牛津英语模块七-reading

牛津英语模块七 Unit 1 TV and audio devices: a review Early history of TV The first public showings of wireless TV transmissions were made in 1925 in the USA and in 1926 in Britain. Later, in 1928,the first long-distance TV broadcast was made between the UK and the USA. Regular public broadcasting followed shortly after, first beginning on 11May 1928 in New York and in London on 20 August 1929. Many different people contributed to the development of TV. Because of this, it is still uncertain who invented TV. Altogether, three men could be responsible. Vladimir Zworykin, a Russian living in the USA, Philo Farnsworth, a farm boy from Utah in the USA, and John Logie Baird from Scotland all invented early forms of TV between 1923 and 1927. A few years later, color TV was first shown in 1929. It took more than two decades, though, until 1951, for colour broadcasts to begin in the USA. By 1967, most broadcasts were in color and within five years, more colour than black-and-white TV sets were being used. The modern age: cable TV, satellite TV, digital TV, ... Cable TV began in 1948 in the USA, but it took 50 years before 66 per cent of American households had it. Satellites were used to broadcast TV beginning in 1962. Some consider digital TV to be superior to satellite TV because it allows the same services to be delivered with clearer pictures than before. International standards for digital TV were established in 1989 and within five years, consumers in the USA had access to 200 channels. By 2004, digital TV signals were being received by 55 per cent of households in Britain. In 1996, a completely new concept was introduced when the first Web TV set-top boxes came onto the market. This combines the TV set with the World Wide Web. With interactive TV programming, you can play along with game shows, respond to questionnaires and chat to other viewers. Early history of audio devices It all began in 1877 when Thomas Edison made the first recording of a human voice. Ten years later, the first record player was developed. It was invented by Emile Berliner, a German living in the USA. At that time, the record player had to be wound up by hand and only played a record for two minutes. In 1958, the first LPs (long-play records) came onto the market. Tape recorders and players 1931 was the year when a German company began to make the first tape recorders, which could record and play sounds on a tape wound around a round object. In 1948, three American scientists invented the transistor, which is a small electronic device to control an electric current, but they only developed it for military use. Two young Japanese engineers had a better idea. They bought the patent and applied the technology to create the transistor radio. In 1954, the invention of the transistor led to the development of cassette recorders. Then, in 1979, the Walkman, a portable pocket-sized cassette tape player, was introduced and became so popular that Walkman was added to the Oxford English Dictionary in 1986. Sound goes digital In 1982, the first CDs (compact discs) produced by using digital technology were made available. In 1986, when the D-50, a portable CD player, was launched, the Discman was born. In the following years, more CD recordings became available, and in 1988, for the first time ever, people were demanding more CDs than LPs. The next new development was the MD (MiniDisc) player in1992. This is like a mini CD player but can also record music and is very easy to carry, being very small, as the name ‘mini’ indicates. Development of MP3 technology started in 1987 in Germany and since the beginning of 1999, the popularity of MP3has increased to such a degree that major corporations are taking over the portable music player market with MP3 players. They are the next step on from the Walkman, Discman and MD player. Because of the popularity of MP3 players, music websites have sprung up all over the Internet offering MP3 music for people to purchase. 1. Who might be the inventor(s) of the first TV? A. Vladimir Zworykin from Russia. B. Philo Farnsworth from the USA. C. John Logie Baird from Scotland. D. All the three above. 2. The passage mentions _______ country/countries which has/have put digital TV into operation by 2004. A. only one B. two C. three D. at least four 3. Who might have attributed to the development of the Walkman? A. Two Japanese engineers. B. Three American scientists. C. Thomas Edison. D. Emile Berliner. 4. What is the main factor that causes the spring up of music websites all over the Internet? A. The popularity of Walkman. B. The development of the MD player. C. The development of MP3 technology. D. The wide use of Discman. 5. Which of the following best shows the structure of the passage? A. B. C. D. (T=title 1=subtitle 12=subtitle2 3=subtitle 3 4=subtitle 4 5=subtitle 5) Unit 2 Two Life-saving medicines This article will focus on two medicines that have changed people’s lives. If you open up any medicine cupboard in the world, there is a high probability that you will find aspirin and penicillin. Both of these medicines have saved millions of people’s lives since they were invented. ASPIRIN The date that aspirin was invented is given by medical historians as 1897,but in fact, 3,500years ago, some recipes recommended drinking a tea made from the dried leaves of a particular plant to reduce body pains. About 2,500years ago, the Greek physician Hippocrates, father of all doctors, made a juice from the bark of a kind of tree to reduce fever and pain. The active chemical in this juice (salicylic acid) helped stop the pain. It was in 1897 that a European chemist called Dr Felix Hoffmann produced acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) from some other chemicals to make a medicine for his father. The first trials of this medicine took place in 1899 when the company Hoffmann worked for began giving the medicine in powder form to physicians to use with patients. A year later, in 1900, aspirin was sold in shops as a tablet containing 500milligrams of ASA. This is one of the first medicines in the world ever to be sold as a standardized tablet. In 1950, aspirin appeared in the Guinness Book of Recordsas the best-selling painkiller. Not only has aspirin saved many people’s lives by reducing fever and helping stop pain, but there are also other things that aspirin can help with. Lawrence craven, a doctor from the USA, is the author of several published reports, one of which introduced the idea in 1953 that aspirin could reduce the risk of heart attacks by thinning blood. The report was ignored. However, in 1971,Smith and Willis from the UK proved that aspirin was a blood-thinning medicine, and in 1977, a study carried out in the USA showed that the chemical ASA in aspirin could prevent a stroke, which is a type of serious illness when blood vessels in the brain burst suddenly or are blocked. Eleven years later, Dr Thun from the USA showed that ASA could reduce the risk of colon cancer by 40 per cent. In 1999, aspirin was 100 years old and yet there have been more discoveries on how it can help increase the length of people’s lives. In 2003, a Chinese doctor, Dr Yuan Minsheng, found that ASA could reduce blood sugar levels and, therefore, help people with diabetes. PENICILLIN Another drug that has helped increase the standard of people’s health is penicillin. This bacteria-killing medicine is considered by many to be one of the most important medicines in contemporary society. It was discovered by a Scottish scientist named Alexander Fleming in 1928. He noted that mould had grown on a special transparent jelly that had bacteria on it. He saw that the mould had killed them. Fleming tried this mould out on another bacterium and found that it killed the bacterium too. He immediately thought that this application might help in treating wounds and illnesses caused by bacteria. He named the chemical found in the mould ‘penicillin’ and tried to make it pure to be a medicine, but was unable to do that. Fleming did not give up. However, it was not until World War II that two other scientists, Howard Florey (Australian) and Ernst Chain (German born English) managed to use new chemical techniques to purify it. They were able to produce it in large quantities. Their new drug was needed immediately because of the war, so mass production started quickly. Due to the widespread use of penicillin, many lives were saved during World War II. It was a dream come true. If penicillin had not been available, many people would have died from bacterial illnesses or even minor wounds. Penicillin is also used to treat other illnesses including pneumonia, an illness that affects the lungs. So, although Fleming discovered penicillin, it was over a decade before someone else turned penicillin into the great drug of the 20th century. In 1945, all the three scientists, Fleming, Florey and Chain, shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their work, and penicillin rapidly became the powerful ‘wonder drug’ which saved millions of lives. 1. We learn from the passage that the trial use of aspirin in powder form may date back to ________. A. 2500 years ago B. 3,500 years ago C. 1897 D. 1899 2. Aspirin has been recognized as the best-selling painkiller by the world ________. A. for fewer than 50 years B. since 3,500 years ago C. for more than 50 years D. ever since it was put onto the market 3. Various researches and reports show that aspirin can be used in at least ________ different ways in medical treatment. A. five B. four C. three D. six 4. Penicillin was discovered in ________ and saved many lives in ________. A. 1914; World War I B. 1928; World War II C. 1929; Vietnam War D. 1945; World War II 5. Penicillin can be used to treat all of the following except ________. A. pneumonia B. wounds caused by bacteria C. diabetes D. illnesses caused by bacteria 6. Why did Fleming share the Nobel Prize with other two scientists? A. Because they all discovered penicillin at almost the same time. B. Because Fleming wasn’t able to discover penicillin without the other two’s help C. Because the other two scientists succeeded in purifying penicillin. D. Because penicillin wasn’t put into mass production until World War II. Unit 3 THE EFFECTS OF THE INTERNET ON OUR LIVES The Internet has positive effects on our lives My name is Zhu Zhenfei and I am speaking for the ‘pro-Internet’ side. That is to say, I believe that the Internet has positive effects on our lives. There are two main points which must be included in any analysis of the Internet and its use. The first is its value for people who are looking for information. The second is the ability to build groups online and form friendships, which the Internet gives us. When people are in need of information, from current affairs and weather forecasts to travel packages and academic research, the Internet is now the first place that many people turn to. With the touch of a button or the click of a mouse, a student can acquire knowledge from the information held in the largest libraries and museums in the world, whether he or she lives in a small village or downtown in a big city. Internet users can communicate with experts on all sorts of topics, and read articles written by people who are leaders of their fields. However, some people are sceptical. They claim that the Internet is useless and that using the Internet is a waste of time. They say children spend too much time chatting and playing games instead of focusing on their school work. However, a recent survey done in the USA showed that 80per cent of frequent Internet users use it mainly to search for answers to questions. The second most common use of the Internet, according to 70 per cent of the survey respondents, is to advance knowledge about hobbies. These statistics prove that gathering information is the primary use for the Internet. Another truly wonderful aspect of the Internet is the way people use it to build social ties. One of the greatest benefits of Internet friendships is that they are based on common interests, rather than appearance, age or popularity. Young people from different backgrounds and different counties can form lifelong friendships. Moreover, people who are disabled and must stay in their homes can communicate with the outside world and meet others with similar interests. Without the Internet, these people would have fewer chances of meeting people. For these reasons, I believe the Internet remains a positive tool that helps make our lives better. The Internet has negative effects on our lives My name is Lin Lei and I will be representing the ‘con’ side of the debate. In my opinion, the Internet has negative effects on our lives. The main drawbacks of the Internet I will address today are uncontrolled information and the change in the way people spend their time. Of course, access to up-to-date, accurate information is an important thing for anyone who is involved in research. One of the greatest advantages of the Internet is that it provides this information. The disadvantage, though, is that it is difficult to judge whether the information is true and accurate. The amount of false information on the Internet becomes more of a problem every day. This is very troublesome because people can write anything they want, and we cannot always tell if the information is true or not. In 2003, eBay, the famous website where people buy and sell things, said that 70 per cent of their problems were with people who sold things that did not exist, or who lied about the products they were selling. University professors around the world complain that students are handing in papers using false information they found on the Internet. These problems of inaccuracy do not occur as often when people use traditional ways to find information, such as looking in books, newspapers and magazines. Another disadvantage of the Internet is that it is affecting people’s private lives. As the Internet has gained popularity, there has been a change in the way people spend their time. Now, instead of spending time together in the evenings, some families spend their time apart because one or more members are using the computer, or are at an Internet cafe. In fact, some young people spend so much time playing computer games and using the Internet that they have become addicted to computer games. To help solve this problem, a clinic to deal with Internet addiction was opened in Beijing in 2005. Some experts say that spending too much time building Internet relationships can damage people’s abilities to live normal lives. One university did a study about the students who had stopped their studies before completing a diploma course, and found that 43 per cent of them were heavy computer users. This study clearly shows that people who spend all their time on the Internet can feel disconnected to the people and the world round them. These are all negative effects the Internet has on our lives, and I feel it remains important for us either to limit our use of the Internet, or to learn how to handle the problems it has caused. 1. What does the passage mainly focus on? A. The positive effects of the Internet on our lives. B. The negative effects of the Internet. C. Different effects of the Internet on our lives. D. How to carry out a debate. 2. How many points does the first speaker present to support her arguments? A. One B. Two C. Three D. Four 3. The primary use of the Internet according to the statistics from a survey in the USA is ________. A. to advance their knowledge about their hobbies B. to acquire knowledge from the information in libraries and museums C. to communicate with experts on all sorts of topics D. to gather information when they are in need of them 4. The most serious problem shown by the eBay survey conducted in 2003 is ________. A. inaccurate information B. how to deal with privacy on the Internet C. false shopping information D. how to deal with Internet addiction Unit 4 The first underground in the world Welcome to the London Underground, or as it is commonly known, the Tube. It has the distinction of being the oldest and most complex underground system in the world. During the first half of the 19th century, train services to London were developed. However, most trains into London only went to the distant boundary of the city because building railway tracks into the city would have caused damage to many historic buildings. Thus, many buses were needed to transport people to the city centre. Unfortunately, the increased number of vehicles on the road choked off traffic, and the roads became so busy that no one could travel anywhere. This problem with traffic led to the development of the underground system. In 1854, it was decided that the Metropolitan Railway Company could build an underground railway between Paddington and Farringdon. This would be a shuttle between King’s Cross, St Pancreas, Euston, Paddington and the centre of London. The first tunnels were opened in 1863 and passengers were transported in carriages without windows, which were pulled through the comparatively narrow tunnels by steam engines. Can you imagine the smoke and the noise? In 1868, the next section of the underground system was opened in the south of London by another company called the Metropolitan District Railway. Sixteen years later, in 1884, the Metropolitan Railway Company and the Metropolitan District Railway linked up and provided the underground service in the middle of the city. This later became the Circle Line. As more advanced ways of digging tunnels were developed, the first railway tunnel under the River Thames was dug in 1884. These new ways of digging accelerated the pace of the London Underground’s development. The City and South London Railway linked other places in London in the 1880s. Over the next twenty-five years, six independent deep underground lines were made. Traveling on these lines was inconvenient, though, as each line was separately owned and many were very far from each other. Having seen the situation, a wealthy American businessman, Charles Yerkes, tried to improve the system by buying many of the different lines and setting up the Underground Group. After his acquisition of the lines, each one was given a name and most of the names are still used today. In 1933, a public organization called the London Transport Board was created. The Underground Group, the Metropolitan Line and all the different bus and train lines were placed under the authority of the Board. This organization eventually became London Transport. Between 1918 and 1938, there was much expansion as new connections were built between train lines, and new stations were built. An architect called Charles Holden was responsible for designing many of these stations and they are still in use today. During World War II, when London was bombed, many underground stations functioned as bomb shelters. A newly-built line was used as an underground aeroplane factory, a closed station was used as an anti-aircraft centre, and the station nearest the Prime Minister’s house was used by the Prime Minister as meeting rooms so the underground system had some unusual uses during the war! After World War II ended in 1945, more people travelled on the u