Cast your mind back to the past twenty years and hardly did anyone have their own email account. The Internet had just taken off in 1991 and people were only using office and PC­based email exchanges.

In the mid 1990s external email providers appeared. The most famous of these was Hotmail, the first free email provider and web­based email service. Sabeer Bhatia and Jack Smith launched Hotmail on July 4, 1996. And Microsoft took note of and bought Hotmail for $400 million on December 30, 1997, a nice birthday present for Bhatia who turned 29 that day. It was relaunched as MSN Hotmail and in 2007 was relaunched again as Windows Live Hotmail.

Fast forward the present day and most of us have at least a personal web­based email account. It seems impossible to live without them. One of the biggest advantages of email is the fact that communication has become so much easier, especially with those across different time zones. Email takes seconds to send a message whereas letters, as we used to communicate by, could take weeks. Of course there was the fax, that beeping invention from the 1980s, but it wasn’t as secure as email and you never knew if the person on the other end had picked up your fax or if it had got lost somewhere in the office.

In conclusion, one of the best inventions from the 1990s has to be email. But sometimes people are too closely connected to their email and have a compulsion to check it several times a day. At work, people have become lazy and instead of going to speak to the person sitting next to them, they send an email，causing an in box to pile up with more time spent reading email and responding rather than working. Clearly, an invention that saved time because of its quick and speedy connection can now also cause us to waste a lot of time.

1.The earliest web-based email came into being probably _______.

A. in 1991                            B. in 1996                   C. in 1997                   D. in 2007

2.The author mentions “fax” in the third paragraph in order to tell us that _______.

A. it is exactly as good as email

B. it is much better than email

C. it is less convenient than email

D. it is easier and faster than email

3.The underlined word “compulsion” in Paragraph 4 probably means “_______”.

A. strong desire                  B. common sense               C. special curiosity          D. general idea

4.Which is the main idea of the last paragraph?

A. We should check email boxes frequently.

B. Lazy people like sending an email.

C. Email brings us great convenience.

D. Good inventions also cause problems.

 

That night, Joe came back home very late, pulling his heavy legs, obviously tired．He then sat down by the window, ­ 1  his head．

Hearing her husband back, Kay  2  out of the kitchen, but to her  3 , Joe sat still,

without  4 ．Usually, when he came back, he would greet her with a kiss or a hug．Immediately Kay 5 something unusual．She went over to Joe and asked, “Tell me, my dear, any 6 news?”

“Well, I have to say that things are not in our  7 ．It seems that I have no  8 to defeat my opponent (对手)．He’s much more 9 , for he’s been holding the position for nearly four years, and people think he’s done a 10  job．Many signs show that he’s in the 11．”

“Oh, really? But I still believe you have our own  12 ．You’re in your forties at the best age for a man．You’re new, so people have reasons to  13  you to do better．So let’s go to the voters and tell hem, ‘Give Joe Hart a chance, and he’ll show you who’s your better 14”

Their next three weeks were spent  15  different neighborhoods, going to all kinds of parties, and making speeches at universities and gatherings．Even Judy and Julie, their small children, went from door to door,  16  their “Please vote for our daddy, Joe Hart!”

The night before the 17 vote, the whole Hart family were too 18 to fall asleep．The moment before the final result was declared, their 19 were brought to their mouths, but at last they all 20 and burst into tears．

Joe Hart became head judge of the state of Texas, USA．

1.                A．lifting          B．raising          C．hanging   D．combing

 

2.                A．walked         B．looked         C．kept D．stole

 

3.                A．anger          B．joy            C．surprise  D．disappointment

 

4.                A．hope          B．movement      C．patience  D．smile

 

5.                A．said           B．sensed         C．told  D．did

 

6.                A．lucky          B．exciting         C．new D．bad

 

7.                A．favor          B．way            C．place D．sight

 

8.                A．time           B．thought         C．chance   D．wish

 

9.                A．interesting      B．experienced     C．lovely    D．fit

 

10.               A．good          B．poor           C．beautiful  D．funny

 

11.               A．success        B．office          C．lead  D．government

 

12.               A．people         B．reasons        C．rights D．advantages

 

13.               A．force          B．expect         C．order D．ask

 

14.               A．choice         B．friend          C．leader D．person

 

15.               A．helping         B．visiting         C．inviting    D．traveling

 

16.               A．answering      B．repeating       C．showing   D．offering

 

17.               A．final           B．next           C．first  D．close

 

18.               A．eager          B．sorry          C．anxious   D．happy

 

19.               A．breaths        B．worries         C．tongues   D．hearts

 

20.               A．left            B．arrived         C．laughed   D．jumped

 

 

We’ve all been hurt by another person at one time or another. This pain causes problems. It not only causes us to be unhappy, but can ruin relationships, distract(使分心) us from work and family and other important things, make us unwilling to open up new things.
We need to learn to let go. We need to be able to forgive, so we can move on and be happy. Forgiveness does not mean you erase the past, or forget what has happened. All it means is that you are letting go of the anger and pain, and moving on to a better place.
It’s not easy, but you can learn to do it.
Think about the advantages and disadvanges. Think of all the problems this pain causes you, and realize you need to change. Then think of the benefits of forgiveness—— how it will make you happier, free you from the past and the pain, and improve your relationships and life in general.
Try to put yourself in that person’s situation. Try to understand why the person did what he did. What could he have felt as he did it, and what did he feel afterward? How does he feel now? You aren’t saying what he did is right, but are trying to understand instead.
Understand your responsibility. Try to figure out how you could have been partly responsible for what happened. This isn’t to say you’re taking all the blame, or taking responsibility away from the other person, but to realize that we are not victims(受害者) but participants in life.
Allow peace to enter your life. As you focus on the present, try focusing on your breathing. Imagine each breath going out is the pain and the past, and imagine each breath coming in is peace, entering you and filling you up.
Title:  How to let go and forgive

【小题1】    caused by being hurt	Making us unhappy; distracting from daily life; Ruining relationships; making us close to new things.
Definition of forgiveness	●Letting go of the 【小题2】          ; ●Moving on to a better place.
Benefits of forgiveness	●Making you happier; ●【小题3】          from the past and the pain; ●Improving your relationships and life in general
【小题4】	●Thinking about the advantages and disavantages; ●Trying to understand the other person as if you were in the same situation； ●Figuring out 【小题5】          ; ●Allowing peace to enter your life.

 

Who are these people rushing by you in the street? More than 215 million people now call America “home’’, but most of them can trace their families back to other parts of the world. If you look at the names on shop windows, you will see that Americans come from many different lands. The idea that these people, who once were strangers to the United States, have lost the customs and cultures of their original countries and have become “American’’is really not true. In fact, what exists in America is more often a kind of “side-by-side”, living in which groups of people from other countries often have kept many of their customs and habits. They join the general American society only in certain areas of their lives—such as in schools, business, and sports-but they keep many of their own native customs and manners socially and at home. This living “side-by-side” has both advantages and disadvantages. Sometimes it may cause disagreements to develop between groups whose ways of life are very different from one another. However, there are also great advantages that come from the variety of cultures brought by settlers from other lands. There is great freedom of choice among ideas and dress, food, and social customs in America. Everyone can find some part of his or her familiar world in the United States, in Churches, music, food, national groups, or newspapers.

1.More than 215 million people call America “home” because          .

A. they buy their houses there   B. they settle there now

C. they get married there       D. they were born there

2.“Side-by-side” living style means        .

A. making friends with native people

B. the groups of people who live nearby

C. keeping their own customs while sharing American ones in certain areas

D. that they get closer to American society

3.According to the passage, people in the USA       .

A. share American customs and culture

B. 1ive in a kind of “side-by-side'' society

C. keep their own customs and habits firmly

D. make no choice to accept American customs

4.Which of the following statements is true?

A. They always stick to their own customs and habits.

B. “Side—by—side’’living style is not suitable.

C. They face the society they are not familiar with.

D. The advantages coming from the variety of cultures make life in America colorful.

5.Which title of the following can best take the place of “Different Cultures in America”?

A. Advantages and Disadvantages.    

B. Different Customs and Habits.

C. Home for the People            

D. “Side—by—side”Living Style in America.

 

A serious problem for today's society is who should be responsible for our elderly and how to improve their lives. It is not only a financial problem but also a question of the system we want for our society. I would like to suggest several possible solutions to this problem.

First, employers should take the responsibility for their retired employees. To make this possible, a percentage of profits should be set aside for this purpose. But when a company must take life-long responsibility for its employees, it may suffer from a commercial disadvantage due to higher employee costs.

Another way of solving the problem is to return the responsibility to the individual. This means each person must save during his working years to pay for his years of retirement. This does not seem a very fair model since some people have enough trouble paying for their daily life without trying to earn extra to cover their retirement years. This means the government might have to step in to care for the poor.

In addition, the government could take responsibility for the care of the elderly. This could be financed through government taxes to increase the level of pensions. Furthermore, some institutions should be created for senior citizens, which can help provide a comfortable life for them. Unfortunately, as the present situation in our country shows, this is not a truly viable answer. The government can seldom afford to care for the elderly, particularly when it is busy trying to care for the young.

One further solution is that the government or social organizations establish some working places especially for the elderly where they are independent.

To sum up, all these options have advantages and disadvantages. Therefore, it is reasonable to expect that some combination of these options may be needed to provide the care we hope to give to our elderly generations.

1.What is the passage mainly about?

A．The problems faced by the old in society.

B．Why we should take responsibility for the old.

C．How we can improve the lives of the old.

D．Where the old can go to get their pensions.

2. The underlined word "viable" most probably means"       ".

A．impossible         B．practical          C．useful            D．important

3.What is the writer's main purpose in writing this article?

A．To point out the need for government support for old people.

B．To make general readers aware of the problems of retired people.

C．To discuss some possible solutions to an important social problem.

D．To instruct retired people on how they can have a happier life.

4.The text is most likely to be found in a book about____.  

A．social science                          B．historical events

C．political problem                        D．political systems