, Oxford's vice - chancellor, said: "The school represents a huge milestone in Oxford's history．It will give tomorrow leaders the best of Oxford's traditional strengths alongside new and practical ways of understanding and meeting the challenges of good governance．
"The university has educated 26 British Prime Ministers and over 30 other world leaders, yet until how the major international schools of government have all been outside Europe, principally in the United States．"
Under plans, the Blavatnik School of Government will provide a series of practical courses leading to a Master's degree．It will cover a range of subjects including the humanities, social sciences, law, science, technology, health, finance, energy and security policy．
Oxford said Mr Blavatnik's donation was one of the most generous in the university' s 900 year history The university itself will be investing an additional￡26m in the school, as well as land in the Radcliffe Observatory Quarter, where the school will be located．
Lord Patten, Oxford's chancellor, said: "This is a once - in - a - century opportunity for Oxford through the Blavatnik donation, Oxford will now become the world's leading centre for the training of future leaders in government and public policy - and in ways that take proper account of the very different additions, institutions and cultures that those leaders will serve．It is an important moment for the future good government throughout the world．"
小題1:What is the text mainly about?
A．Political leaders from Oxford．
B．Traditions and strengths of Oxford．
C．Oxford ways to train future leaders．
D．Oxford school of government under plans．
小題2:The move is meant to _____．
A．provide varieties of courses
B．promote popularity of Oxford
C．find talented graduates in Europe
D．educate tomorrow’s political leaders
小題3:What can students learn in the new school?
A．Politics and economics．
B．Philosophy and humanities．
C．Traditional and practical courses．
D．Modern science and technology．
小題4:Which of the following is true of the school?
A．It is named after Leonard Blavatnik．
B．It will not provide traditional courses．
C．It is wholly financed by Leonard Blavatnik．
D．It is the first international school of government.
小題5:What can be inferred from the last paragraph?
A．Public policy is the present focus．
B．More world leaders will rise from Oxford．
C．World leaders need to respect each other．
D．Lord Patten has different opinions of the plan．

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科目：高中英語(yǔ) 來(lái)源：不詳 題型：閱讀理解

  If there is one thing I’m sure about, it is that in a hundred years from now we will still be reading newspapers. It is not that newspapers are a necessity. Even now some people get most of their news from television or radio. Many buy a paper only on Saturday or Sunday. But for most people reading a newspaper has become a habit passed down from generation to generation.
The nature of what is news may change. What basically makes news is what affects our lives—the big political stories, the coverage of the wars, earthquakes and other disasters, will continue much the same. I think there will be more coverage of scientific research, though. It’s already happening in areas that may directly affect our lives, like genetic(基因)engineering. In the future, I think there will be more coverage of scientific explanations of why we feel as we do—as we develop a better understanding of how the brain operates and what our feelings really are.
It’s quite possible that in the next century newspapers will be transmitted(傳送)electronically from Fleet Street and printed out in our own home. In fact, I’m pretty sure how it will happen in the future. You will probably be able to choose from a menu, making up your own newspaper by picking out the things you want to read—sports and international news, etc. .
I think people have got it wrong when they talk about competition between the different media. They actually feed off each other. Some people once foresaw that television would kill off newspapers, but that hasn’t happened. What is read on the printed page lasts longer than pictures on a screen or sound lost in the air. And as for the Internet, it’s never really pleasant to read something  just  on  a screen.
小題1:.
. What is the best title for the passage?
A The Best Way to Get News
B The Changes of Media
C  Make Your Own Newspaper
D The Future of Newspaper
小題2:.
In the writer’s opinion, in the future,_____.
A. more big political affairs, wars and disasters will make news
B. newspapers will not be printed in publishing houses any longer
C newspapers will cover more scientific research
D more and more people will watch TV
小題3:.
From the passage, we can infer____.
A newspapers will win the competition among the different media
B newspapers will stay with us together with other media
C television will take the place of newspaper
D the writer believes some media will die out
小題4:.
. The phrase “feed off” in the last paragraph means____.
A depend on       B compete with                   C fight with       D kill off

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科目：高中英語(yǔ) 來(lái)源：不詳 題型：閱讀理解

Before astronauts can go into space, they have to have the right suit. That’s why NASA（美國(guó)國(guó)家航天和航空局）scientists are developing a new kind of space suit——lighter and more flexible than before. These new space suits will have lots of mobility(靈活性) for the astronauts, but will not need much maintenance. NASA wants the suits to include new technology that can help astronauts be safe in outer space.
Right now, the American space suit weighs about 275 pounds and is big and massive. But the suit is also easy to work in for long periods of time. The Russian space suit is less complicated, but is used only a few times and then gets thrown away.
“Finding the right balance is always going to be a challenge,” said a long-time astronaut Jeff Williams. Williams has worn both types of suits. Space suits protect astronauts from both extreme heat and freezing temperatures. They carry life-packs with oxygen for the astronauts. They also shield astronauts from radiation, or particles that send out harmful rays.
Scientists are using computers to design the new suits. This allows them to change the design again and again, and to even test the design out before actually making anything. “There’s a lot more capable tools and technology to get the job done——a lot more knowledge, as well,” said Joe Kosmo. Kosmo helped design, develop, and test suits during the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, Skylab, and shuttle periods.
These new space suits will be much lighter and use a new kind of complex material. They also will have a smaller life support backpack, thanks to tiny electronics. NASA hopes to have the first prototypes(原型) in development by 2010 and certify(證明) the suit by 2012. This will be in time for the launch of the Orion spaceship in 2014.
小題1: What characteristic does the new space suit have?
A．The new space suit will need much maintenance.
B．The new space suit will be heavier than before.
C．The new space suit will have less mobility than before.
D．The new suit will use new technology to help astronauts be safe in outer space.
小題2:What’s the disadvantage of the Russian space suit?
A．The Russian space suit is big and massive.
B．The Russian space suit is much complicated.
C．The Russian space suit is merely used a few times.
D．The Russian space suit is easy to work in for long periods of time.
小題3:The underlined word “shield” in the third paragraph might mean_______.
A．harmB．protectC．helpD．warn
小題4:Why can scientists test the design out before actually making the new space suits?
A．Because designing the new space suit is not a complex task.
B．Because computers are being used to help scientists design the new space suits.
C．Because it needs little knowledge to design the new space suits.
D．Because the scientists only change the old space suits a little and make them into the new ones.
小題5:How long will it take scientists to put the new space suits from prototypes into the first practical use?
A．Two years.B．Three years.C．Four years.D．Six years.

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科目：高中英語(yǔ) 來(lái)源：不詳 題型：閱讀理解

In general, it seems reasonable to suppose that we should prefer peace and quiet to noise. And yet most of us have had the experience of having to adjust to sleeping in the mountains or the countryside because it was initially “too quiet”, an experience that suggests that humans are capable of adapting to a wide range of noise levels. Research supports this view. For example, Glass and Singer (1972) exposed people to short bursts of very loud noise and then measured their ability to work out problems and their physiological reactions to the noise. The noise was quite disruptive at first, but after about four minutes the subjects were doing just as well on their tasks as control subjects who were not exposed to noise. Their physiological reactions also declined quickly to the same levels as those of the control subjects.
But there are limits to adaptation and loud noise becomes more troublesome if the person is required to concentrate on more than one task. For example, high noise levels affect the performance of subjects who were required to monitor three dials at a time, a task not unlike that of a plane pilot or an air-traffic controller. Similarly, noise did not affect a subject’s ability to track a moving line with a steering wheel, but it did affect the subject’s ability to repeat numbers while tracking (Finkelm and Glass 1970).
Probably the most significant finding from the research on noise is that its predictability is more important than how loud it is. We are much more able to “tune out” long-lasing background noise, even if it is quite loud, than to work under circumstances with unexpected disturbance of noise. In Glass and Singer’s study, in which subjects were exposed to bursts of noise as they worked on a task, some subjects heard loud bursts and others heard soft bursts. For some subjects, the bursts were spaced exactly one minute apart (predictable noise); others heard the some amount of noise overall, but the bursts occurred at random intervals (unpredictable noise). Subjects reported finding the predictable and unpredictable noise equally annoying, and all subjects performed at about the same level during the noise portion of the experiment. But the different noise conditions had quite different after-effects when the subjects were required to proofread written material under conditions of no noise. The study shows that the unpredictable noise produced more errors in the later proofreading task than predictable noise; and soft unpredictable noise actually produced slightly more errors on this task than the loud predictable noise.
Apparently, unpredictable noise produces more fatigue than predictable noise, but it takes a while for this fatigue to take its toll on performance.
小題1:When talking about people’s difficulty in sleeping in the mountains, what can be inferred in the passage?
A．They usually do not prefer peace and quiet to noise.
B．They may be exposed to short bursts of very strange sounds.
C．They prefer to hear a certain amount of noise while they sleep.
D．They may not have adapted to a higher noise level in the city.
小題2:What did Glass and Singer find in their noise experiment?
A．Problem-solving is much easier under quiet conditions.
B．Physiological reactions prevent the ability to work.
C．Bursts of noise hardly disturb problem-solving in the long term.
D．The physiological reactions of the control subjects declined quickly.
小題3:Researchers discovered that high noise levels are not likely to affect the __________.
A．successful performance of a single task
B．tasks of pilots or air traffic controllers
C．a(chǎn)bility to repeat numbers while tracking moving lines
D．a(chǎn)bility to monitor three dials at once
小題4: What does “take its toll on performance” in the passage probably mean?
A．Destroy the performance completely.
B．Have a negative effect on the performance.
C．Improve the performance greatly.
D．Have a positive influence on the performance.

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科目：高中英語(yǔ) 來(lái)源：不詳 題型：閱讀理解

In the future your automobile（汽車） will run on water instead of gas! You will be able to buy a supercomputer that fits in your pocket! You might even drive a flying car!
For each prediction that has come true today, several others have missed by a mile. Many of these predictions didn’t consider how people would want to use the technology, or if people really needed it in their lives or not. Let’s look at some predictions from the not-too-distant past.
Robot Helpers
Where’s the robot in my kitchen? Nowhere, of course. And he’s probably not coming anytime soon. Robots do exist today, but mostly in factories and other manufacturing environments.
Back in the 1950s, however, people said that by now personal robots would be in most people’s homes.
So why hasn’t it happened?  Probably because robots are still too expensive and clumsy. And maybe the idea of robots cooking our dinners and washing our clothes is just too weird. At home we seem to be doing fine without them.
Telephones of Tomorrow
In 1964 an American company introduced the video telephone. They said by the year 2000 most people would have a video phone in their homes. But of course the idea hasn’t caught on yet.
Why? The technology worked fine, but it over—looked something obvious: people’s desire for privacy（隱私）. Would you want to have a video phone conversation with someone after you just step out of the shower（淋�。�?  Probably not---it could be embarrassing! Just because a technology available doesn’t always mean people will want to use it.
And finally, how about that crazy prediction of the flying car? It’s not so crazy anymore! But a flying car remains one of the most fascinating technology ideas to capture our imagination. Keep watching the news, or perhaps the sky outside your window, to see what the future will bring.
小題1:
The whole passage is mainly about ________________.
A．predictions that have come true.B．predictions that haven’t come true.
C．why predictions don’t come true easily.D．what technology will bring about.
小題2:
The author of this passage won’t believe that _________________.
A．predictions needn’t consider people’s practical use of technology.
B．the future isn’t always easy to guess.
C．not all past predictions have come true.
D．many of the high—tech things our parents thought we’d be using by now
simply never appeared.
小題3:
The underlined word “weird” probably means __________.
A．wonderfulB．stupidC．practicalD．strange
小題4:
What does the author think of the flying car?
A．It is too difficult to imagine.B．It is too crazy an idea.
C．It is likely to be made.D．It is often reported in the news.

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