The Internet is not perfect. There are many problems with it. The Internet is not organized. There is no one in charge of the Internet. It is sometimes difficult to find what you are looking for. It is also easy to get the wrong information on the “Net”. Some businessmen cheat people on the Internet. Internet thieves can steal credit card numbers. Some advertisers send spam to e-mail boxes. E-mail boxes are often filled with these unwanted advertisements. Illegal(不合法的) businesses can operate on the Internet. These businesses sell X-rated materials, cigarettes and alcohol to teenagers.
The Internet has websites with information about making bombs, breaking the law and terrorism. Criminals（罪犯） can fool people, especially children, in chat rooms. They can spread poisonous（有毒的） information and attack new members.
The Internet is the greatest advance in communication since human appeared. But it can also be like a dark road in a dangerous part of town. Parents need to set parental controls on their children when they use the Internet. This will keep some of the bad material away from their children. The Internet can be dangerous to computers, too. Some people who have bad intentions enjoy causing problems for other people they don’t even know. They create computer viruses（病毒）. A computer can get virus by downloading a program that has a virus in it. Some virus come by e-mail.
A virus can destroy the data a person has saved in computer files. A virus can cause a computer to crash（崩溃）. A virus can also reproduce（复制） itself! It can send copies of itself to everyone on a person’s e-mail address list. Then these people’s will have the same problems and can’t work normally!
【小题1】The underlined word “spam” in the third paragraph means ___________

A．letters	B．products
C．useless information	D．poisonous information

【小题2】Why can illegal businesses operate on the Internet?

A．Because there is no one in charge of the Internet.

B．Because some people like to buy banned products on the Internet.

C．Because X-rated materials, cigarettes, alcohol and so on can be sold well on the Internet.

D．Because people who operate businesses on the Internet are criminals.

【小题3】Parental controls are needed when children use the Internet because________

A．children can’t use the computers well

B．children may damage the computers

C．the Internet is always unsafe for the children

D．poisonous information may have a bad effect on children

【小题4】The harm of a computer virus is that___________

A．it can change the saved data in computer

B．it can reproduce the computer

C．it can make the computer operate ill

D．it can destroy the saved files and the computer itself

【小题5】We can infer from the passage that the key to solving the problems with the Internet is____________

A．to improve the computers	B．to improve people’s moral （道德）level
C．to order people not to use the Internet	D．to find a medicine to kill computer viruses

“If I had one million yuan, I would buy you a palace! Do I have one million yuan? No, I don’t! so I only can spend ten fen(分) on this short message, sending you my best wishes! ”

Today, SMS—Short Message Service is popular, and China Mobile says that every second, there are 410 messages being sent.

Look around you! People are watching their mobiles, smiling or laughing. Thumbs are pressing buttons, bring happiness to their friends. The humor of the words shows how beautiful language is! Through SMS, we know the weather report, share jokes and news, express love and friendship.

“Thumb Culture” is becoming more and more popular. It is reported that 67% of young people like to “Short” to greet each other. Internet SMS will provide more convenience to people. I am grateful for the progress because SMS saves me much money. Just on the tip of thumb, so much joy can be found!

1.The first paragraph is a(n) __________.

A．e-mail.

B．short message.

C．piece of news.

D．story.

2.What can people do through SMS?

A．Buy a palace.	B．Provide food.
C．Learn foreign language.	D．Send messages.

3.The people are smiling and laughing when sending messages because they_________.

A．save much money.	B．know the weather report.
C．enjoy the happiness of SMS.	D．have one million yuan.

4.The writer thinks that_________.

A．SMS helps people a lot.	B．people can find joy on the Internet.
C．greeting can cost much money.	D．thumb has become a kind of culture.

 

Today, there’s hardly an aspect of our life that isn’t being upended by the tons of information available on the hundreds of millions of sites crowding the Internet, not to mention its ability to keep us in constant touch with each other via electronic mail. “If the automobile and aerospace technology had exploded at the same pace as computer and information technology,” says Microsoft, “a new car would cost about $ 2 and go 600 miles on a small quantity of gas. And you could buy a Boeing 747 for the cost of a pizza.”

Probably the biggest payoff, however, is the billions of dollars the Internet is saving companies in producing goods and serving for the needs of their customers. Nothing like it has been seen since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, when power-driven machines began producing more in a day than men could turn out in nearly a year. “We view the growth of the Internet and e-commerce as a global trend,” says Merrill Lynch, “along the lines of printing press, the telephone, the computer, and electricity.”

You would be hard pressed to name something that isn’t available on the Internet. Consider: books, health care, movie tickets, construction materials, baby clothes, stocks, cattle feed, music, electronics, antiques, tools, real estate, toys, autographs of famous people, wine and airline tickets. And even after you’ve moved on to your final resting place, there’s no reason those you love can’t keep in touch. A company called FinalThoughts.com offers a place for you to store “afterlife e-mails” you can send to Heaven with the help of a “guardian angel”.

Kids today are so computer literate that it in fact ensures the United States will remain the unchallenged leader in cyberspace for the foreseeable(能预测的) future. Nearly all children in families with incomes of more than $75,000 a year have home computers, according to a study by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. Youngsters from ages 2 to 17 at all income levels have computers, with 52% of those connected to the Internet. Most kids use computers to play games (some for 30 hours or more a week), and many teenage girls think nothing of rushing home from school to have e-mail chats with friends they have just left.

What’s clear is that, whether we like it or not, the Internet is an ever growing part of our lives and there is no turning back. “The Internet is just 20% invented,” says cyber pioneer Jake Winebaum. “The last 80% is happening now.”

1.What can we learn from the Microsoft’s remark?

A. Today’s cars and airplanes are extremely overpriced.

B. Information technology is developing at an amazing speed.

C. Information technology has reached the point where improvement is difficult.

D. There’s more competition in information technology industry than in car industry.

2.According to the author, the biggest benefit of the Internet is that___.

 A. it saves companies huge amounts of money        B. it speeds up profit making

 C. it brings people incredible convenience       D. it provides easy access to information 

3.The author gives the example of FinalThoughts.com to make the point that____.

 A. there are some genius ideas on the Internet       B. almost anything is available on the Internet

 C. people can find good bargains on the Internet      D. some websites provide novel services to increase hits

4.What can we learn from the fourth paragraph?

 A. There is a link between income and computer ownership.

 B. Many American children don’t put computers to good use.

 C. Studies show that boys are more computer literate than girls.

 D. The U.S. will stay ahead in the information technology in years.

5.Which sentence has the phrase that possesses the same meaning as the one underlined in the fifth paragraph?

A. Some can tell you that he has changed their lives, while others think nothing of him.

B. Think nothing of it. It was my pleasure.

C. He thinks nothing of staying up all night in the Café bar.

D. He thinks nothing of the pain in his back for the moment.

6.What is the message the author intends to convey?

 A. The Internet is going to get firm hold of our lives some day.

 B. The Internet is going to influence our lives even more greatly.

 C. We should have a positive attitude towards the changes the Internet brings.

 D. Children should be well prepared for the challenges in the information age.

 

A 26-year-old Montreal man appears to have succeeded in his quest to barter a single， red paper clip(夹子) all the way up to a house. It took almost a year and 14 trades， but Kyle MacDonald has been offered a two-storey farmhouse in Kipling， Sask.， for a paid role in a movie.
MacDonald began his quest last summer when he decided he wanted to live in a house. He didn’t have a job， so instead of posting a resumé， he looked at a red paper clip on his desk and decided to trade it on an Internet website. The response was immediate —a fish pen was offered for exchange. MacDonald then bartered the fish pen for a handmade doorknob from a potter in Seattle.
In Massachusetts， MacDonald traded the doorknob for a camp stove. He traded the stove to a U.S. soldier in California for a generator. Then he exchanged the generator for an “instant party kit” — an empty keg(小桶) and an illuminated Budweiser beer sign. MacDonald then traded the keg and sign for a snowmobile. He bartered all the way up to an afternoon with rock star Alice Cooper， a KISS snow globe and finally a paid role in a Corbin Bernsen movie.
“Now， I’m sure the first question on your mind is， ‘Why would Corbin Bernsen trade a role in a film for a snow globe？ A KISS snow globe，’ MacDonald said on his website.”Well， Corbin happens to be arguably one of the biggest snow globe collectors on the planet.
Now， the town of Kipling， Sask.， Canada， with a population of 1,100，has offered MacDonald a farmhouse in exchange for the role in the movie. The town is going to hold a competition for the movie role.
MacDonald said： “There’re people all over the world that are saying that they have paper clips clipped to the top of their computer， or on their desk or on their shirt， and it proves that anything is possible and I think to a certain degree it’s true.”
MacDonald， who has attracted international media attention in his quest， said the journey has turned out to be more exciting than the goal. “This is not the end. This may be the end of this part of the story， but this story will go on.”
【小题1】The best title for this passage is “　　　　”.

A．A lucky paper clip	B．From poor to rich
C．A lucky young man	D．From paper clip to house

【小题2】The underlined word in line 1 means 　　　　.

A．to get something for free	B．to sell something at a price
C．to sell goods on the Internet	D．to exchange goods for other goods

【小题3】Which shows the correct order of the trades？

A．Paper clip?snow globe?snowmobile?house

B．Paper clip?keg of beer?doorknob?snowmobile

C．Paper clip?camp stove?snowmobile?movie role

D．Paper clip?keg of beer?camp stove?snowmobile

【小题4】Which statement about MacDonald’s trades is TRUE？

A．All of his trades were done in his country.

B．A film role was offered due to Bernsen’s hobby.

C．They took over a year and some of them were really unbelievable.

D．The house in Kipling has been offered to MacDonald to attract media.

【小题5】What can we learn about MacDonald？

A．He wanted to gain fame through his quest.

B．His success largely depended on the Internet.

C．He never expected his aim could be achieved.

D．He intends to begin another quest on the Web.

When you’re surfing the Internet on your laptop from your dorm or home, do you know your personal details are being gathered secretly? And would you be surprised to know the information may be sold cheaply to advertisers and marketers?

According to an investigation by The Wall Street Journal, all it takes is a tiny file in a computer-a single code consisting of a long series of numbers and letters- to record the computer user’s age, gender, location, favorite movies and hobbies.

The newspaper reports that Lotame Solutions Inc., a New York company, uses sophisticated(高科技) software called a "beacon" to capture what people are typing on a website.

Lotame packages that data into profiles（个人资料）about individuals, only without their names, and sells the profiles to companies seeking customers．Batches of such data may be sold for a few dollars.

The Wall Street Journal survey discovered that spying on Internet users is one of the fastest-growing businesses on the World Wide Web.

The "cookie"- a tiny text file put on your PC by websites or marketing firms which might be used to remember your preferences for one site, or to track you across many sites is already old news．There are new and more complex tools such as "beacons" which scan in real time what people are doing on a webpage．These beacons instantly assess the Internet user’s location, income, shopping interests and even medical conditions.

Millions of Internet users around the world also face unprecedented（空前的）threats．Private, sensitive, personal and business information is being gathered and sold without their knowledge.

Companies insist the information they gather is anonymous and the data is used harmlessly. But the technology has grown so powerful that even some of the biggest websites in the US don’t know that they were installing intrusive files on visitors’ computers．These include MSN.com and Yahoo.com.

Next time you visit a webpage and find an ad banner advertising something you’ve been planning to buy, don’t be amazed that your computer can read your mind.

1.The purpose of the passage is to          .

A．introduce a tiny file in a computer-a single code

B．show how your individual information was let out when you surf the Internet

C．show how to protect your privacy

D．introduce a sophisticated software called a "beacon"

2.．All of the following statements are Wrong except          .

A．Lotame sells the profiles about individuals to companies seeking customers with their age, gender, location, hobbies and names

B．spying on Internet users is the fastest-growing businesses on the World Wide Web

C．some of the biggest websites in the US know they were installing intrusive files on visitors’ computers

D．a tiny file in a computer-a single code consisting of a long series of numbers and letters can record users’ information

3.It can be inferred that          .

A．because the data is used harmlessly．Internet users around the world will not face threats

B．when a person surf the Internet, his personal details may be let out without his knowledge

C．your computer can really read your mind

D．MSN.com and Yahoo.com．use software to capture what people are typing on a website

4.According to the passage, “beacon”          .

A．is a tiny text file put on your PC by websites

B．is a soft ware that can package that data into profiles about individuals

C．can assess the Internet user’s location, income, shopping interests and even medical conditions

D．is not more complex than the "cookie"

5.What’s the writer’s attitude to this problem?

A．Neutral

B．Worried

C．Optimistic

D．Indifferent