For a long time the packaging industry has been attacked for using what is thought as large amounts of packaging, choosing materials which are felt to have high impacts on the environment, and for being responsible for littering and overflowing land fills. In a study performed by WRAP, one of the first to study food waste in the UK in 2012, the most frequent responses when consumers were asked about packaging were “uses too much material” and “bad for the environment”. The conclusions of these reports highlighted that the degree of the problem has been largely underestimated：at least 30% of food produced in the world is wasted. These figures are similar no matter if you are in the developed or developing world.
However, two publications from cross—industry work groups were published recently, and have managed to reset the discussion to take into account the benefits of packaging for sustainability(可持续性).The first publication, “The Global Protocol on Packaging Sustainability”, describes an agreed common approach towards measuring packaging sustainability metrics(指标), so that the industry is not competing based on the definition of a metric, but rather competing based on performance. The second was, “'Packaging in the Sustainability Agenda, A Guide for Corporate Decision Makers”, which highlighted the contributions of packaging to the three aspects of sustainability: packaging protects products and prevents waste(environmental aspect); packaging enables efficient business conduct(economic aspect); and packaging provides consumers with the benefits of the products it contains(social aspect).
Packaging performs indeed a wide variety of functions throughout the value chain and contributes to reducing food waste by protecting ingredients(佐料)and products during transportation and by delivering family—sized packages. Food waste could be avoided for single households if they are provided with the choice of pack sizes meeting their consumption patterns and are not forced to buy larger packs that they may not be able to finish before the use—by date. Despite the fact that smaller sized packs use more packaging, the fact that food waste is reduced would nevertheless decrease overall environmental impacts of the packed product.It has long been thought that _______.
| A．larger quantities of food are wasted in developed countries |
| B．WRAP is the first authority to study food waste in UK |
| C．packaging does great harm to the environment |
| D．packaging offers a powerful means to reduce food waste |
According to the two publications in Paragraph 2，_______.
| A．an agreement should be reached on measuring packaging sustainability |
| B．the industry should compete based on the definition of sustainability metrics |
| C．smaller sized packs promotes less packaging and purchase among consumers |
| D．sustainable packaging is eco-friendly，economically practical and socially beneficial |
The author’s attitude towards packaging is ___________.
| A．approving | B．negative |
| C．casual | D．doubtful |
It was Monday, Mrs. Smith’s dog was hungry, but there was not any meat in the house.
Considering that there was no better way, Mrs. Smith took a piece of paper, and wrote the following words on it: “Give my dog half a pound of meat.” Then she gave the paper to her dog and said gently: “Take this to the butcher（卖肉者）, and he’s going to give you your lunch today.”
Holding the piece of paper in its mouth, the dog ran to the butcher’s shop. It gave the paper to the butcher. The butcher read it carefully, recognized that it was really the lady’s handwriting and presently did as he was asked to. The dog was very happy, and ate the meat up immediately.
At midday, the dog came to the shop again. It gave the butcher a piece of paper again. After reading it, he gave it half a pound of meat once more.
The next day, the dog came again exactly at midday. And as usual, it brought a piece of paper in the mouth. This time, the butcher did not take a look at the paper, and gave the dog its meat, for he had thought of the dog as one of his customers.
However, the dog came again at four o’clock. And the same thing happened once again. To the butcher’s more surprise, it came for the third time at six o’clock, and brought with it a third piece of paper. The butcher felt a bit puzzled. He said to himself, “This is a small dog. Why does Mrs. Smith give it so much meat to eat today?”
Looking at the piece of paper, he found that there were not any words on it!When Mrs. Smith’s dog was hungry, what did she give to the dog?
A. some chicken
B. half a pound of meat
C. a hot dog
D a piece of paper with some words on itMrs. Smith treated her little dog quite __________.
| A．rudely | B．proudly |
| C．friendly | D．angrily |
From its experience, the dog found that __________.
| A．only the paper with Mrs. Smith’s words on it could bring it meat |
| B．a piece of paper could bring him half a pound of meat |
| C．the butcher would give the meat to it whenever he saw it |
| D．Mrs. Smith would pay for the meat it got from the butcher |
At the end of the story, you’ll find that __________.
| A．the dog was clever enough to write on the paper |
| B．the butcher was told not to give any meat to the dog |
| C．the dog dared not go to the butcher’s any more |
| D．the butcher found himself cheated by the smart animal |
Chinese college students have graduated to find the job market vary from when they entered school and those so-called “hot courses” might fail to land them good jobs.
Graduates with different majors have very different experiences in the job market. But degrees in finance, economics and a few other fields often guarantee good jobs.
“I have applied to 15 companies online, and most of them show interest in hiring me,” said WangLi, a postgraduate of labor Economics at Southwest University of Finance and Economics in Chengdu, Sichuan Province. He said that all the students of economics, finance and accounting in his university had received at least two job offers.
Students of mining and materials science that were not popular before, however, have observed more employment opportunities than before. The employment rate of graduates from the courses was 100 percent at Guizhou University.
On the contrary, some so-called “hot courses” including law, journalism and computer science that have received large groups of students, failed them in the job market. Experts said high tuition fee of those courses led to blind enrollment expansion.
Another problem which makes it difficult for graduates to find jobs is the gap between school- learned- knowledge and requirements of real career.
In 2007, merely 60percent of computer science graduates were employed. Meanwhile, job vacancies in IT industry exceeded one million. IT companies complained about the large amount of money they spend on pre-career training of new employees. They hope universities adjust their courses to better prepare students for their future work.
In addition to academic background, employers are looking for college graduates with a good sense of responsibility. This merit is followed by a sense of team work, ambition, flexibility, eloquence, independence, confidence, pressure-bearing ability, communication skills and so on.The graduates with degrees in “hot courses” may have difficulty in finding satisfactory jobs probably because ______________.
| A．the graduates with such degrees are of poor quality |
| B．those fields have developed slowly in recent years |
| C．there are too many graduates with such degrees |
| D．enterprises will not employ the graduates with such degrees |
The words “hot courses” in the first paragraph of this passage refers to “________”.
| A．law, journalism and computer science |
| B．economics, finance and accounting |
| C．mining and materials science |
| D．economics, journalism and materials science |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．Economics, finance and accounting are no longer “hot” now. |
| B．Quite a number of college students don’t work hard at their lessons. |
| C．The quality of some of the college graduates can not meet the demands of companies. |
| D．Universities have already adjusted their courses to prepare students for their future work. |
The author seems to agree that __________.
| A．middle school graduates should choose good universities as well as good majors |
| B．besides academic background, sense of responsibility is also very important |
| C．university students shouldn’t work hard at their lessons |
| D．middle school graduates should not choose these “hot courses” |
When I was an education official in Palo Alto, California, Polly Tyner, the president of our school board, wrote a letter that was printed in the Palo Alto Times. Polly’s son, Jim, had great difficulty in school. He was classified as the educationally disabled and required a great deal of patience on the part of his parents and teachers. But Jim was a happy kid with a great smile that lit up the room. His parents acknowledged his academic difficulties, but always tried to help him see his strengths so that he could walk with pride. Shortly after Jim finished high school, he was killed in a motorcycle accident. After his death, his mother submitted this letter to the newspaper:
Today we buried our 20-year-old son. He was killed instantly in a motorcycle accident on Friday night. How I wish I had known when I talked to him last that it would be the last time. If I had only known I would have said, “Jim, I love you and I’m very proud of you.”
I would have taken the time to count the many blessings he brought to the lives of the many who loved him. I would have taken the time to appreciate his beautiful smile, the sound of his laughter, his genuine love of people.
When you put all the good qualities on the scale and try to balance all the irritating phenomena such as the radio which was always too loud, the haircut that wasn’t to our liking, the dirty socks under the bed, etc., your angry feelings won’t amount to much.
I won’t get another chance to tell my son all that I would have wanted him to hear, but, other parents, you do have a chance. Tell your young people what you would want them to hear if you knew it would be your last conversation. The last time I talked to Jim was the day he died. He called me to say, “Hi, Mom! I just called to say I love you. Got to go to work. Bye.” He gave me something to treasure forever.
If there is any purpose at all for Jim’s death, maybe it is to make others appreciate more of life and to have people, especially family members, take the time to let each other know just how much we care.
You may never have another chance.According to the passage, we know that _______.
| A．Jim was always ashamed of himself |
| B．Jim did very well in his studies |
| C．Jim’s parents were patient with him |
| D．Jim failed to finish his high school |
The underlined word “irritating” in Paragraph 4 most probably means _______.
| A．annoying | B．aggressive |
| C．impatient | D．thrilling |
By writing the letter printed in the Palo Alto Times, the author intends to _______.
| A．mourn her son’s sudden death in a traffic accident |
| B．remind people to be cautious of motorcycles |
| C．tell parents to take better care of their children |
| D．suggest people taking the chance to express their love in time |
Which of the following can be the best title of the passage?
| A．Love your Family. | B．Do it Today. |
| C．Walk with Pride. | D．Appreciate Smiles. |
If you are hungry, what will you do? Grab a piece of your favorite meal and stay quiet after that? Just like stomach, even your mind will be hungry. But it never lets you know, because you keep it busy thinking about your dream lover, favorite star and many such absurd things. So it silently begins to hide your needs and never lets itself grow. When mind loses its freedom to grow, creativity gets its full stop. This might be the reason why we all sometimes think “What happens next?”, “Why can’t I think?”, “Why am I always given the difficult problems?” Well, this is the after-effect of using our brain for thinking of not-so-worthy things.
Hunger of the mind can be actually satisfied through extensive reading. But why is it reading but not watching TV? Because reading has been the most educational tool used by us right from the childhood. Just like that to develop other aspects of our life, we have to turn to reading for help. You have a number of books in the world which will answer all your “how-to” questions. Once you read a book, you just don’t run your eyes through the lines, but your mind decodes (译解) it and explains it to you. The interesting part of the book is stored in your mind as a seed. Now this seed is unknowingly used by you in your future to develop new ideas. The same seed, if used many times, can help you link and relate a lot of things, which you would never thought of in your wildest dreams! This is nothing but creativity. The more books you read, the wider your mind will become. Also this improves your oratorical (speech-making) skills to a large extent and also makes a significant contribution to your vocabulary. When you start speaking English or any other language fluently with your friends or other people, you never seem to run out of the right words at the right time.
Actually, I had a problem in speaking English fluently, but as I read, I could improve significantly. So guys, do join me and give food for your thoughts by reading, reading and more reading. Now what are you waiting for? Go, grab a book and let me know! What’s the best title of the passage?
| A．Hunger of the mind |
| B．Stomach and Mind |
| C．Feed your Mind by reading |
| D．Reading or Watching TV |
You don’t know your mind is in hunger because _____.
| A．you are not hungry |
| B．you keep it thinking of silly things |
| C．your creativity gets a full stop |
| D．you always meet with difficult problems |
Which of the following is NOT mentioned as the advantage of reading?
| A．Reading can make your dream come true. |
| B．Reading can contribute to your vocabulary. |
| C．Reading can improve your spoken ability. |
| D．Reading can make people creative. |
The purpose of the author in writing this passage is to _______.
| A．comment and blame | B．introduce and describe |
| C．explain and persuade | D．advise and inform |
Compared to the other parts of the body, our ears don’t ask for much. They don't need to be brushed once a day like your teeth. But they need some special care, especially if you like listening to music with earphones.
Maybe your mum or dad has told you, "Turn that down before you go deaf!" Well, they are quite right. Loud noise might cause hearing loss for a short time or even forever. Think that earphones are a good way to escape from tour parents’ eyes? Well. It may not be as good a way as you expect. American doctors have studied a group of 44,000 people who used earphones more than 15 hours per week. The doctors found that 37,000 of them were getting hearing problems.
If you use earphones for too long a time, your ears might feel painful. You could also lose your hearing for the rest of your life. So don’t wear your earphones too long. Use them less than one hour a day. Want sharp hearing? Don’t forget to do the following: Try to stay away from places where there is too much noise, like a disco. If you have to go, wear earplugs. When swimming, remember to put earplugs into your ears to stop water from getting in. Never put anything sharp into your ears. If you think you have too much earwax, ask your mum or dad to help you clean it out.
Keep these things in mind! Then you won't be saying "WHAT???" when you are older.Using earphones "may not be as good a way as you expect" because _______.
| A．your parents know what you're doing |
| B．it can cause hearing problems |
| C．it makes your parents angry |
| D．most of you use them improperly |
If you want sharp hearing, you should _____.
| A．have your ears specially trained |
| B．often wear earplugs and clean out the earwax |
| C．take good care of your ears |
| D．choose what you listen to carefully |
"WHAT???" in the last sentence is an expression showing that the speaker____.
| A．has become impatient |
| B．speaks in a loud voice |
| C．is slow in understanding |
| D．asks for a lot of repetition |
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