Jackie Heinricher's love affair with bamboo started in her backyard. “As a child, I remember playing among the golden bamboo my dad had planted, and when there was a slight wind, the bamboos sounded really musical.”
A fisheries biologist, Heinricher, 47, planned to work in the salmon industry in Seattle, where she lived with her husband, Guy Thornburgh, but she found it too competitive. Then her garden gave her the idea for a business: She'd planted 20 bamboo forests on their seven-acre farm.
Heinricher started Boo-Shoot Gardens in 1998. She realized early on what is just now beginning to be known to the rest of the world. It can be used to make fishing poles, skateboards, buildings, furniture, floors, and even clothing. An added bonus: Bamboo absorbs four times as much carbon dioxide as a group of hardwood trees and releases 35 percent more oxygen.
First she had to find a way to mass-produce the plants—a tough task, since bamboo flowers create seed only once every 50 to 100 years. And dividing a bamboo plant frequently kills it.
Heinricher appealed to Randy Burr, a tissue culture expert, to help her. “People kept telling us we'd never figure it out,” says Heinricher.“Others had worked on it for 27 years! I believed in what we were doing, though, so I just kept going.”
She was right to feel a sense of urgency. Bamboo forests are being rapidly used up, and a United Nations report showed that even though bamboo is highly renewable, as many as half of the world's species are threatened with dying out. Heinricher knew that bamboo could make a significant impact on carbon emissions(排放)and world economies, but only if huge numbers could be produced. And that's just what she and Burr figured out after nine years of experiments—a way to grow millions of plants. By placing cuttings in test tubes with salts, vitamins, plant hormones, and seaweed gel, they got the plants to grow and then raised them in soil in greenhouses.
Not long after it, Burr's lab hit financial difficulties. Heinricher had no experience running a tissue culture operation, but she wasn't prepared to quit. So she bought the lab.
Today Heinricher heads up a profitable multimillion-dollar company, working on species from all over the world and selling them to wholesalers(批发商). “If you want to farm bamboo, it's hard to do without the young plants, and that's what we have，” she says proudly.What was the main problem with planting bamboo widely?
| A．They didn't have enough young bamboo. |
| B．They were short of money and experience. |
| C．They didn't have a big enough farm to do it. |
| D．They were not understood by other people. |
What does Heinricher think of bamboo?
| A．Fragile and affordable. |
| B．Productive and flexible. |
| C．Useful and earth-friendly. |
| D．Strong and profitable. |
The underlined word “renewable” in Paragraph 6 probably means “________”．
| A．able to be replaced naturally |
| B．able to be raised difficultly |
| C．able to be shaped easily |
| D．able to be recycled conveniently |
What do you learn from the passage?
| A．Heinricher's love for bamboo led to her experiments in the lab. |
| B．Heinricher's determination helped her to succeed in her work. |
| C．Heinricher struggled to prevent bamboo from disappearing. |
| D．Heinricher finally succeeded in realizing her childhood dream. |
While there has been public debate about whether running is good for your health for a long time, experts agree that running has more benefits than the costs. Some people are concerned that the pressure on your knees and ankles can be detrimental. While this can be true, there are many things that you can do to reduce your risk of injury.
You should always go to a doctor for advice before you begin any type of exercise program. Then, a good pair of running shoes can be helpful as your feet hit the ground. They will help protect your ankles by providing stability to your feet. So it is good idea to visit a specialty(专业) running shoe store. The staff there can suggest shoes which are ideal for your running style.
In order to learn the proper form, you may get some advice from a friend who has been running for some time, or even join a running club. They can provide good tips as well as some support and encouragement for you.
Lastly, it is important to start out slowly. When it comes to getting in shape and losing weight , short bursts of speed followed by periods of slower movement would be proper. Aim for around 30 minutes of exercise a few days a week. As you get better, you can increase your speed. Always allow your body to rest in between heavy exercise as your muscles need time to bring energy back.
Follow these instructions and your running experience will be a great one!In the expert’s opinion,______________________.
| A．running is good for your health as well as your mind. |
| B．you should buy running shoes in an expensive store. |
| C．running has more advantages than disadvantages for you. |
| D．you should go to the doctor if you have a running injury |
The underlines word “ detrimental” in Paragraph 1 probably means___
| A．harmful | B．useful | C．expensive | D．rare |
If you take up running, you should___________________
| A．worry about the pressure on your knees and ankles |
| B．ask the shopkeeper for a pair of running shoes |
| C．take advice from friends whom you will start running with |
| D．join a running club so that you can get encouragement |
What can we infer from the passage?
| A．More and more people have become interested in running. |
| B．Good running methods can reduce the risk of injury. |
| C．It’s better to run as far as possible to lose weight. |
| D．The instructions in the passage are given by a famous doctor. |
EVERYBODY in this world is different from one another. But do you know that understanding differences can help you better manage your money?
As we grow up, we gradually develop a set of our own values or beliefs. These are influenced by society, our family, the education we receive and so on. Once this value system is set up, it’s not easy to change later in life.
Financial experts say that everyone also has their own belief of how to manage their finances. This is part of our value system and it has a great impact on the way we look after our money.
According to our different values, experts put us in three categories. They are: the ant, the cricket and the snail.
The ant—works first
Just like ants who work heart and soul in summer in order to store food for winter, these people don’t care about enjoying the moment. They work very hard and save money they earn so that they can enjoy life when they get old and retire. The ant loves to save but they could make more out of their money if they were willing to invest in some funds and stocks with low risk.
The cricket—fun first
The cricket wants to enjoy everything now and doesn’t think too much about the future. They even borrow money when they really want something. Many young people now belong to this group. These people have little savings. When they get old, they might have problems. They should learn to save and buy insurance.
The snail—lives under pressure
The snail refers to people who make life difficult for themselves. They take big long-term loans from the bank in order to buy things such as luxury houses. They are happy to take big loans even though they are not sure they can afford it. This can cause problems in the future. They should plan more carefully.We can learn from the text that _____.
| A．we spend money because we have earned it |
| B．saving money is a good way to manage money |
| C．your way of managing money is a reflection of your value or belief |
| D．spending money is a wiser way |
Of the three types of people, the one that has no weakness is _____.
| A．the ant | B．the snail | C．none of them | D． the cricket |
If you had three dollars, you would spend all of it. Which type do you belong to?
| A．The cricket | B．The ant | C．The snail | D．None of them |
The text tells us mainly about _____.
| A．understanding differences |
| B．our own values and beliefs |
| C．living behaviors of small animal |
| D．spending nature |
Those who spend more pre-bedtime hours using the Internet or watching television are more likely to report insufficient sleep, even though they sleep almost as long as people spending fewer pre-bedtime hours in front of a computer or television screen, survey findings show.
“While many people use electronic media, say, the Internet, it should be noted that the longer media use before sleep can trigger (self-perceived) insufficient sleep,” lead researcher Dr Nakamori Suganuma, of Osaka University, Japan, told the reporter.
He and colleagues obtained data on self-perceived sleep problems and the use of electronic media prior to bedtime from 5,875 altogether Japanese respondents in two separate Internet-based surveys. Their findings are published in Sleep and Biological Rhythms.
Nearly half of the respondents associated their problem with electronic media use before bedtime. Longer electronic media users were also more likely to report insufficient sleep.
“Overall, 29% of light users (less than 1.5 hours) listed electronic media use as a possible cause of their insufficient sleep. By comparison, 40% of medium users (1.5 to 3 hours) and 54% of heavy users (more than 3 hours) said the same.
However, longer Internet and television use before bedtime did not correlate with less actual sleep.
While heavy users averaged about 3 more hours in front of computer or television screens than light users, the heavy users averaged only about 12 minutes less pre-workday sleep time than light users.
Notably, Suganuma said, "Internet use affected self-perceived insufficient sleep more than TV watching not only in younger Internet users but also in middle-aged or aged Internet users."
Up to 38% of the respondents listed accessing the Internet far into the night as a possible cause for their sleep disturbance, while about 25% said watching television far into the night caused it.
The findings suggest that while heavy computer and television use before bedtime has a small effect on sleep duration, it may have a more significant effect on "sleep demand and sleep quality," Suganuma notes. Heavy computer and television user before bed time are more likely to be______ than light ones.
| A．energetic | B．happy | C．sleepy | D．clever |
Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?
| A．Heavy computer and television user before bed time have less sleeping time than light ones. |
| B．Heavy computer and television user before bed time have worse sleep than light ones. |
| C．Those suffering insufficient sleep spend less time in using internet than in watching TV. |
| D．Spend less time in watching TV or surfing the internet, and you will have a better sleep. |
The passage seems to suggest that people ______.
| A．be far away from media. |
| B．watch TV rather than use internet |
| C．cut down late-night Internet and TV |
| D．Stop late-night internet and TV |
Which of the following phrases is similar in meaning to the underlined phrase in the sixth paragraph?
| A．have any connection with | B．make a friend with |
| C．share the opinion with | D．in accordance with |
What is an idiom? An idiom is a group of words which, when used together, has a different meaning from the one which the individual words have. For example, “---How do you know that Sid and Nancy have separated ?” “---I heard it on the grapevine(葡萄藤)”.
Of course, the second speaker does not mean he heard the news about John by putting his ear to a grapevine! He is conveying the idea visually of information spreading around a widespread network, similar to a grapevine. We use idioms to express something that other words do not express as clearly or as cleverly. We often use an image or symbol to describe something as clearly as possible and thus make our point as effectively as possible. For example, "in a nutshell" suggests the idea of having all the information contained within very few words. Idioms tend to be informal and are best used in spoken rather than written English.
One of the best ways to learn an idiom is by looking at the context in which it is used. This can be done by concentrating on the rest of the sentence and try to guess the meaning. Many idioms are not that difficult to understand when considered in their context. For example: We are going to have a surprise party for Tom tomorrow. It's a secret so please don't let the cat out of the bag.
'Let the cat out of the bag' is an idiom. Imagine you don't know what this idiom means; by looking at the words preceding, it should be easy to guess that the speaker does not want you to tell Tom about the surprise party. Therefore, 'let the cat out of the bag' must mean something like' reveal a secret' or 'tell a secret'.Which of the following sentences is NOT similar to “I heard it on the grapevine. ” in figures of speech(在修辞方面)？
| A．The exam was a piece of cake. |
| B．You will be paid under the table. |
| C．You eat with that mouth? |
| D．It rained cats and dogs yesterday. |
“I was feeling under the weather so I went to see a doctor.” The underlined idiom means____.
| A．blue | B．homesick | C．unhappy | D．ill |
It is most probable that idioms will be seen______.
| A．in a paper | B．in an preface(序言) | C．in a notice | D．in online chatting |
Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?
| A．Other words can express something as vividly as idioms. |
| B．Written English with spoken English does not use idioms at all. |
| C．There are plant, food, animal idioms used to express something. |
| D．Contexts play not a bit important part in guessing the meaning of idioms. |
The China Daily newspaper group is looking for English-language senior business editors, senior copy editors, copy editors and graphic designers to strengthen its international team. We offer a competitive salary package, accommodation with furniture paid for 90 percent medical reimbursement（报销）, a seven-day paid leave, eleven-day public holidays and a return ticket to the country of residence.
Senior Business Editor
You must:
（1）Assist the business editor in setting goals and working on achieving them;
（2）Be an excellent team person who can generate ideas and think creatively and be able to rewrite totally if needed;
（3）Ideally have been working or have worked in a position of Responsibility and
understand what leadership intends;
（4）Have had at least five years' editing experience working on editing the Business Desk and be familiar with industry software.
Senior Copy Editor
You must:
（1）Work on shifts in the Business Desk and usually have the last word before the page is sent to print;
（2）Edit or rewrite copy and give smart headlines and captions (文字说明);
（3）Have had at least two years' editing experience working on editing desks and be familiar with industry software.
Copy Editor
You must:
（1）Be good at editing or rewriting copy and writing smart headlines and captions:
（2）Be able to work on shifts for different pages, and usually have the last word before the page is sent to print;
（3）Have two years of editing experience working on copy desks, and be familiar with industry software.
Graphic Designer
You must:
（1）Have excellent skills in information graphics;
（2）Be good at illustrations and freehand drawings;
（3）Be experienced in newspaper or magazine layouts（布局）;
（4）Have a good sense of typography（活版印刷术）;
（5）Have good news judgment;
（6）Be fluent in English.
For enquiries or to apply, write to job @ chinadaily.com.cn.What is the purpose of this passage?
| A．To advertise for employing some good employees. |
| B．To tell you how to become part of this group. |
| C．To describe the working conditions of the China Daily newspaper group. |
| D．To describe the positions of the China Daily newspaper group. |
What is not required about Graphic Designer?
| A．Having a good sense of typography. |
| B．Have excellent skills in information graphics. |
| C．Writing smart headlines and captions. |
| D．Be expert in Photoshop. |
How many positions need editing experience?
| A．Two | B．Three. | C．Four | D．Five |
Which of the following can be the best title of the passage?
| A．China Daily: New Employees Wanted |
| B．China Daily: The Best Working Condition |
| C．China Daily: Newspaper |
| D．China Daily: An International Team |
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