Section A Exploratory Reading
Read the passage and try to find the answer to the following questions by making inferences.
Most of us can remember the days when we didn't use email as everyday vehicle for communication. Slowly but surely， it crept into our lives. Email is a valuable tool for American college students at any level. It's available 24 hours a day，7 days a week and even at holidays.Most universities assign students an account upon entrance， so there is usually not even an option involved.
You can do everything from consulting homework and projects， keeping in touch with classmates， corresponding with families and friends， and getting daily news services to keep you posted on world events. But what are the disadvantages？
Email can be e⁃jail. You might spend hours writing and responding to emails when you should devote yourself in the books for upcoming examination. Or， you might be signed up for so many daily services such as horoscopes 21 news services， or personals； that your mailbox is so filled up with “junk mail”， that finding the important emails through your mailbox might take hours.
If you are a student， time is at a premium. Create and organize your email folders into important school⁃related mail，correspondence with friends and family，and a mixed folder for jokes， horoscopes and other news services. Always put the mail into the appropriate folders first， and when you're finished， head for the important school⁃related folder first. Respond to the most important emails first and， if you have time， you can get to the others.
Discourage your friends from forwarding those tiresome joke lists， sex quizzes， and chain email. The minute you realize you've got one， delete it immediately so you won't be tempted to read it.
Choose the best answer.
1. Who are most likely to be the targeted readers of the passage？
A. College students. B. Office clerks. C. News editors. D. School teachers.
2. According to the passage， we can infer that most American college students________.
A. have to use email 7 days a week
B. have at least 1 email address
C. never write traditional letters
D. contact each other only through email
3. It is implied in this passage that horoscopes is________.
A. an important mail B. a new service
C. a meaningless mail D. a chain email
Explanations
1. The key is A.We can know the answer from the last sentence of Para.1 and Para.2.
2. The key is B.From the sentence “Most universities assign students an account upon entrance，so there is usually not even an option involved.” we can infer that an American student has at least one email address provided by the university.
3. The key is C. We make the inference by the sentence “Or， you might be signed up for so many daily services， such as horoscopes， news services， or personals， that your mailbox is so filled up with ‘junk mail’， that finding the important emails through your mailbox might take hours.”
Reading Skill： Making Inferences
In making inferences about the author's ideas from what is written and from what is not written， we go beyond surface details and read between the lines and use hints to reach information logically. Factual details in what we read provide the basis of our knowledge. But not every bit of information is apparent or clearly stated.Authors don't always express all their thoughts openly， either as a matter of style， or because they assume we know and share their opinions—or because they aren't sure how to express themselves.We may have to build upon our own knowledge and experience in order to understand something fully. Because information is not always stated in exact terms， we must get information from details or ideas that are only suggested by the author. We can't always be certain that what we understand is absolutely right. But if we follow hunches（直觉） that are based on evidence，we can be fairly sure about some things， even if they are only hinted at.
To make inferences about the author's ideas you have to do the following：
1）Make use of context clues， your common sense and your knowledge of the world.
2）Connect ideas and draw conclusions from the reading passage.
3）Form and test what you have understood between the lines.
The reading act is a two⁃way communication between the reader and the writer； it involves understanding， forming ideas， testing your ideas during the reading of the passage，correcting or changing your ideas and understanding， until finally you are able to get what the writer is driving at.