In November of 2007, NBC Universal launched its first official Green Week. Throughout the week, NBC Universal presented over 150 hours of environmentally themed content across multiple platforms.
Now, NBC Universal is proud to present Green Week 2009. With a new theme and message of "Green Your Routine," Here at NBC and NBC.com we celebrate our talent in the "The More You Know" PSA campaign, presenting green-themed tips in several of our daytime life, among several other features here on the "Green Your Routine" site.
Fashion & Beauty
Throw a clothes swap party! Dying for that sweater your friend wore the other day? Well, maybe she'll trade for that old T-shirt you have. Here's a website that helps you organize a swap party (www.swapstyle.com), or just plan your own!
Go natural with organic make-up. Applying unnatural products directly on your skin wasn't exactly what nature intended. Try switching to a line of organic make-up and cosmetics for a different way to bring out your natural beauty.
Home
Drop a brick in your toilet tank! Literally! According to the EPA, flushing makes up 30 percent of a household's water use (about three to six gallons per flush). By placing a brick in your toilet tank, you can help to conserve the amount of water used during each flush.
Wash clothes efficiently. 90 percent of the energy used in washing clothes is to heat the water. You can reduce your energy bill by washing in cold water and hanging items to dry.
Work
Print smarter. Printing and copying can be one of the most costly operations in any office. To save on ink and paper costs, print double-sided and try to fit more than one page on a sheet. More printing tips can be found here: lifehacker.com
Turn off your computer. Do you leave your computer on overnight? If so, you're using up a good amount of electricity. When you can, try turning off your computer and the power strip it's connected to. If you can't, at least shut off your monitor. Remember, screen savers don't save energy.
Transportation
Organize a carpool. There are many benefits to carpooling. You save on gas, reduce wear and tear on your car, and you get to ride in the HOV lanes. Get connected with your neighbours and co-workers to start sharing rides and check out this website for more tips: www.erideshare.com.
Lose the car, get a bike. If you live close to where you work, try taking a bike instead of driving. You'll keep in shape and save on gas!
Every small step and effort makes a difference! Be sure to GREEN YOUR ROUTINE!NBC Universal holds Green Week activities ___________.
| A．in a university | B．in a park | C．in an office | D．on the internet |
This year, Green Week welcomes ____________.
| A．advice on how to improve the website |
| B．suggestions about how to make their activities more interesting |
| C．tips on what to do to make our life greener |
| D．opinions on whether we should have campaigns |
If you want to carpool with somebody, you can find more advice and information at______.
A. www.swapstyle.com B. www.erideshare.com
C. www. lifehacker.com D. www. NBC.comWhich is NOT recommended(推荐) by Green Week this year?
| A．Using things like cucumbers to beautify your skin. |
| B．Reducing the room of your toilet tank to save water when flushing. |
| C．Giving away your old clothes to those in need of them. |
| D．Printing and using computers in an economical way. |
A few years ago I was shopping with a friend and his 12-year-old daughter in downtown San Francisco．A street musician，whom my friend happened to know from his own musician day，was playing the saxophone on a street corner．His name was Clifford，and he had attracted a large crowd with his performance．After he finished，my friend introduced him to me and his daughter．Clifford asked her if she played any instrument．When she replied that she was taking trumpet (小号) lessons and played in her junior high school band，he said，“That’s fine，little lady．Learn your instrument well and you can play anything．”Somehow these simple yet wise words struck me as suitable not only for a trumpet player but also for a reader．If you learn to read well，you can read anything you want—not just newspapers and magazines，but more difficult material like philosophy，film criticism，military history—whatever interests you as your confidence grows．You would not be limited in any way．If you have the vocabulary –or at least a good dictionary near at hand—you can pick up a book，concentrate on it, and make sense of the writer’s words．
In the United States，reading instruction often ends at elementary school，so students sometimes have difficulty as they progress through school．They must take their assignments，armed only with their elementary，school reading skills．The result，too often，is frustration (挫折) and loss of confidence．And the assigned reading in your college courses will be even greater than they were in high school．Developing Reading Skills is designed to accomplish several tasks：to show you the skills that will enable you to read with greater comprehension，to help you deal with reading assignment with confidence，and to teach you to become an active reader．The talk between the girl and Clifford serves as an introduction to ．
| A．the importance of reading |
| B．the connection between playing instruments and reading |
| C．the necessity of learning to play an instrument |
| D．the variety of reading material |
It can be inferred from the story that ．
| A．Clifford was good at playing the saxophone |
| B．the writer’s friend was once a street musician |
| C．the 12-year-old girl played the trumpet very poorly |
| D．Clifford was a good music teacher |
We can infer from the last paragraph that Developing Reading Skills ．
| A．is directed to elementary school students | B．centers around vocabulary building skills |
| C．aims at helping students read better | D．offers elementary reading skills |
With good reading skills，you can ．
| A．understand anything you read without difficulty |
| B．work out the writer’s meaning if only you concentrate on the book |
| C．understand what you read with the help of a good dictionary |
| D．Concentrate on whatever you read |
The Man of Many Secrets
Harry Houdini was one of the greatest American entertainers in the theater this century．He was a man famous for his escapes—from prison cells，from wooden boxes floating in rivers，from locked tanks full of water．He appeared in theaters all over Europe and America．Crowds came to see the great Houdini and his “magic”tricks．
0f course，his secret was not magic，or supernatural powers．It was simply strength．He had ability to move his toes as well as to move his fingers．He could move his body into almost any position he wanted．
Houdini started working in the entertainment world when he was 17，in 1891．He and his brother Theo performed card tricks in a New York club．They called themselves the Houdini brothers．When Harry married in 1894，he and his wife Bess worked together as magician and assistant，but for a long time they were not successful．Then Harty performed his first prison escape，in Chicago in 1898．Harry persuaded a detective to let him try to escape from the prison，and he invited the local newspaperman to watch．It was the publicity(名声)that came from this that started Harry Houdini’s success．
Harry had fingers trained to escape from handcuffs(手铐)and toes trained to escape from ankle chains，but his biggest secret was how he unlocked the prison doors．Every time he went into the prison cell，Bess gave him a kiss for good luck—and a small skeleton key，which is a key that fits many locks passed quickly from her mouth to his．
Harry used these prison escapes to build his fame．He arranged to escape from the local jail of every town he visited．In the afternoon the people of the town would read about it in their local newspapers．and in the evening every seat in the local theater would be full．What was the result? Worldwide fame，and a name remembered today．According to the passage，Houdini’s success in prison escapes depends on ．
| A．his magic tricks and inhuman powers | B．his special tricks and a skeleton key |
| C．his unusual ability and skeleton key | D．his inhuman talents and magic tricks |
According to the passage，how did Houdini get the key which helped him unlock prison door?
| A．He took the key from his wife’s mouth． |
| B．His wife passed it to his hand while kissing him． |
| C．His wife gave it to him by a magic trick． |
| D．He got it in his mouth through a kiss by his wife． |
It can be inferred from the passage that Houdini became famous ．
| A．when he was about 24 | B．when he was about 17 |
| C．after the year 1894 | D．before the year 1898 |
Although there are no state controlled survival courses in Britain or the United States，there are various independent organizations offering similar activities．Students can participate(take part)in outdoor training courses through university clubs and societies．Anyone can register with such groups，which then organize courses，training and trips for all members．
One of the most popular outdoor training programmes in both the US and Britain is Outward Bound(户外训练)．It was founded in 1941 in Wales and attracts hundreds of thousands of adventurous types every year. The courses are intended to broaden minds through experiences that build confidence, self-esteem(自尊)and character．As well as specialist courses such as canoeing，leadership skills and sailing，participants can take part in week long adventure training camps which include a host of sports and survival training education skills．
Michael Williams，an American student，took part in an Outward Bound course last year．He said：“We learned lots of first aid skills，lots of natural history ,lots of environmental facts, and participated in a wildlife preservation programme．Beyond that，my favorite skills learned were sailing and rock climbing.”Courses can last up to 40 days and are open to anyone over the age of 14．Students must be in general good health，but do not need to be experienced in outdoor-sports．There is no selection process；everyone is welcome，although new participants are advised to pick a course matching their physical capacity．Most of the British courses take place in the Brecon Beacons in Wales．Another similar organization is the UK Survival School，which includes courses on learning to 1ive with the environment， sailing and winter survival．On a basic survival weekend students will learn how to get water and food, how to make fire and cook with it，to find and build a shelter，control survival life support，how to cross rivers．Send off a distress signal，and to use compasses(指南针)by day and night．
According to the leaders，such adventures are “an awakening, an exploration into the unknown.”Outward Bound believes that participants will “use mind and body traveling some of the Earth’s roughest wilderness areas．” In Britain and the United States，survival courses are popular with ．
| A．old people | B．young people | C．dangerous people | D．weak people |
The advantage of the training courses is that .
| A．participants can make friends with others |
| B．participants can visit some places of interest |
| C．participants can experience different adventures |
| D．participants can learn how wonderful nature is |
In an Outward Bound course last year，the most exciting experience Michael Williams had was .
| A．learning first aid skills | B．collecting facts of environment |
| C．rock climbing and sailing | D．preserving wildlife |
They are among the 250, 000 people under the age of 25 who are out of work in the Netherlands, a group that makes up 40 percent of
the nation’s unemployed．A storm of anger boils up at the government-sponsored （政府资助的） youth center, even among those who ar
e continuing their studies．
“We study for jobs that don’t exist,” Nicollets Steggerda, 23, said．
After thirty years of prosperity, unemployment among 10 member nations of the European Community has reached as much as 11 percent, affecting a total of 12．3 million people, and the number is climbing．
The bitter disappointment long expressed by British youths is spreading across the Continent．The title of a rock song “No Future” can now be seen written on the brick walls of closed factories in Belgium and France．
One form of protest（抗议） tends to put the responsibility for a country’s economic troubles on the large numbers of “guest workers” from Third World nations, people welcomed in Western Europe in the years of prosperity．
Young Europeans, brought up in an extended period of economic success and general stability, seem to be similar to Americans more than they do their own parents．Material enjoyment has given them a sense of expectation, even the right to a standard of living that they see around them．
“And so we pass the days at the discos, or meet people at the café, and sit and stare,” said Isabella Cault．"There is usually not much conversation．You look for happiness．Sometimes you even find it．”Unemployment in the Netherlands has affected _______
| A．one million people | B．250,000 people |
| C．1ess than half of the population | D．about 0.6 million people |
What Nicollete Steggerda said （Para．2） means that ________．
| A．the students cannot get work after graduation |
| B．what the students learn is more than necessary |
| C．the students’ aim in study is not clear |
| D．school education is not sufficient |
The underlined word ‘‘it” in the last paragraph most probably refers to ________．
| A．material enjoyment | B．a sense of expectation |
| C．happiness | D．a job |
With alarming regularity, we read about oil tankers having accidents near land and the terrible consequences of the oil spills（泄露） on people, nature, and the environment．
Millions of dollars have been used in developing special chemicals to help dismiss the spills and to clean up the animals, beaches, and land spoiled by the oil．Unfortunately, when many of these chemicals are used, more damage is caused to the environment, especially to lives in the sea．
Of all of today’s environmental disasters, an oil spill may actually be one of the least serious．Although oil is poisonous, it is a natural material．In the end, it breaks down naturally．There are, of course, long-term effects, but it is usually more serious in the short term．
Nature by itself works better than chemical materials, but when there is a spill we demand that governments act immediately with as much hi-tech knowledge as possible．In 1967 the tanker Torrey Canyon sank off the Sicily Isles near the coast of England and spilled 120,000 tones of oil into the ocean．If you go there today, you will find it hard to see any sign that it ever happened．
Governments seem to accept the risk of transporting millions of tons of oil by ship every day so that we can fill up our cars and drive around and cause even more environmental damage．Interestingly, the biggest companies in the world produce cars, and the next biggest supply the gasoline to make them run!
We should be thinking more about reducing our dependency on oil．Governments should be encouraging research into new technologies, such as cars run by solar power（太阳能）, electricity, hydrogen, and so on．Much of this research has, in the past, been held back by the oil, gas, and coal．
If the world’s millions of cars were 10% more efficient（高效的）— and the industry could easily produce cars at least twice as efficient — we would need many fewer tankers crossing the oceans each year．If this happened, the risks of oil spills would be reduced, and the air we breathe would be cleaner and fresher, too．What is the passage mainly talking about?
| A．Oil tanker accidents． | B．Oil spills pollution． |
| C．What oil pollution is． | D．How to reduce oil pollution． |
How does the author support the idea that oil spills are not as serious as people believe?
| A．By giving a description． | B．By making an argument． |
| C．By giving an example． | D．By drawing a diagram． |
What does the underlined word “risk” in Paragraph 5 refer to?
| A．Transportation depending more on oil． |
| B．Poisonous oil breaking down naturally． |
| C．Millions of tons of oil spilling into the sea． |
| D．More environmental damage being caused． |
Which suggestion is made for reducing oil tank accidents according to the passage?
| A．We should develop new technologies to cut oil use |
| B．Tankers should not be allowed to sail near the coastlines． |
| C．We should build safer oil tankers in the near future． |
| D．Countries should build more oil pipelines under the sea． |
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