To appreciate Dubai, you could start by going skiing. The ski resort, located inside one of the city’s shopping malls, looks from the outside like a silver spaceship. You put on a thick coat, pull on your gloves and then marvel at what strong air-conditioning can do. At the exit, you can buy a souvenir T-shirt. A cartoon thermometer in Celsius announces: “I went from +50 to minus 8!”
Indoor skiing in the desert has become a symbol of Dubai’s status as a wealthy, modem metropolis. This small fishing village, Dubai’s fortunes changed forever with the discovery of oil in the 1960s. Since then. it has evolved to become the largest city. But the rapid growth has come at a price. To power its cars and air-conditioning, the city has produced large amounts of carbon dioxide (CO. ) from fossil fuels. Now it is making some big changes.
To reduce its dependence on cars and lower its emissions, Dubai has invested in solar energy, green buildings, and a comprehensive public transportation system. In addition, all new buildings must meet strict energy regulations.
The most striking development can be found where the city’s suburbs meet the desert. Unlike much of Dubai, the Sustainable City to the south feels more like a close-knit-village community. About five hundred low-rise houses are distributed along attractive, tree-lined streets. They all face north, away from direct sunlight, and are close together to provide natural shade. Each building has reflective windows and wall paint, which reduce the heat absorbed from the sun. Rooftop solar panels and energy-saving lights contribute to the community’s energy efficiency. As a result, residents of the Sustainable City now consume 50 percent less energy than people living in other parts of Dubai.
By 2050, the government intends to obtain 75 percent of the city’s energy from renewable sources-mainly solar. It also wants to have the smallest ecological footprint in the world. The plan is ambitious. But if successful, even guilt-free skiing in the desert could become an reality.
1. Why does the writer start the passage by describing a ski resort?| A．To demonstrate the problems of living near a desert. |
| B．To describe an expensive and unsuccessful building project. |
| C．To give an example of how Dubai is a wealthy modern city. |
| D．To provide a warning of what Dubai might be like in the future. |
| A．distinctive | B．isolated | C．massive | D．uniform |
| A．Installation of energy-efficient lights. | B．Avoidance of the sunlight from north. |
| C．Placement of solar panels on rooftops. | D．Arrangement to allow natural cooling. |
| A．How Oil Has Changed Dubai. | B．Dubai’s Economic Future. |
| C．The Costs of Green Living. | D．Building a Sustainable City. |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】I don’t think I can recall a time when I wasn’t aware of the beauty of the ocean. Growing up in Australia, I had the good fortune of having the sea at my side. The first time I went to Halfmoon Bay, I suddenly had the feeling of not being able to feel the ground with my feet anymore.
For my 10th birthday, my sister and I were taken out to the Great Barrier Reef. There were fish in different colors, caves and layers of coral (珊瑚). They made such an impression on me. When I learned that only one percent of Australia’s Coral Sea was protected, I was shocked. Australian marine (海洋的) life is particularly important because the reefs (暗礁) have more marine species than any other country on earth. But sadly, only 45% of the world’s reefs are considered healthy.
This statistic (数据) is depressing, so it’s important for us to do everything to protect them. The hope that the Coral Sea remains a complete ecosystem has led me to take action. I’ve become involved with the Protect Our Coral Sea activity, which aims to create the largest marine park in the world. It would serve as a place where the ocean’s species will all have a safe place forever.
Together, Angus and I created a little video and we hope it will inspire people to be part of the movement. Angus also shares many beautiful childhood memories of the ocean as a young boy, who grew up sailing, admiring the beauty of the ocean, and trying to find the secrets of ocean species.
1. What can we learn about the author from the underlined sentence in Paragraph 1?| A．He seldom went sailing at the sea. |
| B．He forgot his experiences about the ocean. |
| C．He never went back to his hometown. |
| D．He had a wonderful impression of Halfmoon Bay. |
| A．It is escaping from the Coral Sea gradually. |
| B．It depends on reefs for living greatly. |
| C．It may be faced with danger. |
| D．It is protected better than that in other oceans. |
| A．To contribute to a complete ecosystem. |
| B．To prevent more marine species being endangered. |
| C．To set up a large nature reserve for reefs. |
| D．To raise more teenagers’ environmental awareness. |
| A．To ask more people to take action to protect the marine species. |
| B．To inspire more people to study the secret of the ocean. |
| C．To share their childhood experiences about the ocean. |
| D．To bring back to people their memory of ocean species. |
【推荐2】The over 48,000 orange trees in Seville, Spain, not only fill the city’s air with the pleasant smell of orange blossoms in spring, but they also produce over 16,500 tons of fruit every winter. Though that makes the capital of southern Spain’s Andalusia region Europe’s top orange-producing city, the fruit is too sour to be consumed fresh. While some of the produce is used to make orange jam and an alcoholic drink, most of it ends up in Seville’s landfills (填埋场). However, that may change soon thanks to a clever idea to use the oranges to produce clean energy.
The trial programme is being launched by the city’s council and park department in cooperation with Emasesa, Seville’s water supply and sanitation (卫生) division. Juice from 38. 6 tons of oranges will be left to ferment (发酵) in a specialised facility. The methane (甲烷) released from the fermented liquid will be captured and used to drive a generator to produce clean power. The officials estimate the test run will produce about 1,500 kWh of energy – enough to run one of Emasesa’s water purification plants. To ensure there is no waste, the orange skins, peels, and flesh will be used as fertiliser.
“It’s not just about saving money. The oranges are a problem for the city, and we’re producing added value from waste,” said Benigno Lopez, head of Emasesa’s environmental department.
If successful, by 2023, the city hopes to recycle all the oranges and add the electricity produced back into its power transmission network. In trial runs, one ton of oranges produced 50 kWh of clean energy – enough to cover the daily electricity needs of five homes. The project team estimates that if all the fruit is recycled, it will produce enough energy to power as many as 73,000 residences.
“This project will help us to reach our targets for reducing emissions, energy self-sufficiency, and the circular economy,” Juan Espadas Cejas, mayor of Seville, said in the press conference announcing the trial programme.
1. What do we know about oranges in Seville from the first paragraph?| A．They are usually picked in spring. |
| B．They are mostly used to make jams and juice. |
| C．They are not recommended to be eaten fresh. |
| D．They make Seville the world’s top orange-producing city. |
| A．Different uses of Seville oranges. |
| B．Ways to produce power from juice. |
| C．An introduction to the trial programme. |
| D．Reasons for launching the trial programme. |
| A．The energy produced will be used to purify water. |
| B．Seville hasn’t carried out the trial programme yet. |
| C．The electricity produced will go to Seville’s power plants. |
| D．14,600 tons of recycled oranges are needed to power 73,000 homes. |
| A．It is risky but beneficial. |
| B．It is helpful and worth trying. |
| C．It is crazy and cannot become a reality |
| D．It is impractical though possible in theory. |
【推荐3】A new analysis of photographs from the International Space Station has identified a shift in the kind of lighting technologies that European countries are using at night to brighten streets and buildings. Researchers have found that the old warm high-pressure street lights are rapidly being replaced by cooler LED lights. The University of Exeter study claimed that “this phenomenon is widely increasing the risk of harmful effects to ecosystems”.
LED lighting was promoted as being intended to reduce emissions, but its usage has raised energy consumption. One explanation of this is that the increase in power efficiency and the associated decrease in economic cost have driven increased demand for lighting, therefore, any efficiency gains have been balanced out by increased consumption of light.
The study also claimed that previous research into the effects of light pollution have underestimated the impacts of blue light radiation. Chief among the health consequences of blue light is its ability to reduce the production of melatonin (褪黑素) that regulates sleep patterns in humans and other organisms. Scientific studies have warned that increased exposure to artificial blue light can worsen people’s sleeping habits.
The increase in blue light radiation in Europe has also reduced the visibility of stars in the night sky, which may have impacts on people’s sense of nature. Blue light can also alter the behavioral patterns of animals including bats and moths, as it can change their movements towards or away from light sources.
David Smith, of the conservation charity Buglife, said, “Light pollution can dramatically impact animals. We should consider light from a wider biological perspective than that of just humans and focus on better quality lighting that is harmonious with our natural world. Better quality and lower levels of lighting would help save energy, and lower financial costs, while also making our environment safer for living beings. Authorities can dim (使昏暗) the lights during night hours, and change the bandwidths (带宽值) of their LED bulbs to produce less harmful blue light.”
1. What is the phenomenon described in Paragraph 1?| A．The increasing use of LED lights. |
| B．The rising demand for public lighting. |
| C．Old street lights producing lots of emissions. |
| D．Artificial lights at night wasting much energy. |
| A．Eyesight. | B．Social behaviors. |
| C．Learning ability. | D．Sleep patterns. |
| A．improve. | B．change. |
| C．form. | D．consume. |
| A．To stress the importance of saving energy. |
| B．To persuade authorities to avoid using LED lights. |
| C．To provide suggestions on reducing light pollution. |
| D．To show ways of improving the quality of LED bulbs. |
【推荐1】When we are born, we are unflawed. As we grow, we develop many complexities due to many influences in our lives. Our brain collects and retains all visual, auditory（听觉的）information from the moment we are born and to the smallest of the details. Apart from our brain having memory, cells in our body, in billions, have their own memory. In other words, our body stores both physiological and psychological memories. We are complex emotional beings in nature compared to any other living animal.
Apparently, physical and psychological memories strongly influence our emotions! Interestingly, we can create, store, and release emotion like energy. Moreover, if we do not process our negative emotions properly and suppressed for a long time, they can find a way out violently and unexpectedly. Unfortunately, we carry our guilt throughout our lives putting ever-increasing burden on our shoulders. We become heavy with guilt and anger for things we could or did not achieve, and for things we cannot have.
Both guilt and anger are useless for us. They give us no advantage. Therefore, one may ask: is there a way to put down the burden from our heavy shoulders? It is possible, indeed. Importantly, since our guilt and anger inside us neither released nor given attention, they are stored. Actually, we should process and address our emotions in order to remove from our system. We cannot just wish them away.
In fact, by acknowledging their presence and providing a channel for them to dissipate, we can dissolve our emotions gradually. Taking drugs and consuming alcohol only worsen situation. They only provide short-term comfort. Is there a better way to unload our burden? Luckily, we have a natural gift to process our feeling and emotions. Forgiveness stands first of all the other natural remedies.
Indeed, there is no better way than forgiving ourselves. Of course, we should also learn to readily forgive others. But when we learn to forgive ourselves, we also naturally forgive others.
In summary, there is no benefit carrying our years of emotional baggage. By forgiving, we can throw away the emotional baggage we carry for years. Forgive your past mistakes. The moment you start forgiving, you feel a lot lighter and years of heaviness lifted magically! To your surprise, you start feeling a lot energetic and optimistic in your daily life.
1. From the first paragraph we know that________.| A．Human beings are born with complexity. |
| B．Our body has the ability to memorize information. |
| C．Our brain can collect and retain all information |
| D．Not all the other living animals have complex emotions like human beings. |
| A．Because human beings are complex emotional beings in nature. |
| B．Because physical and psychological memories strongly influence our emotions. |
| C．Because they keep bad emotions inside for too long and don't deal with them correctly. |
| D．Because our body stores both physiological and psychological memories. |
| A．We should recognize our negative emotion's existence and cope with it. |
| B．Our shoulders are too weak to put up with the burdens. |
| C．Setting a goal beyond our reach may lead to negative emotions. |
| D．It is no use carrying anger and guilt. |
| A．Drink some wine and you may feel relieved. |
| B．Only if you have the wish , there is a way to dissolve your guilt. |
| C．Try to dissipate your anger and guilt, or they will be stored inside. |
| D．Every coin has two sides, which is true for our guilt and anger. |
| A．approaches | B．emotions | C．advantages | D．references |
| A．Learning to forgive can help people unload psychological burden. |
| B．Forgiving is the only way for people to dissolve emotions. |
| C．Forgiving ourselves is the first step of forgiving others、 |
| D．People should be energetic and optimistic. |
【推荐2】There are two kinds of memory: short-term and long-term. Information in long-term memory can be recalled at a later time when it is needed. The information may be kept for days or years. Sometimes information in the long-term memory is hard to remember. Students taking exams often have this experience. In contrast, information in short-term memory is kept for only a few seconds, usually by repeating the information over and over.
Dr. Hunter studied short-term memory in rats. He used a special device which had a cage for the rat and three doors. There was a light in each door. First, the rat was placed in the closed cage. Next, one of the lights was turned on and then off. There was food for the rat only at this door. After the light was turned off, the rat had to wait a short time before it was released from its cage. Then, if it went to the correct door, it was rewarded with the food that was there. Hunter did this experiment many times. He always turned on the lights in a random order. Hunter’s results show that rats have a short-term memory of about ten seconds.
Later, Dr. Henning studied how people learning English as a second language remember vocabulary. To begin with, the participants listened to a recording of a native speaker reading a paragraph in English. Following the recording, the participants took a 15-question test where they circled the word they remembered having in the recording. Some of the questions had four choices that sounded alike, while others had four choices having the same meaning.
Henning found that people with a lower level in English made more of their mistakes on words that sound alike; people with a higher level made more of their mistakes on words that have the same meaning. Henning’s results suggest that beginning learners hold the sound of words in their short-term memory, while advanced learners hold the meaning of words in their short-term memory.
1. What can we learn from Paragraph 1?| A．Repetition contributes to people’s short-term memory. |
| B．The information in long-term memory is easier to forget. |
| C．People can rarely memorize the information learnt when young. |
| D．Students taking exams are experienced in long-term memory. |
| A．How the rat experiment was conducted. | B．The process of rats’ developing memory. |
| C．Why the rat experiment was carried out. | D．The relationship between rats’ memory and intelligence. |
| A．A Chinese expert in second language learning. |
| B．An American student learning a second language. |
| C．A British teacher teaching English as a second language. |
| D．A Korean employee learning English as a second language. |
| A．Beginning learners have a bad memory. |
| B．Beginning learners depend more on short-term memory. |
| C．Advanced learners easily remember words according to their pronunciation. |
| D．Advanced learners can confuse the words just heard with those meaning the same. |
【推荐3】A virtual reality headset has restored (修复) sight to people who are legally blind. While it didn’t cure the physical cause of their blindness, the device let people with severe macular degeneration (黄斑退化) go on with activities like reading and gardening — tasks they previously found impossible.
Macular degeneration is a common, age-related condition. It affects many people worldwide. It leaves people with a blind spot in the centre of their vision and causes legal blindness. The new system, called Iris Vision, uses VR headset to make the most of peripheral vision (周边视觉). It records the person’s surroundings and displays them in real time, and the user can widen the image as many times as they need for their peripheral vision to become clear. Doing so also helps to effectively reduce or remove their blind spot.
In a trial,30 people used the system for two weeks, filling out questionnaires on their ability to complete daily activities before and after the period. “They can do things that for years were not even a consideration,” says David Rhew at Samsung Electronics America. According to Rhew, the vision of participants was all but restored with the headset. “The baseline rate of vision in the individuals came in at 20/400, which is legally blind, and with the use of this technology it improved to 20/30, which is pretty close to 20/20 vision,” he says. Tom Peterson has serious macular degeneration. When he first started using the device, “It was an emotional experience. I sensed that I could see again and tears started coming,” he says.
The results were presented at the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (眼科学) annual meeting. The headset is now being used in 80 ophthalmology centres around the US, and the next step is to adapt the software to work for other vision disorders. Some have commented that it is heavy for long periods of use. “Many people with macular degeneration regularly use eight to ten different tools, such as telescopes and magnifying glasses, to help them with daily life, but Iris Vision can replace them all,” says Perski.
1. What may lead to legal blindness?| A．Too much reading. | B．A blind spot. |
| C．Increasing ages. | D．Macular degeneration. |
| A．To explain the process of the trial. |
| B．To show the problems with the trial. |
| C．To prove the effectiveness of Iris Vision. |
| D．To promote the new product of Iris Vision. |
| A．Objective. | B．Negative. | C．Supportive. | D．Critical. |
| A．A VR headset —new ways to cure blindness |
| B．A VR headset —good news for blind people |
| C．Macular degeneration —a deadly eye disease |
| D．Macular degeneration — an important body organ |
【推荐1】Named “America’s Finest City” due to its hospitality, beauty and ideal climate, San Diego is located on the border with Mexico. The residents are so active outdoors that it is called “Sportstown, the U.S.A.”. San Diego’s 70 miles of beaches are a heaven for swimmers, surfers, divers, boaters and sunbathers. Another favourite outside activity is golf. With 100 courses (about 50 of them public), San Diego is a golfers’ paradise. Many San Diego residents came here first as tourists, who were attracted by San Diego’s sunny beaches, nearby mountains and deserts, plus the cultural delights of any big city. The world-famous San Diego Zoo, SeaWorld Adventure Park, Wild Animal Park, museums and other attractions attract visitors from around the world.
The zoo is home to some 4,000 animals, including the world’s largest group of parrots. Animals are displayed in natural settings, and there is a petting zoo for children. By contrast, the Wild Animal Park is a wildlife preserve with an area of over 2,000 acres and more than 3,000 free-roaming (自由漫步的) animals in natural habitats.
In addition to housing the zoo, Balboa Park is home to several museums and attractions, including an aerospace museum, an art and history museum, the Old Globe Theatre, science museums and even a railroad museum. Free concerts are offered frequently. Another popular attraction is the SeaWorld, a 190-acre marine park.
San Diego’s varied attractions, as well as its business climate, offer many opportunities for students to explore the local culture, meet people from around the world, and gain business experience. At San Diego State University, for example, students in the American Language Institute’s study tour program learn English both in the classroom and while sightseeing.
1. What do the residents of San Diego probably like to do?| A．Have sports outdoors. | B．Travel to other places. |
| C．Stay at home. | D．Stay outdoors all day. |
| A．Because it is more convenient to live here. |
| B．Because they are attracted by its beauty and culture. |
| C．Because they can make money from tourism here. |
| D．Because it is a quiet place to enjoy themselves. |
| A．The SeaWorld Adventure park. | B．The art and history museum. |
| C．The petting zoo. | D．The Old Globe Theatre. |
【推荐2】In the more than 6,000 years of living in cities, humans have always had to find solutions to problems concerning how they live and work, such as sanitation, transportation, crime and environmental protection. Today, using cutting-edge technologies, smart cities can cover them all. We are now in the era of being “smart”.
According to the European Commission, a smart city is “a place where traditional networks and services are made more efficient with the use of digital solutions for the benefit of its inhabitants and businesses”. It means smarter urban transport networks, upgraded water supplies and waste disposal facilities and more efficient ways to light and heat buildings. It also means a more interactive and responsive city administration, safer public spaces and meeting the needs of an aging population.
The origin of the concept of smart cities can be traced back to the 1960s and 1970s, when the US Community Analysis Bureau began using databases, aerial photography and other digital methods to collect data and do analysis so that the cities could direct services, relieve the influence of disasters and reduce poverty.
Smart cities rely heavily on automation, connectivity to the Internet , and the Internet of things (IoT). According to TWI, a global organization dedicated to technology engineering, a smart city operates according to four basic steps: collection, analysis, communication, and action. In this approach, a set of smart sensors will collect real-time data about people and infrastructure. After the data collected is analyzed, the result will be communicated to the decision-makers, who will take action to improve the quality of city life for its residents.
Smart city technologies have already been applied in some countries and cities around the world. Singapore, for example, has introduced a wide range of smart technologies in both its public and private sectors since launching its Smart Nation initiative in 2014. To help with the aging population, it introduced a digital health system allowing video consultations as well as wearable devices to monitor patients.
1. What is the main feature of a smart city?| A．It can meet the needs of the elderly. | B．It is fully evolved and multi-functional. |
| C．It highly depends on modern technologies. | D．It is a place where one can live a carefree life. |
| A．Decision-makers are supposed to analyze the real-time data. |
| B．Joint efforts are required to ensure the operation of a smart city. |
| C．The quality of city life has improved due to the government initiative. |
| D．Problems still exist in the smart city despite great convenience it brings. |
| A．To praise its contribution to the world. |
| B．To show its advantage over other countries. |
| C．To gain widespread support for a smart city. |
| D．To illustrate the application of smart city technologies. |
| A．Smart City: A Brief History | B．Smart City: Live the Smart Way |
| C．Smart City: Say Goodbye to the Past | D．Smart City: Both Chances and Challenges |
【推荐3】Twenty years ago, the Urban Land Institute defined the two types of cities that dominated the US landscape: smaller cities that operated around standard 9-5 business hours and large metropolitan areas that ran all 24 hours of the day. Analyzing and comparing cities using the lens of this basic divide gives interesting context to how investment capital flows and housing prices have shifted.
In recent years, many mid-sized cities have begun to adopt a middle-of-the-road approach incorporating the excitement and opportunity of large cities with small cities’ quiet after midnight. These 18-hour cities are beginning to make waves in real estate (房地产) rankings and attract more real estate investment. What is underlying this new movement in real estate, and why do these cities have so much appeal?
18-hour cities combine the best of 24-hour and 9-5 cities, which contributes to downtown revitalization. For decades, many downtown cores in small to mid-sized cities were abandoned after work hours by workers who lived in the suburbs. Movement out of city centers was widespread, and downtown tenants were predominantly made up of the working poor. This generated little commerce for downtown businesses in the evenings, which made business and generating tax revenue for municipal upkeep difficult.
Transforming downtown areas so that they incorporate modern housing and improved walkability to local restaurants, retail, and entertainment — especially when combined with improved infrastructure for cyclists and public transit-makes them appeal to a more affluent demographic (人口). These adjustments encourage employers in the knowledge and talent industries to keep their offices downtown. Access to foot traffic and proximity (邻近) to transit allow the type of entertainment-oriented businesses such as bars and restaurants to stay open later, which attracts both younger, creative workers and baby boomers nearing retirement alike. Because of their smaller size, most keep hours that allow people to enjoy themselves, then have some quiet after midnight, as opposed to large major cities like New York, where the buzz of activity is ongoing.
These 18-hour cities are rapidly on the rise and offer great opportunities for homeowner investment. In many of these cities such as Denver, a diverse and vigorous economy attracted to the urban core has offered stable employment for residents. The right urban mix has supported home occupancy, increased property values, and attracted significant investment capital.
1. What do we learn about American cities twenty years ago?| A．They were divided into residential and business areas. |
| B．Their housing prices were linked with their prosperity. |
| C．There was a clear divide between large and small cities. |
| D．They were places where large investment capital flowed |
| A．They especially appeal to small businesses. | B．They have seen a rise in property prices. |
| C．They have replaced quiet with excitement. | D．They have changed America’s landscape. |
| A．had hardly any business activity | B．were crowded in business hours |
| C．exhibited no signs of prosperity | D．looked deserted in the evenings |
| A．A sudden emergence of the knowledge industry. |
| B．Flooding in of large crowds of migrant workers. |
| C．Modernized housing and improved infrastructure. |
| D．More comfortable life and greater upward mobility. |
