The iPhone, the iPad: each of Apple’s products sounds cool and has become a fad (一度时髦的风尚). Apple has cleverly taken advantage of the power of the letter “i” — and many other brands are following suit. The BBC’s iPlayer — which allows Web users to watch TV programs on the Internet — adopted the title in 2008. A lovely bear — popular in the US and the UK — that plays music and video is called “iTeddy”. A slimmed-down version of The Independent newspaper was launched last week under the name “i”.
In general, single-letter prefixes have been popular since the 1990s, when terms such as e-mail and e-commerce first came into use.
Most “i” products are aimed at young people and considering the major readers of The Independent’s “i”, it’s no surprise that they’ve selected this fashionable name.
But it’s hard to see what’s so special about the letter “i”. Why not use “a”, “b”, or “c” instead? According to Tony Thorne, former head of the Language Center at King’s College London, “i” works because its meaning has become ambiguous. When Apple uses “i”, no one knows whether it means Internet, information, individual or interactive, Thorne told BBCMagazines. “Even when Apple created the iPod, it seems it didn’t have one clear definition,” he says.
“However, thanks to Apple, the term is now associated with portability (轻便).” Adds Thorne.
Clearly the letter “i” also agrees with the idea that the Western world is centered on the individual. Each person believes they have their own needs, and we love personalized products for this reason.
Along with “Google” and “blog”, readers of BBCMagazines voted “i” as one of the top 20 words that have come to define the last decade.
But as history shows, people grow tired of fads. From the 1900s to 1990s, products with “2000” in their names became fashionable as the year was associated with all things advanced and modern. However, as we entered the new century, the trend unavoidably disappeared.
【小题1】People use iPlayer to _________.

GET YOUR DEGREE AT HOME!

Have you ever wondered what a Degree might be worth to you in your job or career(事业)? It means a lot of Americans with an Associate Degree average nearly $10,000 more in yearly earnings than those with just a High School Diploma(毕业证).

Harcourt Learning Direct offers you a way to get a Specialized Associate Degree in 11 of today’s growing fields-without having to go to college full time. With Harcourt, you study at home, in your spare time__so you don’t have to give up your present job while you train for a better one. Choose from exciting majors like Business Management, Accounting, Dressmaking ＆Design, Bookkeeping, Photography, Computer Science, Engineering, and more! Your training includes everything you need! Books, lessons, learning aids__even professional-quality tools and equipment__everything you need to master your training and more ahead to a new career is included in the low tuition(学费) price you pay. Your education is nationally recognized! Nearly 2,000 American companies__including General Electric, IBM, Mobile, General Motors, Ford, and many others__have used our training for their employees. If companies like these recognize the value of our training, you can be sure that employees in your area will, too!

Earn your degree in as little as two years! Get a career diploma in just six months! The career of your dreams is closer than you think! Even if you have no experience before, you can get valuable job skills in today’s hottest fields! Step-by-step lessons make learning easy. Prepare for promotions(提升), pay raises, even start a business of your own! Send today for FREE information about Harcourt at home training!

Simply fill in your name and address on the coupon(票券) above. Then write in the name and number of the one program you’re most interested in, and mail it today. We’ll rush your free information about how you can take advantage of the opportunities(机会) in the field you’ve chosen. Act today!

 ?? Mail coupon today!

       or call the number below

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1.This advertisement aims at calling on people to ________.

A. attend full-time universities

B. work part time to further their education

C. improve their education at home to get better jobs

D. earn their degrees in different ways that suit them

2.Which of the following is NOT clearly mentioned in this advertisement? 

A. The way how you will get your degree. 

B. Tuition price. 

C. The hot fields you will be preparing yourself for.

D. The length of time it will take you to get a degree.

3.What does the writer of this ad intend to say by naming General Electric, IBM,?? Ford, etc.?

A. To show that their training is widely used in the country. 

B. To show that the training program is fully supported by famous companies in the U. S.

C. To prove the value of their training in every area.  　

D. To show the importance of getting recognized by the most famous companies.

4.It seems to the writer that the greatest attraction for people to take their training is______.

A. its convenience

B. the degree’s nation-wide recognition

C. the economic benefit it will bring about

D. the hot fields the training will help people to enter

第二部分： ：书面表达（ 共25分）

  当今社会已经进入信息时代,交往已经成为人们生活中必不可少的部分。请你从下图提供的三种交流方式中选出你最喜欢的一种，并陈述理由。

letter                     cellphone                           E-mail

注意: 1. 词数120左右;

     2. 开头已为你写好, 不计入总词数。

My favorite way of communication

    As we all know，communication has been playing an important part in people’s life.

Online Communication

In an age when technology moves faster than most can keep up with, a small group of people still remain in the time of old-fashioned letter. Frankly speaking, I was once certain that traditional letters could never be replaced by other means of communication.

But a story about online communication changed my mind.

An old man, who suffered a lot from Parkinson’s disease, was not able to talk clearly and could hardly write his name. Living totally alone, he managed to keep in touch with nearly all the members of his family. How did he achieve this? He clicked out words on his computer keyboard.

I, therefore, managed to get an E-mail box as soon as the opportunity came. My life changed. E-mail, and all online communication, is something truly different. It has capabilities（能力） that few other products can match.

E-mail is convenient. It takes less time with its fast speed and 24-hour connection. The slow postal service is no match. If you wouldn’t want to have a face-to-face talk with your manager, you might talk with him through E-mail even if you are in the same office.

Naming all the good things about online communication is not easy. But wait. E-mail can be inconvenient. It can waste time and energy. Just think what may happen when you take a short vacation and return to find your e-mail box filled with 200 unread messages. You could easily spend half a day clearing junk ads.

Then, online communication will keep us staying at our computer while it connects us to distant strangers. Once we throw ourselves into the machine, we may forget the human touches we once held so dear. I’m sure there is and always will be a place for the old-fashioned letter, phone call, and face-to-face meeting… even in the world of modern communication.

As I listen to the sound of the modem(调制解调器), I was excited at stepping out to the outside world but, at the same time, I sensed a loss of control over something valuable in my personal life.

1.What is the most probable meaning of the underlined word “junk” in paragraph6?

A. old and useless   B. New and useful   C. Short but valuable     D. Long but clear

2.What does the writer think of online communication?

A. It should replace old-fashioned letters completely.

B. It is perfect and always does good to you.

C. It is extremely useful and convenient, but it may be inconvenient or even harmful.

D. It does more harm than good.

3.What caused the writer to become interested in E-mail and online communication?

A. The sound of the modem.           B. His own illness.

C. The changing of his life.            D. A sick old man’s experience.

4.According to the writer, traditional means of communication will never disappear because ________.

A. they are convenient and popular though they are slow

B. they help to keep the friendly relationship between people

C. most people cannot keep up with the development of technology

D. modern means of communication does too much harm

5.How did the sick old man keep in touch with his family members?

A. With the help of his computer.        B. By writing letters with his pen.

C. By making telephone calls.          D. By visiting them regularly.

阅读下面短文，从短文后各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

         "A parcel arrived for you today," my father told me, as we were driving home from work．"It's quite big．" "Oh, really?" I wondered out loud．"Have you   36   anything? Maybe from Amazon or eBay or something…?" my father continued．"No, Dad．I'm  37  only one thing, but that should arrive in a（n）   38  ．"

         On Sunday, I will participate in a（n）   39   activity with some friends,' and．I had asked Bluebell if she could send me some of her homemade smile cards to  40   on the day．Since smile cards would have fit into an envelope,'! couldn't imagine what else could be in the  41  I became increasingly  42  as we continued to drive home．As soon as we arrived, I  43  to open the package．It had a neat, hand-written label （标签）on it．"There might be something easy to  44  inside," my father said, as he handed me some scissors．"Be careful when you open it．"

         The package was filled with all sorts of kindness   45  I First, some beautiful colorful posters with kindness ideas and   46   fell onto the floor．There were also loads of wrist bands （护腕）, which I will   47   at our kindness activity．   48   , there were three envelopes in the package——two of them had the most cleanly and neatly   49   smile cards, and the third had a wonderful card inside, which   50  , "Thank you very much for your kindness．．．loads of love, Bluebell．"

         "This is really   51 ," my father said．My mother and sister enjoyed the package as well．Bluebell put ．the biggest  52   on all of our faces! When I had asked her for some of her homemade smile cards to   53   some kindness during our activity, I never expected to 54   such a wonderful package filled with all sorts of kindness and inspiration!

         You have  55   made my day．Bluebell!

1.A．ordered        B．searched         C．desired                             D．paid

2.A．preferring      B．wanting          C．preventing  D．expecting

3.A．poster         B．parcel'           C．envelope    D．e-mail

4.A．sports         B．afterschool        C．kindness    D．business

5.A．make up       B．write down        C．hand in                             D．give out

6.A．package       B．card              C．letter       D．envelope

7.A．curious        B．surprised          C．hopeful     D．terrible

8.A．wanted        B．walked           C．rushed       D．stopped                       

9.A．lose          B．break             C．use          D．pick

10.A．talents       B．gifts              C．books        D．activities

11.A．articles      B．music                                           C．poets         D．poems

12.A．get rid of     B．make good use of    C．keep out of     D．take possession of

13.A．In conclusion B．In addition         C．In short        D．In fact

14.A．machinemade B．manmade          C．homemade     D．shopmade

15.A．told        ,B．spoke                                            C．wrote                 D．read

16.A．amazing     B．funny                                            C．crazy         D．accidental

17.A．card        B.  tear               C．spot          D．smile

18.A．raise        B．spread                                                C．collects       D．teach      

19.A．find                                       B．discover                           C．receive       D．accept

20.A．completely   B．partly              C．hardly        D．nearly