2. Thousands of years ago, life was ____ it is today.

A. much easier than　　　 B. as easy as

C. as hard as　　　　　　 D. much harder than

1. Our world is becoming much smaller ___.

A. because the earth is being polluted day and night.

B. thanks to science development

C. because of the rise in population

D. because the earth is blown away by the wind every year

5. Which of the following is true?

A. In the 1960s, computer networks worked well.

B. In the early 1970s, the Internet was easy to use.

C. Sending e-mail is now more popular among students than before.

D. Today it's still not easy to get on-line.

009　 Pollution(污染)

The world itself is becoming much smaller by using modem traffic and modern communication means (通讯设备). Life today is much easier than it was hundreds of years ago, but it has brought new problems. One of the biggest is pollution (污染). To pollute means to make things dirty. Pollution comes in many ways. We see it, smell it, drink it and even hear it.

Man has been polluting the earth. The more people, the more pollution. Many years ago, the problem was not so serious because there were not so many people. When the land was used up(用完) or the river was dirty in one place, Man moved to another place. But this is no longer true. Man is now slowly polluting the whole world.

Air pollution is still the most serious. It's bad for all living things in the world, but it is not the only one kind of pollution. Water pollution kills our fish and pollutes our drinking water. Noise pollution makes us angry more easily.

Many countries are making rules (法规) to fight pollution. They stop people from burning coal (煤) in houses and factories in the city, and from putting dirty smoke into the air.

Pollution by SO2 is now the most dangerous kind of air pollution. It is caused (引起) by heavy traffic. It is sure that if there are fewer people driving, there will be less air pollution.

The earth is our home. We must take care of it. That means keeping the land, water and air clean. And we must take care of the rise in population at the same time.

4. ______ made "surfing" the Internet more conve-nient.

A. Computers　 B. Scientists　　 C. Software　　 D. Information

3. At first the Internet was only used by ______.

A. the government　　　　 B. universities

C. hospitals and banks　　 D. schools

2. A new network system was set up to ____.

A. make computers cheaper

B. make itself keep on working all the time

C. break down the whole network

D. make computers large and expensive

1. The Internet has a history of more than ___ years.

A. sixty　　 B. ten　　 C. thirty　　 D. twenty

5. What is the best title (题目) of this passage?

A. Lucky Kites.　　　　　　　 B. Strange Kites.

C. Beautiful Kites.　　　　　 D. Chinese Kites.

008　 We are all busy talking about and using the Internet (因特网), but how many of us know the history of the Internet?

Many people are surprised when they find that the Internet was set up in the 1960s. At that time, computers were large and expensive. Computer networks (网络) didn't work well. If one computer in the network broke down, then the whole network stopped. So a new network system (系统) had to be set up. It should be good enough to be used by many different computers. If part of the network was not working, information(信息)could be sent through another part. In this way computer network system would keep on working all the time.

At first the Internet was only used by the government (政府), but in the early 1970s, universities (大学), hospitals and banks (银行) were allowed (允许) to use it too. However, computers were still very expensive and the Internet was difficult to use. By the start of the 1990s, computers became cheaper and easier to use. Scientists had also developed software (软件) that made "surfing" (浏览) the Internet more convenient (方便).

Today it is easy to get on-line (上网) and it is said that millions of people use the Internet every day. Sending e-mail (电子邮件) is more and more popular among students.

The Internet has now become one of the most important parts of people's life.

4. The Chinese usually use ____ for their kites.

A. sticks, strings and grass　 B. strings, hair and wood

C. paper, strings and sticks　 D. paper, ropes and hooks

3. The ancient Chinese used kites in wars because the kites ____.

A. could bring good luck　　　 B. looked like animals

C. could help them win a war　 D. could fly high