New technology links the world as never before. Our planet has shrunk. It’s now a “global

ge" where countries of all continents are only of a few minutes' distance by phone or internet.

______

Section A

Directions：Translate the following passage into Chinese,Write your translation on the

ANSWER SHEET.

Engineers are developing a new type of Internet connection that could carry so much data so quickly it might surprise even Net surfers. This technology would open up a route through which data can be sent at speeds thousands of times faster than what’s possible now. If all goes to plan，the vast data speeds may soon be available to all. That might help solve the problem of how to handle the enormous growth in Internet traffic.The technology would require some new software and fiber-optic links to the PC，but otherwise no change in basic facilities.

The Flying Phone Box

A surprise for air travelers

The strides made in satellite-communications technology in recent years are at last yielding benefits for air travelers, particularly executives who need to keep in touch with their offices. Five airlines— three of them based in the Asia-Pacific region—have recently equipped aircraft to offer outbound (向外的)telephone calls to anywhere in the world using a new satellite system. And in the not-too-distant future, businessmen will be able to send faxes in flight, too.

Air Canada, Qantas of Australia, United Airlines of the US and Japan Air Lines have at least one satellite-communication aircraft apiece. Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific Airways is also about to offer the service and several other airlines are expected to follow. The calls, dialed directly and charged to a credit card, will cost about US $ 9 ～ 10 per minute.

The earlier flying phones

Phone communications from aircraft are not entirely new. For some time, telephones have been available to passengers on US internal flights, for example, and on private jets.

But these systems have used cellular phones operating on very high frequency radio links. These systems—the same links that keep pilots in touch with flight controllers—have either limited range or low quality and reliability, particularly over vast oceans such as the Pacific. By contrast, the new satellite service will provide clear links instantly to destinations around the world.

Technological obstacles

Several technological problems had to be resolved before the service could be introduced. One was to define an effective technical standard, Airinc 741, that guarantees compatibility among different manufacturers' avionics systems—essential if the service was to be truly global.

Another was to make reliable antennas(天线) small enough and light enough to mount on aircraft of different types. And a third was to perfect voice-coding algorithms(规则系统), which tell machinery how to break down voice signals into digital signals for transmission at the standard rate of 9,600 bits a second.

A further drawback, for any type of call routed by satellite, is an uncomfortable time lag between words being spoken and received. Because of the distance that signals have to travel, there is a delay of about a quarter of a second. With airborne calls, there is the potential for a double delay as signals arriving via satellite at a ground station are passed on via another satellite to their destination.

To avoid this problem, ground stations have been equipped to identify calls from aircraft and route them to coaxial or fibre-optic cables for the second lag of their journey. Surface links, though long, are still considerably shorter than the 72,000-km round-trip into space. Most calls will therefore not suffer the double delay.

The International Maritime Satellite Organization (Inmarsat) approved the initial sitcom system for commercial service last November 'after two years of trials. Besides the handful of aircraft operated by the five major carriers who have signed on to the system, about two dozen company jets have fitted with the necessary equipment.

A new technology

The technology has three components: antennas and associated equipment on board planes, communications satellites, and ground stations.

In the course of development, antennas have lust both their dish shape and several kilograms. Even so, antenna and avionics weigh as much as two occupied scats. One obstacle to further weight savings, however, is that lighter antennas are more easily confused by the plethora(过多) of satellites now circling the Earth.

The satellites themselves are provided by Inmarsat, a London-based cooperative of 64 nations. One operational satellite and several 'back-ups

A．Y

B．N

C．NG

village" where countries are only seconds away by fax or phone or satellite link. And, of course, our ability to benefit from this high-tech communications equipment is greatly enhanced by foreign language skills.

Deeply involved with this new technology is a breed of modem businesspeople who have a growing respect for the economic value of doing business abroad. In modem markets, success overseas often helps support domestic business efforts.

Overseas assignments are becoming increasingly important to advancement within executive ranks. The executive stationed in another country no longer need fear being "out of sight and out of mind". He or she can be sure that the overseas effort is central to the company's plan for success, and that promotions often follow or accompany an assignment abroad, if an employee can succeed in a difficult assignment overseas, superiors will have greater confidence in his or her ability to cope back in the United States where cross-cultural considerations and foreign language issues are becoming more and prevalent(普遍的).

Thanks to a variety of relatively inexpensive communications devices with business applications, even small businesses in the United States are able to get into international markets.

English is still the international language of business. But there is an ever-growing need for people who can speak another language. A second language isn't generally required to get a job in business, but having language skills gives a candidate the edge when other qualifications appear to be equal.

The employee posted abroad who speaks the country's principal language has an opportunity to fast-forward certain negotiations, and can have the cultural insight to know when it is better to move more slowly. The employee at the home office who can communicate well with foreign clients over the telephone or by fax machine is an obvious asset to the firm.

What is the author's attitude toward high-tech communications equipment？

A．Critical.

B．Prejudiced.

C．Indifferent.

D．Positive.

village" where countries are only seconds away by fax or phone or satellite link. And, of course, our ability to benefit from this high-tech communications equipment is greatly enhanced by foreign language skills.

Deeply involved with this new technology is a breed of modem business people who have a growing respect for the economic value of doing business abroad. In modem markets, success overseas often helps support domestic business efforts.

Overseas assignments are becoming increasingly important to advancement within executive ranks. The executive stationed in another country no longer need fear being "out of sight and out of mind." He or she can be sure that the overseas effort is central to the company's plan for success, and that promotions often follow or accompany an assignment abroad. If an employee can succeed in a difficult assignment overseas, superiors will have greater confidence in his or her ability to cope back in the United States where cross-cultural considerations and foreign language issues are becoming more and more prevalent.

Thanks to a variety of relatively inexpensive communications devices with business applications, even small businesses in the United States are able to get into international markets.

English is still the international language of business. But there is an ever-growing need for people who can speak another language. A second language isn't generally required to get a job in business, but having language skills gives a candidate the edge when other qualifications appear to be equal.

The employee posted abroad who speaks the country's principal language has an opportunity to fast-forward certain negotiations, and can have the cultural insight to know when it is better to move more slowly. The employee at the home office who can communicate well with foreign clients over the telephone or by fax machine is an obvious asset to the firm.

What is the author's attitude toward high-tech communications equipment？

A．Critical.

B．Prejudiced.

C．Indifferent.

D．Positive.

links—invention, innovation, and______.

A．diffusion

B．diffidence

C．indifference

D．indigence

village" where countries are only seconds away by fax or phone or satellite link. And, of course, our ability to benefit from this high-tech communications equipment is greatly enhanced by foreign language skills.

Deeply involved with this new technology is a breed of modem businesspeople who have a growing respect for the economic value of doing business abroad. In modem markets, success overseas often helps support domestic business efforts.

Overseas assignments are becoming increasingly important to advancement within executive ranks. The executive stationed in another country no longer needs fear being "out of sight and out of mind". He or she can be sure that the overseas effort is central to the company's plan for success, and that promotions often follow or accompany an assignment abroad, if an employee can succeed in a difficult assignment overseas, superiors will have greater confidence in his or her ability to come back in the United States where cross-cultural considerations and foreign language issues are becoming more and prevalent(普遍的).

Thanks to a variety of relatively inexpensive communications devices with business applications, even small businesses in the United States are able to get into international markets.

English is still the international language of business. But there is an ever-growing need for people who can speak another language. A second language isn't generally required to get a job in business, but having language skills gives a candidate the edge when other qualifications appear to be equal.

The employee posted abroad who speaks the country's principal language has an opportunity to fist-forward certain negotiations, and can have the cultural insight to know when it is better to move more slowly. The employee at the home office who can communicate well with foreign clients over the telephone or by fax machine is an obvious asset to the firm.

What is the author's attitude toward high-tech communications equipment？

A．Critical.

B．Prejudiced.

C．Indifferent.

D．Postitive.

Section B

Directions: In this section, you will hear 3 short passages. At the end of each passage, you will hear some questions. Both the passage and the questions will be spoken only once. After you hear a question, you must choose the best answer from the four choices marked A, B, C and D.

听力原文： Office systems are equipment used to create, store, process, or communicate information in a business environment. This information can be manually, electrically, or electronically produced, duplicated, and transmitted.

The rapid growth of the service sector of the world economy beginning in the mid-1970s has furnished a new market for sophisticated office automation.

Most modern office equipment, including typewriters, dictation equipment, facsimile machines, photocopiers, calculators, and telephone systems as well, contains a microprocessor. With the increasing incorporation of microchips into office equipment, the line between the computer and other equipment has blurred.

At the same time, computers, either stand-alone or as part of a network, and specialized software programs are taking over tasks such as facsimile transmission or fax, voice mail, and telecommunications that were once performed by separate pieces of equipment. In fact, the computer has virtually taken the place of typewriters, calculators, and manual accounting techniques and is rapidly taking over graphic design, production scheduling, and engineering design.

The use of computers and other modern equipment has enabled links to be established far beyond the walls of a building. Electronic links allow people in a modern office to communicate with workers at home or in satellite offices. This capability has led to a sharp increase in telecommunicating. Since the early 1990s workers have worked at least part of the time outside the main office. Managers and professional employees are the major participants in this trend. As they no longer have to spend hours traveling from home to office, their work productivity has increased.

As technology advances further, new equipment will be invented and introduced into the modern office, which will result in even greater efficiency in office work.

(27)

A．Computerized equipment used in a business environment in a modern office.

B．Equipment used to create, store, process, or communicate information in a business environment.

C．Equipment used in satellite offices.

D．Equipment used to create a web page and download information from the Internet in a business or non-business environment.

fancy while strolling are immediately bought on a whim. Advertisers and sellers have taken advantage of this fact, carefully positioning inexpensive but attractive items on paths that we are most likely to cross, in the hopes that our human nature will lead to a greater profit for them With the dawn of the Internet and its exploding usage across the world, the same tactics apply.

Advertisers now place "banners", links to commercial web sites decorated with attractive pictures designed to catch our eyes while browsing, the webs, on key web sites with heavy traffic. They pay top dollar for the right, thus creating profits for the hosting web site as well'. These actions are performed in the hopes that during the course of our casual and leisurely web surfing, we'll click on that banner that sparks our interest and thus, in theory, buy the products advertised.

Initial results have been positive. Web sites report a huge inflow of cash, both from the advertisers who lure customers in with the banners and the hosting web sites who are paid for allowing the banners to be put in place. As trust and confidence in Internet buying increases and information security is heightened with new technology, the volume of buying is increasing, leading to even greater profits.

The current situation, however, is not quite as optimistic. Just as magazine readers tend to unconsciously ignore advertisements in their favorite periodicals, web browser are beginning to allow banners to slip their notice as well. Internet users respond to the flood of banners by viewing them as annoyances, a negative image that is hurting sales, since users are now less reluctant .to click on those banners, preferring not to support of system that put them in place. If Internet advertising is to continue to-be a viable and profitable business practice, new methods will need to be considered to reinvigorate the industry.

With the recent slump in the technology sector and slumping economy, even new practices may not do the trick. As consumers are saving more and frequenting traditional "brick and mortar" businesses over their Internet counterparts, the fate of Internet business is called into question. The coming years will be the only reliable indication of whether shopping on the world wide web is the wave of the future or simply an impulse activity whose whim has passed.

We learn from the beginning of the text that advertising on the web ______.

A．Internet advertising has displaced more traditional methods of advertising

B．banners and other advertising schemes are the ways to make profit on the

C．is paralleling advertising methods in traditional business settings

D．seeks to lure customers primarily through impulse shopping methods

village" where countries are only seconds away by fax or phone or satellite link. And. of course, our ability to benefit from this high-tech communications equipment is greatly enhanced by foreign language skills.

Deeply involved with this new technology is a breed of modern businesspeople who have a growing respect for the economic value of doing business abroad. In modern markets, success over seas often helps support domestic business efforts.

Overseas assignments are becoming increasingly important to advancement within executive ranks. The executive stationed in another country no longer need fear being" out of sight and out of mind. "He or she can be sure that the overseas effort is central to the company's plan for success, and that promotions often follow or accompany an assignment abroad. If an employee can succeed in a difficult assignment overseas, superiors will have greater confidence in his or her ability to cope back in the United States where cross-cultural considerations and foreign language issues are becoming more and more prevalent (普遍的).

Thanks to a variety of relatively inexpensive communications devices with business applica tions, even small businesses in the United States are able to get into international markets. English is still the international language of business. But there is an ever-growing need for people who can speak another language. A second language isn't generally required to get a job in business, but having language skills gives a candidate the edge when other qualifications appear to be equal.

The employee posted abroad who speaks the country's principal language has an opportunity to fast-forward certain negotiations, and can have the cultural insight to know when it is better to move more slowly. The employee at the home office who can communicate well with foreign clients over the telephone or by fax machine is an obvious asset to the firm.

What is the author's attitude toward high-tech communications equipment？

A．Critical.

B．Prejudiced.

C．Indifferent.

D．Positive.