2.As a teenager in 1972,Bill Gates once said that he would be a millionaire by the time he was 20.Only 15years later he was a billionaire.And by 1992,as head of the Microsoft company,he became the richest man in American with assets (资产) of about US$ 6.3billion.
Gates was born in Seattle,Washington on 28,October 1956.He first started to play with the computer at the age of 13at his school.At that time,computers were very large machines.Opera-tors were required to learn complex computer languages before the machines could be used.Even then,a great deal of time and effort was needed to perform the simplest functions.Before long Gates was an expert at working the school's computer.After his graduation from secondary school,Gates was accepted by the three top universities in the USA---Princeton.Harvard and Yale.He chos-e Harvard and began classes there the next autumn,majoring in maths.But he spent as much timein the computer laboratories as he did in the lecture halls.
By 1975,Gates and a partner,Paul Allen,had developed a software program called BASIC.This was not the first program ever created,but its inventors were the first to decide that people who wanted to use it should pa for it..BASIC was a success because until it came along there had been no efficient way of getting computers to carry out instructions.Although he had not yet completed his degree,Gates left university and went to work full time for the new company he had formed called Microsoft.His next project was the software program that made him famous and very rich.It was called DOS,short for Disk Operating System,and it was bought by IBM in 1980.Today it is the operating system used in more than 14million personal computers around the world.
As chief executive officer of Microsoft,Gates is known as a bright man.To most people,Gates,in spite of his wealth,is humble and ordinary.He spends his money carefully and often eats in fast-food restaurants.
58.Bill Gates became a billionaireA.
A.at the age of 31 B.in 1985
C.in the 1970's D.by 1992
59.When Gates was in Harvard University,heB.
A.became head of Microsoft company
B.spent a lot of his time in computer laboratories
C.eveloped the first computer program
D.succeeded in making computers carry out instructions
60.Before the invention of BASIC,software programsB.
A.were very cheap B.were not considered commercially (商业地)
C.were very expensive D.were complex but dull.
分析 本文介绍了比尔•盖茨的人生经历以及他创办微软公司的过程,特别介绍了他对于计算机的热爱.
解答 58.A 细节理解题.根据第一段的As a teenager in 1972,Bill Gates once said that he would be a millionaire by the time he was 20.Only 15years later he was a billionaire.可知比尔•盖茨在1972年是个少年时曾说在20岁前成为百万富翁,15年后即1987年成为了亿万富翁.根据第二段的Gates was born in Seattle,Washington on 28,October 1956.可知比尔•盖茨出生于1956年.所以他是在31岁时成为亿万富翁,故选A.
59.B 细节理解题.根据第二段的Hechos-e Harvard and began classes there the next autumn,majoring in maths.But he spent as much time in the computerlaboratories as he did in the lecture halls.可知他主修数学,但是他却把很多的时间都花在计算机实验室和演讲大厅里,所以比尔•盖茨在哈佛的计算机实验室里花费了大量的时间,故选B.
60.B推理判断题.根据第三段的Thiswas not the first program ever created,but its inventors were the first todecide that people who wanted to use it should pay for it.可知,这不是有史以来的第一个项目,但它的发明者是第一个决定谁想要使用它就应该付钱.所以之前没有人想到把BASIC用于商业用途,故选B.
点评 本文是人物故事类阅读,主要考查细节理解题和推理判断题.在做细节理解题时,首先根据题目要求迅速在文章里找出相应的段落、句子或短语.认真比较选项和文中细节的区别,在做推理判断题时不要以个人的主观想象代替文章的事实,要根据文章事实进行合乎逻辑的推理判断.