In the dimly lit cyber-cafe at Sciences-Po, hot-house of the French elite, no Gauloise smoke fills the air, no dog-eared copies of Sartre lie on the tables. French students are doing what all students do: surfing the web via Google. Now President Jacques Chirac wants to stop this American cultural invasion by setting up a rival French search-engine. The idea was prompted by Google’ s plan to put online millions of texts from American and British university libraries. If English books are threatening to swamp cyberspace, Mr Chirac will not stand idly by.
He asked his culture minister, Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres, and Jean-Noel Jeanneney, head of France’s Bibliothèque Nationale, to do the same for French texts—and create a home-grown search-engine to browse them. Why not let Google do the job Its French version is used for 74% of internet searches in France. The answer is the vulgar criteria it uses to rank results. "I do not believe" ,wrote Mr Donnedieu de Vabres in Le Monde, "that the only key to access our culture should be the automatic ranking by popularity, which has been behind Google’ s success."
This is not the first time Google has met French resistance. A court has upheld a ruling against it, in a lawsuit brought by two firms that claimed its display of rival sponsored links (Google’ s chief source of revenues) constituted trademark counterfeiting. The French state news agency, Agence France-Presse ,has also filed suit against Google for copyright infringement.
Googlephobia is spreading. Mr Jeanneney has talked of the "risk of crushing domination by America in defining the view that future generations have of the world. "" I have nothing in particular against Google, "he told L’ Express, a magazine. "I simply note that this commercial company is the expression of the American system, in which the law of the market is king. "Advertising muscle and consumer demand should not triumph over good taste and cultural sophistication.
The flaws in the French plan are obvious. If popularity cannot arbitrate, what will Mr Jeanneney wants a "committee of experts". He appears to be serious, though the supply of French-speaking experts, or experts speaking any language for that matter, would seem to be insufficient. And if advertising is not to pay, will the taxpayer The plan mirrors another of Mr Chirac’ s pet projects: a CNNà la francaise. Over a year ago, stung by the power of Englishspeaking television news channels in the Iraq war, Mr Chirac promised to set up a French rival by the end of 2004. The project is bogged down by infighting.
France ’ s desire to combat English, on the web or the airwaves, is understandable. Protecting France’ s tongue from its citizens’ inclination to adopt English words is an ancient hobby of the ruling elite. The Académie Francaise was set up in 1635 to that end. Linguists devise translations of cyber-terms, such as arrosage (spare) or bogue (bug). Laws limit the use of English on TV—" Super Nanny" and "Star Academy" are current pests—and impose translations of English slogans in advertising. Treating the invasion of English as a market failure that must be corrected by the state may look clumsy. In France it is just business as usual.
President Jacques Chirac wants to set up a French search engine to

A:compete with the American rival "Google". B:protect French students from American invasion. C:preserve the integrity of the French culture. D:stop standing idly by when being threatened.

In the dimly lit cyber-cafe at Sciences-Po, hot-house of the French elite, no Gauloise smoke fills the air, no dog-eared copies of Sartre lie on the tables. French students are doing what all students do: surfing the web via Google. Now President Jacques Chirac wants to stop this American cultural invasion by setting up a rival French search-engine. The idea was prompted by Google’s plan to put online millions of texts from American and British university libraries. If English books are threatening to swamp cyberspace, Mr Chirac will not stand idly by.
He asked his culture minister, Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres, and Jean-Noёl Jeanneney, head of France’ s Bibliothèque Nationale, to do the same for French text—and create a home-grown search-engine to browse them. Why not let Google do the job Its French version is used for 74% of intemet searches in France. The answer is the vulgar criteria it uses to rank results. "I do not believe", wrote Mr Donnedieu de Vabres in Le Monde," that the only key to access our culture should be the automatic ranking by popularity, which has been behind Google’ s success."
This is not the first time Google has met French resistance. A court has upheld a ruling against it, in a lawsuit brought by two firms that claimed its display of rival sponsored links (Google’ s chief source of revenues) constituted trademark counterfeiting. The French state news agency, Agence France-Presse, has also filed suit against Google for copyright infringement.
Googlephobia is spreading. Mr Jeanneney has talked of the "risk of crushing domination by America in defining the view that future generations have of the world. "" I have nothing in paricular against Google, "he told L’Express, a magazine. "I simply note that this commercial cial company is the expression of the American system, in which the law of the market is king. " Advertising muscle and consumer demand should not triumph over good taste and cultural sophistication.
The flaws in the French plan are obvious. If popularity cannot arbitrate, what will Mr Jeanneney wants a "committee of experts". He appears to be serious, though the supply of French-speaking experts, or experts speaking any language for that matter, would seem to be insufficient. And if advertising is not to pay, will the taxpayer The plan mirrors another of Mr Chirac’ s pet projects: a CNNàla francaise. Over a year ago, stung by the power of Englishspeaking television news channels in the Iraq war, Mr Chirac promised to set up a French rival by the end of 2004. The project is bogged down by infighting.
France’s desire to combat English, on the web or the airwaves, is understandable. Protecting France’s tongue from its citizens’ inclination to adopt English words is an ancient hobby of the rifling elite. The Académie Francaise was set up in 1635 to that end. Linguists devise translations of cyber-terms, such as arrosage (spam) or bogue(bug). Laws limit the use of English on TV—"Super Nanny" and "Star Academy" are current pests—and impose translations of English slogans in advertising. Treating the invasion of English as a market failure that must be corrected by the state may look clumsy. In France it is just business as usual.
President Jacques Chirac wants to set up a French search engine to

A:compete with the American rival "Google". B:protect French students from American invasion. C:preserve the integrity of the French culture. D:stop standing idly by when being threatened.

In the dimly lit cyber-café at Sciences-Po, hot-house of the French elite, no Gauloise smoke fills the air, no dog-eared copies of Sartre lie on the tables. French students are doing what all students do: surfing the web via Google. Now President Jacques Chirac wants to stop this American cultural invasion by setting up a rival French search-engine. The idea was prompted by Google’s plan to put online millions of texts from American and British university libraries. If English books are threatening to swamp cyberspace, Mr Chirac will not stand idly by.
He asked his culture minister, Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres, and Jean-Noel Jeanneney, head of France’s Bibliothèque Nationale, to do the same for French texts--and create a home-grown search-engine to browse them. Why not let Google do the job Its French version is used for 74% of interuet searches in France. The answer is the vulgar criteria it uses to rank results. "I do not believe", wrote Mr Donnedieu de Vabres in Le Monde, "that the only key to access our culture should be the automatic ranking by popularity, which has been behind Google’s success. "
This is not the first time Google has met French resistance. A court has upheld a ruling against it, in a lawsuit brought by two firms that claimed its display of rival sponsored links (Google’s chief source of revenues) constituted trademark counterfeiting. The French state news agency, Agence France-Presse, has also filed suit against Google for copyright infringement. Googlephobia is spreading. Mr Jeanneney has talked of the "risk of crushing domination by America in defining the view that future generations have of the world. " "I have nothing in particular against Google," he told L’ Express, a magazine. "I simply note that this commercial company is the expression of the American system, in which the law of the market is king. " Advertising muscle and consumer demand should not triumph over good taste and cultural sophistication.
The flaws in the French plan are obvious. If popularity cannot arbitrate, what will Mr Jeanneney wants a "committee of experts". He appears to be serious, though the supply of French-speaking experts, or experts speaking any language for that matter, would seem to be insufficient. And if advertising is not to pay, will the taxpayer The plan mirrors another of Mr Chirac’s pet projects : a CNNà la franeaise. Over a year ago, stung by the power of English- speaking television news channels in the Iraq war, Mr Chirac promised to set up a French rival by the end of 2004. The project is bogged down by infighting.
France’s desire to combat English, on the web or the airwaves, is understandable. Protecting France’s tongue from its citizens’ inclination to adopt English words is an ancient hobby of the ruling elite. The Académie Francaise was set up in 1635 to that end. Linguists devise translations of cyber-terms, such as arrosage (spam) or bogue (bug). Laws limit the use of English on TV--" Super Nanny" and "Star Academy" are current pests--and impose translations of English slogans in advertising. Treating the invasion of English as a market failure that must be corrected by the state may look clumsy. In France it is just business as usual.
President Jacques Chirac wants to set up a French search engine to

A:compete with the American rival "Google". B:protect French students from American invasion. C:preserve the integrity of the French culture. D:stop standing idly by when being threatened.

Compared with IBM, Microsoft is a mere young company. Founded in 1975, it rose swiftly to dominate the world of personal computing with its Windows operating system and Office suite of word-processing and other productivity tools. But the company is now showing some worrying signs of middle-age fatigue. In particular, it is struggling to find a growth strategy that will enthuse disappointed shareholders.
Complaint are understandable. Since Steve Ballmer took over from Bill Gates as chief executive in 2000, Microsoft’s share price has decreased and the company has lost its reputation as a tech trend-setter. It has been left behind in hot areas such as search and social networking by younger companies, some of which love to thumb their noses at their older rival. Eric Schmidt, the executive chairman of Google, recently proclaimed that leadership in the tech world had passed from Microsoft and others to a "Gang of Four" fast-growing, consumer-oriented businesses: Google, Apple, Amazon and Facebook.
Few would object to that. The question is: what，if anything, can Microsoft do to change it In at least some respects, the company appears to be suffering from similar ailments to those that laid IBM low before Lou Gerstner was hired in 1993 to get it back on its feet. These include arrogance bred of dominance of a particular area-mainframe computers at IBM, personal computers at Microsoft—and internal fiefs that hamper swift change.
As IBM’s experience shows, recovery in the tech world is possible. And some observers see encouraging signs of progress at Microsoft. Sarah Rotman Epps of Forrester, a research firm, reckons that Windows 8, a forthcoming version of Microsoft’s operating system, could be a serious competitor to Google’s Android on tablet computers if the company can get it to market next year．Microsoft is also in far better shape financially than IBM was at its lowest point, so it can afford to splash out on acquisitions such as its recent $8.5 billion purchase of Skype, an internet-phone and video-calling service.
That bet and an alliance with Nokia in mobile phones show that Microsoft is trying to bulk up in promising areas. Yet sceptics worry that such initiatives are not the product of an comprehensive strategic vision, but are instead temporary moves designed to calm critics who fear Microsoft is drifting downwards. David Einhorn, a prominent hedge-fund manager whose fund holds shares in Microsoft, has publicly called for a change at the top of the firm, arguing that Mr Ballmer is "stuck in the past". So far, the company’s board, chaired by Mr Gates, has backed its chief executive. But if IBM’s history is a guide, Microsoft may yet end up jettisoning its leader.
According to the text, which of the following is true of Microsoft

A:It is considering hiring a new CEO. B:It is engaged in an internal reform. C:It can rival IBM in mainframe computers. D:It is committing the mistakes IBM once committed.

Text 4

President Jacques Chirac wants to set up a French search engine to

A:compete with the American rival "Google". B:protect French students from American invasion. C:preserve the integrity of the French culture. D:stop standing idly by when being threatened.

In the dimly lit cyber-cafe at Sciences-Po, hot-house of the French elite, no Gauloise smoke fills the air, no dog-eared copies of Sartre lie on the tables. French students are doing what all students do: surfing the web via Google. Now President Jacques Chirac wants to stop this American cultural invasion by setting up a rival French search-engine. The idea was prompted by Google’s plan to put online millions of texts from American and British university libraries. If English books are threatening to swamp cyberspace, Mr Chirac will not stand idly by.
He asked his culture minister, Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres, and Jean-Noёl Jeanneney, head of France’ s Bibliothèque Nationale, to do the same for French text—and create a home-grown search-engine to browse them. Why not let Google do the job Its French version is used for 74% of intemet searches in France. The answer is the vulgar criteria it uses to rank results. "I do not believe", wrote Mr Donnedieu de Vabres in Le Monde," that the only key to access our culture should be the automatic ranking by popularity, which has been behind Google’ s success."
This is not the first time Google has met French resistance. A court has upheld a ruling against it, in a lawsuit brought by two firms that claimed its display of rival sponsored links (Google’ s chief source of revenues) constituted trademark counterfeiting. The French state news agency, Agence France-Presse, has also filed suit against Google for copyright infringement.
Googlephobia is spreading. Mr Jeanneney has talked of the "risk of crushing domination by America in defining the view that future generations have of the world. "" I have nothing in paricular against Google, "he told L’Express, a magazine. "I simply note that this commercial cial company is the expression of the American system, in which the law of the market is king. " Advertising muscle and consumer demand should not triumph over good taste and cultural sophistication.
The flaws in the French plan are obvious. If popularity cannot arbitrate, what will Mr Jeanneney wants a "committee of experts". He appears to be serious, though the supply of French-speaking experts, or experts speaking any language for that matter, would seem to be insufficient. And if advertising is not to pay, will the taxpayer The plan mirrors another of Mr Chirac’ s pet projects: a CNNàla francaise. Over a year ago, stung by the power of Englishspeaking television news channels in the Iraq war, Mr Chirac promised to set up a French rival by the end of 2004. The project is bogged down by infighting.
France’s desire to combat English, on the web or the airwaves, is understandable. Protecting France’s tongue from its citizens’ inclination to adopt English words is an ancient hobby of the rifling elite. The Académie Francaise was set up in 1635 to that end. Linguists devise translations of cyber-terms, such as arrosage (spam) or bogue(bug). Laws limit the use of English on TV—"Super Nanny" and "Star Academy" are current pests—and impose translations of English slogans in advertising. Treating the invasion of English as a market failure that must be corrected by the state may look clumsy. In France it is just business as usual.

President Jacques Chirac wants to set up a French search engine to（）

A:compete with the American rival "Google". B:protect French students from American invasion. C:preserve the integrity of the French culture. D:stop standing idly by when being threatened.

In the dimly lit cyber-café at Sciences-Po, hot-house of the French elite, no Gauloise smoke fills the air, no dog-eared copies of Sartre lie on the tables. French students are doing what all students do: surfing the web via Google. Now President Jacques Chirac wants to stop this American cultural invasion by setting up a rival French search-engine. The idea was prompted by Google’s plan to put online millions of texts from American and British university libraries. If English books are threatening to swamp cyberspace, Mr Chirac will not stand idly by.
He asked his culture minister, Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres, and Jean-Noel Jeanneney, head of France’s Bibliothèque Nationale, to do the same for French texts--and create a home-grown search-engine to browse them. Why not let Google do the job Its French version is used for 74% of interuet searches in France. The answer is the vulgar criteria it uses to rank results. "I do not believe", wrote Mr Donnedieu de Vabres in Le Monde, "that the only key to access our culture should be the automatic ranking by popularity, which has been behind Google’s success. "
This is not the first time Google has met French resistance. A court has upheld a ruling against it, in a lawsuit brought by two firms that claimed its display of rival sponsored links (Google’s chief source of revenues) constituted trademark counterfeiting. The French state news agency, Agence France-Presse, has also filed suit against Google for copyright infringement. Googlephobia is spreading. Mr Jeanneney has talked of the "risk of crushing domination by America in defining the view that future generations have of the world. " "I have nothing in particular against Google," he told L’ Express, a magazine. "I simply note that this commercial company is the expression of the American system, in which the law of the market is king. " Advertising muscle and consumer demand should not triumph over good taste and cultural sophistication.
The flaws in the French plan are obvious. If popularity cannot arbitrate, what will Mr Jeanneney wants a "committee of experts". He appears to be serious, though the supply of French-speaking experts, or experts speaking any language for that matter, would seem to be insufficient. And if advertising is not to pay, will the taxpayer The plan mirrors another of Mr Chirac’s pet projects : a CNNà la franeaise. Over a year ago, stung by the power of English- speaking television news channels in the Iraq war, Mr Chirac promised to set up a French rival by the end of 2004. The project is bogged down by infighting.
France’s desire to combat English, on the web or the airwaves, is understandable. Protecting France’s tongue from its citizens’ inclination to adopt English words is an ancient hobby of the ruling elite. The Académie Francaise was set up in 1635 to that end. Linguists devise translations of cyber-terms, such as arrosage (spam) or bogue (bug). Laws limit the use of English on TV--" Super Nanny" and "Star Academy" are current pests--and impose translations of English slogans in advertising. Treating the invasion of English as a market failure that must be corrected by the state may look clumsy. In France it is just business as usual.

President Jacques Chirac wants to set up a French search engine to（）

A:compete with the American rival "Google" B:protect French students from American invasion C:preserve the integrity of the French culture D:stop standing idly by when being threatened

Compared with IBM, Microsoft is a mere young company. Founded in 1975, it rose swiftly to dominate the world of personal computing with its Windows operating system and Office suite of word-processing and other productivity tools. But the company is now showing some worrying signs of middle-age fatigue. In particular, it is struggling to find a growth strategy that will enthuse disappointed shareholders.
Complaint are understandable. Since Steve Ballmer took over from Bill Gates as chief executive in 2000, Microsoft’s share price has decreased and the company has lost its reputation as a tech trend-setter. It has been left behind in hot areas such as search and social networking by younger companies, some of which love to thumb their noses at their older rival. Eric Schmidt, the executive chairman of Google, recently proclaimed that leadership in the tech world had passed from Microsoft and others to a "Gang of Four" fast-growing, consumer-oriented businesses: Google, Apple, Amazon and Facebook.
Few would object to that. The question is: what，if anything, can Microsoft do to change it In at least some respects, the company appears to be suffering from similar ailments to those that laid IBM low before Lou Gerstner was hired in 1993 to get it back on its feet. These include arrogance bred of dominance of a particular area-mainframe computers at IBM, personal computers at Microsoft—and internal fiefs that hamper swift change.
As IBM’s experience shows, recovery in the tech world is possible. And some observers see encouraging signs of progress at Microsoft. Sarah Rotman Epps of Forrester, a research firm, reckons that Windows 8, a forthcoming version of Microsoft’s operating system, could be a serious competitor to Google’s Android on tablet computers if the company can get it to market next year．Microsoft is also in far better shape financially than IBM was at its lowest point, so it can afford to splash out on acquisitions such as its recent $8.5 billion purchase of Skype, an internet-phone and video-calling service.
That bet and an alliance with Nokia in mobile phones show that Microsoft is trying to bulk up in promising areas. Yet sceptics worry that such initiatives are not the product of an comprehensive strategic vision, but are instead temporary moves designed to calm critics who fear Microsoft is drifting downwards. David Einhorn, a prominent hedge-fund manager whose fund holds shares in Microsoft, has publicly called for a change at the top of the firm, arguing that Mr Ballmer is "stuck in the past". So far, the company’s board, chaired by Mr Gates, has backed its chief executive. But if IBM’s history is a guide, Microsoft may yet end up jettisoning its leader.

According to the text, which of the following is true of Microsoft（）

A:It is considering hiring a new CEO B:It is engaged in an internal reform C:It can rival IBM in mainframe computers D:It is committing the mistakes IBM once committed

{{U}}Rival{{/U}} traditions of acting have coexisted in Western theater since antiquity.

A:Myriad B:Rudimentary C:Stylistic D:Conflicting