Some families in America and elsewhere have started buying child friendly mobile phones outfitted with GPS (Global Positioning System) technology.
These phones and their related tracking services allow parents to pinpoint the location of their children with ease. Parents agree to pick up the phone bill in return for the reassurance of knowing where their children are; children are prepared to put up with the watching if they are allowed to have a phone.
Mobile operators in America are now launching tracking services. Under a federal decree known as E911, they had to upgrade their networks to ensure that anyone dialing the 911 emergency number could be located to within 100 metres. Some operators opted for triangulation technology, which determines the location of the handset by comparing the signals received by different base stations. But Verizon and Sprint chose to adopt the more expensive but more accurate GPS technology instead, and are now looking for ways to make money from it.
Verizon calls its service "Chaperone". For $10 a month, parents can call up the location of their child's LG Migo handset from their own mobile phones, or from a PC. The child receives a message saying that the handset's position has been requested, and the parents receive an ad dress, or a marker on a web-based map, giving the child's location. For an extra $10 per month, they can sign up for Child Zone, a service that, among other things, fires off an alert when a youngster (or, at least, the youngster's handset) strays outside a specified area.
For its part, Sprint has launched a similar service that can also let parents know when a child arrives at a particular location.
Another location service is available from Nextel, a mobile operator that was taken over by Sprint in 2005. Nextel opened up some of its systems to enable other firms to build their own software and services on top of its GPS technology. One example is AccuTracking, a small company which offers a tracking service for $6 a month and boasts that it is "ideal for vehicle tracking" or to keep "virtual eyes on kids". Some customers are also using the service to track their spouses, by hiding phones in their cars. "Mine is hidden under the hood, hot-wired to the battery—it works very well and it is easy to hook up continuous power, "writes one customer on AccuTracking's message board.
Start-ups are working on everything from city-wide games of hide-and-seek to monitoring the locations of Alzheimer's patients. Services that monitor jogging routes, and work out distance travelled and calories consumed, might also prove popular.
As a result, mobile operators, handset-makers and start-ups could transform. and expand a small, specialist market so far dominated by expensive, dedicated tracking systems.
The tracking function of the mobile networks was probably first intended for ______.
A.federal officials
B.national security
C.parent consumers
D.emergency rescue
时间:2023-01-21 16:48:39
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Some women ()(本来能够挣一份很好的工资) in a job instead of staying home, but they decided not to work for the sale of the family.
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Warren Buffett was born in a rich family.( )
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Benjamin Franklin was born in a rich family and well educated.( )
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In America, it's common to add () to a bill as a tip.
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The pumpkin was known in North America and South America 5,000 years ago, but it _______ in North America for over 8,000 years according to some researchers.
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What can “generation gap” bring about in a family?
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将下列英文翻译成汉语Walt Disney was born into a humble family in Chicago in 1901.
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听力原文:In America, self-improvement is a national pastime. Every year, more and more Ame
听力原文: In America, self-improvement is a national pastime. Every year, more and more Americans spend their leisure time trying to improve themselves one way or another.
One popular form. of self-improvement is the search for physical fitness. Thousands of Americans who never exercised are now out on the streets jogging in fashionable running suits and expensive gym shoes. They boast of how many miles they nm each day and of how many pounds they lose each week. Others are turning to swimming, tennis, dance and the martial arts to improve their physical fitness.
Instead of running around the park in the morning or evening, other Americans are studying yoga or meditating quietly in their homes. They are seeking to improve themselves by finding peace and quiet.
Adult education is another form. of self-improvement. After a hard day's work, many Americans take evening courses at a kraal high school or a community college. There they can study a variety of subjects. Often these people am preparing to return to the job market or trying to qualify themselves for better jobs. For example, a mother busy raising her children might attend a night school to learn secretarial skills. A secretary might return to study accounting. Some retired people may go back for the education they missed at an earlier age.
(30)
A.Entertainment.
B.Studying in a local college.
C.Seeking physical fitness.
D.Finding peace and quiet.
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Everything is decided in a family__________.
A.by the couple
B.with the help of their parents
C.by brothers and sisters
D.with the help Of aunts and uncles
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Which of the following shows the proper pronunciation of "whose" in the sentence "‘In America, Li stayed in a family whose landlady could help him with his English"?
A./hus/
B./huz/
C./hu:s/
D./hu:z/
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Accommodation in a family home providing a single bedroom,breakfast and evening meal will cost around$80 per week.Alternatively,if you wish to cook for yourself,accommodation in a single room in a family home would be approximately$50 per week.
We estimate that,in addition to your tuition fees,you will therefore need$5,000 a year to cover your accommodation,food,clothing,local travel and incidental expenses.
Finally,may I say how pleased we are that you have chosen to come to York to study.Your tutors look forward to meeting you.
寄宿家庭将提供一间卧室、早餐和晚餐,这样的食宿一周的费用大约80美元。如果你愿意自己做饭,______。
______,除学费外,你还需每年5000美元以支付住宿、食品、服装、当地旅游及其他一些杂费。
最后,非常高兴你能来约克学习。______。
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In paragraph 2, the author indicates that a large variety of chipmunk species exist in western North America because of
A.a large migration of chipmunks from eastern North America in an earlier period
B.the inability of chipmunks to adapt to the high mountainous regions of eastern North America
C.the ecological variety and extremes of the West that caused chipmunks to become geographically isolated
D.the absence of large human populations that discouraged species formation among chipmunks in the East
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Many Americans are happy with this kind of marriage. But some other Americans have a different impression of marriage and family responsibilities.
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Japan s productivity has overtaken America s in some manufacturing industries, but elsewhere the United States has ()its lead.
A、take up
B、brought back
C、rested on
D、clung to
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A pet is an animal that【21】in your house. Over half the families in North America own pets. The most popular【22】axe dogs, fish and birds. Rabbits, hamsters and turtles are also popular.【23】some unpopular animals such as frogs, mice and snakes are pets.
People first【24】to keep pets about 12,000 years ago. The first pet was a dog. The dog【25】not become a pet because people【26】it was cute. It【27】a pet because it was useful. People used the dog for many things. The dog warned people【28】danger so wild animals didn't attack people. It also ate leftover food. Later, dogs helped people take care【29】cows and sheep on farms.
Cats did not【30】pets for a long time. When the Egyptians first【31】to grow grain, mice ate it. The Egyptians were【32】to tame cats.
Today, people keep many【33】of pets. Animals such as canaries, parrots, mice and hamsters live in cages. They need people to bring them food and water and to keep their cages clean. Other animals, such as dogs and cats, need food and water, but they【34】take care of themselves【35】. They are good pets for people because they don't need much care.
(36)
A.lives
B.stays
C.sleeps
D.plays
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The ordinary family in colonial North America was primarily concerned with ______physical survival and beyond that, its own economic prosperity.
A.sheer
B.thoroughly
C.utterly
D.simply
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Slavery was____in America in the 19th century.(2012-75)A.terminatedB.cancelledC.abandonedD
Slavery was____in America in the 19th century.(2012-75)
A.terminated
B.cancelled
C.abandoned
D.abolished
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For American's high school seniors, April is the cruelest month. That's when colleges flood postal system with news of who has won a place in next fall's freshman class. For more than a few families, a difficult decision will follow: is it worth paying some $125,000 to give their child an education at an elite private college? Or would her future be just as bright if she went to a less expensive school?
These questions have no easy answers. It is tree that big law firms as well as those leading American establishments—Sullivan & Cromwell—a gilt-edged diploma is a distinct advantage. However, there is plenty of evidence to prove that an elite education is not that necessary. According to a survey by Fortune, the majority of top CEOs did not attend an elite college(though a small number did.)
So what kind of return is there likely to be on that $125,000 investment? On average, a person with an undergraduate degree now earns almost twice as much as someone with only a high school diploma. Some researchers found that those who attend more prestigious schools reported higher earnings.
Then Alan Krueger, an economist at Princeton and Dale, a researcher designed a study. They found no economic advantage in attending a selective college. Their study looked at freshman class at 30 schools, ranging from Yale to Denison. Krueger and Dale's research while intriguing is not definitive. Even they themselves find it odd that the results seem to show that while there is a correlation between college selectivity and future income, the more a college costs, the higher the earning of its graduates.
Critics have questioned their research—the limited number and range of schools evaluated, and conclusions. Under such circumstances, it is hard to say which is right and which is wrong. What can be said is that 1) An elite education gives students—especially less rich ones—better access to certain kinds of elite jobs. 2) There is no economic advantage to choosing an expensive, but not very good private schools. 3) Talented students everywhere rise to the top. So the future is in the hands of young men themselves.
Why is April the cruelest month for American high school seniors?
A.Because April is the month when they have the college entrance examination.
B.Because April is the time when the high school will decide whether they can graduate or not.
C.Because April is the time for high school seniors to find jobs.
D.Because April is the month for colleges to inform. the students who will have the chance to have further education.
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听力原文:A recent survey shows that nearly 16~ of internet users have some sort of addiction to the medium causing relationship with their family members suffering.
(54)
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Some people think of a family ____ a mother, a father, and their children.
A.A. being
B.B. for
C.C. as
D.D. with
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________ is a ball game played by feet in America.
A.football
B.soccer
C.baseball
D.basketball
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(1) Life can be tough for immigrants in America. A...
(1) Life can be tough for immigrants in America. As a Romanian bank clerk in Atlanta puts it, to find a good job “you have to be like a wolf in the forest – able to smell out the best meat.” And if you can’t find work, don’t expect the taxpayer to bail you out. Unlike in some European countries, it is extremely hard for an able-bodied immigrant to live off the state. A law passed in 1996 explicitly bars most immigrants, even those with legal status, from receiving almost any federal benefits. (2) That is one reason why America absorbs immigrants better than any other rich countries, according to a new study by the University of California. The researchers sought to measure the effect of immigration on the native-born in 20 rich countries, taking into account differences in skills between immigrants and natives, imperfect labor markets and the size of the welfare state in each country. (3) Their results offer ammunition for fans of more open borders. In 19 out of 20 countries, the authors calculated that shutting the doors entirely to foreign workers would make the native-born worse off. Never mind what it would do to the immigrants themselves, who benefit far more than anyone else from being allowed to cross borders to find work. (4) The study also suggests that most countries could handle more immigration than they currently allow. In America, a one-percentage point increase in the proportion of immigrants in the population made the native-born 0.05% better off. The opposite was true in some countries with generous or ill-designed welfare states, however. A one-point rise in immigration made the native-born slightly worse off in Austria, Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland. In Belgium, immigrants who lose jobs can receive almost two-thirds of their most recent wage in state benefits, which must make the hunt for a new job less urgent. (5) None of these effects was large, but the study undermines the claim that immigrants steal jobs from native or drag down their wages. Many immigrants take jobs that Americans do not want, the study finds. This “smooths” the labor market and ultimately creates more jobs for locals. Native-owned grocery stores do better business because there are immigrants to pick the fruit they sell. Indian computer scientists help American software firms expand. A previous study found that because immigrants typically earn less than locals with similar skills, they boost corporate profits, prompting companies to grow and hire more locals. 1. Increase in immigration in Austria fails to improve locals’ life mainly because of ________.
A、low wages for locals
B、imperfect labor markets
C、the design of the welfare system
D、inadequate skills of immigrants
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What are some family types revealed in the clip?
A、extended family
B、gay family
C、nuclear family
D、step-family
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He was born in a rich family but()he became a criminal.
A.later in his life
B.later in his living
C.later on his life
D.later at his life