What’s your ______ for being late again?A. ideaB. keyC. excuseD. news

inspect；purchase；oppose；impress；warn；satisfy；sense；lonely；funeral；recommend（1）A man should have a（n） ____ of responsibility for his family.（2）I am not at all ____ with the service at the hotel.（3）Only close relatives were allowed to attend the ____ .（4）I shall have a companion in the house because I feel so ____ sometimes.（5）It is human nature to be ____ to change because it requires us to cross into the unknown.（6）Among the decisions that most people make ____ a house is perhaps the biggest one.（7）It is not what you say but what you do that ____ people most.（8）I wouldn't ____ reading in this light；it may affect your eyes.（9）The guard walked through the train ____ everyone's ticket.（10）His boss ____ him that if he was late again，he would lose his job.

-_____did you celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival this year， Tom？-By making rice dumplings with my Chinese friends．（　　） A. Where B. When C. How D. Why

阅读下面的短文，从每题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出能正确回答所提问题或完成所给句子的最佳答案。 A An eight-year-old child heard her parents talking about her little brother. All she knew was that he was very sick and they had no money. Only a very expensive operation could save him now and there was no one to lend them the money. When she heard her daddy say to her tearful mother， "Only a miracle can save him now，"the little girl went to her bedroom and pulled her money from its hiding place and counted it carefully. She hurried to a drugstore （药店） with the money in her hand."And what do you want？" asked the salesman. "It's for my little brother，" the girl answered. "He's really，really sick and I want to buy a miracle.""Pardon？" said the salesman. "My brother Andrew has something bad growing in-side his head and my daddy says only a miracle can save him. So how much does a miracle cost？“”We don't sell a miracle here，child. I'm sorry，” the salesman said with a smile.“Listen，if it isn't enough，I can try and get some more. Just tell me how much it costs.”A well-dressed man heard it and asked，“What kind of a miracle does your brother need？”“I don't know，” she answered with her eyes full of tears. “He's really sick and mum says he needs an opera-tion. But my daddy can't pay for it，so I have brought all my money.”“How much do you have？” asked the man.“ 1.11， but I can try and get some more，”she answered.“Well， what luck，” smiled the man. “ 1.11， the price of a miracle for little brothers.”He took up the girl's hand and said，“Take me to where you live. I want to see your brother and meet your parents. Let's see if I have the kind of miracle you need.” 　 That well-dressed man was Dr Carlton Armstrong，a famous doctor. The operation was successful and it wasn't long before Andrew was home again. 　 How much did the miracle cost？ 46. What was the trouble in the little girl's family？ A. Her brother was seriously ill. B. They had no money. C. Nothing could save her brother. D. Both A and B. 47. In the eye of thelittle girl， a miracle might be _______. A. somethinginteresting B. something beautiful C. some wonderful medicine D. some good food 48. The little girl said again and again "……I can try and get some more." That shows _______. A. she had still kept some money B. she hoped not to be refused C. There was no need to worry about money D. she thought money was easy to get 49. What made the miracle happen？ A. The girl's love for her brother. B. The girl's money. C. The medicine from the drugstore. D. Nobody can tell. 50. From the passage we can infer （推断） that _______. A. The doctor didn't ask for any pay B. A miracle is sure to happen if you keep on C. The little girl is lovely but not so clever D. Andrew was in fact not so sick as they had thought 　　 B In Britain you are allowed to drive a car when you are seventeen. You have to get a special two-year driving license before you can start. When you are learning, someone with a full license always has to be in the car with you because you aren’t allowed to drive the car on the road alone. You don’t have to go to a driving school –--- a friend can teach you. The person with you isn’t allowed to take the money for the lesson unless he’s got a teacher’s license. Before you are allowed to have a full license, you have to take a driving test. You can take a test in your own car, but it has to be fit for the road. In the test you have to drive round for about half an hour and then answer a few questions. If you don’t pass the test, you are allowed to take it again a few weeks later if you want to. In 1970 a woman passed her fortieth test after 212 driving lessons. When you’ve passed your test, you don’t have to take it again, and you are allowed to go on driving as long as you like. Britain’s oldest driver was a man who drove in 1974 at the age of 100. Before 1904 everyone was allowed to drive, even children. Then from 1904 car drivers had to have a license. But they didn’t have to take a test until 1935. On the early days of car driving, before 1878, cars weren’t allowed to go faster than four miles an hour, and someone had to lead the car with a red flag. 51. Which of the following is not necessary for a young man who wants to drive a car alone? A. He should reach the age of 17. B. He should get a special two-year driving license. C. He should learn to drive in a driving school. D. He should pass a driving test to get a full license 52. A person can’t take money for driving lessons unless he ________. A. has learnt to drive in a driving school. B. has a full driving license. C. has a full license and a teacher’s license. D. is given a special two-year driving license 53. In the driving test, one _____________. A. mustn’t drive his car, even though the car is fit for the road. B. is usually asked to drive on roads for some time. C. has to be examined only in car driving skills D. must drive round for more than an hour 54. Which of the following is not true? A. There is no limit to the age of a man who drives a car. B. One can take a driving test again and again until he passes it. C. There was a speed limit to cars before 1878 D. A car driver didn’t have to get a limit license until 1935. 55. The best title for the passage is ______________. A. Driving licenses in Britain. B. Tests for Britain people. C. Driving cars. D. Young Men’s driving licenses C 　 What are you going to do if you are in a burning house？ How will you escape？ Do you know how to save yourself？ Please read the following passage. 　　Escaping a fire is a serious matter. Knowing what to do during a fire can save you life. It is important to know the ways you can use and show them to everyone in the family， such as stairways and fire escapes， but not lifts. From the lower floors of the buildings， escaping through windows is possible，learn the best way of leaving by windows with the least chance of serious injury. The second floor window is usually not very high from the ground. An average person， hanging by the finger-tips will have a drop of about six feet to the ground. It is about the height of an average man. Of course， it is safer to jump a short way than to stay in a burning building. Windows are also useful when you are waiting for help. Be sure to keep the door closed. Or smoke and fire may be drawn into the room. Keep your head low at the window to be sure you get fresh air rather than smoke that may leaked（渗） into the room. On a second or third floor， the best windows for escape are those that open onto a roof. From the roof a person can drop to the ground more safely. Dropping onto cement（水泥） might end in injury. Bushes（灌木丛） and grass can help to break a fall. 56. It is important to _______. A. put out the fire in the burning house B. know the ways to escape the fire C. jump off a burning house D. keep the door closed 57. It is possible to escape through the windows _______. A. if there are some bushes on the ground B. if you are strong enough C. if you live on a lower floor D. If you have a long rope 58. Which of the following escaping way is NOT right？ _______. A. You can escape though stairways. B. You can choose fire escapes. C. Escape from the windows that open onto a roof. D. Use a lift to come down at once. 59. Open the window so that _______ if the building is on fire. A. you can get fresh air B. you can call for help C. you can easily jump off D. you can be seen first 60. The best title of the passage is _______. A. Escaping from the Windows B. Save Yourself in the Burning House C. Knowledge on Fire D. Waiting for Help D Napoga is a 12-year-old girl in Ghana， Africa. It is hard for her family to get clean water. Every morning， she leaves home at half past five to get clean water for her family in a village far away. It takes her six hours to get enough clean water for daily cooking and drinking. She has no time to go to school or to play with her friends. Millions of people in the world are like Napoga. They can't get enough clean water to keep healthy. Earth Day is April 22. But on all other days， we must also remember it. The water we use is the most important natural resource on the earth. Water covers 70% of the earth's surface。 But most of that is sea water. We can't use it for very many things. Fresh water covers only 1% of the earth's surface. You probably feel lucky that your life isn't as hard as Napoga's. But that doesn't mean you don't have to worry about water. We all face serious water problems. One of them is water pollution. All kinds of things from cars， factories， farms and homes make our rivers， lakes， and oceans dirty. Polluted water is very bad for people to drink. And dirty water is bad for fish， too. Now， 34% of all kinds of fish are dying out. How do cars and factories make our water dirty？ First，they pollute the air. Then， when it rains，the rain water comes down and makes our drinking water dirty. Dirty rain， called acid rain， is also bad for plants， animals and buildings. Scientists say that in 30 years， more than half of the people in the world won't have enough clean water. We have to learn how to save more water for ourselves and our children. Here is some advice for saving water：Turn off the water while you brush your teeth. You can save as much as 450 liters each month. Leaky taps（漏水的龙头） waste a lot of water. Fix them right away！You can easily cut your 10-minute showers（沐浴） in half-and you'll be just as clean. When you wash dishes， don't let the water run. Only wash clothes when you have a lot to wash. If your washing machine isn't full， you're wasting water！ 61. Every morning Napoga went to get clean water _______. A. before she went to school B. after she finished school C without going to school D. after she played with her friends 62. On the earth， _______. A. sea water is widely used than fresh water B. there is very little water for our living C. there is 71% of fresh water D. we don't need to worry about water 63. Acid rain _______. A. is only bad for living things B. can be produced in factories C. doesn't do harm to people， but it's bad for plants，animals and buildings D. doesn't just do harm to human beings but to ani-mals，plants and buildings 64. Which of the following wastes water？ A. We need ten minutes if we want a clean shower. B. We should put in enough clothes when we wash them in washing machines. C. You can keep yourself clean by having a shower for five minutes. D. Don't let the water run when we brush our teeth and wash dishes. 65. What's the main idea of the passage？ A. Something must be done to prevent water form be-ing polluted. B. Clean water means much to human beings and living things around us. C. It's time to take care of the water we use. D. Water is the most important natural resource on the earth.

CLICK^+A FRIEND?-|||-1 How would you feel if 1moving to a new town meant losing-|||-track of②your friends? ②What if the only way of getting news-|||-from faraway friends was writing letters that took ages to be-|||-delivered③?This was &how things worked not very long ago.-|||-Thanks to④advances⑤ in technology, foo we make friends and-|||-communicate with@them has changed significantly⑦.-|||-2 Nowadays,we can move around the world and still stay in-|||-touch with⑧the people fo that we want to remain friends with.-|||-Social media⑨tools let us see what our friends are up to w and-|||-maintain @ friendships.All you need is a wi-fi⑫⑫ connection.-|||-3 The digitall age also enables 14 us to find people-|||-6 who share our interests, such as collecting model cars or-|||-playing an unusuaua 15 instrument`l . .1 Whatever our hobbies, the-|||-Internet can connect us with 17 others a who also enjoy doing-|||-them,@ee if they live on the other side of the world.-|||-4 But when you "friend 18 "people online,does this mean-|||-⑪that they really are your friends?-|||-5 ⑪ It depends.-|||-6 If people always exchange wy true personal information-|||-online,then yes,these friendships can be real and meaningful^20 .-|||-But we need to keep in mind? It that what we see on social media-|||-is often not the whole truth about a person.CLICK^+A FRIEND?-|||-1 How would you feel if 1moving to a new town meant losing-|||-track of②your friends? ②What if the only way of getting news-|||-from faraway friends was writing letters that took ages to be-|||-delivered③?This was &how things worked not very long ago.-|||-Thanks to④advances⑤ in technology, foo we make friends and-|||-communicate with@them has changed significantly⑦.-|||-2 Nowadays,we can move around the world and still stay in-|||-touch with⑧the people fo that we want to remain friends with.-|||-Social media⑨tools let us see what our friends are up to w and-|||-maintain @ friendships.All you need is a wi-fi⑫⑫ connection.-|||-3 The digitall age also enables 14 us to find people-|||-6 who share our interests, such as collecting model cars or-|||-playing an unusuaua 15 instrument`l . .1 Whatever our hobbies, the-|||-Internet can connect us with 17 others a who also enjoy doing-|||-them,@ee if they live on the other side of the world.-|||-4 But when you "friend 18 "people online,does this mean-|||-⑪that they really are your friends?-|||-5 ⑪ It depends.-|||-6 If people always exchange wy true personal information-|||-online,then yes,these friendships can be real and meaningful^20 .-|||-But we need to keep in mind? It that what we see on social media-|||-is often not the whole truth about a person.CLICK^+A FRIEND?-|||-1 How would you feel if 1moving to a new town meant losing-|||-track of②your friends? ②What if the only way of getting news-|||-from faraway friends was writing letters that took ages to be-|||-delivered③?This was &how things worked not very long ago.-|||-Thanks to④advances⑤ in technology, foo we make friends and-|||-communicate with@them has changed significantly⑦.-|||-2 Nowadays,we can move around the world and still stay in-|||-touch with⑧the people fo that we want to remain friends with.-|||-Social media⑨tools let us see what our friends are up to w and-|||-maintain @ friendships.All you need is a wi-fi⑫⑫ connection.-|||-3 The digitall age also enables 14 us to find people-|||-6 who share our interests, such as collecting model cars or-|||-playing an unusuaua 15 instrument`l . .1 Whatever our hobbies, the-|||-Internet can connect us with 17 others a who also enjoy doing-|||-them,@ee if they live on the other side of the world.-|||-4 But when you "friend 18 "people online,does this mean-|||-⑪that they really are your friends?-|||-5 ⑪ It depends.-|||-6 If people always exchange wy true personal information-|||-online,then yes,these friendships can be real and meaningful^20 .-|||-But we need to keep in mind? It that what we see on social media-|||-is often not the whole truth about a person.CLICK^+A FRIEND?-|||-1 How would you feel if 1moving to a new town meant losing-|||-track of②your friends? ②What if the only way of getting news-|||-from faraway friends was writing letters that took ages to be-|||-delivered③?This was &how things worked not very long ago.-|||-Thanks to④advances⑤ in technology, foo we make friends and-|||-communicate with@them has changed significantly⑦.-|||-2 Nowadays,we can move around the world and still stay in-|||-touch with⑧the people fo that we want to remain friends with.-|||-Social media⑨tools let us see what our friends are up to w and-|||-maintain @ friendships.All you need is a wi-fi⑫⑫ connection.-|||-3 The digitall age also enables 14 us to find people-|||-6 who share our interests, such as collecting model cars or-|||-playing an unusuaua 15 instrument`l . .1 Whatever our hobbies, the-|||-Internet can connect us with 17 others a who also enjoy doing-|||-them,@ee if they live on the other side of the world.-|||-4 But when you "friend 18 "people online,does this mean-|||-⑪that they really are your friends?-|||-5 ⑪ It depends.-|||-6 If people always exchange wy true personal information-|||-online,then yes,these friendships can be real and meaningful^20 .-|||-But we need to keep in mind? It that what we see on social media-|||-is often not the whole truth about a person.CLICK^+A FRIEND?-|||-1 How would you feel if 1moving to a new town meant losing-|||-track of②your friends? ②What if the only way of getting news-|||-from faraway friends was writing letters that took ages to be-|||-delivered③?This was &how things worked not very long ago.-|||-Thanks to④advances⑤ in technology, foo we make friends and-|||-communicate with@them has changed significantly⑦.-|||-2 Nowadays,we can move around the world and still stay in-|||-touch with⑧the people fo that we want to remain friends with.-|||-Social media⑨tools let us see what our friends are up to w and-|||-maintain @ friendships.All you need is a wi-fi⑫⑫ connection.-|||-3 The digitall age also enables 14 us to find people-|||-6 who share our interests, such as collecting model cars or-|||-playing an unusuaua 15 instrument`l . .1 Whatever our hobbies, the-|||-Internet can connect us with 17 others a who also enjoy doing-|||-them,@ee if they live on the other side of the world.-|||-4 But when you "friend 18 "people online,does this mean-|||-⑪that they really are your friends?-|||-5 ⑪ It depends.-|||-6 If people always exchange wy true personal information-|||-online,then yes,these friendships can be real and meaningful^20 .-|||-But we need to keep in mind? It that what we see on social media-|||-is often not the whole truth about a person.CLICK^+A FRIEND?-|||-1 How would you feel if 1moving to a new town meant losing-|||-track of②your friends? ②What if the only way of getting news-|||-from faraway friends was writing letters that took ages to be-|||-delivered③?This was &how things worked not very long ago.-|||-Thanks to④advances⑤ in technology, foo we make friends and-|||-communicate with@them has changed significantly⑦.-|||-2 Nowadays,we can move around the world and still stay in-|||-touch with⑧the people fo that we want to remain friends with.-|||-Social media⑨tools let us see what our friends are up to w and-|||-maintain @ friendships.All you need is a wi-fi⑫⑫ connection.-|||-3 The digitall age also enables 14 us to find people-|||-6 who share our interests, such as collecting model cars or-|||-playing an unusuaua 15 instrument`l . .1 Whatever our hobbies, the-|||-Internet can connect us with 17 others a who also enjoy doing-|||-them,@ee if they live on the other side of the world.-|||-4 But when you "friend 18 "people online,does this mean-|||-⑪that they really are your friends?-|||-5 ⑪ It depends.-|||-6 If people always exchange wy true personal information-|||-online,then yes,these friendships can be real and meaningful^20 .-|||-But we need to keep in mind? It that what we see on social media-|||-is often not the whole truth about a person.CLICK^+A FRIEND?-|||-1 How would you feel if 1moving to a new town meant losing-|||-track of②your friends? ②What if the only way of getting news-|||-from faraway friends was writing letters that took ages to be-|||-delivered③?This was &how things worked not very long ago.-|||-Thanks to④advances⑤ in technology, foo we make friends and-|||-communicate with@them has changed significantly⑦.-|||-2 Nowadays,we can move around the world and still stay in-|||-touch with⑧the people fo that we want to remain friends with.-|||-Social media⑨tools let us see what our friends are up to w and-|||-maintain @ friendships.All you need is a wi-fi⑫⑫ connection.-|||-3 The digitall age also enables 14 us to find people-|||-6 who share our interests, such as collecting model cars or-|||-playing an unusuaua 15 instrument`l . .1 Whatever our hobbies, the-|||-Internet can connect us with 17 others a who also enjoy doing-|||-them,@ee if they live on the other side of the world.-|||-4 But when you "friend 18 "people online,does this mean-|||-⑪that they really are your friends?-|||-5 ⑪ It depends.-|||-6 If people always exchange wy true personal information-|||-online,then yes,these friendships can be real and meaningful^20 .-|||-But we need to keep in mind? It that what we see on social media-|||-is often not the whole truth about a person.

Genetic testing is transforming medicine and the way families think about their health. As science uncovers the complicated secrets of DNA, we face difficult choices and new challenges. The year was 1895 and Pauline Gross, a young actress, was scared. Gross knew nothing about the human-genome (基因组，染色体组) project―such medical triumphs, but she did know about a nasty disease called cancer, and it was running through her family. "I’m healthy now," she often told Dr. Aldred Warthin from at the University of Michigan, "but I fully expect to die an early death." At the time, Gross’s prediction was based solely on observation: family members had died of cancer; she would, too. Today, more than 100 years later, Gross’s relatives have a much more clinical option: genetic testing. With a simple blood test; they can peer into their own DNA, learning―while still perfectly healthy―whether they carry an inheritable gene mutation (突变) that has dogged their family for decades and puts them at serious risk. Testing is a kind of the genomic revolution. A major goal is to create new sophisticated therapies that home in on a disease’s biological source, then fix the problem. Already, genes are helping to predict a patient’s response to existing medications. A prime example, taken by Dr, Wylie Burke of the University of Washington, is a variant of a gene called TPMT, which can lead to life-threatening reactions to certain doses of chemotherapy (化学疗法). A genetic test can guide safe and appropriate treatment. Two genes have been identified that influence a person’s response to the anti-blood-clotting drug. And scientists are uncovering genetic differences in the way people respond to other widely used medications, like antidepressants (抗抑郁药). Knowing a patient’s genotype, or genetic profile, may also help researchers uncover new preventive therapies for sticky diseases. At Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Dr. Christopher Ross has tested several compounds shown to slow the progression of Huntington’s in mice. Now he wants to test them in people who are positive for the Huntington’s mutation but have not developed symptoms―a novel approach to clinical drug trials, which almost always involve sick people seeking cures. "We’re using genetics to move from treating the disease after it happens," he says, "to preventing the worst symptoms of the disease before it happens." It’s not just their own health that people care about. There is also the desire to get rid of disease from the family tree. Therefore, the future is what drives many adults to the clinic. The gene tests currently offered for certain diseases, like breast cancer, affect only a small percentage of total cases. Inherited mutations contribute to just 5 to 10 percent of all breast cancers. But the impact on a single life can be huge. The key: being able to do something to ward off disease. "Genetic testing offers us profound insight," says Dr. Stephen Gruber, of the University of Michigan. "But it has to be balanced with our ability to care for these patients." Genetic testing today starts at the earliest stages of life. Couples planning to have children can be screened prior to conception to see if they are carriers of genetic diseases; prenatal (产前) tests are offered during pregnancy, and states now screen newborns for as many as 29 conditions, the majority of them genetic disorders. For Jana and Tom Monaco, of Woodbridge, Va., early testing has made an enormous difference in the lives of their children. Their journey began in 2001, when their seemingly healthy third child, 3-year-old Stephen, developed a life-threatening stomach virus that led to severe brain damage. His diagnosis: a rare but treatable disease called isovaleric acidemia (IVA). Unknowingly, Jana and her husband were carriers of the disease, and at the time, IVA was not included in newborn screening. The Monacos had no warning whatsoever. Genetic testing, exciting as it may seem, isn’t always the answer. When Wendy Uhlmann, a genetic counselor at the University of Michigan, teaches medical students, she flashes two slides on a screen side by side. One says ignorance is bliss (福佑). The other: knowledge is power. That’s because the value of testing becomes especially ambiguous―and ethically complicated―when there is no way to prevent or treat disease, as in the case of early-onset Alzheimer’s, which often strikes before the age of 50, or Huntington’s. Today only about 5 percent of people who are at risk for Huntington’s―which is caused by a single gene and leads to a progressive loss of physical control and mental acuity―take the test. Many are worried that genetic testing will put their health insurance or job security at risk. While there have been few documented cases of discrimination, nobody can say for sure what will happen as more disease genes are discovered and’ more Americans sign on for predictive testing. States have a patchwork of regulations in place, but what needs to happen now, experts say, is for Congress to pass the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, which would put a federal stamp of approval on keeping genetic information safe. Moreover, some people can’t live with uncertainty. Stephanie Vogt knew Huntington ran in her family―her grandfather and his three brothers all died of complications of the disease―and she wanted to find out where she stood. "As soon as I found out there was a test, I just had to do it," she says. In August 2000, after comprehensive genetic counseling, Stephanie, her sister, Victoria, and their mother, Gayle Smith, learned her results: positive. "It was like a scene Out of ’The Matrix’, where everything freezes and starts again," says Stephanie, now 35 and single. Scientific revolutions must be tempered by reality. Genes aren’t the only factors involved in complex diseases―lifestyle and environmental influences, such as diet or smoking, are too. And predictions about new tests and treatments may not come to pass as fast as researchers hope―they may not come at all. Still, it’s hard not to get excited about the future, especially when you consider the medical competition now underway.What have Christopher Ross’ experimental results revealed to us A．Those inheritable diseases may be cured through genetic testing.B．Those inheritable diseases may be predicted through genetic testing.C．Those inheritable diseases may be prevented through genetic testing.D．Those inheritable diseases may be controlled through genetic testing.

(判断题,2分)全体同学都要准时参加明天举行的会议. ()All students are requested to attend the meeting to be heldtomorrow and to get there on time.A √B ×

eBay eBay is a global phenomenon-the world’s largest garage sale, online shopping center, ear dealer and auction site with 147 million registered users in 30 countries as of March 2005. You can find everything from encyclopedias to olives to snow boots to stereos to airplanes for sale. And if you stumble on it before the eBay overseers do, you might even find a human kidney or a virtual date. eBay Basics eBay is, first and foremost, an online auction site. You can browse through categories like Antiques, Boats, Clothing Accessories, Computers Networking, Jewelry Watches and Video Games. When you see something you like, you click on the auction title and view the details, including pictures, descriptions, payment options and shipping information. If you place a bid on an item, you enter a contractual agreement to buy it if you win the auction. All auctions have minimum starting bids, and some have a reserve price-a secret minimum amount the seller is willing to accept for the item. If the bidding doesn’t reach the reserve price, the seller doesn’t have to part with the item. In addition to auctions, you can find tons of fixed-price items on eBay that make shopping there just like shopping at any other online marketplace. You see what you like, you buy it, you pay for it and you wait for it to arrive at your door. You can pay for an item on eBay using a variety of methods, including money order, cashier’s check, cash, personal check and electronic payment services like PayPal and BidPay. It’s up to each seller to decide which payment methods he’ll accept. Just as you can buy almost anything on eBay, you can sell almost anything, too. Using a simple listing process, you can put all of the junk in your basement up for sale to the highest bidder. When you sell an item on eBay, you pay listing fees and turn over a percentage of the final sale price to eBay. Once you register (for free) with eBay, you can access all of your eBay buying and selling activities in a single location called "My eBay." eBay Infrastructure A series of service disruptions in 1999 caused real problems for eBay’s business. Over the course of three days, overloaded servers intermittently shut down, meaning users couldn’t check auctions, place bids or complete transactions during that period. Buyers, sellers and eBay were, very unhappy, and a complete restructuring of eBay’s technological architecture followed. In 1999, eBay was one massive database server and a few separate systems running the search function. In 2005, eBay is about 200 database servers and 20 search servers. The architecture is a type of grid computing that allows for both error correction and growth. With the exception of the search function, everything about eBay can actually run on approximately 50 servers-Web servers, application servers and data-storage systems. Each server has between 6 and 12 microprocessors. These 50 or so servers run separately, but they talk to each other, so everybody knows if there is a problem somewhere, eBay can simply add servers to the grid as the need arises. While the majority of the site can run on 50 servers, eBay has four times that. The 200 servers are housed in sets of 50 in four locations, all in the United States. When you’re using eBay, you may be talking to any one of those locations at any time--they all store the same data. If one of the systems crashes, there are three others to pick up the slack. When you’re on the eBay Web site and you click on a listing for a Persian rug, your com-puter talks to Web servers, which talk to application servers, which pull data from storage servers so you can find out what the latest bid price is and how much time is left in the auction, eBay has local partners in many countries who deliver eBay’s static data to cut down on download time, and there are monitoring systems in 45 cities around the world that constantly scan for problems in the network. Using eBay: Security In order to make buyers feel safer when making purchases on eBay, all tangible (有形的) items are automatically insured for 200. A recipe that was supposed to be delivered to you via e-mail is not considered a tangible item. But if you purchased a set of speakers that never arrived, and you go through the dispute process and eBay determines you were defrauded (欺骗), you can get your money back up to 200. Buyer Fraud Buyer fraud is typically less damaging than seller fraud. The most common type of fraud a buyer can commit is simply not paying for an item. Sellers can deal with non-paying bidders by filing an Unpaid Item dispute, eBay will then attempt to contact the buyer and get her to pay. If she does not respond to eBay’s attempts after eight days, the seller is reimbursed (赔偿)for eBay’s cut of the final sale price and can relist the item for free. If the buyer does respond, the dispute can end in one of three ways: The buyer decides to pay, and everybody’s happy. The buyer and the seller decide together to abandon the transaction, the seller gets reimbursed for the final-value fee and relists the item for free, and everybody’s happy. The seller decides not to deal with the buyer, the buyer gets an unpaid-item strike against her, and the seller gets reimbursed for the final-value fee and relists the item for free. In the end, the damage to the seller is relatively small. Another type of buyer fraud occurs when a buyer sends false payment. In most cases, this is in the form of a bounced check, and the seller finds out about it before shipping the item. Bounced checks are as common on eBay as they are in the rest of the world, and many sellers choose not to accept personal checks for this reason. Seller Fraud Seller fraud is what most people think about when they worry about using eBay. There are two main ways in which a buyer can be defrauded by a seller. The item the buyer purchased is dramatically different from how it was described in the listing; or the item simply never arrives. One thing to keep in mind when you think you’ve been defrauded is that miscommunication is common on eBay. For instance, if you didn’t read every word of the auction listing for your item, you may have missed the part that said the seller would be out of town for three weeks and wouldn’t be able to ship the item until she returned. This could be why you don’t have your item and the seller isn’t answering your e-mails. Also, e-mail is not the most straightforward form of communication. If your item hasn’t arrived after two weeks, and you’ve e-mailed the seller but haven’t heard back, it’s a good idea to check your junk mail folder. Your seller may have sent a response e-mail that just never made it to your inbox. If there’s nothing from the seller in your junk folder, you can request that eBay reveal your seller’s phone number so you can give him a call and see what’s going on. If you don’t get an answer to your phone call (or if your seller lives in another country and it would cost too much money to call), your next step is to start the dispute process. When a buyer believes he has been defrauded, he can file a complaint, and eBay will work to solve the problem. When you file a complaint in eBay’s "Item Not Received or Significantly Not as Described" system, eBay will act as middleman between you and your seller to try to settle the dispute. If that fails, you can file a claim to get reimbursed for your purchase.A recipe is not considered tangible item if______. A) it is delivered later than the contracted time B) it never arrives at your place C) it is delivered to the buyer through e-mail D) it costs less than the market price

__________ at in this way, the present economic situation doesn't seem so gloomy.A. LookingB. LookedC. Having lookedD. To look