仔细阅读解析
　　第一篇
　　Could you reproduce Silicon Valley elsewhere, or is there something unique about it?
　　It wouldn’t be surprising if it were hard to reproduce in other countries, because you couldn’t reproduce it in most of the US either. What does it take to make a Silicon Valley?
　　It’s the right people. If you could get the right ten thousand people to move from Silicon Valley to Buffalo, Buffalo would become Silicon Valley.
　　You only need two kinds of people to create a technology hub (中心):rich people and nerds (痴迷科研的人).
　　Observation bears this out. Within the US, towns have become startup hubs if and only if they have both rich people and nerds. Few startups happen in Miami, for example, because although it’s full of rich people, it has few nerds. It’s not the kind of place nerds like.
　　Whereas Pittsburg has the opposite problem: plenty of nerds, but no rich people. The top US Computer Science departments are said to be MIT, Stanford, Berkeley, and Carnegie-Mellon. MIT yielded Route 128. Stanford and Berkeley yielded Silicon Valley. But what did Carnegie-Mellon yield in Pittsburgh? And what happened in Ithaca, home of Cornell University, which is also high on the list.
　　I grew up in Pittsburgh and went to college at Cornell, so I can answer for both. The weather is terrible, particularly in winter, and there’s no interesting old city to make up for it, as there is in Boston. Rich people don’t want to live in Pittsburgh or Ithaca. So while there are plenty of hackers (电脑迷) who could start startups, there’s no one to invest in them.
　　Do you really need the rich people? Wouldn’t it work to have the government invest the nerds? No, it would not. Startup investors are a distinct type of rich people. They tend to have a lot of experience themselves in the technology business. This helps them pick the right startups, and means they can supply advice and connections as well as money. And the fact that they have a personal stake in the outcome makes them really pay attention.
　　56. What do we learn about Silicon Valley from the passage?
　　A) Its success is hard to copy anywhere else.
　　B) It is the biggest technology hub in the US.
　　C) Its fame in high technology is incomparable.
　　D) It leads the world in information technology.
　　57. What makes Miami unfit to produce a Silicon Valley?
　　A) Lack of incentive for investments.
　　B) Lack of the right kind of talents.
　　C) Lack of government support.
　　D) Lack of famous universities.
　　58. In that way is Carnegie-Mellon different from Stanford, Berkeley and MIT?
　　A) Its location is not as attractive to rich people
　　B) Its science department are not nearly as good
　　C) It does not produce computer hackers and nerds
　　D) It does not pay much attention to business startups
　　59. What does the author imply about Boston?
　　A) It has pleasant weather all year round.
　　B) It produces wealth as well as high-tech
　　C) It is not likely to attract lots of investor and nerds.
　　D) It is an old city with many sites of historical interest.
　　60. What does the author say about startup investors?
　　A) They are especially wise in making investments.
　　B) They have good connections in the government.
　　C) They can do more than providing money.
　　D) They are enough to invest in nerds.
　　答案解析：
　　56. A) Its success is hard to copy anywhere else. 题干问Silicon Valley（硅谷）的特点。答案定位到第二段首句，It wouldn’t be surprising if it were hard to reproduce in other countries, because you couldn’t reproduce it in most of the US either. 其中hard to copy和hard to reproduce构成同义改写。
　　57. B) Lack the right kinds of talents. 题干问的是Miami不适合出产Silicon Valley的原因。答案定位到第五段第三句Few startups happen in Miami, because although it’s full of rich people, it has few nerds（痴迷科学的人）。尽管迈阿密有很多有钱人，但是没有痴迷科学的人。nerds与B选项的talents构成同义改写。
　　58. A) Its location is not as attractive to rich people. 题干问的是Carnegie-Mellon大学有别于Stanford, Berkeley和MIT的方式。答案定位到第六段首句。Whereas Pittsburgh has the opposite problem: plenty of nerds, but no rich people. 在Pittsburgh的Carnegie-Mellon大学尽管痴迷科学的人很多，但是没有有钱人，所以和其它大学不一样，未能出产类似硅谷的科技中心。
　　59. D) It is an old city with many sites of historical interest. 题干问的是关于Boston作者暗示出什么信息，这是一道推断题。线索定位在第七段第二句。The weather is terrible, particularly in winter, and there’s no interesting old city to make up for it, as there is in Boston.作者表示Pittsburgh没有有意思的古城来弥补气候的不足，就像Boston一样。那么可以推知Boston是一个古城。
　　60. C) They can do more than providing money. 题干问的是作者关于startup investors（创业投资人）的观点。文章最后一段从第4-7句起都提到了startup investors。这种题目的答案句不容易确定，第4-7句都有可能成为答案，宜选用排除法解。A) They are especially wise in making investments.原文并没有体现出他们在投资方面特别的明智。最多提到了他们在技术行业拥有很多经验。B) They have good connections in the government.原文并没有提到他们与政府的联系，该选项将第二句的government与第六句的connection进行了生硬的拼凑。D) They are rich enough to invest in nerds.原文并未提及创业投资人有足够的钱来投资痴迷科学的人，nerds出现的位置也远离了答案的定位区间。C) They can do more than providing money. 根据第六句，他们除了提供资金还可以提供建议和联系，因此是正确选项。