1 . As I enter my 40s, I’ve noticed many of my parents’ generation think social networking is something they are simply unable to understand. They fear that, should they try, they will somehow get it wrong; they will say the wrong thing, do the wrong thing or behave in a way that causes embarrassment. But there are some secrets of social media for them to consider.

Here’s the first secret: everyone feels this way. I recently met a young actor who was complaining that her work demands that she join Microblog, but she always feels like she doesn’t have anything smart to say. It’s the same resistance (抵制). I hear from the older generation, who, however, have somehow believed that age is the barrier (障碍), rather than the differences of personal taste.

Here’s the second secret: everybody uses it for more or less the same reasons. Older generations often sign up to stay in touch with children and relatives. We talk about this kind of communication like it’s some old-fashioned activity, but it is exactly why younger people use social media. The truth is that most people use social media to gently keep an eye on one another, to see how those they care about are doing without needing to ring them up on the phone every night.

And this is the last secret: everyone gets to use them in their own way. Newcomers—younger and older—who worry about “getting it right” are thinking that there’s a right way to get them. But actually there isn’t. Personally, I talk a lot on Microblog. And some people post nothing and they use social media every day as readers. Social media companies would rather see people decorating their networks with pictures and posts, but there’s no rule against being a fly on the wall. It’s also a fine way to get involved.

Were quick to forget that the web wasn’t invented by 13-year-olds; it was created by today’s seniors. I’d never try forcing those with no interest in social networks to use Microblog. But don’t let the talk of age divides put you off. There’s nothing to stop the older generation from joining in the network their own generation created.

1. What’s the author’s purpose of writing this passage?

A．To share with us his personal experience using social media.

B．To explain why the old generation don’t use social media.

C．To free the old generation from fearing using social media.

D．To tell us a few secrets of social media that he discovered.

2. The expression “a fly on the wall” in the 4th paragraph refers to            .

A．people who prefer reading online books

B．people who cause trouble to others

C．people who post many fancy pictures

D．people who simply observe others’ posts

3. According to the author, which is a reason for old people’s fear using social media?

A．They believe they may be trapped in embarrassing situations.

B．They have no particular interest in social networking.

C．They prefer staying in touch with relatives in real life.

D．They have no idea which contents to post online.

4. Which of the following may best describe the structure of this passage?

A．	B．
C．	D．

2 . We often think of future. We often wonder what the world would be like in a hundred years’time.
Think of space，perhaps a permanent(永久的) station on the moon will have been set up. Perhaps people will be able to visit the moon as tourists. Cheap rockets for space travel will have been developed，permitting long journeys throughout the solar system(太阳系). When that time comes，people will be taking holidays in space and visiting other planets. Great progress will have been made in medicine，too. Perhaps a cure will have been discovered for the most terrible of all diseases—cancer. Pollution is a problem we must solve. In a hundred years’time it will have been controlled.
All the world will have been developed — even Antarctica. There will be large cities in Antarctica. We already have supersonic(超音速的) flight，but in a hundred years’time we will have supersonic land travel as well.
We will have used up most of earth’s land to build our cities， so floating cities will have been built. The Japanese already have plans for cities of this kind. And there will be cities under the sea. The first of these will have been completed.
1. We will have developed ______ in a hundred years’time，permitting long journeys all over the solar system.

A．cheap rockets for space travel	B．a plane
C．a spaceship	D．a satellite

2. Man will also have supersonic land travel ______.

A．in a year	B．about half a century later
C．in the year 2050	D．about a century later

3. The last paragraph mainly talks about ______.

A．we’ll make good use of space on the earth

B．cities under the sea

C．Japan will first build floating cities

D．earth’s land is in danger

4. The best title for the passage is ______.

A．Travel in the Future	B．Future Life
C．Where to Live in the Future	D．Space Travel

3 . SEE a cell phone cover that you like on Taobao? Forget about placing an order, paying the bill online and waiting for days for it to be delivered to you. In the near future, you'll be able to get it in minutes just by hit­ting "print" on your computer.
You might find it hard to believe that you could actually "print" an object like you would a picture. But it is not that hard to under­stand how it would work. Just as a traditional printer sprays (喷) ink onto paper line by line, modern 3-D printers spread material onto a surface layer by layer, from the bottom to the top, gradually building up a shape.
Instead of ink, the materials the 3-D printer uses are mainly plastic, resin (树脂)and certain metals. The thinner each layer is --- from a millimeter to less than the width of a hair ---   the smoother and finer the object will be.
This may sound like a completely new technology, but the truth is that 3-D printing has been around since the late 1980s. Back then, it was barely affordable for most people, so few knew about it.
Last year, though, saw a big change in the 3-D printing industry--- printers became much cheaper. For example, 10 years ago a desktop 3-D printer might have cost £20,000 (200,000 yuan), while now they cost only about £ 1,000, according to the BBC.
Taken out of the factory and in­troduced to more diverse and com­mon uses, 3-D printing can create just about anything you can think of ---flutes (笛子), bikinis, jewelry, aircraft parts and even human organs. In fact, scientists from Cornell Univer­sity in New York have just made an artificial ear using a 3-D printer, accord­ing to Science Daily. The fake ear looks and acts exactly like a natural one.
However, as 3-D printing becomes more commonplace, it may bring about certain problems --- such as piracy. "Once you can download a coffee maker, or print out a new set of kitchen utensils (餐具) on your personal 3-D printer, who will visit a retail (零售的) store again?" an expert in 3-D printing told Forbes News. Even more frightening, what if anyone in the world could use a 3-D printer to print out a fully functioning gun?
1. According to the article, in the future, the 3-D printing technology will ___.

A．enable people to make better purchases online

B．be applied as widely in our daily lives as computers

C．change the way we make many products

D．shorten the time it takes for people to get what they buy online

2. What was the big event happening in the 3-D printing industry last year?

A．The 3-D printing technology was taken out ofthe factory.

B．The 3-D printer became more affordable forconsumers.

C．The 3-D printer was used for medical treatmentfor the first time.

D．3-D printing technology began to be used invarious fields.

3. How is the last paragraph developed?

A．By analyzing a cause and an effect.	B．By making comparisons.
C．By giving examples.	D．By presenting research findings.

4. What is the best title of the passage?

A．Printing out everything	B．Technology in the future
C．Online shopping disappearing	D．Great demand for 3-D printers