For those who may not be familiar, there is no such thing as a bicycle grants(补助金). As a matter of fact, there are a number of organizations and programs offering bicycle grants to bicyclers all over the world. Now of course, you can't simply receive money, because you want to buy a new mountain bike. Usually, those awarded grants are working on improving the quality of life. People are excited about the bicycle grants. This type of influence and achievement is gaining the attention of various companies that want to help by providing the necessary funding.
Eastman Kodak Company
Kodak has developed a fund called the “ Kodak American Greenways Awards". They are cooperating with the National geographic Society and the Conservation fund. Each year, they present grants as high as $2,500. The“seed” grant award is awarded to organizations that focus on improving blueways, greenways, natural areas, and trails.
US Government
The government has developed their only program for bicycle riders, called " The US Department of transportation's Recreational Trails Program". The government’s program is primarily focused on funding trail projects. The benefits of the fund is recreation, which includes bicycling, hiking, in-line skating, snowmobiling, all-terrain(地面)vehicle riding, and so forth. The great addition to the fund is that they distribute the funding to all the states. This means that everybody has the opportunity of receiving bicycle grants.
Bikes Belong Coalition
The Bikes Belong Coalition makes putting more people on bicycles their priority. They advocate for a better environment, recreation, sports, and better health, by way of bicycling. At the same time, they provide funding for supporting projects and bicycle facilities. Some of the projects they accept are paved lanes and bike paths. Applications for their grants can be submitted by either a facility class or a supporting class. Also, Bikes Belong Coalition are not quick to award bicycle grants to those who have been awarded in the past 3 years. This is partially due to their limited amount of funding
1. What's the main purpose of the bicycle grants?| A．To encourage a healthy lifestyle. | B．To make bicycles more popular. |
| C．To advertise their companies. | D．To give money to bicyclers directly. |
| A．Organizations. | B．Riders. | C．States. | D．Supporters. |
| A．To explain the reason for the latest bicycle grants. |
| B．To attract more bicycle riders around the country. |
| C．To organize a big event of bicycling across the country. |
| D．To introduce some organizations of the bicycle grants. |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】Maybe it is true that we do not know what we have got until we lose it，but it is also true that we do not know what we have been missing until it arrives.
It takes an hour to like someone，and a day to love someone，but it takes a lifetime to forget someone. Giving someone all your love is never an assurance(保证)that they will love you back. Do not expect love in return；but if it does not，be content it has grown in yours. Do not rely on one's appearance；it can trick you. Do not rely on wealth；even that fades away. Rely on someone who makes you smile，because it takes only a smile to make a dark day seem bright.
There are moments in life when you miss someone so much that you just want to pick them from your dreams and hug them. Dream what you want to dream；go where you want to go；be what you want to be，because you have only one life and one chance to do all the things you want to do.
The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past. You cannot go on well in life until you let your past failures and heartaches go off. May you have enough happiness to make you sweet，enough trials(考验)to make you strong，enough sorrow to keep you human，enough hope to make you happy. The happiest people do not necessarily have the best of everything；they just make the most of everything that comes along their way. Happiness waits for those who cry，those who appreciate the importance of people who have touched their lives. Always put yourself in others' shoes. If you feel that it hurts you，it probably hurts the other person，too.
When you were born，you were crying and everyone around you was smiling. Live your life so that when you die，you are the one who is smiling and everyone around you is crying.
1. In this passage，the writer wants to tell us ______.| A．what to do in our life | B．where to go with other persons |
| C．how to treat our life | D．how to get on well with other persons |
| A．If you give someone your love，you are sure to receive love in return. |
| B．We often don't know what we have lost until it happens someday. |
| C．It is wise not to rely on anybody because you are likely to be cheated. |
| D．If it takes you a short time to love someone，you will forget the person. |
| A．value | B．remember | C．consider | D．forget |
【推荐2】Whenever we see a button, we are eager to press it because we know something will happen. This is true in most cases, for example on a doorbell and on the “on/off” button on the TV. But some buttons are actually fake, like the “close” button on a lift.
Many people are in the habit of pressing the “close” button because they don’t have the patience to wait for the lift doors to shut. But lifts’ “close” buttons are a complete scam (骗局), at least in the US — the doors will not close any faster no matter how hard you press.
It started in the 1990s when the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed in the US, making sure that all lifts stayed open long enough so that people with disabilities could enter. Only US firefighters and repairmen can use the buttons to speed up the door-closing process if they have a code or special keys.
But to normal lift riders, the buttons aren’t completely useless. According to psychologists, fake buttons can actually make you feel better by offering you a sense of control.
“Perceived (能够感知的) control is very important. It reduces stress and increases well-being,” Ellen J. Langer, a psychology (心理学) professor, said, “having a lack of control is associated with depression (沮丧).”
Experts have showed that a lot of buttons that don’t do anything exist in our lives for this same purpose. For example, many offices in the US have fake thermostats (温度调节器) because people tend to feel better when they think they can control the temperature in their workplace.
Pedestrian (行人) crosswalk buttons don’t satisfy their names either. Pressing them used to help make the traffic signals change faster, but that was before computer-controlled traffic signals were introduced.
But psychologists found it interesting that even when people are aware of these little “white lies”, they still continue to push fake buttons because as long as the doors eventually close, it is considered to be worth the effort.
“That habit is here to stay,” John Kounios, a psychology professor, said. “Even though I have real doubts about the traffic light buttons, I always press them. After all, I’ve got nothing else to do while waiting. So why not press the button in the hope that this one will work?”
1. What was the author’s main purpose in writing the article?| A．To describe some different kinds of fake buttons. |
| B．To analyze the functions of fake buttons. |
| C．To explore people’s different habits when it comes to pushing buttons. |
| D．To explain the advantages and disadvantages of fake buttons. |
| A．helping people to build up confidence | B．making people more patient |
| C．giving people perceived control | D．making people with depression feel better |
| A．don’t know that what they press is fake | B．should give up this habit |
| C．consider what they do to be meaningless | D．probably do so to kill time |
【推荐3】When the German psychologist Kurt Lewin moved to the U.S., he found his new home a little puzzling, especially when it came to friendships. “Compared with Germans, Americans seem to make quicker progress toward friendly relations early in the acquaintance process and with many more persons,” he wrote. “Yet this development often stops at a certain point and the quickly acquired friends will, after years of close relations, say goodbye as easily as after a few weeks of acquaintance.”
Lewin thought that this idea of friends as fast fashion might be encouraged by the United States’s high level of residential mobility (居住流动性).
Gillath and Keefer did studies where people took questionnaires about their willingness to things and their history of moving from place to place. They found that people who’d moved around a lot were more willing to get rid of objects, and being willing to get rid of things was connected with being willing to cut social ties.
Moving is a big life change, and not only with regard to place. The social circles they have easy access to are also likely to change. This isn’t to suggest that people view their friends as objects. “Moving also requires making choices about which relationships are worth keeping and which are not, which ties could be replaced and which ties should be kept,” Gillath and Keefer write.
Perhaps this tendency to keep friendships from getting too deep comes not only from an easy-come, easy-go attitude due to mobility, but also the knowledge of how hard it is to leave people. As John Reisman puts it, “Within a changing society, people could, by keeping their friendships at an associative level, protect themselves from the sadness and self-blame that can be brought about when they have to cut close relationships.”
1. What puzzled Kurt after he came to America?| A．Americans were friendly to Germans. |
| B．Americans easily won emotional friends. |
| C．Americans were likely to end friendships easily. |
| D．Americans considered it fashion to make friends. |
| A．Throw away | B．Put away | C．Take over | D．Break down |
| A．keep one’s former social circles |
| B．judge one’s friendship with others |
| C．choose the objects from old friends |
| D．test one’s long-distance relationships |
| A．To be ashamed of living in a changing society. |
| B．To feel less guilty of moving away all the time. |
| C．To keep themselves from being hurt by friends. |
| D．To reduce the pain of ending deep friendships. |
【推荐1】For the latter part of the 1900s, most alcohol advertising on TV was banned. During this time, the number of minors(未成年人) drinking alcohol declined. Several years ago the ban was lifted and alcohol ads returned to television. Since then the number of minors drinking alcohol has grown.
A study conducted by the University of California Berkley shows that alcohol ads increase the abuse of alcohol, positive attitudes to it, and consumption of it in minors. Congressman Wolfe from Virginia also finds that alcohol advertising increases drunk driving and alcohol abuse in under-age individuals. A survey completed in California and South Dakota schools finds that teens that are frequently exposed to alcohol advertising often begin consuming it in the next year or so.
Adolescence is a time of brain development when anything that provides a thrill, like alcohol, is an attraction. And minors drink alcohol mainly to be like their friends. From a very early age, children want to fit in. Other than socializing, some doing that just try to cope with problems or stress. However, drinking alcohol will bring about many problems. Getting rid of these ads would lessen the under-age individuals’ urges to consume or abuse alcohol.
The companies who produce the ads say they target audiences well into adulthood by using older actors. They call it “Responsible Advertising”. The truth is that these companies well know that their ads are played in front of minors. They even try to appeal to teens by using music, animals, and humor which according to several studies are all the things that under-age individuals respond to in an advertisement. Do these companies really believe that simply stating “consume responsibly” and showing no visible consumption of alcohol really cover their actual intentions?
After all these studies and surveys are taken into account, one conclusion is clear: the companies who make the ads know very well that they are supporting underage drinking and alcohol abuse. People can stand up against these companies by addressing Congress to take action and re-ban these ads. If enough people voice their concerns, they can do just that.
1. The author mentioned the findings in the second Paragraph___________.| A．to show alcohol ads’ negative effects on minors |
| B．to tell us the danger of minors’ drunk driving |
| C．to tell us the harm of minors’ drinking alcohol |
| D．To show the Congressman’s attitude towards minor’s consuming alcohol |
| A．the reason why alcohol ads attract minors |
| B．the reason why minors tend to drink alcohol |
| C．the way that alcohol affects minor’s life |
| D．the way that minors handle problems with alcohol |
| A．Minors tend to do what they are forbidden to. |
| B．Minors know little about “consume responsibly”. |
| C．The ad companies’ target consumers actually include minors. |
| D．The ad companies employ older actors mainly to attract adults. |
| A．The phenomenon about the alcohol consumption. |
| B．The reasons for minors’ consumption in alcohol. |
| C．Alcohol advertising and its effects on minors. |
| D．The reasons for banning alcohol consumption in minors. |
【推荐2】For those who believe that remote (远程的) work is more productive than in the office, research shows that offices remain important. A paper found a 4% drop in the number of calls handled per hour by employees of an online business that had changed from offices to homes. Not only did employees answer fewer calls when remote, the quality of their interactions suffered. They put customers on hold for longer. More also phoned back, an indication of unsolved problems.
Those working at home were 18% less productive than their peers in the office. Another study determined that even chess professionals play less well in online matches than face-to-face. Yet another used a laboratory experiment to show that video conferences affect creative thinking.
The reasons for the findings won’t surprise anyone who has worked from a dining-room table. It is harder for people to collaborate from home. Workers spoke of missing their “neighbours” to turn to for assistance. Some of the co-ordination (协调) costs of remote work might reasonably be expected to fall as people get used to it. But another cost may rise over time: the underdevelopment of human capital. In a study of software engineers, researchers found that feedback exchanged between colleagues dropped sharply after the move to remote work. There is more to work than productivity. Perhaps the greatest virtue of remote work is that it leads to happier employees. People can more easily fit in school pickups and doctor appointments, not to mention the occasional lie-in or mid-morning jog. And some tasks can often be done more smoothly from home than in open offices, especially those requiring unbroken concentration for long periods. All this explains why so many workers have become so office-shy.
Indeed, several surveys have found employees are willing to accept pay cuts for the option of working from home. Having satisfied employees on slightly lower pay might be a good deal for corporate managers. Nevertheless, the balance of the work week is likely to be back to the office, because better productivity lies in that direction.
1. What did a paper find about the online business?| A．Employees are kept at work longer. | B．Employees have quality interactions. |
| C．Work productivity doesn’t improve. | D．Most hard problems are solved. |
| A．They can ask colleagues for help. | B．They can discuss things at dinner. |
| C．They have no co-ordination cost. | D．They have high spirits in the office. |
| A．It helps workers to fit in with society. |
| B．It represents the workplace situation. |
| C．It results in employees’ better productivity. |
| D．It may come with pay cuts for employees. |
| A．Technology. | B．Life. | C．Education. | D．Environment. |
【推荐3】Sharenting
It’s the holiday season, the time when we connect with family and friends. Social media sites like Twitter and Facebook are full of festive pictures, featuring parents’ catching and sharing those special family moments, their child’s wish list, and maybe even a cute video of their child dancing to “Jingle Bell Rock” while wearing a diaper (尿片) and Santa hat. Swelling with pride, parents can’t wait to get approval with a “thumbs up” or better yet a personalized message on their treasured post.
Adults should be able to post what they want online. However, when exposing family moments online, are they sharing too much information? Do parents have the right to share those cute now, but embarrassing later moments about kids? Have children willingly given their agreement to sharing their cute but funny video online?
A recent study found that 75% of parents turn to social media for parenting-related information and social support. There is even a term used to describe the overuse of sharing too much information about kids on social media: “sharenting”. Research also finds that “sharenting” isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. What’s troublesome is that a typical parent has about 150 Facebook friends and only a third of them are actual friends. So that brings up good questions – Who are we really sharing our information with and why? Who knows when and where that photo could resurface in the future?
While there’s no reliable information on how young children feel about things posted online, we do have information about how teens feel. According to a report by the Family Online Safety Institute, 76% of teens are concerned about their privacy. Many teens constantly search for new apps that allow anonymity. When names are required, they use screen names that don’t reveal real information. If our teens are doing a better job of protecting themselves online, shouldn’t parents take the lead and do the same? Plus, with more and more college admission representatives and potential employers surfing the internet for potential candidates, we’d hate for one of our posts to change an important decision. Think about it … online reputations are now becoming inseparable with real life ones.
Of course, we can secure our privacy settings, only allowing our friends to view pictures, posts and videos, but that doesn’t stop others from uploading our pictures. Adults need to be cautious of sharing information online, especially information about children.
So, this holiday season, enjoy family time and share those special memories with family and friends. Before clicking the app to upload photos or videos, stop and think twice.
1. Which of the following behaviors is “sharenting”?| A．A girl attends a live performance online. |
| B．A father tells his son’s story to his colleagues. |
| C．A mother posts her baby’s pictures on Facebook. |
| D．A boy invites his friends to his birthday party at home. |
| A．One’s real name. | B．Using strange names. |
| C．Unchangeable names. | D．Being unknown by name. |
| A．Sympathetic. | B．Negative. |
| C．Neutral. | D．Unconcerned. |
| A．To state an argument. | B．To support an opinion. |
| C．To compare different ideas. | D．To question a point of view. |
