Steve Jobs, Apple’s chief executive, made his first public appearance since going on medical leave six weeks ago, taking the stage at a San Francisco media event to introduce the iPad 2, the second generation of the pany’s tablet puter.
Thin but energetic, Mr. Jobs showed off a thinner iPad. “ We’ve been working on this product for a while and I just didn’t want to miss this day,” he said.
His absence has concerned investors, especially since the group has given no details of his condition. He was diagnosed with cancer in 2004 and had a liver transplant during almost six moths of medical leave in 2009. People close to him said last month his health had been changing.
Apple’s stock rose more than 2 percent in the minutes after Mr. Jobs began speaking, then gave up some of its gain as he detailed the iPad 2.
The iPad 2 will go on sale in black and white versions in the US on March 11 and in 26 other countries, including the UK and Germany, on March 25. The table is Apple’s biggest product launch since the iPhone three years ago, and is parable to the iPhone as the most expected in Apple’s history.
Most of the improvements in the latest version had been expected, including front and rear-facing video, which allows video conferencing between iPads, Mac puters and the most recent iPhones and iPods, a larger speaker, a faster processor and other upgrades. The iPad 2 is one-third thinner than the original tablet and slightly lighter, with a 9.7-inch touchscreen. It can run movies, books, games and a plete range of applications. In the US it will work with AT&T and Verizon, the top two mobile carriers. The pricing will be the same to the 2010 iPad at its introduction, ranging from $499 to $829 in six models. But Apple dropped prices on the older iPad on Wednesday by $100 across the board.
Apple has made the most of its year-long head start in tablets, selling 15,000,000 units of the older iPad last year and taking about 85 percent of the market. Forrester predicted that the iPad 2 would clain 80 percent of the US market this year, or 20,000,000 out of 24,000,000 total shipped. This prediction was based on both the technical improvements to the iPad 2, and the distribution difficulties and higher prices for Apple’s rivals.
Motorola, BlackBerry maker Research in Motion, Samsung and others have brought out peting tablets, many based on Google’s Android software.
Mr. Jobs said the rest of the field was still catching up with the first iPad and their markets for applications designed for tablets had, at best, 100 small programs. This pares with 65,000 on Apple’s applications store.
【小题1】Why are the investors of Apple worried according to the text?A．Apple’s stock price changes a lotB．Steve Jobs’ health condition is not stableC．The iPad 2 has some technical drawbacksD．Apple faces strong petition from other panies.【小题2】In what respect are the iPad 2 and the 2010 iPad exactly alike?A．the weightB．the speakerC．the thicknessD．the pricing at the introduction【小题3】How many tablet puters were sold in the market last year?A．about 15,000,000B．about 17,000,000C．about 20,000,000D．about 24,000,000【小题4】What makes Apple’s tablets superior to the peting tablets of other panies?A．the low priceB．the Android softwareC．the full kinds of modelsD．the tens of thousands of applications【小题5】What is the best title for the text?A．Jobs on Stage to Introduce iPad 2B．iPad 2 Better than the OriginalC．Best Applications for iPad 2D．iPad 2 vs. CompetitorsB
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(答案→)B
解析：文章介绍的乔布斯宣布Ipad上市，并介绍相关功能。
【小题1】B 细节题。根据第三段最后一句People close to him said last month his health had been changing.可知他的身体情况一直都在变化，故B正确。
【小题2】D 细节题。根据第六段倒数2,3行The pricing will be the same to the 2010 iPad at its introduction, ranging from $499 to $829 in six models.可知D正确。
【小题3】B 计算题。根据第七段Apple has made the most of its year-long head start in tablets, selling 15,000,000 units of the older iPad last year and taking about 85 percent of the market.可知15,000，000占据了百分之85的比例。那么一共卖掉了大约about 17,000,000台。故B正确。
【小题4】D 细节题。根据文章最后一段内容their markets for applications designed for tablets had, at best, 100 small programs. This pares with 65,000 on Apple’s applications store.可知新的Ipad有成百上千的应用，故D正确。
【小题5】A 主旨大意题。文章介绍的乔布斯宣布Ipad上市，并介绍相关功能。