Passage One In what now seems like the prehistoric times of computer history, the earth's postwar era, there was quite a widespread concern that computers would take over the world from man one day. Already today, less than forty years later, as computers are relieving us of more and more of the routine tasks in business and in our personal lives, we are faced with a less dramatic but also less foreseen problem. People tend to be over-trusting of computers and are reluctant to challenge their authority. Indeed, they behave as if they were hardly aware that wrong buttons may be pushed, or that a computer may simply malfunction (失误). Obviously, there would be no point in investing in a computer if you had to check all its answers, but people should also rely on their own internal computers and check the machine when they have the feeling that something has gone wrong. Questioning and routine double-checks must continue to be as much a part of good business as they were in pre-computer days. Maybe each computer should come with the warning, for all the help this computer may provide, it should not be seen as a substitute for fundamental thinking and reasoning skills.
1. What is the main purpose of this passage?
A.To look back to the early days of computers.
B.To explain what technical problems may occur with computers.
C.To discourage unnecessary investment in computers.
D.To warn against a mentally lazy attitude towards computers.
Passage Two Sequoyah was born about 1770 in the village of Taskigi. He was a Cherokee Indian, and, along with his entire tribe, he was illiterate. As a result of a hunting accident that left him partially crippled, he enjoyed more leisure time than other tribesmen. And he began to ponder the idea that the Indian people might also come to possess the secret of the "talking leaf". Alone in the woods, he spent hours playing with pieces of wood or making odd little marks on one stone with another. Neither his wife nor his friends offered him any encouragement, and many ridiculed him. But Sequoyah was obsessed with his dream of developing an alphabet for the Cherokee language. At first, Sequoyah tried to give every word a separate character, but eventually he realized the futility of such approach and settled on assigning one character to each sound. What he achieved twelve years later was a syllabary of eighty-six characters representing all of the sounds of Cherokee. In combination, they produced a written language of remarkable simplicity and effectiveness. It was so simple, in fact, that it could be learned in a few days. Within a matter of months, a population that had been entirely illiterate became almost entirely literate. As a tribute to this great Indian educator, the tallest trees in North America, the Sierra Redwoods, were given the name Sequoyahs.
1. From this passage, we know that Sequoyah was ______.
Passage Three Change—or the ability to adapt oneself to a changing environment—is essential to evolution. The farmer whose land is required for housing or industry must adapt himself: he can move to another place and master the problems peculiar to it; he can change his occupation, perhaps after a period of training; or he can starve to death. A nation which cannot adapt its trade or defense requirements to meet world conditions faces economic or military disaster. Nothing is fixed and permanently stable. There must be movement forward, which is progress of a sort, or movement backwards, which is decay and deterioration. In this context, tradition can be a force for good or for evil. As long as it offers a guide, it helps the ignorant and the uninformed to take a step forward and, thereby, to adapt themselves to changed circumstances. Tradition, or custom, can guide the hunter as effectively as it can influence the nervous hostess. But if we make an idol (偶像) of tradition, it ceases to become a guide and becomes an obstacle lying across the path of change and progress. If we insist on trying to plot the future by the past, we clearly handicap ourselves and invite failure. The better course is to accept the help which tradition can give, but realizing that it necessarily has its roots in the past, to be well aware of its limitations in a changing world.
1. According to this passage, which of the following statements is true?
A.To avoid decay and deterioration, we must keep the world permanently stable.
B.The world is always changing, so we must adjust ourselves to new conditions.
C.The important point of evolution is that the world undergoes movement forward and movement backward alternately.
D.Tradition often become an obstacle lying across the path of change and progress.
Passage Four Why don't birds get lost on their long flights from one place to another? Scientists have puzzled over this question for many years. Now they're beginning to fill in the blanks. Not long ago, experiments showed that birds rely on the sun to guide them during daylight hours. But what about birds that fly by night? Tests with artificial stars have proved that certain night-flying birds are able to follow the stars in their long-distance flights. A dove (鸽子) had spent its lifetime in a cage and had never flown under a natural sky. Yet it showed an inborn ability to use the stars for guidance. The bird's cage was placed under an artificial star-filled sky. The bird tried to fly in the same direction as that taken by his outdoor cousins. Any change in the position of the artificial stars caused a change in the direction of his flight. But the stars are apparently their principal means of navigation (航行) only. When the stars are hidden by clouds, they seemingly find their way by such landmarks as mountain ranges, coast lines, and river courses. But when it's too dark to see these, the doves circle helplessly, unable to find their way.
1. The reasons why birds don't get lost on long flights ______.
Passage Five If Europeans thought a drought was something that happened only in Africa, they know better now. After four years of below normal rainfall (in some cases only 10 percent of the annual average), vast areas of France, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Britain and Ireland are dry and barren. Water is so low in the canals of northern France that waterway traffic is forbidden except on weekends. Oyster growers in Brittany report a 30 percent drop in production because of the loss of fresh water in local rivers necessary for oyster breeding. In southeastern England, the rolling green hills of Kent have turned so brown that officials have been weighing plans to pipe in water from Wales. In Portugal, farmers in the southern Alentejo region have held prayer meetings for rain—so far, in vain. Governments in drought plagued countries are taking drastic measures. Authorities in hard hit areas of France have banned washing cars and watering lawns. In Britain, water will soon be metered, like gas and electricity. "The English have always taken water for granted," says Graham Warren, a spokesman of Britain's National Rivers Authority. "Now they're putting a price on it." Even a sudden end to the drought would not end the misery in some areas. It will take several years of unusually heavy winter rain, the experts say, just to bring existing water reserves up to their normal levels.
1. What does the author mean by saying "they know better now"?
A.They know more about the causes of the drought.
B.They have a better understanding of the drought in Africa.
C.They have realized that the drought in Europe is the most serious one.
D.They have realized that droughts hit not only Africa but also Europe.