A dense wave of smog began in the Chinese city of Harbin and the surrounding Heilongjiang, Jilin, and Liaoning Provinces on 20 October 2013. Unseasonably warm temperatures with very little wind across northeastern China coincided with the smoke from local farmers’ burning straws and the start-up of Harbin’s coal-powered central heating system.
Record densities of fine particulates(微粒)were measured in the city. In Harbin, the levels of PM2.5 (particulate matter) rise to 1,000 micrograms per cubic meter, worse than Beijing’s historic highs. Visibility was reduced to below 50m in parts of Harbin, and below 500m in most of the neighbouring Jilin Province. On Fa Yuen Street in Harbin, visibility of less than 5m was reported. The smog reduced after October 23, 2013 and completely broke up on October 28, 2013 by the first local snow and icy rain due to a cold front moving in from Russia.
Harbin lies in the north of China where winter temperatures can drop to -40℃, demanding a six-month heating season. Daily particulate levels of more than 40 times the World Health Organization recommended maximum level were reported in parts of Harbin. The smog remained till 23 October, when almost all monitoring stations in Heilongjiang, Jilin,and Liaoning Provincesreported readings above 200μg/m³forPM2.5. PM2.5 is the amount of particulate matter less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter in the air, with the WHO recommending a maximum 24-hour mean (平均值) of 25 micrograms per cubic meter (μg/m³). On the morning of 25 October, PM2.5 measurements in Harbin had fallen to an average of 123μg/m³.
All highways in the surrounding Heilongjiang Province were closed. In Harbin, all primary and middle schools were closed for three days and authorities stopped flights at the airports. Hospitals reported a 23 percent increase in admissions for breathing problems. However, this smog will have no influence on Harbin Ice Festival events later in December 2013.
Air pollution in Chinese cities is of increasing concern to China’s leadership. Particulates in the air can affect human health and also have influences on climate and rainfall. Pollution from the burning of coal has reduced life expectancy by 5.5 years in the north of China, as a result of heart and lung diseases.
One cause of the heavy smog in the northeastern Chinese cities may be _____.
| A．the lasting cold weather |
| B．farmers’ burning of forests |
| C．too much strong wind |
| D．the start-up of heating system |
One serious influence of the heavy smog was that_____.
| A．Harbin Ice Festival would be cancelled |
| B．highways in Heilongjiang were free of charge |
| C．all flights at the airport were cancelled |
| D．doctors in hospitals were kept from working |
The harmful smog was most serious on ______.
| A．October 20 | B．October 23 | C．October 25 | D．October 28 |
What measure might be practical to reduce the happening of heavy smog?
| A．Forbidding people to own their private cars. |
| B．Advocating people having one meal a day. |
| C．Using natural gas to cook instead of coal. |
| D．Encouraging family’s coal-fired heating. |
Matt grow the best vegetables in the village．He grows fruit too--big , sweet apples and oranges．And what else ? Well , the biggest and the prettiest flowers．Things grow in Matt' s garden all through the year．He cuts some flowers for his sitting room table ; and of course , he eats some fruit and vegetables．But he sells everything else in the market．Matt is not a poor man．
He knows a few other gardens ; but he does not have any friends．You might ask , " What is that ? Why doesn ' t he have friends ? "
I will tell you．People do not understand him．And they do not understand his garden, " Why not ? " you will ask．" It' s a very good garden , isn' t it ? "
It is a wonderful garden．Matt plants things in spring , summer and autumn and winter ．After that he does very little work．He sits in the garden with his small radio ．And everything grows ．
People ask , " How does Matt grow these wonderful things ? He waters the plants sometimes , but he doesn' t do anything else ．He just sits under an orange tree with his radio ．He listens to music nearly all day ! " And that is all quite true , people cannot understand it , and so they don' t like it very much ．
Matt likes music ．But what about the garden ? Who does the work ? I will tell you another true thing : the music does the work ．All plants love music ; and Matt knows that .
Do you want big vegetables and the loveliest flowers ? Well , just give your plants a lot of music , There are not only vegetables and flowers , but also ______ in Matt' s garden ．
| A．plants | B．fruit trees | C．ants | D．crops |
Matt makes a living by _______.
| A．selling his vegetables , fruit and flowers |
| B．growing trees in his garden |
| C．working in the market |
| D．helping other people growing plants |
Everything in Matt' s garden grows well because _____
| A．he has a good garden |
| B．he is good at growing things and likes listening to the radio |
| C．music helps his plants a lot |
| D．he is very hardworking |
People think that ______ .
| A．Matt' s garden is better than theirs |
| B．Matt works harder than they |
| C．Matt knows how to grow vegetables well |
| D．the radio helps Matt to grow veveything well in his garden |
People don' t like Matt because ____.
| A．he doesn' t give thim any vegetables or fruit |
| B．he listens to the radio too much |
| C．they are jealous（嫉妒的） of him |
| D．Matt doesn' t let them listen to his radio |
When Dean Arnold got his first job, he was miserable (痛苦的), Each time he went to work, he coughed and he couldn’t breathe．Working in a bakery(面包房) when you are allergic to (对…过敏) flour can be painful.
But Arnold stayed with the National Biscuit Company for ten years．He was a businessman and he helped them improve production．At last his health problems became too serious．He left and formed his own company.
With his wife and mother, he founded Arnold Bakery．They tried new recipes (配方)．changing the kind and amount of flour used．This enabled Arnold to work there without too much pain．The bread, made with unbleached flour (标准粉), was baked in a brick oven (烘炉).
They began by baking two dozen loaves．The bread was sold door to door for fifteen cents a loaf．Winning customers to his unusual, old-fashioned bread took time．But Arnold, struggling against his allergy, built his bakery into one of the largest in the United States.A good title for this passage would be .
| A．A Sick Baker | B．A Brick-oven Bread Baker |
| C．An Old-fashioned Baker | D．How to Overcome Allergy |
Dean left the National Biscuit Company because he _______．
| A．suffered from allergy to flour | B．didn’t like the job |
| C．wanted to make more money | D．wanted to form his own company |
During his stay in the National Biscuit Company, _______.
| A．he founded Arnold Bakery |
| B．he tried a new method of baking |
| C．he helped the company improve their production |
| D．he became successful in his business |
Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage?
| A．Arnold’s bread was baked in a brick oven. |
| B．Arnold’s bread was made with unbleached flour. |
| C．Arnold’s bread was sold at a low price. |
| D．Arnold’s bread was of poor quality. |
From the passage we can conclude that Arnold was ________.
| A．determined | B．brave | C．usual | D．unhealthy |
One day a few years ago a very funny thing happened to a neighbour of mine．He is a teacher at one of London’s big medical schools, He had finished his teaching for the summer term and was at the airport on his way to Russia to give a lecture.
He had put a few clothes and his lecture notes in his shoulder bag, but he had put Rupert, the skeleton (人体骨骼) to be used in his lecture, in a large brown suitcase (箱子)．At the airport desk, he suddenly thought that he had forgotten to buy a newspaper．He left his suitcase near the desk and went over to the shop.
When he got back he discovered that someone had taken his suitcase by mistake．He often wonders what they said when they got home and found Rupert.Who wrote the story?
| A．Rupert’s teacher. | B．The neighbour’s teacher. |
| C．A medical school teacher. | D．The teacher’s neighbour. |
Why did the teacher put a skeleton in his suitcase?
| A．He needed it for the summer term in London. |
| B．He needed it for the lecture he was going to give. |
| C．He wanted to take it to Russia for medical research. |
| D．He wanted to take it home as he had finished his teaching. |
What happened at the airport?
| A．The skeleton went missing. | B．The skeleton was stolen . |
| C．The teacher forgot his suitcase. | D．The teacher took the wrong suitcase . |
Which of the following best tells the teacher’s feeling about the incident?
| A．He is very angry . | B．He thinks it rather funny . |
| C．He feels helpless without Rupert. | D．He feels good without Rupert . |
Which of the following might have happened afterwards?
| A．The teacher got back the suitcase but not Rupert. |
| B．The teacher got back neither the suitcase nor Rupert. |
| C．The teacher got back Rupert but not the suitcase. |
| D．The teacher got back both the suitcase and Rupert. |
About 90 percent of Chinese believe the polarization(分化) between the rich and poor is “serious” in China, according to a survey conducted by China Youth Daily. And more than 80 percent of the respondents(对象) surveyed said something must be done to narrow the expanding gap between the rich and poor, while 14.1 percent said it was necessary.
The polarization has aroused wide concern among the public in recent years. The State Development and Reform Commission(国家发改委) said the Gini Coefficient had reached 0.47 for China, up from o.29 two decades ago. Usually, a country with a number above 0.4 is warned to pay attention to the income inequality problem.
To find out the people’s view, the survey covered 10,250 respondents, between the ages of 20 and 30 with a college education and a monthly salary between 1,000 and 3,000 yuan. Surprisingly, most disagreed with the view of experts who claim the urban-rural difference is causing the widening gap. More than 70 percent of the respondents believed that “ the group of special interests” is the prime reason for the polarization, followed by “people in power” 68 percent, and “bosses” 50 percent.
Another unexpected finding is that almost all agreed that a good educational background and knowledge were not the decisive factors in gaining wealth. About 95 percent said rich people are not necessarily those who are able to speak English or have a college education.
Today in China, rich people , accounting for 10 percent of the population, control 45 percent of the total social fortune, and poor people, also 10 percent of the population, only control 1.5 percent, according to an investigation published by the National Bureau of Statistics last June.
1. It can be inferred that the Gini Coefficient ( in paragraph 2) would probably be ________.
A. the unit used in advanced mathematics
B. the degree of a country’s development
C. the level of the citizen’s living standard
D. a measure of income inequality
2. Experts hold the view that the main reason for the polarization is ________.
A. the urban-rural difference
B. the group of special interests
C. the people in power
D. the bosses
3. Which of the following can show the correct proportion of the social fortune
among
population?
4. What’s the best title of the passage?
A. Close the Gap between the Rich and Poor
B. Surveys conducted by Chins Youth Daily
C. Higher education, Higher pay
D. Rich-Poor Divide Serious, Study Finds
In Victorian times, certain flowers expressed meanings because the flower selection was limited. Therefore, flower as a gift was an effective tool in social communication. With so many choices today, we have no rules in flower choosing. However, people tend to give a certain flower their own personal meaning--- maybe it can remind them of some particular friends or events. Here I would introduce the traditional meanings of some gift flowers as a reference for your flower choosing.
Carnation（康乃馨） is a good gift for your female teacher or mother, but not all kinds of carnations mean respect and love. Different colours have different meanings. Generally, carnation means “fascination and woman love”. Specifically, pink carnation means “I’ll never forget you” and red carnation says “I admire you”. But some carnations have very negative meanings. If you want to say goodbye to your girlfriend, you can send her a bunch of striped carnations or yellow ones, because it means “Sorry I can’t be with you. You disappointed me.”
Rose is no doubt the best gift for girls in love. Basically, it relates to the love between men and women, but roses with different colours stand for different stages of love. Red rose is man’s best friend when he wants to show his love to a girl. In the peak of his love, pink rose is more suitable because it means “perfect happiness and please believe me”. While the love gets into trouble, yellow rose seems to be the best symbol. It means “the decrease of love and jealousy”.
Though you are free to choose any kind of flower as long as it is beautiful, I think this brief introduction can help you avoid making mistakes. Besides, the receivers must be happier if he or she gets to know the good will you convey in flowers.
1. Why do we choose certain flowers as gifts?
A. Because they are the best gifts for you.
B. Because flowers all look beautiful
C. Because different flowers smell good.
D. Because they can express specific meanings.
2. In different stages of love, ________.
A. roses of different colours show love to a girl.
B. you can choose red rose at any occasion
C. yellow rose is the best symbol for your love
D. pink rose implies that your love comes to maturity(成熟).
3. What does the passage mainly talk about?
A. Carnation is better than rose B. Like the carnation, like the rose
C. Different flowers have different meanings D. Flowers of different colours
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