【文章內(nèi)容簡介】 try remained healthy during the recession, and they are still growing in early 2002.Besides, both the monthly homebuilding starts number and the housing market index for the past two months are running above the averages for all of 2001, suggesting that homebuilding is off to a good start and probably won’t be big drag on GDP growth this year.Equally important to the outlook is how the solid housing market will help demand for homerelated goods and services. Traditionally, consumers buy the bulk of their furniture, electronics, and textiles within a year of purchasing their homes. Thus, spending on such items will do well this year, even as car sales slip now that incentives are less attractive. Look for the output of consumer goods to top yearago level in ing months. Even the business equipment sector seems to have bottomed out. Its output rose % in January, led by a % jump puter gear. A pickup in orders for capital goods in the fourth quarter suggests that production will keep increasing—although at a relaxed pace—in ing months.1. American economists are surprised to see that______.［A］they have to revise the GDP forecasts so often［B］their government is announcing the end of a recession［C］US economy is showing some signs of an upturn［D］GDP growth reflects stronger domestic demand2. The most encouraging fact about the US economy is that_____ .［A］employment rates have risen faster than expected［B］the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates soon［C］industrial production is reaching its lowest point［D］some economic sectors have bee leading industries3. Of which of the following did the author provide a guardedly optimistic view?［A］GDP growth. ［B］The number of layoffs.［C］Price indexes. ［D］Output of consumer goods.4. Which of the following is the guarantee of a better future for US economy?［A］Motor vehicles. ［B］Housing market.［C］Business equipment. ［D］Computer gear.5. Which of the following best summarizes the U. S. economic situation today?［A］American economists are painting a gloomy picture.［B］It is slowly warming up with moderate growth.［C］Recession may e back anytime in the ing months.［D］Most sectors are picking up at a surprisingly fast pace.Text 4Timothy BernersLee might be giving Bill Gates a run for the money, but he passed up his shot at fabulous wealth—intentionally—in 1990. That’s when he decided not to patent the technology used to create the most important software innovation in the final decade of the 20th century: the World Wide Web. BernersLee wanted to make the world a richer place, not a mass personal wealth. So he gave his brainchild to us all. BernersLee regards today’s Web as a rebellious adolescent that can never fulfill his original expectations. By 2005, he hopes to begin replacing it with the Semantic Web—a smart network that will finally understand human languages and make puters virtually as easy to work with as other humans. As envisioned by BernersLee, the new Web would understand not only the meaning of words and concepts but also the logical relationships among them. That has awesome potential. Most knowledge is built on two pillars: semantics and mathematics. In numbercrunching, puters already outclass people. Machines that are equally adroit at dealing with language and reason won’t just help people uncover new insights。 they could blaze new trails on their own.Even with a fairly crude version of this future Web, mining online repositories for nuggets of knowledge would no longer force people to wade through screen after screen of extraneous data. Instead, puters would dispatch intelligent agents, or software messengers, to explore Web sites by the thousands and logically sift out just what’s relevant. That alone would provide a major boost in productivity at work and at home. But there’s far more. Software agents could also take on many routine business chores, such as helping manufacturers find and negotiate with lowestcost parts suppliers and handling helpdesk questions. The Semantic Web would also be a bottomless trove of eureka insights. Most inventions and scientific breakthroughs, including today’s Web, spring from novel binations of existing knowledge. The Semantic Web would make it possible to evaluate more binations overnight than a person could juggle in a lifetime. Sure scientists and other people can post ideas on the Web today for others to read. But with machines doing the reading and translating technical terms, related ideas from millions of Web pages could be distilled and summarized. That will lift the ability to assess and integrate information to new heights. The Semantic Web, BernersLee predicts, will help more people bee more intuitive as well as more analytical. It will foster global collaborations among people with diverse cultural perspectives, so we have a better chance of finding the right solutions to the really big issues—like the environment and climate warming.1. Had he liked, BernersLee could have _____.［A］created the most important innovation in the 1990s［B］accumulated as much personal wealth as Bill Gates［C］patented the technology of Microsoft software［D］given his brainchild to us all2. The Semantic Web will be superior to today’s web in that it _____.［A］surpasses people in processing numbers［B］fulfills user’s original expectations［C］deals with language and reason as well as number［D］responds like a rebellious adult3. To search for any information needed on tomorrow’s Web, one only has to _____. ［A］wade through screen after screen of extraneous data［B］ask the Web to dispatch some messenger to his door［C］use smart software programs called “agents”［D］explore Web sites by the thousands and pick out what’s relevant4. Thanks to the Web of the future, _____.［A］millions of web pages can be translated overnight［B］one can find most inventions and breakthroughs online［C］software manufacturers can lower the cost of put