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　　倒數第五周星期

　　A

　　Steve Jobs, the former chief executive of Apple, announced his resignation as head of Apple on Aug．24, 2011．The following is the letter from Steve Jobs to the Apple board．

　　To the Apple Board of Directors and the Apple Community:

　　I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO, I would be the first to let you know．Unfortunately, that day has come．

　　I hereby resign as CEO of Apple．I would like to serve, if the Board sees fit, as Chairman of the Board, director and Apple employee． As far as my successor（繼任者）goes, I strongly recommend that we execute（執行）our succession plan and name Tim Cook as CEO of Apple．

　　I believe Apple’s brightest and most innovative（創意改革的）days are ahead of it．And I look forward to watching and contributing to its success in a new role．

　　I have made some of the best friends of my life at Apple, and I thank you all for the many years of being able to work alongside you．

　　Steve

　　Tim Cook, the newly appointed CEO of Apple, sent an email to the troops after Steve Jobs stepped down．Below is the full text of the email．

　　Team:

　　I am looking forward to the amazing opportunity of serving as CEO of the most innovative company in the world．Joining Apple was the best decision I’ve ever made and it’s been the privilege of a lifetime to work for Apple and Steve for over 13 years．I share Steve’s optimism for Apple’s bright future．

　　Steve has been an incredible leader and mentor to me, as well as to the entire executive team and our amazing employees．We are really looking forward to Steve’s ongoing guidance and inspiration as our Chairman．

　　I want you to be confident that Apple is not going to change．I cherish and celebrate Apple’s unique principles and values．Steve built a company and culture that is unlike any other in the world and we are going to stay true to that — it is in our DNA．We are going to continue to make the best products in the world that delight our customers and make our employees incredibly proud of what they do．

　　I love Apple and I am looking forward to diving into my new role．All of the incredible support from the Board, the executive team and many of you has been inspiring．I am confident our best years lie ahead of us and that together we will continue to make Apple the magical place that it is．

　　Tim

　　Cook, 50, once served in IBM and Compaq before he joined Apple in 1998．He was promoted to the chief operating officer in 2007 and has been the real CEO responsible for most of Apple’s day-to-day operations during Job’s medical leaves．

　　It’s believed that the replacement will not affect Apple’s business at least in short term, but it is unclear whether Apple’s innovation and operational efficiencies will continue unabated．

　　41．Which of the following is conveyed in Steve Jobs’ letter to the Apple board?

　　A．He announced his resignation and the Apple’s succession plan．

　　B．He recalled his best years of working alongside his best friends at Apple．

　　C．He expressed his expectation of Apple’s new successor Tim Cook．

　　D．He showed his regret for being unable to meet his duties as CEO．

　　42．What message does Cook mainly intend to communicate in his email to the team?

　　A．Joining Apple is a best decision． B．Unique guidance makes Apple a success．

　　C．Apple isn’t going to change． D．Optimism brings Apple a bright future．

　　43．It can be inferred from the passage that

　　A．Cook has been in charge of Apple’s daily operations since 2007

　　B．Cook is proud of his promotion and regards it as a lifetime honor

　　C．Steve Jobs refused to provide ongoing guidance because of his health problem

　　D．Steve Jobs and Tim Cook share the same belief in Apple’s future

　　44．According to Tim Cook, what makes Apple the magical place that it is?

　　A．Apple’s unique culture, principles and values．

　　B．Apple’s best quality products in the world．

　　C．Apple’s successful sales promotion strategies．

　　D．Apple’s great efforts to satisfy its employees．

　　45．The public seem to take a（n）

　　attitude towards Apple’s future in the long run．

　　A．supportive

　　B．uncertain

　　C．pessimistic

　　D．optimistic

　　B

　　46．All the flights in Europe were cancelled earlier in the year 2010 because

　　A．the worldwide earthquakes forced the airports to stop their services

　　B．the ash from the eruption of Icelandic volcano made flying too dangerous

　　C．the airports had to do something to guarantee the security of the passengers

　　D．a crash in Poland made all the flights grounded for safety reasons

　　47．Of the following four prominent figures that passed away in 2010, who was the youngest?

　　A．Corey Haim

　　B．Dennis Hopper

　　C．Norman Wisdom

　　D．Tony Curtis

　　48．The underlined phrase “kick off” in the film section most probably means

　　A．become more concerned about

　　B．start one’s new career

　　C．arouse people’s enthusiasm in something

　　D．take a giant leap forward

　　49．When Mary Bale says “it’s just a cat, at the end of the day”, she is really

　　A．puzzled

　　B．annoyed

　　C．guilty

　　D．worried

　　50．We can infer from the passage that

　　A．it’s the first time for the Spanish to celebrate their winning the football World Cup

　　B．the year 2010 witnessed the first appearance of 3D films in human history

　　C．Arnold Schwarzenegger has a different accent from the standard American English

　　D．Dubai is proud to have the world’s safest and tallest structure

　　C

　　Working outside the International Space Station （ISS）, an astronaut is suddenly hit by a piece of space debris（碎片）that damages his spacesuit．Alarmed, he realizes he’s just seconds from disaster．Moving fast, his prepared robot partner slaps（拍打）an auto-patch over the tear in his spacesuit．Huge sighs of relief fill the ISS．Inside, the astronaut responsible for saving the spacewalker’s life controls everything the robot avatar has done — including rescuing its human partner — while it works outside the space station．

　　R2:The Real Deal

　　A robot companion can come in handy to space travelers, whether they’re as far away as Mars or as close as a space station or moon base．Space-travelling avatars, controlled remotely by humans are still a concept．But earlier in the year 2011, NASA sent a humanoid robot into space for the first time．It’s called R2, short for Robonaut 2．The robot was delivered by the space shuttle Discovery and will remain on the ISS to be tested．

　　NASA expects robots like R2 to be a huge help to astronauts．“Our goal is for robots to work side by side with humans,” says NASA’s Matt Ondler．R2 is controlled by humans using laptops． It’s programmed to perform a number of small tasks, such as “find an object．” In most situations, humans are still far better with their hands than robots．But that’s not necessarily true in space, where astronauts must wear bulky spacesuits and heavy gloves．And since they don’t need to eat, breathe, or go to the bathroom, robonauts have the advantage for lengthy jobs．

　　R2 isn’t ready for spacewalks yet, but NASA hopes that future improvements will make this possible．“Robonauts will help our astronauts with the three D’s: jobs that are dirty, dull, and dangerous,” says Ondler．

　　To The Moon

　　Someday the space agency hopes to send R2 to the moon．Sending a robot to the moon will befar less expensive than sending a human．A robot is stronger, can survive in tighter spaces, and doesn’t need air．Even better, robots don’t care how long it takes for NASA to return them to Earth．

　　Once on the moon, the robonaut could perform experiments, send live video back to Earth, talk to classrooms full of kids, and explore the lunar surface．R2 will be able to move using legs, or by attaching its torso（軀干）to a four-wheeled rover（探測器） and becoming part of vehicle．And when R2’s battery is low, it can plug into a solar-powered recharging station and get some much-needed juice．All in all, a pretty sweet life for a humble robot!

　　The future R2 would be designed to operate by itself．But for difficult tasks, a human operator would control it like an avatar in a video game．NASA will need people skilled at operating robonauts to ensure the success of future missions．So the next time your mom complains that you’re spending too much time on video games, just tell her you’re training for a job with NASA．

　　51．In paragraph1, the writer gives a detailed description of a space accident to

　　A．stress the danger of an astronaut’s walk in space

　　B．tell readers the unforgettable experience of an astronaut

　　C．show his concern for the present situation of space walk

　　D．introduce what robots are likely to do for astronauts

　　52．Why does the writer say Robonaut 2 is “The Real Deal”?

　　A．It may have the advantage for complex and small tasks at low costs．

　　B．It has been programmed to help astronauts with three D’s．

　　C．It is flexible and can be easily controlled by humans beings．

　　D．It proves to be a good companion for space travelers．

　　53．By saying“All in all, a pretty sweet life for a humble robot!”, the writer means that

　　A．an ordinary robot will be able to move freely in comfortable surroundings

　　B．an ordinary robot will enjoy a comfortable life in space like humans on Earth

　　C．a future robot will explore the moon easily by using a four-wheeled rover

　　D．a future robot is stronger and will handle any difficulty in space easily

　　54．It can be learned from the passage that

　　A．the future R2 will perform experiments without human control

　　B．humans are much smarter with their hands than robots in space

　　C．someday humans might control an avatar on the moon

　　D．sending a human to the moon will cost far less than sending a robot

　　D

　　The end of my sophomore year was approaching．Mom called me at the dorm one evening during the last week of May．My summer break would be spent with grandma and grandpa, helping out around their farm．The arrangement made good sense to all the family．I wasn’t fully convinced of that myself but guessed it was just one summer．Next year would be my little brother’s turn．

　　I arrived late that afternoon．Grandma had fixed more food than the three of us could possibly eat．She loved me entirely too much．The next morning, Grandpa fixed breakfast for the two of us． He told me Grandma had tired herself out yesterday and was going to rest in bed a little longer．I made a mental note to myself to not ask her to do things for me while I was there．I was there to help, not be a burden．

　　Weeks passed．I gradually settled into a routine of daily work with Grandpa．In the evenings I usually read or talked with Grandma．She never grew tired of hearing about college or anything I was involved in．She told me stories about her childhood, family and the early years after she and Grandpa had married．

　　The last Saturday in June, Grandpa suggested going fishing．We hadn’t expected what we saw when we got to the pond that morning: One of the swans was dead．Grandpa had given the pair of swans to Grandma on their 50th anniversary．“Why don’t we see about buying another one,” I suggested, hoping the situation could somehow be righted．Grandpa thought for a few moments before answering．

　　He finally said, “no．．．it’s not that easy, Bruce．You see, swans mate for life．” He raised his finger to point, holding the fishing pole in his other hand．“There’s nothing we can do for the one that’s left．He has to work it out for himself．”

　　A few days later, we drove by the pond while doing our morning check on the cows．We found the other swan lying near the same spot we had found the first one．It, too, was dead．

　　The month of July started with me and Grandpa putting up a new stretch of fence．Then July 12 came．That was the day Grandma passed away．Grandma had died suddenly that morning of a stroke．By the afternoon, my parents were there．The old house was soon crowded with relatives and Grandpa’s friends．

　　The funeral was held the next day．Grandpa had insisted on having it as soon as possible．On the second day after the funeral, Grandpa announced at the breakfast table, “This is a working farm． We have a lot of things to do．The rest of you should get back to your own lives．” Most of the family had already left, but this was Grandpa’s way of telling the rest it was time for them to go home．My parents were the last to leave after lunch．

　　Grandpa was not a man who could outwardly express his grief around others, and we all worried about him．The rest of the summer flowed by．We stayed busy working．I thought there was something different about Grandpa but couldn’t quite put my finger on it．

　　September was nearing, and part of me did not want to leave．I thought of skipping the fall semester and staying around a few more months．When I mentioned it, grandpa quickly told me that my place was back at college．

　　The day finally came for me to pack my car and leave. I shock his hand and chanced a hug. As Idrove down the driveway, I saw him in the rearview mirror．He waved to me and then walked to the pasture gate to start the morning livestock check．

　　Mom called me at school on a stormy October day to tell me Grandpa had died．A neighbor had stopped by that morning for coffee and found him in the kitchen．He died of a stroke, the same as Grandma．At that moment, I understood what he’d clumsily tried to explain to me about the swan on that morning we fished together by the pond．

　　55．We can learn from Paragraph 1 that

　　A．Bruce regarded working on the farm as a rare chance

　　B．Bruce longed to enjoy himself freely on the farm

　　C．the brothers took turns to attend their grandparents

　　D．Bruce was not happy with his parents’ arrangement

　　56．What did the writer think at the sight of the first dead swan?

　　A．Another swan should be bought in place of the dead one．

　　B．The other was bound to die since swans mate for life．

　　C．Grandma would be in deep sorrow over its death．

　　D．The living can do nothing for the dead．

　　57．Grandpa quickly dismissed the family after the funeral because

　　A．he wanted to carry on with his farm work

　　B．he tended to deal with grief in life by himself

　　C．he didn’t want his normal life disturbed

　　D．he took for granted the matter of life and death

　　58．By “I couldn’t put my fingers on it”, the writer means that

　　A．I could do nothing to help him out of grief

　　B．I was so busy that I couldn’t give a hand to Grandpa

　　C．I couldn’t tell exactly what was different about my Grandpa

　　D．I stayed busy working and couldn’t keep Grandpa’s company

　　59．Which of the following best describes Grandpa’s character?

　　A．Outgoing, clumsy and considerate． B．Loyal, considerate and independent．

　　C．Talkative, clumsy and independent． D．Romantic, outgoing and loyal．

　　60．Which of the following can be the best title for the passage?