Althou
gh man has known about asbestos for many hundreds of years, it was not until 160 years ago that it was mined for the first time on the North American continent. H. W. Johns, owner o
f a New York City Supply Shop for roofers, was responsible for （对……负责）the opening of that first mine.
Mr. Johns was given a piece of asbestos which had been found in Italy. He experimented with the material and then showed its surprising powers to his customers. After putting a pair of asbestos gloves, which looked much like ordinary work gloves, he took red-hot coals from the fireplace and played with them in his hands. How astonished the customers were to discover that he was not burned at all. You can well imagine that he had increasing business in asbestos roofing materials. However, because it was very expensive to transport(carry) them from Italy to the United States, Mr. Johns sent out a young scientist to seek a source nearer home. This young man found great vein（岩脉）
in the province of Quebec in Canada.
Ever since 1881, Quebec has led the world in the production of this unusual mineral, which is made up of magnesium, silicon, iron, and oxygen. When it is mined, the asbestos is heavy, just as you wou
ld expect a mineral to be. When it is separated, a strange thing happens: the rock breaks down into fine, soapy fibers（滑腻的纤维）。
Scientists do not know why the rock can be separated easily into threads（线）,but they have found thousands of uses for this fireproof material, often called the “cloth of stone”.
1. The title that best expresses the main idea of the passage is _____.
A. Asbestos mined in Canada B. Fireproof matter
C. A “wonder” mineral D. A new roofing material
2. Johns proved his ability （能力）as a salesman by_____.
going into the roofing business
carrying asbestos from Italy
sending a trained scientist
showing the use of asbestos gloves
3. Which is the most important c
haracter of asbestos that the author wants to show us?
A. It is like thread B. It feels soapy
C. It bums easily D. It is unusually heavy
4. The author’s main purpose in writing this passage is to______.
show the need for more scientists
compare asbestos with other minerals
increase the sales of asbestos
present facts about asbestos
A California family drives a car that could help protect the environment.
When Jon and Sandy go to the store or to their daughters’ soccer games, they drive in high-tech style. They drive a ＄1 million, fuel-cell-powered car. It may be the world’s most expensive car and one of the most environmentally friendly cars.
The FCX is the first fuel-cell-powered car to be used by a family
anywhere in the world. The FCX uses hydrogen and oxygen for fuel.
Car makers have been working to develop vehicles that are better for the environment. They are developing cars that use fuel other than gasoline.
what is fuel cell technology?
Fuel cell technology works by changing the chemicals hydrogen and oxygen into water. This process produces electricity, and water vapor which comes out of the exhaust pipe. Most cars release dangerous gases such as carbon monoxide(一氧化碳) and carbon dioxide. Many scientists say these gases are major contributors to global warming.
“The FCX is driven just like any other vehicle on the road, but
without the gases which pollute the environment, ” scientists say.
Fuel cell technology has been around since the 1800s, but scientists have yet been to perfect it. They say it may take years before the technology is ready for widespread use.
Creating environmentally friendly cars
Another earth-friendly car is already on the market.
Hybrid cars use both gasoline and an electric motor. They are becoming more popular with customers because they cut pollution and improve fuel efficiency. Which of the following about the FCX is NOT true?
| A．It may be the most expensive car in the world. |
| B．It is one of the most environmentally friendly cars. |
| C．It releases dangerous gases to pollute the air. |
| D．It uses hydrogen and oxygen for fuel other than gasoline. |
According to the passage, what is the major cause for global warming?
| A．Gases from FCX. |
| B．Water vapor from cars. |
| C．Hydrogen and oxygen. |
| D．Gases from cars. |
From the passage, we know that fuel cell technology _______.
| A．works by water |
| B．has a history for over two hundred years |
| C．works by electricity |
| D．has been widely used since the 1800s |
We can infer from the passage that _______ .
| A．future cars will be environmentally friendly |
| B．there will be no gasoline for cars |
| C．people can’t afford to buy cars in the future |
| D．global warming has been stopped |
Hybrid cars are popular because _______ .
| A．they are the fuel-cell-powered cars |
| B．they are energy-saving and cut pollution |
| C．they are perfect cars in the world |
| D．they produce gases to pollute the environment |
I can’t remember a winter being as cold as this in Pennsylvania, but I’m sure there were colder days.
Even though the daylight hours are growing longer minute by minute, it’s easy to find an excuse not to go out unless you absolutely must, but then again I often have to push myself to accomplish things.
People I speak to have been in all kinds of nasty moods. They say they’re “under the weather,” not feeling good about this time of year.
As I stood outside with my two dogs yesterday, it was so cold that my nose and face felt frozen and my ears were stinging. Of course, that doesn’t matter to Ricky and Lucy. They have a routine they must go through to find just the fighting spot no matter how cold or hot it is. So I wait.
But this time it was different. As cold as it was, I suddenly was excited thinking about how wonderful this extreme cold really was.
Then the sun broke through the clouds and memories of summer’s extremely hot days flashed through my mind. I could remember standing in the heat of the afternoon, with sweat pouring down my brow and the hot, burning sun against my face. I reminded myself then and there that in the cold of the winter I would wish I had this heat.
I was grateful for the extremes. Without the extremes in my life, I would never appreciate the days when things were just right. Without the extremes, life would be boring.
It’s being pushed to one of the extremes that makes us appreciate the middle more. Health challenges remind us that we need to pay more attention to how we live. Financial extremes remind us that when things go smoothly it’s also time to save for raining days.
I’ve come to the conclusion that all too often I find a reason not to be happy with where I am at that moment. Whether it’s hot or cold, good health or bad, in the money or out of it, I always want it to be different.
I’m tired of being “Under the Weather!” What is the author’s attitude towards the extremes in life?
| A．Grateful. |
| B．Critical. |
| C．Sensitive. |
| D．Unconcerned. |
That day the writer waited in the terrible cold because ______.
| A．his dogs wanted to hunt |
| B．his dogs had a routine |
| C．he wanted to be different |
| D．he wanted to face the cold bravely |
The underlined word “nasty” in the third paragraph can be replaced by ______.
| A．unpleasant |
| B．violent |
| C．favorable |
| D．unusual |
At last the author drew a conclusion that ______.
| A．happiness cannot be gained by complaints |
| B．his present situation really disappointed him |
| C．things will be different whatever the situation is |
| D．happiness will fail to come to you if you can find a reason |
What is the best title for this passage?
| A．Follow the Routine |
| B．Two Extremes in Life |
| C．Weather Information |
| D．Changes should be Expected |
Environment Awareness Week
Regal Convention Center, Halls 1-4
24-30 March 2011 10:00 am- 9:00 pm
Free admission for all!
Save the environment, save our future
Our environment needs help. With the participation of more than 50 organization, Environment Awareness Week is the biggest public education event dedicated to environmental protection and conversation. Don't miss it! Come and know more about:
The Threats to Earth(Hall 1)
What is global warming? How serious is pollution? Learn about different environmental problems from our university students. Protect our environment!
The Search for Renewable Energy(Hall 2)
Can we get electricity from mind, solar energy, waves, rivers and underground heat? Get the answers from Solar Ace, Teflou, TouchWind Resources and other participants.
The Quest for Freshwater (Hall 3)
Is the shortage of freshwater worsening? What are Singapore's solutions for treating wastewater? Hear from Flow Technologies, HydroMax Solutions and other participants.
The 3 Rs to Save Earth(Hall 4)
How can we REDUCE,REUSE and RECYCLE to cut down household wastes? Find out from the Global Gaia work, Green Earth Foundation and other participants.
| For more information, please call Mr. Philip Koh at 6553 1188, send an email to Mrs Daisy Soh at daisy-soh@ief.org or visit the event's web site at http://www.ief.org/eaw. |
The main aim of Environment Awareness Week is to _____.
| A．educate the public on protecting the environment |
| B．discuss global warming and other environmental problems |
| C．explain ways for producing freshwater to save the environment |
| D．learn about renewable energy sources that protect the environment |
The organizer of the event is _____.
| A．Global Gaia Network |
| B．Clean Energy Agency |
| C．Green Earth Foundation |
| D．International Environment Fund |
If you are interested in renewable energy sources, you should go to _____.
| A．Hall 1 |
| B．Hall 2 |
| C．Hall 3 |
| D．Hall 4 |
The “3 Rs”stand for_____.
| A．Read, Realize and Remember |
| B．Reduce, Reuse and Recycle |
| C．Green Earth Foundation |
| D．Global Gaia Network |
Which of the following statements is NOT true of the event?
| A．It will last a week and the halls will be open 11 hours a day. |
| B．You can send an email to Mrs. Daisy Soh for more information. |
| C．Each hall charges the same amount of money as the other. |
| D．Lectures in Hall 1 will be given by university students. |
LONDON (Reuters) — Quiet please — Britain’ s Queen Elizabeth is preparing to have her swans counted. Buckingham Palace has announced that the annual Swan Upping, a tradition dating back to the 12th century which involves a census of the swan population on the River Thames, will be conducted by the Queen’ s official Swan Marker from July 20—24.
“With the assistance of the Queen’s Swan Warden, Professor Christopher Perrins of the University of Oxford, the swans and young cygnets (小天鹅) are also assessed for any signs of injury or disease，” Buckingham Palace said in announcing the count.
The process involves the Swan Marker, David Barber, rowing up the Thames for five days with the Swan Warden in traditional skiffs while wearing special scarlet uniforms and counting, weighing and measuring swans and cygnets.
It may seem eccentric, but it is very important to the Queen, According to custom, Britain’ s sovereign owns all unmarked, mute swans in open water, but the Queen now exercises the right only on stretches of the Thames and its nearby tributaries.
In medieval times, the Swan Marker would not only travel up the river counting the swans, but would catch as many as possible as they were soughtafter for banquets and feasts.
This year, the Swan Marker and the Swan Warden are particularly keen to discover how much damage is being caused to swans and cygnets by attacks from dogs and from discarded fishing tackle (渔具)．
It is also an important year because Queen Elizabeth has decided to join her team of Swan Uppers for part of the census. She will follow them up the river and visit a local school project on the whole subject of swans, cygnets and the Thames.
“Education and conservation are essential to the role of Swan Upping and the involvement of school children is always a rewarding experience，” Buckingham Palace said. In medieval times，________.
| A．swans were better protected than now |
| B．a lot of swans were killed by dogs |
| C．swans were a delicious dish on royal banquets |
| D．common people could catch the swans |
We can infer from the passage that the process of counting the swans ________.
| A．remains almost unchanged in the past years |
| B．involves a lot of royal members |
| C．sometimes lasts longer than before |
| D．is always guarded by special soldiers |
This year, the Swan Marker and the Swan Warden mainly want to find out________.
| A．the exact number of swans and cygnets |
| B．how a local school project is going on |
| C．how much damage the swans and cygnets suffer |
| D．how education and conservation are carried out along the Thames |
Which of the following is the main idea of the passage?
A. Britain’ s Queen is concerned about swans.
B. Britain’ s Queen orders a count of swans.
C. An old tradition in Buckingham Palace.
D. Queen Elizabeth will count swans herself.
5．The underlined word “tributaries” can be best replaced by ________. A. districts
B. banks
C. trees
D. branches
Electric cars are dirty. In fact, not only are they dirty, they might even be more dirty than their gasoline-powered cousins.
People in California love to talk about “zero-emissions vehicles,” but people in California seem to be clueless about where electricity comes from. Power plants most all use fire to make it. Aside from the few folks who have their roofs covered with solar cells, we get our electricity from generators. Generators are fueled by something — usually coal, oil, but also by heat generated in nuclear power plants. There are a few wind farms and geothermal plants as well, but by far we get electricity mainly by burning something.
In other words, those “zero-emissions” cars are likely coal-burning cars. It's just the coal is burned somewhere else so it looks clean. It is not. It’s as if the California Greens are covering their eyes — “If I can’t see it, it’s not happening.” Gasoline is an incredibly efficient way to power a vehicle; a gallon of gas has a lot of energy in it. But when you take that gas (or another fuel) and first use it to make electricity, you waste a nice part of that energy, mostly in the form of wasted heat — at the generator, through the transmission lines, etc.
A gallon of gas may propel your car 25 miles. But the electricity you get from that gallon of gas won't get you nearly as far — so electric cars burn more fuel than gas-powered ones. If our electricity came mostly from nukes, or geothermal, or hydro, or solar, or wind, then an electric car truly would be clean. But for political, technical, and economic reasons, we don’t use much of those energy sources.
In addition, electric cars’ batteries which are poisonous for a long time will eventually end up in a landfill. And finally, when cars are the polluters, the pollution is spread across all the roads. When it’s a power plant, though, all the junk is in one place. Nature is very good at cleaning up when things are not too concentrated, but it takes a lot longer when all the garbage is in one spot. What does the underlined word“clueless” mean in paragraph 2?
| A．The California Greens are covering their eyes. |
| B．People in California love to talk about zero-emissions vehicles |
| C．People in California love to have their roofs covered with solar cells |
| D．People there have no idea that so far electricity mainly comes from burning coal, oil, etc. |
What is the main idea of the passage?
| A．Electric cars are not clean at all. |
| B．Electric cars are better than gasonline-powered ones. |
| C．People cast doubts on electric cars’batteries. |
| D．Gasonline is an efficient way to power a vehicle. |
The electricity we get from a gallon of gas may make our car run __________.
| A．not less than 25 miles. |
| B．more than 25 miles. |
| C．no less than 25 miles. |
| D．not more than 25 miles. |
According to the passage, electric cars _________.
| A．do not burn fuel and more environmental. |
| B．are toxic and it is difficult for nature to clean it up when their batteries are buried in one spot. |
| C．are very good at cleaning up when things are not too concentrated |
| D．are poisonous for a long time and will eventually end up in a landfill |
It can be inferred from the passage that __________.
| A．Being green is good and should be encouraged in communications |
| B．Electric cars are not clean in that we get electricity mainly by burning something. |
| C．Zero-emissions vehicles should be chosen to protect our environment. |
| D．Electric cars are now the dominant vehicle compared with gasoline-powered cousins. |
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