If Bill Gates ever had reason to doubt that the brash young billionaires of Google were out to get him, the time for such uncertainty is now officially over. Last month’s dramatically revised version of its program Google Desktop is a glove slap across the face of Microsoft’s fabled chief software architect. Obviously Google’s update to a previous tool that searched people’s hard drives in addition to the usual lightning-quick survey of the entire World Wide Web, Google Desktop 2 turns out to be a not-so-stealthy attempt to hijack the desktop from Microsoft. And in a move that must be particularly galling to Gates, the program does it in a way that directly steals thunder from Microsoft’s upcoming Windows update, Vista.
Specifically, I’m talking about Google’s feature called Sidebar, a stack of small windows that sit on the side of the screen and dynamically draw on Web and personal information to track things like weather, stock prices, your e-mail, your photos, recently opened documents and Web destinations . Several years ago, demonstrating an early version of Vista, Microsoft proudly showed a column of on-screen "tiles" that did the same kinds of things. Microsoft’s name for this upcoming feature (which it still plans to include in Vista when it ships in late 2006): Sidebar.
That’s not all. Google product manager Nakhil Bhatla explains that another purpose of Desktop is to use the search box to quickly locate programs and files that you want to open--bypassing the Windows way of clicking on an icon or using the Start menu.
Clearly, Google is squatting on Microsoft’s turf, asking users to live in its environment as opposed to Bill’s. Microsoft still believes that the central point of personal computing is productivity. That’s why the desktop search in Vista will limit itself to probing the user’s hard disk. Microsoft’s explanation for this approach is that mixing Web-search results with hits from your own information is just too confusing. Things go more efficiently, the theory goes, when your personal data pond is segregated from the ocean of information data located elsewhere in the world. (Microsoft offers Web search as a separate program. )
In contrast, Google Desktop searches bring results from everywhere--your hard disk, your email and billions of Web sites. That’s because the Google mission is organizing and managing all the world’s information. "You shouldn’t have to think about where the information comes from," says Google VP Susan Wojcicki. Though Google-sites acknowledge difficulties in merging the personal with the public, their core belief is that the essence of 21st-century computing springs from the connectivity that allows all human knowledge, from books to instant messages, to be potentially shared.
As Google tries to annex new information flows, it increasingly runs smack against issues of privacy, copyright and censorship. That’s one part of Google’s challenge. The other will be fending off Bill Gates, undoubtedly determined to prove that his vision of computing still dominates.
Which one is true about Google Desktop search

A:It is a separate program. B:The program is easy to merge the personal with the public. C:It only probes the user’s hard disk. D:It tries to manage information from all over the world.

What the author tries to suggest may best be interpreted as ______.

A:"It's no use crying over spilt milk" B:"More haste, less speed" C:"Look before you leap" D:"He who laughs last laughs best"

I go to the barber every three weeks. I don’t like very short hair, so my barber doesn’t cut off much. I have known him for almost four years now, and when I go to him, we always talk a lot. He tells me all his news, and I tell him all mine. He meets a lot of interesting people in his shop and he talks to most of them, so he always has a lot of news for me.
Every year my barber goes to France for two weeks for his holidays, and when he comes back to England, he has a lot of interesting news. While he is cutting my hair, he tells me about beautiful old cities and quiet little villages, strange food and drinks and many other things. I sit there and listen to the old man with open ears. One minute, my barber’s chair is a seat in a French train, and the next minute it becomes a chair in a restaurant in Paris.
Although my barber is old, he always tries new things. He never says, "I have never eaten this food before, so I am not going to eat it now." He says instead, "Try everything once./

Why does the barber never say, "I have never eaten this food before, so I am not going to eat it now"（　）

A:Because he is too old to eat it. B:Because he likes to eat. C:Because he wants to eat. D:Because he always tries new things.

I go to the barber every three weeks. I don’t like very short hair, so my barber doesn’t cut off much. I have known him for almost four years now, and when I go to him, we always talk a lot. He tells me all his news, and I tell him all mine. He meets a lot of interesting people in his shop and he talks to most of them, so he always has a lot of news for me.
Every year my barber goes to France for two weeks for his holidays, and when he comes back to England, he has a lot of interesting news. While he is cutting my hair, he tells me about beautiful old cities and quiet little villages, strange food and drinks and many other things. I sit there and listen to the old man with open ears. One minute, my barber’s chair is a seat in a French train, and the next minute it becomes a chair in a restaurant in Paris.
Although my barber is old, he always tries new things. He never says, "I have never eaten this food before, so I am not going to eat it now." He says instead, "Try everything once./
Why does the barber never say, "I have never eaten this food before, so I am not going to eat it now"

A:Because he is too old to eat it. B:Because he likes to eat. C:Because he wants to eat. D:Because he always tries new things.

Passage Three
Shopping for clothes is not the same experience for a man as it is for a woman. A man goes shopping because he needs something.
His purpose is settled and decided. He knows what he wants and he just finds it and buys it, but cares little about the price. All men simply walk into a shop and ask the assistant for what they want. If the shop has it, the salesman quickly takes it out, and the business of trying it on follows at once. If all is well, the deal (买卖) can be and is often completed in less than-five minutes, with hardly any chat and to everyone’s satisfaction.
For a man, small problems may begin when the shop does not have what he wants, or does not have exactly what he wants. In that case the salesman tries to sell the customer something else--he offers the nearest he can to the thing asked for. He would say, "I know this jacket is not the style you want, Sir, but would you like to try it on for size It happens to be the color you mentioned." Few men have patience (耐心) with this treatment, and the usual answer is, "This is the right color and may lie the right size, but I should be wasting my time and yours by trying it on."
Now how does a woman go about buying clothes7 In almost every respect (方面) she does so quite differently. Her shopping is not often based on need. She has never fully made up her mind about what she wants, and she is only "having a look around". She is always open to what the salesman tells her, even to what her friends tell her. She will try on any number of things. What is most important in her mind is the thought of finding something that everyone thinks suits her. Besides, most women have an excellent sense of value when’ they buy clothes. They are always ready for the unexpected bargain (便宜贷). Faced with a roomful of dresses, a woman may easily spend an hour going from one counter to another before selecting the dresses she wants to try on. It takes time, but surely it is enjoyable to women shoppers. Most dress shops provide chairs for the waiting husbands.

According to the passage, a good salesman is one who（）

A:treats his customers sharply B:always has just what you want C:does not waste his time on difficult customers D:tries to sell something a customer does not particularly want

Each nation has its own odd character which distinguishes it from others. But the people of the world have more points in which they are all like each other than points in which they are different. One type of person that is common in every country is the one who always tries to do as little as he possibly can and to get as much in return as he can. His opposite, the man who is in the habit of doing more than is strictly necessary and who is ready to accept what is offered in return, is rare everywhere.
Both these types are usually not aware of their character. The man who avoids effort is al ways talking about his "rights". The man who is always doing more than his share talks of "duties": he feels that the individual is in debt to society, and not society to the individual. As a result of their views, neither of these men thinks that he behaves at all strangely.
The man who tries to do as little as he can is always full of excuses: If he had neglected to do something, it was because he had a headache, or the weather was too hot--or too cold--or because he was prevented by bad luck. At first, other people, such as his friends and his employer, generously accept his stories; but soon they realized what kind of person he is. In the long run he deceives only himself. When his friends become cool towards him and he fails to make progress in his job, he is surprised and hurt. He blames everyone and everything except himself. He feels that society is failing in its duties towards him, and that he is being unjustly treated. He soon becomes one of the unsatisfied members of the society he lives in.
If you want something done in a hurry, don’t go to the man who has clearly not much to do. He will probably have a dozen excellent excuses for not being able to help you, much as he tells you he would like to. Go to the busiest man you know, particularly if you are sure that be has not a spare minute in the week. If your work is really important, he will make time for it.

One type of person that is common in every country is the one who（）

A:tries to accept what is offered B:always tries to do as much as he possibly can C:tries to get as little as he can D:tries to do as little as he possibly can and to get as much in return as he can

In the end, the man who tries to do as little as he can cheats ______.

A:his friends B:only himself C:his employer D:other people

I go to the barber every three weeks. I don’t like very short hair, so my barber doesn’t cut off much. I have known him for almost four years now, and when I go to him, we always talk a lot. He tells me all his news, and I tell him all mine. He meets a lot of interesting people in his shop and he talks to most of them, so he always has a lot of news for me.
Every year my barber goes to France for two weeks for his holidays, and when he comes back to England, he has a lot of interesting news. While he is cutting my hair, he tells me about beautiful old cities and quiet little villages, strange food and drinks and many other things. I sit there and listen to the old man with open ears. One minute, my barber’s chair is a seat in a French train, and the next minute it becomes a chair in a restaurant in Paris.
Although my barber is old, he always tries new things. He never says, "I have never eaten this food before, so I am not going to eat it now." He says instead, "Try everything once."

Why does the barber never say, "I have never eaten this food before, so I am not going to eat it now"（　）

A:Because he is too old to eat it. B:Because he likes to eat. C:Because he wants to eat. D:Because he always tries new things.