I will tell you the truth about plastic bags－the positive and the negative sides and provide a solution to this problem. Whether it is a shopping bag, a food bag or a trash bag, they are all made of plastic bags. Grocery store owners are very generous in using plastic bags. They place the fruit in one bag and drop the box of milk in another. Ever wonder why?
The positive side of plastic bags
Grocery stores, shopping centres, and restaurants are not thrifty in using and giving out plastic bags because they cost no more than a cent each, while a paper bag costs four cents. Plastic bags are produced so cheaply and massively（大量地）that they are used by 80% of store owners. In addition, they are light and very easy to carry and store.
The production of plastic bags has increased greatly over the last 20 years and producers of plastic bags are making large profits. However, the negative side of plastic bags is becoming well-known. More people are now getting worried that the earth is becoming a victim of the plastic bag success story.
The negative side of plastic bags
While production and consumption（消费）of plastic bags is good for business, it is not so for our Mother Earth. They have resulted in an increase in the amount of litter found floating in water or in the streets where we live.
Plastic storage bags, after usage, usually go to landfills（垃圾填埋地）as trash bags. They make the oceans poison sea animals. They give off toxins（毒素）when burned. They simply pollute the ground, air and water.
That is the true cost of plastic bags, and it looks like it is more than a cent. These are very alarming concerns and proper action needs to be taken.According to Paragraph 3, plastic bag producers ________.
| A．are now worried that the earth will become a victim of plastic bags |
| B．don’t think they have done enough to popularize plastic bags |
| C．have not realized the harm of plastic bags |
| D．have succeeded in popularizing the use of plastic bags |
From the last three paragraphs, we learn that .
| A．plastic bags harm the earth severely |
| B．most plastic bags are not made use of |
| C．the prices of plastic bags are reasonable |
| D．plastic bags are the leading polluter on the earth |
What will the writer most probably talk about in the following paragraph?
| A．How plastic bags are produced. |
| B．How plastic bags are used. |
| C．How to popularize the use of paper bags. |
| D．How to solve the problems caused by plastic bags. |
A soldier who lost both his legs after being blown up in Afghanistan is racing a sports car in his hometown this weekend.
Remarkably David Birrell will not only drive the Mazda MX5 but he does without any specially adapted equipment.
Davie, 28, has battled back from terrible injuries after a bomb blew up directly below him. He gave himself first aid and fired at Taliban(塔利班) fighters until help arrived. Davie was always interested in motor sport and after spending weeks in hospital was introduced by Help the Heroes to Mission Motorsport, which helps the wounded recover. The charity(慈善机构) are organizing a major event, Race of Remembrance, at the Anglesey Circuit near Rhosneigr of North Wales in November, and Davie was at the circuit yesterday for an official launch.
He said,“It’s my first time racing on Anflesey. This means everything to me. I loved it straight away, and it gives you something to focus on, to try and stay in front of others. I was boxing since the age of eight and my whole life has been one-to-one competition. But now everything has changed.”
Davie, a corporal（下士）in the Black Watch, was in Helmand in April 2010 when his interpreter stood on the bomb. He said,“I was confused and went blank（空白） for a couple of seconds. There was dust in the air and I couldn’t see. Both legs were still attached but there were massive injuries to my right leg and my left foot was broken.”As the Taliban began firing he returned fire and waited for help. He added,“A medical team came over. I was taken back to Camp Bastion by helicopter. I was there for two days before being flown to hospital in Birmingham.”
He had lost his right leg and the following year had his left leg amputated below the knee, ending the Army career.Davie was wounded _____________ according to the passage?
| A．In Rhosneigr. | B．In Birmingham. |
| C．In Helmand. | D．In Bastion. |
___________can replace the underlined word“ amputated” in the last paragraph?
| A．Cut off. | B．Blew up. |
| C．Focused on. | D．Attached to. |
Davie is most likely to come from ___________.
| A．Afghanistan. | B．the UK. |
| C．the US. | D．Taliban. |
What we know about Davie is that _____________.
| A．Davie was killed by Taliban fighters. |
| B．Davie’s interpreter survived the accident. |
| C．Davie’s legs were blown up immediately. |
| D．Davie might like boxing when he was young. |
What do you do when you need to look something up? Go to the library? Open an encyclopedia（百科全书）? Click onto the Internet? These days, most people go straight to Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia. But how reliable is it?
There is no denying the popularity and usefulness of Wikipedia. It attracts as many as 78 million visitors every month, and the site is available in more than 270 different languages. It’s one of the most comprehensive resources available, which includes almost all details, facts and information that maybe concerned. It's got much more information than an ordinary encyclopedia. The site is updated on a daily basis by thousands of people around the world. Anyone with an Internet connection can log on and edit the contents or add a new page. And you don't need any formal training.
Of course, there are some controls. Wikipedia has a team of more than 1,500 administrators who check for false information. And main targets for harmful comments(such as politicians) are off-limits to public editing. But with more than 16 million articles to keep an eye on, it isn't easy. So, while Wikipedia benefits from being constantly updated with information from all over the world, it's also open to “vandals” (破坏他人财产者).
Some of the damage is easy to notice. One person drew devil horns and a moustache on Microsoft chairman Bill Gates’ photo, while another edited Greek philosopher Plato’s biography to say he was a “Hawaiian weather man who is wildly believed to have been a student of‘Barney the purple Dinosaur’ and to have been deeply influenced by his dog, Cutie”.
But other things are harder to spot. The most common form of vandalism involves adding tiny items of false information into the biography of a famous person. Unbelievably, some of this misinformation has appeared in newspapers, with The Daily Mail, The Guardian and The Independent all having fallen victim to the dirty tricks. For example, in an article about British comedian Sir Norman Wisdom, one newspaper claimed that he co-wrote Dame Vera Lynn’s wartime hit There’ll be bluebirds over the White Cliffs of Dover. He did no such thing. And in another article, it was reported that TV Theme tune composer Ronnie Hazlehurst had written the S Club 7’s hit Reach. Once again, not true.
So, if you are going to use any information from Wikipedia, make sure you double-check it first.Which of the following would the author most probably agree with?
| A．Before using the information from Wikipedia, one should first check it. |
| B．Though popular and wildly used, Wikipedia provides little reliable information. |
| C．It is understandable that some people add false information to Wikipedia. |
| D．Updated on a daily basis, any information from Wikipedia is reliable. |
We can learn from the passage that _______________ .
| A．because of its popularity, 78 million people from 270 countries visit Wikipedia monthly |
| B．Wikipedia is the most comprehensive resource with all information we need |
| C．anyone who has access to the Internet can edit any contents of Wikipedia as they like |
| D．the primary job of the administrator is to make sure true information is conveyed |
What does the underlined part “off-limits” in paragraph 3 mean?
| A．Not convenient | B．Not welcome |
| C．Not accessible | D．Not boundless |
What’s the writer’s attitude to Wikipedia?
| A．Negative | B．Worried |
| C．Indifferent | D．Objective |
The Hunan Satellite TV(HNTV) show “Where are we going, Dad?” is a big hit. Many famous stars brought their children to a strange village alone, and they had to spend 72 hours with their children there. The program fully showed us a modern version of the “how to be a good father”. As the young parents today are too busy to take care of their children, this new form of “Lost on the way” played by nanny Daddy and cute kids triggered（触发）a lot of people’s emotional resonance（共鸣）. Both the kids and their parents will find that their hearts are being drawn closer. But this kind of feeling has just proved that there is a big spiritual barrier between the modern parents and children.
The TV shows like “Children are hard to support!”, “Where are we going, Dad?”, “hot mom” and “cute kids” are becoming more and more popular. All of these show the new parents’ confusion in children’s education and the appeal for the balance between career and family.
In real life, on the one hand the young parents feel helpless because they are too busy to accompany their children under the pressures of work and life; on the other hand they continue to do so. The data collected by HNTV shows that nearly two-thirds of their audience are female, among whom 36% are aged from 25 to 34. We can imagine such a scene that one evening a young mother is watching the show with her young children, while her husband is still at work or trapped in socializing, or maybe is just playing computer games in the bedroom. The story of a child without the company of father is still going on. In fact, it is sometimes the same to mothers. In a modern family, it is often the old who take the responsibility of raising a child. The participation of mother in the children’s education is also very low.
It is just this kind of confusion where the parents have gone in the modern family education, and where the parents will guide their children to go that “Where are we going，Dad?” shows us. If a child wants to grow up healthily and safely into a modern citizen with independent personality and free spirit, it is very important for him or her to follow the parents who serve as their first teacher. Maybe this is the real reason why such kind of TV programs could get hot. The truth is that children will go where their parents go; and society will go where the children go.The program is wildly welcomed mainly because_________.
| A．many famous stars and their children took part in it |
| B．it fully showed us how to be a good father |
| C．it introduced many beautiful sights and cultures |
| D．it triggered a lot of people’s emotional resonance |
In raising a child in modern society, parents should ________.
| A．watch TV shows with their children |
| B．play computer games with their children |
| C．keep their children company to avoid socializing |
| D．balance well between family and career |
Which of the following can be inferred in the passage?
| A．36% of the audience of the program are female aged from 25-34. |
| B．Parents shouldn’t entirely leave the education of children to the old. |
| C．In a modern family it is often mothers who are responsible for raising a child. |
| D．The program shows us the confusion where the parents and children will go to play. |
Which one is the best title of the passage?
| A．Nanny Daddy and Cute Kids |
| B．Modern Education is Important |
| C．Confusion Behind “Where are we going, dad?” |
| D．New Problems in Modern Children’s Education |
A Scottish university is considering allowing students to use their own computers in exams. Edinburgh University already has the equipment to allow a small number of students to use computers during exams. Senior officials at Edinburgh University say that it is unfair to expect students to use pens and paper in exams when the majority of their coursework is done on computers. Undergraduates at the School of Divinity have the choice of using computers with their final answers being collected on a USB stick, but the take-up stands at less than 10 per cent.
Dai Hounsell, professor of higher education at the university, said, “We’ve got to look at alternatives to the handwritten exam. Looking ahead ten years from now, I’m sure there will not be handwritten answers any longer in the exam of certain subjects, but how we get there from here isn’t easy. The plan doesn’t apply so much to science and engineering subjects where students have to use charts and mathematical formulae（公式）. There isn’t technology at the moment to allow them to do that on a computer.” He adds that the approval of students is the key before anything is carried out. He also said, “We don’t want to put students’ future at risk by experimenting as there are technical things which can go wrong. There could be a power failure.”
Nora Mogey, head of Media and Learning Technology Service at the university, said, “A lot of students are not assured enough to make that step in such an important situation. They don’t feel they’ve had enough practice in typing on a computer with a time limit in a high-pressure environment. They think they do better with a pen in their hand than on a keyboard.”
Jennifer Cadiz, president at the National Union of Students in the UK, said, “It’s great to see universities recognizing that times have changed. Exams can be a really stressful time for students and it’s helpful to offer them a flexible（灵活的）way to complete exams.”
No other major Scottish universities have plans to follow in Edinburgh University’s footsteps and the Scottish Qualifications Authority says it has decided not to carry out the plan in its universities.According to Para. 1, we know that in Edinburgh University _________.
| A．computers are not allowed to be used during exams |
| B．students shouldn’t use their pens during exams |
| C．most coursework is done on computers |
| D．most students will use computers during exams |
What’s Dai Hounsell’s attitude towards Edinburgh University’s new plan?
| A．He opposes it. |
| B．He isn’t optimistic about it. |
| C．He is fond of it. |
| D．He thinks it necessary. |
The underlined word “assured” in Para. 3 probably means “___________”.
| A．confident | B．ready |
| C．fortunate | D．wealthy |
We can infer from the passage that ____________.
| A．other universities will try to carry out the challenging plan |
| B．universities shouldn’t make students stressful during exams |
| C．the use of computers in exams won’t spread widely in a short time |
| D．students should get ready to use computers in exams in future |
I think people everywhere dream about having lots of money. You could win a large amount of money in the United States through lotteries. People pay money for tickets with numbers. If your combination of numbers is chosen, you win a huge amount of money --- often in the millions.
A few years ago, my friend Al won the lottery. It changed his life. He did not have a rich family. He was not born with a silver spoon in his mouth. Instead, my friend was always hard up for cash. And the money he did earn was chicken feed --- very little.
Sometimes Al even had to accept gifts from his family and friends. But do not get me wrong. My friend was not a deadbeat. He was not the kind of person who never paid the money he owed. He was always very careful with the money he spent. In fact, he was often a cheapskate（守财奴）. He did not like to spend money.
One day, Al got together a few dollars for a lottery ticket. He thought he would never strike it rich or gain lots of money unexpectedly. But his combination of numbers was chosen and he won the lottery and won a great deal of money.
Al was so excited. The first thing he did was to buy a costly new car. Then he started spending money on unnecessary things. He started to waste it. It was like he had money to burn. He had more money than he needed and it was burning a hole in his pocket so he spent it quickly.
When we got together for a meal at a restaurant, Al paid every time. He told me the money made him feel like a million dollars. He was very happy.
But, Al spent too much money. Soon my friend was down and out again. He had no money left. He had spent his bottom dollar, his very last amount. He did not even build up a nest egg. He had not saved any of the money. Some might say he was penny wise and pound foolish. He was wise about small things, but not about important things.The role of the first paragraph is to __________.
| A．show the attraction of lotteries |
| B．tell some facts about lotteries |
| C．explain how to win the lottery |
| D．introduce the story of Al |
Before winning the lottery, Al ____________.
| A．failed to make both ends meet |
| B．earned nothing and borrowed money |
| C．once had a relatively rich family |
| D．didn’t know how to save money |
The underlined word “deadbeat” in Para. 3 probably refers to a person who _______.
| A．is lazy with no job to do |
| B．tries to avoid his debts |
| C．likes to spend money |
| D．is generous |
What was to become of Al, according to the passage?
| A．He had built up a nest egg. |
| B．He was a cheapskate again. |
| C．He felt like a million dollars. |
| D．He was penny wise and pound foolish. |
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