Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia (百科全书), is...

Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia (百科全书), is the largest encyclopedia ever. An encyclopedia is a collection of informative articles about various things. Encyclopedias　 used to be printed as books. 1.

“Wiki”is an internet term that means”a website that can be edited by the public. “It comes from”wikiwiki”，a Hawaiian word for”quick”. Two Americans, Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger, created Wikipedia in 2001.2.It has about 6 million articles in 300 languages and is visited by billions of people each day,who want to find information on just about anything-science, math, languages, art, cultureand company histories. There are articles on sports stars, too, and even long-forgotten soap operas from the 1970s.

3.Except for a small number of pages, anyone can edit articles, anonymously (匿名地) or with a user account, and registered users can create their own articles. Editing is unpaid, although Wikipedia does employ a small staff. Wikipedia is freely available to anyone with an internet connection. Its founders hoped that the model would make use of humanity’s collective knowledge.

4.Many Wikipedia pages contain errors, although the organization has a content review system that works to fix this problem. Several studies have concluded that Wikipedia is as accurate as most print encyclopedias. Indeed, a 2005 report in the journal Nature found it to be only slightly less reliable than Encyclopedia Britannica.

Today Wikipedia faces many challenges. It does not rely on advertising. 5.Perhaps more importantly, the number of its volunteer editors is shrinking.

Despite these difficulties, Jimmy Wales says he will still stick to his dream. He has big plans for the future. He wants Wikipedia available in all of the world’s languages.

A.Instead, all of its funds come from donations.

B.Wikipedia employs an open editing model.

C.It allows users to get information within seconds.

D.It is now the fifth-most visited website on the Internet.

E.Most of its editors are volunteers.

F.Now,they are mostly found online.

G.However,some people doubt the accuracy of Wikipedia's content.

高三英语七选五中等难度题查看答案及解析

Wikipedia is an online encyclopedia（百科全书）．This name is a combination of“wiki" and “encyclopedia"． Wiki is the Hawaiian word for quick． Wiki websites are designed to enable users to make addition or edit any page Of the site．

Wikipedia has been accused of exhibiting systemic prejudice and mistakes．Critics argue that Wikipedia's open nature and a lack of proper sources for much of the information makes it unreliable,

Mention Wikipedia within the walls of academy and you'll find no shortage of opinions．That-s no surprise．Can an online encyclopedia that is edited by anyone be trusted as a credible information source? Should students be encouraged to use this tool? And is it even possible to discourage its users?

To find out, we performed a simple experiment．We selected 100 terms from the U．S．history textbooks, We chose a mix of items that students might be asked to research for a test or paper and we entered each item into Google to find out which websites the search engine suggests as the most useful links． The results are shocking． Google listed Wikipedia as the number one：　 87 times out of 100．

Several conclusions can be drawn from this finding． First,　 people searching for information about these historical terms are finding the entries from Wikipedia helpful．Second, 6'banning" the use of Wikipedia appears hopelessly simple-minded．Jimmy Wales, one of Wikipedia's founders, told the New York Times, "They might as well suggest not listening to rock & roll either"．

To our untrained eyes, the information from Wikipedia appeared just as reliable．The reason why the content is mostly reliable is probably that these terms are rather mainstream．The high-school level content is less likely to be wrong than the subjects studied in graduate schools． So when　 primary and secondary students are researching history, Wikipedia is still a proper place to start．

1.Which of the following can best describe Wikipedia?

A．Wikipedia is from the Hawaiian language with the meaning of prejudice and mistakes．

B．Wikipedia is an online encyclopedia edited freely．

C．Wikipedia is an encyclopedia under public attack．

D．Wikipedia is a tool for enjoying rock & roll．

2.What does "it" in the second paragraph refer to?

A．Wikipedia's open nature．

B．Wikipedia's lack of proper sources．

C．Wikipedia

D．Information on the Internet．

3.From the underlined sentence we can conclude that　　 ．

A．Wikipedia serves only primary and secondary students

B．People are always ready to find faults with others

C．Wikipedia has a range of topics and is rich in knowledge

D．People hold different opinions about Wikipedia

4.What does the writer imply in the last paragraph?

A．Wikipedia can be useful in certain aspects．

B．Students should be discouraged from using Wikipedia．

C．The information from Wikipedia is totally reliable．

D．Wikipedia cannot be trusted at all．

5.What could be the best title for the passage?

A．Wikipedia-a perfect encyclopedia

B．Wikipedia-a misleading encyclopedia

C．Wikipedia-a paper encyclopedia

D．Wikipedia-a helpful online encyclopedia

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

Wikipedia is a free-access, free content Internet encyclopedia(百科全书), supported and hosted by the non-profit Wikipedia Foundation. Wikipedia is ranked among the ten most popular websites and is considered the Internet’s largest and most popular general reference book. Now, Wikipedia is becoming Wookiepedia as scientists hope the informative website will help us reach out to intelligent life forms. So aliens can learn about the human race.

Astronomers would like to beam (播送) the entire contents of Wikipedia into space in the hope of contacting aliens. They want to send messages to hundreds of star systems and planets 20 light years away using radio telescopes. The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Institute, in California, wants to use powerful radio telescopes to try to reach Chewbacca and his mates in a galaxy(银河系)far away.

The plans will be discussed by astronomers at the weekend as some scientists fear the reply from ET might not turn out to be friendly. Institute scientist David Black said, “One question is if there are dangerous creatures we might be drawing their attention to ourselves. Another is if we go ahead, what message should be sent? There could be many civilizations out there，but if they are all listening and no one is broadcasting or responding, then nothing will happen.”

Professor Stephen Hawking, who has warned that intelligent aliens probably exist and we should keep a safe distance from them, is among those. “If aliens visit us, the outcome would be much as when Columbus landed in America which didn’t turn out well for the Native Americans,” he said.

Signals from Earth’s radio and TV broadcasts have been heading out in space for some 60 years reaching around 5,000 stars.

1.What does the underlined word those in the fourth paragraph refer to?

A. aliens from space

B. astronomers sending signals

C. scientists for the plans

D. scientists against the plans

2.What has Prof. Stephen Hawking warned?

A. intelligent aliens would probably land in America.

B. the plans will be in vain and nothing will happen.

C. none of the civilizations would reply.

D. aliens would bring disasters to the human race.

3.Which can be the best title?

A. Wikipedia, the most popular website

B. Wikipedia to be beamed into space

C. Wikipedia, aliens’ best friend

D. Wikipedia to result in a disaster

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

Wikipedia is a free-access, free content Internet encyclopedia(百科全书), supported and hosted by the non-profit Wikipedia Foundation. Wikipedia is ranked among the ten most popular websites and is considered the Internet’s largest and most popular general reference book. Now, Wikipedia is becoming Wookiepedia as scientists hope the informative website will help us reach out to intelligent life forms. So aliens can learn about the human race.

Astronomers would like to beam (播送) the entire contents of Wikipedia into space in the hope of contacting aliens. They want to send messages to hundreds of star systems and planets 20 light years away using radio telescopes. The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Institute, in California, wants to use powerful radio telescopes to try to reach Chewbacca and his mates in a galaxy（银河系）far away.

The plans will be discussed by astronomers at the weekend as some scientists fear the reply from ET might not turn out to be friendly. Institute scientist David Black said, “One question is if there are dangerous creatures we might be drawing their attention to ourselves. Another is if we go ahead, what message should be sent? There could be many civilizations out there，but if they are all listening and no one is broadcasting or responding, then nothing will happen.”

Professor Stephen Hawking, who has warned that intelligent aliens probably exist and we should keep a safe distance from them, is among those. “If aliens visit us, the outcome would be much as when Columbus landed in America which didn’t turn out well for the Native Americans,” he said.

Signals from Earth’s radio and TV broadcasts have been heading out in space for some 60 years reaching around 5,000 stars.

1.What does the underlined word those in the fourth paragraph refer to?

A. aliens from space

B. astronomers sending signals

C. scientists for the plans

D. scientists against the plans

2.What has Prof. Stephen Hawking warned?

A. intelligent aliens would probably land in America.

B. the plans will be in vain and nothing will happen.

C. none of the civilizations would reply.

D. aliens would bring disasters to the human race.

3.Which can be the best title?

A. Wikipedia, the most popular website

B. Wikipedia to be beamed into space

C. Wikipedia, aliens’ best friend

D. Wikipedia to result in a disaster

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

Below is a page adapted from About Wikipedia (维基百科) on how to take full advantage of Wikipedia.

Wikipedia is a web-based, free-content encyclopedia (百科全书) in many languages.

§Exploring Wikipedia

Many visitors come to Wikipedia to acquire knowledge, while others come to share knowledge. At this very instant, dozens of articles are being improved, and new articles are also being created. Over 3,500 articles have been listed by the Wikipedia community as featured articles. Another 15,000 articles are listed as good articles. Wikipedia is available in more than 280 languages including English. Its related projects include a dictionary, quotations, books, manuals, and scientific reference sources, and a news service. All of these are kept, updated, and managed by separate communities, and often include information and articles that can be hard to find through other common sources.

§Basic navigation in Wikipedia

Wikipedia articles are all linked, or cross-referenced. In every article, there are links to some related articles or Wikipedia pages with further in-depth information. Holding the mouse over a certain link will often show to where the link will lead. There are other links towards the ends of most articles, for other articles of interest, related websites and pages and so on. Some articles may also have links to dictionary definitions, audio-book readings, quotations, the same article in other languages etc.

§Using Wikipedia as a research tool

Wiki articles are never considered complete and may be continually edited and improved. Over time, this generally results in an upward trend of quality and a growing agreement over a representation of information. Users should be aware that not all articles are of encyclopedic quality from the start. Indeed, many articles start their lives as displaying a single viewpoint; and, after a long process of discussion, debate, and argument, they gradually take on a neutral point of view reached through agreement. Others may, for a while, become caught up in a heavily unbalanced viewpoint which can take some time—months perhaps—to achieve better balanced coverage of their subject.

§Wikipedia vs. paper encyclopedias

Wikipedia has advantages over traditional paper encyclopedias. Wikipedia has a very low “publishing” cost for adding or expanding entries and a low environmental impact in some respects, since it never needs to be printed. In addition, Wikipedia has wikilinks instead of in-line (内嵌) explanations and its articles provide not only summaries but also plenty of details. Additionally, the editorial cycle is short. A paper encyclopedia stays the same until the next edition, while editors can update Wikipedia at any instant, around the clock, to help ensure that articles keep up with the most recent events.

1.We know from the passage that Wikipedia________.

A. provides very accurate information

B. offers links to most leading media

C. covers rich resources of knowledge

D. comes available in any language

2.The underlined word “they” in the passage probably refers to “________”.

A. users　　 B. articles　　 C. editors　　　　　 D. subjects

3.The links in Wikipedia to other resources are mainly to________.

A. provide details of the same articles

B. help the users to be better informed

C. guarantee the quality of the service

D. offer basic guidance on web research

4.The passage is presented in a way of ________.

A. discussion　 B. description

C. instruction　　　　 D. summary

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

Wikipedia: The Online Know-It-All

If you want to find out a piece of information about anything, the best place to search for it is Wikipedia. The name “Wikipedia” is from the Hawaiian word wiki, meaning “quick”. This online encyclopedia (百科全书) is written by thousands of people around the world. Anyone with Internet access can write, add or make changes to Wikipedia articles if he or she finds it incorrect or not well written. In this way, people who know a lot about a certain subject can write about it even if they are not university professors. But contributions cannot damage Wikipedia because many experienced editors are watching pages and techies (技术专家) can write editing programs to keep track of or correct bad edits. Where there are disagreements on how to present facts, editors work together to arrive at an article that fairly represents current expert opinion on the subject.

Wikipedia is quite different from paper-based reference sources in important ways. Unlike printed encyclopedias, it is continually created and updated, with articles on historic events appearing within minutes, rather than months or years.

What’s more, Wikipedia includes articles written in about 285 languages. This fact makes it one of the few websites on the Internet that are truly international. It was started in 2001 by Larry Sanger and Jimmy Wales, as a free online English-language encyclopedia project. Since its creation, it has grown rapidly into one of the largest reference websites, attracting nearly 500 million unique visitors monthly. There are more than 77,000 active contributors working on more than 22,000,000 articles in different languages. As of today, there are 4,396,866 articles in English.

So, if you are looking for some information, why not try Wikipedia? It’s free, multilingual，and informative.　　

1.According to the passage, what is Wikipedia?

A. A free website encyclopedia.            B. A computer game.

C. A free encyclopedia in book form.        D. An online university.

2.From the passage we know that ______.

A. Wikipedia only charges users a small fee

B. Wikipedia catches a wide audience

C. incorrect editions might do great harm to Wikipedia

D. it will take long to update the information on Wikipedia

3.Where can we probably read the passage?

A. In a story book.            B. In a research report.

C. In a science magazine.    D. In a travel brochure.

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

B

　China is likely to surpass the U.S. to become world’s largest online game market this year, according to a recent report by market research firm iResearch. China’s online game market generated revenue(总收入) of 20.8 billion yuan($3.04 billion) in 2008, up 52.2% over the previous year. Over 80% of the revenue came from big, multiplayer online games, with the rest generated from Web games and mobile games.

　The overall market is expected to keep growing at an average annual rate of 20% in the coming five years. And iResearch forecasts that the Chinese online market will be worth more than 68 billion yuan by 2012, which will account for almost half of the global market by then. At present, U.S., China and Korea are the world’s top three largest online game markets, making up about 29%, 27% and 21% respectively of the global online game market, according to the report.

　U.S. game companies derive a major part of their revenue from sales of games overseas. South Korea’s online game industry generates half of its revenue from games in its home market. In China, however, most of the money comes directly from its own game players. Negatively influenced by the global economic downturn, both the U.S. and Korea markets will see a drop in game exporting, iResearch estimates.

　In China, the enormous base and fast growing of online gamers will further boost China’s online game industry, said the report. China is currently home to 55.5 million online game players, according to the latest stats by the China Internet Network Information Center(CNNIC). In its report, iResearch found that figures for gamers under 18 and above 40 grew at their fastest rate yet last year, though it didn’t disclose specifics.

55．The second and third paragraphs show that ________.

A．The global online game market will be worth more than 136 billion yuan in 2012.

B．China’s online game market increased by 20% in 2008.

C．China’s online game market will become 60% less in 2009.

D．US, China and Korea together account for 90% of the global online game market.

56．China’s online game industry is different from that of the US and Korea because it’s ________.

A．made up of online, Web and mobile games

B．easily affected by the global economy

C．mainly based upon its home market

D．among the three largest online game markets

57．Which of the following things is mentioned as a factor in the rapid development of China’s online game industry?

A．The rapid growth of online gamers in China.

B．A drop in game imports to China.

C．The global economic downturn.

D．The development of technology in China.

58．According to the last paragraph, which of the following is TRUE?

A．CNNC and iResearch worked together on the report.

B．Gamers under 18 were one of the age groups which grew the fastest last year.

C．At present there are 55.5 million online game providers in China.

D．The statements of CNNC and iResearch are contradictory.

高三英语阅读理解简单题查看答案及解析

Wikipedia (维基百科) is a non-profit website funded by donations, started on 15th January, 2001. “Wiki” means “quick” in the Hawaiian language. These days, most people go straight to Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia (百科), to look something up. But how reliable is it?

The site attracts 78 million visitors every month, and it is available in more than 270 different languages. It’s one of the most comprehensive (综合的) resources available, and it’s got much more information than an ordinary encyclopedia. The site is updated on a daily basis by thousands of people around the world. Anyone with an Internet connection can look through and edit the contents or add a new page at any time. And you don’t need any formal training.

Of course, there are some controls. Wikipedia has a team of more than 1,500 administrators who check for false information. And main targets for horrible comments (such as politicians) are forbidden to public editing. But with more than 16 million articles to keep an eye on, it isn’t easy. So, while Wikipedia benefits from being constantly updated with information from all over the world, it’s also open to “vandals”.

Some of the damage is easy to notice. Someone drew horns and a moustache on Microsoft chairman Bill Gates’ photo. But other things are harder to spot. The most common form of vandalism involves adding tiny items of false information into the biography of a famous person. Unbelievably, some of this misinformation has appeared in newspapers, with The Daily Mail, The Guardian and The Independent all having fallen victim to the tricks. For example, in an obituary (讣告) for British comedian Sir Norman Wisdom, one newspaper claimed that he co-wrote Dame Vera Lynn’s wartime song “There’ll be Bluebirds over the White Cliffs of Dover”. In fact, he did no such thing.

So if you’re going to use any information from Wikipedia, make sure you double-check it first.

1. What do we know about Wikipedia?

A. It makes profits from its users.

B. It is run by the Hawaiian government.

C. It is the most popular website worldwide.

D. It provides a huge amount of information.

2. The underlined word “vandals” in Paragraph 3 refers to those who _________.

A. take responsibility for something B. get benefits from others

C. deliberately damage things for fun D. take care of something

3.　 The example of Norman Wisdom’s obituary is used to show _________.

A. some newspapers like The Guardian are irresponsible

B. Wikipedia sometimes contains false information

C. Norman Wisdom is unpopular with some people

D. Wikipedia affects people’s lives greatly

4. What does the author advise readers to do?

A. To look through Wikipedia frequently.

B. To update Wikipedia on a daily basis.

C. To turn to other websites for valid information.

D. To be careful when using the information from Wikipedia.

高三英语阅读理解简单题查看答案及解析

Wikipedia (维基百科) is a non-profit website funded by donations, started on 15th January, 2001. “Wiki” means “quick” in the Hawaiian language. These days, most people go straight to Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia (百科), to look something up. But how reliable is it?

The site attracts 78 million visitors every month, and it is available in more than 270 different languages. It’s one of the most comprehensive (综合的) resources available, and it’s got much more information than an ordinary encyclopedia. The site is updated on a daily basis by thousands of people around the world. Anyone with an Internet connection can look through and edit the contents or add a new page at any time. And you don’t need any formal training.

Of course, there are some controls. Wikipedia has a team of more than 1,500 administrators who check for false information. And main targets for horrible comments (such as politicians) are forbidden to public editing. But with more than 16 million articles to keep an eye on, it isn’t easy. So, while Wikipedia benefits from being constantly updated with information from all over the world, it’s also open to “vandals”(故意捣乱者).

Some of the damage is easy to notice. Someone drew horns and a moustache on Microsoft chairman Bill Gates’ photo. But other things are harder to spot. The most common form of vandalism involves adding tiny items of false information into the biography of a famous person. Unbelievably, some of this misinformation has appeared in newspapers, with The Daily Mail, The Guardian and The Independent all having fallen victim to the tricks. For example, in an obituary (讣告) for British comedian Sir Norman Wisdom, one newspaper claimed that he co-wrote Dame Vera Lynn’s wartime song “There’ll be Bluebirds over the White Cliffs of Dover”. In fact, he did no such thing.

So if you’re going to use any information from Wikipedia, make sure you double-check it first.

1.What do we know about Wikipedia?

A. It makes profits from its users.

B. It is run by the Hawaiian government.

C. It provides a huge amount of information.

D. It is the most popular website worldwide.

2.Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A.　 78 million people visit Wiki each day

B. To forbid wrong public editings is quite easy

C.　 Formal education is needed to do editing for Wifi

D. Some people change the information on Wiki just for fun

3. The example of Norman Wisdom’s obituary is used to show _________.

A. Wikipedia sometimes contains false information

B. some newspapers like The Guardian are irresponsible

C. Norman Wisdom is unpopular with some people

D. Wikipedia affects people’s lives greatly

4.What does the author advise readers to do?

A. To look through Wikipedia frequently.

B. To update Wikipedia on a daily basis.

C. To turn to other websites for valid information.

D. To be careful when using the information from Wikipedia.

高三英语阅读理解困难题查看答案及解析

Ottawa is the capital of Canada. It is the second largest city in Ontario and the fourth largest city in the country.

The Centre Block is the main building on Parliament Hill (国会山). It is also the location of several ceremonial spaces, such as the Hall of Honor and the Memorial Chamber. The present Centre Block is the second iteration of the building，after the first was destroyed by fire in 1916，and it is one of the most recognizable buildings in Canada.

Downtown Ottawa is the commercial and economic centre of the city. Most of the buildings are office towers. While most of Ottawa’s high tech industry is based elsewhere, it has a significant presence in the downtown core. The downtown also contains a number of apartments, hotels, and the older single family homes and townhouses along its edges.

The National Gallery of Canada is one of Canada，s premier art galleries. The Gallery has a large and varied collection of paintings, drawings, sculpture and photographs. Although its focus is on Canadian art, it also holds works by some noted American and European artists.

The Rideau Canal is the oldest continuously operated canal system in North America. At the very beginning，the purpose of the Rideau Canal was military, as it was intended to provide a secure supply and communication route between Montreal and the British naval base in Kingston. It remains in use today primarily for pleasure boating, with most of its original structures remained. The locks on the system open for navigation in mid-May and close in mid-October.

1.What does "iteration" probably mean in the 2nd paragraph? _____.

A．Repair            B．Design            C．Copy             D．Landmark

2.In the core of Downtown Ottawa, we could see _____.

A．a large number of tall towers

B．head offices of Ottawa’ s high tech industry

C．a number of apartments and hotels

D．the older single family homes and townhouses

3.Collections in the National Gallery of Canada are mainly _____.

A．paintings and drawings                   B．sculpture and photographs

C．works by Canadian artists                  D．artwork by Americans and European

4.Which of the following is true about the Rideau Canal? _____.

A．It is the oldest canal system in North America

B．It was originally for the military purpose

C．The original structures remain never changed

D．People can only go boating from May to October

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析