Today, people travel around the world by air and enjoy the great convenience it brings, but studies show that air travel is bad for the environment. It’s responsible for about three percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions (排放物). Then do we have to give up flying to save the planet? Maybe not.
Last month, a British airline (航空公司) operated a flight (航班) called Flight 100. It flew from London to New York with some reporters, engineers and government officers on it. There were no paying passengers. The flight was special because the plane used waste fats and plant sugars as fuel (燃料). As a new kind of green fuel, it was different from the traditional fuel and it cut the flight’s pollution by 70 percent according to the company. Some people said that the flight meant a lot. Many more people wanted to have a try on the flight.
However, there are still problems. For one thing, the green fuel costs five times as much as the traditional fuel. For another, it is difficult to make enough green fuel for all the flights around the world in a short time. To provide enough fuel for a large number of planes, farmers will have to grow more plants. Therefore, more forests will be cut down for farmland.
For now, the British airline and other airlines have no plan to provide similar flights for the public. There is still a long way to go before air travel becomes greener. But one day in the future, such flights may become common and the greenhouse gas emissions may be reduced.
1. According to the text, we know air travel is _______.| A．good for the forests | B．helpful to the planet |
| C．bad for the travelers | D．harmful to the environment |
| A．it was from London to New York | B．a new kind of green fuel was used |
| C．it was operated by a British airline | D．some government officers were on it |
| A．Advantages of taking the flight. | B．Costs of making traditional fuel. |
| C．Problems of using the green fuel. | D．Difficulties of planting more trees. |
| A．The public have already taken similar flights. |
| B．Air travel will become greener in a short time. |
| C．All airlines are against producing the green fuel. |
| D．More work needs to be done to make air travel cleaner. |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】As a middle school student, you should have some bike safety knowledge (安全知识) to keep yourself safe when you ride a bike.
First, you can choose a helmet. People always say “Use your head, wear a helmet”. It is very useful because it can protect your head when you fall down from your bike. Make sure your helmet is of the right size. Wear it every time you ride.
Pick out the one you really like, so you would like to wear it for every ride.
Then, you can choose a suitable bike. Your bike should be of the right size. Your parents may buy a bike that is a little large for you, because you will keep growing. Tell your parents that it is not right. You must ride a bike that fits you.
Before the ride, check your bike.
Be sure drivers around you pay attention to (注意) you, so they will slow down or stop before you cross the street.
Ride on the right side of the road and follow traffic rules.
When you ride in the evening, you need to use lights. In this way, drivers can see you clearly.
1. The underlined word “helmet” means “________” in Chinese.| A．假肢 | B．口罩 | C．围巾 | D．头盔 |
| A．Choose an expensive one. | B．Choose a cheap one. |
| C．Choose one with right size. | D．Choose one with bright color. |
| A．large bike is cheaper than small one | B．the bike will be small after child grows up |
| C．it is better for their child’s health | D．their child likes riding large bike better |
| A．Check your bike before riding. | B．Follow traffic rules. |
| C．Ride on the right side of the road. | D．Use lights in the daytime. |
| A．Ways to choose a helmet. | B．Bike safety knowledge. |
| C．How to ride a new bike. | D．A new kind of bike. |
【推荐2】Benjamin is in Munich, Germany. He is a designer. He is working in an office. How does Benjamin go to work? He swims.
Benjamin lives in a house across from his office. In the middle of his office and his house is a very big river. It takes him a long time to take a bus to work, so he swims to work and goes back home every day. “Swimming every day makes me relaxed, "he said.
How does Benjamin swim across the river? He usually takes a bag. The bag is waterproof, He puts his keys and phones in the bag. He wears sandals, so stones, glass or something else in the river don’t hurt his feet. In summer, he has lunch in his office. In the cold season, he usually puts on warm clothes and has a cup of hot water after he gets home.
判断正（A）误（B）
1. Benjamin usually takes a bus to work.
2. There is a big river between his office and his house.
3. He often takes a waterproof bag and wears sandals when swimming.
4. In summer and winter, he swims back home to have lunch.
5. He usually has a cup of hot water and goes home in winter.
What would the world be like if cars could drive themselves?
Imagine seeing an empty car passing by on its way to pick up its owner, or a car full of passengers who are reading, listening to music or even sleeping. But none of them is worried about the road ahead.
Well, all of these could be the future of driving. There are several companies, for example, Google, working on driverless cars. So far, no Google self-driven car has got a traffic ticket but some of them have been in accident when other cars hit them.
These cars are now still in the testing stages (阶段). If the tests are successful, these electric (电动的), self-driven cars could be put into use very soon. But how is it possible for a car to drive itself? Cars already have many features (特征) allowing them to replace drivers during certain situations. Some features include cars being able to park themselves, or slowdown when they notice other cars close by. They can also control the speed if there are dangerous conditions.
Scientists believe that with the help of wireless signals (无线信号), cameras and GPS, it is possible to create a safe self-driven car very soon.
Usually serious road accidents happen because of careless drivers or dangerous conditions. The self-driven car may be able to stop this. However, some people do not like the idea. They think that technologies can also be mistakes.
1. What’s the main purpose of the first paragraph?| A．To get readers to pay attention to road safety |
| B．To tell readers the danger of self-driven cars |
| C．To ask readers to keep away from heavy traffic |
| D．To make readers be interested in self-driven cars |
| A．help | B．take one’s place | C．keep | D．carry |
| A．stop any accident on the road |
| B．control the speed in dangerous situations |
| C．turnaround when getting near other cars |
| D．park themselves with the help of the drivers |
| A．Cameras. | B．GPS. | C．E-reading. | D．Wireless signals. |
| A．They are not sure about it. | B．They believe it completely. |
| C．They don’t care about it. | D．They dislike new technology. |
【推荐1】There are places in North America where great cities once stood. There were gardens, trees and grass. But now these places are like deserts. Scientists began to study this land to find out what had happened. Many of them believe the land died when the trees were cut down.
Trees help other plants grow. Tree roots (树根) hold the soil in place. They keep the wind from blowing away the soil. Leaves on the ground keep rainwater from running off. Trees near farms can help to stop strong winds.
Once there were hundreds of farms in the northwest of the US. Then the farms turned into fields of dry land. This was because few trees grow there.
Now we try to save trees. In many places, when a tree is cut down, a new tree is planted in its place. We don’t want the land to die.
1. Places where great cities stood are now like ________.| A．forests | B．deserts | C．farms | D．gardens |
| A．the old tree’s | B．the new tree’s | C．the place’s | D．the land’s |
| A．Because they turn fields into dry land. | B．Because they help other plants grow. |
| C．Because they help strong winds blow. | D．Because they keep rainwater running off. |
| A．Farms are better than cities. | B．There are no deserts in America. |
| C．Lands will die without trees. | D．All the trees are cut down. |
| A．You can’t find any trees or grass in North America. |
| B．Trees help us live a life as we are living now. |
| C．Trees grow only in the deserts. |
| D．Trees can blow soil away. |
【推荐2】Beijing has a large number of old trees. A survey showed that the city had about 40,000 century-old trees. Among them, more than 6,100 were over 300 years old. It’s said that the longest living tree is about 3, 000 years old, almost as old as the city itself. Nearly half of the old trees are in old streets and ancient gardens.
However, about 9,000 of the old trees are in danger because of environmental changes, natural disasters（灾害）, poor management, and so on.
Last year, Beijing government started a project to protect trees that are over 100 years old. They first found two ginkgoes（银杏树）and two pagoda trees（国槐）at the foot of Beijing’s Western Hills.
Yang Shutian, director of the project, said that old trees could be seen as “living relics（遗迹）” and keeping them healthy was also part of the work to protect and carry forward the city’s history.
A group of tree experts carried out an examination of the four old trees, which were very weak and dying. The experts soon took action to save the trees. They filled holes, controlled pests and watered the trees over the next two months. The trees are now very strong. According to Yang, more old trees in the city will be protected through the project.
“The old trees have witnessed（见证）the city’s development and played a key role in improving the city’s environment. To make them healthy is our duty.” Yang added.
1. How old is the oldest tree in Beijing?| A．It’s about 300 years old. | B．It’s about 3,000 years old. |
| C．It’s about 6,100 years old. | D．It’s about 40,000 years old. |
| A．environmental changes | B．natural disasters |
| C．poor management | D．protection project |
| A．To protect all trees in Beijing. | B．To plant more and more trees in Beijing. |
| C．To ask people to give away money to protect trees. | D．To protect century-old trees. |
| A．They filled holes, controlled pests and watered the trees. |
| B．The city had about 40, 000 century-old trees. |
| C．To make them healthy is our duty. |
| D．More old trees in the city will be protected through the project. |
| A．TRAVEL. | B．ENVIRONMENT. | C．HISTORY. | D．FASHION. |
People can reduce, reuse, or recycle waste instead of throwing it away. Matt and Sam decided to do an experiment. They wanted to see exactly how much waste the three R’s could save.
First, they collected the rubbish from six classrooms at their school. They divided the rubbish into three groups:
Things that were reusable, such as a pencil or a marker that had been thrown away
Things that could be recycled, such as cans, glass, or paper
Things that were truly waste
Then, Matt and Sam weighed each of the three groups. They learned that 84%of the total rubbish thrown away that day could be recycled or reused. They decided to do something about it.
Matt and Sam presented the idea of starting a recycling programme to the school leaders. Then they worked with the Student Council. They prepared brochures (手册) to send home to tell the students and their families about recycling. They stated in the brochure that recycling helps to keep our planet healthy. The school bought colored containers (容器) for each classroom. Each room received a blue container for paper and a green container for glass and cans. They also received a red container for real rubbish.
Within a short time, each classroom in the school was sorting recyclable materials from rubbish before it was thrown. Matt and Sam decided to weigh the rubbish one more time. They wanted to check the school’s progress. They collected the rubbish from the red containers from the same six classrooms as before. They sorted the rubbish into three groups again and weighed each group. This time, they were pleased to find that the red containers were filled with 90% waste that should be thrown away. Only 10% of recyclable materials had been thrown into the red containers. Matt and Sam were pleased with their school’s effort at reducing waste on our planet.
1. By doing an experiment, Mat and Sam wanted to find out ________.| A．what things could be reuse |
| B．what recyclable materials could be saved |
| C．how much waste the three R’s could save |
| D．how much waste their school produced a day |
| A．They made a speech on recycling. |
| B．They wrote a report to the school leaders. |
| C．They bought colored containers for each classroom. |
| D．They helped students and their families knew about recycling. |
| A．Responsible. | B．Friendly. | C．Independent. | D．Confident. |
【推荐1】Nowadays, many people choose to continue working in their spare time because of much pressure from supporting their families. However, a study shows that instead of spending your spare time at work in hopes of getting a raise, maybe you should go to the gym. That’s because it could make you happy just like the money you made during this time. A new interesting study in The Lancet found that people who enjoy doing exercise have a greater sense of happiness than those who don’t.
Researchers from Oxford and Yale Universities used data collected from more than 1.2 million Americans. They were asked, “How many times have you felt uncomfortable because of mental problems in the past 30 days?” They were also asked about their exercise habits and were able to choose from 75 kinds of activities, including doing housework and childcare, running, weightlifting, and cycling.
The researchers found that the people who exercise regularly feel bad for an average of 35 days per year while the people doing little exercise feel bad for an additional 18 days. From the study, people who exercised had 43 percent fewer days of poor mental health in the past month than people who did not exercise. All exercise types can lead to a lower mental health burden (负担).
Social activities for exercising like team sports had an even more positive effect, although cycling was the most popular. Perhaps that’s because it takes place outdoors, which is always a way for people to get rid of stress.
It is possible to get too much exercise. Business Insider’s write-up on the study said, “The mental health of those people who exercised for longer than three hours a day suffered more than that of those who didn’t exercise.” The right amount seems to be three to five times per week, lasting 30 to 60 minutes each. The key point should be that any amount helps, so don’t force yourself to hit that perfect balance. All exercise types result in a lower mental health burden than not exercising.
1. From Paragraph 2 we can learn ________.| A．what the study found | B．when the study started |
| C．how the study was conducted | D．why the study was carried out |
| A．To warn people of the harm of exercise. |
| B．To recommend a website for exercise. |
| C．To show the proper amount of exercise. |
| D．To show people a special opinion on exercise. |
| A．The best way for people to remain active. |
| B．The activities that are good for people’s health. |
| C．The commonest mental problems among people. |
| D．The relationship between exercise and mental health. |
【推荐2】Everyone knows that we should eat clean food. Many people think it’s important and good for health to wash the food before cooking it. However, for some food like eggs, washing can do more harm (害处).
People like to wash the shell (壳) before they cook the egg. They want to make sure there’s no dirt or germs (细菌) on the egg. But they don’t need to do this.
There is a coating (涂层) on the shell of the egg. The coating can help keep the egg away from germs. When factories do the cleaning work, they wash away the coating and put a kind of special thing on the egg shell. It is there to keep germs from coming inside the egg.
“Of course, there are germs on the egg but by washing it you make it worse. The egg shell is porous (可渗透的) , ” says health expert Amy Leigh Mercree. “And this can happen more easily when you use cold water or running water. ”
“So don’t wash eggs—save yourself some time and keep the germs where they are. ” Mercree says.
根据语篇内容，选择最佳选项。
1. For many people, washing food before cooking is usually ________.
| A．difficult | B．easy | C．bad | D．important |
| A．How to cook eggs well. |
| B．Why it’s better to buy eggs from farmers. |
| C．How to put a kind of special thing on the egg shell. |
| D．Why there is no need to wash eggs. |
| A．the egg shell | B．a kind of special thing |
| C．the egg | D．the coating |
| A．Germs will go inside the eggs easily when people wash eggs with cold water. |
| B．There is a kind of special thing all over the coating of the egg. |
| C．People don’t have to wash the egg because of its coating. |
| D．Factories use something special to keep eggs away from germs. |
| A．There won’t be germs on the egg shells. | B．The egg shells get broken easily. |
| C．Germs are inside the eggs. | D．Not washing eggs can save your time. |
【推荐3】You might notice that some foods are named after places—for example, pu’er tea and Nanjing salted duck. These are the “birthplaces” of these foods. In fact, a product’s birthplace is very important. It’s about the quality. An agreement between China and European Union（EU）has taken effect. It lists the names of products and their birthplaces. They are called geographical indications（GIs, 地理标志）.
Which products can get GIs?
Farm products, food, wine, handcrafts, and industrial products can get GIs. On the first GI list, there are food, farm products, wine and tea. On the next list, there will be some Chinese cultural products, such as Shu brocade（蜀绣）and Xuan paper.
How many products are on the GI list?
Two hundred products from China and EU countries are on the list. Over the next four years, another list will come out. It will include 350 GIs.
How will the agreement help us?
It is good for both shoppers and companies. People can buy high-quality products based on the GIs. They don’t have to worry if they are fake（假货）. Companies can sell more products to other countries. Some products are only popular in China. Now they might become popular in Europe. This will also promote business between China and Europe.
1. GIs help customers learn about the ________ of the products.| A．prices | B．weights | C．birthplaces | D．tastes |
A． | B． | C． | D． |
| A．150. | B．200. | C．350. | D．550. |
| A．GIs. | B．Products. | C．People. | D．Countries. |
| A．Improve. | B．Collect. | C．Achieve. | D．Finish. |
