SECTION Ⅲ Reading Comprehension

　　(40 minutes)

　　Part A

　　Directions:

　　Read the following three texts. Answer thequestions on each text by choosing A, B, C or D. Mark your answers on ANSWERSHEET 1.

　　Text 1

　　Back in the early 1990s，I knew little about computers beyond what it took to get through aworking day. But here’s what I did know: something huge was happening. It wasstirring economies and imaginations and possibilities like nothing I had everknown. I knew the world was changing in ways that meant I shouldn’t count onold assumptions. And I knew I had dreams I still hadn’t fulfilled. But I didn’tknow how to realize them until I met with my old friend, Rolly Rouse, when wehappened to move into the same neighborhood.

　　Rolly often called me with a stream of ideas. His rate of idea production per secondseemed almost incredible. Soon we were on the phone with each other every day.Talking about the Internet. Talking about starting a new online company—maybetogether.

　　He was then developing a plan and he wanted me to be a part of it: we would givepeople wonderful, whole electronic houses on a CD-ROM and let them modify thosehomes to their own needs. Try out different windows and doors, different paintcolors and furnishings. When they were satisfied，we would enable them to go online tomake the project happen，to get the products and the financing and the professional design andconstruction to help to do it outright.

　　BuildingBlocks was the name Rolly came up with for his new enterprise. Roily took the plungefirst. He simply dropped his profitable energy-consulting business to commithimself full time to BuildingBlocks. I soon joined him after I quit mywell-paid job at a newspaper.

　　Together we developed a demo to show the features of our CD-ROM，“The New American DreamHome”. Then we took it to the annual convention of the National Association ofHome Builders in Boston. All the big companies were there showing off theirlatest products.

　　To our delight, nearly everyone was eager to see what we were showing, includingthe top executives of some enormous companies. When we left, we had invitationsfrom them to come to their offices to tell them more about BuildingBlocks.

　　That was the start of my real lifetime dream and BuildBlocks, our company, has beenprospering ever since.

　　46. By “something huge was happening”, the writer refers to ____.

　　[A] house designing [B] home decoration

　　[C] furniture production [D] high-tech development

　　47. The, text shows that Roily Rouse is ____.

　　[A] creative [B] cautious

　　[C] considerate [D] conservative

　　48. BuildingBtocks is a company that helps people to ____.

　　[A] rent ideal houses

　　[B] buy ideal houses

　　[C] find ideal houses

　　[D] own ideal houses

　　49. Rolly and the writer decided to start a company together becausethey were both____.

　　[A] expert in architectee [B]underpaid at their jobs

　　[C] out of work at the time [D]interested in e-business

　　50. At the Boston convention, Roily and the miter were happy because____.

　　[A] they aroused people's interest in their products

　　[B] they sold some of their own products right there

　　[C] they got their first orders from some famous building firms

　　[D] they had the opportunity to visit some famous building firms