Question

【题目】 There are lots of ways to educate yourself on the Internet. You can find photos, documents, and films on almost any topic you can imagine. And at www.ted.com, you can access lectures by artists, scholars, designers, technicians and others.

TED began in 1984 as a conference that brought together individuals from the fields of technology, entertainment and design. It was intended to be a one-time event focusing on technology and design. The event ended up losing money, and it was six years before the founders tried it again. This time it worked, and since 1990, the TED conference has been an annual event. There are now two held every year, with topics as diverse as music, medicine, and money. Other specialized spin-off conferences address narrower issues.

The TED website came from a desire to share the conferences with the world, to “offer free knowledge from the world’s most inspired thinkers,” as the website puts it. The current version of the site was launched in April 2007, and contains videos of talks given at the TED conferences around the world. The talks are transcribed into hundreds of languages.

The TED website is owned by the Sapling Foundation, a non profit devoted to fostering the spread of great ideas. The Sapling foundation acquired TED in 2001. Since then, it has been focusing on using TED to broadcast ideas that might change the world.

TED, of course, isn’t immune to criticism. It’s been called elitist(精英) for its high ticket prices (more than 6,000 dollars total). It’s been accused by a few people of censorship for not publishing their talks. One controversial speaker was upset about being criticized by the conference’s host afterward.

The complaints, however, seem to be relatively few for such a large, long-running organization. And accusations of elitism ring hollow when so much is given away for free on TED’s website. Whatever its failings, TED is a source of inspirational information for those who seek it out.

【1】What is the main topic of the article?

A.The case against TED.B.What’s on TED today.

C.Pros and cons of www.ted.com.D.What is TED.

【2】Which of the following statements is NOT true?

A.The TED conference came after the success of www.ted.com.

B.Two TED conferences are now held every year.

C.TED talks are available in many languages.

D.The Sapling Foundation owns www.ted.com.

【3】From the last two paragraphs, we can infer that ________.

A.it is accepted to all involved that some TED talks might not be published

B.the host of the conference is one who plays a supportive role to the speakers

C.TED is criticized for giving special treatment to the wealthy or powerful

D.the negative comments on TED greatly affects its reputation

【4】This author probably believes that________.

A.TED is elitistB.TED is beneficial

C.TED isn’t importantD.TED is the best website

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】D

【2】A

【3】C

【4】B

【解析】

这是一篇说明文。文章介绍了TED以及它的历史发展。

【1】主旨大意题。根据第一段And at www.ted.com, you can access lectures by artists, scholars, designers, technicians and others.（在www.ted.com，你可以访问艺术家、学者、设计师、技术人员和其他人的演讲。）以及以下几个段落的内容，可知这篇文章的主题是“TED是什么”，故选D。

【2】细节理解题。根据第三段The TED website came from a desire to share the conferences with the world, to “offer free knowledge from the world’s most inspired thinkers,” as the website puts it.（TED网站源于一种与世界分享会议的愿望，用网站的话说，就是“向世界上最有灵感的思想家们提供免费的知识”。）由此可知，“TED大会是在www.ted.com网站成功之后召开的”这种表述错误，故选A。

【3】推理判断题。根据倒数第二段TED, of course, isn’t immune to criticism. It’s been called elitist(精英) for its high ticket prices.（当然，TED也免不了受到批评。它因其高昂的票价被称为精英主义）和倒数第一段的And accusations of elitism ring hollow when so much is given away for free on TED’s website.(而当这么多东西在泰德的网站上免费赠送时，精英主义的指责就显得空洞了。)由此推断出，TED因给予富人或有权势的人特殊待遇而受到批评，故选C。

【4】推理判断题。根据最后一段Whatever its failings, TED is a source of inspirational information for those who seek it out.（不管它的缺点是什么，TED都是那些寻找它的人鼓舞人心的信息来源。）由此推断出，这位作者可能认为TED是有益的，故选B。