President George W.Bush put forward a historically ambitious agenda and restored dignity to the office he holds.He has provided steady leadership in the face of unprecedented challenges.The United States is safer and stronger, more resilient and better for his efforts.
Notes on Language and Culture
1.haven : a place where people or animals feel safe, secure, and happy 2.unprecedented:If something is unprecedented, it has never happened before.
3.pact : a formal agreement between two or more people, organizations,governments to do a particular thing or to help each other 4.Department of Homeland Security: 美国国土安全局。
5.anchor: If you anchor an object somewhere, you fix it to something to prevent it moving from that place.
6.spark: If one thing sparks another, the first thing cause the second thing to start happening.
7.hallmark : The hallmark of something or someone is their most typical quality or feature.
8.resilient: Something that is resilient is strong and not easily damaged by being hit,stretched, or squeezed.
C.Post-reading activity
Think and answer the following questions:
1.How many chapters make up this document?2.If you were an American citizen, would you prefer Bush or Kerry ? Why?3.Among these achievements, which one do you appreciate most ? Why?Ⅳ.Fast Reading
In this part,you are required to read three passages and choose the best answers to the questions after each passage, using the skill you have just learned.
Like almost everyone who uses e-mail, I receive a ton of spam (垃圾邮件)every day.Much of it offers to help me get out of debt or get rich quick.It would be funny if it weren t so irritating.
But spam is worse than irritating.It is a drain on business productivity, an increasingly costly waste of time and resources that clog corporate networks and distract workers.Among consumers, it spreads scams, pornography and even computer viruses.Worse, spammers prey on less sophisticated e-mail users,including children,threatening their safety and privacy.And as everyone struggles to sift spam from their inboxes, valid messages are sometimes overlooked or deleted, which makes e-mail less useful and reliable as a channel for communication and legitimate e-commerce.In short, spam threatens to undo much of the good that e-mail has achieved.
As part of our drive to create a more trustworthy computing environment，this month,Microsoft filed 15 lawsuits in the US and U.K.against companies and individuals alleged to have sent billions of spam messages in violation of state and federal laws.In addition to filing civil lawsuits and taking other enforcement actions, we are significantly stepping up our efforts to fight spam through technological innovation and cooperation with government and industry leaders.We are developing more effective anti-spam filters and other technologies that build on our research into fields such as machine learning, the design of systems that learn from data and grow smarter over time.These “smart”systems are vital to the fight against spam because every defensive action causes spammers to change their tactics.Technology, to be effective,must continuously adapt too.
Already, spam filters built into MSN and Hotmail servers block 2.4 billion messages a day before they reach subscribers inboxes.We have assembled a vast and fast-growing database of spam, which will be used by a forthcoming version of our Outlook e-mail software to block spam more effectively.And a new version of our Exchange e-mail server will include advanced anti-spam features.Our goal is to do everything possible to secure e-mail systems with servers that monitor and control the points of entry.
But a single company can t stem the tide of spam alone.So we are working with other industry leaders such as AOL, Yahoo !and EarthLink on a range of joint initiatives.For example, we are battling spammers who set up numerous e-mail accounts and move from service to service to avoid detection.To put an end to this shell game, we are sharing information so that we can keep tabs on roving spammers and shut them down more effectively.Spammers also go to great lengths to conceal or“spoof”their identities, so we are partnering with other service providers to identify and restrict mail that conceals its source.And we are creating a system to verify sender addresses, much as recipients addresses are verified today.
As less junk mail reaches recipients - and violators face stiffer sanctions for illegal activities - the financial incentives for spammers will decrease, and spamming will lose its appeal.
Then maybe we can all focus on the e-mail that s actually worth reading.
1.What is the main idea of the second paragraph?A.The reasons why the author hates spam.
B.The inconveniences caused by the wanted e-mails.
C.The measures taken by Microsoft to prevent spammer s activities.
D.To create a clean computing atmosphere.
2.Spam can bring us many problems, which one is not mentioned in the text?A.Spreading scams, pornography and even computer viruses.
B.Threatening e-mail users safety and privacy.
C.Seducing users to do wrong.
D.Valid messages are sometimes overlooked or deleted because of numerous spams.
3.Which is not the measure adopted to crack down on spammer s evil activities?A.Filing civil lawsuits.
B.Through technological innovation.
C.Developing more effective anti-spam filters.
D.Calling on customers to report illegal spammers.