The underlined phrase "come about" probably means to . A. come into being B. put to use C. work D. become Passage 42 Simple idea to lighten the load There are so many different plastic cards that adults have to carry around - library cards, savings cards for different banks, credit cards , just to name a few. So why not have one card to replace them all? Scott Barnhill, an 11-year-old fifth-grade student in the US, has come up with an idea for a "Security One Card". Sound smart? The US Patent Office thought so, and it approved a patent for his idea in April. Here's an example of how Barnhill's idea would work. Let's say you have the three cards mentioned above. Instead of carrying them all, you could have just one by having additional magnetic strips added to it. These magnetic strips can be added to any plastic card, even a blank one. Companies could add their information to one of the strips. For instance, you could ask a library to add a strip to your bank card. Barnhill has lots of hobbies, including designing websites. He got his idea at the age of nine when he saw his father using a keycard to enter their hotel room. He thought: "The hotels are wasting money with key cards." So, instead of using a hotel-issued key card, he thought guests could use their credit cards - if the hotel added a special magnetic strip. At check-out , the strip would simply be removed. Now that he has his patent, Barnhill's next step is a letter-writing campaign to get support from major credit card companies. "I'm going to be writing letters to credit card companies to ask if they can co-operate. I hope they'll give me money every time someone puts a strip on the back on another card, or every time the idea is used," he said. "I'll write the letters and see what they say. If they say no, I'll ask another credit card company." He is hoping to make money from his patent and has decided it would be better to collect royalties if the idea takes off rather than sell his patent. "The person who invented the ATM sold the idea outright. If he had chosen royalties, he would get two cents for every transaction and he would be a billionaire now," the young boy said. The advantage of “Security One Card is that it . A. could remove the burden of taking all kinds of plastic cards B. would be very safe C. could save your money D. could have a lot of magnetic strips on it The immediate cause of Scott's invention was that . A. he found even a hotel issued its own cards - keycards B. he realized it's a big waste to make so many plastic cards instead of only one C. he found adults have to carry around so many plastic cards D. he realized that it would be a good chance to make big money To use a “Security One Card , . A. one has to add additional magnetic strips to it B. one has to pay Scott Barnhill each time a magnetic strip is added C. all the companies need to do is add their information to a magnetic strip D. the permission of the organization that issues a card is needed before it adds its magnetic strip to a “Security One Card The underlined phrase “takes off in the last paragraph but one probably means . A. makes money B. wins a lot of support C. is worth a lot D. is practical From the story, we can see Scott is . A. more smart than shrewd B. a boy with a lot of ideas C. creative, perseverant and shrewd D. far-sighted Passage 43 Film based on amazing real life story When other nine-year-old kids were playing games, she was working at a petrol station. When other teens were studying or going out, she struggled to find a place to sleep on the street. But she overcame these terrible setbacks to win a highly competitive scholarship and gain entry to Harvard University. And her amazing story has inspired a movie, "Homeless to Harvard: The Liz Murray Story", shown in late April. Liz Murray, a 22-year-old American girl, has been writing a real-life story of willpower and determination. Liz grew up in the shadow of two drug-addicted parents. There was never enough food or warm clothes in the house. Liz was the only member of the family who had a job. Her mother had AIDS and died when Liz was just 15 years old. The effect of that loss became a turning point in her life. Connecting the environment in which she had grown up with how her mother had died, she decided to do something about it. Liz went back to school. She threw herself into her studies, never telling her teachers that she was homeless. At night, she lived on the streets. "What drove me to survive had to do with understanding, by understanding that there was a whole other way of being. I had only experienced a small part of the society," she wrote in her book "Breaking Night". She admitted that she used envy to drive herself on. She used the benefits that come easily to others, such as a safe living environment, to encourage herself that "next to nothing could hold me down". She finished high school in just two years and won a full scholarship to study at Harvard University. But Liz decided to leave her top university for a couple of months earlier this year in order to take care of her father, who has also developed AIDS. "I love my parents so much. They are drug addicts. But I never forget that they love me all the time." Liz wants moviegoers to come away with the idea that changing your life is "as simple as making a decision". 【查看更多】
题目列表(包括答案和解析)
Lisa would rather_______ at home than_______ to the cinema .
