21世纪英语报第七期 九年级报纸阅读命题

时事新闻阅读（七）

A

Money comes in different forms. Cash is used in real life. But when it comes to online business, some prefer virtual currencies (虚拟货币). Among them, bitcoin is the most famous one.

Created in 2009 by a Japanese programmer, bitcoins are produced by computers and are not controlled by any government or bank. Everyone can buy them with real money through online exchanges (交易所).

The total number of bitcoins is 21 million. They can be used for online business like buying products in computer games. In China, bitcoin trade has developed quickly, making up 80 percent of the world’s total, according to Xinhua.

But recently, bitcoins caught people’s attention for another reason: There will be no more bitcoin exchanges in China soon. BTCChina, one of China’s biggest bitcoin exchanges, closed its trading platform (平台) in September. Another two large exchanges, Huobi and OKCoin, said they would also stop all trading by the end of October, reported The Beijing News.

This change is brought by an order from seven Chinese departments, including the Central Bank and Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. That’s because bitcoins were also used for illegal (非法的) activities, such as drug (毒品) selling and smuggling (走私).

For example, WannaCry, a computer virus (病毒), hit tens of thousands of computers in May. It required the victims (受害者) to pay the hackers lots of money using bitcoins, otherwise it would destroy the files (文件) in their computers. Paying with bitcoins left no personal information for the police to find the people behind the attacks.

1. The underlined word It refers to_____.（指代关系）

A. a virus

B. bitcoin

C. Wanna cry

D. a virus's creator

2. Which of the following is TURE?（细节判断）

A. Bitcoins can be used for downloading computer games.

B. Bitcoins can be used for buying products in real shops.

C. Bitcoins can be used for buying things in online games.

D. Bitcoins can be used for paying for bills as real money.

3. We can infer the reason why China has stopped the trading of bitcoins is ______.(逻辑推理)

A. Because the number of bitcoins is too large.

B. Because bitcoins lead more teenagers to play games.

C. Because the trading of bitcoins developed too quickly.

D. Because bitcoins are used to do illegal businesses.

4. Which of the following is the best title?（主旨大意）

A. Money comes in different forms.

B. Bitcoin is the most famous currency.

C. B itcoins caught people’s attention.

D. Say bye to bitcoin.

B

Three people were sitting around a table in a restaurant in Brazil. How much do you think each of them tipped (给小费)?

The Briton asked: “It’s common to tip 10 percent, right?” The American woman cried: “Oh, I was planning to leave 20 percent!” And the Chinese asked: “What’s a tip?”

Although it is not a custom to tip in China, tipping is a big deal in Western countries. When traveling to countries like the US and Canada, it is common to tip about 10 to 15 percent of the bill.