this for decades, and so far we have managed to survive and even flourish. Whether we will continue to do so in the years ahead remains uncertain. Clearly, the impact of technology on our lives deserves a closer examination.
Few technological developments have had a greater impact on our lives than the computer revolution. Scientists and engineers have designed specialized machines that can do the tasks that once only people could do. There are those who assert that the switch to an information-based economy is in the same camp as other great historical milestones, particularly the Industrial Revolution. Yet when we ask why the Industrial Revolution was a revolution, we find that it was not the machines. The primary reason why it was revolutionary is that it led to great social change. It gave rise to mass production and, through mass production, to a society in which wealth was not confined to the few.
In somewhat similar fashion, computers promise to revolutionize the structure of American life, particularly as they free the human mind and open new possibilities in knowledge and communication. The Industrial Revolution supplemented and replaced the muscles of humans and animals by mechanical methods. The computer extends this development to supplement and replace some aspects of the mind of human beings by electronic methods. It is the capacity of the computer for solving problems and making decisions that represents its greatest potential and that poses the greatest difficulties in predicting the impact on society.
63. Why does the author give the examples of the Challenger and Chernobyl? A. To show that technology could be used to destroy our world. B. To stress the author's concern about the safety of complex technology. C. To prove that technology usually goes wrong, if not controlled by man.
D. To demonstrate that being a human creation, technology is likely to make an error.
64. What does the phrase \went haywire\A. were out of range B. went out of date C. fell out of use D. got out of control
65. According to the author, the introduction of the computer is a revolution mainly because___________.
A. the computer has revolutionized the workings of the human mind B. the computer can do the tasks that could only be done by people before C. it has helped to switch to an information technology D. it has a great potential impact on society
66. In the passage, the author clearly shows his_____________. A. keen insight into the nature of technology
B. sharp criticism of the role of the Industrial Revolution
C. thorough analysis of the replacement of the human mind by computers D. comprehensive description of the negative consequences of technology
Section C
Directions: Read the passage carefully. Fill in each blank with a proper sentence given in the
box. Each sentence can be used only once. Note that there are two more sentences than you need. A.Keep an eye on your storage media. B.Organization makes it easy to find your stuff later. C.Write down where you have important files. D. Would you care if this was deleted tomorrow? E.Remember something is better than nothing. F. Preserve your digital memories now, before it's too late.
How to Keep Your Digital Memorials Safe?
Do you value your digital stuff? Nearly everyone is creating things with computers, and some do it without any concern for its value. Others recognize its current value, but think little about what it could mean to them in the future, and either aren't aware or don't think that all of it could be destroyed tomorrow. But hard drives die all the time, and the online services into which people sink their time close with alarming regularity, taking the work of millions of people with it._________67____________. Steps
1.Prepare to make a quick backup. If nothing else, get a cheap USB stick and drag-and-drop your documents folder onto it. Worry about the other things later. You should do more than this, but it's most important to take the most valuable,
irreplaceable information from your hard drive and put it on a second medium to guard against hard drive failure, theft or loss.
2.Decide what you value. Some questions to ask yourself are:How replaceable is this data? How good are you at assessing the value of items? _______68__________. For things like business accounts and documents, the answer is of course you would. This kind of thing should be your first priority.
3.Start making backups. __________69__________ Diminishing returns (效益递减) apply in backups as they do with everything else. The cheapest and simplest backup methods take care of an overwhelming majority of likely loss-of-stuff. Over-complicating your backup strategy is the biggest trap: the more complicated and expensive you insist on making it, the less likely you are to do it.
4.____________70______________If one of your backup drives fails, replace it
immediately. Remember that all storage devices eventually become obsolete (陈旧的). If you have valuable files on obsolete media, those files become increasingly difficult to access with every passing year. So in order to keep your files accessible, remember to migrate your collection to new storage media periodically.
IV Summary Writing
Direction: Read the following passage. Summarize the main idea and the main file of the
passage in no more than 60 words. Use your own words as far as possible.
Airline seats have been one-size-fits-all since the beginning. Today, those 16.5 to 18-inch wide seats are anything but.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), obesity(肥胖症) has more than doubled since 1980. In 2014, more than l.9 billion adults were overweight, and over 600 million were obese.
The unchanged seat size and increase of obese passengers highlight the conflict between airlines' needs and basic passenger rights.
Last month, lawyer Giorgio Destro, an Italian lawyer, sued Emirates, claiming his flight was disturbed by an obese passenger seated next to him. According to reports, Destro was not able to comfortably sit in his assigned seat, and spent much of the nine-hour flight standing or sitting in crew seats, because a 400-pound passenger took up half of his seat.
Many airlines have responded to the growing obesity by insisting passengers of size buy two seats to ensure safety and comfort. Samoa Air, for example, is charging by weight (which has become known as a \歧视的, but some argue that this is purely down to numbers. A kilo is a kilo. It has nothing to do, with the condition of the weight.The heavier a plane is, the more fuel it burns through.
In other words, the argument is whether it is fair that a 150-pound person is charged for their 50-pound bag, when a 300-pound person with a carry-on isn’t charged anything extra.
However, Peggy Howell of NAAFA argues that obesity is an illness, and that obese people should be entitled to having certain rights protected.
“We question the legality of the discriminatory policy and whether it violates the Air Carrier Access Act governing the treatment of passengers with disabilities,” she says. “The American Medical Association (AMA) recently declared obesity a disease, which should make fat passengers a protected class.”
Howell points out that the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) addressed this issue in 2009, and issued a ‘one-person, one-fare’ ruling covering passengers with disabilities. Those passengers include ones who are ‘clinically obese’ and who cannot fit into a single seat.
V.Translation
Direction: Translate the following sentences into English ,using the words given in the brackets.
72. 互联网经济在为中国的国内外贸易提供新的机遇。( provide)
73.这段30分钟的视频上传网上只有两小时，就有成千上万的人观看过。( after) 74. 就孩子报考哪所大学，很多父母煞费苦心地做仔细调查，咨询专家。( pains)
75. 有时我们发现自己处于这样的窘境：即便觉得自己所做的不对，也要勉强为之。( where)
VI. Guide writing
Direction: Write an English composition in 120-150 words according to the introduction given
below in Chinese.
简要描述图片，并结合实例谈谈你的看法。
KEY：
1-10 ACBBA DACAD 11-16 CBA DCA DAAC
21. had gone 22. wrapped 23. when 24.what biggest 29.causing 30. with
31-40 EFKHB CIAGD
41-55 ADBCD ACBDD DBCAC
56-59 CDAA ABC DDDA
67-70 FDEA
25. as 26. a 27. can 28.