59. Where did O. Henry get most material for his short stories?

A. His life inside the prison. 　 　　　　　　B. The newspaper articles he wrote.

C. The city and people of New York. 　　　 　　D. His exciting early life as a boy.

B

News(March 6, 2008)that Microsoft was making a $44. 6 billion bid to buy Yahoo was greeted with heated discussion by many Internet users on Friday. Here are some responses:

Mark Galeassi of Kansas City, Missouri

This is the best move for both parties. Yahoo has the ideas and Microsoft has the money to finally market these ideas correctly. Microsoft and Yahoo are a perfect fit and the deal will be good for consumers.

Scott G. of New Jersey

I was a Yahoo user for years along with Hotmail from Microsoft. Then Google came along. . . Google Earth, Google Toolbar and Gmail. Google is so innovative(创新的)with everything they do. Yahoo and Microsoft. . . same old story. . . I don’t think the merger(合并)will do anything for either company except improve the Yahoo shareholders’ bank accounts:

Michael Glosser of Estero, Florida

Right now, Yahoo offers a lot of features and tools at no cost for all different levels of Internet users. Microsoft seeks nothing but profit. Undoubtedly, they’ll do nothing other than find ways to start removing Yahoo’s formerly non-priced features. Microsoft’s greed will ruin the great thing that Yahoo currently is.

Toni Suarez of Hacienda Heights, California

Perhaps it would bring better high technology innovations to e-mail and help in researching and developing a better Internet!

Antonio Simmons of Parkville, Maryland

Microsoft purchasing Yahoo would be nothing more than an attempt from Microsoft to further impose upon the users their poor-quality software and obtain more wealth for the company. In my opinion, they will never be able to compete with Google because Yahoo and Microsoft’s current search engines are too inferior(差的)to compete. Even if combined, they still lack.

58. What do we know about O. Henry before he began writing?

A. He was well-educated. 　　 　　　　　　　B. He was not serious about his work.

C. He was devoted to the poor. 　　 　　　　　D. He was very good at learning.

57. O. Henry went to prison because ___________.

A. people thought he had stolen money from the newspaper

B. he broke the law by not using his own name

C. he wanted to write stories about prisoners

D. people thought he had taken money that was not his

56. In which order did O. Henry do the following things?

a. Lived in New York.　 b. Worked in a bank.　　　　 c. Travelled to Texas.

d. Was put in prison.　　 e. Had a newspaper job.　　　 f. Learned to write stories.

A. e. c. f. b. d. a　　　 B. c. e. b. d. f. a　　　　 C. e. b. d. c. a. f.　　　 D. c. b. e. d. a f.

54. A. attend to　　　　　 B. asked for　　　　　　　　　　　　 C. appealed to　　　　　　　　　　 D. insisted on

53. A. sure　　　　　　　　　 B. clear　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 C. likely　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 D. real

52. A. on　　　　　　　　　　　 B. in　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 C. at　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 D. for

51. A. making　　　　　　　 B. leaving　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 C. forcing　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 D. persuading

50. A. limited　　　　　　　 B. cured　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 C. happened　　　　　　　　　　　 D. examined