While students in Hainan are quite used to clear skies, Beijing teenagers are not so lucky. As another warm winter approaches, the city can expect the normal clouds of smoke caused by air pollution.
But things may start to improve soon. The government is co-operating with a US-based environmental protection agency to update existing buses and trucks with clean fuel technology. The new technology could reduce air pollutants in existing diesel engines(柴油机)by 40 percent. The programme will begin by testing buses in Beijing to see if the technology can be applied to them.
“We encourage the development of public transports. But at the same time we need to reduce pollution from them, ”said an official.
Efforts are being made to improve the capital’s environment with tighter controls on emissions(排放). Some heavily polluting factories and construction sites, such as those owned by the steel giant Shougang Group, have been asked to cut production in November and December or be closed.
Beijing was the third polluted city in the world at the end of last century, according to the UN. But thanks to recent measures, the capital has made some progress. Last year 224 clear days were rated as having good air quality. In 1998 the air quality index(指数)gave just 100 days as good.
“I am glad to see an improvement, ”said a senior 1 boy living in the northwest of Beijing. “Compared to other places, the air quality of Beijing is still worrying though. I hate pollution. Once I was riding my bike in the morning when I almost had a traffic accident because I couldn’t see a car only metres away from me in fog. ”
In early October, the skies were covered by such a thick fog that a display show by the visiting French Air Force was called off.
Rapid development, industry, traffic fumes and sandstorms from the desert all contribute to the city’s bad air.
1. The passage is mainly about .
A. a programme aiming at improving Beijing’s air quality
B. progress made in Beijing’s air quality
C. Beijing’s air pollution
D. the differences between Hainan and Beijing
2.Which of the following is NOT the measure taken or to be taken to improve Beijing’s air quality?
A. Clean fuel technology will be used in public transports.
B. Some factories have been asked to cut production.
C. Some construction sites have been told to be closed.
D. A display show of airplanes has been called off.
3. We can infer from the passage that, with the aim of being an ecological(生态的)city, .
A. far more still needs to be done
B. nothing else needs to be done
C. all traffic has to be closed
D. the development of the city has to be slowed down
4.Which of the following is NOT correct according to the passage?
A. Beijing’s air quality is getting worse and worse.
B. Rapid development, industry, traffic fumes and sandstorms are all the causes of bad air quality.
C. People see clouds of smoke in the sky in the winter of Beijing.
D. The government is making efforts to stop air pollution.
As a boy growing up in India, I had longed to travel abroad. I used to listen to the stories my father would tell me about his stay in Canada and tours to Europe in the 1970s, with great interest.
My big moment finally came in the summer of 1998 when I was able to accompany my parents to Europe, where my father was to attend a meeting. We planned to travel to Belgium, Netherlands and West Germany.
I have vivid memories even today of going to Mumbai airport at night all excited about finally going abroad. I had heard several great things about Lufthansa till then but now I finally got to experience them first hand, during the flight to Frankfurt. We flew business class and even today I can remember the excellent service by the Lufthansa crew. The flight was really smooth and thoroughly enjoyable, even for someone like me, who is otherwise scared of flying.
After spending almost two weeks in Europe, we took the Lufthansa airport express from Dusseldorf to Frankfurt airport, for our return flight. What a journey that was!All along the Rhine(莱茵河), it was simply an unforgettable experience. I was in a sombre mood on the flight back to Mumbai as it marked the end of a wonderful vacation, but the Lufthansa crew members were able to change it into a most enjoyable experience yet again, with the quality of their service.
Being the first airline to take me overseas, Lufthansa will always hold a special place in my heart. Even today, I continue to enjoy flights on Lufthansa and simply cannot dream of choosing any other airline. Flying, in general, for me, has always been an ordeal(terrible and painful experience). Flying on Lufthansa, however, is something I always have and always will look forward to.
1.Which country does the author live in now?
A. India. B. Canada. C. Belgium. D. Germany.
2.Which of the following is TRUE about the author’s trip to Europe in 1998?
A. The author traveled with one of his parents.
B. Both their going and return are by air.
C. They traveled in spring that year.
D. They stayed in Europe for nearly two months.
3.It can be inferred from the passage that Lufthansa is .
A. a city in IndiaB. a city in Europe
C. an airline companyD. a travel agency
4.The underlined word“sombre”in the 4th paragraph probably means“ ”.
A. happyB. sad
C. angryD. enjoyable
Tiredness, coughing, a runny nose and a sore throat—among all sicknesses there is probably none more common than the flu, which we all get now and then.
However, bird flu is a completely different story.
Ten years ago, the H5N1 bird flu swept across 15 countries, including China, with sufferers reporting chest pain, difficulty breathing, fever and severe coughing. More than 600 people were infected, and about 60 percent died. Now another type of bird flu hit Shanghai and three neighboring provinces, and this time the virus is called H7N9. By the afternoon of April 11, the new virus had taken nine lives out of 35 infected, according to Xinhua News Agency.
The“H”and“N”in the virus’ name refers to two kinds of proteins on the surface of the virus. Any change of the numbers of the two proteins indicates a new mutation(变异). Most of the mutations only affect birds, such as chickens and pigeons, and don’t normally spread to humans. But once they do, the results can be disastrous.
“Any time an animal influenza virus crosses to humans, it is a cause for concern, ”Malik Peiris, virologist(病毒学家)at the University of Hong Kong, told Nature magazine. Take the SARS epidemic(传染病)10 years ago as an example. The virus behind the disease is thought to have jumped to humans from animals. The virus was a complete“stranger”to human bodies, which hadn’t developed an immunity against it.
But there is something more about the new H7N9 bird flu. Unlike the H5N1 bird flu, which causes severe sickness in birds, the H7N9 has been evolving under the radar(悄悄地)since it travels between birds without causing noticeable illness. That makes it difficult to keep track of the disease.
The good news is that there’s so far no sign that the virus is spreading from person to person. But since there is no vaccine for the disease yet, the World Health Organization recommends that you wash your hands after meeting with sick people and before and after you eat or prepare food, and they also suggest avoiding contact with birds or their eggs.
1.Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the text?
A. The H5N1 bird flu turned out to have something to do with the SARS epidemic.
B. More than 600 people across the world died from the H5N1 bird flu ten years ago.
C. Most of the mutations of the proteins in the bird flu virus are harmful to both birds and humans.
D. The name, H7N9 bird flu, shows that there have been new mutations of the proteins in the virus.
2.With the example of the SARS epidemic in Paragraph 5, the author intends to .
A. introduce where the SARS virus came from
B. inform us of the harmful effects of the SARS epidemic ten years ago
C. show the horrible effects an animal influenza virus can have once it spreads to humans
D. compare the differences between the SARS epidemic and the H7N9 bird flu
3.What makes the H7N9 bird flu more frightening than the H5N1 bird flu according to the text?
A. It can cause severe sickness in birds.
B. It can spread from person to person.
C. It affects a greater number of birds.
D. It doesn’t sicken birds and thus can spread unnoticed.
4.What are people advised to do to protect themselves against the H7N9 bird flu?
a. To get vaccinated for the disease.
b. To keep away from birds and their eggs.
c. To stop eating chickens and ducks.
d. To avoid meeting with sick people.
e. To wash hands thoroughly and regularly.
A. a, b B. c, d
C. b, e D. a, e
Every year Chris Brogan posts his three words for a new year. Many others and I have followed his lead for the past three or four years. They helped me a lot. My words for last year were“passion”, “focus”and“delegate”and I stayed true to them. This year, 2013, my goals are more personal and less professional.
FOCUS
Focus is making a repeat appearance on my list this year because I’m too much of a multitasker. The problem is that I have trouble finishing one thing with so many things calling me. When I was working as a writer, all my projects were handled via a schedule, I’m putting a fitness and housekeeping routine into my schedule.
HEALTH
I get so busy taking care of everyone else, and I forget to take care of myself and this has to change. My health suffers and my weight suffers. I have to get my health in check, not only for me but because I promised my 9-year-old son. I’ll make good food and lifestyle choices. I miss being thin, and it’s time to get it back.
CELEBRATE
What good is having it if I’m not taking time to enjoy it? I have a wonderful job, a happy family, and so much to be thankful for. So how come I spend all my time working? Last summer my family took our first vacation in four years, the best thing I’ve done for myself and my family in a long time. This year, I’m making sure to take time to enjoy life and celebrate its many blessings.
Do you have any words for 2013?
1.The underlined word “multitasker” probably refers to a person who .
A. makes a living by writing
B. always fails to finish a task on time
C. has several things to do at the same time
D. pays more attention to fitness and housekeeping
2. Why does the writer have“HEALTH”as one of his three words?
A. He wants to take better care of others.
B. He’s gaining weight and feeling bad.
C. He did not take any exercise in the past.
D. He got the idea from his son.
3.What can we learn from the passage?
A. The word“CELEBRATE”can remind the writer to enjoy life.
B. The writer has a vacation with his family every four years.
C. The word“FOCUS”can help the writer focus on his family.
D. The writer used to be overweight for lack of exercise.
4.The best title for the passage might be .
A. Three Words for 2013
B. Health Should Go First
C. Keep Organized
D. Goals for 2013
What makes humans smarter than other animals? We’ve got a bigger brain, of course. But when it comes to brains, is bigger always better?
Traditionally, scientists have thought that humans’ superior intelligence derived(源于)mostly from the fact that our brains are three times bigger than those of our nearest living relatives, chimpanzees. People even used to believe that because men have slightly larger brains than women that men are smarter.
This, however, is not the truth. Scientists at University College London in the UK have found that brain organization, and not brain size, is the key to the superiority of human intelligence, reported Live Science.
Through millions of years of evolution, our ancestors were constantly pushed to get smarter so that they could meet the demands of new environments. However, holding this growing intelligence in increasingly large brains was not the best choice because bigger brains require more energy to power. “This is when reorganization may come into play, ”said Christophe Soligo, a member of the London research team.
In the study, scientists looked at the brains of 17 species of primates(灵长目动物), including monkeys, apes and humans. They found that in the process of evolution, brains didn’t keep growing as a whole. Certain regions of the brain grew prior to others in response to species’ needs, and in this way they could make the best use of their limited brain space.
For example, when early humans were struggling to survive, the brain region in charge of using tools and finding food grew in size more than other regions. But in modern times, the prefrontal cortex(前额皮质)—the region in charge of social cognition(认知), moral judgments and goal-directed planning—grew more than the rest of the brain.
Think of the brain as a room. If a big room is poorly organized, it doesn’t necessarily store more stuff than a smaller one.
Paul Manger, professor at the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa, explains this principle using the example of whales. He told Scientific American: “Whales have big brains, absolutely. But if you look at the actual structure of the brain, it’s not very complex. Brain size only matters if the rest of the brain is organized properly. ”
1.It has recently been found that humans are smarter than the other animals mainly because .
A. they are a species of primates
B. they have much larger brains
C. their brain structure is more complex
D. they were constantly pushed to get smarter
2.According to the article, in recent human evolution, .
A. the brain kept growing in size to adapt to new environments
B. most regions of the brain didn’t change
C. the prefrontal cortex grew more than the rest of the brain
D. humans’ brains became increasingly simple so that humans could survive
3.What can we conclude from the article?
A. Gender makes a difference in intelligence.
B. The size of the brain has nothing to do with intelligence.
C. Species whose brain is organized properly tend to be smarter.
D. Larger brains are usually organized better than smaller ones.
4.The method the writer uses to develop the last paragraph is .
A. by presenting research data
B. by giving examples
C. by making a comparison
D. by analyzing cause and effect
From Avatar to Lord of the Rings, plants are no strangers to playing big movie roles. However, no one has ever shot a film that plants themselves can watch until now. In a New York art gallery, seven house plants have spent the last seven weeks watching Strange Skies, the first travel documentary for a vegetable audience. All the plants sat in the cinema in rows, enjoying themselves in Italian sunshine.
The movie was made by American artist Jonathon Keats. It consists of Italian skies recorded over two months and made into a six-minute-long movie. The film shows the clear dawn(黎明), high clouds, amazing dusk and then beautiful night. The movie has no sound and the plants, of course, do not applaud. But Stephen Squibb, a professor from Harvard University, said these plants could benefit from it—the light of the movie keeps them alive because they can continue the process of turning light into energy.
“I realized there was a much larger audience—plants—that were not being serviced, ”Keats said. “I wanted to provide plants with entertainment that companies such as Disney provide for humans. ”Meanwhile, Keats also wants to explore plants’ sensibilities(敏感性)further. He plans to open a“restaurant for plants”at a Californian museum.
One visitor, photographer Abbas Ebrahimi, admired(羡慕)the green audience, “Plants are better than us. We die and go, while in spring they come back each time. ”But when talking about the movie, he said after thinking for a few minutes, “It doesn’t mean anything to me at all. It’s just about light. For some people, it might mean something. ”
1.What can we learn about Keats according to the passage?
A. He is an artist from Harvard University.
B. He opened a restaurant for plants.
C. He made the film Strange Skies.
D. He liked recording Italian skies.
2.It can be learned that Strange Skies .
A. has already created beautiful sound
B. was shot from dawn to dusk
C. made plants play roles in it
D. is the first travel film for plants
3.What did Stephen Squibb think of Strange Skies?
A. He thought it had explored plants’ sensibilities.
B. He thought it meant nothing to him.
C. He thought it could keep plants growing.
D. He thought it offered entertainment to plants.
4.Why did Abbas Ebrahimi admire the green audience?
A. Because they die and re-grow in spring.
B. Because they mean something to him.
C. Because there are more plants than people.
D. Because they can enjoy the movie.
