Was the London Olympics a success? Many people hold different opinions. However one thing is certain, London could win a gold medal for hosting the “greenest” Games ever, BBC News reported.
Previous Olympic hosts have been criticized for the environmental damage they have caused through construction, waste. and transport. But things had to be different in London because seven years ago it bid for the Olympics through the concept of “a One Planet Olympics”.
What is most impressive is that London used the construction of the Olympic Park as an opportunity to clean up polluted areas — 2 million tons of contaminated (被污染的) soil were removed and 200 old factory buildings, were torn down, according to sustainablebusiness.com. But that’s not all —. 99 percent of the debris (废瓦砾) were reused to build the Olympic Park. For example, part of the Olympic Stadium’s roof is made from 2,500 tons of steel tubes recycled from old gas pipelines.
As well as using recycled materials, all venues were built with green building techniques. The Olympic Stadium is the lightest one ever built, which minimized the amount of steel and concrete needed. Also, the handball field has lighting pipes on the roof that reduce electricity use by 40 percent, according to sustainablebusiness.com.
The effort that London made to deal with waste also deserves praise. Water used for drinking and watering plants was from collected rainwater or recycled wastewater. In this way. about 30-40 percent less water was used in total. Waste food packages were either recycled or processed and turned into renewable energy.
As one of the best connected places in Europe, London tried to solve traffic jams by encouraging the use of public transport. For example, it had trains deliver half of the building materials, instead of cars, which greatly reduced carbon emissions.
The clean anti-doping (反兴奋剂) result also added to the greenness of the Games. The International Olympics Committee (IOC) said that the devices used this time were the most accurate and advanced. Only one athlete tested positive for a banned drug on the day of competing, which is why the IOC President, Jacques Rogge, has praised anti-doping efforts at the London Games.To make the Olympic Park green, London _______.
| A．recycled 2 million tons of contaminated soil |
| B．removed 99 percent of the debris from the city |
| C．built the Olympic Stadium mostly with recycled materials |
| D．applied green building techniques to the construction work |
The underlined word “minimized” in the fourth paragraph probably means
| A．increased as much as possible |
| B．reduced as much as possible |
| C．made good use of |
| D．took little notice |
What can we conclude from the article?
| A．The London Olympics cost less than the other Olympics ever held. |
| B．London has possessed the most advanced techniques to deal with waste. |
| C．Public transport is made good use of in London during the Olympic games. |
| D．The anti-doping result in the London Olympics turned out to be dissatisfactory. |
Which of the following best shows the structure of the text?
What is the best title of the passage?
| A．How to deal with the anti-doping |
| B．How to use recycled materials |
| C．London’s green games |
| D．London’s public transport |
One might expect that the ever-growing demands of the tourist trade would bring nothing but good for the countries that receive the holiday-makers. Indeed, a rosy picture is painted for the long-term future of the holiday industry. Every month sees the building of a new hotel somewhere, and every month another rock-bound Pacific island is advertised as the “last paradise (天堂) on earth”.
However, the scale and speed of this growth seem set to destroy the very things tourists want to enjoy. In those countries where there was a rush to make quick money out of sea-side holidays, over-crowded beaches and the concrete jungles of endless hotels have begun to lose their appeal.
Those countries with little experience of tourism can suffer most. In recent years, Nepal set out to attract foreign visitors to fund developments in health and education. Its forests, full of wildlife and rare flowers, were offered to tourists as one more untouched paradise. In fact, the nature all too soon felt the effects of thousands of holiday-makers traveling through the forest land. Ancient tracks became major routes for the walkers, with the consequent exploitation of precious trees and plants.
Not only the environment of a country can suffer from the sudden growth of tourism. The people as well rapidly feel its effects. Farmland makes way for hotels, roads and airports; the old way of life goes away. The one-time farmer is now the servant of some multi-national organization; he is no longer his own master. Once it was his back that bore the pain; now it is his smile that is exploited. No doubt he wonders whether he wasn’t happier in his village working his own land.
Thankfully, the tourist industry is waking up to the responsibilities it has towards those countries that receive its customers. The protection of wildlife and the creation of national parks go hand in hand with tourist development and in fact obtain financial support from tourist companies. At the same time, tourists are being encouraged to respect not only the countryside they visit but also its people.
The way tourism is handled in the next ten years will decide its fate and that of the countries we all want to visit. Their needs and problems are more important than those of the tourist companies. Increased understanding in planning world-wide tourism can preserve the market for these companies. If not, in a few years’ time the very things that attract tourists now may well have been destroyed.What does the author indicate in the last sentence of Paragraph 1?
| A．The Pacific island is a paradise. |
| B．The Pacific island is worth visiting. |
| C．The advertisement is not convincing. |
| D．The advertisement is not impressive. |
The example of Nepal is used to suggest _________.
| A．its natural resources are untouched |
| B．its forests are exploited for farmland |
| C．it develops well in health and education |
| D．it suffers from the heavy flow of tourists |
Which of the following determines the future of tourism?
| A．The number of tourists. |
| B．The improvement of services. |
| C．The promotion of new products. |
| D．The management of tourism. |
The author’s attitude towards the development of the tourist industry is __________.
| A．optimistic | B．doubtful | C．objective | D．negative |
“I stepped out and was flabbergasted,” local journalist Bahram Baloch told the BBC. “I could see this gray, dome-shaped (圆顶形的) body in the distance, like a giant whale swimming near the surface. Hundreds of people had gathered to watch it in disbelief.”
This island has become a global curiosity. How was it formed in just a few minutes?
As you might already know, many islands in the sea are formed by volcanoes. There are numerous volcanoes under the sea. As the hot lava erupts and cools down, it piles up and forms the shape of a mountain. When the mountain “grows” to higher than the sea level, the part that’s above the water is what we call an “island”.
This is how the island was formed after the Pakistan earthquake, except that instead of a regular volcano, it was a “mud volcano” that brought about this island. Lava is not the only thing that’s locked under the Earth’s crust — there is also gas. When an earthquake happens and breaks part of the crust, the gas is released at an extremely high speed, pushing mud up to the surface, according to National Geographic.
But only earthquakes that are extremely powerful can cause mud volcanoes to push up enough mud to produce islands — and this 7.7-magnitude earthquake in Pakistan was strong enough. The island is about 20 meters high, up to about 90 meters wide and 30 meters long, nearly the size of a soccer field.
In fact, mud volcano islands aren’t new. This is the fourth island of this kind in the region since 1945. But those islands usually didn’t last long.
“It will probably be gone within a couple of months,” said Bill Barnhart, a researcher with the US Geological Survey. After all, “it’s just a big pile of mud that was on the seafloor that got pushed up”.What is the article mainly about?
| A．The disastrous effects of coastal earthquakes. |
| B．The difference between mud volcanoes and regular volcanoes. |
| C．How islands are formed by mud volcanoes. |
| D．The great natural wonders of Pakistan. |
The underlined word “flabbergasted” in Paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to __________.
| A．surprised | B．disappointed | C．worried | D．curious |
We can infer from the article that __________.
| A．the new island near the coast of Pakistan actually took a few months to form |
| B．scientists still know little about different types of volcanoes |
| C．another earthquake is likely to happen in Pakistan within a couple of months |
| D．not all volcanoes change the geological appearance of the Earth |
According to the article, islands formed by mud volcanoes __________.
| A．are quite difficult to locate |
| B．usually disappear after a short period of time |
| C．are formed by hot lava from volcanoes |
| D．used to be part of the Earth’s crust |
A
Some years ago, writing in my diary used to be a usual activity. I would return from school and spend the expected half hour recording the day’s events, feelings, and impressions in my little blue diary. I did not really need to express my emotions by way of words, but I gained a certain satisfaction from seeing my experiences forever recorded on paper. After all, isn’t accumulating memories a way of preserving the past?
When I was thirteen years old, I went on a long journey on foot in a great valley, well-equipped with pens, a diary, and a camera. During the trip, I was busy recording every incident, name and place I came across. I felt proud to be spending my time productively, dutifully preserving for future generations a detailed description of my travels. On my last night there, I wandered out of my tent, diary in hand. The sky was clear and lit by the glare of the moon, and the walls of the valley looked threatening behind their screen of shadows. I automatically took out my pen.
At that point, I understood that nothing I wrote could ever match or replace the few seconds I allowed myself to experience the dramatic beauty of the valley. All I remembered of the previous few days were the dull characterizations I had set down in my diary.
Now, I only write in my diary when I need to write down a special thought or feeling. I still love to record ideas and quotations that strike me in books, or observations that are particularly meaningful. I take pictures, but not very often—only of objects I find really beautiful. I’m no longer blindly satisfied with having something to remember when I grow old. I realize that life will simply pass me by if I stay behind the camera, busy preserving the present so as to live it in the future.
I don’t want to wake up one day and have nothing but a pile of pictures and notes. Maybe I won’t have as many exact representations of people and places; maybe I’ll forget certain facts, but at least the experiences will always remain inside me. I don’t live to make memories — I just live, and the memories form themselves.Before the age of thirteen, the author regarded keeping a diary as a way of __________.
| A．observing her school routine |
| B．expressing her satisfaction |
| C．impressing her classmates |
| D．preserving her history |
What does the author put in her diary now?
| A．Notes and beautiful pictures. |
| B．Special thoughts and feelings. |
| C．Detailed accounts of daily activities. |
| D．Descriptions of unforgettable events. |
The author comes to realize that to live a meaningful life is __________.
| A．to experience it |
| B．to live the present in the future |
| C．to make memories |
| D．to give accurate representations of it |
Culture helps human societies survive in changing natural environment．For example, the end of the last Ice Age, beginning about 15,000 years ago, brought a big challenge to which humans had to adapt．Before this time, large parts of the northern hemisphere were covered in great sheets of ice that contained much of the earth' s water．In North America, large animals that wandered the vast tundra （冰原） provided people with food and materials for clothing and simple shelters．When the earth became warm, large Ice Age animals disappeared, and many land areas were covered by rising sea levels from melting ice．But people survived, they developed new technologies and learned how to survive on new plant and animal species． Finally some people settled into permanent villages, durable houses and farms．
Cultural adaptation has made humans one of the most successful species on the planet． Through history, major developments in technology, medicine, and nutrition have allowed people to reproduce and survive in ever-increasing numbers．The global population has risen from 8 million during the Ice Age to about 6 billion today．
However, the successes of culture adaptation can also create problems in the long run．Over the last 200 years, people have begun to use large quantities of natural resources and energy and to produce a great amount of material and chemical wastes．The global population now consumes some important natural resources—such as petroleum, wood, and minerals—faster than nature can produce them．Many scientists believe that in the process of burning fuels and producing wastes, people may be changing the global climate in unpredictable and possibly harmful ways．Thus, the adaptive success of the present-day global culture of production and trade may be temporary．What is the first paragraph mainly talking about?
| A．How the human beings survived in the Ice Age． |
| B．What the situation was like during the Ice Age． |
| C．What caused the Ice Age to come to an end． |
| D．Why the Ice Age was very important． |
To deal with the problems, human beings should ______according to the passage．
| A．stop developing any longer |
| B．reduce the overuse of natural resources |
| C．stop the global warming and using natural resources |
| D．save more animals in case they all die out |
Which of the following is the problem caused by cultural adaptation according to the passage?
| A．A very developed culture came into being． |
| B．New technologies have been developed． |
| C．Natural resources have been used up． |
| D．Human activities have done damage to the balance of nature． |
Which of the following can be the best tide of the passage?
| A．Natural Environment Should Be Protected． |
| B．The Success of Cultural Adaptation Is Not Permanent． |
| C．The Global Population Is Increasing Since Ice Age． |
| D．Human Beings Are Capable of Surviving on Earth. |
While success is surely sweeter than failure, it seems failure is a far better teacher, and organizations that fail miserably often flourish (繁荣) more in the long run, according to a new study by Vinit Desai, assistant professor of management at the University of Colorado Denver Business School. Researchers have found that people missing their goals perform much better in the long run. That is because they gain more knowledge from their failures than their successes and the lessons are more likely to stay longer in their minds.
“We found that the knowledge gained from success was often fleeting while knowledge from failure stuck around for years,” said professor Desai, who led the study. “But companies often ignore failure. Managers may fire people or turn over the whole workforce while they should treat the failure as a learning opportunity.”
Prof Desai compared the flights of the space shuttle Atlantis and the Challenger. During the Atlantis flight last year, a piece of insulation (绝缘体) broke off and damaged the left solid rocket booster (助推火箭) but didn’t influence the program. There was little investigation. The Challenger was launched next and another piece of insulation broke off. This time the shuttle and its seven–person crew were destroyed. The disaster led to a major investigation resulting in 29 changes to prevent future disasters.
The difference in response in the two cases came down to this: Atlantis was considered a success and the Challenger a failure.
“Despite crowded skies, airlines are extremely reliable,” he said. “The number of failures is extremely small. And past researches have shown that older airlines, those with more experience in failure, have a lower number of accidents.”
Prof Desai doesn’t recommend finding out failure in order to learn. Instead, he advises organizations to analyze small failures to collect useful information rather than wait for major failures.Why did experts pay little attention to the problem of Atlantis?
| A．Because it worked perfectly. |
| B．Because the right booster was still OK. |
| C．Because nothing serious happened then. |
| D．Because fewer people died in the flight. |
Fewer accidents happen to older airlines in that ________.
| A．their planes couldn’t fly high in the sky |
| B．they gained much from experience in failure |
| C．their planes were often checked by the experts |
| D．they were unpopular among passengers |
The passage is written mainly to ________.
| A．show failure is a better teacher than success |
| B．explain why Challenger failed |
| C．introduce something about Prof Desai |
| D．tell managers how to achieve success |
Which writing strategy is NOT used in developing the passage?
| A．Giving definitions. | B．Making comparisons. |
| C．Analyzing causes. | D．Providing different examples. |
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