Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated (人口密集的)cities in the world, but with night skies around 1,000 times brighter than globally accepted levels, it gains a bad reputation for its light pollution.
A study by Hong Kong University found that brightness levels in the southern Chinese city's popular shopping district of Tsim Sha Tsui were 1,200 times greater than the international dark sky standard.
The crowded city of 7 million residents(居民), full or residential high-rises, towering office blocks and neon(霓虹灯) advertisements, has no laws to control outdoor lightning.
The result is that light pollution is thought to be much worse than in other large cities, including London, Sydney, Tokyo and Shanghai.
“In Hong Kong , you can’t go anywhere outdoor in the evening without your eyes being blinded by this really disturbing outdoor lightning,” the light pollution survey’s head Jason Pum told AFP.
“The fact that we have all this light in the sky means energy is wasted,” he said, adding that too much artificial lightning also affects nightly wildlife.
Research has suggested that light pollution can cause a number of harmful health effects in humans, including sleeplessness and headaches and can also interrupt body clocks and hormones(荷尔蒙).
The university survey, the result of five million measurements taken from points across the city, was released just days before the start of the annual Earth Hour event, organized by the World Wildlife Fund.
People around the world will be encouraged to turn off the lights for an hour on Saturday night to raise awareness of climate change. Last year, a number of Hong Kong’s major buildings along Victoria Harbour went dark to mark Earth Hour.
“Anyway, we should do our best to reduce the amount of lightning and adjust it for the benefit of the environment.”If you walk out at night in Hong Kong, you can see all those things except ______.
| A．neon advertisements | B．residential buildings |
| C．a dark sky with twinkling stars | D．high office blocks |
.which of the following statements about too much lightning is NOT true?
| A．Too much lightning means a waste of energy. |
| B．It can make the sky and the city more beautiful. |
| C．It may have a bad effect on nightly wildlife. |
| D．It can lead to some health problems. |
.We can know from the passage that__________
| A．light pollution in Hong Kong is among world’s worst. |
| B．light pollution is the biggest problem in Hong Kong. |
| C．Earth Hour is simply organized to reduce pollution. |
| D．light pollution is the primary causes of sleeplessness. |
.what will the author probably discuss after the last paragraph?
| A．Bad effects of light pollution |
| B．Causes of light pollution |
| C．Worries about light pollution |
| D．Ways to reduce light pollution |
Wildlife faces threats ( 威胁 ) from habitat destruction, pollution, and other human actions. Although protecting wildlife may seem too hard at times, even small actions in your own neighbourhood can help protect many different animals. Here are some tips on how to protect wildlife through small actions.
1.Create wildlife friendly areas in your backyard.
When trying to make your garden more beautiful , you can choose plants that can provide food and shelter to native wildlife . This will also help cut down on pollution . Add bird or bat houses to your yard or garden to attract and shelter these species.
2. Avoid harming the natural ecosystem ( 生态系统 ) in your area.
Some plants from other places can kill or harm native plants that provide food and shelter for wildlife.
3. ________________________________________________.
By using less water and fewer fuels, you will be helping to protect the wildlife around you . Take buses or the subway when you can, turn off electric devices when you’re not using them , take shorter shower, and keep your room temperature at or below 68 degrees during the winter.
4. Buy products that are wildlife friendly
Don’t buy products that are made from endangered animals. Keep in mind that some endangered animals are killed by traps , catches or hunters who are after other wildlife within the same habitat.
5. Donate money or time to organizations that protect wildlife and their habitats.
You can give money to organization or groups that protect wildlife species in your neighbourhood.We infer that the purpose of this passage is to ________.
| A．tell us why protecting wildlife is extremely important now |
| B．suggest that we protect wildlife through actions |
| C．explain why protecting wildlife is not as hard as people think. |
| D．give us some tips on how to protect wildlife through small actions |
Which of the following threats to wildlife is NOT mentioned in the passage ?
| A．Animal diseases |
| B．Loss of habitat |
| C．Pollution |
| D．Hunters |
What’s the best title for the third point ?
| A．Have a greener lifestyle. |
| B．Use less water and fewer fuels. |
| C．Take a bus when you go out |
| D．Try a new kind of life. |
The writer suggests that we _________.
| A．not buy products made from animals |
| B．share cars with others when we go out |
| C．grow as many kinds of plants in our gardens as possible |
| D．provide shelters for birds and bats in our gardens or yards |
It was the end of the school term and my son Tom had less than three months left before he would finish his six years at high school. During this time he had developed a love for basketball. Sadly, because of my work over the last twelve months, I had only been able to attend a few of his games; however, I was determined to get to his last game for the school term.
Tom’s team came out in the first 10 minutes with a burst of goals that saw them leading by just over 20 points at the end of the first half. The second half changed as the other team quickly played themselves back into the game. Tom’s team started to miss an increasing number of shots. It was at that point that the coach called his first time out.
The noise of the spectators (观众) became quiet as the coach spoke to them. He had the team standing in a half circle, but he squatted (蹲) down, looking up at them and fiving some very calm and clear instructions on what they needed to do in the last couple of minutes. As he stood up to allow the team to return to the court, I saw him give some further words of encouragement to all of them.
You could see that he knew that the team was fighting to save the game and that he needed to lift them up. By squatting down he placed himself in a position where he was talking up to them, rather than down or at them, and as the players went back onto the court his words of encouragement served to lift their energy and spirits.
Well, Tom’s team went on to win the final by 5 points. As I drove away I thought about what can happen to us all in our everyday life. One of my favourite quotes is about the half filled glass of water --- “Is it half full or is it half empty?” Like the coach, the answer to this quote all depends on how you look at things.Why did the writer e to see his son play basketball?
| A．Because his son would graduate from high school. |
| B．Because he felt sorry for never watching his son play. |
| C．Because it was a final his son played a key role in. |
| D．Because he had a strong interest in basketball himself. |
By squatting down, the coach wanted to _____ .
| A．talk about what the players were doing wrong |
| B．make the players feel better |
| C．prevent spectators from hearing what he said |
| D．show his anger at the bad performance of the players |
What is the writer’s attitude towards the coach?
| A．Negative. | B．Supportive. | C．Interested. | D．Unconcerned. |
What can we infer from the passage?
| A．A father should care about his son at school. |
| B．Playing hard is rewarded with a close match. |
| C．What a coach says has the most influence on players. |
| D．Looking at things positively is important in hard times. |
D
Losing weight comes with a lot of health benefits—including making your brain sharper.
There have been few studies of overweight and cognitive functioning, (认知功能) possibly because it is generally believed that it is not a primary risk cause for poor cognitive performance. Yet, it turns out that overweight may damage cognitive functions such as memory and attention. Losing weight, therefore, may help improve these mental functions, according to a new research led by John Gunstad, assistant professor of psychology at Kent State University.
Growing evidence suggests that being fat is linked to cognitive deficits (缺陷). So Gunstad and his team guessed that losing weight might improve mental function. For their study, they measured memory and attention in a group of 150 overweight participants, some of whom had some kind of operation for weight loss and some did not. All of the volunteers completed mental skills tests to assess their abilities of memory and attention at the beginning of the study, and again 12 weeks later. To begin with, about 24% of the patients showed damaged learning and 23% showed signs of poor memory when tested. At the end of the study, those who had lost weight after operation improved their scores into the average or above average range for cognitive functions. Scores for the volunteers who didn’t lose weight dropped even further.
The study helped Gunstad to find out whether losing weight had any effect on mental function. Now that he’s seen the positive effect that weight loss can have on memory and attention, he says he will next study those who choose to lose weight by the traditional way—eating healthier and getting more active. He expects that losing weight in this way will have a similarly positive effect on the brain. “If we can improve the condition with operations, then we can probably produce the same change with behavioral weight loss as well,” he says.There is less research on overweight and cognitive functions because researchers _____.
| A. believe overweight only affects our body |
| B. have focused on ways to sharpen people’s mind |
| C. do not consider overweight a main cause for low cognitive ability |
| D. are clear about the relation between weight and mental functions |
The result of Gunstad’s study shows that ______.
| A. losing weight has little effect on people’s memory |
| B. losing weight can improve people’s mental functions |
| C. overweight people are likely to have psychology problems |
| D. overweight people’s abilities of concentration differ greatly |
What is Gunstad planning to prove next in his research?
| A. Slim people are smarter than overweight people. |
| B. Healthy diet is better than exercise in losing weight. |
| C. Traditional ways of losing weight are better than operation. |
| D. Overweight people will get smarter by taking more exercise. |
Which of the following is the best title for the text?
| A．Body Weight and Health |
| B．Losing Weight by Operation |
| C．Ways to Improve Mental Functions |
| D．Losing Weight to Sharpen Your Mind |
C
The creative projects of World Food Program (WFP) focused on preventing hunger from taking hold in the future and breaking the cycle of hunger. Here are some of the ways in which we work to prevent hunger in the future:
School Meals
As well as directly addressing hunger, School Meals projects encourage families to keep their children in school and help them build better futures. If children aren’t hungry they will concentrate on their lessons. With a solid education growing children have a better chance of finding their own way out of hunger. These projects benefit girls especially. For more information: www.wfp.org/schools meals.
Food for Assets（有用的人）
WFP’s Food for Assets projects provide the hungry with food to lay the foundation for a better tomorrow. When poor farmers no longer have to worry about the next meal, they have the time and energy to build irrigation（灌溉） systems that can increase production. Similarly, Food for Training projects allow the poor to devote time to learning skills that will sustain（维持） them economically in the future. For more information: www.wfp.org/food-assets.
HIV/AIDS
WFP uses its food rations(配给) to reduce the blow of HIV and AIDS. The agency distributes its rations to people living with HIV and AIDS, so they can keep providing for their families for longer and have time to transfer vital knowledge and skills to the growing number of AIDS children--the next generation of food providers in developing countries. For more information: www.wfp.org/hiv-aids.
Purchase for Progress
WFP buys large amounts of food in developing countries. It has this purchasing power and uses it to help poor farmers contact reliable markets where they can get competitive prices for their produce. With secure markets, farmers will be encouraged to produce more and innovate(创新).The knock-on effect is producing more food for everyone. For more information: www.wfp.ofp/purchase-progress.The text is written with the purpose of ____.
| A．seeking solutions to some hot issues |
| B．introducing some of WFP’s projects |
| C．raising money for the people in need |
| D．calling readers’ attention to the poor |
The farmers who want to receive some training should visit_____.
| A．www.wfp.org/hiv-aids |
| B．www.wfp.org/food-asset |
| C．www.wfp.org/purchase-progress |
| D．www.wfp.org/school-meals |
AIDS children can benefit from food rations in that_____.
| A．they no longer go hungry |
| B．they can take care of their parents |
| C．they don’t have to worry about food |
| D．they can learn more skills from their parents |
By buying large amounts of food in developing countries, WFP aims to ____.
| A．help farmers to increase their income |
| B．encourage farmers to produce more food |
| C．introduce new ways of farming to farmers |
| D．motive farmers to plant different kind of crops. |
B
You know how wonderful you are, and you know that others know how wonderful you are, but what do you do when admiration crosses over the line into jealousy(嫉妒)? For most teens there will come a day when you realize that one of your friends is jealous and that this jealousy is hurting your friendship. When this happens it can seem like there is nothing that you can do, but the good news is that there is. Don’t let jealousy spoil your relationships. Deal withitconfidently and you might be back to normal much sooner than you think.
It can be hard to walk up to a friend and ask them what the problem is, but if you want to save your friendship you’ll have to do just that. Don’t approach them and ask why they are jealous of you unless of course you want to appear totally conceited (逞能), just take some time alone with them and let them know that you’ve been feeling like there’s been something coming between you. If they refuse to respond, then use the opportunity to explain how you have been feeling. Chances are that something you say will strike a nerve and your friend will open up as well.
When you figure out what is annoying your friend, ask him or her what (s)he thinks would make the situation better. If, for example, (s)he says that (s)he feels like (s)he doesn’t get to spend any time with you because of your being off with your new friends from the swim team then maybe you could invite her along the next time or block off one day a week for just the two of you. Remember, though, that whatever solution you decide on should be a compromise. Don’t limit your own talents or opportunities simply because your friend is unhappy. Try instead to include him or her in your new life and see how that works out.
Even the best of friendships can be ruined by jealousy. This destructive emotion is rarely productive and can turn best friends into worst enemies. Before taking extreme action, chat with your jealous friend to see if the two of you can work out a compromise. If you can’t, be prepared to know exactly how far you will go to keep your friend and how far you won’t.
According to the author, the jealousy emotion is________.
| A．normal | B．productive |
| C．destructive | D．extreme |
What does the author intend to tell us in paragraph 2?
| A．How to solve the problem of jealousy. |
| B．Why we need to solve the problem of jealousy. |
| C．How to explain your jealousy to your friends. |
| D．Why it is hard to deal with the problem of jealousy. |
What can be inferred from the last two paragraphs?
| A．There’s always a solution to solve the problem of jealousy. |
| B．Jealousy can turn best friends into worst enemies. |
| C．You may lose a friend to keep your own gifts, chances or self development. |
| D．You should go a long way with your friend to work out a solution |
This passage is mainly intended for________.
| A．female readers |
| B．students |
| C．teenagers |
| D．best friends |
粤公网安备 44130202000953号