单选题
People talked about a promising idea: using the electrical wiring already in the house to move data from room to room. One early application, the X10 system for controlling lights and appliances, didn"t always work welL The technology was certainly not ready to be used to bring web pages to computers anywhere in the house.
Along came the wireless network. For $ 50, you could get the Ethernet sprayed across the house and never be confined by a cord to the wall. It was slow in those early days, very unreliable, and open to interruption if you couldn"t bother with setting up the encoded passwords.
But it caught on. According to estimates made by Parks Associates, a market research firm based in Dallas, about 12.5 million homes now have wireless networks; another 10 million homes, mostly newer ones, have Ethernet.
Cheap and prevalent is a hard combination to beat. However, technology companies continued to work on the idea. A version for power lines called Home Plug came out in 2002, and while it hardly affected sales of wireless network equipment, it sold enough that major companies like Intel, Cisco Sony, Sharp and Comcast created the Home Plug Alliance to push for next-generation products, with the first to come out later this year.
Some companies are not waiting. Panasonic, Netgear, Maranta are already offering products that will move data through home electrical lines faster than routers using the current Wi-Fi standard for wireless networking.
Panasonic started selling its HD-PLC Ethernet adapters for power lines last month. One adapter is attached to a router with a short Ethernet cable and plugged into a nearby wall socket. The second device is plugged into a socket elsewhere in the house. When a computer is linked to it with an Ethernet cable, data is transmitted through the home"s electrical wiring at speeds of up to 190 megabits a second.
Netgear will be selling a similar system next month for about $ 300. It moves data at a slightly faster rate. Marantz says its ZR6001SP receiver will send music to special speakers in another room over power lines. The system includes both devices. The music listener controls the receiver and the CD players connected to it form a control pad on the speakers.
These products seem hopeless candidates. Who would like to pay two or three times expensive than wireless network? The answer lies in simplicity. "It"s why most people need us," Robert said, noting the complexity of installing wireless network is evident by the fact that return rates on wireless networking devices drop to nearly zero. The three products" makers said that people who cannot get whole-house coverage with a wireless system or those plagued by dead zones might find it appealing.
单选题
The phrase "catch on" (Line 1, Para. 3) most probably means ______.
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】[解析] 此题为语义辨析题。catch on在这里意为流行。下文引用了具体数据对其进行了解释:about 12.5 million homes now have wireless networks; another 10 million homes, mostly newer ones, have Ethernet. 有如此之多的家庭安装了无线网,说明了它的流行。B项prevail意为流行,符合题意。
单选题
What"s the feature of Home Plug?
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】[解析] 此题为推理分析题。文章第四段开头表示Cheap and prevalent is a hard combination to beat. However, technology companies continued to work on the idea. 说明虽然做到既便宜又流行很难,但技术公司仍然在这个领域努力,随后研究出Home Plug这个产品,由此推断出这个产品应该是既便宜又受欢迎的,因此C项符合题意。
单选题
It can be inferred from the passage that the new products of Panasonic, Netgear and Marantz ______.
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】[解析] 此题为推理分析题。文章第五段指出:Panasonic, Netgear, Maranta are already offering products that will move data...说明它们的产品能传输数据。接下来分别就其具体产品做了介绍:Panasonic started selling its...adapters说明这种产品是一种适配器;Netgear will he selling a similar system. It moves data at a slightly faster rate. Netgear下个月也将销售它的一种类似的系统,它以稍快的速度传输数据;Marantz...system includes both devices. Marantz的产品包含两种装置。由此可推出它们的产品是适配器或者是类似的能传输数据的系统,因此B项符合题意。
单选题
According to the passage, wireless network has an advantage over the three products mentioned in ______.
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】[解析] 此题为细节判断题。文章最后一段说:Who would like to pay two or three times expensive than wireless network?谁愿意付无线网两三倍的价钱来买这些产品呢?因此,我们得出无线网价格低,这就是无线网优于三个产品的地方。因此D项符合题意。
单选题
Who will probably most welcome the three products?
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】[解析] 此题为细节判断题。文章最后一段的最后一句话指出:people who cannot get whole-house coverage with a wireless system or those plagued by dead zones might find it appealing. 据此可知这些产品会受到那些屋子里不能全部被无线系统覆盖的人们,或是被盲区困扰的人们的欢迎。dead zones是指盲区,即没有信号,不能接收数据信息,因此B项符合题意。