Maybe it is true that we do not know wha...

TheUnitedStateshasaround475,000schoolbuses.Eachdaytheycarrymorethan25million children,halfofalltheschoolchildreninthecountry.

Thesebuses,onaverage,use4litersofdiesel(柴油)fueltotravellessthan16kilometers. When theschoolyearbeganlastfall,dieselaveraged55centsaliternationally.Thepricenearlydoubledby theendofschool inJune.

BobRileyisthespokesmanfortheAmericanSchoolBusCouncil.Hesaysfuelpricesnegotiated(商议) for schools arenot lower thanothers have to pay. Asaresult,schoolsarelookingfor waystoreducetransportationcosts.Busroutesarebeing redrawnor,insomecases,canceled.Someareas arebuyingbusesthatuse naturalgas orother alternativefuels.

Otherstepsincludefewerfieldtrips andlesstravel bysports teams.Someschool districtsmayend any busservicenotrequiredby law.

Studiesshowthatschoolbusesarethesafestform oftransportationtoandfrom school.

The AmericanSchoolBus Councilsayscutsinbus serviceare badfor childrenandpossiblythe environment.Itsaysremovingbusesfromtheroadwillmeananincreaseinothervehiclestransporting students. Spokesman Bob Riley saysanotherconcern is thatreducing  busservicemightreduce attendance.

It couldalso getmorechildren to walkor bicycle to school.That wouldsurely makepeople happy attheNationalCenterforSafeRoutestoSchool.Morekidswalkingorbikingsafelytoschoolisthe aimofa3-year-oldfederal program,partofaninternationalmovement.Thegoalis toincreasephysical activity and reduce air pollution.

1.Inthesecondparagraph,theauthorwantsto provethat   .

2.Inthe thirdparagraph,what doesBobRiley mean'?

3.Whatistheadvantage ofreducingschoolbusserviceaccordingto thepassage?

4.Whatisthesixth paragraphmainly about?

Traffic TV

Avoid the jams — see where tailbacks are before you set off and while on the move. Traffic TV is free to use on your personal computer and only £4 per month (see below for other network charges) on your mobile.

How does it work?

Over 7,500 Trafficmaster cameras monitor traffic flow on over 8,000 miles of motorways and roads across the UK keeping you up to date 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Traffic TV on your mobile

This downloadable application lets you see where jams are building up, the speed of vehicles at hotspots, and live pictures from thousands of roadside cameras.

Traffic TV is £4 a month for Orange mobile customers, after a 30 day free trial. On other networks Traffic TV is £5 a month, after a 7 day free trial.

Listen to live traffic news

Don’t want the download? Then simply dial the numbers below from your mobile to hear the latest traffic updates.

＊Orange mobile users call 177 (calls cost up to 55p a minute)

＊Other mobile users call 1740 (calls cost up to 59p a minute)

Help friends avoid jams

Simply enter your friend’s email address to send them a link to this service.

1.You may read this advertisement most probably ___________.

2.How long may a customer use the service if his/her network is Orange and pays £20?

3.What is the purpose of this advertisement?

4.How can users get live traffic information?

More than a hundred adults and kids gather for the Star Party on a cold evening, chattering excitedly as they stand in the dark on a Virginia hillside. The odd thing is, no one has turned on a flashlight, and no streetlights or house lights wink(闪烁) on around them.

These people have traveled to the countryside more than an hour from Washington, D. C., to get away from the glow of city lights.  That's because they are attending a star party. Star parties are gatherings where professional and amateur astronomers set up their telescopes and invite people to come learn about the night sky. Getting away from light pollution, or artificial skylight from buildings for example,  helps stargazers (看星星的人) see objects in the sky much better.

At this star party, Sean O'Brien of the National Air and Space Museum’s Einstein Planetarium starts off by asking the crowd to simply look up and take in all they can see. He points out plenty of things that can be seen without special equipment. Stars, satellites, and even the Andromeda galaxy(仙女座) can be found if you know where to look.

After that, several dozen astronomers offer close-up views. Each has focused their telescope on a different part of the sky. As kids take a look, the owner gives a mini-lesson.

O’Brien says you can have your own star party at home and learn a lot just by paying attention to what's happening up above. "Watch the sky as the seasons pass, and you will see that it changes," he says. "Or start with the moon. Notice when and where you are seeing it—maybe even in the early morning while you wait for the school bus. "

1.What was it special about the Star Party ?

2.According to the passage, who were involved in the activity ?

a. some invited guests

b. some government officials

c. some experts in astronomy

d. those who were interested in astronomy

e. students who were major in agriculture

3.From the passage, we can infer that if you want to see the objects in the sky            .

4.Which of the following can be best describe what O'Brien says about discovering the stars'?

A farm planted levels or floors is called a vertical（垂直的）farm. A skyscraper type building can house a vertical farm. Since the garden is built upwards，rather than outwards，it requires much less space than a conventional farm.

The world is quickly running out of room for conventional farming. Vertical farms could be a key to this situation. An 18­story vertical farm could feed as many as 50,000 people，all in an area which is the size of the average city block. Vertical farms in the city could cut down on transportation costs as well. Think about the amount of fuel it takes to transport food from farmland to city. The resources saved would be surprising. Besides saving travel time，food would be delivered in fresher condition and with less damage.

There is a growing concern about the use of pesticides(杀虫剂) in agriculture today. But the vertical farm would be a greenhouse type environment, avoiding the need for a large number of pesticides. Vertical farms can be built in a contained space，therefore they are an excellent solution for living well in an environment far different from our own. Hydroponics(水耕法) could be a big part of vertical gardening. This would reduce the amount of soil needed to grow food. Of course，not all food does well with this type of planting，but there are many crops that actually seem to do better.

In some climates，a lack of sunlight creates a short growing season. The solar power option may not work as well here. The addition of grow lights would make it possible to grow crops in vertical gardens in these areas .In other words，we could grow crops in areas where we never could before.

Vertical farms may just be a concept for now，but they are a concept that will solve many of our problems in the future.

1.According to the passage, a vertical farm________.

2.Compared to the conventional farm, the vertical farm can________.

3.It can be learned from the passage that vertical farms________.

4.What would be the best title for the passage?

Traditional fairytales(童话) are being given up by parents because they are too scary for their young children, a study found．

Research uncovered that one in five parents has got rid of old literature such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarves and Rapunzel in favor of more modern books．One third of parents said their children have been left in tears after hearing the gruesome details of Little Red Riding Hood．And nearly half of mothers and fathers refuse to read Rumplesliltshin to their kids as the themes of the story are kidnapping and killing．Similarly, Goldilocks and the Three Bears was also a tale likely to be left on the book shelf as parents felt it forgives stealing．

The survey of 2,000 adults was completed to mark the launch of the hit US drama GRIMM （ 格林童话剧） , which starts tonight at 9pm on Watch, and sees six drama series based on traditional fairytales．

The survey found a quarter of parents questioned wouldn’t consider reading fairytales to their kids．And 52 percent of the parents said Cinderella didn’t send a good message to their children as it describes a young woman doing housework all day．

Steve Hornsey, General Manager of Watch, said: "Bedtime stories are supposed to calm children down and send them off to sleep soundly．But as we see in GMMM, fairytales can be dark and dramatic so it’s understandable that parents worry about reading them to young children．As adults we can see the innocence in fairytales, but a five - year - old child could take them too literally．Despite the dark nature of classic fairytales as we see in GRIMM, good will defeat evil and there is always a moral to the story．"

The study also found two thirds of mums and dads try to avoid stories which might give their children nightmares．The most popular book read at bedtime is now 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar' by Eric Carle.

However half of parents said traditional tales are "more likely to have a strong moral message than a lot of modern kids' books, such as The Gruffato, The Hungary Caterpillar and the Mr. Men books．

1.Classical works for children are being avoided by parents they think           .

2.What does the underlined word "gruesome" mean?

3.Which stories are the popular bedtime stories that parents like to tell their children now?

4.According to Steve Hornsey , adults can see innocence in a fairy tale but a 5-year-old child might ______．