(A)

　　Online Communication

　　In an age when technology moves faster than most can keep up with, a small group of people still remain in the time of old-fashioned letters. Frankly speaking, I was once certain that traditional letters could never be replaced by other means of communication.

　　But a story about online communication changed my mind.

　　An old man, who suffered a lot from Parkinson's disease, was not able to talk clearly and could hardly write his name. Living totally alone, he managed to keep in touch with nearly all the members of his family. How did he achieve this? He clicked out words on his computer keyboard.

　　I, therefore, managed to get an E-mail box as soon as the opportunity came. My life changed.

　　E-mail, and all online communication, is something truly different. It has capabilities that few other products can match.

　　E-mail is convenient. It takes less time with its fast speed and 24-hour connection. The slow postal service is no match. If you wouldn't want to have a face-to-face talk with your manager, you might talk with him through E-mail even if you are in the same

　　office.

　　Naming all the good things about online communication is not easy. But wait. E-mail can be inconvenient. It can waste time and energy. Just think what may happen when you take a short vacation and return to find your E-mail box filled with 200 unread messages. You could easily spend half a day clearing junk ads.

　　Then, online communication will keep us staying at our computer while it connects us to distant strangers. Once we throw ourselves into the machine, we may forget the human touches we once held so dear. I'm sure there is and always will be a place for the old-fash-ioned letter, phone call, and face-to-face meet-ing... even in the world of modern communication.

　　As I listen to the sound of the modem(调制解调器), I was excited at stepping out to the outside world but, at the same time, I sensed a loss of control over something valuable in my personal life.

　　(Words: 345;Minutes: 6.5)

　　1. What is the most probable meaning of the underlined word "junk" in paragraph 7?

　　A. Old and useless.

　　B. New and useful.

　　C. Short but valuable.

　　D. Long but clear.

　　2. What caused the writer to become interested in E-mail and online communication?

　　A. The sound of the modem.

　　B. His own illness.

　　C. The changing of his life.

　　D. A sick old man's experience.

　　3. What does the writer think of online communication?

　　A. It should replace old-fashioned letters completely.

　　B. It is perfect and always does good to you.

　　C. It is extremely useful and convenient, but it may be inconvenient or even harmful.

　　D. It does more harm than good.

　　4. According to the writer, traditional means of communication will never disappear because ________.

　　A. they are convenient and popular though they are slow

　　B. they help to keep the friendly relationship between people

　　C. most people cannot keep up with the development of technology

　　D. modern means of communication does too much harm

　　5. How did the sick old man keep in touch with his family members?

　　A. With the help of his computer.

　　B. By writing letters with his pen.

　　C. By making telephone calls.

　　D. By visiting them regularly.

　　(B)

　　A German taxi-driver, Franz Bussman, recently found his brother who was thought to have been killed twenty years before.

　　While on a walking tour with his wife, he stopped to talk to a workman. After they had gone on, Mrs. Bussman said that the workman was closely like her husband and even suggested that he might be his brother. Franz laughed at the idea, pointing out that his brother had been killed in action during the war. Though Mrs. Bussman knew this story quite well, she thought that there was a chance in a million that she might be right.

　　A few days later, she sent a boy to the workman to ask him if his name was Hans Bussman. Needless to say, the man's name was Hans Bussman. And he really was Franz's long-lost brother. When the brothers were

　　reunited, Hans explained how it was that he was still alive.

　　After having being wounded towards the end of the war, he had been sent to hospital and was separated from his unit. The hospital had been bombed and Hans had made his way back into Western Germany on foot. Meanwhile, his unit was lost and all records of him had been destroyed. Hans returned to his family house, but the house had been bombed. Guessing that his family had been killed during an air-raid(空袭), Hans settled down in a village fifty miles away where he had remained ever since. (Words: 244;Minutes: 5)

　　6. Which of the following can be used as the best title of the passage?

　　A. Living Not Far

　　B. A Chance in a Million

　　C. Coming Back to Life

　　D. Back after the War

　　7. Walking along the street, ________.

　　A. Mr. Bussman recognized his brother at the first sight

　　B. Mrs. Bussman thought of her long-lost brother

　　C. Mr. and Mrs. Bussman talked to a

　　workman because he looked like his brother

　　D. Mr. Bussman happened to meet a work-man and talked to him

　　8. How to understand the sentence "There was a chance in a million that she might be right. "?

　　A. There was a little possibility of what she suggested, though little.

　　B. It was impossible for her to be right.

　　C. She had no chance to meet his brother any more.

　　D. There were many chances for her to meet his brother again.

　　9. Which of the following orders is right?

　　a. He walked back to Western Germany.

　　b. He was wounded when the war was coming to the end.

　　c. The hospital was destroyed by bombs.

　　d. He came back to his family house.

　　e. He was sent to hospital.

　　f. His unit of German didn't exist any longer.

　　A. b, a, e, d, f, cB. b, e, c, a, f, d

　　C. b, e, a, c, d, fD. b, c, f, d, a, e

　　答案：

　　(A)1. A。从上下文看,你的电子邮箱里塞满了junk广告,要花半天的时间清除掉,可见junk表示old and useless。

　　2. D。作者一直坚信传统的信件的地位是不可动摇的,但在了解了一位患帕金森症的老人的例子后就转变了观念。

　　3. C。本文讲述了网络的两个方面,E-mail is convenient及E-mail can be inconvenient。但从作者的叙述中我们可以感觉到其对网络的态度是积极的、肯定的。

　　4. B。作者在文中提到网络是其它产品无法相提并论的,但它也会令人失去我们曾经视为珍贵的human touches,每当"我"上网时感到失去了生活中宝贵的人际交往,从而得出结论,写信、聚会等永远不会被代替。

　　5. A。从第三段可知,文中讲到的那位老人"在电脑键盘上敲打出单词",用电脑与其家人保持联系。

　　(B) 6. B。Bussman在旅行途中见到了自己认为早已在战争中丧生的弟弟,这种机会实在罕见。因此,用A Chance in a Million作为该文题目非常合适。

　　7. D。根据第二段中While on a walking tour with his wife, he stopped to talk to a workman来判断,Bussman和妻子碰巧遇到一位工人并同他交谈起来,而不是因为他看起来像他弟弟。

　　8. A。根据整篇短文的意思及a chance in a million(百万分之一的机率)我们可以看出,该句的意思为:尽管机率很小,但还是有一点可能性的。

　　9. B。这是一道排序题,考查学生能否掌握文中故事所发生的先后顺序。有关Hans Bussman所做的事情,在文中可以找到以下信息:Hans Bussman受伤后被送经医院,可排除A、D;医院被炸后,Hans Bussman步行回家,可排除C。

　　(文/孙启禄；英语通高三版2004年第2期；版权归英语辅导报社所有，独家网络合作伙伴新浪教育，未经许可，不得以任何形式进行转载。)