We use the Internet for many things: business, shopping， writing letters, talking to people, finding information and so on. In recent years a new kind of English has grown on the Internet. There’s no real word for it yet, so we’ll call it e-talk. People don’t like typing too much. To save time, they turn phrases into a few letters called acronyms. Acronyms are often used in chat rooms. Some of them are.
BTW （by the way）   BRB (be right back)
LOL (laughing out loud) IMO (in my opinion)
People also use many abbreviations (縮寫), They are shortened forms of words. Some common abbreviations are:
Info (information)  puter (computer)
Pie (picture)       sec (second)
We usually don’t see people when we communicate (交流) on the Net, so people have new ways to show feelings. Most people use their keywords to draw “feeling”. such as:
:-)( happy)    :-p(joking)   :-( (sad)  :-0(surprised)
These days, many forums (論壇) have picture feelings. For example，

There are even whole new words, like” newbie’s”(someone who is new on a chat board or forum).
It takes time for people to get used to (適應(yīng)) e-talk. Also, different groups on the Net have their own special ways of communicating. Newbie’s have to ask other people what they mean. As the Internets grows, e-talk will continue to grow and change.
【小題1】What does the underline “acronyms” mean?
A.網(wǎng)友        B.聊天室      C.首字母縮寫詞
【小題2】Why do people type acronyms?
A. to show their feelings.
B. Because people can type them quickly.
C. In this way newbie’s won’t understand them.
【小題3】What does” BTW, my puter is not working well.:-(“mean?
A. The person is angry at somebody.
B. The person is happy about getting a new computer.
C. The person is sad that his computer is having problems.
【小題4】E-talk wills probably          .
A. keep changing.
B. be easy by people on the telephone
C. be used by people on the telephone
【小題5】What’s the best title for this passage?
A. E-talk language
B. Picture Feelings
C. How to Use Abbreviations

Life in the twenty-first century
The World Future Society is a group of people from more than 80 countries who are interested in how modern technology is making our world better, and who write reports about how it will change our lives.                                                                                                                                            The things that we will be able to do in the twenty-first century (since the year 2000) should help us live better lives in many ways, at home and at work, in our own country and around the world. Here are just some of them, put into five groups.
People
People may live for up to 120 years and use new technology to help when people go blind, deaf and have other problems. The number of people over a hundred years old could go from 135,000 today to 2.2 million people by 2050. By 2015 people think that 100 million workers will be able to work from home for a company in a different country by using the Internet.
Money
Worldwide e-business will become even more successful with online shops that sell special products for each person, which will be brought to their house the next day.
Environment
The technology for making energy from wind and the Sun is growing very quickly. In the future wind and Sun energy could become much cheaper and many more countries could use it. This would be very useful in poor countries. The air in big cities would also become much cleaner and healthier as a result.
Society and culture
The Internet will help to create more worldwide friendships. Families may spend more time together as people will be able to do 24-hour online banking and shopping.
Technology      
The new science of “nanotechnology” (very small robots or machines) will make all sorts of products smaller and lighter. Very, very small machines could take away rubbish, make things in factories, and help inside the human body by taking away fat. By 2012 people will be able to wear these small machines that look like watches, which will give them lots of information about their body and keep them healthy.
【小題1】What does the World Future Society do?

To be a good teacher, you need some of the gifts of a good actor; you must be able to hold the attention and interest of your audience; you must be a clear speaker, with a good, strong, pleasant voice which is fully under your control; and you must be able to act what you are teaching, in order to make its meaning clear.
Watch a good teacher, and you will see that he doesn’t sit still before his class; he stands the whole time he is teaching; he walks about, using his arms, hands and fingers to help him in his explanations, and his face to express feelings.
There are very important differences between the teacher’s work and the actor’s.
The actor has to speak words which he has learnt by heart; he has to repeat exactly the same words each time he plays a certain part, even his movements and the ways in which he uses his voice are usually fixed beforehand(預(yù)先).What he has to do is to make all these carefully learnt words and actions seem natural on the stage. A good teacher works in quite a different way. His audience take an active part in his play: they ask and answer questions, they obey orders, and if they don’t understand anything, they say so. The teacher can’t learn his part by heart, but must invent it as he goes along.
I have known many teachers who are fine actors in class but are unable to take part in a stage-play because they can’t keep strictly to what another has written.
【小題1】What does the underlined word “gifts” mean?

I am a writer. My job is to write something for the newspaper. I work very hard. Every morning I get up at seven. I take some exercise and then have a light breakfast. Then I drive to my office. It takes me thirty minutes, so I usually get there earlier than others.
I am very busy. I think every minute counts, so I plan my work very carefully. I keep a diary to help me remember things. I meet and talk with many people. I make lots of telephone calls. I often go out and visit many people. I come back home at seven. I often watch TV at supper time. Then I begin to write down what I know. I like being busy.
【小題1】What does the writer of the passage think of his job?