阅读理解 On a PC (个人电脑), having to fill out a form and type in a credit card num
题型：同步题难度：来源：
| 阅读理解 |
On a PC (个人电脑), having to fill out a form and type in a credit card number to buy something
is only mildly annoying. On a cellphone, it could make you want to skip the purchase entirely.
This is why investors, startups (初创企业) and major corporations are pouring money into
services that make it easier to use cellphones to buy goods and transfer money. The aim is to turn
phones into virtual credit cards or checkbooks, enabling the kind of clickandbuy commerce and online
banking that people have come to expect on their PCs. But shrinking down (缩小) those services
presents serious challenges.
The services must work on many different phones and through many cellphone service providers,
which usually control the billing relationships with customers. That adds complexity to the already tricky
business of safely and securely transferring funds among financial institutions and merchants.
Mobile payment systems have been tried before, with only modest success. Driving a new flurry
(一阵兴奋) of deal making, industry analysts and executives say, is the success of the iPhone,
BlackBerry and other sophisticated (尖端的) devices. These phones make complex interactions easier.
Now the race is on to develop new payment systems-and to get several percentage points in fees
from each transaction. They"re seeing that returns could be so huge. Obopay, a startup that lets people
transmit money to one another via text message, raised $ 35 million from Nokia"s investment. Also, a
mobile payments startup called Boku announced that it had received $ 13 million in venture capital
financing.
When people can use their phone numbers to make a purchase, they are 10 times as likely to follow
through on a transaction as when they have to type in credit card and billing information, said David
Marcus, chief executive of a startup called Zong.
Mobile payment companies also need to get cooperation from merchants, which must add a payment
option to their mobile sites or applications.
But the potential opportunity to get fees from the growing number of mobile transactions is too
__juicy__to__pass__up,__despite the risks, said an analyst with IDC Financial Insights, a market
research company. |
1. From the passage, we should face ________ great difficulties while purchasing
through cellphones instead of PCs. |
A. one
B. two
C. three
D. four |
| 2. According to the passage, using phones to make a purchase is ________. |
A. expensive
B. convenient
C. troublesome
D. impossible |
| 3. What does the underlined phrase "too juicy to pass up" in the last paragraph probably mean? |
A. Too profitable to ignore.
B. Too difficult to seize.
C. Too heavy to lift.
D. Too unsafe to handle. |
| 4. What would be the best title for the passage? |
A. The Benefit of Purchasing via Cellphone
B. The Great Risks on Payments via Cellphone
C. How to Deal with Payments via Cellphone
D. Investors Bet on Payments via Cellphone |
答案
1-4: CBAD
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举一反三
| 阅读理解 |
Similar things continuously happened in Haiti and Chile. Thousands of people were buried in the
earthquake and lost their lives. What if we could have warned them? People are always trying hard
to find a way of preventing building collapsing (倒塌). Better materials and technology help, but are
not a solution. Just like humans, a building has its own life circle from "birth" to "death". If we know
when a building is going to collapse, we can repair it in advance or get out before it falls.
Now, scientists at the University of Illinois have developed a material that turns red before it breaks.
The invention could be used in things like climbing ropes, or bridge supports. The secret behind the
colorchanging material is a type of molecule (分子). A molecule is a group of atoms held together by
chemical bonds (化学键). Imagine you and your friends standing in a circle, holding hands. Each
person stands for one atom, your hands represent the bonds, and the entire circle represents a molecule.
If one person lets go of his or her hands, the molecule changes color. The research team put the
molecule into a soft material. When the researchers stretched (拉紧) the material, it turned bright red
a few seconds before it broke into two pieces. When they repeatedly stretched and relaxed the
material, without breaking it, it only turned a little red.
The major problem is, light can get rid of the red color. When the team shone a bright light on the
molecule, the broken bond was fixed, and the color disappeared. If bright light keeps the red color
from appearing, the material"s warning system will be useless. Scientists still have a lot of work to do
before the colorchanging molecule can be used outside the lab. |
| 1. The passage mainly about ________. |
A. a way of preventing buildings from breaking down
B. a way of warning before buildings collapse
C. a series of earthquakes in Haiti and Chile
D. a newlydiscovered structure of a molecule |
| 2. According to the passage, we can conclude that ________. |
A. scientists have found the life circle of buildings from "birth" to "death"
B. there are problems to solve before putting the new material to use
C. bright light makes the red color visible to human eyes
D. the new material is unlikely to be used in building bridges |
| 3. The colorchanging molecule can ________. |
A. remind people to leave buildings before they fall
B. help building materials get stretched if necessary
C. prevent the earthquake from killing people
D. make building materials much stronger |
| 4. The warning system is based on the fact that ________. |
A. red color won"t show up when it meets bright light
B. a building has its own life circle of "birth" to "death"
C. a material with a certain type of molecule can turn red when stretched
D. the broken bond will fix itself when a molecule meets bright light |
My students often tell me that they do not have "enough time" to do all their schoolwork.
My reply is often a brief “You have as much time as the president”. I usually carry on a bit about
there being twenty four hours in the day for everyone, and suggest that “not enough time” is not an
acceptable explanation of not getting something done.
Once in graduate school, I tried to justify (证明……有理) myself to one of my professors by saying
that I was working hard. His answer to me was, "That"s irrelevant. What"s important is the quality of your work." Since then I have had time to reflect on the "hard worker" dodge(妙计), and I have come to some conclusions, all relevant to the issue of how much time we have.
If you look at the matter analytically, you can identify two parts of the problem: There is, of course,
the matter of "time", which we can think of as fixed. Then there is the issue of "work" during that time,
which can vary in intensity. But, as my professor suggested, it"s not the diligence of the work but the
quality of the product that"s important.
That led me to a new idea: the quality of the work. That concept is perhaps best explained by a sign I
once saw on the wall in someone"s office: "Don"t work harder. Work smarter." There"s a lot of sense in
that idea.
If you can"t get more time, and few of us can, the only solution is to improve the quality of the work.
That means devising(想出) ways of getting more out of the same time than we might otherwise get. That
should lead us to an analysis of our work habits. Since "work" for students usually means "homework",
the expression "work habits" should be read as "study habits".
Then, as a smart student, you will seek to improve those skills that you use in study, chiefly reading
and writing. If you learn to read better and write better, there are big benefits that pay off across the
board in all your studies. |
| 1. From the passage, we know that the author is most probably________. |
A. a poet
B. an educator
C. a novelist
D. an engineer |
| 2. We can infer from the second paragraph that students still________. |
A. have enough time
B. can meet the president
C. can get something done well
D. should accept the teacher"s suggestion |
| 3. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage? |
A. My students often make full use of their time to do all their homework.
B. I once tried to show myself to my professor by saying that I was wrong.
C. Many of us can get more time to improve the quality of the work.
D. Improving reading and writing skills will benefit students a lot. |
| 1. Which of the following would be the best title for the passage? |
A. Not an Acceptable Explanation
B. Don"t Work Harder. Work Smarter
C. An Analysis of Our Work Habits
D. Read Better And Write Better |
| 阅读理解。 |
When people lose legs after accidents or illnesses, emergency care and artificial limbs(假肢)
often allow them to walk again. Newts (蝾螈)in the same situation, on the other hand, can grow
limbs back on their own! Scientists have known for a long time that certain animals can regrow
limbs, but they haven"t quite figured out how these creatures do it.
Researchers have now come up with some new ideas. Their work may give people the ability
to regrow lost limbs. The researchers started with two simple experiments: when you cut a newt"s
leg at the ankle, only the foot grows back; when you cut off a leg at the very end, the whole leg
grows back. In both cases, the regrowth begins with stem cells. Stem cells can develop into nearly
any type of cell in the body.
How do a newt"s stem cells know when to grow only a foot and when to regrow a whole leg?
This question relates to another mystery. In newt"s, a cutoff leg will grow back only if the nerve
bundle(神经束) in it also grows back, but if something prevents the nerve bundle from growing the
stem cells at the wound won"t regrow a new leg.
In its study, a British team focused on a protein called nAG. When the team prevented nerves in
a limb from growing, but added the nAG protein to stem cells in the limb, the limb still regrew. That
protein seems to guide limb regrowth. People have proteins that are similar to nAG. Further research
into these materials may someday help human limbs recover by themselves. |
| 1. A newt will regrow its leg if________. |
A. its ankle was cut off but the nerve bundle was good
B. its leg was cut off and the nerve bundle stopped growing
C. its leg was cut off and the nerve bundle could grow back
D. its ankle and the nerve bundle could grow back |
| 2. What do the underlined words "these materials" refer to? |
A. Nerve bundles and proteins.
B. Proteins similar to nAG.
C. Stem cells and proteins.
D. Stem cells and nerve bundles. |
| 3. The first sentence of the passage________. |
A. acts as a leadin
B. shows where researchers got their new ideas
C. states the author"s opinion
D. describes the result of researchers" studies |
| 4. What"s the purpose of studying the newts? |
A. To find out whether newts would regrow after being cutting off.
B. To find out the similarity between human and newts.
C. To find out what is nAG.
D. To find a way of helping human limbs recover by themselves. |
| 阅读理解。 |
Speeding off in a stolen car, the thief thinks he has got a great catch. But he is in for an unwelcome
surprise. The car is fitted with a remote immobiliser (锁止器), and a radio signal from a control centre
miles away will ensure that once the thief switches the engine off, he will not be able to start it again.
The idea goes like this. A control box fitted to the car contains a mini-cellphone, a micro-processor
and memory, and a GPS (全球定位系统) satellite positioning receiver. If the car is stolen, a coded
cellphone signal will tell the control centre to block the vehicle"s engine management system and prevent
the engine being restarted.
In the UK, a set of technical fixes is already making life harder for car thieves. "The pattern of vehicle
crime has changed," says Martyn Randall, a security expert. He says it would only take him a few minutes
to teach a person how to steal a car, using a bare minimum of tools. But only if the car is more than 10
years old.
Modern cars are far tougher to steal, as their engine management computer won"t allow them to start
unless they receive a unique ID code beamed out by the ignition (点火) key. In the UK, technologies
like this have helped achieve a 31% drop in vehicle-related crime since 1997.
But determined criminals are still managing to find other ways to steal cars, often by getting bold of
the owner"s keys. And key theft is responsible for 40% of the thefts of vehicles fitted with a tracking
system.
If the car travels 100 metres without the driver confirming their ID, the system will send a signal to
an operations centre that it has been stolen. The hundred metres minimum avoids false alarms due to
inaccuracies in the GPS signal.
Staff at the centre will then contact the owner to confirm that the car really is missing, and keep police
informed of the vehicle"s movements via the car"s GPS unit. |
| 1. What"s the function of the remote immobilizer fitted to a car? |
A. To help the police make a surprise attack on the car thief.
B. To allow the car to lock automatically when stolen.
C. To prevent the car thief from restarting it once it stops.
D. To prevent car theft by sending a radio signal to the car owner. |
2. By saying "The pattern of vehicle crime has changed" (Lines 1-2. Para. 3. , Martyn Randall
suggests that ________. |
A. it takes a longer time for the car thief to do the stealing
B. self-prepared tools are no longer enough for car theft
C. the thief has to make use of computer technology
D. the thief has lost interest in stealing cars over 10 years old |
| 3. What is essential in making a modem car tougher to steal? |
A. A coded ignition key.
B. A unique ID card.
C. A special cellphone signal.
D. A GPS satellite positioning receiver. |
4. Why does the tracking system set a 100-metre minimum before sending an alarm to the operations
centre? |
A. To leave time for the operations centre to give an alarm.
B. To keep police informed of the car"s movements.
C. To give the driver time to contact the operations centre.
D. To allow for possible errors in the GPS system. |
| 5. What will the operations centre do first after receiving an alarm? |
A. Start the tracking system.
B. Contact the car owner.
C. Block the car engine.
D. Locate the missing car. |
| 阅读理解。 |
When a Swedish ship that sank in 1628 was recovered from the port of Stockholm, historians and
scientists were overjoyed with the chance to examine the remains of the past. The ship construction
showed how ships were built and operated during the seventeenth century. In this way, artifacts,
objects made by human beings, provided a picture of daily life almost 400 years ago.
Underwater archaeology-the study of ships, aircrafts(工艺品) and human settlements that have sunk
under large bodies of water-is really a product of the last 50 years. The rapid growth of this new area
of study has occurred because of the invention of better diving equipment. Besides the Swedish ship
wreck(残骸),underwater archaeologists have made more exciting discoveries such as the
5000-year-old boats in the Mediterranean Sea.
Underwater archaeology can provide facts about the past. In ancient ports all over the world are
ships sunken in the past 6,000 years. There are also sunken settlements in seas and lakes telling of
people"s way of life and their systems of trade in ancient times.
Underwater archaeologists want to study these objects to add to the world"s knowledge of history,
but they have to fight two enemies. One enemy is treasure hunters who dive for ancient artifacts that
they can sell to collectors. Once sold, these objects are lost to experts. The second enemy is dredging
machines(挖掘机)often used to repair ports. These machines destroy wrecks and artifacts or bury
them deeper under sand and mud. By teaching the public about the importance of underwater
"museums" of the past, archaeologists are hoping to get support for laws to protect underwater treasures. |
| 1. What purpose does Paragraph 1 serve in the passage? |
A. To provide background information of the topic
B. To attract readers" attention to the topic
C. To use an example to support the topic
D. To offer basic knowledge of the topic |
| 2. The aim of underwater archaeology is to_________ . |
A. explore water bodies
B. search for underwater life
C. study underwater artifacts
D. examine underwater environment |
| 3.Underwater archaeologists are worried because_____. |
A. sea hunters have better diving equipment
B. their knowledge of world history is limited
C. dredging machines cause damage to the ports
D. sold artifacts can hardly be regained for research |
| 4.What is the main purpose of the passage? |
A. To introduce a young branch of learning.
B. To discuss the scientists" problems.
C. To explain people"s way of life in the past.
D. To describe the sunken ships. |
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