Do you want to live forever? By the year 2050, you might actually get your wish — if you are willing to leave your biological body and live in silicon circuits (半导体电路). But long before then, perhaps as early as 2010, some measures will begin offering a semblance of immortality (虚拟的永生).

Researchers are confident that technology will soon be able to track every waking moment of your life. Whatever you see and hear, all that you say and write, can be recorded, analyzed and added to your personal chronicles (履历). By the 2030, it may be possible to catch your nervous (神经) systems through electrical activities, which would also keep your thoughts and emotions. Researchers at the laboratories of British Telecommunications have given the name of this idea as Soul Catcher.

Small electronic equipment will make preparation for Soul Catcher. It would use a wearable supercomputer, perhaps in a wristwatch, with wireless links to micro sensors under your scalp (头皮) and in the nerves that carry all five sensory signals. So wearing a video camera would no longer be required.

At first, the Soul Catcher’s companion system — the Soul Reader — might have trouble copying your thoughts in complete details. Even in 2030, we may still be struggling to understand how the brain is working inside, so reading your thoughts and understanding your emotions might not be possible. But these signals could be kept for the day when they can be transferred to silicon circuits to revitalize minds everlasting entities (永生实体). Researchers can only wonder what it will be like to wake up one day and find yourself alive inside a machine.

For people who choose not to live in silicon semblance of immortality, it would not be as useless as they thought. People would know their lives would not be forgotten, but would be kept a record of the human race forever. And future generations would have a much fuller understanding of the past. History would not be controlled by just the rich and powerful, Hollywood stars, and a few thinkers in the upper society.

57．The main idea of this passage is that             .

A. human beings long for living forever

B. there are many difficulties in making the Soul Catcher

C. people can live forever as technology develops

D. the invention of Soul Catcher has great importance

58．According to this passage, a Soul Catcher will be                .

A. a new machine on which research measures have already been made

B. a new invention in order to catch and keep human’s thoughts

C. made by British scientists to offer something that looks like living forever

D. made of silicon circuits which can catch people’s nervous activity

59．We can infer from the passage that semblance of immortality is                 .

A. to be a reality sooner or later                                B. far from certain

C. just an idea that couldn’t t be realized at all            D. a fading hope

60．The meaning of the underlined word “revitalize” in the fourth paragraph is close to                 .

A. make dead                B. make famous                  

C. make known             D. make active

A Full-Time School Called Life
You are enrolled in a full-time school called “life”. Each day in this school you will have the opportunity to learn lessons. You may like the lessons or hate them, but you have designed them as part of your curriculum.
Why are you here? What is your purpose? Humans have sought to discover the meaning of life for a very long time. What we and our ancestors overlooked, however, is there is no one answer. The meaning of life is different for every individual.
Each person has his or her own purpose and distinct path, unique and separate from anyone else’s. As you travel your life path, you will be presented with numerous lessons that you will need to learn in order to fulfill that purpose. The lessons you are presented with are specific to you; learning these lessons is a key to discovering and fulfilling the meaning and connection of your own life.
As you travel through your lifetime, you may encounter challenging lessons that others don’t have to face, while others spend years struggling with challenges that you don’t need to deal with. You may never know why you are blessed with a wonderful marriage, while your friends suffer through bitter arguments and painful divorces, just as you cannot be sure why you struggle financially while your peers enjoy abundance. The only thing you can count on for certain is that you specifically need to learn; whether we choose to learn them or not is entirely up to you.
The challenge here, therefore , is to align（与…保持一致）yourself with your own unique path by learning individual lessons. This is one of the most difficult challenges you will be faced with in your lifetime, as sometimes your path will be completely different from others. But, remember, don’t compare your path to the people around you and focus on the difference between their lessons and yours. You need to remember that you will only be faced with lessons that you are capable of learning and are specific to your own growth.
Our sense of fairness is the expectation of equity—the assumption that all things are equal and that justice will always prevail. Life is not, in fact, fair, and you may indeed have a more difficult lift path than others around you, deserved or not. Everyone’s circumstances are unique, and everyone needs to handle his or her own circumstances differently. If you want to move toward calm, you will be required to move out the comparing phrase of “it’s not fair”. Focusing on the unfairness of circumstances keeps you comparing yourself with others rather than appreciating your own special uniqueness. You miss out on learning your individual lessons by distracting yourself with feeling of bitterness and anger.
【小题1】.According to the passage, how can the meaning of your life be realized?

Do you want to live forever? By the year 2050, you might actually get your wish — if you are willing to leave your biological body and live in silicon circuits （半导体电路）．But long before then, perhaps as early as 2020, some measures will begin offering a semblance of immortality （虚拟的永生）.
Researchers are confident that technology will soon be able to track every waking moment of your life. Whatever you see and hear, all that you say and write, can be recorded, analyzed and added to your personal chronicles （履历）. By the year 2030, it may be possible to catch your nervous systems through electrical activities, which would also keep your thoughts and emotions.
Researchers at the laboratories of British Telecommunications have given the name of this idea as Soul Catcher. Small electronic equipment will make preparation for Soul Catcher. It would use a wearable supercomputer, perhaps in a wristwatch, with wireless links to micro sensors under your scalp（头皮） and in the nerves that carry all five sensory signals. So wearing a video camera would no longer be required.
At first, the Soul Catcher's companion system — the Soul Reader — might have trouble copying your thoughts in complete details. Even in 2030, we may still be struggling to understand how the brain is working inside, so reading your thoughts and understanding your emotions might not be possible. But these signals could be kept for the day when they can be transferred to silicon circuits to revitalize minds everlasting entities （永生实体）. Researchers can only wonder what it will be like to wake up one day and find yourself alive inside a machine．
For people who choose not to live in silicon, semblance of immortality would not be as useless as they thought. People would know their lives would not be forgotten, but would be kept a record of the human race forever. And future generations would have a much fuller understanding of the past. History would not be controlled by just the rich and powerful, Hollywood stars, and a few thinkers in the upper society

1. 1.

   The main idea of this passage is that _______．

   1. A.
      human beings long for living forever
   2. B.
      there are many difficulties in making the Soul Catcher
   3. C.
      people might live forever as technology develops
   4. D.
      the invention of Soul Catcher has great importance
2. 2.

   According to this passage, a Soul Catcher will be ______．

   1. A.
      a new machine on which research measures have already been made
   2. B.
      a new invention in order to catch and keep human's thoughts and emotions
   3. C.
      made by British scientists to offer something that looks like living forever
   4. D.
      made of silicon circuits which can catch people's nervous activity
3. 3.

   According to the writer, semblance of immortality is ______．

   1. A.
      to be a reality sooner or later
   2. B.
      far from certain
   3. C.
      just an idea that couldn't t be realized at all
   4. D.
      a fading hope
4. 4.

   The meaning of the underlined word "revitalize" in the fourth paragraph is close to        

   1. A.
      make dead
   2. B.
      make famous
   3. C.
      make known
   4. D.
      make active

There is one word that is on the lips of Americans, day and night: “Sorry.”
One time as I was walking on the street, a young man ran by hurriedly, brushing against my handbag. Even as he continued on his way, he turned back and said “sorry” to me. Even in a rush, he didn’t forget to apologize. One day, after I bought a mango, the salesman was giving me the change, but I wasn’t ready for it and a coin dropped to the ground. “I’m sorry,” he said while bending down to pick it up. I was puzzled—why would he apologize when it is my fault?
Another time, I stepped on a man’s foot in an escalator, at the same time, we both said “sorry”. I thought it interesting, was it really necessary for him to apologize? Later on, an American friend explained to me that according to the American mentality, the escalators a public place, and everyone should be able to stand in it. After someone occupies a position in the elevator, making it difficult for someone else to find a place to stand, isn’t it necessary to express an apology?
If you go to the movies and the tickets happen to be sold out, the ticket seller will say: “Sorry, the tickets are sold out.” Whenever one of your hopes goes unfulfilled, an American will say “sorry” as a sign of sympathy.
During my stay in America, I often came across situations in which I was supposed to say “sorry”. Gradually, I realized that when friction（摩擦）appears in daily life, Americans don’t care much about who is wrong; If someone is troubled, a “sorry” is always necessary. When this happens, even if the other person is hurt, the “sorry” cools tempers and human kindness is shown. Perhaps this is why I never saw anyone quarreling on the buses, subways or streets of America.
【小题1】How many examples are given to show that Americans like to say “sorry”?