BILL GATES has promised to give all of his US $ 58 billion fortune to charity—rather than leaving it for his children.

The founder of Microsoft, who steps down from his post Friday, said he wants to make a “positive contribution” to the world. He has promised to transfer his money to the charity he has set up with his wife Melinda, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which funds health and education projects around the world.

He revealed(透露) his decision a week before he steps down as executive chairman of Microsoft, the firm he founded more than 30 years ago. The 52?year?old will continue to work as non?executive chairman and will spend just one day a week at the business.

Speaking about the joint?decision he made regarding his fortune with his wife, he said,“We’ve chosen not to pass it on to our children. We want to give it back to society in the way that it will have the most positive impact.” He said he did not want to leave it in his will for his children and added,“It’s like saying which children are most important.”

In an interview with BBC’s Newsnight, he said:“I want to make a positive contribution to the world.”

Bill Gates will step down from his post Friday, 33 years after he founded Microsoft in 1975. His success with the computer giant has made him the richest man in the world for 13 years in a row according to Fortune magazine’s rich list.

When he founded the firm he said he wanted to put “a computer on every desk and in every home.” Many people have said that the computer revolution would not have happened without him and more than 90 percent of computers in the world run on Microsoft Windows.

He will be succeeded in his post by Steve Balmer, the co?chief executive since 2000. Although the move was announced two years ago and there has been lots of planning, many people speculate that Gates’ departure will leave a big gap in the firm.

Charlene Li, from Consultants Forrester Research, said:“What they’re going to lose is that founding focus, and the ability to rally the troops.”

Microsoft has an outstanding financial performance and currently has profit margins estimated at 30  percent. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation claims to be the biggest philanthropic organization in the world.

Why has BILL GATES promised to give all of his US $58 billion fortune to charity?

A.He wants to make a positive contribution to the world.

B.He has set up the charity with his wife Melinda.

C.He has decided to step down from his post.

D.More than 90 percent of computers in the world run on Microsoft Windows.

Who set up the charity to which Bill Gates will transfer the money?

A.Bill Gates.                    B.Melinda Gates.

C.Bill Gates and his wife.        D.Bill Gates and Steve Balmer.

What’s Charlene Li’s attitude towards Bill Gates’ departure?

A.Optimistic.  B.Worried.    C.Critical.        D.Neutral.

The underlined sentence “He will be succeeded in his post by Steve Balmer.” means Steve Balmer will.

A.be as successful as Bill Gates

B.fill the gap Bill Gates leaves in the firm

C.start a computer revolution with the help of Bill Gates

D.take over after Bill Gates steps down

第三部分阅读理解(共20小题；每小题2分，满分40分)
阅读下列短文，从每篇短文后所给各题的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中，选出最佳选项。
A
BILL GATES has promised to give all of his US $ 58 billion fortune to charity—rather than leaving it for his children.
The founder of Microsoft, who steps down from his post Friday, said he wants to make a “positive contribution” to the world. He has promised to transfer his money to the charity he has set up with his wife Melinda, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which funds health and education projects around the world.
He revealed(透露) his decision a week before he steps down as executive chairman of Microsoft, the firm he founded more than 30 years ago. The 52?year?old will continue to work as non?executive chairman and will spend just one day a week at the business.
Speaking about the joint?decision he made regarding his fortune with his wife, he said,“We’ve chosen not to pass it on to our children. We want to give it back to society in the way that it will have the most positive impact.” He said he did not want to leave it in his will for his children and added,“It’s like saying which children are most important.”
In an interview with BBC’s Newsnight, he said:“I want to make a positive contribution to the world.”
Bill Gates will step down from his post Friday, 33 years after he founded Microsoft in 1975. His success with the computer giant has made him the richest man in the world for 13 years in a row according to Fortune magazine’s rich list.
When he founded the firm he said he wanted to put “a computer on every desk and in every home.” Many people have said that the computer revolution would not have happened without him and more than 90 percent of computers in the world run on Microsoft Windows.
He will be succeeded in his post by Steve Balmer, the co?chief executive since 2000. Although the move was announced two years ago and there has been lots of planning, many people speculate that Gates’ departure will leave a big gap in the firm.
Charlene Li, from Consultants Forrester Research, said:“What they’re going to lose is that founding focus, and the ability to rally the troops.”
Microsoft has an outstanding financial performance and currently has profit margins estimated at 30  percent. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation claims to be the biggest philanthropic organization in the world.
51.Why has BILL GATES promised to give all of his US $58 billion fortune to charity?
A.He wants to make a positive contribution to the world.
B.He has set up the charity with his wife Melinda.
C.He has decided to step down from his post.
D.More than 90 percent of computers in the world run on Microsoft Windows.
52.Who set up the charity to which Bill Gates will transfer the money?
A.Bill Gates.                    B.Melinda Gates.
C.Bill Gates and his wife.        D.Bill Gates and Steve Balmer.
53.What’s Charlene Li’s attitude towards Bill Gates’ departure?
A.Optimistic.  B.Worried.    C.Critical.        D.Neutral.
54.The underlined sentence “He will be succeeded in his post by Steve Balmer.” means Steve Balmer will.
A.be as successful as Bill Gates
B.fill the gap Bill Gates leaves in the firm
C.start a computer revolution with the help of Bill Gates
D.take over after Bill Gates steps down

Last week，Bill Gates retired from full-tine．rime work at the world’s biggest computer software company, Microsoft．He will remain chairman of the company he established with Paul Allen in nineteen seventy-five．

Mister Gates leaves Microsoft at a time of change in the computing industry．Microsoft grew at a time when personal computers，or PCs，were replacing big mainframe computers as the main computing tools．He showed that huge profits could be made in software as PCs increasingly were found “on every desk and in every home．”

Early on，Microsoft understood the importance of the “network effect．” That is．software is the kind of product that increases in value as more people buy and use it．

Now，free Internet software threatens to replace PC-based software．Devices like “smart phones” connect people to the Internet．Google has become a 1eader in Internet Web searching and advertising．Microsoft has struggled to change with the new computer environment．Its efforts to sell music and its latest operating system，Vista，have not been big successes．And an attempt this year to buy Yahoo for over forty-seven billion dollars failed．

In the last several years，Bill Gates has slowly given control of Microsoft to others．In two thousand，he gave the job of chief executive officer to Steve Ballmer, a friend of his since their years at Harvard University．Mister Ballmer has been with Microsoft since nineteen eighty．Still，it is hard to overestimate the influence of Bill Gates on computing．He developed the business model that put the Windows operating system on about ninety percent of the world’s one billion PCs．Microsoft now has almost ninety thousand employees．

At fifty—two years old，Bill Gates is currently the third richest man in the world．He is worth about fifty-eight billion dollars．He remains Microsoft’s biggest shareholder．

Mister Gates will now spend most of his time working at his charity organization, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation．The foundation is the world's largest charity with over thirty-seven billion dollars．It provides money for health, education and other projects，mostly in developing countries．

1．Bill Gates retired from full-time work in Microsoft because              ．

A．he had earned enough money

B．Google threatened Microsoft’s leading place

C．PCs were out of fashion

D．of a reason that was not mentioned

2．Which of the following statements is true about Bill Gates?

A．Bill Gates set up Microsoft on his own in 1975．

B．Bill Gates failed to buy Yahoo．

C．Bill Gates was the chief executive officer when he retired．

D．Bill Gates is the richest mall in the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation．

3．Microsoft grew at a time when                       ．

A．‘smart phones’ connect people to Internet

B．Vista was put into market

C．Personal Computers were on every desk and in every home

D．Computers became the main computing tools

4．Microsoft’s ‘network effect’ probably means                ．

A．the more people use PCs，the more software they will buy

B．the more people use Internet，the more money Microsoft can make

C．the better product, the more value

D．the later operating system，the better software

Last week，Bill Gates retired from full-time work at the world’s biggest computer software company, Microsoft．He will remain chairman of the company he established with Paul Allen in nineteen seventy-five．

Mister Gates leaves Microsoft at a time of change in the computing industry．Microsoft grew at a time when personal computers，or PCs，were replacing big mainframe computers as the main computing tools．He showed that huge profits could be made in software as PCs increasingly were found “on every desk and in every home．”

Early on，Microsoft understood the importance of the “network effect．” That is, software is the kind of product that increases in value as more people buy and use it．

Now，free Internet software threatens to replace PC-based software．Devices like “smart phones” connect people to the Internet．Google has become a 1eader in Internet Web searching and advertising．Microsoft has struggled to change with the new computer environment．Its efforts to sell music and its latest operating system，Vista，have not been big successes．And an attempt this year to buy Yahoo for over forty-seven billion dollars failed．

In the last several years，Bill Gates has slowly given control of Microsoft to others．In two thousand，he gave the job of chief executive officer to Steve Ballmer, a friend of his since their years at Harvard University．Mister Ballmer has been with Microsoft since nineteen eighty．Still，it is hard to overestimate(过高估计) the influence of Bill Gates on computing．He developed the business model that put the Windows operating system on about ninety percent of the world’s one billion PCs．Microsoft now has almost ninety thousand employees．

At fifty―two years old，Bill Gates is currently the third richest man in the world．He is worth about fifty-eight billion dollars．He remains Microsoft’s biggest shareholder．

Mister Gates will now spend most of his time working at his charity organization, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation．The foundation is the world's largest charity with over thirty-seven billion dollars．It provides money for health, education and other projects，mostly in developing countries．

60．Bill Gates retired from full-time work in Microsoft because           

A．he had earned enough money

B．Google threatened Microsoft’s leading place

C．PCs were out of fashion

D．of a reason that was not mentioned

61．Which of the following statements is true about Bill Gates?

A．Bill Gates set up Microsoft on his own in 1975．

B．Bill Gates failed to buy Yahoo．

C．Bill Gates was the chief executive officer when he retired．

D．Bill Gates is the richest man in the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation．

62．Microsoft grew at a time when              ．

A．‘smart phones’ connect people to Internet

B．Vista was put into market

C．Personal Computers were on every desk and in every home

D．Computers became the main computing tools

63．Microsoft’s “network effect” probably means                ．

A．the more people use PCs，the more software they will buy

B．the more people use Internet，the more money Microsoft can make

C．the better product, the more value

D．the later operating system，the better software

The arrival of computer, some people predicted, soon make paper a thing out of date. And guess what? Bill Gate’s dream of a computer on every desk has been more or less realized. Yet, most of people working at those desks fire knee-deep in paper.

  Some research from a new book, the Myth of Paperless Office suggests our increasing use of paper is due to the introduction of the very digital technology that was supposed to wipe it out. The studies show that it can lead to a 40％rise in paper consumption.

   Xerox’s main business involved paper, and it was also alarmed by the prospect of its going out of fashion. So the research center invented the computing and printer technology that made sure it didn’t. Xerox knew what they were doing.

    But our attachment to paper is truly amazing. Why store e—mail messages in paper files, which take up valuable space and are effectively unsearchable, when you can keep them on a hard disk and look through them for keywords? Why print off quantities of documents which is to be thrown away after the meeting is over, when they can be handed out electronically via intranets (内部互联网)?

   If people love paper, there must be a reason for it. It is highly portable, flexible,

and consumes no battery power. And it doesn’t have to be turned on before you can read it.

   So the problem with the predictions is that they are always solution-driven. In fact, technology is not always the answer. The answer is not that people use so much paper, but that they don’t make good use of it.

1．What changes has the computer brought in for paper?

   A．More and more paper is needed.

   B．Its sale is reducing and it is to disappear.

   C．Fewer people prefer paper to a hare disk.

   D．More paper of fine quality is produced.

2．What does“the very digital technology” in paragraph 2 refer to?

   A．The new book.                                B．The hard disk.

   C．The computer.                                 D．The technology of printing.

3．To protect their production from disappearing, Xerox——.

   A．had the computing and printer technology invented

   B．took off the price of their production

   C．introduced new technology of paper making

   D．encourage people to store messages by writing them on paper

4．Which word can describe paper best according to the reasons for people’s love of paper?

   A．Fashionable.        B．Convenient.    C．Traditional.         D．Effective.

5．What can we learn from the whole passage?

   A．Bill Gates’ vision of the computer is to wipe paper out.

   B．It is a stupid way to store e—mail messages on a hard disk.

   C．Digital technology is the only solution to reduce the use of paper.

   D．To print documents on papers has become a great waste now.