TEXT I
# J. b8 ~3 f$ m' |- s$ k First read the questions.% F7 _# g& x9 o2 @7 c z
35. Today’s computers can process data ___ times faster than the 1952 model, ILLIAC.
! g& c' _1 h% w2 |: C4 Q- G A. 4 B. 100 C. 200 D. 4, 000
; c% B9 n, A# X" |4 q { 36. NCSA aims to develop ___.% Y+ p9 }$ f9 b3 B+ q+ o. g0 u2 V
A. a new Internet browser' v0 n, Z' @8 F) z- M
B. a more powerful national system' I+ x. R; m% j9 Y8 s, l
C. human-computer intelligence interaction; O4 b- W7 K; B( s, O
D. a new global network
3 S, ?$ ~$ K0 i* ~4 } Now go through TEXT I quickly to answer questions 35 and 36.% H. Y& |( b# H- M' J$ B# p
URBANA, Illinois. Welcome to Cyber City, USA, where scientists are developi ng the next-generation Internet and leading ground-breaking research in artifici al intelligence. The University of Illinois at Urbana, which has a student body of 36,100, has a proud computing tradition. In 1952, it became the first educational institution to build and own its own computer.
8 ~5 G9 e4 A% B& `! L3 J That computer, ILLIAC, was four metres tall, four metres long and sixty cen timetres deep. Its processing speed was about 50 kilohertz compared with 200 meg ahertz-that’s 200,000 kilohertz for today’s computers. F3 @8 K+ o! P
At the state-of-the-art Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technolo gy, researchers from disciplines as far-ranging as psychology, computer science and biochemistry are focusing on biological intelligence and human-computer inte lligence interaction.
$ m o; j S7 u8 O( v; _ Beckman also houses the National Centre for Supercomputing Application (NCS A), which played a key role in the development of the Internet global network. I t was NCSA that developed Mosaic, the graphically driven programme that first ma de surfing on the Internet possible.
' C: l: I+ K& r! V0 p1 C Mosaic, introduced in 1992, has been replaced by much more powerful Interne t browsers such as its successor Netscape or Microsoft’s Internet Explorer.; Y; t2 X% e8 J
NCSA officials say they are now trying to bring more advanced computing and communication to research scientists, engineers and ultimately the public.
( O4 M7 z' S9 V5 g/ p& y ] “What we’re looking for is a national system in which the networks are 10 0 times greater than the Internet today, and the supercomputers are 100 times more powerful,” said NCSA Director Larry Smart.
, U$ M( X t- d6 i8 o! |7 Y, ] A proposed joint project would develop a prototype or demonstration model f or the “21st century national information infrastructure” in line with an init iative announced by President Bill Clinton last October.
3 W0 U- m2 ?1 P* e2 ?$ L If funded by the National Science Foundation, the new structure would take effect on October 1st.( d4 i9 h J; K, L ~- r
NCSA, one of the four operational federal supercomputer centres in the coun try, is awaiting a decision from the Foundation’s board late this month on a co mpetition for US $ 16 million in continued annual federal funding.
$ y, ^8 y* \. W- c NCSA, which employs 200 people and has a yearly budget of US $ 31 million, is expected to be one of two winners along with its counterpart in San Diego.
2 ?( h' L. @6 X# Z “The University has put a great deal of effort into this competition. We r emain hopeful about the outcome, but we will have no comment until the National Science Foundation Board’s decision,” Smart said.
X4 X0 f, S" x# D+ w3 @ TEXT J0 b" b' \& ], I( T
First read the questions.
$ i1 J2 A3 L0 ?5 V( [ 37. In Japanese the work depato refers to ___.
# F* ~8 R# U0 c0 G6 v) b A. traditional Japanese stores
% r% p5 V8 A. Y/ k5 L B. modern stores in cities _' Q* K7 _+ M, ?4 ]1 K( L6 I
C. special clothing stores
4 j. u( D- d2 i" k' z7 }4 a D. railway stores/ }) U7 r ?3 {4 m& M7 K ~
38. During the Meiji era depato was regarded by Japanese customers as a(n ) ___ shopping place.; A7 `& w7 Z5 i h+ c
A. cheap B. traditional C. fashionable D. attractive
/ `$ v8 a" w0 s- G Now go through TEXT J quickly to answer questions 37 and 38.
) P9 r& j) f/ F# B3 F, X The Japanese have two words for the modern department stores that abound in large urban areas. The older word, hyakkaten, which is seldom used in daily spee ch, can usually be found engraved in ideographs in a building cornerstone, and i t is part of a store’s official rifle. Literally “a store with one hundred ite ms ,” this word was coined during the late Meiji era( 1868 - 1912), when clothing s tores began to expand their product lines and railroads began to build shops at major train crossings. The more recent and more commonly used word is depato (fr om the English ‘department store’ ).5 u0 Q, m# q! M$ h! r9 U) {
These words reflect the dual nature of Japanese department stores. Words wr itten in ideographs can impart an aura of antiquity and tradition. Frequently, a s in the case of the word hyakkaten, they suggest indigenous origin. In contrast , foreign borrowed words often give a feeling of modernity and foreignness. Many Japanese department stores actually originated in Japan several hundred years a go as dry goods stores that later patterned themselves after foreign department stores. Even the trendiest and most avant-garde of these stores practise pattern s of merchandising and retain forms of prepaid credit, customer service, and spe cial relationships with suppliers characteristic of merchandising during the Tok ygawa era (1600 — 1868). To many Japanese these large urban stores may seem lik e a direct import from the West, but like the word depato, they have undergone a transformation in the process of becoming Japanese. |