Boiler rooms are often dirty and steamy, but this one is clean and cool. Fox Point is a very new 47-unit living building in South Bronx, one of the city’s poorest areas. Two-thirds of the people living there are formerly (以前) homeless people, whose rent is paid by the government. The rest are low-income families. The boiler room has special equipment, which produces energy for electricity and heat. It reuses heat that would otherwise be lost to the air, reducing carbon emissions(碳排放)while also cutting costs.
Fox Point is operated by Palladia, a group that specializes in providing housing and services to needy people. Palladi
a received support from Enterprise Community Partners (ECP), which helps build affordable housing by providing support to housing developers.
ECP has created national standards for healthy, environmentally (环境方面) clever and affordable homes which are called, the Green Communities Standards. These standards include water keeping, energy saving and the use of environmentally friendly building materials. Meeting the standards increases housing construction costs by 2%, which is rapidly paid back by lower running costs. Even the positioning of a window to get most daylight can help save energy.
Michael Bloomberg, New York's mayor, plans to create 165,000 affordable housing units for 500,000 New Yorkers. Almost 80% of New York City’s greenhouse-gas emissions come from buildings, and 40% of those are caused by housing. So he recently announced that the city’s Department of Housing and Preservation and Development (DHPD) , whose duty is to develop and keep the city’s supply of affordable housing, will require all its new projects to follow ECP’s green standards.
Similar measures have been taken by other cities such as Cleveland and Denver, but New York’s DHPD is the largest city developer of affordable housing in the country.What is the purpose of describing the boiler room in the first paragraph?
| A．To explain the measures the city takes to care for poor people. |
| B．To suggest that affordable housing is possible in all areas. |
| C．To show how the environment-friendly building works. |
| D．To compare old and new boiler rooms. |
What is an advantage of the buildings meeting the Green Communities Standards?
| A．Lower running costs. | B．Costing less in construction. |
| C．Less air to be lost in hot days | D．Better prices for homeless people. |
It can be learned from the text that_______________.
| A．New York City is seriously polluted |
| B．people’s daily life causes many carbon emissions in New York City |
| C．a great number of people in New York City don't have houses to live in |
| D．some other cities have developed more affordable housing than New York City |
What is the main purpose of this text?
| A．To call on people to pay more attention to housing problems. |
| B．To prove that some standards are needed for affordable housing. |
| C．To ask society to help homeless people and low-income families. |
| D．To introduce healthy, environmentally clever-and affordable housing. |
If boy wizard Harry Potter uses his magic to capture (迷住) the hearts of millions of teenagers, high school students Gabriella and Troy have cha
rmed American boys and girls with their stories of campus life.
They are the leading characters in High School Musical, a series of hugely successful films in the US. The sequel (续集), High School Musical 3, came out on October 24 and has topped the American box office for two straight weeks.
The show has everything attractive to teenagers — dancing, catchy music, puppy love and good looks. The story starts when high school basketball star Troy and brainy Gabriella — two teenagers who are worlds apart — meet during the winter break. At a karaoke contest they discover their love for singing and an interest in each other. When school starts, Troy finds out that Gabriella is the new girl at his school.
Eager to find the magic they had during karaoke, Troy and Gabriella decide to audition (试镜) for the school’s upcoming musical. This angers the school’s drama queen Sharpay. However, they overcome difficulties and become the leading actors.
But the story doesn’t end there. High School Musical 2 follows their adventures over summer vacation when Sharpay tires to break up Troy and Gabriella. In the latest sequel, high-school seniors are facing the po
ssibilities of being separated from each other as they go off in different directions when graduating from high school.
Joined by the rest of their friends, Troy and Gabriella stage a musical reflecting their experiences, hopes and fears about the future.
“The success of the High School Musical films shows Disney’s long-term efforts to attract youngsters for whom Mickey Mouse seems to babyish,” wrote New York Times reporter Dave Itzkoff. “For the time being, the movie has made fictional high school students as recognizable as that 79-year-old mouse.”What is the passage mainly about?
| A．Boy wizard — Harry Potter. |
| B．High school students Gabriella and Troy. |
| C．A successful show — High School Musical. |
| D．Disney’s long-term efforts. |
How many films are there in this series of films?
| A．2. | B．3. | C．4. | D．5. |
What can you learn from the words “two teenagers who are worlds apart”?
| A．They live far away from each other. |
| B．They used to know each other well. |
| C．They have a big difference between each other. |
| D．They study at different schools. |
What happen
s in High School Musical 2, according to the passage?
| A．Troy and Gabriella audition for a school musical. |
| B．Troy and Gabriella meet at a karaoke contest. |
| C．Troy and Gabriella graduate from high school. |
| D．Sharpay tries to break up Troy and Gabriella. |
What does New York Times reporter Dave Itzkoff mean?
| A．High School Musical is possibly more attractive to youngsters. |
| B．The high school students don’t like Mickey Mouse. |
| C．Mickey Mouse is more attractive to youngsters. |
| D．Mickey Mouse is too old to be recognized by youngsters. |
April 27 is Take Our Daughters to Work Day in Britain. Started at first in the United States and brought to Britain in 1994, Take Our Daughters to Work Day has become a special day for girls between 11 and 15. On that day thousands of girls take a day off school and go together with one of their parents to their work places. The purpose of this day is to broaden girls’ horizons and raise their self-confidence.
For many years people have thought that boys can do better than girls in society. But actually, “girls can be whatever they want to be just like boys, whether it is a pilot, a nurse or a chief executive,” says the chairman of Our Sons and Daughters Charitable Trust, an organization which supported the activity of the Day. “Now the girls have a close look at what their parents are doing and this may help them to be more self-confident when they are faced with a choice of work.”
Schools and many companies support the activity too. Palmers Green High School for Girls, in north London, has made the Day a necessary part of career education.
Zarina Bart, 15, from Palmers Green, went with her mother to her lawyer’s office on this year’s Take Our Daughters to Work Day. She found it interesting to see her mother at work. “It’s really strange seeing Mum at work — running around, getting serious and telling people what to do.” She has always liked this idea of going into law and thinks it likely that she will follow in her mother’s footsteps. Having a chance to see how her mother works has given her more self-confidence.
Experts believe that girls with higher self-confidence aim higher and are more likely to be successful in life. Parents have the most important effect on the confidence of teenage girls. If parents believe in their daughters and show examples both at work as well as at home for them, this will give a lot of help to girls. Take Our Daughters to Work Day is surely a step in the right direction.What is the topic of this passage?
| A．Raising daughters’ self-confidence. |
| B．Take Our Daughters to Work Day. |
| C．Equally between boys and girls. |
| D．Following mothers’ footsteps. |
It can be inferred from Paragraph 2 that ________.
| A．women pilots are popular in Britain |
| B．girls are sure about their future jobs |
| C．people have wrongly believed that girls can do as well as boys |
| D．for many years boys have had a relatively wider choice of work |
According to the passage, which of the following is TRUE?
| A．Take Our Daughters to Work Day is British in origin. |
| B．Palmers Green favors Take Our Daughters to Work Day. |
| C．On the Day children are taken to their parent’s work places. |
| D．Parents in Britain show good examples both at work and at home. |
After her experience on Take Our Daughters to Work Day, Zarina felt ________.
| A．confident about finding a job in the future |
| B．strange to watch her mother working in the office |
| C．sure about what to choose as her future career |
| D．interested in doing the same job as her mother |
The author’s attitude towards the Day is ________.
| A．favorable | B．unclear | C．critical | D．neutral |
Scientists are learning new things about Antarctica, the coldest place on Earth. For example, the Antarctic ice sheet is shrinking. A new study found that summer ice loss in parts of Antarctica was at its highest level in 1,000 years. The study showed that Antarctic ice was melting mostly from below ice shelves, where the water is warmer than the ice.
Eric Rignot is an earth system expert at the University of California, Irvine. He also works for the American space agency, NASA. There he serves as senior research scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, also in California. He says ice melting from below is responsible for 55 percent of the shelf loss from 2003 to 2008. That is a much higher rate than scientists thought earlier.
Professor Rignot and his team used satellite observations, radar and computer models to measure features above the ice to learn what was going on below.
The measurements show differences from one area to the next around the continent. The major ice shelves are called Ross, Filchner and Ronne. They make up two-thirds of Antarctica’s ice shelves. But they are responsible for only 15 percent of the melting ice.
The professor says even small changes, like changes in ocean flow driven by wind, can make a huge difference in the melting of the ice shelf.
Sixty percent of the Earth’s fresh water is held in the huge Antarctic ice sheet. Professor Rignot says the study will help experts predict how the continent reacts to warmer ocean waters and helps to cause rising sea levels around the world. The study was published in the journal Science. What’s the main idea of the passage?
| A．the Antarctic ice sheet is shrinking |
| B．the coldest place on earth |
| C．the major Antarctica’s ice shelves |
| D．the Atlantic Ocean are changing |
How did Eric Rignot and his team do the research?
| A．He serves as senior research scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. |
| B．Small changes, like changes in ocean flow driven by wind, can make a huge difference in the melting of the ice shelf. |
| C．They used satellite observations, radar and computer models to know the things happening below the ice. |
| D．They melted 55% of the Antarctica’s ice to prove their theory is right. |
Which is true of the following statements?
| A．Ice melting from below is responsible for 35 percent of the shelf loss from 2003 to 2008. |
| B．Sixty percent of the Earth’s fresh water is contained in the huge Antarctic ice sheet. |
| C．The major ice shelves are called Ross, Filchner and Ronne, which make up one-third of Antarctica’s ice shelves. |
| D．Summer ice loss in Antarctica was at its highest level in 1,000 years. |
How many times a day do you check your email? When you wake up? Before bed? A dozen times in between? The technology that was supposed to simplify our lives has become the vital time-suck: the average teen spends more than seven hours a day using technological devices, plus an additional hour just text-messaging friends.
The advantage of technological devices is connectedness: email lets us respond on the go, and we are in touch with more people during more hours of the day than at any other time in history. But is it possible we’re more lonely than ever, too? That’s what MIT professor Sherry Turkle observes in her new book, Alone Together, a fascinating portrait of our changing relationship with technology. Turkle details the ways technology has redefined our comprehension of closeness and loneliness—and warns us of the danger of accepting such virtual(虚拟的) relationships in place of lasting emotional connections.
For Turkle, the biggest worry is the effect all these shallow connections have on our development. Is technology offering us the lives we want to live? “We’re texting people at a distance,” says Turkle, “We’re using lifeless objects to convince ourselves that even when we’re alone, we feel together. And then when we’re with each other, we put ourselves in situations where we are alone—constantly on our mobile devices. It’s what I call a perfect storm of confusion about what’s important in our human connections.”
What can’t be denied is that technology, whatever its faults, makes life a whole lot easier. It allows us to communicate with more people in less time and makes conversation simple. But it can also be seductive(具有诱惑性的), providing more stimulation than our natural lives. There are usually some unhealthy videos online which remove teenagers’ attention from their schoolwork. Besides, some online activities make people addicted, which occupied their daily life and affected their ability to form real-world relationships. “Technology can be more immediately satisfying than the labor of building an intimate relationship,” said one highschool student, “Every time I text, I start to have some happy feelings.”
But are any of those feelings equal to the kind we feel when engaged in real, face-to-face communication? Online, you can neglect others’ feelings. In a text message, you can avoid eye contact. A number of studies have found that this generation of teens is less sympathetic than ever. That doesn’t spell disaster, says Turkle, but…… From the first paragraph we can infer that_________.
| A．email checking helps people wake up early |
| B．technological device production has been simplified |
| C．using technological devices costs teens much time |
| D．people communicate mainly by text-messaging now |
Turkle’s new book mainly discussed________.
| A．ways to draw a fascinating portrait |
| B．the advantages of technology |
| C．the dangers of accepting emotional connections |
| D．how technology influences human relationships |
What worries Turkle most is that more and more people are_________.
| A．starting to accept emotional connections in place of virtual connections |
| B．being affected by the shallow connections through the mobile devices |
| C．dropping the use of technological devices for connection with each other |
| D．convincing themselves by using fewer lifeless objects in connections |
Which of the following is True according to the passage?
| A．Others’ feelings can be ignored in online communication. |
| B．No stimulation is provided in natural life connections. |
| C．People always send text messages to avoid eye contact. |
| D．It may be a disaster that teens are less sympathetic than ever. |
What is the main purpose of the passage?
| A．To instruct people how to do with emails. |
| B．To lead us to consider what’s important in human connections. |
| C．To promote a wider use of technological devices. |
| D．To stress the importance of technology. |
In New York, Ma Yun witnessed the Alibaba Group opening on the New York stock exchange with the largest initial public offering (IPO, 新股发行) in American history. “Alibaba, the world’s largest Internet commerce company makes China equal to the US in the rapidly increasing global competition for technological innovation (创新) and economic transformation ” commented the South China Morning Post.
It has also made Ma Yun China’s richest man with a fortune of around $25 billion (153 billion yuan), reported Reuters.
It’s reported that Ma’s rags-to-riches journey is just as spectacular as his Internet empire. Ma failed the national college entrance exams twice before he was finally in Hangzhou Normal University on his third attempt and failed in finding a suitable job several times. Also, Mr. Ma is a big believer in perseverance, which was proved in his English study experience.
However, it was his vision and goals that launched his career.
During a short trip to the US as an interpreter in 1995, Ma first experienced the Internet. He believed in the Internet’s business potential when few other Chinese people did. He started Alibaba in his Hangzhou apartment, with 17 friends and $60,000 of funds. At the time, when e-commerce was unheard of in China, “I called myself a blind man riding on the back of blind tigers,” he once said, according to The Guardian. His unusual ideas earned him the nickname “Crazy Jack Ma”.
Indeed, Ma is different. Although he is very thin and about 160cm tall, “Ma is yet animated and forceful, said The Guardian. “He is funny, creative, and a compelling (引人注目的) speaker.
Ma told Time magazine that he was “old for the Internet”. He started to slow down and looked around. According to The Wall Street Journal, Ma “plans to open a tai chi club with the actor Jet Li, build an entrepreneur (企业家) university in Hangzhou and continue to work on several environmental projects.”What made him into e-commerce industry?
| A．His English learning experience. |
| B．His foresight and ambitions. |
| C．His belief in perseverance. |
| D．His 17 friends and $60,000 funds. |
What does the underlined sentence in Paragraph 5 mean?
| A．Ma is a blind man riding on a blind tiger. |
| B．Ma had no confidence in his business future. |
| C．Ma knew little about e-commerce. |
| D．Ma had not enough money at that time. |
What’s the personality of Ma Yun according to the passage?
| A．Funny and competitive. | B．Determined and creative. |
| C．Rich and different. | D．Attractive and believable. |
What’s the best title of the passage?
| A．The Development of Alibaba Group. |
| B．Ma Yun’s Personal Life. |
| C．Ma Yun’s Crazy Success. |
| D．E-commerce in China. |
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