Each year Ben is glad when school is closed on Martin Luther King Jr. Day．Ben knows that this day honors an important man，but Ben does not feel connected to him．However，the small-world theory （理論） connects Ben to Dr. King．Ben's mom （0） has a close friend，Amy（1）．Amy’s uncle，Mark（2），once met and spoke to John Carter（3），the son of President Jimmy Carter（4）．Jimmy Carter knew Dr. King （5）． In a way，Ben is only “five people away” from Martin Luther King Jr．

 The small-world theory says that everyone in the world is connected through a short chain （鏈條）of people they know．Another name of this chain is degrees of separation．Each degree is a step that separates a person from someone he or she does not know．There are zero degrees of separation between a person and the people he or she knows directly．This means that there are zero degrees between Ben and his mom．There is one degree of separation when just one person separates someone from a person he or she does not know．Ben knows his mom，but he hasn't met her close friend Amy．Therefore，Ben is one degree away from Amy．As the chain continues，Amy's uncle，Mark，is two degrees．John Carter is three degrees，and his father is four degrees．Dr. King is five degrees away from Ben．The theory says that there are no more than six degrees of separation between any two people in the world．

The small-world theory has a lot to do with math．The theory assumes（假定）that each person knows 100 people. Each one of those 100 people knows 50 different people．Each of those 50 people knows another 50 people，and so on．When someone continues the calculation to six degrees，it is like this：100 × 50 × 50 × 50 × 50 × 50 = 31.25 × 10⁹．This number is greater than 31 billion（a billion = a thousand million）．There are over 6 billion people in the world．These numbers show it is possible that six degrees of separation could include everyone in the world．

Does the small-world theory work? No one has ever proved it．Maybe the theory just invites people to think a little more about their places in the world. ．

1．Ben is two degrees away from                ．

A．Jimmy Carter          B．John Carter             C．Amy                       D．Mark

2．What is the meaning of "degrees of separation" in Paragraph 2?

A．The chain to connect people．                            B．The relations between people．

C．The steps of knowing strangers．                D．The separation between strangers．

3．What is the small-world theory mainly about?

A．How far Ben is away from Dr. King．          B．How many people one can get to know．

C．How people are connected in the world．     D．How the degrees of separation are set up．

4．We can learn from the article that                  ．

A．the small-world theory works

B．more research is needed to prove the theory

C．six degrees are needed to know the strangers

D．the writer's purpose is to help people find out their places

From: 11350@csu.edu

To: Jennysmith@yahoo.com

Subject: party                                                  Hi! Jenny,

My sister Ann and I are going to have a party this Friday at my home. Some friends will be there. Most of them are from the office. My best friend, Tom, will come, too. I want you to meet him.

Do you want to come? We’ll play games and talk. Then we’ll have dinner. Everyone will bring food or drinks. It begins at 4:00 pm. and ends at 8 or 9 pm.

We’ll have a great time! Can you come？I hope so! Let me know soon. Call me or send me an e-mail.

1.Who sent this e-mail?

A．Jenny

B．Tom

C．Lisa

D．Ann

2.The party begins at ______?

A．4:00 am

B．6:00 pm

C．4: 00 pm

D．6:00 am

3.Tom is _______ best friend.

A．Jenny’s

B．Lisa’s

C．Ann’s

D．Jack’s

4.What’s true about the party?

A．It’s on Saturday.

B．All of Jenny’s friends will come.

C．People will not bring things.

D．It will last four or five hours.

5.What will Jenny do first?

A．Buy food for the party.	B．Call Tom
C．Send an e-mail to Lisa.	D．Drive to Lisa’s house.

 

How much do you know about A．I．(Artificial Intelligence)?Artificial means‘man-made’，and intelligence means‘the ability to learn．understand and think about things’．A．I．is about making machines think，talk，do and see．A．I．is used in many fields from、playing games to helping doctors．Many machines around us work very well because they work with the help of A．I．Man has always dreamed of building‘thinking machines’．In 1770，Wolfgand Kempelen(1 734—1804)built a wooden robot called Turk that was able to play chess(SUR)．It played very well and even beat some of the top chess players of the time! Later it was found that Turk was not real．Inside the box machine was a chess player．

     John McCarthy(1927—)is thought as the‘Father’of A．I He invented the word‘A．I．’and the LISP computer programming language that many A．I．developers use today．How does A．I．work?

A．I．uses ideas from many fields：

 

1.What is true about A．I．?

 A．A．I．is a machine．

 B．A．I．can play chess better than man．

 C．A．I．can play games．

 D．A．I．is something that makes machines work  

like man．

2.A．I．means_________in Chinese．

    A．人造能力         B．人造計算機

 C．人工智能         D．人工機器人

3.We can learn from the passage that_________．

     A．we still do not know how A．I．works

     B．computers are the most important part of A．I．

     C．Wolfgand Kempelen was the first builder of robot．

     D．John McCarthy is good at playing chess．

 

 

 

(Megan and Kyle are talking before class begins.)

Megan: Hey, Kyle, are you ready for the big test today? I studied that list of words and the definitions(釋義) for two hours last night.

Kyle: Oh, but I didn’t study at all. I just wrote all the answers on the palm(手掌) of my hand, see?

Megan: Kyle! You can’t do that! That’s cheating(作弊)！

Kyle: Hey, don’t worry. I won’t be caught. Mrs King will never know.

(Mrs King comes in and passes out the test papers.)

Mrs King: Okay, no more talking. You may begin.

(Kyle looks st his hand when the teacher isn’t looking.)

Joe: (raising his hand) Mrs King, may I have a drink? I have the hiccups(打嗝).

Mrs King: Yes, you may.

Kyle: (raising his hand) Mrs King, may I get a drink, too?

Mrs King: Kyle, what is that on your hand? I think you had better come to my desk.

Kyle: Oh no…

(After this, Kyle realizes his mistake and never cheats in exams again.)

1. Where did the story possibly take place?

A. In the classroom.

B. In the library.

C. On the playground.

D. In the reading room.

2. Where did Kyle write the answers?

A. On his desk.

B. In his notebook.

C. Megan told his classmates everything.

D. Joe told Mrs King about Kyle’s cheating.

 

Guitar Player Wanted Are you a lover of music? Can you play the guitar? Can you sing or dance? Join our Sunshine Rock Band. Please call Mike at 5487-6598 or send email to sunshine@yahoo.com.

Hot Club Do you like to play table tennis? Do you want to play it well? Mr Zhang is a good teacher. You can come here every Saturday afternoon from 2：30 to 5：30. Telephone: 8665-7868 Address: Room 15, Lantian Hotel

Swimmer Wanted Can you swim? Do you like children? Can you teach them to swim on Sundays? Come and join us. Call Joe at 8472-9999 for more information.

Summer Job Do you like to talk with people? Do you like to write stories? Would you like to work for a magazine? Then come and work as a reporter. Please call Karen at 5561-8823.

【小題1】Sunshine Rock Band needs       .

A．a(chǎn) guitar player	B．a(chǎn) reporter
C．a(chǎn) swimming coach	D．a(chǎn) table tennis coach

【小題2】If you can swim very well and like children very much, you will be more interested in the      advertisement.

A．first

B．second

C．third

D．fourth

【小題3】If you like writing, you can call        for a job.

A．8472-9999

B．8665-7868

C．5561-8823

D．5487-6598

【小題4】Your classmate wants to learn table tennis, so you can advise her to call       .

A．Joe

B．Mr Zhang

C．Karen

D．Mike

【小題5】The above ads are probably from       .

A．a(chǎn) newspaper

B．a(chǎn) story book

C．a(chǎn) science book

D．a(chǎn) text book