1 . What do you do when you need to look something up? Go to the library? Open an encyclopaedia? Click onto the internet? These days, most people go straight to Wikipedia, the online encyclopaedia. But how reliable is it?
There’s no denying the popularity and usefulness of Wikipedia. It attracts a massive 78 million visitors every month, and the site is available in more than 270 different languages. It’s one of the most comprehensive resources available, and it’s got much more information than an ordinary encyclopaedia. The site is updated on a daily basis by thousands of people around the world. Anyone with an internet connection can log on and edit the contents or add a new page. And you don’t need any formal training.
Of course, there are some controls. Wikipedia has a team of more than 1,500 administrators who check for false information. But with more than 16 million articles to keep an eye on, it isn’t easy. So, while Wikipedia benefits from being constantly updated with information from all over the world, it’s also open to “destroyers”.
Some of the damage is easy to notice. One prankster(搞恶作剧者) drew devil horns and a moustache on Microsoft chairman Bill Gates’ photo, while another edited Greek philosopher Plato’s biography to say he was a “Hawaiian weather man who is widely believed to have been a student of ‘Barney the Purple Dinosaur’ and to have been deeply influenced by his dog, Cutie.”
But other things are harder to spot. The most common form of vandalism involves adding tiny items of false information into the biography of a famous person. Incredibly, some of this misinformation has appeared in newspapers, with The Daily Mail, The Guardian and The Independent all having fallen victim to the pranks. For example, it was reported that TV theme tune composer Ronnie Hazlehurst had written the S Club 7 hit “Reach”. Of course, not true.
So, if you’re going to use any information from Wikipedia, make sure you double-check it first.
1. According to Paragraph 2, what is right about Wikipedia?| A．It is the most useful look-up tool. |
| B．Only professionals can edit its contents. |
| C．New information is added to it every day. |
| D．You can find information in any language on it. |
| A．To prove Wikipedia is unreliable. |
| B．To tell us what Bill Gate looks like. |
| C．To accuse someone of misbehavior. |
| D．To give an example of people’s pranks. |
| A．Damage. | B．Recovery. |
| C．Repair. | D．Protection. |
| A．Favorable. | B．Cautious. |
| C．Ambiguous. | D．Disapproving. |
2 . China which boasts 4 inventions in ancient times, has once again shown its ability to change the world with its “new four great inventions”: high-speed railways, electronic payments, shared bicycles and online shopping. “The new great inventions are all related to China’s high technologies, which improved the quality of people’s lives.” said Wu Hao, executive director of the BRRI.
“It is increasingly clear that China is innovative and is leading in many ways such as social messaging app WeChat,”said Rebecca Fannin, founder and editor of Silicon Dragon.
The new four innovative ways of life were most appealing to youths from 20 countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative, according to a survey by the Belt and Road Research Institute of Beijing Foreign Studies University.
“My wallet is no longer in use. I can buy and eat whatever I want simply with a tap of my phone, “said Lin Jinlong, an overseas Chinese student from Cambodia, adding that. “even pancake sellers are using Alipay”. “I can order food at home in China, which is super convenient. If I were at home in Cambodia, I would have to go outdoors.”
“The trip from Beijing to the coastal city of Tianjin is more than 100 km. You can’t imagine how fast it takes if you travel by Chinese high-speed train. It will take only half an hour. But in Cambodia, which has only two railways, the traveling time of the same distance will be increased 6 times,” said Lin.
“China has entered a new period,” said Bernhard Schwartlander, World Health Organization Representative in China. As a huge fan of bicycles, Bernhard expressed his affection for China’s shared bicycles, saying that “shared bikes are bringing cycling back to people’s lives and they are making public transport more attractive and convenient, and encouraging people to be more active.”
1. What does the underlined word “innovative” in Paragraph 2 probably mean?| A．Creative. |
| B．Expensive. |
| C．Popular. |
| D．Convenient. |
| A．Food can be ordered by cell phones in Cambodian. |
| B．Alipay is only popular with pancake sellers in China. |
| C．Traveling 100 km by rail in Cambodia takes up to 3 hours. |
| D．Wallets can be replaced by cell phones both in China and Cambodia. |
| A．High-speed railways. |
| B．Electronic payments. |
| C．Shared bicycles. |
| D．Online shopping. |
| A．To compare old and new four Chinese great inventions. |
| B．To introduce benefits of popular means of transportation. |
| C．To present a Cambodian student's living experience in China. |
| D．To show how four Chinese new inventions impressed the world. |
