Since the first Earth Day in 1970, Americans have gotten a lot “greener” toward the environment ．“We didn’t know at that time that there even was an environment, let alone that there was a problem with it, ”says Bruce Anderson, president of Earth Day USA．
But what began as nothing important in public affairs has grown into a social movement ．Business people, political leaders, university professors, and especially millions of grass-roots Americans are taking part in the movement．“The understanding has increased many, many times, ”says Gaylord Nelson, the former governor from Wisconsin, who thought up the first Earth Day．
According to US government reports , emissions (排放)from cars and trucks have dropped from 10．3 million tons a year to 5．5 tons ．The number of cities producing CO beyond the standard has been reduced from 40 to 9 ．Although serious problems still remain and need to be dealt with , the world is a safer and healthier place ．A kind of “Green thinking ” has become part of practices ．
Great improvement has been achieved ．In 1988 there were only 600 recycling programs , ; today in 1995 there are about 6, 600 ．Advanced lights , motors , and building designs have helped save a lot of energy and therefore prevented pollution ．
Twenty –five years ago , there were hardly any education programs for environment ．Today , it’s hard to find a public school , university , or law school that does not have such a kind of program ．” Until we do that , nothing else will change! ” say Bruce Anderson ．According to Anderson , before 1970, Americans had little idea about ___
| A．the social movement |
| B．recycling techniques |
| C．environmental problems |
| D．the importance of Earth Day |
Where does the support for environmental protection mainly come from?
| A．The grass –roots level |
| B．The business circle |
| C．Government officials |
| D．University professors |
What have Americans achieved in environmental protection ?
| A．hey have cut car emissions to the lowest |
| B．They have settled their environmental problems |
| C．They have lowered their CO levels in forty cities． |
| D．They have reduced pollution through effective measures ． |
What is especially important for environmental protection according to the last paragraph ?
| A．Education |
| B．Planning |
| C．Green living |
| D．CO reduction |
nickname is a shortened form of a person's name. A nickname also can be a descriptive name for a person, place or thing. Many American cities have nicknames. These can help establish an identity, spread pride among citizens and build unity.
A few years ago, some marketing and advertising experts were asked to name the best nickname for an American city. The winner was the nation's largest city, New York. The top nickname was The Big Apple.
You might wonder how New York got this nickname. In the early nineteen seventies, the city had many problems. The number of visitors was falling. So a campaign was launched to give the city a new image. The head of the New York Conventions and Visitors Bureau decided to call the city, The Big Apple.
There are several explanations for where this name came from. Language expert Barry Popik studied the question and wrote about it on his Web site. He says John Fitz Gerald, a writer for a New York newspaper, used the name The Big Apple to mean New York in the nineteen twenties. Mister Fitz Gerald wrote about horse races. He heard the name used by men who worked at a racetrack in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Mister Fitz Gerald wrote: "The Big Apple. The dream of every lad that ever threw a leg over a thoroughbred and the goal of all horsemen. There's only one Big Apple. That's New York."
In horse racing, the expression meant "the big time," the place where large amounts of money could be won. The Big Apple became the name of a night club in the Harlem area of New York City in nineteen thirty-four. It also was the name of a popular dance and a hit song in the nineteen thirties.
But it is not the only nickname for America's largest city. Barry Popik's web site lists almost one hundred nicknames that describe New York. The best known are The Capital of the World. Empire City. Gotham. The City So Nice They Named it Twice. And, The City That Never Sleeps. You can hear about the city in the song, "New York, New York," by Frank Sinatra. Why do many American cities have nicknames?（回答词数不超过15个）
What did John Fitz Gerald write about for the New York newspaper?（回答词数不超过5个）
Besides “The Big Apple”, how many best known nicknames that describe New York are listed according to Barry Popik's web site?（回答词数不超过2个）
I don’t like my parents. They always tell me I should do this, and should not do that. It sometimes makes me angry,” said Liu Dan, a middle school student in Beijing. Do you have the same problem? Perhaps your parents had the same problem when they were your age long ago. Why does it seem that some parents are not so friendly in their children’s eyes?
One of the biggest things is when someone becomes a parent, he or she likes worrying things. They worry about everything about you from the time you were born. They do a lot for you, though something would make you angry, because they care about you and worry about you. They worry about your choice of friends, the food you eat, your work at school, how much sleep you get, etc. All these things are part of your life. They want you to grow up healthily and happily.
So how can you make things easier on yourself? It’s easier than you think. Just make sure your parents know what you’re doing. Get them to know your friends. Call them if you stay somewhere else later than usual. Say sorry to them when you make mistakes. Take responsibility for what you have done. Talk about your ideas with them. They may talk about theirs with you.
Most of all, try to think about why your parents do this or do that. They are still practicing being parents and need help you can give them. Someday, when you become a parent, they may be able to help you how to get on with your children.The writer of the passage doesn’t agree that _______.
| A．parents want you to grow up healthily |
| B．parents don’t want you to make some bad friends |
| C．parents worry about everything about you |
| D．parents want to control you |
Some of the children are angry with their parents in the passage because ________.
| A．the parents think they eat too much |
| B．the parents don’t like the friends that their children have made |
| C．the children don’t live with their parents |
| D．the children are limited by their parents |
“They are still practicing being parents.” means _______.
| A．parents are not always right | B．parents should practice more |
| C．parents have many mistakes | D．parents are always right |
The main idea in this passage is that _______.
| A．some of the parents in China don’t love their children |
| B．children and parents should understand more about each other |
| C．parents should worry too much about their children |
| D．children should bear everything their parents arranged |
Reduce, reuse, and recycle. This familiar environmentalist slogan tells us how to reduce the amount of rubbish that ends up in landfills and waterways. The concept is being used to deal with one possibly dangerous form of waste — electronic junk (电子垃圾), such as old computers, cell phones, and televisions. But this process for managing e-waste may be used in an unscrupulous way more often than not used, a recent report suggests.
“A lot of these materials are being sent to developing nations under the excuse of reuse — to bridge the digital divide,” said Richard Gutierrez, a policy researcher.
One of the problems is that no one proves whether these old machines work before they hit the seaways. Because of this, the report says, e-waste is a growing problem in Lagos, Nigeria, and elsewhere in the developing world. Much of the waste ends up being thrown away along rivers and roads. Often it’s picked apart by poor people, who may face dangerous exposure to poisonous chemicals in the equipment.
Businessmen also pay workers a little money to get back materials such as gold and copper. This low-tech recovery process could expose workers and the local environment to many dangerous materials used to build electronics. According to Gutierrez, this shadow economy exists because the excuse of recycling and reusing electronics gives businessmen “a green passport” to ship waste around the globe. “Developing nations must take upon some of the responsibility themselves,” Gutierrez said. But, he added, “A greater portion of this responsibility should fall on the exporting state.”
China, for example, has become a dumping place for large amounts of e-waste. The nation is beginning to take action to stop the flow of dangerous materials across its borders. The Chinese government, after many years of denial is finally beginning to take the lead. The passage mainly tells us that _______.
| A．developing countries are facing serious environmental problems |
| B．e-waste is sent to developing countries under the excuse of reuse |
| C．developing countries are making full use of e-waste |
| D．e-waste is a growing problem in developed countries |
What does the third paragraph mainly discuss?
| A．A lot of e-waste is dumped in developing countries. |
| B．Poor people break up e-waste to collect some valuable materials. |
| C．The problem of e-waste is growing in developing countries. |
| D．Old computers and TVs still work before they are sent abroad. |
The underlined word “unscrupulous” in Paragraph 1 probably means “________”.
| A．immoral | B．wrong | C．proud | D．unsafe |
From what Gutierrez said we can learn that ________.
| A．developing countries should be responsible for this problem |
| B．exporting countries should be mainly responsible for this problem |
| C．neither rich nor poor countries should be blamed for this problem |
| D．poor countries should be blamed for this problem |
There is an old saying in English： "Laughter is the best medicine". Until recently, few people took the saying very seriously. Now, however, doctors have begun to investigate laughter and the effects it has on the human body. They have found evidence that laughter really can improve people's health.
Tests were carried out to study the effects of laughter on the body. People watched funny films, while doctors checked their heart rate, blood pressure, breathing and muscles. It was found that laughter has similar effects to physical exercise. It increases blood pressure, the heart rate and the rate of breathing； it also works several groups of muscles in the face, the stomach, and even the feet. If laughter exercises the body, it must be beneficial.
Other tests have shown that laughter appears to be capable of reducing the effect of pain on the body. In one experiment doctors produced pain in groups of students who listened to different radio programs. The group which tolerated the pain for the longest time was 'the group which listened to a funny program. The reason why laughter can reduce pain seems to be that it helps to produce endorphins （内啡肽） in the brain. These are natural chemicals which diminish both stress and pain.
There is also some evidence to suggest that laughter helps the body's immune(免疫的)system, that is, the system which fights infection. In an experiment, one group of students watched a funny video while another group served as the control group - in other words, a group with which to compare the first group. Doctors checked the blood of the students in both groups and found that the people in the group that watched the video had an increase in the activity of their white blood cells, that is, the cells which fight infection.
As a result of these discoveries, some doctors and psychiatrists （精神病学家） in the United States now hold laughter clinics, in which they try to improve their patients' condition by encouraging them to laugh. They have found that even if their patients do not really feel like laughing, making them smile is enough to produce beneficial effects similar to those caused by laughter. We learn from the first paragraph that laughter____________________.
| A．is good for one's health |
| B．is related to some illness |
| C．has been investigated long since |
| D．has no effect on the body |
Doctors have found that laughter_______________________.
| A．keeps down blood pressure. |
| B．has similar effects to physical exercise |
| C．decreases the heart rate |
| D．increases stress |
Which of the following statements is NOT true of laughter, according to the passage?
| A．It reduces pain. |
| B．It exercises the body. |
| C．It improves the body's immune system. |
| D．It can cure cancer. |
The writer's attitude towards laughter is__________.
| A．critical |
| B．doubtful |
| C．positive |
| D．negative |
阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从第31至第40小题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项。
Dear Mr. Takashhi,
I am writing to apologize for any misunderstandings that occurred when I showed you around Beijing the other day. I noticed that you were a bit 31 when I put the business card you gave me in my 32 without looking at it. And 33 did not know why you kept making an OK sign and why you 34 so many things. After reading a magazine article, I know that Japanese people give out their business cards 35 they greet others and they would like others to look at their cards carefully. So I should have read your 36 before I put it in my pocket. And I also know why you bought so many things 37 . Because gift-giving is expected in Japan and on a trip, you must bring back lots of 38 . As for the OK sign, I now know it is a request for small change.
I feel very sorry for not having known these 39 habits earlier. I hope you can forgive me for all these misunderstandings. I hope 40 our next meeting will be happier.
Yours sincerely,
Li Hualing
1. A. pleased B. upset C. excited D. encouraged
2. A. hand B. box C. watch D. pocket
3. A. I B. you C. we D. nobody
4. A. made B. saw C. bought D. eat
5. A. unless B. before C. after D. when
6. A. faces B. books C. cards D. clothes
7. A. there B. here C. home D. everywhere
8. A. gifts B. photos C. pictures D. sweets
9. A. strange B. rare C. unusual D. cultural
10. A. which B. that C. when D. where
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