We are already familiar with computers—computers work for us at home, in offices and in factories. But it is also true that many children today are using computers at schools before they can write. What does this mean for the future? Are these children lucky or not?

Many people who do not know about computers think of them as machines that children play with. They worry that children do not learn from experience but just from pressing a button and that this is not good for them. They think that children are growing not knowing about the real world.

But people who understand more about computers say that computers can be very good for children. A computer can help them to learn about the real world more quickly, to learn what they want to learn and think for themselves. And for the future, don’t we need people who can think clearly, who know how to get information quickly and use it well? What do you think?

1. “To be familiar with” means to ______.

A. know nothing B. know about C. dislike D. like

2. Does everyone think computers are good for children?

A. Yes, they do. B. No, not everyone thinks so.

C. They don’t know. D. They are not sure.

3. What can computers help children to do?

A. To think clearly, to do homework and to write. B. To play games, to do math and to copy.

C. To think clearly, to get information and to use it well. D. To count, to clean the house and to get information.

4. Does the writer think computer is a good thing?

A. It isn’t mentioned. B. No, he doesn’t think so. C. He doesn’t know. D. Yes, he does.

Light travels at a speed which is about a million times faster than the speed of sound. You can get some idea of this difference by watching the start of a race. If you stand some distance away from the starter, you can see smoke from his gun before the sound reaches your ears.

This great speed of light produces some strange facts. Sunlight takes about 8 minutes to reach us. If you look at the light of the moon tonight, remember that the light rays left the moon 1.3 seconds before they reached you. The nearest star is so far away that the light that you can see from it tonight started to travel towards you four years ago at a speed of nearly 2 million km. per minute. In some cases, the light from one of tonight’s stars had started on its journey to you before you were born.

Thus, if we want to be honest, we can’t say, “The stars are shining tonight.” We have to say instead, “The stars look pretty. They were shining four years ago, but their light has only just reached the earth.”

1. Light speed is ______ sound speed

A. as fast as B. a million times slower than

C. about millions of times faster than D. about a million times faster than