阅读模拟练习之一

Text 1

Each year, 1,400 high-school students from more than 40 countries are invited to compete in the prestigious Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (Intel ISEF), the world’s largest precollege science contest. The select group of young scientists is chosen from the several million students who compete in local and regional science fairs throughout the year. Participants compete for $3 million in scholarships and prizes, presenting projects in 15 categories like medicine, biochemistry, computer science and zoology. Earning top honors isn’t the only goal for contestants. Nineteen percent (or 274) of the finalists at the 2005 competition held last month have already begun the process to patent their projects.

Ammem Abdulrasool, a senior at the Illinois Junior Academy of Science, won top honors at this year’s Intel ISEF for his project, “Prototype for Autonomy: Pathway for the Blind.” He walked away with $70,000 in prize money and a free trip to October’s Nobel Prize ceremony. Abdulrasool developed technology that allows visually impaired individuals to navigate themselves from one location to another by using the Global Positioning System. Individuals wear a half-kilo Walkman-size device, a bracelet on each arm and a pair of earphones. After entering a starting and ending location into a personal digital assistant (PDA), they are guided with verbal commands that tell them when and in what direction to turn. Simultaneously, a bracelet vibrates signaling the correct direction. To test his device, Abdulrasool recruited 36 blind adults and asked them to visit five landmarks in his neighborhood. The navigational tool saved people an average of 26 minutes in travel time and reduced the number of errors (wrong turns and missed locations). “Looking at how hard it was for them to travel and how they were dependent on everyone else motivated me to do something,” he said. Abdulrasool hopes are applying for a patent and then plan to market the product commercially.

In the fair’s 56-year history, a number of projects have been implemented for commercial use. Michael Nyberg, a 2001 competitor, hoped to reduce the number of West Nile virus infections through acoustics. With a bucket of mosquito larvae and a sound generator, Nyberg discovered that a 24 kHz frequency resonated with the natural frequency of mosquitoes’ internal organs: larvae that absorbed the acoustic energy would explode. His sound-emitting device, Larvasonic, is now sold online (www.larvasonic.com). Tiffany Clark, a 1999 competitor, found evidence that bacteria produced the methane gas found inside coal seams in Wyoming’s Powder River Basin. This suggested that injecting nutrients into coal seams might provide an unlimited supply of natural gas. A Denver-based technology firm is now continuing Clark’s high-school research. And someday soon, blind people around the world may be wearing bracelets that issue GPS commands.

21. How are young people selected to participate in Intel ISEF?

［A］ They are pre-university students.

［B］ They must win science competitions in their home countries.

［C］ They must patent or be about to patent an invention.

［D］ They are chosen from young people who take part in science competitions.

22. Which of these is NOT mentioned as an advantage of Abdulrasool’s device?

［A］ It enables blind people to get from A to B faster.

［B］ It helps them avoid obstacles.

［C］ It gives information to blind people in more than one way.

［D］ It is extremely light.

23. How are Abdulrasool’s invention and those of Michael Nyberg and Tiffany Clark similar?

［A］ Their inventions all have organic components.

［B］ They all won the Intel ISEF competition, though in different years.

［C］ They all have, or could have, profitable applications.

［D］ None of them have patents yet.

24. How does Tiffany Clark’s idea work?

［A］ She feeds underground bacteria and they produce natural gas.

［B］ Bacteria eat coal and produce natural gas.

［C］ Bacteria are injected with coal molecules and produce natural gas.

［D］ Bacteria extract natural gas from coal and are then harvested.

25. Which of the following statements about the Intel ISEF competition is true?

［A］ It began in the 1960’s.

［B］ The biggest prize this year was $3 million.

［C］ There are 15 prizes in a variety of categories.

［D］ Many participants have patented ideas and inventions.

Text 2

Ten years ago, Pierre Omidyar, a software engineer working in California’s Silicon Valley, began thinking about how to use the internet for a trading system in which buyers and sellers could establish a genuine market price. Over a long holiday weekend he wrote the computer code. At first, a trickle of users arrived at his website—including his girlfriend, who traded PEZ candy dispensers. By the end of 1995, several thousand auctions had been completed and interest in eBay was growing. And it grew and grew. From this modest beginning, eBay has become a global giant, with around 150m registered users worldwide who are set to buy and sell goods worth more than $40 billion this year.

The remarkable tale of eBay’s growth points to some important lessons for any business trying to operate online—and today that includes, one way or another, most firms. The commercial opportunities presented by an expanding global web seem almost limitless. But the pace of change is rapid, and so is the ferocity of competition. To succeed, firms need agility, an open mind and the ability to reinvent themselves repeatedly. Most of all, they need to listen carefully to their customers, paying close attention to what they do and don’t want.

Such qualities, of course, would be valuable in any kind of business. Yet for online firms they are not a luxury, but necessary for mere survival. This is true for a variety of reasons. The internet is not only growing, but changing rapidly—which, in turn, changes the rules of the game for any business relying on it. The barriers to entry are still low compared with those for most offline businesses, which means that just keeping track of your existing rivals is not enough. These may not represent the greatest competitive threat tomorrow or the next day. That could come from a number of directions—a firm in a different type of online business; one that does not yet exist; or even from one of your own customers. On top of all this, the behavior of many consumers is constantly changing as well, as individuals discover new ways to shop and interact with each other via the web.

All these factors make the internet a dangerous place to do business, as well as one full of promise. eBay’s history demonstrates both of those things. It is probably safe to say that nothing like eBay could have existed without the internet—or could have grown so fast. Even though there have been signs of the firm’s blistering pace slowing a bit in America, its most “mature” market, there remain vast opportunities overseas, particularly, some argue, in China. Meg Whitman, eBay’s chief executive, believes the company is still only at the beginning of what it could achieve.

26. What is the purpose of the first paragraph?

［A］ To introduce the founder of eBay and his girlfriend.

［B］ To demonstrate how clever the founder of eBay is.

［C］ To show how eBay started and has grown.

［D］ To introduce eBay to people.

27. Which of the following best summarizes Pierre Omidyar’s intention with regard to eBay?

［A］ To set up a global internet business.

［B］ To allow people to freely buy and sell on the internet at acceptable prices.

［C］ To set up a mechanism on the internet to allow people to trade at true market prices.

［D］ To se up a business mechanism for his girlfriend.

28. Which of these is it NOT necessary for a company selling on the internet to do?

［A］ Have the most competitive price for each of their online products.

［B］ Be able to change to suit the prevailing market conditions.

［C］ Be prepared to consider all options and alternatives.

［D］ Have a good idea of what their customers do not want.

29. What does “barriers to entry are still low compared with those for most offline businesses” in paragraph 3 mean?

［A］ It is easier to set up an internet business than a conventional one.

［B］ Internet trade is growing faster than traditional business sector.

［C］ It is cheaper to set up an internet business than a traditional one.

［D］ Companies generally prefer to do business online rather than offline.

30. Why does the article conclude that the internet “is a dangerous place to do business”?

［A］ Because companies that sell online may be unreliable.

［B］ Because there are no controls on doing business on the internet.

［C］ Because doing business online is unpredictable.

［D］ Because even companies like eBay have problems doing business online.

参考答案：

21. D 22. D 23. C 24. B 25. D 26. C 27. C 28. A 29. A 30. C

阅读模拟练习之二

Text 3

Being the founder of the Internet’s largest encyclopedia means Jimmy Wales gets a lot of bizarre e-mail. There are the correspondents who assume he wrote Wikipedia himself and is therefore an expert on everything—like the guy who found vials of mercury in his late grandfather’s attic and wanted Wales, a former options trader, to tell him what to do with them. But the e-mails that make him laugh out loud come from concerned newcomers who have just discovered they have total freedom to edit just about any Wikipedia entry at the click of a button. Oh my God, they write, you’ve got a major security flaw!

As the old techie saying goes, it’s not a bug, it’s a feature. Wikipedia is a free open-source encyclopedia, which basically means that anyone can log on and add to or edit it. And they do. It has a stunning 1.5 million entries in 76 languages-and counting. Academics are upset by what they see as info anarchy. Loyal Wikipedians argue that collaboration improves articles over time, just as free open-source software like Linux and Firefox is more robust than for-profit competitors because thousands of amateur programmers get to look at the code and suggest changes. It’s the same principle that New Yorker writer James Surowiecki asserted in his best seller The Wisdom of Crowds: large groups of people are inherently smarter than an élite few.

Wikipedia is in the vanguard of a whole wave of wikis built on that idea. A wiki is a deceptively simple piece of software (little more than five lines of computer code) that you can download for free and use to make a website that can be edited by anyone you like. Need to solve a thorny business problem overnight and all members of your team are in different time zones? Start a wiki. In Silicon Valley, at least, wiki culture has already taken root.

Inspired by Wikipedia, a Silicon Valley start-up called Socialtext has helped set up wikis at a hundred companies, including Nokia and Kodak. Business wikis are being used for project management, mission statements and cross-company collaborations. Instead of e-mailing a vital Word document to your co-workers—and creating confusion about which version is the most up-to-date—you can now literally all be on the same page: as a wiki Web page, the document automatically reflects all changes by team members. Socialtext CEO Ross Mayfield claims that accelerates project cycles 25%. “A lot of people are afraid because they have to give up control over information,” he says. “But in the end, wikis foster trust.”

31. Why do many people think that Wikipedia has a “major security flaw”?

［A］ It has lots of bugs.

［B］ Because they don’t understand the concept of a wiki.

［C］ Because Jimmy Wales is not a computer expert.

［D］ Because a wiki is a simple computer code.

32. Why are many academics unhappy with the idea of a Wikipedia?

［A］ Because they don’t trust online encyclopaedias.

［B］ Because all information in Wikipedia is inherently unreliable.

［C］ Because they believe that certain information should not be available on the internet.

［D］ Because anyone can add or change the information in it.

33. Which of the following is NOT given as an advantage of a wiki?

［A］ You can choose who edits it.

［B］ Wiki software is free.

［C］ Any bugs in the code can be changed easily.

［D］ It’s easy to use.

34. Why do “wikis foster trust”?

［A］ Because the people who use it need to trust the information other users post on it.

［B］ Because they are used in business contexts.

［C］ Because they can be used in a wide variety of situations.

［D］ Because only trustworthy people use them.

35. What kind of reader is the article aimed at?

［A］ Computer specialists.

［B］ Academics who don’t like wikis.

［C］ Computer science students.

［D］ The general reader with an interest in computing.

Text 4

“How do I get into journalism?” is a question that almost anyone who works in this trade will have been asked by friends, godchildren, passing students and, in some cases, their parents. The answer, of course, is: “with difficulty”.

A breezily written new book by the writer, broadcaster and former editor of the Independent on Sunday, Kim Fletcher, recognises this. Its purpose, broadly, is to answer the question posed above, and to offer some tips on how to stay in journalism once you get there. Tenacity matters above all; and there’s a reason to be tenacious. Journalists now are arguably more professional, and certainly more sober, than in the hot metal days of old Fleet Street, but being a hack is still more fun than a barrel of monkeys. You get to have adventures and then write about them. As Fletcher says: “You would do it even if they didn’t pay you.”

Landing that job is a cat that can be skinned in dozens of ways. In the old days, you’d learn the trade as an indentured apprentice on a regional newspaper—working your way through the newsroom covering jam-making competitions and parish council meetings and, occasionally, bracing yourself for the grim task of the “death-knock”, where you interview the grieving parents of that week’s Tragic Tot, and trouser as many of their family photographs as you can. And thence, in some cases, to Fleet Street—though as Mr. Fletcher points out, nationals are not the be-all and end-all of journalism, and many extremely good hacks prefer to remain on local papers, or ply their trade happily in magazines.

You can start writing features or reports for some of the many trade and specialist magazines. Or you can sneak straight on to a national as a junior gossip columnist. Others get started by submitting ideas and articles on a freelance basis.

As Fletcher points out, the editor or section editor to whom you write is—most of the time—itching to throw your letter away; asking you in for an interview, or reading your cuttings, is a time-consuming and probably boring task he would rather avoid. Misspelling his name, or mistaking his job title, is a gift of an excuse to slam-dunk your letter in the cylindrical filing cabinet. Reporters are supposed to be good at finding things out. If you can’t even find out the name of the person you are asking for a job, you aren’t going to be a good reporter.

36. What is the most important quality a person needs for getting into journalism?

［A］ family connections［B］ knowledge

［C］ perseverance［D］ professionalism

37. In the past, what was the usual route to becoming a successful journalist?

［A］ Covering stories that involved the death of children.

［B］ Family connections.

［C］ Working for free.

［D］ Covering (usually) boring events for a local newspaper.

38. Where do the best journalists work?

［A］ Fleet Street.［B］ For the national newspapers.

［C］ Anywhere that accepts features writers.［D］ In a variety of places.

39. Which of the following is NOT given as a common way to start in journalism?

［A］ Having family connections.［B］ Writing for trade magazines.

［C］ Writing articles freelance.［D］ Writing about celebrities.

40. What is the “cylindrical filing cabinet” mentioned in the final paragraph?

［A］ A storage place for useless job applications.

［B］ A wastebasket.

［C］ A filing cabinet for personnel files.

［D］ A place for keeping articles that are not immediately needed, but might be needed in the future.

参考答案：

31. B 32. D 33. C 34. A 35. D 36. C 37. D 38. D 39. A 40. B