【推荐2】When families gather for Christmas dinner, some will stick to formal traditions dating back to grandma's generation. Their tables will be set with the good dishes and silver, and the dress code will be Sunday best.
But in many other homes, this china-and-silver elegance has given way to a stoneware (粗陶) and stainless informality, with dresses assuming an equally casual-Friday look. For hosts and guests, the change means greater simplicity and comfort. For makers of fine china in Britain, it spells economic hard times. Last week ______, the largest employer in Stoke-on-Trent, announced that it is eliminating 1,000 jobs -- one-fifth of its total workforce. That brings to more than 4, 000 the number of positions lost in 18 months in the pottery (陶瓷) region. Wedgwood and other pottery factories made cuts earlier.
Although a strong pound and weak markets in Asia play a role in the downsizing, the layoffs in Stoke have their roots in earthshaking social shifts. A spokesman for Royal Doulton admitted that the company "has been somewhat slow in catching up with the trend" toward casual dining. Families eat together less often, he explained, and more people eat alone, either because they are single or they eat in front of television. Even dinner parties, if they happen at all, have gone casual. In a time of long work hours and demanding family schedules, busy hosts insist, rightly, that it's better to share a takeout pizza on paper plates in the family room than to wait for the perfect moment or a "real" dinner party.
Too often, the perfect moment never comes. Iron a fine-patterned tablecloth? Forget it. Polish the silver? Who has time? Yet the loss of formality has its down side. The fine points of etiquette (礼节) that children might once have learned at the table by observation or instruction from parents and grandparents (" Chew with your mouth closed." "Keep your elbows off the table. ") must be picked up else-where. Some companies now offer etiquette seminars for employees who may be able professionally but inexperienced socially.
1. Why do people tend to follow the trend to casual dining?

A．Busy schedules leave people no time for formality

B．Family members need more time to relax.

C．People prefer to live a comfortable life.

D．Young people won't follow the etiquette of the older generation.

2. It can be learned from the passage that 'Royal Doulton is             .

A．a seller of stainless steel tableware

B．a dealer in stoneware

C．a pottery chain store

D．a producer of fine china

3. The main cause of the layoffs in the pottery industry is             .

A．the increased value of the pound

B．the worsening economy in Asia

C．the change in people's way of life

D．the fierce competition at home and abroad

4. Formal table manners, though less popular than before in current Social life,___________.

A．are still a must on certain occasions

B．are certain to return sooner or later

C．are still being taught by parents at home

D．can help improve personal relationships

【推荐3】What will man be like in 5,000 or even 50,000 year from now on? We can only make a guess, of course. However, we can be sure that he will greatly differ from what he is today.    1    

Let us take an obvious example. Man, even five hundred years ago, was shorter than he is today.    2     Five hundred years is a relatively short period of time, so we can imagine that man will continue to grow taller. Nowadays our eyes are in constant use. In fact, we use them so much that often they become weaker and we have to wear glasses. But over a very long period of time it is likely that man’s eyes will grow stronger.

On the other hand, we make less use of out* arms and legs.    3     We can’t walk farther. At the same time, however, our fingers will grow more sensitive because they are used a great deal in modern life. What about our brain? As time goes on, we shall have to use our brains more and more and eventually we shall need larger ones!    4     Our head, in particular the forehead, will larger.

Perhaps all this gives the impression that future man will not be a very attractive creature to look at! This may be true.    5     He will still be a human being with thoughts and emotions similar to our own.

A．For man is slowly changing all the time.

B．As a result, these are likely to grow weaker.

C．Man will live in the earth for a long time.

D．Now on average, man is about three inches taller.

E．This is likely to bring about a physical change, too.

F．What9s more, man is likely to have a wonderful life.

G．All in all, in spite of all these changes, future men will still have a lot in common with us.

【推荐1】A new rule has been passed that will protect more than 50 of the world’s shark species, many of which are endangered. The rule was signed by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which manages how people deal in plants and animals. Most of the world’s countries are members of CITE. The rule puts 60 shark species under the protection of CITES.

One of the reasons sharks are endangered is that they are hunted for their fins, which are used in shark fin soup. The sharks that are hunted most for their fins include blue and tiger sharks, which were regarded as dangerous creatures. Thanks to this agreement, around 95% of sharks that people catch for their fins are now protected. This means that anyone trying to buy or sell these types of sharks must present an official document. These official documents will only be offered to people or companies who have proved to scientists that their business doesn’t endanger wildlife or damage the ocean.

Conservationists(环保主义者) hope the deal will protect biodiversity in the sea. Sharks matter a great deal for this because they are usually apex animals that hunt, kill and eat other animals. That means they are at the highest point of the “food chain”—in other words, nothing else eats them. If sharks were to disappear, it would seriously impact sea life lower down the food chain, as some species’ numbers would increase fast. This could affect the weak balance of all sea life.

All biologists are not in favor of the new rule. They think that making it harder to fish for sharks will make their fins even more expensive, which would in turn encourage illegal fishing. However, Shawn Heinrichs from Only One, a group that campaigns to protect the ocean, called it “The biggest win in the history of ocean species”.

1. Why is the new rule made?

A．To control the trade in sharks.	B．To protect biodiversity in the sea.
C．To ban people from fishing for sharks.	D．To protect endangered plants and animals.

2. What does the underlined word “apex” probably mean in paragraph 3?

A．Frightening.

B．Major.

C．Dangerous.

D．Top.

3. What can be inferred about the new rule from the last paragraph?

A．It can prevent illegal fishing.	B．It is debatable.
C．It does wonders for ocean species.	D．It is criticized by all the biologists.

4. What can be the best title for this text?

A．Nations Sign Up to Save Sharks	B．New Rules Benefit Biodiversity in the Ocean
C．Sharks: Dangerous or Endangered?	D．CITES Aims to Protect Ocean Species

【推荐2】How to deal with waste has been a problem since humans started producing it. As more and more people choose to live close together in cities, the waste-disposal problem becomes increasingly difficult.

During the eighteenth century, it was usual for several neighboring towns to get together to select a faraway spot as a dump site (垃圾填埋场). Residents or trash haulers (垃圾拖运者) would transport household rubbish, rotted wood, and old possessions to the site. Periodically some of the trash was burned and the rest was buried. The unpleasant sights and smells caused no problem because nobody lived close by.

Factories, mills, and other industrial sites also had waste to be disposed of. Those located on rivers often just dumped the unwanted remains into the water. Others built huge burners with chimneys to deal with the problem.

Several facts make these choices unacceptable to modern society. The first problem is space. Dumps, which are now called landfills, are most needed in heavily populated areas. Such areas seldom have empty land suitable for this purpose. Land is either too expensive or too close to residential neighborhoods. Long-distance trash hauling has been a common practice, but once farm areas are refusing to accept rubbish from elsewhere, cheap land within trucking distance of major city areas is almost nonexistent.

Awareness of pollution dangers has led to more strict rules of waste disposal. Pollution of rivers, ground water, land and air is a price people can no longer pay to get rid of waste. The amount of waste, however, continues to grow.

Recycling efforts have become commonplace, and many towns require their people to take part. Even the most efficient recycling programs, however, can hope to deal with only about 50 per cent of a city’s reusable waste.

1. The most suitable title for this passage would be “ _________ ”.

A．Places for Disposing Waste	B．Waste Disposal Problem
C．Ways of Getting Rid of Waste	D．Waste Pollution Dangers.

2. During the 18th century, people disposed their waste in many ways EXCEPT ______.

A．recycling it	B．burying it
C．burning it	D．throwing it into rivers

3. It can be inferred from the fourth paragraph that in modern society ______.

A．farm areas willingly accept waste from the city

B．there is cheap land to bury waste

C．ways to deal with waste stay the same as those in the past

D．it is no longer possible to have landfills, even in rural areas

4. The main purpose of writing this article is to ______.

A．suggest a better way to get rid of waste

B．warn people of the pollution dangers we are facing

C．call on people to take part in recycling programs

D．draw people’s attention to waste management

【推荐3】There is a huge need for shark fins (鳍) in Asian countries. As a result, many sharks are caught and killed. According to reports, sharks are being killed at an shocking rate (速度) of up to 273 million worldwide every year.

Some experts predict that if the killing continues at the current rate, many shark species will be lost forever. It can be very dangerous. Sharks are very important and they should be protected.

In a study of the east coast of the United States, 11 species of sharks were eliminated from their range. Of the 14 species of ocean life that those sharks used to eat, the populations of 12 exploded and caused great damage to the ecosystem. For example, the cownose ray (鳐) population was no longer kept under control by sharks and so grew out of control. As a result, the rays destroyed the population of bay scallops (扇贝), their favorite food. The scallop fishery, which had been in good condition for over 100 years, was destroyed completely. Also, the removal of the scallops most likely had an effect on water quality as they were no longer there to perform their function (功能) of cleaning the water.

Sharks tend to eat very efficiently (高效地), going after the old, sick, or slower fish in a population, keeping that population healthy. Sharks help keep many populations of ocean life to the right size so that those prey (猎物) species don’ t do harm to the ecosystem by becoming too populated. The ocean ecosystem is made up of very complex (复杂地) food webs. For the most part, sharks are at the top of these webs and are considered by scientists to be “keystone” species, meaning that removing them may cause the whole structure to fall apart. Therefore, we should protect sharks because doing so is to protect the whole ecosystem.

1. According to the passage, in Asian, people kill sharks mainly because ________.

A．sharks are dangerous for people	B．there are too many sharks
C．shark fins are in great need	D．sharks often attack swimmers

2. Which of the following can replace the underlined word “eliminated” in Paragraph 4?

A．Fed.

B．Removed.

C．Charged.

D．Protected.

3. After the number of cownose rays greatly increased, ________.

A．water quality improved as well	B．bay scallops grew out of control
C．there are more food for shark	D．the local scallop fishery was harmed

4. What can we know about sharks from Paragraph 4?

A．They can’t find enough food to feed on.

B．They never eat the old, sick or slower fish.

C．Their large populations can harm the ecosystem.

D．They play a key role in keeping the ecosystem healthy.

【推荐1】When I asked my daughter which item she would keep; the phone, the car, the cooker, the computer, the TV, or her boyfriend, she said “the phone”. Personally, I could do without the phone entirely, which makes me unusual. Because the telephone is changing our lives more than any other piece of technology.
Point 1 The telephone creates the need to communicate, in the same way that more roads create more traffic. My daughter comes home from school at 4:00 pm and then spends an hour on the phone talking to the very people she has been at school with all day. If the phone did not exist, would she have anything to talk about?
Point 2 The mobile phone means that we are never alone. “The mobile saved my life,”says Crystal Johnstone. She had an accident in her Volvo on the A45 between Otley and Skipton. Trapped inside, she managed to make the call that brought the ambulance (救护车) to her rescue.
Point 3 The mobile removes our secret. It allows marketing manager of Haba Deutsch, Carl Nicolaisen, to ring his sales staff all round the world at any time of day to ask where they are , where they are going, and how their last meeting went.
Point 4 The telephone separates us. Antonella Bramante in Rome says, “We worked in separate offices but I could see him through the window. It was easy to get his number. We were so near——but we didn’t meet for the first two weeks!”
Point 5 The telephone allows us to reach out beyond our own lives. Today we can talk to several complete strangers simultaneously (同时地) on chat lines (at least my daughter does. I wouldn’t know what to talk about). We can talk across the world. We can even talk to astronauts (if you know any) while they’re space-walking. And, with the phone line hooked up to the computer, we can access (存取) the Internet, the biggest library on Earth.
1. How do you understand‘Point 1 —The telephone creates the need to communicate, …’？

A．People don’t communicate without telephone.

B．People communicate because of the creating of the telephone.

C．People communicate more since telephone has been created.

D．People communicate more because of more traffic.

2. Which of the following best shows people’s attitude towards mobile phones?

A．Mobile phones help people deal with the emergency.

B．Mobile phones bring convenience as well as little secret to people.

C．Mobile phones are so important and should be encouraged.

D．Mobile phones are part of people’s life.

3. It is possible to talk to several complete strangers simultaneously through _______.

A．the TV screen

B．a fax machine

C．the phone line hooked up to the computer

D．a microphone

4. The best heading for the passage is _________.

A．Phone Power	B．Kinds of Phone
C．How to Use Phones	D．Advantage of Phones