Can you imagine exchanging the pleasure of city life for a quiet life in the countryside?

Many people want to move from the country to the city because they think that life in the city is more exciting and better than that in countryside, especially young people who like new, modern things. People like popular things and feel that they can only find the latest styles in the city.

However, it is possible to enjoy the higher quality of country life and still enjoy some of the advantages of living in the city.

Nowadays, traveling is fast and easy, and information can be found on the Internet, so many people are able to do their work in home offices. Because they have e-mail and personal computers, they don’t have to be in big cities to manage their businesses. It is not important where they actually work because the results of their work can be sent everywhere with e-mails. Therefore, there is no need to put up with all of the disadvantages of the city. Now they can escape busy city life to enjoy the quiet country life and still be able to have successful jobs.

Other people are interested in technological things and high-tech jobs and think they can only find them in big cities. If they want to find a job, especially a good position in a company, they think that they have to live in a city. For these jobs, they are willing to put up with many of the disadvantages of city life, such as crime, heavy traffic, and pollution.

1.The main idea of this passage is that         .

A．life in the city is different from life in the countryside

B．people prefer living in the city to living in the countryside

C．cities have more disadvantages than the countryside

D．more and more people like living in the city

2.With the development of      ,people can enjoy life in the countryside as comfortably as they can in the city.

A．e-mail technology	B．personal computers
C．transportation and computers	D．business

3.According to the passage, what does the countryside have but cities don’t have?

A．Technology.

B．Traffic.

C．Education.

D．Natural environment.

4.What is the author’s attitude towards city life?

A．He is for it.	B．He is against it.
C．He likes neither.	D．He shows no opinion.

 

 

第二节（共5小题；每小题2分，满分10分）

根据短文内容，从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。

Today’s children are not satisfied with playing simple games with simple toys.   71   The electronic models are marketed. They can move and communicate. Children need toys that fit well into their renewed idea of playing pleasure.

     72   These toys are among the top ten “must haves” for every boy and girl. Their sales largely depend on the rapidly changing toy trade. Besides, the demand by parents and children for more advanced features can make a robot toy sell well.

   There are different types of robot toys in the market today.   73   However, video games are not considered as robot toys. While video games are just electronic role-playing mind games, robot toys are highly dependent on the interaction(互动) between the toy and the user. In a video game, the player has a specific goal or task that must be accomplished. The robot toy is a simulation(模仿) of an animal or human.

   There are a number of different types of robot toys in the world market today. They are all very costly. There are high-tech robot toy pets that have life-like actions and movements.   74    Not only children but even adults like robot toys and are now spending a lot of money on them in the market.

Robot toys are great educational toys that interact with and within their environment.   75   The robot toys have sensors that enable them to see, hear and feel, making them the ideal companions. And many robot toys are also designed to express emotions,

A. In fact, their demand today has changed.

B. Robot toys are popular with adults as well as children. 

C.   A robot toy is an electronic toy that is the gift of modern technology.

D. Video games are common in the world of games for children.

E. The toys enable the user to experiment and increase creativity.

F. Some of the robot toy pets can actually fetch and carry.

G. Now robot toys are playing an important part in the growth of children.

 

Can you imagine exchanging the pleasure of city life for a quiet life in the countryside?

Many people want to move from the country to the city because they think that life in the city is more exciting and better than that in countryside,especially young people who like new,modern things.People like popular things and feel that they can only find the latest styles in the city.

However,it is possible to enjoy the higher quality of country life and still enjoy some of the advantages of living in the city.

Nowadays,traveling is fast and easy,and information can be found on the Internet,so many people are able to do their work in home offices.Because they have e-mail and personal computers,they don’t have to be in big cities to manage their businesses.It is not important where they actually work because the results of their work can be sent everywhere with e-mails.Therefore,there is no need to put up with all of the disadvantages of the city.Now they can escape busy city life to enjoy the quiet country life and still be able to have successful jobs.

Other people are interested in technological things and high-tech jobs and think they can only find them in big cities.If they want to find a job,especially a good position in a company,they think that they have to live in a city.For these jobs,they are willing to put up with many of the disadvantages of city life,such as crime,heavy traffic,and pollution.

The main idea of this passage is that          .

  A.life in the city is different from life in the countryside

  B.people prefer living in the city to living in the countryside

  C.cities have more disadvantages than the countryside

  D.more and more people like living in the city

With the development of       ,people can enjoy life in the countryside as comfortably as they can in the city.

  A.e-mail technology                    B.personal computers

  C.transportation and computers           D.business

According to the passage,what does the countryside have but cities don’t have?

  A.Technology.     B.Traffic.         C.Education.     D.Natural environment.

What is the author’s attitude towards city life?

  A.He is for it.                         B.He is against it.

  C.He likes neither.                     D.He shows no opinion.

New technology links the world as never before. Our planet has shrunk（收缩）. It’s now a “global village” where countries are only seconds away by fax or phone or satellite link. And, of course, our ability to benefit from this high-tech communication’s equipment is greatly enhanced by foreign language skills.
Deeply involved with this new technology is a breed of modern businesspeople who have a growing respect for the economic value of doing business abroad. In modern markets, success overseas often helps support domestic(国内的) business efforts.
Overseas assignments are becoming increasingly important to advancement within executive(行政的) ranks. The executive stationed in another country no longer need fear being “out of sight and out of mind.” He or she can be sure that the overseas effort is central to the company’s plan for success, and that promotions often follow or accompany an assignment abroad. If an employee can succeed in a difficult assignment overseas, superior will have greater confidence in his or her ability to cope back in the United States where cross-cultural considerations and foreign language issues are becoming more and more common.
Thanks to a variety of relatively inexpensive communications devices with business applications, even small businesses in the United States are able to get into international markets.
English is still the international language of business. But there is an ever-growing need for people who can speak another language. A second language isn’t generally required to get a job in business, but having language skills gives a candidate(候选人) the edge when other qualifications appear to be equal.
The employee posted abroad who speaks the country’s principal language has an opportunity to fast-forward certain negotiations, and can have the cultural insight to know when it is better to move more slowly. The employee at the home office who can communicate well with foreign clients(客户) over the telephone or by fax machine is an obvious asset to the firm.
【小题1】What is the author’s attitude toward high-tech communications equipment?

A．Critical.

B．Indifferent.

C．Negative.

D．Positive.

【小题2】With the increased use of high-tech communications equipment, business people_________.

A．have to get familiar with modern technology

B．are gaining more economic benefits from domestic operations

C．are placing more importance on their overseas business

D．are eager to work overseas

【小题3】 In this passage, “out of sight and out of mind” (Para. 3) probably means _________.

A．being unable to think properly for lack of insight

B．being totally out of touch with business at home

C．missing opportunities for promotion when abroad

D．leaving all care and worry behind

【小题4】According to the passage, what is an important consideration of international corporations in employing people today?

A．Connections with businesses overseas.	B．Ability to speak the client’s language.
C．Technical know-how.	D．Business experience.

In this age of cell phones, text messages and computer keyboards, one Scottish school has returned to basics. It’ s teaching I children the ignored art of writing with a fountain pen. There is no   clicking of keyboards in most classrooms at the Mary Erskine and Stewart ’s Melville Junior School，although there is a full range of facilities(设施）for computer lessons and technology isn ' t being ignored. The school' s headmaster believes the old -fashioned pens have helped strengthen the academic performance and self-respect of his 1，200 pupils.

"The pens improve the quality of work because they force the children to take care, and better work improves self-respect" , headmaster Bryan Lewis said. “ Proper handwriting is as relevant today as it ever has been. “ Students as young as 7 have been instructed to give up their ballpoint pens and begin to deal with its more artful predecessor. By the time they reach grade five, at age 9，they are expected to write mainly with fountain pens. Lewis said the school’s 7-and 8 -year-olds use fountain pens for 80-90 percent of their work, returning to pencils for such subjects as math. “I don’ t see fountain pens as old -fashioned or out of date. Modern fountain

pens are beautiful to use. It’ s not like in the old days of broken metal points and dirtying writing paper，” Lewis said. ‘We have a particular writing style and we have developed it very carefully and found a way that allows left-and right-handed people to write without dirtying paper. ”

Some people argue that handwriting is becoming less important because of the growing use of cell phone text messaging and typing on computers, but the school disagrees. ‘We talk of the paperless office and the paperless world, but this is not true, ” Lewis said. “You still need to have proper handwriting skills. ”

. The Scottish school in the passage   _____.

A.  does not think highly of modern technology

B.  values fountain pens more than anything else

C.  pays special attention to the use of fountain pens

D.  takes an action which is considered stupid by many people

The underlined word “predecessor” in Paragraph 2 refers to_____.

A. the pencil   B. the keyboard

C. the ballpoint pen    D. the fountain pen

The headmaster Bryan Lewis holds the view that_____.

A.  children should be required to use fountain pens when they are five

B.  handwriting skills are more important than typing skills nowadays

C.  using fountain pens may slow down students ’ speed of writing

D.  fountain pens have helped to build up students' self-respect

Which is the best title for this passage?

A.  Handwriting Not Useless Now

B.  Old-fashioned Pen Coming Back

C.  Stay Away from Tech and Teach Fountain Pen

D.  Fountain Pen Strengthens Academic Performance