单选题 Comedian George Carlin has a routine in which he talks about how humans seem to spend their lives accumulating "stuff". Once they"ve gathered enough stuff, they have to find places to store all of it. If Carlin were to update that routine today, he could make the same 1 about computer information. It seems that everyone with a computer spends a lot of time acquiring data and then trying to find a way to 2 it.
For some computer owners, finding enough storage space to hold all the data they"ve acquired is a real challenge. Some people invest in larger hard drives. Others prefer 3 storage devices like thumb drives or compact discs. Desperate computer owners might delete entire folders worth of old files in order to make space for new information. 4 some are choosing to rely on a growing trend: cloud storage.
While cloud storage sounds like it has something to do with weather 5 and storm systems, it really refers to saving data 6 an off-site storage system maintained by a third party. 7 storing information to your computer"s hard drive or other local storage device, you save it to a remote database. The Internet provides the connection between your computer and the database.
On the surface, cloud storage has several advantages 8 traditional data storage. For example, if you store your data on a cloud storage system, you"ll be able to get to that data from any location that has Internet access. You 9 need to carry around a 10 storage device or use the same computer to save and 11 your information. With the right storage system, you could even allow other people to access the data, turning a personal project into a 12 effort.
So cloud storage is convenient and offers more 13 , but how does it work?
There are hundreds of different cloud storage systems. Some have a very specific 14 , such as storing Web e-mail messages or digital pictures. Others are 15 to store all forms of digital data. Some cloud storage systems are small operations, while others are so large that the physical equipment can fill 16 an entire warehouse. The facilities that 17 loud storage systems are called data centers.
At its most basic level, a cloud storage system needs just one data server 18 to the Internet. A client e. g. , a computer user subscribing to a cloud storage service sends copies of files over the Internet to the data server, which then records the information. When the client wishes to retrieve the information, he or she accesses the data server through a Web-based interface. The server then either sends the files back to the client or allows the client to access and manipulate the files on the server itself.
Cloud storage systems generally rely on hundreds of data servers. Because computers 19 require maintenance or repair, it"s important to store the same information on multiple machines. This is called redundancy. Without redundancy, a cloud storage system couldn"t 20 clients that they could access their information at any given time. Most systems store the same data on servers that use different power supplies. That way, clients can access their data even if one power supply fails.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[解析] 固定搭配。本题要选出与动词make搭配的名词，make an observation about sth. ，就某事发表看法；inspection“视察，检查”，强调按照确定的标准对事物进行的检验，有上级对下级的意味。
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】[解析] 上下文语义。与本段第一句对比，动词find为重现，a way to与第二句的places to对应，答案可能是前一句重现的动词store；同时由空格后的it指代的是前面的data，store与data搭配符合上下文逻辑。注意上下文重现的词。
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[解析] 上下文语义。填入修饰storage devices的形容词，注意like后的thumb drives or compact discs(拇指驱动器或光盘)，这些都是外部的存储设备，故答案为D。注意选项中表示相反意思的词，答案可能是其中之一。
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】[解析] 逻辑关系。根据前一句delete entire folders worth of old files与空格所在句中的choosing to rely on a growing wend说明前后构成转折关系。while作并列连词用，意为“而，然而”，表对比，而but表转折，故答案为A。考生注意while和but在句中的用法。
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] 固定搭配。由weather和and后的信息storm systems判定空格填入与天气有关的词，weather fronts为固定搭配，意为“前锋，锋面”，在气象学中，冷暖气团交界面叫锋面。作者是用weather fronts and storm systems来解释说明cloud storage(云存储)。
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[解析] 固定用法。空格所在的句子中refers to doing sth. ，意为“指……，是形容……”，save在用于“存储，保存”的意思时的搭配是save...to...，意为“将……存储到……上”。
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] 逻辑关系。与后半句句意比较，前半句是传统的存储信息的方式，存储到computer"s hard drive或other local storage device，前后的逻辑关系是对比关系。apart from“远离，除……之外”；other than“除了，不同于”，不用于句首；instead of“代替”；regardless of“不管，不顾”。故答案为C。
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[解析] 上下文语义。由several advantages，traditional data storage信息判定，cloud storage有几个胜过traditional data storage的优势。选项中只有over“超过，多余”的意思符合上下文语义。
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[解析] 情态动词的使用。选项中情态动词的语气不同，couldn"t表示不能；wouldn"t表示不会；shouldn"t表示不应该，语气较委婉；mustn"t表示禁止，语气较强。根据语义，B项符合。
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】[解析] 固定用法。选项中physical与storage device为固定用法，意为“物理存储器”。
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[解析] 上下文语义。根据句意描述cloud storage的优势之一，不必用同一台电脑存储和获取信息，有“再次获取”的意思。retrieve“恢复，重新得到”为答案。
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[解析] 上下文语义。turning...into意为“把……变成”，空格应填入与personal(个人的)相对的词，再由other people推断，应是多个人努力，对比四个选项，collaborative“合作的”符合句意。
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] 上下文语义。根据句中的连词and判断，空格应填入与convenient意思相近的名词。选项中的convenience与convenient为同根词复现，符合逻辑。故答案为C。
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】[解析] 名词词义辨析和上下文语义。空格所在段落的首句是主题句，后面分别介绍不同种类的cloud storage。focus“焦点，关注”；purpose“目的，用途”；use“使用，用途”；operation“操作，经营”；根据such as后的内容storing Web e-mail messages or digital pictures，不是某种“目的”，“使用”或“操作”，只有focus符合上下文语义，“具体的关注”。
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】[解析] 形容词词义辨析。选项都可以接to do sth形式。available“可获取的”；capable“能够的，可以的”，谈及某人能够做某事，一般用于be capable of结构；applicable“适用的”；desirable“需要的，期望的”。根据句意，只有A项符合上下文语义，be available to意为“可被……利用或得到的”。
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[解析] 动词词组辨析。与fill搭配的介词很多，fill in“填写，填充，替代”；fill up“装满，堵塞”；fill into“填入；填充”；fill后面不直接接for。根据空格后an entire warehouse，与fill up搭配符合句意，塞满整个仓库。
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] 上下文语义。that引导的从句作facilities的定语，故空格填入的是从句的谓语，根据后面cloud storage systems信息，只有house符合句意。house在这里作动词，意为“把云存储系统储藏在房内”。
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[解析] 后置定语。划分句子成分后，______ to the Internet作data server的后置定语。data server应该是被连接到网络，使用connect的过去分词形式。
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[解析] 副词词义辨析。probably“可能地”；inconveniently“不方便地”；invariably“总是；不变地”；occasionally“偶尔；间或”。对比选项和句意，计算机只可能是偶尔地维修。
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】[解析] 动词词义辨析。根据前一句的内容，本句的句意是如果没有redundancy，就不能保证clients在任何时间获取信息。assure的宾语通常是人或人称代词，用来表示向某人保证某事将要发生，侧重指消除某人思想上的怀疑或担心；ensure的意思是使某行为或某件事的结果得以保证，即确保某事发生；guarantee指对人的行为及履行义务等承担责任的保证。很明显，答案为A项。