A little under one-third of U.S. families have no Internet access and do not plan to get it, with most of the holdouts seeing little use for it in their lives, according to a survey released on Friday.

Park Associates, a Dallas-based technology market research firm, said 29 percent of U.S. families, or 31 million homes, do not have Internet access and do not intend to subscribe（预订）to an Internet service over the next 12 months. The second annual National Technology Scan conducted by Park found that the main reason why potential customers say they do not subscribe to the Internet is because of the low value to their daily lives rather than concerns over cost.

Forty-four percent of these families say they are not interested in anything on the Internet, versus just 22 percent who say they cannot afford a computer or the cost of Internet service, the survey showed. The answer “I’m not sure how to use the Internet” came from 17 percent of participants who do not subscribe. The response “I do all my e-commerce shopping and YouTube-watching at work” was cited by 14 percent of Internet-access users. Three percent said the Internet doesn’t reach their homes.

The study found U.S. broadband adoption grew to 52 percent over 2006, up from 42 percent in 2005. Roughly half of new subscribers converted（转变）from slower-speed, dial-up Internet access while the other half of families had no prior access.

“The industry continues to chip（击破）away at the core of non-subscribers, but has a long way to go,” said John Barrett, director of research at Parks Associates. “Entertainment applications will be the key. If anything will pull in the holdouts, it’s going to be applications that make the Internet more similar to pay-TV,” he predicted.

41. What does the underlined word “holdouts” in the first paragraph most probably mean?

       A. some American families

       B. those who hold out one’s opinions

       C. those who have been surveyed

       D. those who still haven’t access to the Internet currently

42. Many potential customers refuse to subscribe to the Internet mainly because _________.

       A. they show too much concern about the cost B. they can find little value of it

       C. they do most YouTube-watching at work D. the Internet doesn’t reach their homes

43. From the passage we can infer that ________.

       A. It is not an easy job to transform those holdouts into the Internet users

       B. people will adopt dial-up Internet access no more

       C. many Americans enjoy doing e-commerce shopping at home

       D. more than half of the population are using the Internet in 2005

44. According to John Barrett, what is the key to attracting more U.S. families to broadband service?

       A. making the Internet look more similar to TV set

       B. applying the Internet more to entertainment

       C. providing more pay-TV programs

       D. chipping away at the core of non-subscribers

45. Which is the best title for the passage?

       A. Web develops with technology               B. The present situation of web

       C. Many Americans see little point to web    D. It is urgent to promote web service

Evidence is increasing that common influenza viruses are becoming resistant to the main drug used to treat them. The drug is oseltamivir, also known as Tamiflu.

The most common ___41___ flu virus found in the United States this year is type A (H1N1). During the last flu season, twelve percent of H1N1 viruses ___42___ in the United States were resistant to Tamiflu. This year, researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say ___43___ is close to 100 percent. Still, they say early reports show that flu___44___ has been low so far this year.

The research team is reporting its findings in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Alicia Fry led the team. Doctor Fry says it is better to prevent the flu than to have to ___45___ it. And the best form of prevention, she says, is getting vaccinated (进行预防接种) each year against influenza.

Viruses change, or mutate, (变异) so flu vaccines must be reformulated each year to target the most common threats.

But last week, two teams working ___46___ reported a discovery that could help lead to a universal flu vaccine. The hope is to develop a vaccine that could give ___47___ protection against a majority of flu viruses, including bird flu.

The scientists ___48___ a protein that inactivates the flu virus before it can mutate.

One team used an antibody found in blood donated by an individual. Scientist Ian Wilson at the Scripps Research Institute in California says the antibodies proved ___49 ___ effective in laboratory mice exposed to deadly levels of virus. He says they gave complete protection .

Do you ever feel like no one understands you? It may seem like everyone else has lots of friends, and is getting invited to fun parties and outings while you are at home by yourself. But in fact, you’re not the only one who feels like this. In today’s    41   , with so many people all crowded together in such big cities, lots of people feel alone, even when there are many people    42    them.

But being alone doesn’t    43    that you have to be lonely. Whenever I’m reading a book, exercising, or doing other things that I love, I don’t feel lonely at all. I    44    feel quite happy when I’m busy. But when I focus on all of the things that I’m lacking, I get lonely and feel unhappy. Everyone feels lonely at one point or another ― even the happiest people can feel lonely sometimes.

That you may feel lonely doesn’t mean it has to be a painful    45   . You can actually enjoy your time   46   by doing things that make you happy ― give some   47   attention to yourself and to your hobbies. Reading a good book, going on a walk, or keeping a diary can give you some time to think about yourself and your feelings. Sometimes, it’s even more fun to do things on your own without anyone else to think about.

Since November 11th is “Bachelor’s Day”（单身汉节）why not    48    your independence and treat yourself to something special. Enjoy the quiet time by yourself. If your friends are feeling lonely, make sure that you    49    them by being there during hard times. And remember, one doesn’t have to be the loneliest number!

Each of us fails from time to time. If we are wise, we accept these failures as a necessary part of the learning process. But all too often we __41__ to our children either by words or by actions that failure is something to be ashamed of, that nothing but top performance meets our __42__.

Donnie was my youngest student. His fear of failure kept him from classroom games that other children played excitedly. He __43__ answered questions―he might be wrong. I tried my best to build his self-confidence. But nothing changed until midterm, when Mary Anne, a student teacher, was assigned to our classroom. She was young and pretty, and she loved children. My pupils, Donnie included, __44__ her. But even enthusiastic, loving Mary was __45__ by this little boy who feared he might make a mistake.

Then one morning we were working math problems. I left the children with Mary. But when I returned, Donnie was in tears. He’d missed the third problem. Mary looked at me in despair. Suddenly her face __46__. From the desk we shared, she got a canister(小筒) filled with pencils. She removed the pencils and placed them on his desk. “See these pencils, Donnie?” she said, “They belong to Mrs Lindstrom and me. See how the erasers are worn? That’s because we make __47__ too. But we erase the mistakes and try again.” She kissed him and continued, “I’ll leave one of these pencils on your desk so you’ll remember that everybody makes mistakes, even teachers.” Donnie looked up with love in his eyes and just a glimmer of a smile.

The pencil became Donnie’s prized possession. That, together with Mary Anne’s __48__ encouragement and praise for even Donnie’s small successes, __49__ persuaded him that it’s all right to make mistakes―as long as you erase them and try again.

This I Believe

I believe in the challenge to accomplish something out of the ordinary. I have ___41__ this belief from the Guinness Book of World Records. That book showed me the value of equal ____42__and competition. It proved to me, early on, that I could rise above anonymity and ___43___ remarkable things.

The Guinness Book of World Records taught me to believe in the “accessibility of the “___44__”. I was attracted by the descriptions in the book: the fastest, the longest, the widest, the most …whatever you can imagine. It opened up the possibility of what I might be able to do.

The Guinness Book of World Records taught me tenacity and perseverance and, more __45___, the desire to do something unexpected. So many people in the book were __46___ by family and friends for what they were doing. Yet they did it. I see them as success stories --- the ___47____ people who did something extraordinary.

I am not saving the world. I am not the best at what I do, but I am only 24 --- there is still time.

The Guinness Book of World Records helped give me a different ___48___ on the impossible, and encouraged me to try something unusual. I believe in making the “dream ” a ___49____, and I hope to someday break a few records myself.