The iPhone, the iPad: each of Apple’s products sounds cool and has become a fad (一度時髦的風尚). Apple has cleverly taken advantage of the power of the letter “i” — and many other brands are following suit. The BBC’s iPlayer — which allows Web users to watch TV programs on the Internet — adopted the title in 2008. A lovely bear — popular in the US and the UK — that plays music and video is called “iTeddy”. A slimmed-down version of The Independent newspaper was launched last week under the name “i”.
In general, single-letter prefixes have been popular since the 1990s, when terms such as e-mail and e-commerce first came into use.
Most “i” products are aimed at young people and considering the major readers of The Independent’s “i”, it’s no surprise that they’ve selected this fashionable name.
But it’s hard to see what’s so special about the letter “i”. Why not use “a”, “b”, or “c” instead? According to Tony Thorne, former head of the Language Center at King’s College London, “i” works because its meaning has become ambiguous. When Apple uses “i”, no one knows whether it means Internet, information, individual or interactive, Thorne told BBCMagazines. “Even when Apple created the iPod, it seems it didn’t have one clear definition,” he says.
“However, thanks to Apple, the term is now associated with portability (輕便).” Adds Thorne.
Clearly the letter “i” also agrees with the idea that the Western world is centered on the individual. Each person believes they have their own needs, and we love personalized products for this reason.
Along with “Google” and “blog”, readers of BBCMagazines voted “i” as one of the top 20 words that have come to define the last decade.
But as history shows, people grow tired of fads. From the 1900s to 1990s, products with “2000” in their names became fashionable as the year was associated with all things advanced and modern. However, as we entered the new century, the trend unavoidably disappeared.
小題1:People use iPlayer to _________.
A．listen to musicB．make a call
C．watch TV programs onlineD．read newspapers
小題2:We can infer that The Independent’s “i” is aimed at _________.
A．young readersB．old readers
C．fashionable womenD．engineers
小題3:Nowadays, the “i” term often reminds people of the products which are _________.
A．portableB．environmentally friendly
C．a(chǎn)dvancedD．recyclable
小題4:The writer suggests that _________.
A．“i” products are often of high quality
B．iTeddy is a living bear
C．the letter “b” replaces the letter “i” to name the products
D．the popularity of “i” products may not last long

小題1:C
小題2:A
小題3:A
小題4:D

試題分析：本文主要講述的是“I”這個單詞在英語的廣泛使用，并分析了原因和前景。
小題1:C 細節(jié)題。根據(jù)第一段3,4行The BBC’s iPlayer — which allows Web users to watch TV programs on the Internet — adopted the title in 2008.說明人們用這種工具在網(wǎng)上看電視節(jié)目，故C正確。
小題2:A 細節(jié)題。根據(jù)文章第三段Most “i” products are aimed at young people and considering the major readers of The Independent’s “i”, it’s no surprise that they’ve selected this fashionable name.說明這樣的產(chǎn)品主要的目標人群就是年輕人，故A正確。
小題3:A 細節(jié)題。根據(jù)文章倒數(shù)第三段“However, thanks to Apple, the term is now associated with portability (輕便).” Adds Thorne.說明這樣的說法是與輕便有關(guān)，故A正確。
小題4:D 推理題。根據(jù)文章最后一段But as history shows, people grow tired of fads. From the 1900s to 1990s, products with “2000” in their names became fashionable as the year was associated with all things advanced and modern. However, as we entered the new century, the trend unavoidably disappeared.說明人們對于時尚的品味是不斷變化的，故也許不久以后，人們就會不再使用I這個字了。故D正確。
點評：本文主要講述了I這個字母的流行的原因，本文主旨鮮明,做題時要注意文章的首段和每一段的首句或尾句，因為它們往往就是文章的主題句。閱讀中要注意要點之間的關(guān)系。然后帶著問題，再讀全文，找出答題所需要的依據(jù)，完成閱讀任務。
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C．There would be more food.D．There would be less soil.
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科目：高中英語 來源：不詳 題型：閱讀理解

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“Hopefully, the award means more people will read Chinese literature and more works will get translated,” says Michel Hockx, professor of the Languages and Cultures of China and Inner Asia from University of London. “Many very good Chinese writers have been accepted globally for a long time already. Mo Yan is probably the most translated Chinese writer alive, with at least five of his novels made available in English over the past 20 years.”
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B．The Nobel Prize for Literature has a history of hundreds of years.
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B．China knows more about Europe and America than they know about China.
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小題2:Steven is going through a difficult time in his life and needs a film to inspire him.
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But the dark side of homeownership is now all too apparent: Indeed, easy lending stimulated（刺激）by the cult of homeownership may have triggered（引起）the financial crisis. Housing remains a drag on the economy. Existing-home sales in April dropped 27% from the previous month, worsening fears of a double-dip. And all that is just the obvious tale of a housing bubble and what happened when it popped. The real story is deeper and darker still.
For the better part of a century, politics, industry and culture lined up to create a fetish of the idea of buying a house. Homeownership has done plenty of good over the decades; it has provided stability to tens of millions of families. Yet by idealizing the act of buying a home, we have ignored the downsides. In the bubble years, lending standards slipped dramatically, allowing many Americans to put far too much of their income into paying for their housing. And we ignored longer-term phenomena too. Homeownership contributed to the hollowing out of cities and kept renters out of the best neighborhoods. It fed America’s overuse of energy and oil. It made it more difficult for those who had lost a job to find another. Perhaps worst of all, it helped us become casually self-deceiving: By telling ourselves that homeownership was a pathway to wealth and stable communities and better test scores, we avoided dealing with these frightening issues head-on.
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A．owning a home was undoubtedly good
B．homeownership could shape a country
C．houses could save families and America
D．homeownership was unconquerable
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B．there might be another housing breakdown in the U.S.
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D．the result of homeownership is much worse than it appears
小題3:It can be inferred from Para. 3 that ______.
A．Americans choose to live out of urban areas
B．it is the way to wealth to have one’s own house
C．it is hard for Americans to get a home loan
D．homeownership has made many people out of work
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Earlier this month, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the largest show-case in the world for performance art, officially got under way with theatre, dance, poetry and music presentations.
Many of the fringe artists, who can enter the fringe festival upon payment of a small fee, were inspired this year by the event of September 11.
Thousands of people flock to Edinburgh from around the world during the festival, which is over 50 years old. It aims to promote and encourage arts and to reflect international culture. It consists of various dance, music, opera, and theatre presentation taking place across the city during the three-week run.
小題1:Who will perform in the concert on Sunday?
A．Hector BerlionzB．Christoph von Dohnanyi
C．Claudio AbbadoD．Christian Tetzlaff
小題2:When did the Edinburgh Festival begin?
A．August 10.B．August 15.
C．August 31.D．September 11.
小題3: What did the Edinburgh Festival never have before?
A．Youth orchestra’s performances.
B．Poetry and music presentations.
C．Late evening classical music concerts.
D．Performances of American pianists and violinists.
小題4:Which of the following statements about the Edinburgh Festival is true?
A．It is the only festival of its kind in the world.
B．The artists who want to take part in the festival have to pay a small amount of money.
C．People who attend the festival are all from Scotland.
D．It is actually a dance festival.

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