Emma Hart Willard (1787—1870) was an Ame...

When building houses, people used to think about not only the climate of the areas but also the building materials and the fashions for their houses. However, since electricity became more and more expensive, people began to pay much more attention to the energy they could get for their houses and the new ways they could find to protect their houses from both cold and heat.

Now, houses of an old yet new type have been widely built. In some parts of the world, people share their houses with their livestock（家畜）.During cold weather, they gather their cows, goats, or other animals and keep them on the first floor of their houses. The reasons are that the animals can be protected from the cold and that they can help to heat the houses as well. The body heat given off by the animals rises to the second floor of the houses, where people live. By sharing their houses with their livestock, people gain a source of heat.

People who live in or near cities do not usually keep livestock. However, home builders use the fact that heat rises. This natural law can be used in building houses in these areas. Instead of keeping livestock on the first floor, builders fill it with large rocks. As they are open to the sun’s rays during cold weather, these rocks take in heat. They also give off the heat, and, of course, the warm air rises into the living areas of the houses. So these houses are energy-saving.

House-building becomes a great challenge to building designers and energy engineers. They try to meet this challenge by learning from old traditions and by using modern technology. And someday in the future, people will be able to live in more energy-saving houses.

1.What did people begin to consider as electricity was no longer cheap?

2.People in some areas gain a source of heat by _________.

3.The underlined words “natural law” in the third paragraph refer to the fact that ________.

4.From the passage, we can conclude that __________.

Mr. Lang worked in a factory. As a driver he was busy but he was paid much. His wife was an able woman and did all the housework. When he came back, she took good care of him and he never did anything at home. So he had enough time when he had a holiday. A few friends of his liked gambling（赌博）and he learned it soon. So he was interested in it and hardly forgot anything except gambling. He lost all his money and later he began to sell the television, watches and so on. His wife told him not to do it but he didn’t listen to her. She had to tell the police. He and his friends were punished for it. And he was nearly sent away. After he came out of lock-up(拘留所), he hated her very much and the woman had to leave him. It was New Year’s Day. Mr. Lang didn’t go to work. He felt lonely and wanted to gamble again. He called his friends and they came soon. But they were afraid the police would come. He told his five-year-old son to go to find out if there were the policemen outside. They waited for a long time and didn’t think the police would come and began to gamble. Suddenly a few policemen opened the door and came in.

“I saw there weren’t any policemen outside, Daddy” said the boy “So I went to the crossing and asked some to come.”

1.Mr. Lang was paid much because _______.

2.Mrs. Lang did all housework because _______.

3.The woman had to leave Mr. Lang because _______.

4.Which of the following is right? _________.

Lulu is a brave pet in our shelter. As you know, there are a lot of forest fires during the summer season. Many forests are badly damaged by fire each year. Not far from our shelter, a forest caught fire during this hot summer. We were in a heat wave which had been   31  for three days.

Lulu rushed towards the forest where flames sent out a terrible   32 ．I no longer had any hope that Lulu would come back to the shelter．In fact, I was waiting for the firemen to announce his   33  in the forest, when suddenly, a fireman burst into my shelter and informed me that my dog Lulu had   34    to save four kittens(小猫) who were trapped by the flames．According to the fireman, Lulu seized the kittens, one by one moving them to a safe place．I immediately accompanied(陪同) the fireman to the forest to   35    the rescued kittens．When we arrived   36   the scene of the incident, we found Lulu was not there. Then we heard the   37   of a dog from the forest barking furiously (猛烈地). I recognized it was my dog Lulu．The fireman followed the tracks of the dog until we found him barking   38   by the side of an injured fireman who was lying on the ground and desperately(绝望地) waiting for rescue．Thanks to Lulu, four kittens and a fireman were saved.

That day, I was very proud of Lulu for his two heroic(英雄的) 39   toward the kittens and the fireman．Lulu showed much compassion (同情) for both animals like him and for a human being who was trying to   40   the fire with his colleagues(同事)．

This true story of genuine(真的) love and compassion shows us that pets are loving, caring and considerate(考虑周到的)．We should love and protect them．One day they could do us a good turn.

—I wish I _________ the meeting.

—But you didn’t .

Is there a hospital around _________ I can get some medicine for my wounded hand?