SINCE the 1997 international agreement to fight global warming, climate change has worsened and speeded up – beyond even the worst expectations of the 1997 talks in Kyoto, Japan.
As world leaders have spent a dozen years trying to figure out what to do next, new ship passages have opened through the once frozen summer sea ice of the Arctic. In Greenland and Antarctica, ice sheets have lost trillions of tons of ice. Mountain glaciers in Europe, South America, Asia and Africa are shrinking faster than before.
And it's not just the frozen parts of the world that have felt the heat in the dozen years leading up to next month's climate summit in Copenhagen: The world's oceans have risen by about 4cm. Droughts and wildfires have become more frequent worldwide. Animals and plants are now in trouble because of the changing climate. These include the polar bears, butterflies, frogs and entire stands of North American pine forests. Temperatures over the past 12 years are 0.4 degrees warmer than in the dozen years leading up to 1997.
Even the gloomiest (令人沮丧的) climate models from the 1990s didn't forecast results this bad.
“The latest science is telling us we are in more trouble than we thought,'' said Janos Pasztor, climate adviser to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
And here's why: Since an agreement to reduce greenhouse gas pollution was signed in Kyoto, Japan, in December 1997, the level of carbon dioxide in the air has increased by 6.5 percent. From 1997 to 2008, world carbon dioxide emissions (排放) from the burning of fossil (化石) fuels have increased by 31 percent. US emissions of this greenhouse gas have risen by 3.7 percent. Emissions from China have more than doubled.
Some climate change can be caused by natural factors such as variations in solar radiation, volcanoes, land drift (位移) and ocean drift. However, most of scientific and public opinion has come to the conclusion that the climate is changing mainly because of the accumulation of greenhouse gases (especially CO2) in the atmosphere due to human activity.
From December 7 to 18, officials from across the world will meet in Copenhagen to seek a solution for this problem. If successful, the meeting will send a clear signal to business and industry, governments and citizens around the world. New commitments and plans will signal that the future belongs to a low-carbon economy and that tomorrow's winners will be those who invest (投资) in clean energy solutions.
66. We can learn from the passage that
A. The 1997 climate summit was held in Copenhagen
B. Since 1997,the level of carbon dioxide in the air has decreased by 6.5%.
C. The Copenhagen summit is intended to announce new ship passages to the Arctic
D. More than the frozen parts of the world have felt the heat in the dozen years
67. The underlined word “commitments” is closest in meaning to ______.
A. tasks B. taxes C. responsibilities D. regulation
(D)68. We can conclude from the text that ______.
A. governments will do more to fight global warming
B. world leaders have paid enough attention to global warming
C. the climate agreement signed in Kyoto did nothing to stop global warming
D. human activity is the main cause of global warming
(A)69. It can be inferred that .
A. many countries haven’t stuck to the agreement signed in 1997 .
B. China should undertake major responsibilities for greenhouse gases emission as the country with the largest population.
C. The officials from developed countries and climate advisers should be responsible for the worsening climate.
D. Because of greenhouse gases glaciers in Greenland and Antarctic are melting faster than those in Europe, South America, Asia and Africa.
70. The main purpose of this article is to ______.
A. report on the upcoming climate summit in Copenhagen
B. inform about the effects of climate change and analyze its cause
C. tell people not to worry about climate change
D. urge people to do something about worsening global climate
Poverty today is a major global issue. Although there are all kinds of definitions used to explain it, in simple words, it means the inability of a person to even get his basic needs of food, shelter, clothing, safe drinking water, health and education. Poverty can be found in each and every corner of the world, although the causes may differ from country to country. Given below are the main causes of poverty in the world today.
Overpopulation is one of the main causes behind the threatening of poverty on an individual level as well as a social level. This is simple math. If there are more mouths to feed and less income, definitely much will remain poor.
Another theory which is used as an explanation for poverty is lack of education. If you look at any of the underdeveloped countries, you will find that the level of education there is very low. Lack of education means lack of employment opportunities, thus leading to unemployment coupled with poverty in the future.
Moving away from one’s own homeland to another city or country in search of employment leads to poverty too. It may take these people a lot of time to find jobs. Meanwhile they live in bad conditions. The cost of living in the city or country is most of the time too high for them.
There may be other causes of poverty like the change in business. For example, in America, a couple of decades ago, heavy industry flourished, which employed a lot of African-American people. But now, the focus is more on information technology and health care, both of which employ only skilled and trained people. This has led to unemployment among African-Americans.
Poverty has many ill effects on society. That’s why steps should be taken to get rid of it!What’s the meaning of the underlined word “flourished” in Paragraph 5?
(No more than 5 words)Why is overpopulation a cause of poverty today? (No more than12 words)
What’s the situation of education in underdeveloped countries? (No more than 8 words)
What does the passage mainly talk about? (No more than 10 words)
In your opinion, what’s the most significant cause of poverty today? Please give your reason. (No more than 25 words)
Boys' schools are the perfect place to teach young men to express their emotions and involve them in activities such as art, dance and music.
Far from the traditional image of a culture of aggressive masculinity (阳刚), the absence of girls gives boys the chance to develop without pressure to obey a stereotype（陈规旧俗），a US study says.
Boys at single-sex schools were said to be more likely to get involved in cultural and artistic activities that helped develop their emotional expressiveness, rather than feeling they had to obey the "boy code" of hiding their emotions to be a "real man".
The findings of the study go against received wisdom that boys do better when taught alongside girls.
Tony Little, headmaster of Eton, warned that boys were being failed by the British education system because it had become too focused on girls. He criticized teachers for failing to recognize that boys are actually more emotional than girls.
The research argued that boys often perform badly in mixed schools because they become discouraged when their female peers do better earlier in speaking and reading skills.
But in single-sex schools teachers can tailor lessons to boys' learning style, letting them move around the classroom and getting them to compete in teams to prevent boredom, wrote the study's author, Abigail James, of the University of Virginia.
Teachers could encourage boys to enjoy reading and writing with "boy-focused" approaches such as themes and characters that appeal to them. Because boys generally have more acute vision learn best through touch, and are physically more active, they need to be given "hands-on" lessons where they are allowed to walk around. "Boys in mixed schools view classical music as feminine (女性的) and prefer the modern type in which violence and sexism are major themes, "James wrote.
Single-sex education also made it less likely that boys would feel they had to obey a stereotype that men should be "masterful and in charge" in relationships. "In mixed schools boys feel forced to act like men before they understand themselves well enough to know what that means," the study reported. The author believes that a single-sex school would ______.
| A．force boys to hide their emotions to be "real men" |
| B．encourage boys to express their emotions more freely |
| C．help to cultivate masculine aggressiveness in boys |
| D．naturally reinforce in boys the traditional image of a man |
It is commonly believed that in a mixed school boys ______.
| A．perform relatively better | B．grow up more healthily |
| C．behave more responsibly | D．receive a better education |
What does Tony Little say about the British education system?
| A．It fails more boys than girls academically. |
| B．It focuses more on mixed school education. |
| C．It fails to give boys the attention they need. |
| D．It places more pressure on boys than on girls. |
According to Abigail James, one of the advantages of single-sex schools is ______.
| A．teaching can be tailored to suit the characteristics of boys |
| B．boys can focus on their lessons without being distracted |
| C．boys can choose to learn whatever they are interested in |
| D．teaching can be designed to promote boys' team spirit |
Which of the following is characteristic of boys according to Abigail James' report?
| A．They enjoy being in charge. | B．They obey stereotypes. |
| C．They are violent and sexist. | D．They have sharper vision. |
In modern society there is a great deal of argument about competition. Some value it highly, believing that it is responsible for social progress and prosperity. Others say that competition is bad; that it sets one person against another; that it leads to unfriendly relationship between people.
I have taught many children who held the belief that their self-worth relied on how well they performed at tennis and other skills. For them, playing well and winning are often life-and-death affairs. In their single-minded pursuit of success, the development of many other human qualities is sadly forgotten.
However, while some seem to be lost in the desire to succeed, others take an opposite attitude. In a culture which values only the winner and pays no attention to the ordinary players, they strongly blame competition. Among the most vocal are youngsters who have suffered under competitive pressures from their parents or society. Teaching these young people, I often observe in them a desire to fail. They seem to seek failure by not trying to win or achieve success. By not trying, they always have an excuse: “I may have lost, but it doesn’t matter because I really didn’t try. “What is not usually admitted by themselves is the belief that if they had really tried and lost, that would mean a lot. Such a loss would be a measure of their worth. Clearly, this belief is the same as that of the true competitors who try to prove themselves. Both are based on the mistaken belief that one’s self-respect relies on how well one performs in comparison with others. Both are afraid of not being valued. Only as this basic and often troublesome fear begins to dissolve (缓解) can we discover a new meaning in competition .What does this passage mainly talk about?
| A．Competition helps to set up self-respect. |
| B．Opinions about competition are different among people. |
| C．Competition is harmful to personal quality development. |
| D．Failures are necessary experiences in competition. |
Why do some people favor competition according to the passage?
| A．It builds up a sense of duty. | B．It pushes society forward. |
| C．It improves personal abilities. | D．It encourages individual efforts. |
The underlined phrase “the most vocal” in Paragraph 3 means ______.
| A．those who try their best to win |
| B．those who value competition most highly |
| C．those who are against competition most strongly |
| D．those who rely on others most for success |
What is the similar belief of the true competitors and those with a “desire to fail”?
| A．One’s worth lies in his performance compared with others’. |
| B．One’s success in competition needs great efforts. |
| C．One’s achievement is determined by his particular skills. |
| D．One’s success is based on how hard he has tried. |
Which point of view may the author agree to?
| A．Every effort should be paid back. |
| B．Competition should be encouraged. |
| C．Winning should be a life-and-death matter. |
| D．Fear of failure should be removed in competition. |
The Beijing government has set out to recruit thousands of university graduates to work as junior officials in rural areas to both improve rural administration and ease the city’s employment problems.
The government plans to recruit 3,000 university graduates this year,1,000 more than last year, to work as assistants to village heads or Party secretaries in suburban areas.
People interested in jobs in Beijing’s rural villages and townships can submit applications to the Beijing Municipal Personnel Bureau or online at www. Bjbys. com from February 1 through March 15.
“We hope university graduates will seize this opportunity to use their knowledge in rural villages and to start their careers,” Sun Zhenyu, deputy director of Beijing Personnel Bureau, told Xinhua News Agency.
The government has promised successful candidates a monthly salary of 2,000 yuan
( $ 250) in the first year, 2,500 yuan ($ 320) the second year and 3,000 yuan ($ 385) the third year, provided their performance is up to the required standards, Sun said.
Wang Lina, who graduated from Beijing Union University last year, was one of the first graduates to find work in the city's countryside. After majoring in industrial and commercial administration, Wang served as the assistant to the village head of Ertiaojie Village in suburban Beijing's Pinggu District. For one project, Wang contacted people at the Beijing Academy of Agricultural Sciences and arranged for the local farmers to receive training in strawberry planting. Her efforts paid off. The village had a plentiful harvest of organic strawberries earlier this year.
Nationwide, about 150,000 university graduates found employment in rural areas last year, according to figures provided by the Ministry of Education.
The ministry predicts that 4. 95 million students will graduate from universities across the country this year, 820,000 more than last year. About 1.4 million of them are unlikely to find jobs when they graduate.
In Beijing, a record 200,000 people are expected to graduate from university this year. Less than half of them are expected to be offered jobs, according to the personnel bureau.The underlined word “recruit” in the first paragraph probably means______.
| A．employ | B．force | C．encourage | D．train |
We can see from the passage that______.
| A．once you are hired as a junior official, you can get an endlessly rising salary |
| B．the government guarantee a gradually high salary for the successful candidates |
| C．working as junior officials is easy but very meaningful |
| D．the competition for the job as junior officials is very fierce |
From the story of Wang Lina we can learn that______.
| A．the sooner you go to the countryside, the sooner you will be successful |
| B．local farmers can get big harvests if they learn more knowledge |
| C．university graduates can also realize their value in rural areas |
| D．Wang had great difficulty in helping villagers planting organic strawberries |
The last two paragraphs aim to tell us that______.
| A．more and more graduates will work as junior officials |
| B．the universities should not have so many students |
| C．there are more and more graduates in recent years |
| D．it is not easy for graduates to find jobs nowadays |
Which of the following can be the best title for this passage?
| A．What is the best career? |
| B．Graduates go to the countryside. |
| C．Job hunting for university graduates. |
| D．A good choice for university graduates. |
Summer school is something a kid will never forget. For some, it’s a way to advance past their classmates. For most, summer school is a requirement in order to graduate with their classmates. I can remember being forced into taking a summer school course. It was not the school that forced me into this awkward situation; it was my mother.
I was a 16-year-old kid in a new school. My school did not offer summer courses so I had to take my course at an alternative school in the city. It was an experience I will never forget. I was not concerned with making friends. I was there to get credit (学分) for a course that I should have received credit for the previous semester. It was my doing that landed me in the situation and it was important that I understood this.
The fees were lowest but the experience was amazing. I enjoyed. I didn’t miss the day. The course was from Monday to Friday for an entire month. I passed the course with an A. I was thrown into an awkward situation and actually enjoyed it. My friends didn’t even know I took the course. Most of them were still sleeping by the time my course ended each day.
Awkward situations are so important for personal growth. This situation made me feel more independent. I made friends. I finally understood what sacrifice and hard work were all about. While attending college, I remembered how much I enjoyed summer school and I chose to take summer school in my first three years of college. Some kids get pushed too much but some don’t get pushed enough. I was never pushed enough.
Enable your children to struggle for success. If your child needs summer school you explain to them why it’s important. Some parents are surprised by the situation and may want to be more involved in their children’s education. Follow through and follow up.Most students go to the summer school in order to ______.
| A．find good jobs after graduation | B．become top students in their class |
| C．have a chance to make more friends | D．graduate successfully on time |
What made the author go to summer school for the first time?
| A．What he had done . | B．His mother’s wish. |
| C．His own requirement. | D．Study competition. |
Which of the following was NOT the benefit got by the author through attending summer school?
| A．It helped him get rid of bad habits. |
| B．It helped him make new friends. |
| C．It helped him understand what sacrifice and hard work were. |
| D．It increased his independence. |
From the last paragraph we can learn that the author ______.
| A．does not like summer school at all even though it is useful |
| B．thinks summer school is unnecessary for children |
| C．encourages parents to make their children attend summer school |
| D．is against forcing children to attend summer school |
What does the author think of summer school?
| A．He thinks it is awkward. | B．He thinks it is significant. |
| C．He doesn’t think it is suitable. | D．He thinks nothing of it. |
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