B

From E-mail to online shopping, you may think you’ve heard everything there to know about the electronic frontier （新领域）．But with hundreds of thousands of Web pages being added weekly, there are plenty of surprises out there．Here are some of the most intriguing （有迷惑力的）．

……

Put your kid on a greeting card．Here is how: simply take some pictures with a regular camera, and then ask the photo service to develop them digitally （数字化）．For a small fee, you’ll receive your photos on a desk．Put that into your computer and, with a few clicks of the mouse, you can view your photos on the screen．With a few more keystrokes, you can attach the photos to email and send them to friends and relatives worldwide．

　　Sign on to one or several greeting card’s Websites （http://www．cardcentral．net/ is an index of more than 1200 electronic card sites） and create an electronic birthday or holiday card．Using your digital photos, you can paste your grandchildren onto the cover．

　　If you don’t want to use your own photos, go to cards．amzon．com to browse （浏览） hundreds of images in over 30 categories…all of which you can attach to an electronic greeting card for free．For a nominal fee（很低的费用）you can choose from a library of 75,000 images at http://www．phontodisc．com/．

　　Call Australia for free．To have a telephone conversation over the Internet, the person you want to talk to no longer needs a computer．Now all you need to talk to someone in Sydney is one computer with speakers, a microphone, a sound card and some software （available at http://www．vocaltec．com/ or Mricrosoft．com）．Typically, you’ll pay a monthly fee （usually under $20） to a service provider, but after that, the calls themselves are local．Sound quality is the same as that of a cell phone．

　　Even if you don’t have a computer, you can still use the Web to reduce your long distance phone costs．Some companies offer a service that lets you use an ordinary phone to call another ordinary phone, but charge only a few cents per minute for US calls, because they send them through the Internet．

　　Today 48 percent of American homes have computers…a figure that is expected to climb to 60 percent by 2003．And by the end of the next decade, Americans will likely be spending more time shopping, banking, investing and learning on the Internet than in the real world．If you can’t do or find something on the Net today, you probably can tomorrow．

60．Over the Internet, you ________．

       A．can hear everything there

       B．will meet with plenty of surprises which come out every week．

       C．will hear the things about the electronic frontier

       D．can find some things are very interesting

61．From the passage we can infer that _________．

       A．fewer people will use the Internet in the following ten years

       B．more people will study in the regular school by the end of the next decade

       C．fewer people will go to the regular school in the following ten years

       D．more money will be needed for a long-distance call by the end of the next decade

62．If you want to attach to photo to your e-mail, you have to ________ it．

       A．digitalize　　  B．take　　　　   C．picture　　　　      D．send

63．Which of the following is NOT true?

       A．A telephone conversation over the Internet can be carried out without computers．

       B．Over the Internet, the receiver of the phone conversation doesn’t need a computer．

       C．The phone conversations over the Internet are much cheaper．

       D．The long-distance calls are local themselves．

( D )
In Western countries people have been using the installment plan since the first half of the twentieth century. Today, a large number of families in Great Britain buy furniture, household goods and cars by installments. In the U. S., the figure is much higher than in Great Britain, and people there spend over 10 percent of their income on the installment plan.
The price of an article bought on installments is always higher than the price that would be paid by cash. There is a charge for interest. The buyer pays one quarter or one third of the price as a down payment when the goods are delivered to him. He then makes regular payments, weekly or monthly, until the full price is paid up. The legal ownership of the goods remains with the seller until the final payment has been made.
Installment buying has advantages and disadvantages. It can help couples with small incomes to furnish their homes and start housekeeping. It increases the demand for goods, and in this way helps business and employment. There is, however, the danger that when business is bad, installment buying may end suddenly, making business much worse. This may result in a great increase in unemployment. If the people on the installment plan lose their jobs, they will probably not be able to make their payments. If great numbers of people are not able to pay their installment debts there is a possibility that businessmen cannot collect their debts and will therefore lose money. If businessmen lose money or fail to make a satisfactory profit, it becomes more likely to have a depression. This is why, in some countries, the government controls the installment plan by fixing the amount of the down payment and installments to discourage people from buying more than they can pay for on the installment plan.
56. Which of the following is NOT true about the installment plan?
A. A lot of British families use the installment plan.
B. More than 10 percent American families buy things on installments.
C. Americans depend more on installment than British people do.
D. Americans spend one tenth of their income on installment buying.
57. Goods bought on installments are more expensive than goods bought by cash because ______.
A. the buyer has to pay extra money as interest
B. the delivery of the goods charges extra money
C. the buyer has to pay a down payment
D. the service offered by installment plan charged extra money
58. What will happen to a buyer if he fails to make the full payment for an item bought on installments?
A. He might lose his job.
B. He will stop owning the item he has bought.
C. He will have to sell what he has bought.
D. He will go into debt.
59. The advantage of installment buying might include all the following EXCEPT that ________.
A. purchasing power is strengthened
B. employment might be increased
C. people develop a good habit of saving money
D. young couples are able to furnish their homes
60. In some countries, the governments control the installment plan to ________.
A. increase employment
B. avoid depressions
C. ensure that businesses make good profits
D. ensure that people can pay for what hey buy

C
With smart phones taking the world by Storm，a phone that Can only send and receive voice
calls and text messages may seem like a relic from a bygone age．Yet in East Africa，simple
phones like these are changing the face of the economy，thanks to the mobile money services that are spreading across the region．
Usilng the text-messaging function built into the GSM system(全球通)used by most cell
phone networks，these services allow people without a bank account or credit card to use their
phone as an electronic walletthat can be used to store．send or receive cash．
It works like this：you pay cash to your local agent who then tops up your mobile money
account using a secure form of text messaging．That money can be transferred(转账)to another
person by sending a message to their cell phone account．
For some the system is a lifeline．“If I didn,t have my mobile phone．1 would be very
poor，”says Neyasse Neemur，a mother of four children who lives in northern Kenya．“Now I
can sell fish．”
Neemur took up fishing in July last year，but making money from it was a little tricky，
especially as Turkana people do not usually eat fish．A truck from Ethiopia to Tanzania passes
through her village once a week，and she arranged to have the driver transport the fish several
hundred kilometres south to market in Kisumu．where relatives sell the fish．
“I get the money transfer immediately．”says Neemur．“Then I can pay for my children to go to school and for vegetables and beans，”she adds，“so I don’t need to eat fish．”
According to the Central Bank of Kenya，payments worth around l billion Kenyan shillings
($13 million)per day were transferred through Kenya,s mobile money systems in 2009，equalling
the country,s credit card transactions(业务)．The bank expects mobile money transfers to overtake credit cards in 2010．
49．In Paragraph l，the author uses“simple phones”to________.
A．make a comparison    B．introduce a topic
C．describe a scene     D．offer an argument
50．What can we learn about the simple phones in East Africa?
A．They might help the local people apply for a bank account．
B．They will replace the banks completely in the near future．
C．They provide a safe means for the locals to do business．
D．They can do nothing except send and receive calls or messages．
51．The word“it”in the third paragraph refers to_______.
A．the GSM system    B．the mobile money service
C．the credit card service D．the cell phone networks
52．The story of Neyasse Neemur suggests that_______.
A．the mobile money service plays a key rote in the locals, life
B．Neemur uses her mobile phone to contact her customers
C。her relatives tricks Turkana people to eat the fish they sell
D．the Bank of Kenya helps her improve her living condition

C

With smart phones taking the world by Storm，a phone that Can only send and receive voice

calls and text messages may seem like a relic from a bygone age．Yet in East Africa，simple

phones like these are changing the face of the economy，thanks to the mobile money services that are spreading across the region．

Usilng the text-messaging function built into the GSM system(全球通)used by most cell

phone networks，these services allow people without a bank account or credit card to use their

phone as an electronic walletthat can be used to store．send or receive cash．

It works like this：you pay cash to your local agent who then tops up your mobile money

account using a secure form of text messaging．That money can be transferred(转账)to another

person by sending a message to their cell phone account．

For some the system is a lifeline．“If I didn,t have my mobile phone．1 would be very

poor，”says Neyasse Neemur，a mother of four children who lives in northern Kenya．“Now I

can sell fish．”

Neemur took up fishing in July last year，but making money from it was a little tricky，

especially as Turkana people do not usually eat fish．A truck from Ethiopia to Tanzania passes

through her village once a week，and she arranged to have the driver transport the fish several

hundred kilometres south to market in Kisumu．where relatives sell the fish．

“I get the money transfer immediately．”says Neemur．“Then I can pay for my children to go to school and for vegetables and beans，”she adds，“so I don’t need to eat fish．”

According to the Central Bank of Kenya，payments worth around l billion Kenyan shillings

($13 million)per day were transferred through Kenya,s mobile money systems in 2009，equalling

the country,s credit card transactions(业务)．The bank expects mobile money transfers to overtake credit cards in 2010．

49．In Paragraph l，the author uses“simple phones”to________.

A．make a comparison    B．introduce a topic

C．describe a scene     D．offer an argument

50．What can we learn about the simple phones in East Africa?

A．They might help the local people apply for a bank account．

B．They will replace the banks completely in the near future．

C．They provide a safe means for the locals to do business．

D．They can do nothing except send and receive calls or messages．

51．The word“it”in the third paragraph refers to_______.

A．the GSM system    B．the mobile money service

C．the credit card service D．the cell phone networks

52．The story of Neyasse Neemur suggests that_______.

A．the mobile money service plays a key rote in the locals, life

B．Neemur uses her mobile phone to contact her customers

C。her relatives tricks Turkana people to eat the fish they sell

D．the Bank of Kenya helps her improve her living condition

C

With only about 1,000 pandas left in the world, China is desperately trying to clone the animal and save the endangered species. That’s a move similar to what a Texas A&M University researchers have been undertaking for the past five years in a project called “Noah’s Ark”.

  Noah’s Ark is aimed at collecting eggs, embryos(胚胎), semen and DNA of endangered animals and storing them in liquid nitrogen. If certain species should become extinct, Dr, Duane Kraemer, a professor in Texas A&M’s College of Veterinary Medicine, says there would be enough of the basic building blocks to reintroduce the species in the future.

  It is estimated that as many as 2,000 species of mammals, birds and reptiles will become extinct in over 100 years. The panda, native only to China, is in danger of becoming extinct in the next 25 years.

  This week, Chinese scientists said they grew an embryo by introducing cells from a dead female panda into the egg cells of a Japanese white rabbit. They are now trying to implant the embryo into a host animal.

  The entire procedure could take from three to five years to complete.

  “ The nuclear transfer(核子移植) of one species to another is not easy, and the lack of available ( capable of being used) panda eggs could be a major problem,” Kraemer believes, “ They will probably have to do several hundred transfers to result in one pregnancy ( having a baby). It takes a long time and it’s difficult, but this could be groundbreaking science if it works. They are certainly not putting any live pandas at risk, so it is worth the effort,” adds Kraemer, who is one of the leaders of the project at Texas A&M, the first-ever attempt at cloning a dog.

  “They are trying to do something that’s never been done, this is very similar to our work in Noah’s Ark. We’re both trying to save animals that face extinction. I certainly appreciate their effort and there’s a lot we can learn from what they are attempting to do. It’s a research that is very much needed.”

64. The aim of “Noah’s Ark” project is to ______.

make efforts to clone the endangered pandas

save endangered animals from dying out

collect DNA of endangered animals to study

transfer the nuclear of name animal to another

According to Professor Kraemer, the major problem in cloning pandas would be the lack of ______.

A. available panda eggs                B. host animals      

C. qualified researchers                D. enough money

66. The best title for the passage may be ______.

   A. China’s Success in Pandas Cloning         B. The First Cloned Panda in the World

   C. Exploring the Possibility to Clone Pandas   D. China-- the Native Place of Pandas Forever

67. From the passage we know that ______.

   A. Kraemer and his team have succeeded in cloning a dog

   B. scientists try to implant a panda’s egg into a rabbit

   C. Kraemer will work with Chinese scientists in clone researches

   D. about two thousand of species will probably die out in a century