【題目】A world-famous Canadian author, Margaret Atwood, has created the world’s first long-distance signing device, the LongPen.

After many tiring book signings from city to city, Atwood thought there must be a better way to do them. She hired some technical experts and started her own company in 2004. Together they designed the LongPen. Here’s how it works: The author writes a personal message and signature on a computer tablet(手寫板) using a special pen. On the receiving end, in another city, a robotic arm fitted with a regular pen signs the book. The author and fan can talk with each other via webcams(網(wǎng)絡攝像機) and computer screens.

Work on the LongPen began in Atwood’s basement(地下室). At first, they had no idea it would be as hard as it turned out to be. The device went through several versions, including one that actually had smoke coming out of it. The investing finally completed, test runs were made in Ottawa, and the LongPen was officially launched at the 2006 London Book Fair. From here, Atwood conducted two transatlantic book signings of her latest book for fans in Toronto and New York City.

The LongPen produces a unique signature each time because it copies the movement of the author in real time. It has several other potential applications. It could increase credit card security and allow people to sign contracts from another province. The video exchange between signer and receiver can be recorded on DVD for proof when legal documents are used.

“It’s really fun,” said the owner of a bookstore, who was present for one of the test runs. “Obviously you can’t shake hands with the author, but there are chances for a connection that you don’t get from a regular book signing.”

The response to the invention has not been all favorable. Atwood has received criticism from authors who think she is trying to end book tours. But she said, “It will be possible to go to places that you never got sent to before because the publishers couldn’t afford it.”

【1】How does the LongPen work?

A. It copies the author’s signature and prints it on a book.

B. It signs a book while receiving the author’s signature.

C. The fan uses it to copy the author’s signature himself.

D. The webcam sends the author’s signature to another city.

【2】What do we know about the invention of the LongPen?

A. The designers were well-prepared for the difficulty.

B. The basement caught fire by accident.

C. Some versions failed before its test run.

D. It has been completed but not put into use.

【3】How could the LongPen be used in the future?

A. To allow author and fan to exchange videos

B. To improve credit card security.

C. To keep a record of the author’s ideas.

D. To draft legal documents.

【題目】書面表達

請你根據(jù)以下信息提示，介紹一款時尚手機。

1. 作為高科技產(chǎn)品；這款手機在國內(nèi)外被廣泛地使用。

2. 主要功能：通話、發(fā)短信、上網(wǎng)、照相、玩游戲等。

3. 體積小，重量輕易攜帶，適用于各年齡段人群。

注意：詞數(shù)100詞左右（開頭已給出，不計入總詞數(shù)）。

Being a product of high technology,____________________________ ____________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

【題目】根據(jù)短文內(nèi)容，從短文后的七個選項中選出能填入空白處的最佳選項。選頁中有兩項為多余選項。Roger Sperry and Robert Ornstein of the California Institute of Technology, Nobel prize winners, discovered that the human brain has two sides, and each side has different work to do.The left side of the brain controls language and number and it analyses and reasons.【1】It controls our appreciation of music and our sense of rhythm. It is also the right side of our brain which daydreams.Leonardo da Vinci was the great painter and sculptor. He was also an architect, a scientist and an inventor!【2】When he invented machines he used both his imaginative ability and his analytical ability.【3】Albert Einstein enjoyed art, playing the violin and sailing. Indeed, Einstein said his scientific discoveries grew from his imagination rather than from analysis, reason and language. He said that written and spoken words were not important in his thinking. The story goes that Einstein was daydreaming one summer's day while sitting on a hill. He imagined that he was riding on sunbeams to the far distance of the universe. Then he found that he had returned to the sun. So he realized that the universe must curve(彎曲).【4】He then used the left side of his brain to apply analysis, number and reason. And finally he used language to explain it.Traditional education in schools encourages us to use the left side of our brains. Language, number, analysis and reason are given more importance in our schools than imagination and daydreaming. Why don' t we give more value to visual thinking? Why jump on one foot if we have two perfectly good legs !【5】We need to use our imagination to think of solutions to problems and to enjoy emotional and artistic experiences. And we need to be logical able to analyze and organize in order to survive day by day.

【題目】語法填空

Do you like travelling? Staying 【1】 (health) while 【2】 (travel) can help to ensure your trip is a happy and enjoyable one. 【3】 you are travelling abroad, here are the tips you need to make your trip much 【4】 (easy):

Make sure you have got signed passport(護照) and visas. Also, before you go, fill in the emergency information page of your passport! Make two copies of your passport identification page. This will help a lot if your passport 【5】 (steal). Leave one copy at home with friends or relatives. Carry the other 【6】 you in a separate place from your passport.

Read the Public Announcements or Travel Warnings for the countries you plan to visit. Get yourself familiar with local laws and customs of the countries to 【7】 you are travelling.

Leave a copy of your itinerary(旅行日程) with family or friends at home so that you can be contacted in case of an emergency.

Do not accept packages from strangers. Do not carry too much money or 【8】 (necessary) credit cards. If we make enough 【9】 (prepare), we will succeed. Have 【10】 good time!

【題目】Doctors say anger can be an extremely damaging emotion, unless you learn how to deal with it. They warn that anger can lead to heart disease, stomach problems, headaches, emotional problems and possibly cancer.

___【1】___ Some people express anger openly in a calm reasonable way. Others burst with anger, and scream and yell. But other people keep their anger inside. They can not or will not express it. This is called repressing anger.

For years many doctors thought that repressing anger was more dangerous to a person’s health than expressing it. They said that when a person is angry, the brain releases the same hormones (荷爾蒙). They speed the heart rate, raise blood pressure, or sugar into the blood, etc. __【2】___

Some doctors say that both repressing and expressing anger can be dangerous. They believe that those who express anger violently may be more likely to develop heart disease, and they believe that those who keep anger inside may face a greater danger of high blood pressure.

___【3】__ They say the first step is to admit that you are angry and to recognize the real cause of the anger, then decide if the cause is serious enough to get angry about. If it is, they say, “___【4】___ Wait until your anger has cooled down and you are able to express yourself calmly and reasonably.”

Doctors say that a good way to deal with anger is to find humor in the situation that has made you angry. ___【5】___

A. In general the person feels excited and ready to act.

B. They said that laughter is much healthier than anger.

C. Expressing anger violently is more harmful than repressing it.

D. Anger may cause you a cancer.

E. Do not express your anger while angry.

F. Anger is a normal emotion that we all feel from time to time.

G. Doctors say the solution is learning how to deal with anger.

【題目】閱讀下面材料，在空白處填入適當?shù)膬?nèi)容（不多于3個單詞）或括號內(nèi)單詞的正確形式。

Nowadays, millions 【1】 lonely singles are now going online instead. The World Wide Web is quickly becoming the world’s most popular matchmaker(媒人).

Singles are flocking(涌向)to the Internet 【2】 (main) because their busy lifestyles leave them little time 【3】 (look) for a significant other. Using dating sites(約會網(wǎng)址) is quick and convenient. Many singles say the regular dating scene 【4】 (lead) them from one bad experience to 【5】 and are ready to try something else. Dating sites also make 【6】 easy to avoid someone 【7】 you are not interested in. In the real world, 【8】 , ignoring someone you don’t like can be difficult.

Despite all the advantages, online dating also presents its own set of problems. People aren’t always those who they declare to be in their online 【9】 (describe). Safety is another concern. You are just 【10】 (like) to find a criminal online as you are Mr. Or Miss Right

【題目】閱讀理解。

We already know the fastest,least expensive way to slow down climate change:use less energy.With a little effort,and not much money,most of us could reduce our energy diets by 25 percent or more—doing the Earth a favor while also helping our wallets.

Not long ago,my wife,PJ,and I tried a new diet—not to lose a little weight but to answer an annoying question about climate change.Scientists have reported recently that the world is heating up even faster than predicted only a few years ago,and that the consequences(后果)could be severe if we don’t keep reducing emission(排放)of carbon dioxide(CO2)and other greenhouse gases that are trapping heat in our atmosphere.

We decided to try an experiment.For one month we recorded our personal emission of CO2.We wanted to see how much we could cut back,so we went on a strict diet.The average US household produces about 150 pounds of CO2 a day by doing common things like turning on air conditioning or driving cars.That’s more than twice the European average and almost five times the global average,mostly because Americans drive more and have bigger houses.But how much should we try to reduce?

For an answer,I checked with Tim Flannery,author of The Weather Makers:How Man Is Changing the Climate and What It Means for Life on Earth.In his book,he had challenged readers to make deep cuts in personal emission to keep the world from reaching extremely important tipping points,such as the melting(融化) of the ice sheets in Greenland or West Antarctica.“To stay below that point,we need to reduce CO2 emission by 80 percent,”he said.

Good advice,I thought.I’d opened our bedroom windows to let in the wind.We’d gotten so used to keeping our air-conditioning going around the clock.I’d almost forgotten the windows even opened.We should not let this happen again.It’s time for us to change our habits if necessary.

【1】Why did the author and his wife try a new diet?

A.To take special kinds of food.

B.To respond to climate change.

C.To lose weight.

D.To improve their health.

【2】The underlined words“tipping points”most probably refer to “ ”.

A.freezing points B.burning points

C.melting points D.boiling points

【3】According to the passage,Tim Flannery .

A.made deep cuts in his personal emission of CO2

B.wrote a book about the climate changes

C.succeeded in reducing CO2 emission by 80 percent

D.was an author popular among readers

【4】Which of the following would be the best title for this passage?

A.Saving Energy Starts at Home

B.Changing Our Habits Begins at Work

C.Changing Climate Sounds Reasonable

D.Reducing Emission of CO2 Proves Difficult

【題目】閱讀下列短文,從每題所給的四個選項(A、B、C和D)中選出最佳選項。

Would you believe that the tallest bridge in France reaches higher than the Eiffel Tower?Each of the projects mentioned here has set at least one world record for its height,scale or ingenuity(獨創(chuàng)性).Here are four amazing engineering wonders of the modern world.

Venice,Italy:The Venice Tide Barrier Project will be the largest flood prevention project in the world.The project has been debated in one form or another for over 40 years as a way to protect this historical city-on-the-water for future generations.With Venice slowly sinking,and the water around it slowly rising,and floods always a fear,Italians have known for a long time that something needs to be done.Finally,the Prime Minister of Italy approved the second phase of the plan,including 80 hinged barriers(用鉸鏈連接的壁壘),each approximately 6,500 square feet.

Millau,France:The Millau Viaduct(米洛高架橋)is the highest bridge in the world.At 1,125 feet high(slightly taller than the Eiffel Tower,1,063 feet)and over 8,000 feet long,it sometimes sits above the cloud line.The engineered wonder of the bridge itself is nearly as amazing as the view of the valley below.

Zhangjiajie,China:The Bailong Elevator is the world’s largest outside elevator.At about 1,070 feet high,this elevator looms(隱約出現(xiàn)) high midway up a cliff overlooking a valley far below.Moreover,the elevator is mostly made of glass,affording passengers a dizzying view to the depths below.There is some concern,however,about the elevator’s long-term impact on the surrounding natural environment.

Norway to Britain:The Langeled Pipeline extends(延伸)from Nyhamna,Norway,to Easington in the UK.It is about 1,200 km long and before the completion of the Nord Stream pipeline,it was the longest underwater gas pipeline in the world.Gas is exported(出口)from the Ormen Lange field,situated at a depth of 1,000 metres and located 100 km northwest of the Norwegian coast to Nyhamna.From there the Langeled Pipeline runs to Easington in the UK via the Sleipner Riser Platform in the North Sea.It will eventually supply 20% of Britain’s gas needs.

【1】In the first paragraph,the author began with a question in order to .

A.introduce the topic

B.amaze readers

C.show the height of the Eiffel Tower

D.ask readers to answer it

【2】From Paragraph 2,we can learn that .

A.the project is designed to store water

B.all people agree with the project at first

C.floods are a fear to Venice

D.the hinged barriers are 6,500 square feet in all

【3】What do the Bailong Elevator and the Millau Viaduct have in common?

A.They are in the same country.

B.They are both made of glass.

C.Both of them are taller than the Eiffel Tower.

D.Both of them have a bad effect on the environment.

【4】We can learn from the passage that the Ormen Lange field is in .

A.Britain B.Norway

C.France D.Italy

【題目】Security—for the information on your smart phone, as well as for the phone itself—is a hot topic these days.The truth is that you're packing a lot of sensitive information on your phone, and you should keep it safe.

When it comes to physical security, iPhone users would do well to download Find My iPhone, a free app from Apple that allows you to visit a website and see your (lost, stolen or misplaced) phone on the map.You can then sound an alarm, send a message that will pop up on its screen, lock the phone or erase all your data.

Android does not have an exact equivalent(等價物), but there are plenty of alternatives. A free app called Lookout offers the findmyphone feature.The paid version allows you to wipe the data from your phone remotely.

Then there is your coffee shop's WiFi network.Anyone with minimal technical expert skill can snoop on(窺視) people using shared wireless networks, harvesting passwords and other personal data. Lookout will caution you when you've logged on to an insecure network, but cannot protect you once you're there.

In order to protect yourself on such networks, you can use a virtual private network, or VPN. This turns all your activity into nonsense to anyone trying to read along with you from across Starbucks. It also keeps websites from tracking you and, if you're travelling, allows you to get access to sites that may be blocked in other countries.

If you have an iPhone, the simplest VPN app is probably Hotspot Shield, whose distinguishing feature is said to be that it automatically kicks in each time you start browsing (瀏覽), as opposed to other VPN apps that require you to start them up manually(手動地)．This matters, because even if you decide you want a VPN app, you want to spend approximately zero time thinking about it. For the most part, that was true of Hotspot Shield, though occasionally it took a while to connect or temporarily lost connection without warning. I found myself having to turn the app on and off sometimes, which involved setting my phone constantly.

If even reading about the settings on your phone drive you crazy, then it is probably best to stay away from a VPN app. But if you're the type who can't resist checking your bank balance from your corner bar, the hassle(麻煩) may be preferable to the risk.

【1】Which of the following can warn you against the insecure network?

A. Android. B. VPN.

C. Lookout. D. Find My iPhone.

【2】By using VPN, users can ________．

A. find their lost phones on the Internet

B. remove all the data from the phone remotely

C. check the bank balance now and then

D. save their browsing from being tracked

【3】The underlined word “that” in Para.6 refers to the fact that ________.

A. a VPN app kicks in automatically

B. the users start VPN apps manually

C. the app takes a while to connect

D. users spend no time thinking about it

【題目】閱讀理解。

A dam is like a wall that is built across a waterway to control the flow of the water.For many years,dams were built only of earth and rocks.Today,many dams are built of concrete.

When a dam is built,water is trapped and held behind the dam.This water forms a lake.The lakes can be used for recreation or for irrigating,or watering crops.The lakes also provide potable water,water that is safe for drinking.This potable water is piped from the lake into houses and other buildings.The lake water further serves as a home,or habitat,for fish and waterfowl.

Dams are often built to provide flood control.Just before the rainy season,the water in the dam is allowed to flow out very slowly.This lowers the water level in the lake so that snowmelt and rainfall can be stored there in every spring and used as needed during the rest of the year.

Some dams are built to use the power of falling water to make electricity.Such dams have powerhouses that contain machines;turbines and generators.Water falls from the lake to the river below the dam.As the water falls,it is sent through the powerhouse.There,the force of the water turns the turbines and generators and produces electrical power needed to light and heat buildings.

【1】The word used to describe water that is safe for drinking is .

A.portable water B.dirty water

C.orange juice D.boiled water

【2】According to the story,dams are built for different reasons.But all dams .

A.control the flow of water

B.are built of earth and rocks

C.provide electrical power

D.provide potable water

【3】If the water level in the lake behind the dam is not lowered before the rainy season,the .

A.water in the dam will flow out too slowly

B.snowmelt and rainfall might cause a flood

C.lake will probably dry up

D.water can irrigate

【4】When dams are built to provide electricity,which of the following happens first?Water .

A.is sent through the powerhouse

B.pressure turns the turbines and generators

C.falls from the lake to the river below the dam

D.runs fast