| A | B |
| Vauban We know cars are terrible polluters, but would you give yours up? Vauban, a community in southwestern Germany, did just that, and its 5,000 citizens are doing fine. Most streets are free of vehicles, and there are generous green spaces and good public-transport links, including fast buses and bicycle paths. When people must drive, they can turn to car-sharing clubs. “All the citizens had the chance to plan their own city,” says Andreas Delleke, an energy expert, “and it's just how we wanted it to be.” | Denmark During the period of gas shortage in the early 70s, Denmark decided to become self-sufficient ( 自足). So they began a few projects making smart investments along the way. On the island of Samsoe, local families, fishermen and farmers bought wind turbines (涡轮机) to produce their own energy. Within seven years these turbines were completely paid for. And can you believe just one of wind turbines produces enough electricity for 600 households? |
| C | D |
| Trey Parker and Matt Stone Trey Parker and Matt Stone, creators of South Park, have built a sustainable castle with outer siding and inner flooring of recycled wood, recycled carpeting, high-efficiency boiler systems. “I think more and more today, people are willing to make a statement about the Earth and how they want to protect it,” Michael Rath, home designer and builder says. "For high-end homes in this valley, this is entirely consistent with what they cost." | P-NUT Who doesn't love the name P-NUT—short for Personal-Neo Urban Transport? It's Honda's latest attempt to create a tiny footprint for a new urban vehicle. This little P-NUT is unique. With a central driving position, the car is designed to move in tight settings. The 11-foot micro car will seat three with two rear-seat passengers behind the driver. “The P-NUT concept explores the packaging and design potential for a vehicle designed for the city lifestyle,” said Dave Marek, a Honda design Spokesman. |
| E | F |
| Israel Company Is it possible that annoying rush hour traffic could become a source of renewable energy? Israel's Technion Institute of Technology claims that if we placed special generators ( 发电机 ) under roads, railways, and runways—we could harvest enough energy to mass-produce electricity. A trial process has been used on a smaller scale, in dance clubs for instance, where the pounding feet of dancers light up the floor. "We can produce electricity anywhere there is a busy road using energy that normally goes to waste," said Uri Amit, chairman of Israel's Technion Institute of Technology. | Coffee Coffee. Some of us can't start our day without it, and we don't mind waiting 10 minutes in line for it. Here is the most effective tip to make you a superstar in environment protection. Get a coffee machine for your home or office, or persuade your company into buying one. (Tell them it will improve productivity. ) Skip the coffee line on the way to work and make something that is better-tasting and much better for your wallet. Plus, you won't need those plastic cups or carrying cases that just get thrown away. Better yet, use your favorite travel mug. |
相似题推荐
Small talk is a good way to make friends. If you travel to other countries or have friends from abroad, do you know how to use small talk to make conversation?
In Britain, the best topic is the weather. British weather is changing all the time.
Besides weather, it’s good to talk about gardens with British. You could say, “Those roses look really beautiful, don’t they?”
In America, people like to talk about sports news, such as American football and basketball.
| A．English people love their pets. |
| B．Politics or religion is not a good topic for two people that have just met either. |
| C．Friends are important to us all, but how to make friends is a problem. |
| D．You can start chatting by saying “It’s a lovely day, isn’t it?” |
| E．There are also a lot of topics to avoid during small talk. |
| F．Only a few topics are not used for discussion. |
| G．Americans also talk about clothes. |
【推荐2】To hug or not to hug? That’s the question right now.
Degge White, a professor at Northern Illinois University, says that our need for a hug goes all the way back to the survival of our species. When we’re born, we can’t care for ourselves and we need to be comfortable with being held in order to survive.
We may not know what we’re getting from greeting our friends and family with a hug; we just enjoy it.
Some people grow up in more formal households where hugging isn’t common. Others may experience abuse that makes hugging unpleasant. In both cases, when children don’t experience healthy touch, it can impact their development. Kids who didn’t grow up being held miss out on that sense of safety and protection. They may act out or isolate from those around them.
| A．In some cases, the opposite may also be true. |
| B．This bond and sense of community has an important role. |
| C．We’re in an uncertain place in the world of greetings manner. |
| D．It isn’t until those experiences are taken away that we feel pain and sadness. |
| E．When friends reach out in preparation for a hug, they feel hormones increasing. |
| F．We’re rewarded with a rush of feel-good chemicals that come from a comfortable hug. |
| G．The lack of touching might imply cold attitudes in interpersonal relationships. |
【推荐3】Some people are so rude!
Who sends an e-mail or a text message that just says “Thank you”? Who leaves a voice mail message rather than texts you? Who asks for a fact easily found on Google? Don’t these people realize that they’re wasting your time?
Maybe I’m the rude one for not appreciating life’s little politeness. But many social agreed standards just don’t make sense to people drowning in digital communication.
In texts, you don’t have to declare who you are or even say hello; E-mail, too, is slower than a text; Voice mail is a now impolite way of trying to connect.
My father learned this lesson after leaving me a dozen voice mail messages, none of which I listened to. Exasperated, he called my sister to express his dissatisfaction that I never returned his phone calls. “Why are you leaving him voice mails?” my sister asked. “Just text him.”
In the age of the smartphone, there is no reason to ask once-acceptable questions about: the weather forecast, a business’ phone number, or directions to a house, a restaurant, which can be easily found on Google Maps. But people still ask these things. And when you answer, they respond with a thank-you e-mail.
How to handle these differing standards? Easy: Consider your audience. Some people, especially older ones, appreciate a thank-you message. Others, like me, want no reply.
The anthropologist(人类学家) Margaret Mead once said that in traditional societies, the young learn from the old. But in modern societies, the old can also learn from the young. Here’s hoping that politeness never goes out of fashion but that time-wasting forms of communication do.
1. Why didn’t the author listen to his father’s voice mail messages?| A．He thought voice mail would waste his time. |
| B．He thought voice mail was an impolite way of trying to connect. |
| C．He thought voice mail was an important way of communication. |
| D．He thought his father left him too many voice mails. |
| A．Favorable. | B．Doubtful. |
| C．Reserved. | D．Disapproving. |
| A．Learn from the old generation. |
| B．Ask once-acceptable questions. |
| C．Respond with a thank-you email. |
| D．Consider their audience. |
Then you began to try making the sounds you heard. And step by step you were able to make the right sound for one thing.
On that day you came to understand the secret of language. The secret is that a certain sound means a certain thing. One sound might be as good as another. But it is no good as a word unless everybody agrees on its meaning. Only when a group of people use the same set of sounds of things, can they understand each other. Then, and only then do these people have a LANGUAGE.
After you found the secret of language, you learned words. Some of the words meant things, such as BOOKS, CHAIRS and SHOES. Some words meant doing things, such as GO and SWIM. And other words describe things, such as GOOD and DIRTY. Soon you learned to put words together to express one's idea, such as "1 want to go out and play with my friends." This is language. By means of language people can communicate. So we say languages are means of communication.
1. can remember the day when___________.
| A．One; he spoke his first word |
| B．No one; he spoke his first word |
| C．Most people; they spoke their first words |
| D．None; they spoke their first words |
| A．made sounds to let people know that you wanted to eat |
| B．spent most of your time playing with your parents |
| C．could not hear any sound around you |
| D．spent most of your time eating, playing and crying |
| A．one sound might be as good as another |
| B．people can understand each other |
| C．a certain sound is for a certain thing |
| D．there is a special sound for each person |
| A．before you knew what the language was |
| B．after you knew what the language was |
| C．if you knew the secret of the language |
| D．when you were a baby |
| A．to get everything one wants from others |
| B．to say what one wants to know |
| C．to share ideas, opinions, news, etc with one another |
| D．to make oneself understood by others |
The first McDonald's restaurant was opened in San Bernardino, California, in 1948 by brothers Mac and Richard “Dick” McDonald. Mac ran the restaurant side; Dick was the marketing genius. He had already invented the drive-in laundry and had been the first person to use neon lights in advertising. Now he spotted the gap in the post-war, baby-boom market for cheap, family-orientated restaurants with simple menus, standardized food and efficient service.
After a slow start, business began to boom. By 1954, the brothers were joined by another entrepreneur, a kitchen equipment salesman called Ray A Kroc who owned the franchise to the Multimixer, milk shake maker used throughout the McDonald's chain. A year later, Kroc had bought the McDonald brothers' chain of 25 franchises for the equivalent of around $70m（￡44m）. Dick remained with the company until the Seventies, when he and Kroc fell out over Kroc's claim that the chain was his creation.
Today, an almost Stalinist cult of personality surrounds Kroc （who died in 1984） at McDonald's, while the brothers who gave the company its name have all but been written out of its history. But though Kroc did not found McDonald's, he was certainly responsible for the empire-building philosophy which led to its world domination. He ushered in such essential contributions to international cuisine as the Big Mac （1968） and the Egg McMuffin （1973）; and helped launch Ronald McDonald —— “in any language he means fun” —— on to television in 1963.
Every three hours, a new McDonald's franchise opens somewhere in the world; it can be found in more than 100 countries including India （vegetarian-only to avoid offending the non-beef-eating populace） and Israel （non kosher, despite fierce local objection）. McDonald's chain embodied the thrusting, can-do spirit of Fifties America with staff mottoes such as “If you've got time to lean, you've got time to clean.”
1. McDonald's was founded _____.
| A．by a kitchen equipment salesman |
| B．in California |
| C．by a marketing genius called Dick McDonald |
| D．after the first World War |
| A．They were not McDonald's founders although they named the restaurant. |
| B．Their business was still in depression after several years. |
| C．They had clear job separation on business. |
| D．They sold their restaurant to a salesman in 1954. |
| A．He launched the restaurant image Ronald McDonald on to television. |
| B．Under his lead, international cuisine as the Big Mac and the Egg McMuffin earned worldwide fame |
| C．He spotted the gap in postwar market for cheap, family-orientated restaurants. |
| D．He built McDonald's empire with a philosophy which led to its world domination. |
| A．The single biggest food provider was however, not named after its founder |
| B．The international cuisine as the Big Mac, a beef hamburger, is provided every chain restaurant in the world. |
| C．Employees in McDonald's have no time to lean. |
| D．The symbol Ronald McDonald, means fun in any language, is said to the world most recognized person after Santa Claus. |
Before World War I we spent out summer holidays in Hungary. I have only the dim(模糊的)memory of the house we lived in, of my room and my toys, Nor do I recall clearly the large family of grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins who gathered next door. But I do have a crystal clear memory of dogs, the farm animals, the local birds and above all, the insects.
I am a naturalist, not a scientist. I have a strong love of the natural world, and my enthusiasm has led me into various investigations. I love discussing my favorite topics and enjoy burning the midnight oil reading about other people’s observations and discoveries.Then something happens that brings these observations together in my conscious mind. Suddenly you fancy you see the answer to the riddle. Because it all seems to fit together. This has resulted in my publishing 300 papers and books, which some may light honor, with the title of scientific research.
But curiosity, a keen eye ,a good memory and enjoyment of the animal and plant world do not make a scientist: one of the outstanding and essential qualities required is self-discipline, a quality I lack, A scientist can be made a naturalist. If you can combine the two, you get the best of both worlds.
1. According to the author, a born naturalist should first of all be
| A．full of ambition | B．self-disciplined | C．full of enthusiasm | D．knowledgeable |
| A．lost his hearing when he was a child |
| B．didn’t like his brothers and sisters |
| C．was interested in flowers and insects in his childhood |
| D．was born to a naturalist’s family |
| A．just reads about other people’s observations and discoveries |
| B．lacks some of the qualities required of scientist |
| C．has a great deal of trouble doing mental arithmetic |
| D．comes up with solutions in most natural ways. |
| A．He didn’t live very long with them |
| B．He was too young when he lived with them |
| C．The family was extremely large |
| D．He was fully occupied with observing nature |
| A．The author believes that a born naturalist cannot be a scientist |
| B．The author read a lot of books about the natural world and oil industry |
| C．The author’s brothers and sisters were good at music and languages |
| D．The author spent a lot of time working on riddles. |
