单选题 John Battelle is Silicon Valley's Bob Woodward. As one of the founders of Wired magazine, he has hung around Google for so long that he has come to be as close as any outsider can to actually being an insider. Certainly, Google's founders, Sergey Brin and Larry Page, and its chief executive, Eric Schmidt, believe that it is safer to talk to Mr. Battelle than not to do so.
The result is a highly readable account of Google's astonishing rise--the steepest in corporate history--from its origins in Stanford University to its controversial stockmarket debut and its current struggle to become a grown-up company while staying true to its youthfully brash motto, "Don't be evil. " Mr. Battelle makes the reader warm to Google's ruling triumvirate--their cleverness and their good intentions--and fear for their future as they take on the world.
Google is one of the most interesting companies around at the moment. It has a decent shot at displacing Microsoft as the next great near-monopoly of the information age. Its ambition--to organise all the world's information, not just the information on the world wide web--is epic, and its commercial power is frightening. Beyond this, Google is interesting for the same reason that secretive dictatorships and Hollywood celebrities are interesting--for being opaque, colourful and, simply, itself.
The book disappoints only when Mr. Battelle begins trying to explain the wider relevance of internet search and its possible future development. There is a lot to say on this subject, but Mr. Battelle is hurried and overly chatty, producing laundry lists of geeky concepts without really having thought any of them through properly. This is not a fatal flaw. Read only the middle chapters, and you have a great book.

单选题 The phrase "warm to" in the last sentence of the second paragraph most probably means ______.

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】[考点解析] 这是一道词汇题，测试考生对原文中重点词语的准确理解。本文第二段尾句中的“warm to…”是一个固定用法，其含义是“变得对……更感兴趣”，故本题的正确选项是D“become more interested in”(变得对……更感兴趣)。考生在阅读时应注意每个词语的精确含义。

单选题 Google is eye-catching due to its ______.

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】[考点解析] 这是一道细节题，测试考生对重点词语引导的句子的重视和理解程度，以及对句中并列平行结构的识别和理解。本题的答案信息来源在第三段的尾句，该句由“beyond”一词引导，其大意是：“除此之外，Google引起人们兴趣的原因与遮遮掩掩的独裁和好莱坞名人引起人们兴趣的原因是相同的——原因在于不透明、花哨以及其自身”。由此可以推断本题的正确选项是A“distinctiveness”(独特性)，因为只有“distinctiveness”这个词才能准确表达原文“itself”一词所传达的含义。考生在阅读时应注意常考的重点词语(例如本句中的“beyond”一词)，并且注意对并列平行结构的理解。

单选题 The work by John Battelle would be perfected if appropriate consideration is given to ______.

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】[考点解析] 本题是一道细节推导题，测试考生对原文的准确理解以及推导能力。本题的答案信息来源在尾段的第一句，该句的大意是：“本书令人失望的一点仅仅存在于Battelle先生对互联网与其未来发展之间更广泛联系的解释”。由此可见，Battelle先生的作品需要改进和完善的方面就在于此。故本题的正确选项应该是A“the relationship between internet research and its potential future development”(互联网研究与其未来发展之间的关系)。考生在阅读时应注意每个词所传达的深层含义。

单选题 According to the text, the author's attitude toward Mr. Battelle's work is ______.

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】[考点解析] 本题属于一道中心主旨归纳题，测试考生对全文各个自然段落的整体综合和理解的能力。本文是对Battelle先生的书进行客观的评价。本题的答案信息来源主要来自于第二段首句和尾段尾句，以及尾段首句。第二段首句中的“higtlly readable”(很强的可渎性)以及尾段尾句中的“a great book”(一部好书)，表明作者对Battelle先生所著的书的肯定；尾段首句中的“The book disappoints…”(本书令人失望之处……)表明作者指出此书的美中不足。综上所述，本文作者对Battelle先生的书的态度应该是：肯定中有保留(即客观的态度)。故本题的正确选项是C“qualified consent”(有保留的赞同)。

单选题 The text seems to be ______.

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】[考点解析] 本题属于一道中心主旨类题型，测试考生对全文的整体理解和把握。全文是对Battelle先生所写的有关Googte一书的评价。本题的答案信息来源在第二段首句中的“a highly readable account”(可读性很强的描述)、尾段首句中的“The book”(这本书)以及尾段尾句中的“a great book”(一本好书)。由此可见，本题的正确选项是B“a book review”(书评)。