In the US and Britain, the slogan around colleges was "Save water. Shower with a friend." Now, Wuhan University has come up with another system for the campus bathhouse. It charges students for the amount of time in a shower. Before entering the bathhouse, students pay for the amount of time they want in the shower with cash or their student ID card. The clock starts ticking the minute the tape is turned on. It pauses when a button is pressed for soap. An integrated circuit (IC) card reader at each tap shows the time. No money, no water. The benefits of the new system can be seen with the old system, which charged 1 Yuan for each person regardless of time in the shower. The university used about 320 tones of water daily under the old system, but only 160 tons now.

Many students use the new system but opinions on it are divided. Some students say it is bad because bathing had become a sort of race. Many people using it for the first time are not sure how long they need to shower. Some might be embarrassed if their time is up and they' re still covered in soap. They have to ask the bathhouse worker to help them buy extra time.

"It's a flaw in the system that you can not buy extra time on the ID card," said Ren, a freshman in Wuhan University. The university is also considering some students' suggestions that they be allowed to pay after they've finished the shower. Not surprisingly, some are complaining about losing the hour shower. But many students say the move helps them develop a water- saving sense.

Without the time limits, most students tended to shower for 30 to an hour in the bathhouse.

Some even used the hot water to wash their clothes. "In my experience, l0 -20 minutes is enough," said Dai Zhihua, a third -year student who usually takes 8 minutes.

A similar system has been installed in other universities. Shanghai Normal University introduced it at its Fengxiang Campus in September. The bathing fee there is 0.2 Yuan per minute. One male student responded by setting a record with a two -minute shower.

1. According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true?

A. Students pay for the amount of time they want in the shower.

B. The clock times all through while the student is bathing except when the bather paused for soap.

C If money runs out, there will be no water.

D. Having finished bathing, the student has to pay for it.

2. The underline word "flaw" (Paragraph 3) most probably means _____.

A. perfection　　 B. advantage　　　　 C. pity　　　　　 D. fault

3. Since the new system has performed, _____ of water can be saved.

A. a quarter　　 B. one third　　　　 C. one half　　 D. two thirds

4. It can be inferred from the passage that _____.

A. the new operation can solve the water crisis.

B. The new operation can raise students' environmental awareness.

C. a similar operation has been set in other universities.

D. The university has saved a lot of water by using the new system.

5. In which column can you find this passage?

A. People.　　　 B. Society　　　　 C. Campus Life. D. Lifestyle.

A little under one-third of U.S. families have no Internet access and do not plan to get it, with most of the holdouts seeing little use for it in their lives, according to a survey released on Friday.

Park Associates, a Dallas-based technology market research firm, said 29 percent of U.S. families, or 31 million homes, do not have Internet access and do not intend to subscribe（預(yù)訂） to an Internet service over the next 12 months. The second annual National Technology Scan conducted by Park found that the main reason why potential customers say they do not subscribe to the Internet is because of the low value to their daily lives rather than concerns over cost.

Forty-four percent of these families say they are not interested in anything on the Internet, versus just 22 percent who say they cannot afford a computer or the cost of Internet service, the survey showed. The answer "I'm not sure how to use the Internet" came from 17 percent of participants who do not subscribe. The response "I do all my e-commerce shopping and YouTube-watching at work" was cited by 14 percent of Internet-access refuseniks. Three percent said the Internet doesn't reach their homes.

The study found U.S. broadband adoption grew to 52 percent over 2006, up from 42 percent in 2005．Roughly half of new subscribers converted（轉(zhuǎn)變） from slower-speed, dial-up Internet access while the other half of families had no prior access.

"The industry continues to chip （擊破）away at the core of non-subscribers, but has a long way to go," said John Barrett, director of research at Parks Associates. "Entertainment applications will be the key. If anything will pull in the holdouts, it's going to be applications that make the Internet more similar to pay-TV," he predicted.

1．What does the underlined word “holdouts” in the first paragraph most probably mean?

A．some American families　　　

B．those who hold out one’s opinions

C．those who have been surveyed　　

D．those who still haven’t access to the Internet currently

2．Many potential customers refuse to subscribe to the Internet mainly because __________.

A．they show too much concern about the cost

B．they can find little value of it

C．they do most You Tube-watching at work

D．the Internet doesn’t reach their homes

3．From the passage we can infer that _____________.

A．It is not an easy job to transform those holdouts into the Internet users

B．people will adopt dial-up Internet access no more

C．many Americans enjoy doing e-commerce shopping at home

D．more than half of the population are using the Internet in 2005

4．According to John Barrett, what is the key to attracting more U.S. families to broadband service?

A．making the Internet look more similar to TV set

B．a(chǎn)pplying the Internet more to entertainment

C．providing more pay-TV programs

D．chipping away at the core of non-subscribers

5．Which is the best title for the passage?

A．Web develops with technology

B．The present situation of web

C．Many Americans see little point to web

D．It is urgent to promote web service

He was very busy yesterday, otherwise he ____ to the meeting.
A. would come 　 B. came 　　　　　　 C. would have come 　　 D. had come

I regret ________ that I am unable to help you. You may ask others for help.

A. saying　　 B. having said　　 C. to say　　 D. to have said

Some people are said to be born smart, while 　　　 born stupid, which is indeed a stupid idea.

　 A. others　 B. the others　 C. the other　 D. another

A group of children ______ around the old man, listening to him telling the story and they ______ when it came to something really exciting.

　 A. were gathered; held their breaths　　　　　 　B. gathered; held their breath

　 C. gathered; held their breaths　　　　　　　　 D. were gathered; held their breath

He finished his homework and then went on ___me.
A. helping B. with help C. with helping D. to help

You know that widely reading helps ______ your knowledge so I can’t help _____ the housework every day.

　 A. an large, doing 　 B. to rich, to do

　 C. add, to 　 D. add to, doing

It was a great _____ for him to be pleasant to people he didn't like.

　　A. attempt B. trouble C. power D. effort