It is reported that bags are getting bigger all the time,and that there are more bags per person on the street today than at any other time in history.If this is true,possible explanations could include the wide use of small electric and electronic devices,a reading-material explosion,a popular interest toward tight or pocket less clothing,or cheap bagmaking labor overseas.
But,much as nature finds ways—such as disease—to control overpopulation,city life has thrown up impediments(障碍) to bags.To enter many public buildings,such as theatres and railway stations,you must go through a search or go bagless.The city has countless bag rules.It is hard to keep them all straight,and you're never sure,when leaving home for the day,whether it might be a bad idea to bring one along.
Last week,the New York Public Library got in the game.Students,researchers,writers,historians,and anyone else who has got used over the years to treating the vast Rose Main Reading Room as an office or a reading room came up against a new rule.You are no longer allowed to bring a bag larger than eleven inches by fourteen inches into the library.If you walk in with one,you must leave it at the coat check.You may keep its contents with you,however,and the library provides big clear plastic bags for them.You return them when you come back for your own bag.
What the library is trying to prevent,in this case,is people taking things out,rather than bringing things in.A librarian said on the second day,”It’s a big change for people who used to come and bring in half their flats.The people who use the library responsibly will continue to do so.The people who steal will continue to get away with it,if they really want to.”
1. How many reasons does the author list to explain the changes related to bags?A.2 | B.3 | C.4 | D.5 |
A.Have their bags examined. | B.Pay for bringing in bags. |
C.Leave the places bagless. | D.Use big clear plastic bags. |
A.To change people’s way of reading. |
B.To prevent people stealing things. |
C.To help people better use the library. |
D.To stop people from bringing in dangerous things. |
A.Excellent. | B.Satisfactory. | C.Harmful. | D.Limited. |
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【推荐1】Last summer,Uber finally started allowing its customers to tip their drivers. Nothing actually prevented them from tipping before. At the end of the ride a passenger could have pulled out his wallet,fished around for change and handed the driver a few dollars. But it would have seemed foolish to do so,when everything else about the deal was handled through a few taps of the app. The app didn’t enable tipping, so riders didn’t tip.
All of this stresses the difficult problem for hotel housekeepers. Increasingly,people book hotel rooms through their computers or phones. They pay,and often pre-pay,with their credit cards. There’s a good chance they don’t even carry cash. And yet to tip the housekeeper—or the bellhop or concierge—there’s no choice but cash.
It is probably no coincidence, then, according to the New York Times,that fewer than one in three hotel guests in America now leave tips for the people who clean their rooms. It’s not as if hotel guests can’t afford them.
Hotel pay varies widely, but some housekeepers rely on tips for their life. Housekeepers in some cities made as low as $10 an hour last year. After the Marriott chain started leaving envelopes in 160,000 rooms for housekeeper tips,tipping seemed to have increased, according to the Times. But Marriott ended the practice a few weeks later, finding it unpopular with guests, some of whom felt pressured into tipping.
A better solution would be to go the Uber route. Upon checkout (or electronic checkout),guests could be asked if they’d like to tip their housekeeper. This would be similar to what happens at the end of a ride on ride-hailing apps,or on tablet screens in shops.
1. Why does the author mention Uber in the first paragraph?A.To introduce the topic. | B.To advertise the app. |
C.To arouse an argument. | D.To make a comparison. |
A.They can’t afford them. |
B.They prefer to pay cash tips. |
C.They can’t tip on the app. |
D.They’ve paid tips in advance. |
A.People didn’t tip. | B.Some felt forced to pay. |
C.Room service improved. | D.Guests preferred to tip by card. |
A.Nothing stops customers tipping. |
B.Housekeepers live happily on tips. |
C.Tipping on apps is the only solution. |
D.Cash-free deals make it harder to tip. |
【推荐2】Shoppers in the UK are spending less money on toilet paper to save money, research has shown.
Penny saving UK consumers choose cheaper products from discounters such as Aldi and Lidi rather than expensive alternatives.
This has wiped 6% off the value of the soft tissue paper market in the UK. It has reduced from £1.19 billion in 2011 to £1.12 billion in 2015, according to a new report from market research company Mintel. Furthermore, the future of the market looks far from positive, with sales expected to fall further to £1.11 billion in 2016.
In the last year alone, despite an increase in the UK population and a rise in the number of households, sales of toilet paper fell by 2%, with the average household reducing their toilet roll spending from £43 in 2014 to £41 in 2015.
Overall, almost three in five people say they try to limit their usage of paper – including facial tissue and kitchen roll to save money. “Strength, softness and thickness remain the leading signs of toilet paper quality, with just a small part of consumers preferring more expensive alternatives, such as those with flower patterns or perfume,” said analyst Jack Duckett. “These extra features are considered unnecessary by the majority of shoppers, which probably reflects how these types of products are typically more expensive than regular toilet paper, even when on special offer.”
While consumers are spending less on toilet paper, they remain particular about it when it comes to paper quality. One in 10 buyers rank toilet rolls made from recycled paper among their top considerations, clearly showing how overall the environment is much less of a consideration for shoppers than product quality. In a challenge for makers, 81% of paper product users said they would consider buying recycled toilet tissue if it were comparable in quality to standard paper.
1. The market sales of toilet paper have decreased because ________.A.its quality has seen marked improvement |
B.Britons have developed the habit of saving |
C.its prices have gone up over the year |
D.Britons have cut their spending on it |
A.It will expand in time. |
B.It will experience ups and downs. |
C.It will remain disappointing. |
D.It will recover as population grows. |
A.Consumers are loyal to certain brands. |
B.Extra features add much to the price. |
C.Special offers would promote its sales. |
D.Consumers have a variety to choose from. |
A.Environmental protection is not much of a concern when Britons buy toilet paper. |
B.More and more Britons buy recycled toilet paper to protect the environment. |
C.Toilet paper manufacturers are facing a great challenge in promoting its sales. |
D.Toilet paper manufacturers compete with one another to improve. |
【推荐3】Sometimes people call each other “scared-cat”. But have you ever thought about this expression? When a cat is frightened, its heart starts beating faster, its muscles get tense and there are changes in the chemicals in its bloodstream. Although the cat doesn’t realize this, its body is getting ready for action. If the danger continues, the animal will do one of two things. It will protect itself, or it will run away as fast as it can.
Something like this also happens to people. When we are excited, angry, scared by other feelings, our bodies go through many physical changes. Our hearts beat faster, and our muscles get tense. All of these changes make us more alert and ready to react. We, too, get ready to defend ourselves or run.
Human beings, however, have a problem that animals never face. If we give way to our feelings and let them take over, we can get into trouble. Have you ever said something in anger or hit somebody and regretted it later? Have you ever shouted at a teacher, told somebody you were lonely, or said you were in love, and then wished later you had kept your mouth shut? It isn’t always clever to express your feelings freely.
Does this mean that it’s smarter always to hide our feelings? No! If you keep feelings of anger, sadness hidden away or bottled up inside, your body stays tense. Physical illness can develop, and you can feel disturbed badly inside. It can actually be bad for your health. It isn’t good to keep pleasant feelings inside either; all feelings need to be expressed.
Feelings that you keep all bottled up inside don’t just go away. It’s as if you bought some bananas and put them in a cupboard. You might not be able to see them, but before long you’d smell them. And if you opened the cupboard, chances are that you’d see little fruit flies flying all over them. They are bad.
You can try to treat feelings as if they were bananas in the cupboard. You can hide them and you can pretend they don’t exist, but they’ll still be around. And at last you’ll have to deal with them, just like those bananas.
1. When people and animals are aroused by fear, _______.A.they feel very regretful immediately |
B.They may get ready to attack or run away |
C.Their hearts beat either faster or slower |
D.Their muscles get neither tense nor relaxed |
A.They are usually not as alert as animals. |
B.They sometimes can’t control their feelings. |
C.They always do something wrong to other people. |
D.They don’t pay attention to their physical changes. |
A.Holding in your feelings may lead to unpleasant results. |
B.Bananas stay fresh longer when they are in a cupboard. |
C.Feeling will gradually disappear when you hold them in. |
D.It’s good for your health to keep pleasant feelings inside. |
A.To help us deal with feelings in a wise and proper way |
B.To give us some advice on how to express our feelings. |
C.To tell us that people’s feelings are like bananas in a cupboard. |
D.To prove that it isn’t always wise to express our feelings freely. |
【推荐1】At the urban planning level, it's necessary to qualify “green infrastructure (基础设施)” within cities that can be used by non-human animals. The focus of planning is currently on providing ecosystem services that contribute to a healthy or at least tolerable living environment in cities that are experiencing increasingly extreme climates. Animals are rarely mentioned in this context.
Modern urban green space is characterized more by order, safety and ease of maintenance than by its quality as a habitat for animals. The objective associated with the term “urban green infrastructure” of combining the open space needs of people, animals and plants in an overall planning concept, of weighing up conflicts and using synergies (协同作用), is only being partially achieved at present.
If wildlife is to be able to live in cities, green space must also be planned for it. Furthermore, in order to support wildlife, urban space needs to be “barrier-free” and allow for the migration of species. The pathways wildlife chooses on land, in the air and in the water are very often impaired by human construction activities. Barrier-free planning for animals means that humans should reduce these destructive acts to give them a free path.
To improve the situation, we have developed what we call our Animal-Aided Design (AAD) method and are working to create ecological models and design tools for an architecture that considers animals and humans as partners in an integrated planning process. An architecture of cohabitation truly considers animals as fellow occupants of cities and tries to meet their needs as well. In this way, it opens up space where encounters between wildlife and people can occur and even has positive effects on our psychological and physical well-being.
1. What is a problem with the current urban planning?A.It provides a habitat for animals. | B.It brings about extreme climates. |
C.It focuses more on human needs. | D.It lacks advanced design concepts. |
A.Disapproving. | B.Pessimistic. | C.Critical. | D.Supportive. |
A.Destroyed. | B.Maintained. | C.Ignored. | D.Opened. |
A.To monitor the planning process. | B.To make urban space barrier-free. |
C.To ensure people's psychological health. | D.To design an architecture of cohabitation. |
【推荐2】A new “smart bin” could spell the end of environment - conscious families spending hours sorting tins, cartons, bottles, and cardboard for recycling. The invention, which automatically sorts rubbish into recycling categories, is being trialed in Poland and is set to go on sale in the UK within a few years.
The bin, designed by start - up company Bin. E, recognizes different types of waste via a system positioned inside the bin which uses sensors, image recognition and artificial intelligence. Once waste is placed inside, the camera and sensors identify its type and place it in one of the smaller bins. Then it compresses (压缩) the waste so it occupies less space.
News of the launch showed that more than a million households are being forced to accept bin collections every three or four weeks, because councils are trying to force them to recycle more. Data collected by The Telegraph has showed at least 18 areas have moved or will shortly be moving to three - weekly rubbish collections, while a further three have adopted or are trialing four - weekly collections. While reducing general bin collections, councils are increasing the frequency of recycling collections in a bid to change people’s behaviour. It is thought that the bin could be stocked by department stores such as John Lewis, which said it is introducing new hi - tech recycling bins to satisfy increasing customer appetite for them. Matt Thomas, a utility (家用设施) seller at John Lewis, said, “We’ve recently seen a jump in specialist bins sales, with a 25 percent increase in the last few months alone. We have noticed our customers are becoming more and more sustainability focused, choosing dual compartment (双格) recycling bins that make it far easier to recycle different types of waste. In response to this demand, we are really excited to introduce a new voice and sensor activated smart bin this autumn / winter season — designed to use new technology to make recycling more efficient and functional for the everyday home.”
1. What can we know about the smart bin?A.It has entered the UK market. |
B.It breaks up the garbage quickly. |
C.It can classify different kinds of rubbish. |
D.It expands its space with the increase of garbage. |
A.The cost of producing the bins has raised. |
B.The smart bins have been the best sellers. |
C.The stores have sold out the new bins in a very short time. |
D.The sales volume of the recycling bins has increased suddenly. |
A.People can get the smart bins at a low price. |
B.People always spend much time in rubbish collections. |
C.More and more hi - tech bins are designed for customers. |
D.People pay more attention to environmental protection than before. |
A.Smart Bins in the United Kingdom |
B.Councils’ Call for Rubbish Collection |
C.A Smart Bin That Sorts Different Rubbish |
D.The Good News to Environment - Conscious Families |
【推荐3】It is a well-known fact that plastic bottles, which take hundreds of years to rot, are harmful to our environment. However, efforts by environmentalists to encourage consumers to switch to alternatives, like water fountains or reusable bottles, have not been very effective. The U.S. alone uses over 50 million plastic bottles annually, 80% of which end up in landfills.
To try to stop that, Rodrigo García González, Pierre Paslier and Guillaume Couche from the Imperial College London have been working on a revolutionary solution — water wrapped inside an eatable container made mostly from seaweed. All the customer has to do to relieve his/her thirst is pop the entire drop into the mouth.
The inventors, who have been working on the Ooho bubble since 2014, use a simple two-step cooking process called spherification (球化) to create the delicate container. They begin by dipping a frozen ball of water or juice into a chemical solution (溶液). This helps form a layer around the liquid. The ball is then absorbed in a solution made from seaweed extract. This creates a second layer, helping strengthen the structure so that the water or juice does not leak. In addition to saving our environment, the biodegradable (可降解的) packaging costs just two cents each, making it cheaper to produce than plastic.
After three years of perfecting the design, the inventors, who recently raised over 1 million USD from a financial activity, are ready to bring the Ooho bubble to local market. However, there are a few challenges that still need to be overcome before the product’s launch. In addition to getting accustomed to the taste of the covering, each eatable container contains just a mouthful of water, requiring consumers to drink multiple bubbles to relieve their thirst. There is also the issue of finding an eco-friendly packaging to transport the bubbles so that they remain clean and do not burst. Hopefully, the inventors will find ways to handle the issues so that we can reduce, or perhaps even remove, plastic bottles.
1. Why was the Ooho bubble created?A.To test a newly-designed material. | B.To change consumers’ drinking habit. |
C.To reduce pollution caused by plastic. | D.To take a share of drinking water industry. |
A.Solve some specific problems of the product. | B.Collect more money to expand production. |
C.Distribute the Ooho bubble to global market. | D.Advertise the advantages of the Ooho bubble. |
A.Uncaring. | B.Doubtful. | C.Confident. | D.Opposed. |
A.Scientists Work out a New Kind of Water |
B.Plastic Bottles Will Be Replaced by the Ooho Bubble |
C.Environmental Pollution is Expected to Be Solved |
D.The Ooho Bubble Aims to Remove Plastic Bottles |