10.Three minute sand glasses are still used in many homes 　　　　.

A. to boil eggs　　　　　　　　　　　　　 B. to measure the time of boiling eggs

C. to hold the boiled eggs　　　　　　　　 D. to have eggs boiled

9.Which of the following is the correct picturr of a sand glass?

　　　　 A.　　　　　　　　　　 B.　 　　　　　　　　　　　C.　　　　　　　　　　 D.

8.What does the last paragraph mean?

A. Net Library is not a good way for the consumers.

B. There is no need for consumers to have a whole book.

C. E-Brary is not a good library for the consumers.

D. It’s reasonable to charge the consumers money for copying some pages.

C

Thousands of years ago people guessed the time of day by watching the sun.

Later，they found it was easier to tell the exact time by looking at the shadows. Thus， the sundial(日晷) was invented.

The sundial proved a useful timepiece in sunny weather. However，another type of timepiece was necessary　 for cloudy weather and nigh time. A sand glass was another common measurer of time. Two glass bottles were connected by a very small opening. The top bottle was filled with sand，which dropped slowly into the bottom one in a certain period of time. Hour glasses were widely used then. Three-minute sand glasses are still used in many homes to time the boiling of eggs.

The real ancestor of modern clocks was the water clock. In China ,an early　 water clock was made up of several bowls. Water trickled(滴) from one bowl to another to keep the clock　 going. Visitors to the　 Beijing Palace Museum can still see the old　 water clocks showing the time there.

In the Middle Ages a waterless clock was invented which worked by means of　 weights. To keep the weight falling at the same　 speed，a system of wheels was invented. The pendulum(钟摆) was soon developed to control the speed of the wheels. Thus the modern form of clock came into being.

7.From the 2nd paragraph we can see consumers .　　　

A. don’t care if they are charged money　　 B. enjoy the service of the Net Library

C. don’t like other people borrowing books

D. complain about the limited number of the new books

6.The underlined word “embraced” in the 3rd paragraph means 　　　　

A. taken something willingly　　　　　　　　　　　 B. held something tightly

C. disliked something badly　　　　　　　　　　　 D. tried out something hard

5.How do publishers get money from the Net Library?

A. They get money from selling their books to the Net Library.

B. They share the money with the Net Library.

C. They get money by cutting the cost of the books.

D. They get the money from the readers.

4.If an old man in Japan can't live by himself，he should turn to　　　　 for help.

A. Tasukeai Yui　 B. Meiko Tanaka　 C. OL Food Bureau of Investigation　 D. entrepreneurs

B

Net Libray is a library that lends out digital books. It treats a digital like a paperback copy. It charges libraries per book per copy and gives publishers a cut of the total income.

From the consumer’s point of view，this means that if more than，Say, five people want the latest Danielle Steel romance novel，other people who request　 that book will get a message saying the title can’t be found.

It’s a model many publishers seem to have embraced. More than 350 gave the　 company rights to hand out their digital works，and McGraw-Hill Corporation and　 Houghton Mifflin Corporation have put money in the company. The California public　 libraries and about 1，800 others across the US are trying out the Net Library service.

Some librarians criticize the New Library model. Stanford University librarian　 Michael Keller argues that the company is creating an unnatural fear of digital woks,　 which is contrary to the ideas of the Internet.

Kelle and some　 other　 librarians argue　 for　 the　 e-book　 vision　 set forth by E-Brary. E-Brary is starting a service that lets us users read books for free.

　 But it will charge about 25 cents a page when a person tries to print out material or copy and paste it into a different file or tries to download copy onto a computer.

Christopher Warnock，chief executive of E-Brary, believes most consumers won’t want to buy entire books，only the parts that interest them.

“There’s not really a lot of good in owning an electronic file and having to store it and manage it. It doesn't make sense.” he said.

3.The five women will be appearing on Japanese TV because 　　　　.

A. thier comments have great influences on consumers

B. they have set up the first online magazine

C. they have arranged hundreds of jobs for laid-off workers

D. they used to work in offices and are fairly beautiful

2.The passage mainly discusses .　　　

A. Japanese women　　　　　　　　　　　　 B. female-led businesses in Japan

C. how to earn a reputation　　　　　　 　　D. Japanese economic development

1.When talking about the businesswomen in Japan，the writer 　　　　

A. thinks little of them　　　 B. thinks that they will take the place of men in future

C. sings the praises of　 their abilities　　 D. is not sure of　 their future development