2010年6月英語六級考試閱讀理解訓練題(3)

　　The competition among producers of personal computers is essentially a race to get the best, most innovative products to the marketplace. Marketers in this environment frequently have to make a judgement as to their competitors' role when making marketing strategy decisions. If major competitors are changing their products, then a marketer may want to follow suit to remain competitive. Apple Computer, Inc. has introduced two new, faster person computers, the Macintosh II and Macintosh SE, in anticipation of the introduction of a new PC by IBM, one of Apple' s major competitors.

　　Apple' s new computers are much faster and more powerful than its earlier models. The improved Macintosh is able to run programs that previously were impossible to run on an Apple PC, including IBM-compatible programs. This compatibility feature illustrates computer manufacturers' new attitude of giving customers the features they want. Malting Apple computers capable of running IBM software is Apple' s effort at making the Mackintosh compatible with IBM computers and thus more popular in the office, where Apple hopes to increase sales, Users of the new Apple can also add accessories to make their machines specialize in specific uses, such as engineering and writing.

　　The new computers represent a big improvement over past models, but they also cost much more. Company officials do not think the higher price will slow down buyers who want to step up to a more powerful computer. Apple wants to stay in the high price end of the personal computer marker to finance research for even faster, more sophisticated computers.

　　Even though Apple and IBM are major competitors, both companies realize that their competitor's computers have certain features that their own models do not. The Apple line has always been popular for its sophisticated color graphics, where-as the IBM machines have always been favored in offices. In the future, there will probably be more compatibility between the two companies' products, which no doubt will require that both Apple and IBM change marketing strategies.

　　25. Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?

　　A) Computers and the Knowledge Society.

　　B) Service industries in Modern Society.

　　C) Features and Implications of the New Era.

　　D) Rapid Advancement of information Technology

　　注：一個選項能概括每一段的內容或者大多數(shù)段的內容，即看每段首句。

　　主旨題的迷惑選項：末段內容、細節(jié)內容、加詞縮小范圍，減詞擴大范圍。

　　A new era is upon us. Call it what you will: the service economy, the information age, the knowledge society. It all translates to a fundamental change in the way we work. Already we' re partly there. The percentage of people who earn their living by making things has fallen dramatically in the Western World. Today the majority of jobs in America, Europe and Japan (two thirds or more in many of these countries) are in the service industry, and the number is on the rise. More women are in the work force than ever before. There are more part-time jobs. More people are self-employed. But the breadth of the economic transformation can' t be measured by numbers alone, because it also is giving rise to a radical new way of thinking about the nature of work itself. Long-held notions about jobs and careers, the skills needed to succeed, even the relation between individuals and employers-all these are being challenged.

　　We have only to look behind to get some sense of what may lie ahead. No one looking ahead 20 years possibly could have foreseen the ways in which a single invention, the chip, would transform our world thanks to its applications in personal computers, digital communications and factory robots. Tomorrow' s achievements in biotechnology, artificial intelligence or even some still unimagined technology could produce a similar wave of dramatic changes. But one thing is certain: information and knowledge will become even more vital, and the people who possess it, whether they work in manufacturing or services, will have the advantage and produce the wealth. Computer knowledge will become as basic a requirement as the ability to read and write. The ability to solve problems by applying information instead of performing routine tasks will be valued above all else. If you cast your mind ahead 10 years, information services will be predominant. It will be the way you do your job.

　　25. Which of the following best summarized the main idea of the passage?

　　A) Musical instruments developed through the years will sooner later be replaced by computers.

　　B) cannot be passed on to future generation unless it is recorded.

　　C) Folk songs cannot spread far unless they are printed on music sheets

　　D) The development of music culture is highly dependent or its material aspect

　　Material culture refers to the touchable, material "things"-physical objects that can be seen, held, felt, used-that a culture produces. Examining a culture's tools and technology can tell us about the group's history and way of life. Similarly, research into the material culture of music can help us to understand the music-culture. The most vivid body of "things" in it, of course, are musical instruments. We cannot hear for ourselves the actual sound of any musical performance before the 1870s when the phonograph was invented, so we rely on instruments for important information about music-cultures it the remote past and their development. Here we have two kinds of evidence: instruments well preserved and instruments pictures in art. Through the study of instruments, as well preserved Paintings, written documents, and so on, we can explore the movement of music from the Neat East to China over a thousand years ago, or we can outline the spread of Near eastern influence to Europe that results in the development of most of the instruments on the symphony orchestra.

　　Sheet music or printed music, too, is material culture. Scholars once defined folk music-cultures as those in with people learn and sing music by ear rather than from print, but research show mutual influence among oral and written sources during the past few centuries in Europe, Britain, and America, printed versions limit variety because they tend to standardize any song, yet they stimulate people to create new and different songs. Besides, the ability to read music notation has a far-reaching effect on musicians and, when it becomes widespread, on the music-culture as a whole.

　　One more important part of music's material culture should be singled out the influence of the electronic media-radio, record player, tape recorder, television, and videocassette, with the future promising talking and singing computers and other developments. This all part of the "information revolution," a twentieth century phenomenon as important as the industrial revolution was in the nineteenth. These electronic media are not just limited to modem nations; they have affected music-cultures all over the globe.

　　25. What is the passage mainly about?

　　A) different ways of treating socio-cultural elements in the three new English dictionaries.

　　B) A comparison of people's opinions on the cultural content in the three new English dictionaries.

　　C) The advantages of the BBC dictionary over Oxford and Longman.

　　D) The user-friendliness of the three new English dictionaries.

　　Three English dictionaries published recently all lay claim to possessing a "new" feature. The BBC English Dictionary contains background information on l, 000 people and places prominent in the news since 1988; the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary: Encyclopedic Edition is the OALD plus encyclopedic entries; the Longman Dictionary of English Language and Culture is the LME plus cultural information.

　　The key fact is that all three dictionaries can be seen to have a distinctly "cultural" as well as language learning content. That being said, the way in which they approach the cultural element is not identical, making direct comparisons between the three difficult.