The Internet has led to a huge increase in credit－card (信用卡) fraud. Your card information could even be for sale in an illegal web site（非法网站）.

　 Web sites offering cheap goods and services should be regarded with care.

　 On－line shoppers who enter their credit－card information may never receive the goods they thought they bought. The thieves then go shopping with your card number—or sell the information over the Internet. Computers hackers (黑客) have broken down security（安全）systems, raising questions about the safety of cardholder information. Several months ago, 25,000 customers of CD Universe, an on－line music retailer (零售商) , were not lucky. Their names, addresses and credit－card numbers were posted on a Web site after the retailer refused to pay US $157,828 to get back the information.?

　 Credit－card firms are now fighting against on－line fraud. MasterCard is working on plans for Web－only credit card, with a lower credit limit. The card could be used only for shopping on－line. However, there are a few simple steps you can take to keep from being cheated (欺骗).?

　 Ask about your credit－card firm’s on－line rules: Under British law, cardholders have to pay the first US $78 of any fraudulent (欺骗性的) spending.

　 And shop only at secure sites; Send your credit－card information only if the Web site offers advanced secure system.?

　 If the security is in place, a letter will appear in the bottom right－hand corner of your screen. The Web site address may also start https: // － the extra “s” stands for secure. If in doubt, give your credit－card information over the telephone.

　　Keep your password（密码）safe: Most on－line sites require a user name and password before placing an order. Treat your passwords with care.? 

1.What is the meaning of “fraud”??

A. Cheating. 　　　B. Sale. 　　　　C. Payment. 　　　D. Safety.? 　

2. How can the thieves get the information of the credit card??

A. The customers give them the information.?

B. The thieves steal the information from Web sites.?

C. The customers sell the information to them.?

D. The thieves buy the information from credit card firms.? 　　

3.How many pieces of advice does the passage give to you??

A. Four. 　　　　　B. Three. 　　　　C. Five. 　　　　D. Six.

4. You are shopping on the site: http: // www. Shopping. com, and you want to buy a TV set, what does this article suggest to do??

A. Order the TV set at once. ?　

B. Do not buy the TV set on this site.?

C. E－mail the site your credit－card information.?

D. Tell the site your password and buy the TV set for you.?

Hi! Have you ever suddenly felt that someone you knew was in trouble — and was he? Have you ever dreamed something that came true later? Maybe you have ESP (超感觉知觉).

　　ESP stands for Extrasensory Perception. It may be called a sixth sense. It seems to let people know about events before they happen, or events that are happening some distance away.

　　Here's an example. A woman was ironing clothes. Suddenly she screamed, "My father is dead! I saw him sitting in the chair!" Just then, a telegram came. The woman's father died of a heart attack. He died sitting in a chair.

　　There are thousands of stories like this one on record. Scientists are studying them to find out what's behind these strange mental messages. Here's another example—one of hundreds of dreams that have come true.

　　A man dreamed he was walking along a road when a horse and carriage came by. The driver said, "There's room for one more." The man felt the driver seemed dead, so he ran away. The next day, when the man was getting on a crowded bus, the bus driver said, "There's room for one more."

　　Then the man saw that the driver's face was the same face he had seen in the dream. He wouldn't get on the bus. As the bus drove off, it crashed and burst into flames. Everyone was killed!

　　Some people say stories like these are coincidences. Others, including some scientists, say that ESP is real. From studies of ESP, we may someday learn more about the human mind.

1.According to the passage, the author believes that the sixth sense is ________.

　　A. in existence         B. imaginative     C. not real         D. impossible

2.ESP lets people know _________.

A. about events before they happen      　

B. about events after they happen

C. about events that are happening some distance away     

D. A and C

3.By studying ESP, scientists may get to ________.

　　A. learn how people tell lies           B. know more about human dreams

　　C. know more about human mind    D. learn how strange things happen

4.In the last paragraph the underlined word "coincidences" probably means _______.

A. things that may not happen          B. things that happen in a dream

C. things that must happen             D. things that happen by accident

and printing and the spread of education have fixed a traditional usage. The only important change that English has undergone since the first of the 16th century is a large increase in its vocabulary. It is interesting to trace the different way in which new words are invented. Let us take just two English words and see how they were made, sandwich and television.

   Sandwich, which is now no longer are entirely English words, but also international, comes from the Earl of Sandwich (died in 1792) who invented the particular form of quick meal so that he could go on gambling all through the night without stopping for dinner. Many names of things are in fact taken from the name of the first inventors, for example, the electrical terms Watt and Volt.

    Television is one of many new scientific words which re invented from old Greek and Latin word. “Tele” is Greek, meaning “far”, while “vision” comes from the Latin verb, meaning “to see”.

1. “Stands” in the first sentence means___________.

   A. be in a certain condition　　　　　　　　  　　   B. not sit

   C. remain without change　　　　　　　　    D. rise to the feet

2. What do you think Volt was? It referred to_________.

   A. a player　　　　  B. a physicist　　　　 C. a writer　　 D. a nurse

3. The invention of sandwich has something to do with__________.

   A. work　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　      B. study

   C. gambling　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 D. journey

4. English has undergone an important change in its vocabulary for almost _______centuries.

   A. five　　　　    B. four　　　　   C. three　　　　   D. six

5. The language cannot develop rapidly in advanced societies because_______.

   A. the societies have stopped changing

   B. the printing has been invented

   C. the education has spread

   D. both B and C

For more than twenty years scientists have been searching for signs of life on other planets. Most of these searches have been done over the radio. The hope is that someone on outer space may be trying to get in touch with us. Scientists also have sent radio and television messages on spaceships travelling through space, on the chance that someone may be receptive to such messages.

Scientists are using powerful radio telescopes to listen to signals from about 1,000 stars, all within 100 light years of earth. In addition, they will scan the entire sky to “listen” for radio messages from more distant stars. Using a computer, they will be able to monitor more than eight channels at one time. Scientists are looking for any signal that stands out from the background noise.

Of the 200 billion stars in the Milky Way galaxy(银河星系), scientist find that five percent are like our sun. Perhaps half of them have a planet like earth. Such a planet would be a reasonable distance from the star for temperatures to be right for the evolution of life. Based on the inhabitable (that can be lived in) planets in our galaxy, most scientists agree that chances are likely that one or more of these planets supports some life.

However, many scientists wonder whether intelligent life exists on other planets. Some believe that twenty years of searching without any intelligible message shows that no one is out there. They say that the evolution of intelligence comparable to ours is unlikely.

Other scientists believe that our search hasn’t been long enough to rule out the possibility that intelligent life exists in our galaxy. Although our sun family is about 20 billion years old. In that time, some scientists think it is likely that civilizations much more advanced than ours have developed. Perhaps these civilizations send us no signals; perhaps we have not recognized the signals they have sent us. If we hope to find intelligent life, these scientists believe that we have to keep looking.

1. According to the passage, how many planets in our galaxy might be inhabitable?

A. 5 billion.　　　　　　 B. 10 billion.

C. 15 billion.　　　　　　 D. 200 billion.

2. The first paragraph in this passage is mainly about 　　　　 .

A. how scientists are looking for signs of life on other planets

B. why scientists are looking for signs of life on other planets

C. where scientists are looking for signs of life on other planets

D. when scientists are looking for signs of life on other planets

3. The underlined word “monitor” in the second paragraph means “　　　　 ”.

A. find　 B. follow　 C. check　 D. form

4. Which of these statements is TRUE based on the information in the passage?

A. The earth is one of the oldest planets in our galaxy.

B. Most scientists believe that there is intelligent life on other planets.

C. Scientists are trying different ways to find signs of life on other planets.

D. Scientists don’t believe that there might be life on other planets.