第三章 長篇閱讀模擬題

Passage One

Words:1,036

Earthquakes

A) An earthquake is one of the most terrifying phenomena that nature can dish up. We generally think of the ground we stand on as“rock-solid”and completely stable. An earthquake can shatter（粉碎）that perception instantly, and often with extreme violence.

B) Up until relatively recently, scientists only had unproven guesses as to what actually caused earthquakes. Even today there is still a certain amount of mystery surrounding them, but scientists have a much clearer understanding. There has been enormous progress in the past century. Scientists have identified the forces that cause earthquakes, and developed technology that can tell us an earthquake's magnitude and origin. The next hurdle is to find a way of predicting earthquakes, so they don't catch people by surprise. In this article, we'll find out what causes earthquakes, and we'll also find out why they can have such a devastating effect on us.

C) An earthquake is a vibration（震動）that travels through the earth's crust. Technically, a large truck that rumbles down the street is causing a mini-earthquake, if you feel your house shaking as it goes by;but we tend to think of earthquakes as events that affect a fairly large area, such as an entire city. All kinds of things can cause earthquakes: volcanic eruptions, meteor（流星）impacts, underground explosions（an underground nuclear test, for example）, collapsing structures（such as a collapsing mine）. But the majority of naturally-occurring earthquakes are caused by movements of the earth's plates.

D) We only hear about earthquakes in the news every once in a while, but they are actually an everyday occurrence on our planet. According to the United States Geological Survey, more than 3 million earthquakes occur every year. That's about 8,000 a day, or one every 11 seconds!The vast majority of these 3 million quakes are extremely weak. The law of probability also causes a good number of stronger quakes to happen in uninhabited places where no one feels them. It is the big quakes that occur in highly populated areas that get our attention.

E) Earthquakes have caused a great deal of property damage over the years, and they have claimed many lives. In the last hundred years alone, there have been more than 1.5 million earthquake-related fatalities. Usually, it's not the shaking ground itself that claims lives;it's the associated destruction of man-made structures and other natural disasters it causes, such as tsunamis, avalanches（雪崩）and landslides.

F) The biggest scientific breakthrough in the history of seismology—the study of earthquakes—came in the middle of the 20th century, with the development of the theory of plate tectonics（筑造學）. Scientists proposed the idea of plate tectonics to explain a number of peculiar phenomena on earth, such as the apparent movement of continents over time, the clustering of volcanic activity in certain areas and the presence of huge ridges at the bottom of the ocean.

G) The basic theory is that the surface layer of the earth—the lithosphere—is comprised of many plates that slide over the lubricating（潤滑的）asthenosphere layer. At the boundaries between these huge plates of soil and rock, three different things can happen.

H) Plates can move apart. If two plates are moving apart from each other, hot, molten rock flows up from the layers of mantle below the lithosphere. This magma（巖漿）comes out on the surface（mostly at the bottom of the ocean）, where it is called lava（熔巖）. As the lava cools, it hardens to form new lithosphere material, filling in the gap. This is called a divergent plate boundary.

I) Plates can push together. If the two plates are moving toward each other, one plate typically pushes under the other one. This plate below sinks into the lower mantle layers, where it melts. At some boundaries where two plates meet, neither plate is in a position to push under the other, so they both push against each other to form mountains. The lines where plates push toward each other are called convergent plate boundaries.

J) Plates slide against each other. At other boundaries, plates simply slide by each other—one moves north and one moves south, for example. While the plates don't drift directly into each other at these transform boundaries, they are pushed tightly together. A great deal of tension builds at the boundary.

K) We understand earthquakes a lot better than we did even 50 years ago, but we still can't do much about them. They are caused by fundamental, powerful geological processes that are far beyond our control. These processes are also fairly unpredictable, so it's not possible at this time to tell people exactly when an earthquake is going to occur. The first detected earthquake waves will tell us that more powerful vibrations are on their way, but this only gives us a few minutes'warning, at most.

L) So what can we do about earthquakes? The major advances over the past 50 years have been in preparedness, particularly in the field of construction engineering. In 1973.the Uniform Building Code, an international set of standards for building construction, added specifications to strengthen buildings against the force of earthquake waves. This includes strengthening support material as well as designing buildings so they are flexible enough to absorb vibrations without falling or deteriorating. It's very important to design structures that can undergo this sort of attack, particularly in earthquake-prone areas.

M) Another component of preparedness is educating the public. The United States Geological Survey（USGS）and other government agencies have produced several brochures explaining the processes involved in an earthquake and giving instructions on how to prepare your house for a possible earthquake, as well as what to do when a quake hits.

N) In the future, improvements in prediction and preparedness should further minimize the loss of life and property associated with earthquakes. But it will be a long time, if ever, before we'll be ready for every substantial earthquake that might occur. Just like severe weather and disease, earthquakes are an unavoidable force generated by the powerful natural processes that shape our planet. All we can do is increase our understanding of the phenomenon and develop better ways to deal with it.

1.Earthquake-related fatalities are usually caused by buildings'collapse and other ensuing natural disasters, not by the shaking ground itself.

2.Besides movements of the earth's plates, other forces such as volcanic eruptions, meteor impacts and so on, can also cause earthquakes.

3.Earthquakes actually occur every day;most of them are not big enough to get our attention.

4.People generally think the ground beneath their feet is completely stable, but earthquakes shatter that idea in no time.

5.We cannot prevent earthquakes but we can actively find better ways to face them.

6.Earthquakes are hardly predictable, and people cannot be told when an earthquake is going to occur.

7.Scientists have found out forces that cause earthquakes through years of efforts.

8.Architects now have designed flexible buildings to minimize the damages of earthquakes.

9.Scientists use the theory of plate tectonics to explain the apparent movement of continents over time.

10.The convergent plate boundaries refer to the lines where plates push toward each other.

Passage Two

Words:1,103

How Ozone Pollution Works

A) The weather report on the radio or TV tells you that it is going to be sunny and hot and that an orange ozone alert has been issued. What is ozone? What does an orange alert mean? Why should you be concerned about it? In this article, we will examine what ozone is, how it is produced, what health hazards it poses and what you can do to reduce ozone pollution.

B) Ozone is a molecule of three oxygen atoms bound together（O₃）. It is unstable and highly reactive. Ozone is used as a bleach, a deodorizing agent, and a sterilization agent for air and drinking water. At low concentrations, it is toxic. Ozone is found naturally in small concentrations in the stratosphere, a layer of Earth's upper atmosphere. In this upper atmosphere, ozone is made when ultraviolet light from the sun splits an oxygen molecule（O₂）, forming two single oxygen atoms. If a freed atom collides with an oxygen molecule, it becomes ozone. Stratospheric ozone has been called“good”ozone because it protects the Earth's surface from dangerous ultraviolet light.

C) Ozone can also be found in the troposphere, the lowest layer of the atmosphere. Tropospheric ozone（often termed“bad”ozone）is man-made, a result of air pollution from internal combustion engines and power plants. Automobile exhaust and industrial emissions release a family of nitrogen oxide gases（NOx）and volatile organic compounds（VOC）, by-products of burning gasoline and coal. NOx and VOC combine chemically with oxygen to form ozone during sunny, high-temperature conditions of late spring, summer and early fall. High levels of ozone are usually formed in the heat of the afternoon and early evening, dissipating during the cooler nights.

D) Although ozone pollution is formed mainly in urban and suburban areas, it ends up in rural areas as well, carried by prevailing winds or resulting from cars and trucks that travel into rural areas. Significant levels of ozone pollution can be detected in rural areas as far as 250 miles downwind from urban industrial zones.

E) You can make ozone test strips to detect and monitor ozone levels in your own backyard or around your school. You will need corn starch, filter paper（coffee filters work well）and potassium iodide（can be ordered from a science education supplier such as Carolina Biological Supply or Fisher Scientific）. Basically, you make a paste from water, corn starch and potassium-iodide, and you paint this paste on strips of filter paper. You then expose the strips to the air for eight hours. Ozone in the air will react with the potassium iodide to change the color of the strip. You will also need to know the relative humidity, which you can get from a newspaper, weather broadcast or home weather station.

F) When you inhale ozone, it travels throughout your respiratory tract. Because ozone is very corrosive, it damages the bronchioles and alveoli in your lungs, air sacs that are important for gas exchange. Repeated exposure to ozone can inflame lung tissues and cause respiratory infections.

G) Ozone exposure can aggravate existing respiratory conditions such as asthma, reduce your lung function and capacity for exercise and cause chest pains and coughing. Young children, adults who are active outdoors and people with respiratory diseases are most susceptible to the high levels of ozone encountered during the summer. In addition to effects on humans, the corrosive nature of ozone can damage plants and trees. High levels of ozone can destroy agricultural crops and forest vegetation.

H) To protect yourself from ozone exposure, you should be aware of the Air Quality Index（AQI）in your area every day—you can usually find it in the newspaper or on a morning weather forecast on TV or radio. You should also be familiar with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency（EPA）guide for ozone-alert values.

I) What do the numbers in the AQI mean? The AQI measures concentrations of five air pollutants: ozone, sulfur dioxide, particulate matter, carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide. The EPA has chosen these pollutants as criteria pollutants, but these are not all of the pollutants in the air. These concentrations are compared to a standard set out in federal law. An index value of 100 means that all of the criteria pollutants are at the maximum level that is considered safe for the majority of the population. To reduce your exposure to ozone, you should avoid exercising during afternoon and early evening hours in the summer.

J) There are several ways you can help to decrease ozone pollution. Limit using your automobile during afternoon and early evening hours in the late spring, summer and early fall. Do not use gasoline-powered lawn equipment during these times. Do not fuel your car during these times. Do not light fires or outdoor grills during these times. Keep the engine of your car or boat tuned. Make sure that your tires are properly inflated. Use environmentally safe paints, cleaning and office products（some of these chemicals are sources of VOC）.

K) Besides personal attempts to reduce ozone pollution, the EPA has initiated more stringent air-quality standards（such as the Clean Air Act and its modifications）to reduce air pollution. Compliance with these standards by industries, manufacturers and state and local governments has significantly reduced the levels of many common air pollutants.

L) With continued conservation and reduction practices, adherence to ozone-pollution warnings, research and government regulation, ozone-pollution levels should continue to fall. Perhaps future generations will not be threatened by this environmental pollutant.

M) The thing that determines whether ozone is good or bad is its location. Ozone is“good”when it is in the stratosphere. The stratosphere is a layer of the atmosphere starting at the level of about 6 miles（about 10 kilometers）above sea level. The stratosphere naturally contains about six parts per million of ozone, and this ozone is very beneficial because it absorbs UV radiation and prevents it from reaching us.

N) Ozone is“bad”when it is at ground level. Ozone is a very reactive gas that is hard on lung tissue. It also damages plants and buildings. Any ozone at ground level is a problem. Unfortunately, chemicals in car exhaust and chemicals produced by some industries react with light to produce lots of ozone at ground level. In cities, the ozone level can rise to a point where it becomes hazardous to our health. That's when you hear about an ozone warning on the news.

1.When ultraviolet rays from the sun separate an oxygen molecule into two single oxygen atoms in the stratosphere, the combination of a single oxygen atom and an oxygen molecule forms ozone.

2.You can make ozone test strips by yourself to find out about ozone levels in your own locale.

3.Long-time exposure to ozone is badly harmful to our respiratory system.

4.Chemicals in industrial waste gas and vehicle exhaust react with light to form lots of ozone at ground level.

5.Internal combustion engines and power plants cause the artificial tropospheric ozone, also known as“bad”ozone.

6.Ozone is very helpful because it absorbs UV radiation and separates us from it.

7.Using gasoline-powered lawn equipment in the late spring, summer and early fall may increase ozone pollution.

8.Ozone pollution occurs in urban and suburban areas as well as in rural areas.

9.In order to decrease ozone pollution, the EPA has set up more rigorous air-quality standards.

10.Pay close attention to the Air Quality Index in your area every day can keep you away from ozone exposure.

Passage Three

Words:1,372

Higher Grades Challenge College Application Process

A) Josh Zalasky should be the kind of college applicant with little to worry about. The high school senior is taking three Advanced Placement courses. Outside the classroom, he's involved in mock trial, two Jewish youth groups and has a job with a restaurant chain. He's a National Merit semifinalist and scored in the top 3 percent of all students who take the ACT.

B) But in the increasingly frenzied world of college admissions, even Zalasky is nervous about his prospects. He doubts he'll get into the University of Wisconsin, a top choice. The reason: his grades. It's not that they're bad. It's that so many of his classmates are so good. Zalasky's GPA is nearly an A minus, and yet he ranks only about in the middle of his senior class of 543 at Edina High School outside Minneapolis, Minnesota. That means he will have to find other ways to stand out.

C) “It's extremely difficult,”he said. “I spent all summer writing my essay. We even hired a private tutor to make sure that essay was the best it can be. But even with that, it's like I'm just kind of leveling the playing field. ”Last year, he even considered transferring out of his highly competitive public school, to some place where his grades would look better.

D) Some call the phenomenon that Zalasky's fighting“grade inflation”—implying the boost is undeserved. Others say students are truly earning their better marks. Regardless, it's a trend that's been building for years and may only be accelerating: many students are getting very good grades. So many, in fact, it is getting harder and harder for colleges to use grades as a measuring stick for applicants.

E) Extra credit for AP courses, parental lobbying and genuine hard work by the most competitive students have combined to shatter any semblance of a Bell curve, one in which A's are reserved only for the very best. For example, of the 47,317 applications the University of California, Los Angeles, received for this fall's freshman class, nearly 23,000 had GPAs of 4.0 or above.

F) That's also making it harder for the most selective colleges—who often call grades the single most important factor in admissions—to join in a growing movement to lessen the influence of standardized tests.

G) “We're seeing 30,40 valedictorians at a high school because they don't want to create these distinctions between students,”said Jess Lord, dean of admission and financial aid at Haverford College in Pennsylvania. “If we don't have enough information, there's a chance we'll become more heavily reliant on test scores, and that's a real negative to me. ”

H) Standardized tests have endured a heap of bad publicity lately, with the SAT raising anger about its expanded length and recent scoring problems. A number of schools have stopped requiring test scores, to much fanfare.

I) But lost in the developments is the fact that none of the most selective colleges have dropped the tests. In fact, a national survey shows overall reliance on test scores is higher in admissions than it was a decade ago. “It's the only thing we have to evaluate students that will help us tell how they compare to each other,”said Lee Stetson, dean of admissions at the University of Pennsylvania.

J) Grade inflation is hard to measure, and experts'caution numbers are often misleading because standards and scales vary so widely. Different practices of“weighting”GPAs for AP work also play havoc. Still, the trend seems to be showing itself in a variety of ways.

K) The average high school GPA increased from 2.68 to 2.94 between 1990 and 2000.according to a federal study. Almost 23 percent of college freshmen in 2005 reported their average grade in high school was an A or better, according to a national survey by UCLA's Higher Education Research Institute. In 1975.the percentage was about half that.

L) GPAs reported by students on surveys when they take the SAT and ACT exams have also risen—and faster than their scores on those tests. That suggests their classroom grades aren't rising just because students are getting smarter. Not surprisingly, the test-owners say grade inflation shows why testing should be kept: it gives all students an equal chance to shine.

M) The problems associated with grade inflation aren't limited to elite college applicants. More than 70 percent of schools and districts analyzed by an education audit company called SchoolMatch had average GPAs significantly higher than they should have been based on their standardized test scores—including the school systems in Chicago, Illinois, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Denver, Colorado, San Bernardino, California, and Columbus, Ohio. That raises concerns about students graduating from those schools unprepared for college. “They get mixed in with students from more rigorous schools and they just get blown away,”said SchoolMatch CEO William Bainbridge.

N) In Georgia, high school grades rose after the state began awarding HOPE scholarships to students with a 3.0 high school GPA. But the scholarship requires students to keep a 3.0 GPA in college, too, and more than half who received the HOPE in the fall of 1998 and entered the University of Georgia system lost eligibility before earning 30 credits. Next year, Georgia is taking a range of steps to tighten eligibility, including calculating GPA itself rather than relying on schools, and no longer giving extra GPA weight to vaguely labeled“honors”classes.

O) Among those who work with students gunning for the more selective colleges, opinions differ as to why there seem to be so many straight-A students. “I think there are more pressures now than there used to be, because 20 or 30 years ago kids with a B plus average got into some of the best colleges in the country,”said William Shain, dean of admissions and financial aid at Bowdoin College in Maine. “It didn't matter if you had a 3.9 instead of a 3.95.I don't know if it matters now either, but people are more likely to think it does. ”

P) Lord, the Haverford dean, sees grade inflation as the outcome of an irrational fear among students to show any slip up—in grades or discipline. In fact, colleges like his are often more interested in students who have overcome failure and challenge than robots who have never been anything less than perfect. “There's a protection and encouragement of self-esteem that I don't agree with, but I think it's a lot of what's going on here,”he said. “And the college admissions process feeds into that. ”

Q) Back in Minnesota, Edina may join a growing number of schools that no longer officially rank students—a move that could help students like Zalasky, who says he was told by Wisconsin his class rank makes him a longshot. “They feel they're being left behind or not getting into the schools that they're applying to because of a particular class rank,”says Edina counselor Bill Hicks. “And there is some validity with respect to some certain schools that use certain formulas. ”

R) But the colleges most popular with Edina students already know how strong the school is: students'median verbal and math SAT scores are 1170 out of 1600.Hicks isn't willing to blame the concentration grades at the top on spineless teachers, or on grade-grubbing by parents and students. Expectations are high, and grades are based on student mastery of the material, not a curve. Wherever teachers place the bar for an A, the students clear it.

S) “Everyone here is like,‘if I can get a 98 why would I get a 93? ’”said Lavanya Srinivasan, who was ranked third in her Edina class last year. Far from being pushovers, she says, Edina teachers are tougher than those in a course she took at Harvard last summer. Zalasky agrees the students work hard for their high grades. “The mentality of this school is, if you're not getting straight A's you're not doing well,”he said. “There's just so much pressure on us day in and day out to get straight A's that everybody does. ”Hicks compares the atmosphere at Edina to the World Series expectations that always surround the superstar lineup of the New York Yankees. “If they don't win it,”he said,“then it's failure. ”

1.Nearly half of the applications that the University of California received this autumn had GPAs of 4.0 or above.

2.It's also harder for the most selective colleges to lessen the effect of standardized tests.

3.More than 30 years ago, about 11.5 percent of college freshmen reported their average grade in high school was an A or better.

4.Because of the negative effects of standardized tests recently, a lot of universities have no longer required test scores.

5.Some think Zalasky's improvement unworthy, while others think his high grades win the praise for him.

6.Because many of his classmates are so outstanding, Zalasky is nervous about his college application.

7.Some colleges would like to admit students who have conquered failure and challenge rather than those who have never been anything less than perfect.

8.In the next year, Georgia is taking a series of measures to tighten qualification, including calculating GPA itself and avoiding paying too much attention to vaguely labeled“honors”classes.

9.In Zalasky's opinion, students are put under great pressure to work hard to get straight A's, or they will be regarded as losers.

10.More and more schools no longer officially rank students by grade, which can help students like Zalasky.

Passage Four

Words:1,062

Sugar—Friend VS Enemy

A) Sugar is everywhere. It's in our drinks, it's in our foods, and it's hidden in places we never would think of. Many would call sugar their friend in time of need, but in fact their so-called“good friend”could turn out to be their worst enemy in disguise. Sugar for many is something they may have been battling with for a long time. Here's a simple three-step process to help you start to win back the battle for your health.

B) The first step is to be aware of what sugar really does to your body. Most people will say they“know”that they shouldn't have sugar, but they really can't help it. To me that is a lack of true awareness of what sugar does to oneself. I don't think many people will say that they want to hurt their body on purpose, but unless they know it's really happening they will continue down that road. Sugar is slower to impact our health, and it's that slow destructive process that is the most dangerous. Unfortunately, most people don't know the damage until it has already been done.

C) Sugar increases fat storing. Possibly the most important hormone in the body is insulin（胰島素）, when it comes to weight loss and health. Insulin is the main hormone that we have full control over daily through our diet and lifestyle. When we eat sugar and it enters into our bloodstream too quickly, we have a spike in blood sugar levels. Now in times of high activity we are able to burn it off, but if we are sitting around this is not a good thing. So in response to that high level of blood sugar, the body will release more insulin into the bloodstream. Insulin will then take the excess glucose（葡萄糖）and try to find a place to store it. If your muscles are all full（or have insulin resistance）then the best place to put the excess glucose is fat cells. When insulin is high, the fat cells are told to shut down any process of releasing stored fat into the blood for burning. With chronic high insulin spikes comes a resistance to it by your cells, leading to more insulin production, leading to more fat storing, and more resistance, eventually going down a road of diabetes and ill health for the whole body.

D) Sugar also disrupts normal brain function. I think most people can relate to mood swings and energy highs/lows that come after a high sugar meal. Sugar can also be the source of many people's increased anxiety and depression. Let us not also forget the kids with ever-increasing attention“disorders”and behavioral issues. Sugar is not helping with that, either. In fact, there have been many studies that show when taking sugar out of a kid's diet and increasing fat intake, their attention ability increases, their behavior changes for the better.

E) Sugar decreases your overall health and makes you age quicker. Too much sugar will lower your overall immune system increase destructive inflammation, lead to essential mineral deficiencies in the body, feed bad bacteria growth in your gut and other wonderful stuff. Aging is just a fancy word for the body breaking down quicker than it can repair itself, as that is what happens when we get older. Aging also is accelerated by the increasing risks of all degenerative diseases such as diabetes, osteoporosis, heart disease and cancers. We are all going to get older, but it doesn't mean that we have to“age”quicker.

F) The second step is to realize you are in 100% of your actions. This could be the most underrated yet the most important step, as we are the only person who controls what we put into our body. Everything starts in what we choose to put in our mouths. Some people may say they can't control their sugar cravings, but that is already admitting defeat and giving up power to some“cosmic sugar influence”out there. We can pass on dessert, we don't need to buy a candy bar, we can drink water instead of soda, but the choice is ours to make.

G) Also many like to call it an“addiction”. This is just another way to give up your own personal power of choice. While sugar can have“addictive like”qualities, it's not something that you own or is a part of you. Fight the battle and you will get over the addictive feelings, they will go away. But if you call it an addiction and make it part of you, then it is yours to keep forever. Be free from it, let go. Take back control and anything is possible.

H) The third step is to just live the daily journey one choice at a time. Life is just a series of present moments, and the choices we make in those moments. So let's just focus on what we can do right now instead of worrying about what has happened in the past or may or may not happen in the future. “Now”is all we have and all we need to focus on.

I) Choose to eat more natural foods. Choose whole food proteins, healthy fats and natural sources of carbohydrates. If it wasn't around a thousand years ago or is made by man（and not nature）, chances are you don't need it. Note how it says“Choose”above, as it is your choice. Find the hidden sources of sugars and remove them. Sugar is hidden in places such as sauces, ketchup, soups, processed foods, drinks, so called health bars, and more. Become a label reader and see how much sugar you are consistently putting into your body. Don't fall for the marketing trick either of“low fat”, because that usually means“more sugar”.

1.We are able to lower blood sugar levels by taking part in intense activities.

2.If you consider sugar as an addiction and call it something that you own, you won't get rid of it forever.

3.In the author's opinion, the reason why many people can't help having sugar is that they are unaware of its danger.

4.When insulin in the bloodstream is high, fat cells will stop releasing stored fat.

5.The author believes that sugar which we called“good friend”in time of need in fact is a hidden enemy.

6.Many studies show that sugar-free diets with more fat can improve children's attention ability.

7.The truth that we get older is that our body breaks down faster than it can be self-repaired.

8.You yield to your addictive feelings, which means you give up your own personal power of choice.

9.The author believes that taking high sugar meals may result in mood fluctuation.

10.To be healthy, what we should do now is to eat natural foods and get rid of the hidden sources of sugars.

Passage Five

Words:943

How to Survive Black Friday

A) If you're celebrating Thanksgiving today, you might be considering venturing out to the Black Friday sales tomorrow morning. After all, there will be at least a few great deals—and you can do all your holiday gift shopping in one crazy sprint. In order to make it out with your sanity—and your wallet—intact, there are a few Black Friday tips I'd like to share.

B) First, making your shopping list is essential. When I was little, I could sit for hours with the Black Friday ads（especially Toys R Us）, telling whoever was listening that I wanted pretty much everything on each page. I may have grown out of Toys R Us, but I still see plenty I want flipping through the sales papers. Sometimes, I can even convince myself that I really need some great gadget（小玩意兒）that I hadn't actually intended to buy. So, before I even start browsing through the sales papers, I make a list of items that I'm particularly looking for. While I might adapt my list to what's on sale—maybe swap out a movie title or choose a different video game based on what is available.

C) Second, many retailers offer online deals for Black Friday, so check the online deals before shopping. When you add in gas money and the time you might spend standing in line on Friday morning, online sales are even better. Before you brave the crowds, take a look at your favorite websites—and the stores you're planning to visit. Many sales will kick in at midnight, so you'll be able to check no matter how early you're planning on getting in line at the local big box retailer. For some stores, you can order items online and pay the Black Friday price, then pick them up at your local store.

D) Third, I have to say you'd better pick a shopping buddy who will match your pace. My mother will be getting up at 4 a.m. Friday morning. While I admire her dedication, her Black Friday will be much longer than mine. I prefer to shop at a more comfortable pace, though, so I'll be going with a different shopping buddy. My mom and my sister—both power shoppers—are much happier pairing up and letting the slow poke（慢性子的人）（that's me）go on my own. I do think that having a buddy does make the whole process much easier, though: one person can stand in line while the other person grabs whatever is on the list. Even better, a buddy can help you stick to your list and your budget, avoiding unnecessary spending.

E) Fourth, don't forget to bring your ads with you. There's a chance that your discounted item may not ring up as on sale when you actually get up to the cash register. Instead of trying to recall exactly what the sale paper said, pull that ad out and ask the clerk to double check it. You can avoid confusion by carrying your ads with you—and, if you go to a store with a price-matching policy, you may be able to get the same prices that another store is offering. If you're relying on ads you found online, you might have a harder time getting a deal, though. Some stores won't even honor the prices listed on their own websites. Printing off the ad can help you convince a clerk, but it's not guaranteed.

F) Fifth, as to returns policies, they seem to get tighter every year, and they can be worse for Black Friday. For some items, stores may have only a short return policy—and they may charge you a restocking fee. If you aren't sure if you've bought the right size（or are otherwise considering a return）, plan on making your return as soon as possible. Keep your receipt handy and pick up gift receipts where necessary.

G) Sixth, it is better to use your credit card on Black Friday. Normally, I'm against using a credit card for most purchases. It's too easy to run up a big bill, but there are some definite benefits to using plastic on Black Friday. Many credit card companies have much better return protection than stores: a purchase made on your credit card may have guaranteed refund up to 90 days. Credit cards often offer warranty coverage for free on purchases—a much better deal than most of the service contracts offered by stores. Lastly, some cards offer sale price protection. If the price of your purchase is marked down further than the price you paid within a certain time frame, you can get a refund of the difference.

H) Seventh, if you're planning to find a great deal on an HDTV on Black Friday, I'm afraid that you're out of luck. Even on Black Friday, it's rare to see much in the way of sales on big ticket electronics. The small sales are generally just not worth the hassle of trying to get a sales person to help you with anything time intensive when they're getting slammed with hundreds of shoppers.

I) Last but not least, there's nothing wrong with skipping the Black Friday sales. If there's nothing on sale that you're interested in, why bother? The entire day is set up to let retailers sell as much stuff as they can—to take as much of your money as they can. But there's no better place for your money than in your wallet or bank account. So, stay Home, relax and take advantage of your leftovers. You'll be saving money even if you wind up making a few full price purchases down the road.

1.The author's mother prefers shopping with the author's sister because the author is slow.

2.When shopping, it is better to bring the ads with you because some items may actually not be on sale.

3.You can buy items online at the Black Friday price and then get them at the local store.

4.While the author looks through the sales papers, she may make changes on her shopping list.

5.In order to help readers spend their money more reasonably on Black Friday, the author would like toshare a few Black Friday tips.

6.You can't find a great deal on expensive electronics on Black Friday because it is unnecessary for the stores to go for the small sales.

7.Skipping the Black Friday sales means you are saving money.

8.If your credit card is with price protection, you can get a refund of the price gap.

9.For items with short return policy, you have a risk of paying for a restocking fee.

10.The author advises people to use a credit card, which usually can guarantee a 90-day refund period.

Passage Six

Words:1,038

The Science of Memory: An Infinite Loop in the Brain

A) Jill Price can rattle off, without hesitation, what she saw and heard on almost any given date. She remembers many early childhood experiences and most of the days between the ages of 9 and 15.There are virtually no gaps in her memory.

B) She can also date events that were reported in the media, provided she heard about them at the time. When and where did the Concorde crash? When was O. J. Simpson arrested? When did the second Gulf War begin? Price doesn't even have to stop and think. She can effortlessly recite the dates, numbers and entire stories.

C) “People say to me: Oh, how fascinating, it must be a treat to have a perfect memory,”she says. Her lips twist into a thin smile. “But it's also agonizing. ”In addition to good memories, every angry word, every mistake, every disappointment, every shock and every moment of pain goes unforgotten. Time heals no wounds for Price. “I don't look back at the past with any distance. It's more like experiencing everything over and over again, and those memories trigger exactly the same emotions in me. It's like an endless, chaotic film that can completely overpower me. And there's no stop button. ”

D) Can someone who cannot forget even fall in love? Can they forgive, either others or themselves? Price's life has had its share of suffering, including family strife, her mother's cancer and, later, the sudden death of her husband Jim. Because she was hounded by bad memories, grew depressed and feared that she was going crazy, she sat in front of her computer on June 5,2000 and typed a single word into Google: memory. That was how Price found James McGaugh, and became part of a scientific case study.

E) McGaugh is one of the leading experts on memory in the United States. He founded the Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory at the University of California in Irvine. “I was skeptical, of course, when Jill told me her story,”says McGaugh, a slim, grey-haired man with glasses. “But I've spent most of my life studying the mechanisms in the brain that are associated with the development of lasting memories. So I thought that I should at least meet the woman. ”

F) McGaugh and his staff realized they were looking at an exotic case, perhaps even a scientific sensation. For that reason they took a thorough approach, and for five years they subjected Price to batteries of neuropsychological（神經心理學的）tests, combed the professional literature for similar cases and developed special questionnaires to allow them to test her memory.

G) Once she was asked to write down the dates of all Easter holidays from 1980 to 2003.“It took her 10 minutes, and she only got one of the 24 dates wrong, where she was off by two days,”says McGaugh. He had Price repeat the test two years later, and the second time she got all the dates right. “I thought that was especially impressive,”says McGaugh,“because she is Jewish. Easter means nothing to her. ”

H) McGaugh and his colleagues concluded that Price's episodic memory, her recollection of personal experiences and the emotions associated with them, is virtually perfect. A case like this has never been described in the history of memory research, according to McGaugh. He explains that Price differs substantially from other people with special powers of recall, such as autistic savants（自閉學者）, because she uses no strategies to help her remember and even does a surprisingly poor job on some memory tests.

I) It's difficult for her to memorize poems or series of numbers—which helps explain why she never stood out in school. Her semantic memory, the ability to remember facts not directly related to everyday life, is only average.

J) Two years ago, the scientists published their first conclusions in a professional journal without revealing the identity of their subject. Since then, more than 200 people have contacted McGaugh, all claiming to have an equally perfect episodic memory. Most of them were exposed as fakes. Three did appear to have similarly astonishing abilities. “Their personalities are very different. The others are not as anxious as Jill. But they achieve comparable results in the tests,”McGaugh reports. The subjects do have certain compulsive traits in common, says McGaugh, especially compulsive hoarding.

K) In neurobiological terms, a memory is a stored pattern of links between nerve cells in the brain. It is created when synapses in a network of neurons are activated for a short time. The more often the memory is recalled afterwards, the more likely it is that permanent links develop between the nerve cells—and the pattern will be stored as a long-term memory. In theory there are so many possible links that an almost unlimited number of memories can be permanently stored.

L) So why don't all people have the same powers of recollection as Jill Price? “If we could remember everything equally well, the brain would be hopelessly overburdened and would operate more slowly,”says McGaugh. He says forgetting is a necessary condition of having a viable memory—except in the case of Price and the other three memory superstars.

M) For McGaugh, there is another reason why people with such phenomenal memory are so puzzling. They challenge a theory on which his research has been based for the last half a century. This theory, based on clinical observation, says memories are stored in greater detail and with more staying power when they are tied to emotion.

N) Sensations are emotionally processed in the amygdala, a specific part of the brain's limbic system. There decisions are made as to which information should remain in long-term memory. The more powerfully the amygdala is activated, the greater the likelihood of a permanent memory. “But now here we have these four people who seem to violate this principle, because they also remember the most banal and inconsequential things,”says McGaugh.

1.Price didn't study very well because she had difficulties in memorizing a battery of numbers and poems.

2.For common people, forgetting is a necessary condition of having a viable memory.

3.The other three subjects with perfect episodic memory have different personalities.

4.When she was first asked to write down the more than 20 dates of Easter holidays, Price just made one mistake.

5.When people admire Price's perfect memory, she shows a thin smile because it also causes her some troubles.

6.When McGaugh first heard Price's story, he thought it unimaginable.

7.Price became depressed and was afraid that she was going out of her mind because she was wrenched by bad memories consistently.

8.In neurobiological terms, memories can be permanently stored when permanent links develop between the nerve cells.

9.Price and the other three subjects contradict McGaugh's theory in that they also remember the most trite and trivial things.

10.McGaugh's research is based on the theory that memories are stored in greater detail when they are tied to emotion.

Passage Seven

Words:1,023

The Development of Television Technology

A) Radio and television were major agents of social change in the 20th century. Radio was once the center for family entertainment and news. Television enhanced this revolution by adding sight to sound. Both opened the windows to other lives, to remote areas of the world, and to history in the making. News coverage changed from early and late editions of newspapers to broadcast coverage from the scene. Play-by-play sports broadcasts and live concerts enhanced entertainment coverage. For many, the only cultural performances or sports events they would ever hear or see would emanate from（出自）the speakers or the screens in their living rooms. Each has engaged millions of people in the major historical events that have shaped the world.

B) If people could look at the sky and see how it is organized into frequency bands used for different purposes, they would be amazed. Radio waves crisscross the atmosphere at the speed of light, relaying incredible amounts of information—navigational data, radio signals, television pictures—using devices for transmission and reception designed, built, and refined by a century of engineers.

C) Key figures in the late 1800s included Nikola Tesla, who developed the Tesla coil, and James Clerk Maxwell and Heinrich Hertz, who proved mathematically the possibility of transmitting electromagnetic signals between widely separated points. It was Guglielmo Marconi who was most responsible for taking the theories of radio waves out of the laboratory and applying them to practical devices. His“wireless”telegraph demonstrated its great potential for worldwide communication in 1901 by sending a signal—the letter“s”—in Morse code a distance of 2,000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean. Radio technology was just around the corner.

D) Immediate engineering challenges addressed the means of transmitting and receiving coded messages, and developing a device that could convert a high frequency oscillating signal into an electric current capable of registering as sound. The first significant development was“the Edison effect”, the discovery that the carbon filament in the electric light bulb could radiate a stream of electrons to a nearby test electrode if it had a positive charge. In 1904.Sir John Ambrose Fleming of Britain took this one step further by developing the diode which allowed electric current to be detected by a telephone receiver. Two years later, American Lee De Forest developed the triode, introducing a third electrode（the grid）between the filament and the plate. It could amplify a signal to make live voice broadcasting possible, and was quickly added to Marconi's wireless telegraph to produce the radio.

E) Radio development was hampered by restrictions placed on airwaves during World War I. Technical limitations were also a problem. Few people had receivers, and those that did had to wear headsets. Radio was seen by many as a hobby for telegraphy buffs. It would take a great deal of engineering before the radio would become the unifying symbol of family entertainment and the medium for news that was its destiny.

F) In the mid-1920s, technical developments expanded transmission distances, radio stations were built across the country, and the performance and appearance of the radio were improved. With tuning circuits, capacitors, microphones, oscillators, and loudspeakers, the industry blossomed in just a decade. By the mid-1930s almost every American household had a radio. The advent of the transistor in the 1950s completely transformed its size, style, and portability.

G) Both television and radar were logical spin-offs of the radio. Almost 50 years before television became a reality, its fundamental principles had been independently developed in Europe, Russia, and the United States. John Baird in England and Charles Jenkins in the United States worked independently to combine modulated light and a scanning wheel to reconstruct a scene in line-by-line sweeps. In 1925.Baird succeeded in transmitting a recognizable image.

H) Philo T. Farnsworth, a 21-year-old inventor from Utah, patented a scanning cathode ray tube, and Vladimir Zworykin of RCA devised a superior television camera in 1930.Regularly scheduled broadcasts started shortly thereafter, and by the early 1940s there were 23 television stations in operation throughout the United States.

I) Shortly after World War II, televisions began to appear on the market. The first pictures were faded and flickering, but more than a million sets were sold before the end of the decade. An average set cost $500 at a time when the average salary was less than $3,000 a year. In 1950 engineers perfected the rectangular cathode-ray tube and prices dropped to $200 per set. Within 10 years 45 million units were sold.

J) A study of how human vision works enabled engineers to develop television technology. Images are retained on the retina of a viewer's eye for a fraction of a second after they strike it. By displaying images piece by piece at sufficient speed, the illusion of a complete picture can be created. By changing the image on the screen 25 to 30 times per second, movement can be realistically represented. Early scanning wheels slowly built a picture line by line. In contrast, each image on a modern color television screen is comprised of more than 100,000 picture elements（pixels）, arranged in several hundred lines. The image displayed changes every few hundredths of a second. For a 15-minute newscast, the television must accurately process more than 1 billion units of information. Technical innovations that made this possible included a screen coated with millions of tiny dots of fluorescent compounds that emit light when struck by high-speed electrons.

K) Today this technology is in transition again, moving away from conventional television waves and on to discrete digital signals carried by fiber optics. This holds the potential for making television interactive—allowing a viewer to play a game or order action replays. Cathode ray tubes with power-hungry electron guns are giving way to liquid crystal display（LCD）panels. Movie-style wide screens and flat screens are readily available. Digital signals enable High Definition Television（HDTV）to have almost double the usual number of pixels, giving a much sharper picture. The advent of cable television and advances in fiber-optic technology will also help lift the present bandwidth restrictions and increase image quality.

1.More than one hundred years ago, the diode which allowed electric current to be detected by a telephone receiver was developed.

2.Technical limitations acted as an obstacle to radio development during World War I.

3.Guglielmo Marconi was the main person who applied the theories of radio waves to practical devices.

4.Entertainment coverage was enhanced by live sports broadcasts and performances.

5.The appearance of transistors brought thorough changes to the outlook and portability of radio.

6.Almost a half century before television became a reality, some countries had developed its fundamental principles.

7.The price of televisions reduced to $200 per set after the rectangular cathode-ray tube was improved.

8.The problem of bandwidth currently can be solved with the appearance of cable television and advances in fiber-optic technology.

9.Nowadays, television technology is experiencing a change from traditional television waves to discrete digital signals carried by fiber optics.

10.The development of television technology was based on the theory of how human vision works.

Passage Eight

Words:1,360

Is the United States Addicted to Gasoline?

A) Used in everything from lipstick and lubricants to motor oil and medications, oil is one product the world just can't seem to get enough of. The United States especially, which consumes roughly 21 million barrels of the stuff a day, has quite an attachment to this ubiquitous（普遍存在的）product. And while oil can be refined into a variety of products, Americans seem to prefer theirs in the form of gasoline. In fact, the United States consumes more gasoline than South America, Europe, Africa and Asia combined.

B) So what's with the United States and its gasoholic tendencies? Is the country truly addicted to gasoline, and if so, what factors led it to get hooked?

C) While the United States obviously has quite a fixation with the amber liquid, its fondness for gasoline probably doesn't fit the official criteria for an addiction. Rather, the affinity is more like a bad habit spurred on by a number of government policies put into place over the years. Combine a relatively wealthy nation with low fuel taxes, low fuel efficiency requirements and a poor public transportation system, and you have the perfect climate for a gasoline obsession.

D) As opposed to other countries like Denmark, where high purchase taxes on cars can deter driving, the United States has few roadblocks to impede their gas-guzzling ways. Quite the opposite, in fact—with a vast road system crisscrossing the country and relatively cheap fill-up stations every few miles, what are American citizens to do? Why, drive of course!And drive they do, as there are more than 244 million vehicles roaming U.S. highways—755 cars for every 1,000 people.

E) Lots of cars don't automatically equal high gasoline consumption though. Consider Portugal, which has 773 cars for every 1,000 people, yet consumed less than 45,000 barrels of gasoline a day in 2004.True, the United States is much larger than Portugal, but that's not the only reason its gasoline consumption far outpaces every other nation. Despite the fact that Americans now own fewer vehicles than they used to, the vehicles they do own travel farther and require more gasoline than those of any other industrialized nation.

F) While the unprecedented price of $4 per gallon of gasoline may have come as a shock to Americans during the summer of 2008.citizens in other countries have been paying at least that much for years. Across Europe, high fuel taxes equate to gasoline prices regularly in the range of $8 per gallon. In the United States, where the average gas tax in July 2008 was $0.49 per gallon, lower prices have encouraged a range of habits that have simply exacerbated（使加劇）gasoline consumption.

G) While Europeans were gravitating toward smaller, more efficient cars to save money at the pump, their American counterparts were ogling gargantuan SUVs. Stemming from consumer demand as well as government requirements to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and make cars more efficient, the average vehicle in Europe gets more than 32 miles per gallon. In the United States, though, a similar-size car doesn't even manage 22 mpg（35 kpg）. Why the discrepancy? Perhaps because fuel efficiency standards in the United States were largely ignored from 1985 to 2005.If those standards had instead been raised as little as 0.4 miles per year, the United States could possibly have saved about 3.3 million barrels of oil a day.

H) The demand for fuel efficiency in Europe also creates a better market for diesel cars, further lessening the area's reliance on gas. Only 4 percent of the cars in the United States run on diesel;in Europe the percentage is 10 times higher. Again, Americans can lay some of the blame for that on their government, which discourages the more fuel-efficient diesel cars by taxing this fuel more heavily.

I) The United States'appetite for gasoline can't solely be attributed to the large number of inefficient cars on the road. As you learned on the previous page, those cars drive an awful lot of miles—an awful lot being 7 billion miles every day. Part of that long commute can be traced to personal choice—with access to historically low gas prices, Americans saw no need to live near the city center to save energy like people in some other countries do. Instead, they packed up and headed out to the suburbs.

J) The other side of that coin is the government's inability to fund public transportation projects adequately. Whereas new highway construction receives an ample 80 percent of federal funding, new public transportation projects receive just 50 percent. In 2009.the proposed U.S. budget would cut $202 million from transit spending and transfer $3.2 billion from funds dedicated to transit. These cuts come despite an estimate from the Treasury Department that the Highway Trust Fund and the Mass Transit Account will both face massive deficits in 2009 and 2010 respectively.

K) Meanwhile, the governments of other nations throughout Europe and Japan and China have avidly supported transportation alternatives like high-speed rail. Better public transportation options combined with more compact cities equals less gasoline consumption. In Paris, people complete almost half of their trips without cars;in the United States, that number is closer to 20 percent.

L) Americans have made several attempts to kick the gasoline habit cold turkey, but every time, their thirst for fuel wins out. The country's gasoline consumption abated during recessions in 1975,1980 and 1990.only to resume an aggressive climb once the economy improved. However, many experts now believe the most recent decline in consumption—the largest sustained drop in 16 years—could be here to stay.

M) Due to record high gasoline prices in the summer of 2008.Americans made big changes to cut back their fuel consumption. They drove 9.6 billion miles less in May than compared with the year before, and their gasoline consumption in July 2008 was 3.6 percent lower than last year's level.

N) If high gasoline prices were the only player in this game, those gains would probably follow the trend of past successes and simply rebound. This time, though, the high gas prices were compounded by a weak housing market and an even weaker economy, where prices for all consumer goods were up 4.3 percent from a year before—a 16-year high. According to the Energy Information Administration, every 1 percent decrease in personal income leads to a 0.5 percent reduction in gasoline consumption.

O) The double whammy（致命打擊）of high gas prices and a weak consumer market seems to have forced Americans to do more than just scale back their driving. Americans appear to have made changes that will have a lasting impact even if fuel prices drop back down. They've started buying smaller, more fuel-efficient cars, and they've traded their houses out in the suburbs for homes more convenient to where they work. The government has even gotten on board to some degree by enforcing more rigorous fuel-efficiency standards and offering subsidies on some hybrid vehicles. In January 2008.sales of large cars were down 26.5 percent from last year, while small-car and crossover vehicle sales were up 6.5 percent and 15.1 percent, respectively.

P) Although most Americans would probably agree that coping with high gas prices hasn't been pleasant, perhaps it has at least given the atmosphere somewhat of a reprieve. U.S. transportation accounts for an entire third of its CO2 emissions and produces more of these emissions than any other nation. While regular smog alerts and threats of global warming fail to generate much action, $4 per gallon at the pumps seems to do the trick. If the rest of the world has learned anything from watching the United States cope with its ballooning gas prices, it's that to get its stubborn citizens to change, one may have to resort to the old adage of“no pains, no gains. ”

1.The American transportation takes up a third of its CO2 emissions and produces more of these emissions than any other country.

2.About a decade ago, Portugal consumed not more than 45,000 barrels of gasoline a day.

3.In some countries, high purchase taxes are imposed on cars so as to reduce driving.

4.A series of government policies contributed to American affinity for gasoline.

5.As a result of high gasoline prices in 2008.Americans took great measures to cut back their fuel consumption.

6.Among a range of products made from petroleum, gasoline is Americans'favorite.

7.China has greatly supported high-speed rail as an alternative way of transportation.

8.If fuel efficiency standards had been raised a bit per year, America could possibly have saved several million barrels of oil a day.

9.It seems that the impact of high gas prices and a weak consumer market has forced Americans to reduce their driving.

10.The American government should be blamed for its inability to provide enough funds for public transportation projects.

Passage Nine

Words:1,262

How Long Will Google's Magic Last?

A) “GOOGLE is not a conventional company. We do not intend to become one,”wrote Larry Page and Sergey Brin, the search firm's founders, in a letter to investors ahead of its stockmarket flotation in 2004.Since then, Google has burnished its reputation as one of the quirkiest companies on the planet. This year alone it has raised eyebrows by taking a stake in a wind-energy project off the east coast of America and by testing self-driving cars, which have already covered over 140,000 miles（225,000km）on the country's roads.

B) Google has been able to afford such flights of fancy thanks to its amazingly successful online-search business. This has produced handsome returns for the firm's investors, who have seen the company transform itself in the space of a mere 12 years from a tiny start-up into a behemoth with a $180 billion market capitalisation that sprawls across a vast headquarters in Silicon Valley known as the Googleplex. Google also stretches across the web like a giant spider, with a leg in everything from online search and e-mail to social networking and web-based software applications, or apps.

C) Much of its growth has been organic, but Google has also splashed out on some sizeable acquisitions. In 2006 it paid $1.7 billion for YouTube, a website that lets people post videos of their children, kittens and Lady Gaga impersonations. The following year it snapped up DoubleClick, an online-advertising network, for $3.1 billion. More deals are likely. Google is bidding for Groupon, a trendy e-commerce business, using some of the $33 billion sitting in its coffers.

D) All this has turned Google into a force to be reckoned with. But now Google is faced with two conventional business challenges. The first involves placating regulators, who fret that it may be abusing its considerable power. On November 30th the European Union announced a formal investigation into claims that Google has been manipulating search results to give an unfair advantage to its own services—a charge the firm vigorously denies. In America, Google faces a similar investigation in Texas and is also battling with a bunch of online-travel companies who have been lobbying the government to veto its recent purchase of ITA Software, a company that provides data about flights.

E) The other challenge facing Google is how to find new sources of growth. In spite of all the experiments it has launched, the firm is still heavily dependent on search-related advertising. Last year this accounted for almost all of its $24 billion of revenue and $6.5 billion of profit. Acquisitions such as YouTube have deepened rather than reduced the firm's dependence on advertising. Steve Ballmer, the boss of Google's arch-rival Microsoft, has derided the search company for being“a one-trick pony”.

F) Ironically, investors'biggest worry is that Google will end up like Microsoft, which has failed to find big new sources of revenue and profit to replace those from its two ageing ponies, the Windows operating system and the Office suite of business software. That explains why Google's share price has stagnated. “The market seems to believe this could be like Microsoft version two,”says Mark Mahaney, an analyst at Citigroup. News of the formal EU antitrust enquiry will no doubt invite further comparisons with Mr Ballmer's firm, which fought a long and bruising battle with European regulators.

G) Is such a comparison fair? Those who think it is point to several changes that could damage Google. The first is the rise of new ways in which people can find information online. They include social networks such as Facebook, which saw traffic to its site in America surpass that to Google's sites earlier this year, and apps offered by Apple and other firms that help people find information without using a web browser.

H) Another cause for concern is that firms such as Facebook and Apple are hoarding customer data, thereby making them inaccessible to Google's search engine. The rise of such“walled gardens”on the web clearly bothers Google's top brass. “Two years ago I would have told you this isn't a problem,”says Eric Schmidt, Google's chief executive. “Now I will tell you it is a threat. ”Google recently clashed publicly and caustically with Facebook over the latter's data practices, warning potential users that the social network had become“a data dead end”.

I) Lastly, there are problems inside the Googleplex itself. The company has lost a number of stars, such as Omar Hamoui, the founder of AdMob, a mobile-advertising company that Google acquired last year, and Lars Rasmussen, who led a project called Wave to create a new kind of online collaborative tool. Mr Rasmussen recently moved to Facebook, complaining that it had become impossible to get things done at Google because of the bureaucracy at the company, which now boasts 23,000 employees. Admittedly, Mr Rasmussen may still be sore that Google shuttered his project, which flopped. But his complaint resonates with some Xooglers（the nickname for former Google employees）, who say decision-making has become painfully slow as the firm has grown. Jon Holman, an executive recruiter, reckons Google is going through what he calls“a Darwinian evolution”that could make it harder to attract top talent in future.

J) Does all this mean that Google's glory days are over? Don't bet on it. True, the firm's revenue growth slowed from 56% 2007 to 9% year, but that was still respectable considering that the global economy fell howling off a cliff. And there are signs that the company is picking up steam again: its third-quarter revenue rose by 23% $7.3 billion, which beat most analysts'expectations.

K) Moreover, Google is well placed to benefit from several important trends. One is the rapid growth in the amount of data being produced worldwide, which provide the raw material on which Google's search engine feasts. For instance, YouTube is now taking in 35 hours-worth of video content every minute of the day, up from about six hours-worth in June 2007.That suggests there is still likely to be a big role for a general-purpose search engine, even if people do use apps and social networks more often to get information.

L) Google also stands to gain as more advertising moves to the web. Morgan Stanley, an investment bank, finds that Americans spend 28% their media time online, yet only 13% total ad spending is devoted to the internet. If ads ultimately catch up with eyeballs, an extra $50 billion-worth of advertising could be shifted online each year, Morgan Stanley estimates.

M) Then there is the rise of the mobile web, which looks as if it will form the cornerstone of Google's second act. At the heart of that act lies Android, the firm's smartphone operating system, which it lets telecoms firms and phone-makers use for nothing. Some critics have hammered Google for giving Android away when other companies such as Microsoft charge for their operating systems. But the firm wants as many people as possible to adopt Android, which acts as a“platform”that encourages them to explore other Google services, including e-mail and search.

N) This approach seems to be working. From practically nothing a couple of years ago, Android now accounts for an impressive 26% the market, rivalling Apple's popular iPhone. To support it, Google has been developing its own library of online apps, and it is looking at other ways to please smartphone users, such as e-commerce. The firm also hopes that an operating system it has developed around its lightning-fast web browser, Chrome, will prove popular. This might be ideal for powering netbooks（small laptop computers）, for example.

1.Investors of Google are most concerned that Google follows Microsoft's disastrous road, failing to find new sources of growth.

2.Google once spent a huge sum of money on a few considerable network companies.

3.Search-related advertising is still a major source of income for Google.

4.Unlike Microsoft's operating systems, Google's smartphone operating system is free.

5.Google offers a wide range of items, from online search and e-mail to social networking and apps.

6.Attracting and retaining top talents is important for Google in future.

7.The traffic to new emerging social networks in America has outnumbered that to Google's sites.

8.Google warned users that some social network firms were gathering their data.

9.The rapid growth of the raw materials produced online suggests Google's search engine still plays a vital role.

10.Google has to pacify government regulatory bodies in Europe and America and deal with their investigations.

Passage Ten

Words:1,169

Financial Tips from the Great Depression

A) Having lived through the Depression, our grandparents and great-grandparents formed a lack of trust in banks and turned to burying cash in the backyard or hiding it under the mattress. Our current economic downturn doesn't yet call for such drastic measures but there are things we can learn from those who went through this challenging era and prospered.

B) Growing at least some of your own food can save a lot of money, and provide the satisfaction that comes from eating local, really local. Consider starting a community garden such as the Depression-era community relief gardens, or the World War II Victory Gardens, searching step-by-step instructions on the Internet, and applying those ideas to any project that you can implement on someone's vacant lot（with permission）.

C) Not everything about the Depression was actually depressing. In hard times, we can sometimes find a lot of pleasure in remembering to enjoy the simple things in life. During the 1930s, games like Monopoly became popular because they gave people hope and allowed them to dream of a better life. Remember some of the board games from your childhood, and plan a low-tech outing with friends and family. It will also help you remember that you don't absolutely need every single gadget that hits the store shelves, and on top of that it will be a bit cheaper than spending the day at Disneyland.

D) Hitchhiking（搭乘）was prevalent in the Great Depression, and this is one area that can at least offer some creativity, although Mint absolutely does not recommend that you sell your car and get to work each day by holding up a thumb next to the freeway, nor should you become a hobohemian（流浪漢）and hop trains to get around. However, since owning a car is more of a luxury than a necessity, we can learn from the community aspect and form carpools, walk to the store if it's only a mile away, and if you are lucky enough to have a half-decent public transportation system, Google Maps now shows your time and cost to drive relative to taking a bus or walking. Consider moving closer to where you work and walk or ride a bike instead. Like Dave Ramsey, author of The Total Money Makeover, says:“If you are willing to live like no one else now, you can live like no one else later. ”Essentially, by defying convention, even for a relatively short amount of time, you can save a hefty sum of money.

E) We all have different situations, and this is one of the most pressing issues facing our nation and the world right now. You might be just out of college and trying to make it on your own, or you might be paying for your child's college now, but there are definitely lessons to be learned from the Depression. In some cases, it may be beneficial to sacrifice a bit of privacy in the short-term in order to get back on track（回到正軌）financially. Rent an extra bedroom to a friend, have your child move back home if you are struggling to send him or her rent money every month, or downsize your home. You don't have to necessarily make a gut-wrenching（搜腸刮肚的）decision overnight, but do yourself a favor and at least check out some listings on Craigslist for rentals, or have a real estate agent e-mail you listings in a cheaper price range. If a great deal pops up that piques（刺激）your interest, you can at least bat around the idea with your family. If you are single, just go for it!

F) Due to the extensive public works projects in the 1930s, there was at least a bit of relief for the unemployed masses. People simply took any work they could, and often worked 12-hour days. If you are looking for employment, you might consider looking for a position that is slightly below your ideal salary, but that seems to have the most potential for advancement. If you are entrepreneurial, and perhaps have already fallen behind on bills, one positive thing about the current economic climate is that you are starting over at a time when many other people are also faced with starting from scratch（白手起家）financially, and perhaps you may even be in a position where you literally have nothing left to lose, which can be a great time for personal innovation and taking the risk to start in a new industry or implement an idea that's always been in the back of your mind. It's time for boot-strapping（步步為營法）!

G) If you have credit available, you might be tempted to use it before the bank cuts the credit line. Don't do it. Going into debt will only hurt you in the long run. Instead, remember the words of your grandmother and heed this simple, age-old advice—“if you can't afford to pay cash, you can't afford it. ”

H) When you simply have no money, it is easy to keep spending under control because it is impossible to spend. In many cases, one spouse saved money in the cupboard and even hid it from the other spouse. There is a good trick to be found here that requires a lot of discipline. If, for example, you are getting hit with overdraft（透支）fees, you need to establish a barrier that you absolutely will not dip below（even if it means paying a bill late）. Take the cue from the 1930s and use cash rather than debit for your petty purchases, especially when you are close to zero in your account. This will help avoid paying $36 for that pack of gum if an unexpected payment goes through your account and causes an overdraft fee.

I) For our grandparents and great-grandparents who lived through the 1930s, many months surely consisted of living in survival mode, and there were much fewer recurring expenses and bills to be paid, so it was possible in a lot of cases to keep track of spending without even necessarily writing it down. Today, we have several types of accounts, in many cases at different institutions, with new types of debt and monthly payments to keep track of, so take a look at Mint's free software today and start tracking your spending automatically to find areas where you can save money.

1.During the Great Depression, traveling by getting rides from passing vehicles without paying was a very popular way of transportation.

2.One lesson learned from the Depression is that giving up a bit of personal privacy can save us from economic woes.

3.People liked to play Monopoly game during the Great Depression for it offered people hope and a better life yearning for the future.

4.We can still learn some financial tips from our elders, though some of their extreme ways are undesirable.

5.In essence, by challenging common practice, we can save a lot of money even in a relatively short period of time.

6.Growing food in a community garden can be economical and afford a satisfaction of enjoying the local food.

7.To avoid going into debt, you should reconsider what you can afford and need.

8.It is better to constitute a barrier that you will not dip below while you are facing the problem of overdraft fees.

9.Comparing with those who went through the Great Depression, today we have new kinds of debt and monthly payments to record.

10.The author advises people who are looking for a job to take a job with lower salary but more potential for advancement.

答案解析

Passage One

文章精要

地震危害巨大，了解地震對減少其帶來的損失有著重要意義。本文講解了引發地震的因素、與地震有關的地殼板塊運動和地震的危害，并指出盡管人類還無法準確預測地震，但一些必要的防御措施能夠減少地震帶來的損失。

答案解析

1.E　本題是對E段最后一句話的同義轉述。定位關鍵詞是Earthquake-related fatalities。原文用it's not...that claims lives;it's...結構指出“通常不是地殼晃動引起的死亡，而是伴隨而來的房屋倒塌或其他自然災害導致的死亡”，題目用...be caused by...not by...結構表達了同樣的意思。

2.C　本題是對C段最后兩句的歸納，題目將兩句話的含義概括為一句話。定位關鍵詞是movements of the earth's plates, volcanic eruptions, meteor impacts。

3.D　本題是對D段的總結。定位關鍵詞是get our attention。D段首句就提到每天都會發生地震，最后一句提到只有大地震才能引起人們的注意，本題就是對這兩句話的概括。

4.A　本題是對A段最后兩句的同義轉述。定位關鍵詞是shatter。題目中的the ground beneath their feet同義轉述了原文中的the ground we stand on。

5.N　本題是對N段最后兩句的概括。定位關鍵詞是better ways。文章最后一句提到，我們能做的就是增加我們對地震的認識，尋找更好的方法來應對它，與題干表達一致。

6.K　本題是對K段第三句的同義轉述。定位關鍵詞是hardly predictable。原文提到：雖然我們對地震有了更深的了解，但地震仍然不受我們的控制，地震是無法預測的，人們不可能得知地震什么時候會發生，表達與題干一致。

7.B　本題是對B段第三、四句的同義轉述。定位關鍵詞是cause earthquakes。題目中的found out同義轉述了原文中的identified。

8.L　本題是對L段最后兩句的概括。定位關鍵詞是designed。原文提到：過去50年我們在應對地震方面取得了進步，尤其是在建筑工程領域。我們用特殊材料加固房屋以應對地震的破壞，我們設計足夠靈活的房屋，確保地震不會導致房屋倒塌，這與題干表達的完全一致。

9.F　本題是F段中舉例的一部分。定位關鍵詞是the theory of plate tectonics。原文提到科學家用the idea of plate tectonics解釋很多現象，其中之一就是the apparent movement of continents over time。

10.I　本題是對I段最后一句的同義轉述。定位關鍵詞是convergent plate boundaries。題干中的refer to與原文中的are called屬于同義轉述。

Passage Two

文章精要

文章主要介紹了什么是臭氧，臭氧污染的形成、危害，以及臭氧有利的一面。文章還具體介紹了如何自己手工制作檢測儀；如何避免暴露在臭氧之下；如何預防和減少臭氧污染等。

答案解析

1.B　本題答案的信息來自B段的倒數第二、三句話。原文中提到太陽紫外線將氧分子分成了兩個單獨的氧原子，氧原子與氧分子再結合就生成了臭氧。題干正好表達了這個意思。ultraviolet rays即是原文中的ultraviolet light。

2.E　本題答案的信息來自E段第一句話。題目中的find out about意為“弄清有關……的情況”，和原文中的detect and monitor含義相對應；題目中的in your own locale和原文中的in your own backyard相對應。

3.F　本題答案的信息來自F段。F段提到人吸入臭氧后，它可以貫穿你的呼吸系統。接著提到它可能損害細支氣管、肺部等呼吸系統的部位，故可知長期暴露在臭氧下有損呼吸系統。

4.N　本題答案的信息來自N段第五句話，題干是對本句的同義轉述。

5.C　本題答案的信息來自C段的第二句話。原句中先說“果”后說“因”，題目將“因”提前，然后說“果”；原文中的man-made與題干中的artificial相對應；原文中的termed與題干中的known as相對應。

6.M　本題答案的信息來自M段第二句和最后一句話。原文中第二句話首先提到Ozone is“good”when it is in the stratosphere.，在最后一句中提到臭氧為什么有益；原文中的beneficial與題干中的helpful相對應；題目中的separates from對應原文中的prevents from。

7.J　本題答案的信息來自J段第一、二、三句話。原文中J段的首句提到有幾種可以降低臭氧污染的方法，接下來提到的一種方法是Do not use gasoline-powered lawn equipment during these times. 由此推測Using gasoline-powered lawn equipment會導致臭氧污染增加；而由第二句話可推測出原文中的during these times指的是in the late spring, summer and early fall。

8.D　本題答案的信息來自D段第一句話。原文提到臭氧污染主要在城市和城市郊區出現，但因為風和汽車、卡車運輸的作用，農村也會發生臭氧污染，題干是對此的歸納。

9.K　本題答案的信息來自K段第一句話。原文中的initiated和題目中的set up屬于同義轉換；原文中的stringent替換為了rigorous；原文中的reduce ozone pollution替換為了decrease ozone pollution。

10.H　本題答案的信息來自H段第一句話。題目中的keep you away from對應原文的protect yourself from；題目中的Pay close attention to對應原文的should be aware of。

Passage Three

文章精要

文章指出，目前美國大學在錄取新生時，仍然比較看重分數。在一些學校里由于獎學金政策的執行，學生的分數迅速攀升。考試的擁護者指出，考試有必要存在，因為它給學生提供了展示自我的平臺，而這也無疑會給學生帶來巨大的壓力。

答案解析

1.E　本題的出題點在E段的最后一句話，屬于數字題。從原文可以看出，申請者的人數為47,317，而獲得4.0或者4.0以上分數者的人數接近23,000，由此可知比例接近50%。

2.F　本題是F段的總結。原文提到，對學生的選拔最為嚴格的學校也越來越難以參與到降低標準考試的影響的活動中來，也就是說，這些學校很難降低標準考試的影響。

3.K　本題的出題點在K段的最后兩句話，屬于數字題。More than 30 years ago可推測應該是上世紀七八十年代，對應原文的1975年；從原文可以看出，在大一新生中，2005年在高中取得A或者更好成績的人數差不多是總人數的23%，而在1975年時此比例減半，大約為11.5%。

4.H　本題的出題點在H段。原文提到最近標準考試有一些負面影響，許多學校已經停止要求用考試分數來評判學生。題干的negative effects轉述了原文的bad publicity。

5.D　本題是對D段前兩句話的同義轉述。原文提到：有些人把Zalasky的努力這種現象稱為“分數膨脹”，暗示他的這種進步不值得接受，而其他人認為那些學生真正贏得了好的評價，題干中的win the praise for him同義轉述了原文中的earning their better marks。

6.B　本題的出題點在B段的第一句和第五句。原文提到even Zalasky is nervous about his prospects。接著在第五句中提到了原因：It's that so many of his classmates are so good. 由此可知題目是這兩句的總結。

7.P　本題的出題點在P段的第二句話。題目中的Some colleges替換原文中的colleges like his；題目中的conquered和原文中的overcome屬于同義詞轉換；原文中的are more interested in換成了另一種說法would like to admit；原文中的robots是一種比喻的說法，比喻那些完美得像機器人一樣的學生。

8.N　本題的出題點在N段的最后一句話。題目中的In the next year替換原文中的Next year；題目中的a series of替換原文中的a range of；題目中的avoiding paying too much attention to替換原文中的no longer giving...weight to。

9.S　本題考查人物的觀點。S段后半部分指出，Zalasky表示，學校的想法是，如果你沒有得到全A的成績，你就沒有學得很好，學生們為了得到A都有很大的壓力。文章最后提到，Hicks將Zalasky所在的學校和紐約洋基隊的情況作了比較，“如果他們不能取勝，那么他們就失敗了”，即對于學生來說不能得到A就等于失敗。

10.Q　本題出題點在Q段的第一句話。題目表達意思與原句表述一致，題目用非限定性定語從句解釋說明原文中破折號之后的內容；題目中的more and more schools和原文中的a growing number of schools屬于同義轉述。

Passage Four

文章精要

糖類食品無處不在，影響了人們的健康。作者建議人們做到以下三個步驟，以保證健康的生活：第一，真正了解糖對人體的危害；第二，完全控制自己吃糖的欲望；第三，做到健康飲食，遠離糖類食品。

答案解析

1.C　本題是對C段第四、五句話的總結。文章提到，我們吃下的糖很快會進入血液中，導致體內的血糖水平達到峰值，而進行劇烈運動可以降低這個峰值。題目中的intense activities與文中的high activity同義；題目中的lower和原文中的burn off屬于同義轉述。

2.G　本題信息來自G段倒數第三句話。題目中的consider...as對應原文的call it；題目中的call it something that you own對應原文的make it part of you；題目中的won't get rid of對應原文的keep。

3.B　本題信息是對B段前三句的總結。文章指出，大多數人都知道不應該吃糖，但是他們忍不住，在作者看來，他們缺乏對糖的害處的真正認識。題目中的unaware of its danger是對原文lack of true awareness of what sugar does to oneself的同義轉述。

4.C　本題信息來自C段倒數第二句話。文章指出，當血液中胰島素的含量很高時，脂肪細胞就會停止將儲存的脂肪釋放到血液中消耗掉，題目中的stop對應原文中的shut down any process of。

5.A　本題信息來自A段的第三句話，此句是一個用but連接的前后語義轉折句。文章指出，很多人在需要糖的時候把它們當作朋友，但事實上，糖是披著“好朋友”外衣的最糟糕的敵人，題目中的hidden與原文中的in disguise相對應。

6.D　本題信息來自D段最后一句話。文章指出，事實上有許多研究表明，去掉兒童飲食中的糖分，增加脂肪攝入，可以增強他們的注意力。題目中的sugar-free diets with more fat對應原文的when taking sugar out of a kid's diet and increasing fat intake；題目中的improve children's attention ability對應原文的their attention ability increases。

7.E　本題信息來自E段第三句話。文章提到，所謂衰老就是身體的衰退速度比其自身的修復速度快，隨著我們年齡的增長，衰老一直在進行著。題目中的The truth對應原文的is just a fancy word for；題目中的faster than對應原文的quicker than。

8.F　本題信息來自F段第四句話。文章提到，許多人忍不住吃糖，把這稱之為上癮，其實這就是以另一種方式放棄了個人的選擇權。可以理解成你不能控制自己的選擇，被欲望控制了。題目中的yield to對應原文的defeat。

9.D　本題信息來自D段第二句話。文章提到，作者認為大多數人在吃過含糖量高的食物后，都經歷過情緒波動，或者精力水平或高或低。題目中的result in對應原文的relate to；題目中的mood fluctuation對應原文的mood swings。

10.I　本題信息來自I段的第一句話和第五句話。I段第一句話提到，我們要選擇吃綠色天然食品，接著提出要找到食物中隱藏的糖，然后將它們除掉。題目中的get rid of對應原文中的remove。

Passage Five

文章精要

本文的作者給要在黑色星期五購物的人們提出了八條建議，幫助人們更容易買到物美價廉的商品。（注：“黑色星期五”是美國感恩節后第一天，標志傳統圣誕節購物季的開始。）

答案解析

1.D　本題來自文章D段第五句話，出題點在破折號后的解釋說明處。題目中的prefers shopping with her sister是原文中happier pairing up的另一種同義表達；題目中的slow和原文中的slow poke屬于同義表達。

2.E　本題來自文章E段前兩句，題目是對原文的同義轉述，原文中的may not ring up as on sale對應題目中的may actually not be on sale。

3.C　本題出自原文C段最后一句話。題目中的buy對應原文中的order；題目中的get對應原文中的pick up。

4.B　本題的信息是B段最后兩句的總結。原文提到，作者在瀏覽促銷廣告單之前，會先列出她特別需要的商品。最后一句話中又提到她還會根據促銷商品的情況來調整購物清單的內容。題目中的looks through對應原文中的browsing through；題目中的may對應文章中的might；題目中的make changes對應原文中的adapt。

5.A　本題的信息來自A段最后一句話。題目中的spend your money more reasonably對應原文中的make it out with your sanity；題目中的the author would like to share對應原文中的I'd like to share。

6.H　本題是H段大意的總結。文章提到，如果你想在黑色星期五買到合適的高清電視的話，那你可能不走運了，因為在那一天很少能看到像電子產品這樣的大型商品的促銷活動，商店不可能不顧其他大量顧客，而為了那么一丁點兒銷售額派專門的銷售人員來為你集中提供任何服務。題目中的can't find和原文中的it's rare to see同義；題目中的expensive和原文中的big ticket同義。

7.I　本題是I段第一、二句和最后一句的總結。文中提到，如果你沒有買到稱心的商品，也不要煩惱，就當你在省錢了。這和題干所說內容一致。

8.G　本題來自文章G段最后兩句話。原文中的difference就是指購買商品的價格差，對應題目中的price gap。

9.F　本題來自文章F段第二句話，本句提到一些商品只有很短的退換期，而且可能要顧客交納退貨費用。題干是對此句的同義轉述。

10.G　本題來自文章G段第四句話，屬于數字考查題型。

Passage Six

文章精要

Jill Price的記憶力非常好，殊不知在別人艷羨的背后，她經受著痛苦的折磨。科學家McGaugh對她的情況進行了研究，至今仍無定論。

答案解析

1.I　本題信息來自文章I段第一句話。文章提到，Price很難記住詩歌或者一連串數字，這可以解釋為什么她上學時成績不突出。題目中的study very well對應原文中的stood out in school；題目中的had difficulties對應原文中的It's difficult；題目中的a battery of對應原文中的series of。

2.L　本題信息來自L段最后一句話。原文中McGaugh提到，除了Price和其他三位記憶巨星外，對于其他的人來說遺忘是擁有成功記憶的一個必要條件；原文中的except in the case of Price and the other three memory superstars暗指了題目中的common people。

3.J　本題信息來自J段四句話和第五句話，出題點在人物的觀點處。第四句說，其他三個人似乎都有同Jill相似的驚人的能力，但McGaugh說到，“他們的個性截然不同”。題目中的different personalities是對原文的原詞復現。

4.G　本題信息來自文章G段前兩句話，出題點在數字處。文章提到，McGaugh第一次要求Price寫下1980年到2003年之間復活節的日期時，她只用了十分鐘就寫下了24個日期，但寫錯了一個，與正確的日期只差了兩天。原文中的got one of the 24 dates wrong意為只寫錯一個日期，與題目中的just made one mistake為同義表述。

5.C　本題是對文章C段前三句話的總結。第三句中的it's also agonizing是題目中it also causes her some troubles的同義表述。

6.E　本題信息來自文章E段第三句話，出題點在人物的觀點處。原文中提到，當Jill告訴McGaugh自己的故事時，McGaugh表示懷疑。題目中的unimaginable是原文中的skeptical的同義表述。

7.D　本題信息來自文章D段倒數第二句話。題目中的became depressed對應原文的grew depressed；題目中的afraid對應原文中的feared；題目中的was wrenched by對應原文中的was hounded by；題目中的going out of her mind對應原文中的going crazy。

8.K　本題是對K段前三句話的總結。文章指出，從神經生物學的角度看，記憶是以大腦神經細胞連接的形式儲存起來的，如果某段記憶被回想起來的次數較多，那么相應的連接就越持久，記憶也就越持久。這和題目中的表述基本一致。

9.N　本題信息來自N段最后一句話，出題點在人物的觀點處。題目中的Price and the other three subjects對應原文的these four people；題目中的trite是原文中banal的同義表述；題目中的trivial是原文中inconsequential的同義表述；題目中的contradict是原文中violate的同義表述。

10.M　本題信息來自M段最后一句話。文章指出，McGaugh說當記憶與情感聯系在一起的時候，記憶就更具體，也更持久，這與題干所說內容一致。

Passage Seven

文章精要

本文主要介紹的是收音機和電視技術的發展。文章首先介紹收音機和電視對20世紀社會變革的重大影響；然后具體闡述了收音機及其副產品電視的發展歷程。

答案解析

1.D　本題信息出自D段第三句話。文章提到，1904年，英國的John Ambrose Fleming進一步發明了二極管，它可以使電話接收機探測到電流。題目中More than one hundred years ago對應原文中的In 1904；題目是對原句的同義轉述。

2.E　本題信息是對E段第一句話和第二句的總結。文章提到，無線電的發展受阻于一戰期間對無線電波的限制。技術的局限性也是一個問題。題目中的obstacle對應原文的problem。

3.C　本題信息出自C段第二句話。文章提到，主要是Guglielmo把無線電波理論帶出實驗室并應用到實用設備中，題目中的the main person是原文most responsible for的同義表述；原文中的applying them to practical devices對應題目中的applied the theories of radio waves to practical devices。

4.A　本題信息出自A段倒數第三句話。題目由原文中的主動句式變為被動句式，題目中的live對應原文中的play-by-play。

5.F　本題信息出自F段最后一句話。文章提到，20世紀50年代，晶體管的出現完全改變了收音機的尺寸和樣式，而且使其便于攜帶，題目中的appearance對應原文中的advent；題目中的brought thorough changes對應原文中的completely transformed；題目中的outlook對應原文中的its size, style。

6.G　本題信息出自G段第二句話。題目中的Almost a half century是原文Almost 50 years的同義轉述；題目中的主句由原文中的被動句式變為主動句式。

7.I　本題信息出自I段倒數第二句話。文章提到，在1950年工程師完善了矩形陰極射線管，每臺電視機價格降到200美元。題目中的improved對應原文中的perfected，屬于同義表達。

8.K　本題信息出自K段最后一句話。題目中的The problem of bandwidth對應原文中的the present bandwidth restrictions；題目中的can be solved對應原文中的help lift。

9.K　本題信息出自K段首句話。文章提到，如今，電視技術正經歷由傳統的電視波向光纖傳輸的離散的數字信號轉變的過程。題干是對原文的同義轉述。

10.J　本題信息出自J段第一句話。文章提到，對人類視覺的研究使得工程師研發出電視技術，也就是說，電視技術是在人類視覺理論基礎上發展起來的。

Passage Eight

文章精要

本文主要介紹了美國對汽油的依賴情況。文章首先介紹了汽油對美國的重要性；然后通過和其他亞歐國家的對比，介紹了美國越來越依賴汽油的原因；最后介紹了美國重視汽車給環境帶來的影響以及美國人觀念的改變。

答案解析

1.P　本題的信息來自P段第二句話，文章提到，在二氧化碳排放總量中，美國交通行業的排放量占了三分之一。題目中的takes up和原文中的accounts for屬于同義詞轉換。

2.E　本題的信息來自E段第二句話。文章提到，在葡萄牙，每1000人中就有773人有汽車，但是在2004年該國每日消耗汽油不到45000桶，題目中的not more than對應原文中的less than。

3.D　本題的信息來自D段第一句話。文章提到，與像丹麥這樣對汽車征收高額購置稅以阻止人們駕駛汽車的國家相反，美國很少設置路障來阻止人們的高耗油之旅。題目中的reduce對應原文中的deter。

4.C　本題的信息來自C段第二句。文章提到，這種親密關系（指對石油的依賴）更像是一個由過去幾年政府出臺的政策刺激而形成的壞習慣，言外之意也就是政府的政策使美國人對汽油越來越依賴，題目中的A series of對應原文中的a number of；題目中的contributed to對應原文中的spurred on。

5.M　本題的信息來自M段第一句話。文章提到，由于2008年夏天石油價格高漲，美國人做了許多很大的改變來削減他們的燃料消耗，題目中的As a result of對應原文中的Due to；題目中的took great measures對應原文中的made big changes。

6.A　本題的信息來自A段倒數第二句。文章提到，雖然石油能被提煉出各種各樣的產品，但是美國人似乎更喜歡汽油，題目中的made from對應原文中的refined into；題目中的petroleum對應原文中的oil；題目中的favorite對應原文中的prefer。

7.K　本題的信息來自K段第一句話。文章提到，歐洲國家、日本和中國已經熱切地支持高速鐵路這樣的可供選擇的交通方式，題目中的greatly對應原文中的avidly。

8.G　本題是對G段最后兩句話的總結。本段倒數第二句話提到了fuel efficiency standards，而最后一句中的those standards指的就是fuel efficiency standards。由此可知題目中的表達是對原文的同義轉述。

9.O　本題的信息來自O段第一句話，題目出現了多處同義詞轉換。題目中的It seems對應原文中的seems to；題目中的impact對應原文中的whammy；原文中的more than just scale back their driving變換了一種說法，即題目中的reduce their driving。

10.J　本題的信息來自J段第一句話。題目中的provide funds對應原文中的fund；題目中的enough對應原文中的adequately。

Passage Nine

文章精要

谷歌一直被認為是發展最快的公司，但目前谷歌也面臨了兩大危機，一是要應對政府監管部門的壟斷調查，二是尋找新的盈利增長點。雖然谷歌面臨這兩大危機，但并不意味著谷歌的時代結束了，因為谷歌收入依然在增長，廣告收入依然強勁，而且谷歌已經研發了手機操作系統，為未來鋪墊了基石。

答案解析

1.F　根據題干信息詞failing to find new sources of growth定位到F段首句。原文提到：谷歌投資人最大的擔心是谷歌會面臨跟微軟一樣的結局，不能找到新的收入來源，題干的are most concerned同義轉述原文中的biggest worry，題干用follows Microsoft's disastrous road轉述了原文中的end up like Microsoft。

2.C　根據題干信息詞considerable network companies定位到C段。原文提到：谷歌花大價錢收購幾家大公司，接著舉例介紹谷歌曾收購了YouTube，DoubleClick，Groupon等，與題干表述一致。splash out on意為“花大筆錢”，題干用spent a huge sum of money對其進行了同義替換；題目中的considerable同義轉述了原文中的sizeable，意為“相當大的”。

3.E　根據題干信息詞Search-related advertising定位到E段。原文提到：谷歌仍然高度依賴search-related advertising，去年這幾乎占據了谷歌的全部收入，也就是說與搜索相關的廣告收入依然是谷歌的主要收入來源。

4.M　根據題干信息詞operating systems定位到M段。原文提到：谷歌的安卓系統讓其他電信公司和手機制造商免費使用，下文接著提到微軟為自己的操作系統收費，與題干表述一致。原文的for nothing就是free的意思。

5.B　根據題干信息詞online search and e-mail定位到B段末句。原文提到：谷歌就像大蜘蛛一樣，將腿觸及到一切，包括在線搜索和電子郵件，以及社交網絡及軟件應用，與題干表述一致。

6.I　根據題干信息詞top talents定位到I段。原文提到：谷歌有很多高管相繼離開，抱怨公司的效率慢等，這些都可推斷出谷歌在未來吸引并留住高端人才至關重要。

7.G　根據題干信息詞traffic定位到G段。原文提到：人們在線獲取信息的方式增多了，其中包括社交網絡，如Facebook，今年早些時候登錄Facebook的人數超過了登陸谷歌的人數，與題干表述一致。題目中的has outnumbered同義轉述了原文中的surpass，意為“（數量）超過”。

8.H　根據題干信息詞data定位到H段。原文提到：Facebook正在積累用戶的信息，使用戶不再接觸谷歌搜索，因此谷歌公司警告潛在用戶這些社交網絡正成為信息終端，積累用戶的信息。題干表述與原文相符。

9.K　根據題干信息詞raw materials定位到K段。原文提到：網絡數據的快速增長為谷歌提供了大量的源數據資料，接著以YouTube為例對此進行了說明，然后指出：這表明一般目的的搜索引擎可能仍然有重大作用，與題干表述一致。

10.D　根據題干信息詞government regulatory bodies定位到D段。原文提到：谷歌要面臨的第一個問題就是要安撫政府管理機構，下面通過列舉歐洲和美國的某些政府機構對谷歌展開調查的例子進行了闡述，說明谷歌要安撫政府機構，對付他們的調查，與題干表述一致。題干中的pacify與原文中的placating屬于同義轉述。

Passage Ten

文章精要

本文主要介紹了從經濟大蕭條中學到的應對當前經濟低迷的幾個技巧。文章首段引出主題：盡管現在經濟低迷，但作者并不主張采取過激的措施，而是主張從經歷的那些興衰中學習一些東西；然后從食品、娛樂、交通和住房等方面具體闡述了我們可以從經濟大蕭條中借鑒的技巧。

答案解析

1.D　本題信息來自D段的第一句話。文章提到，在大蕭條時期流行搭車，題干把Hitchhiking同義轉述為traveling by getting rides from passing vehicles without paying，題目中的popular和原文的prevalent屬于同義轉述。

2.E　本題信息來自E段的第三句話。題目中的giving up對應原文中的sacrifice；題目中的save us from economic woes對應原文中的get back on track financially。

3.C　本題信息來自C段第三句話。文章提到，在20世紀30年代，諸如“大富翁”這樣的游戲很受歡迎，因為它們帶給人們希望以及對更好生活的向往，題目中的the Great Depression時期就是在20世紀30年代；題目中的liked to是原文中became popular的另一種說法；題目中的offered是原文中gave的同義詞替換；題目中的a better life yearning for the future對應原文中的dream of a better life。

4.A　本題信息來自A段。原文提到：我們不需要對目前的經濟下滑采用老輩們的那些極端的對策，但我們仍可以向他們學習，與題干表述一致，題干中的undesirable同義轉述了原文中的doesn't yet call for。

5.D　本題信息來自D段的最后一句話。題目中的In essence是原文Essentially的同義詞替換；題干中的challenging對應原文中的defying；題目中的common practice即是原文中的convention；題目中的a lot of對應原文中的a hefty sum of；題目中的relatively是原詞復現；題目中的short period of time對應原文的short amount of time。

6.B　本題信息是對B段兩句話的總結。該段第一句話提到種植自己的食物，第二句提到了種植食物的地點，即community garden。題目中的be economical對應原文中的save a lot of money；題目中的afford是原文中provide的同義詞替換。

7.G　本題信息來自G段的最后一句話，出題點在建議處。本段第三句提到，從長遠看來，負債只會對你不利。下一句由Instead引出了其建議，即不要去負擔自己不能負擔的債務。題干意為，為避免陷入債務中，應該重新考慮自己能夠負擔的以及需要的東西，這與原文意思相符。

8.H　本題信息來自H段的第四句話，出題點在舉例處。文章提到，如果你即將面臨透支的問題，就需要建立一個不會透支的屏障。故題目中表建議的It is better to...和原文句子相對應；題目中的constitute對應原文中的establish。

9.I　本題是對I段的總結。該段的第一句話從經歷了20世紀30年代大蕭條的祖父母和曾祖父母的情況說起，接著對比了如今的情況，提到我們有各種賬單、新型的債務以及每月都要繳納的款項需要記錄。題目中的kinds of對應原文中的types of；題目中的record對應原文中的keep track of。

10.F　本題信息來自F段的第三句話。文章提到，如果你在找工作，你可能會考慮找一份薪金略低于理想水平但最有發展潛力的工作，由此可知，作者建議找工作的人應該找工資比預期稍低但更有發展潛力的工作，題目中的lower salary對應原文中的slightly below your ideal salary；原文中也提到potential一詞。