阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中，选出最佳选项。

　　Social networking isn't only for the under 40s．More than 25 percent of Americans 50 years and older stay connected using sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter, according to new research．

　　“The latest data tells us that more and more social networking is becoming a part of everyday life for Americans 50 plus, ” said Kevin Donnellan, the chief communications officer at AARP, which released the report．

　　Nearly a quarter of older Americans are on Facebook and 73 percent said they use it to stay in touch with relatives, but not just their children and grandchildren．“They are using the Internet to keep up with the world and the people who are important to them, ” said Jean Koppen, the author of the report．She added that older adults are also on Facebook to stay connected, not only with their family, but with their friends and those in the same age group．Almost 50 percent of older adults were introduced to the social networking sites by a family member, mainly a child or grandchild．“Just under one-fifth of adults aged 50 and older say they do not use the Internet, ” according to the report．

　　The findings are based on a telephone survey of 1, 863 adults．In addition to keeping up on Facebook and Twitter older adults are aware of the latest technology．Eighty-three percent had heard about the Apple iPad and 11 percent intended to buy one．

　　Despite the popularity of the Internet among the over 50s, they still mostly go to print newspapers and magazines for news．Only one percent said they followed blogs．

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阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中，选出最佳选项。

　　Recently we’ve observed an increasing request from disadvantaged and regional schools for attending one of our zoo areas at no cost or partly paid some organizations．Zoos Victoria believes that all children should have the opportunity to have an early memory of visiting the zoo, and gain an understanding of the wild and natural world that humans share with animals．Zoos Victoria wins the support of the Ian Potter Foundation to help achieve this goal．

　　Funding available for schools to enter an educational program at Zoos Victoria in 2012

　　Applications are open from November 23, 2011 to February 12, 2012．

　　Children from disadvantaged and originally isolated schools are provided with the opportunity to visit the zoo and attend an interactive education experience at no charge．

　　The program objectives are：

　　·To start developing “environmentalists” within low social and economic groups．

　　·To support the youth from disadvantaged backgrounds to have greater awareness of wildlife and have ongoing opportunities to get relevant information about animals and the environment through the zoos’ website．

　　What is covered under the program?

　　·Travel to the zoo-transport costs will be partly or fully paid back to the school on the basis of the number of children applied for the program．

　　·Student entry to one area of Zoos Victoria and an educational experience．

　　Which schools are able to take part in the program?

　　·Open to schools in Victoria．

　　·Consideration will be given to schools that have not previously been able to enter one of our zoo areas, list as “disadvantaged” ones or come from regionally isolated areas．

　　·Able to visit an area of Zoos Victoria within the 2012 school year．

　　·Applications must be supported by the school principal．

　　·Able to complete a short evaluation of the program．

　　How to apply for the program?

　　·Download the application forms．

　　·Complete all the details, including a signature from your principal and attaching a quote for transport costs．

　　·Return the application forms to Margaret Harwood at Zoos Victoria by email to mharwood@zoo．org．au or by post to PO Box 74, Parkville, VIC 3052．

　　·Please contact Margaret Harwood at 03 9285 9462, if there are any further questions．

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阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中，选出最佳选项。

　　The passengers on the subway who caught a glimpse of me may have thought I was strange．In particular a gentleman sitting opposite me was always staring at me, looking at the cheese bread on the floor in front of me and then staring back at me．A passenger probably dropped it by mistake and got off at a previous stop, but the gentleman might not think so．“Next stop, St．Patrick Station”-my stop was quickly coming up．I had few minutes to either take the cheese bread, which nobody else was claiming, or left it there．

　　In those few minutes I felt my pride getting in the way．“What would others on the subway think of me if I took the cheese bread? Would they think that I was poor and hungry? Would they think that I was stealing? ” The ignorant thing to do was say “yes” to any of those self-imposed questions．Actually, they were just my own thoughts．Though I would leave the subway, walk a block to my office, get settled at my desk, and sit comfortably in my office for the whole day, I couldn't get rid of the enormous sense of guilt and regret．

　　My thoughts once pushed me towards pride and ignorance, but finally I had to admit I was wrong．This missing cheese bread could be a gift for a homeless person who suffered from cold and hunger．So why not overcome a little bit of my pride and pass along so much kindness?

　　Just as the doors opened at my stop, I grabbed the cheese bread and left the subway．It felt awesome, but I didn't care if people were looking at me or what they were thinking．Instead of going directly to my office as usual, I walked a few more blocks up to Queen's park, where I often saw a homeless man sitting outside．I always wanted to give him something, but only today I walked toward him, who wrapped himself in a sleeping bag．I was full of satisfaction, and so did the homeless man, I thought．

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　　There' s nothing sadder than reading about a lost child in the newspaper or seeing the story of a child gone missing on the news．Fortunately for us as parents there is a way to avoid this type of tragedy through GPS tracking for children．Global positioning system technology can make it so that we need not worry about our children being lost as much as we used to in the past．

　　GPS systems for kids are small devices that can be worn like a pager( 呼机), implanted in a watch or attached to the child' s clothing or backpack．It will then deliver information to you about the child' s location' at all times providing you with peace of Blind．The GPS systems can be programmed to send information in intervals as short' as 15 seconds．

　　You can imagine how much more relaxed you would be when you' re able to log you're your computer at any time and know within several yards exactly where your child is．Some of the GPS kids units even have a panic button that the child can push to send an immediate alert in case of an emergency．This notification ________ will go both to you and to the GPS tracking service so that authorities can be alerted,

　　For small children the GPS tracking device can be as small as a watch or pager and will run on batteries for up to 24 hours before needing to be recharged．For older children you can even place a device in their car to monitor their driving habits and where they are driving．Personal GPS units for kids are not cheap and the smaller the device the higher the priced-Can you really say that anything is too expensive though when discussing the safety and well being of your children? In addition to the cost of the device, you will．also need to pay a fee to the GPS tracking service．In the world we live in sometimes it is difficult to be too safe and these GPS kids systems can provide many parents with added peace of mind．

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　　Little New Year, which falls about a week before the lunar New Year, is also known as the Festival of the Kitchen God, the deity(神)who oversees the moral character of each household．In one of the most distinctive traditions of Spring Festival, a paper image of the Kitchen God is burnt on Little New Year, sending the god's spirit to Heaven to report on the family's conduct over the past year．

　　The Kitchen God is then welcomed back by pasting a new paper image of him beside the stove．From this advantage point, the Kitchen God will oversee and protect the household for an-other year．The close association of the Kitchen God with the Lunar New Year has resulted in Kitchen．God Festival being called Little New Year．Although very few families still make offerings to the Kitchen God on this day, many traditional holiday activities are still very popular．

　　Studies of popular Chinese religion indicate that the Kitchen God did not appear until after the invention of the brick cooking stove．The cooking stove was a fairly late development in the history of human civilization．Ancient writings indicate that the Fire God, the earliest form of the Kitchen God, was worshipped long before the stove was invented．

　　Zhu Rong, China's ancient Fire God．was a popular folk deity and had many temples built in his honor．Stone lined fire pits, an early form of the brick stove, are still commonly used．Among China's ethnic minorities．People in these regions make offerings to the Fire Pit God．The Fire Pit God appeared between the Kitchen God and the Fire God in the history of Chinese folk deities．

　　The Kitchen God appeared soon after the invention of the brick stove．The Kitchen God was originally believed to reside in the stove, and only later took on human form．

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　　BEIJING, Jan．3rd．(Xinhua)-Li Wanfei, 27, warmly and with force hands a red envelope with cash as a gift to her friend who is getting married during the New Year holiday．

　　Nowadays in China, wedding presents are a thing of the past-the trend is cash, and there's pressure to put the right amount in the red envelopes．

　　" I would feel ashamed to give less than average, especially for my close friends," Li said．"The sum represents our friendship and intimacy．"

　　Despite being on a tight budget, Li and her husband refuse to be stingy(吝啬的)．They gave．at least 15,000 Yuan(2,377 U．S．dollars)as wedding gifts in 2011．

　　Li usually gives 200 or 300 Yuan for colleagues, 500 for ordinary friends, and 1,000 or more for close friends．Her husband even gave his cousin 10,000 Yuan, hoping to convey the deep love he has for his cousin．

　　Lavish wedding ceremonies have become, increasingly popular as China's economy has grown, and the more lavish(豪华的)the wedding, the more money the bride and groom can expect to receive as gifts．

　　Wedding invitations tend to come more often during the holidays, as the days off make it convenient for relatives and friends to attend．

　　According to Liu Ning, manager of Forever Love Wedding Service Agency, money spent on weddings has grown among young people, and as they see it as a once-in-a-lifetime experience, they want a lavish ceremony．

　　"That's why the couple expects more gift money and takes the sum as a standard for judging friendship," Liu said．

　　Liu said that middle-class people usually spend around 25,000 Yuan on a wedding plan and video, but that price doesn't include food and flowers．

　　Liu Qingzhu, an academician with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said ceremonies have become much more lavish as the practice of cash gifts has become more widespread, and some couples even try to turn a profit．

　　"People sometimes face a difficult and uncertain corner about weddings," Liu said．"They feel happy for the couple, but giving money hurts．Money worship is not a good tradition and shouldn't be praised．"

　　Chinese couples could think of new models for weddings instead of comparing venues(场馆)or gift money, for luxury and waste are not good customs, Liu added．

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　　My father never wanted his children to know what he did for a living．Dad worked in PlantC．Lying beside lake Erie, it saw him in at sunrise and out at nightfall．Sometimes my mother would take my siblings(兄弟姐妹)and me to the public beach in our hometown of Ashtabula．she'd gather us round and point to the smokestacks, coughing clouds into the sky．

　　"Wave to daddy!" she' d shout．Four little hands would shoot into the air．I never knew what Dad did in Plant C, but during 34 years of hard work, he had surgery(手术)on his shoulder and hand．At 48, he had his first heart attack．He retired in 1993, right after the last kid graduated from college．But the damage was done．A few years later, the next heart, attack killed him．

　　I saw my dad in Plant C only once, when I took dinner to him．That night, I looked at my father, covered in sweat and 'coal, and for the first time I knew why he was so often angry for no reason．

　　Recently my father' s friend, Toby Workman, walked me there．I knew my father never wanted me to see it．At every station, he described the job and the danger．It was, like listening to a foreign language．I walked past many DANGER signs．Toby put his hand on my shoulder．"look," he said, "you need to understand something．Your dad was a maintenance mechanic．He-worked the most dangerous job．If something broke, he fixed it．"

　　A few days later, my daughter graduated from college．I gave her the hard hat Toby handed to me as I left, and this note：" Whenever you feel something difficult, put this on, look in the mirror, and remember your roots．"

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　　What shapes a man's ability and skill was always a question to psychologists until a few decades ago when findings show that they for the most part come from practice-repetitive and endless practice．

　　The psychologist K．Anders Ericsson of the University of Florida and his team, based on a survey of a violin class in a college of music, have found that the students whose levels are rated as “A” have spent on average over 10,000 hours on violin-practice, those with level B a bit less than 8,000 hours, and those with average or lower levels no more than 5,000 hours．

　　The result of the survey is widely preferred because it suggests that practice makes perfect, that is, the distinction between “excellent” and “good” lies more in hard work than in natural intelligence．Malcolm Gladwell points out in his latest book Outliers：The Story of Success：“Practice isn't the thing you do once you're good．It's the thing you do that makes you good．” Besides, he thinks IQ plays little part in the formation and development of ability．“When one has an IQ of 120,” writes he, “what is beyond it does not make an evidential difference in real life．”

　　However, scientists' experimental results are quite different from the psychologists'．Their findings show success in many areas depends on intelligence-and not a little．David Lubinski and Camilla Benbow of Vanderbilt University, with their research group, carried out a milestone research．They selected from Youth Talented Search 2000 teenagers of or under 13 whose SAT results ranked top1％．After tracking the achievements the 2,000 “wonder children” made in academy and career, Lubinski and Benbow's group found that those ranking top 1％ have more possibility(averagely by two to four times)to get a doctor's degree, a certificate, and publish academic theses and works than those ranking top 9％．As a conclusion, it's a great advantage in the real world to have a high IQ．

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　　Tony Blair, former Prime Minister of Britain, would not have felt excited over Oxford's intention to offer him an honorary doctor's degree had he known it were later to be taken back．

　　The story should begin from a girl called Catherine Lisa Bell．

　　Catherine Lisa Bell was a girl from a remote mountain area．She was the first graduate in that area to reach Oxford's entry score, but her application was refused in the interview, because the professors thought she lacked creative potential．

　　The government of the girl's hometown paid a special visit to Minister of Education and asked him to speak for her to Oxford．The Minister called at Oxford and hoped they would give the girl special admission．Quite unexpectedly, however, his pleading was refused．The Minister turned to the deputy prime minister, but he got turned down as well．The deputy prime minister couldn't help but turn to Prime Minister Blair．Blair telephoned to Oxford himself to show his personal attention to the matter．He tried his best to persuade the university officials to change their decision, only to be greeted with a declaration from Oxford：“We admit that Prime Minster's proposal comes out of concern for the students from less developed areas, but it is unacceptable．There is but one reason：On matters of enrolment(招生), no one has the right to change the interview conclusion the professors draw．This is hundreds of years of tradition of Oxford．”

　　Feeling a loss of face, Blair complained in private that Oxford was too stiff(古板)and needed reforming．Famous people have no privacy(隐私)．The complaint soon found its way to the teachers and students of Oxford and aroused great anger among them．Immediately the university cancelled the plan to give Blair an honorary doctorate and delivered a strong protest against government intervention(干涉)on university affairs．

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　　Scientists have long had it in their mind to make a robot lizard(蜥蜴)．They began with finding out why a lizard can hang on a wall．They noticed the lizard's toes were unique：They have suckers(吸盘), which enable it to hang on walls．They, therefore, made a robot with suckers on its hands and feet．

　　The robot could hang on the wall but fell off when crawling．So, they went on researching．6 years ago, scientists discovered that suckers only were not enough．It is the bristles(刚毛)on each foot that adds friction(摩擦)and static adsorption(静电吸附力)that makes a lizard move on the smooth wall easily without falling down．

　　Then scientists made great efforts to fix thick bristles to the robot's hands and feet．However, the effect was not satisfactory．The robot still couldn't attach itself firmly to the wall．

　　Scientists got puzzled：How on earth can the lizard crawl on an extremely smooth wall or even on a ceiling without dropping off?

　　An accidental finding inspired them：One day a scientist happened to see an animal attack a lizard and bite off its tail．The lizard broke away from the animal's teeth and threw itself on a wall to escape, only to fall off heavily on the ground．The scientist wondered：Is it the tail that plays an important role in its travelling on the wall? He caught some lizards for an experiment．The result proved his assumption：A tailless lizard has no trouble walking on an ordinary wall but can't on a smooth one．A further study showed the lizard's tail can prevent it falling over backward and, what's more, that the tail acts as an additional leg while one of the lizard's legs leaves the wall, which is always the case while it is walking on the wall．

　　Thus, Tailbot, a super tailed robot, is born．

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