【推荐3】One might expect that the ever­growing demands of the tourist trade would bring nothing but good for the countries that receive the holiday­makers. Indeed, a rosy picture is painted for the long­term future of the holiday industry. Every month sees the building of a new hotel somewhere. And every month, another rock­bound Pacific island is advertised as the ‘last paradise on earth’.

However, the scale and speed of this growth seem set to destroy the very things tourists want to enjoy. In those countries where there was a rush to make quick money out of sea­side holidays, over­crowded beaches and the concrete jungles of endless hotels have begun to lose their appeal.

Those countries with little experience of tourism can suffer most. In recent years, Nepal set out to attract foreign visitors to fund developments in health and education. Its forests, full of wildlife and rare flowers, were offered to tourists as one more untouched paradise. In fact, the nature all too soon felt the effects of thousands of holiday­makers traveling through the forest land. Ancient tracks became major routes for the walkers, with the consequent exploitation of precious trees and plants.

Not only can the environment of a country suffer from the sudden growth of tourism. The people as well rapidly feel its effects. Farmland makes way for hotels, roads and airports; the old way of life goes. The one­time farmer is now the servant of some multi­national organization; he is no longer his own master. Once it was his back that bore the pain; now it is his smile that is exploited. No doubt he wonders whether he wasn't happier in his village working his own land.

Thankfully, the tourist industry is waking up to the responsibilities it has towards those countries that receive its customers. The protection of wildlife and the creation of national parks go hand in hand with tourist development and actually obtain financial support from tourist companies. At the same time, tourists are being encouraged to respect not only the countryside they visit but also its people.

The way tourism is handled in the next decade will decide its fate and that of the countries we all want to visit. Their needs and problems are more important than those of the tourist companies. Increased understanding in planning world­wide tourism can preserve the market for them. If not, in a few years' time the very things that attract tourists now may well have been destroyed.

1. What does the author indicate in the last sentence of Paragraph 1?

A．The Pacific island is a paradise.	B．The Pacific island is worth visiting.
C．The advertisement is not convincing.	D．The advertisement is not impressive.

2. The example of Nepal is used to suggest ________.

A．its natural resources are untouched	B．its forests are exploited for farmland
C．it develops well in health and education	D．it suffers from the heavy flow of tourists

3. Which of the following determines the future of tourism?

A．The number of tourists.	B．The improvement of services.
C．The promotion of new products.	D．The management of tourism.

4. The author's attitude towards the development of the tourist industry is ________.

A．optimistic

B．doubtful

C．objective

D．negative

【推荐1】Average age is rising around the world——a demographic (人口统计)change that may pose a significant challenge to efforts to slow down climate change.

Hossein Estiri at Harvard University and Emilio Zagheni of the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Germany, have found that energy use increases as we get older, and not just because we tend to get wealthier. An ageing population could mean a greater proportion of society with higher energy use, their study suggests.

They combined two decades, worth of data from thousands of US households and used this to build a model to reveal how energy use varied across 17 age groups between 1987 and 2009. They found that, on average, children's energy consumption (消耗)climbs as they grow up, before dipping slightly when they leave home. Consumption then rises again when people hit their 30s, before briefly dropping after 55, and then beginning to climb again. The study involved factors such as income, local climate and the age, type and size of a person's home. The increase in energy use at various points in our lifespan (寿命)seems to be the result of life style and how our needs change as we age.

Why does demand grow so much in our 30s? “We need more of everything. More space, a bigger TV two fridges," says Estiri. The study found that, in warmer parts of the US, energy use increases in people over the age of 65—probably as a result of increased use of air conditioning, This suggests that there is a feedback effect between climate change and an ageing population that will only make matters worse.

Heat waves have become more common in the US in recent years and are expected to become more frequent due to global warming. More older people using more electrical energy to keep cool as temperatures rise could add to emissions (排放)，and thus drive more warming until our energy supply becomes entirely fossil fuel-free.

“This confluence (汇集)of population, ageing and climate change on energy demand is really important to start thinking about," says Estiri. Benjamin Sovacool at the University of Sussex, UK, says the work shows the importance of demographics when it comes to cutting carbon emissions. Most modelling of climate change mitigation (减缓气候变化的模型) assumes people's energy consumption either stays the same or only changes by a small amount over time.

"This study directly challenges that entire body of research by forcing it to fight with the temporality and complexity of the consumption of energy, says Sovacool.

Catherine Mitchell at the University of Exeter, UK, says the research could have an important influence on policy makers. "What the paper says is that there is a lot of work about how buildings use energy, but probably not enough about how the people in them use energy," she says.

1. By saying “not just because we tend to get wealthier" in Paragraph 2, the writer probably means that ______.

A．poor people can't bring down the high demand for energy

B．a comfortable life is not the main cause of in creased energy use

C．there are some other reasons leading to the increase in energy consumption

D．people being wealthy or not has nothing to do with the rise of energy consumption

2. Which of the following statements is Hossein Estiri most likely to support?

A．Energy will stop increasing when people get older.

B．His research could inspire policymakers to change current polices.

C．Various factors influencing energy consumption should be considered.

D．Old people should use fossil fuel-free rather than electrical energy to keep cool.

3. What is the shortcoming of most modeling of climate change mitigation?

A．It is expensive and difficult to promote.

B．It overestimates the household energy consumption.

C．It did not take climate change adaptation into account.

D．It regards energy consumption as stable or as only slightly changing.

4. What can we learn from the last paragraph?

A．More emphasis should be put on people's energy use.

B．The government can't do much without the support of the study.

C．It is the buildings, not the people in side, that consume the majority of the energy.

D．Policymakers have been working on how to cut down people's energy use.

【推荐2】Social networking isn’t only for the under-40s. More than 25 percent of Americans 50 years of age and older stay connected using sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter, according to new research.

“The latest data tells us that more and more social networking is becoming a part of everyday life for Americans 50 plus years of age,” said Kevin Donnellan, chief communications officer at AARP, which released the report.

Nearly a quarter of older Americans are on Facebook and 73 percent say they use it to stay in touch with relatives, but not just their children and grandchildren. “They are using the Internet to keep up with the world and the people who are important to them,” said Jean Koppen, the author of the report. She added that older adults were also on Facebook to stay connected not only with their family, but with their friends and those in the same age group. Almost 50 percent of older adults were introduced to the social networking sites by a family member, mainly a child or grandchild. Just under one-fifth of adults aged 50 and above say they do not use the Internet, according to the report.

The findings are based on a telephone survey of 1,863 adults. In addition to keeping up on Facebook and Twitter, older adults are aware of the latest technology. Eighty-three percent had heard about the Apple iPad and 11 percent intended to buy one.

Despite the popularity of the Internet among the over-50s, they still mostly go to print newspapers and magazines for news. Only one percent said they followed blogs.

1. What can we know according to the passage?

A．85% of Americans 50 plus years of age prefer the Internet to the print media.

B．About 460 people in the telephone survey use Facebook.

C．About 20% of adults aged 50 plus have access to the Internet.

D．Three quarters of the people surveyed get to know the Internet through their family.

2. From the text, what can be concluded?

A．Many older Americans are open-minded about new developments.

B．Kevin Donnellan supports this change among older Americans.

C．Young people should introduce their elders to new technology.

D．In a high tech age, it is difficult to avoid social networking.

3. What is the main idea of the text?

A．Social networking isn’t for the under-40s in the US.

B．American old people’s way of life is quite fashionable.

C．Social networking is becoming popular among older Americans.

D．Facebook, MySpace and Twitter are the most popular websites in the US.

4. Where does the text probably come from?

A．A novel.

B．A newspaper.

C．A technology guide.

D．A student’s research paper.

【推荐3】Japanese people, who never miss a chance to be photographed, were lining up to get their pictures on a postage stamp. Vanity(虚荣) stamps with personal photographs went on sale for the first time in Japan as part of an international postage stamp exhibition. The customer’s photo was taken with a digital camera and then printed on stamp sheets, a process that takes about five minutes. Sold in a sheet of 10 stamps for $8. 80, little more than the cost of lunch in Tokyo, each stamp printed a different scene from a traditional painting along with the photo.

The stamps can be used normally to mail a letter, and postal officials hope they will help encourage interest in letter writing in the Internet age. “Certainly e-mail is a useful method of communication, but letters are fun in a different way,” said Hatsumi Shimizu an official in the Post Ministry. “We want to show young people that letters can be fun too. ”

While similar stamp sheets appeared in Australia in 1999 and are now sold in some nations and territories, Japan’s fondness for commemorative photos is likely to make them especially popular here. Indeed, officials had prepared 1,000 sheets but they were sold out in less than 30 minutes. Although the stamps are currently only available as a special service during the exhibition, postal officials said they may start selling them on a regular basis in the future.

1. The best title of this passage might be______.

A．Never Miss a Chance to be Photographed	B．Your Own Face on a Postage Stamp
C．First Japanese Postage Stamps with a Photo	D．Letters are as Fun as E-mails

2. By saying “little more than the cost of lunch in Tokyo”, the author really means______.

A．this service is not very expensive	B．the cost of this service is very high
C．food in Tokyo is very dear	D．$8．80 is a very small amount of money

3. The purpose of this activity is______.

A．to make the international postage stamp exhibition more interesting

B．to make more stamps for normal use

C．to draw interest in writing letters

D．to satisfy Japan’s fondness of commemorative photos

4. Which of the following is true according to the passage?

A．Japanese people like to take photos.	B．This kind of stamps must be used to mail letters.
C．Japanese people can get this kind of stamps easily after the stamp exhibition.	D．This service is more popular in Japan than in other places.