1 . What does it mean to be green? Green is more than just a color. It also means taking special steps to protect the environment. Buying a green product is a small step everyone can take. Deciding whether a product is green, however, isn’t always easy. We need to consider the whole life cycle of the product even after it’s of no use. Here is what we may keep in mind.
The materials of a product are usually our first focus (关注). What is it made of? Are there any harmful chemicals in it? Green products are made of more natural materials which are free from harmful chemicals, so they can be good for our physical health.
Packaging is important. How is a product packaged? Is it over packaged? We’d better choose glass, metal and paper packaging, as these can be reused or more easily recycled (回收利用). We can also look for less packaging or even choose unbagged products whenever possible.
Location (地点) matters. Where was a product produced? Where are we buying it? Think about how much energy was used to get it to us try to choose local products. When it comes to food, it is a good idea to order directly from local farmer, shop at markets and buy fruits in season. Buying from stores near our houses is also a good choice, because we can go there without driving a car.
Look into what the company tells us about their product. It’s easy to say that a product is “green” or “all natural” but the words may be too good to be true. So, much of the information about a product should be taken with a grain of salt. After all, companies try to make us believe that their products are environmentally responsible.
The greenest thing is certainly the one we don’t buy. Things like food and clothing are necessary for life. But many others are not. Better than buying is choosing to leave an unnecessary product in the store and doing without. It sends a message to the producer, keeps money in our pockets, reduces (减少) waste and keeps the planet healthy.
1. The writer would suggest choosing a product that is ________.| A．over packaged | B．delivered from abroad |
| C．locally produced | D．made of unnatural materials |
| A．be easily understood | B．not be completely believed |
| C．be widely spread | D．not be quickly forgotten |
| A．Buying Green | B．Recycling Waste |
| C．Keeping Healthy | D．Reducing Energy Use |
2 . “A wise old owl sat on an oak. The more he saw, the less he spoke, the more he heard. Why aren’t we like that wise old bird?”—Edward H Richards.
We all need to learn to listen well. Listening is a learned skill, the same as speaking in public. It just takes much longer to learn! Listening is a skill we should be practicing every day. And I mean active listening, not just listening when it is convenient to us.
Listening shows others that they are important. It’s a sign of respect. If someone listens to you carefully when you are talking, it shows that they are really interested in what you are saying.
How do you practice listening? Here are some basic rules:
Put down whatever is in your hands. Are you in the middle of writing something? Put down the pen and fold your hands. Are you reading something? Close it so that it will be impossible for you to look down and start reading again. Then put it down.
Turn off your computer. The computer will distract (使分心) you from your job at hand—listening.
Face the person you are speaking with. Facing the person you are speaking with will help you focus completely on listening. It will also make the person feel that you find what he is saying important.
Mind your body language. Leaning (身体倾斜) toward the speaker will show interest. Crossing your arms in front of your chest shows disagreement. Looking around the room shows you have no interest. Tapping (轻扣) your fingers tells the speaker that you are really too busy for him. Looking that speaker in the eye tells him that he is important.
Listen completely. Do not start making comments (评价) after the first few words. Do not start thinking about your reply in your mind. Pay attention to the speaker. Really listen to what he is telling you.
1. The author repeats Edward’s words in the first paragraph to ________.| A．make readers laugh | B．help show his opinion |
| C．make readers relaxed | D．disagree with Edward’s idea |
| A．how to listen to people | B．the importance of listening |
| C．how to show respect for the speaker | D．the method of making people listen to you |
| A．shouldn’t look the speaker in the eye |
| B．should cross our arms in front of our chests |
| C．shouldn’t express our own opinions before the speaker finishes |
| D．should think about how to reply to the speaker when he’s speaking |
Glaciers are large pieces of ice that form in high mountains or near the poles（极地）over many years. They are made up of fallen snow that gets pressed and move slowly over land. Glaciers are helpful for scientists to learn about what the weather was like thousands of years ago.
Glaciers cover around 11% of the earth’s total land area. They form the largest reservoir（水库）of fresh water on the planet. In fact, they store about 70% of the world’s fresh water. The world’s largest glacier is Lambert Glacier in Antarctica, about 400 km long and 2.5 km deep!
Earth’s glaciers are melting（融化）faster than scientists thought. A study shows that we are losing 369 billion tons of snow and ice each year. Because of warming weather, the melting glaciers are adding more water to already rising seas.
Icebergs are large pieces of ice that have broken away from glaciers and ice shelves. Icebergs float（漂浮）in the sea. Most icebergs are white. There are also blue icebergs. Surprisingly, there are green icebergs in Antarctica. Scientists found green icebergs have 500 times more iron than glacial ice. This is an important finding, as these green icebergs can send iron to far parts of the ocean to tiny sea plants.
We can only see about 10 percent of most icebergs. This is where the phrase “tip of the iceberg” came from, meaning we can only see a small part of a large problem.
Icebergs are dangerous to ships. The underwater ice can easily tear（撕开）a hole in the bottom of a ship. In 1912, the Titanic, on its way to New York, hit an iceberg and sank. More than 1, 500 people died.
| Facts *forming over land *covering around 11% of the earth’s land area *storing about 70% of the world’s fresh water | made up of fallen snow Glaciers | broken away from glaciers and ice shelves | Facts *floating in the sea *white, blue and green colors *much iron in green ones |
*helping scientists study weather * forming the largest reservoir of fresh water | The saying—tip of the iceberg tells people we only know a little when | ||
glacier melting and sea rising because of warming weather | Dangers * *causing ships to sink |
Paper cutting or tearing is a cultural tradition in China. For centuries, it has been passed down from one generation（一代人） to the next, especially from mothers to daughters. This beautiful art created by skillful artists is used to decorate（装饰） doors, ceilings, and beds in people’s homes, or at celebrations such as birthdays and weddings. At Chinese New Year, window flowers are glued to windows, creating beautiful patterns of light and shadow.
The two main techniques（技艺） used are cutting the paper using a knife or scissors, or tearing it by hand. If the paper is cut, the edges（边缘） are very smooth. Paper cutting can produce very fine and delicate work. This type of work is typical of southern China. If the paper is torn by hand, the edges are more simple and natural. Tearing is used more in northeast China. In addition, different parts of China have their own motifs or pictures. These motifs can express many stories, ideas and emotions.
It can be hard to hold on to traditions like these because young people don’t know much about traditional art. Often they prefer spending their time on newer pastimes. The experts are getting older. If young people don’t learn the traditions, they won’t be able to pass them down to their own children. But recently there is a change. There are more exhibitions of traditional art. Artists are going into schools to teach children how to do paper cutting. Children enjoy working together with artists and talking to them about the meaning of their art. In this way, they are becoming proud of their culture and traditions.
1. The underlined word “motifs” in Paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to ________ .| A．habits | B．reasons | C．subjects |
| A．It is easy to hold on to this form of art. |
| B．It will continue in China for future generations. |
| C．It is so expensive that only the rich can afford to learn it. |
| A．young people know traditional art very well |
| B．the edges are very smooth when the paper is cut |
| C．girls were not allowed to learn paper cutting in the past |
| A．Chinese Paper Art | B．Great Changes in China | C．Famous Chinese Artists |
Environmental protection is one of the hottest topics nowadays. It was also something that ancient Chinese paid great attention to. In fact, the world’s earliest environmental protection idea, ministry(部门) and law were all born in China. How did the ancient Chinese protect the environment?
The world’s earliest idea of “managing state affairs(政事) through environmental protection”
Xunzi, a famous thinker in the Warring States Period, came up with the idea of “managing state affairs through environmental protection”. He wrote in his book that vegetation(植被) should be protected well by humans.
Guan Zhong, a government officer 400 years ahead of Xunzi, was also an environmental protection expert. He said “a king who cannot protect his vegetation is not doing a good job”.
The world’s earliest “environmental protection ministry”
Nine ministries set up by Shun, an ancient Chinese emperor, included “Yu”(虞), an environmental protection ministry. The first “Yu” leader was Boyi, an environmental protection expert. He invented wells so people could drink clean water. He knew a lot about animals and also called for animal protection.
The world’s earliest “environmental protection law”
Over 4,000 years ago, Dayu, an ancient Chinese water-control expert and also an emperor, made a rule, not allowing people to cut down trees in March or catch fish in June, because it was the time when they grew quickly.
Almost 3,000 years ago, Tianlü, the first environmental protection law, appeared in Qin. It recorded many ancient environmental protection rules. Two of them were interesting: firstly, rivers should not be blocked(堵塞); secondly, grass and trees should not be burned to be fertilize(肥料) except for summer. The second one is inspiring even for today. It can help to keep air clean and fresh.
| The Earliest Thoughts and Ideas ●Guan zhong. It is a good king’s duty to protect vegetation. ●Xunzi. Environmental protection should be Ministry ●Yu, the first environment protection ministry, was set up by shua. ●Boyi, the first leader of Yu. Laws ●The rule by Dayu: •People can only get wood and fish from nature at the ●The rules in Tiantu: •Make sure rivers run |
Chinese traditional painting and dance are two important parts of the art world. But what about when they meet each other?
This year, a dance drama called Poetic Dance: The Journey of a Legendary Landscape Painting (《只此青绿》) was shown on CCTV’s Spring Festival Gala. It became popular overnight.
According to CCTV, this poetic dance got the idea from the 900-year-old Chinese painting A Panorama of Rivers and Mountains (《千里江山图》). Created by Song Dynasty painter Wang Ximeng at about 18, the painting is amazing in its sweeping size, rich coloration and expressive details. It shows a Chinese blue-green landscape: “mountains and groupings of endless rise and fall between cloudless sky and rippling water”.
A The dance shows the Chinese traditional beauty of the painting. The dancers each had a different hairstyle, which looked like a mountain rock. B The clothes that they wore were shades of green and blue, which is also poetic show of the mountains and rivers. C When the dancers swayed beautifully, the audience seemed to be looking at the moving mountains and rivers. D More than a thousand years later, green mountains and rivers still wow people as they did long ago.
In recent years, more and more modern shows highlight Chinese traditional culture and have received warm welcome, especially among young people. They show _________ Chinese culture and are proud of it.
注：每题答案
1. What does the underlined word “they” refer to in Paragraph 1?
2. In A Panorama of Rivers and Mountains, what colour is the Chinese landscape?
3. What does the dancers’ hairstyle look like?
4. In Paragraph 4, the sentence “Huge mountains and rivers are coming to life!” is missing. Where should we put it, A, B, C or D?
5. Please fill in the blank in the last paragraph.
7 . Flying cars: flying high and reaching for the sky!
Traffic jam is almost every driver’s headache. So it’s not surprising to see why the idea of turning cars into flying machines has been popular for years. The flying cars can be seen in a lot of science fiction novels and films. Now the idea may become a reality in the near future.
Basic information● A flying car provides transport by both land and air.
● A few models of flying cars have already completed test flights.
Advantages
● Reducing road traffic jams.
● Travelling across greater distances much faster than common cars.
● Saving space on the ground for parks and other public spaces.
▲
● Building an engine that is powerful enough to lift and fly the car for a long time.
● Creating a strong lightweight body so that the flying car can be used in any weather.
● Designing sky “roads” to manage the flow of traffic in the air.
● Making new traffic rules in the sky.
1. How many advantages does the material tell us about flying cars?
| A．Two. | B．Three. | C．Four. | D．Five. |
| A．Disadvantages. | B．Possibilities. | C．Contributions. | D．Challenges. |
| A．People may drive flying cars in the near future. |
| B．So far no flying cars have completed test flights. |
| C．There are some rules against the use of flying cars. |
| D．Flying cars can be used on land, in water and in the air. |
| A．To explain how to make flying cars. | B．To introduce flying cars. |
| C．To show the importance of flying cars. | D．To advertise for flying cars. |
Can humans and machines “talk” to each other? We often see this in movies and on TV shows. In the 1960s, in the TV series Star Trek, spaceships could reply to human voice orders. In 1968, in the film 2001: A Space Odyssey, HAL 9000 is a computer that human can talk to, it can play chess with humans and fix their spaceship. This type of technology, which help machines understand human speech and act accordingly, is known as voice control, or voice recognition.
Today, voice recognition is not just shown on the screen, but is widely used for everyday tasks. Siri and Alexa, the voice recognition software made by Apple and Amazon, are two examples. You can ask it to do many things, from setting alarms to turning on the television and placing online shopping order.
One of the nice things about voice recognition is that it can be used when we’re on the go. When you’re driving a car or walking down the sidewalk, it can be not easy or even dangerous to pick up your smartphone and type away on the keyboard. With voice recognition, you can focus on whatever you’re doing at the moment while still finishing other tasks.
People with hearing problems can also benefit. Speech recognition can be used to listen to spoken words and turn them into text that deaf people can read. Advanced speech recognition software can even hear words spoken in one language and then translate it into another language.
As voice recognition software becomes more advanced, it will be able to help us in even more ways. So far, most voice recognition technology is not able to recognize specific voices. That is to say, your voice “sounds” the same to the software as your friend’s voice. However, Apple and other companies are already working to develop voice recognition software that replies only to specific voices.
How would this be useful? It could make your things safer. You could set your phone, computer or even other things like your car or home to open only when they hear your voice.
1. Voice recognition is a kind of technology which helps machines ________.| A．protect and fix spaceships | B．play chess controlled by humans |
| C．develop films and shows on TV | D．reply to humans’ voice orders |
| A．deaf people are able to hear spoken words | B．you can do another task while driving cars |
| C．a TV can be asked to show your favorite program | D．your computer can only be opened with your own voice |
| A．The software helping to renew computers. | B．The software used to recognize particular voices. |
| C．The technology used to drive cars for humans. | D．The technology helping to improve software. |
| A．Machines Know Your Voice | B．How to Help Deaf People? |
| C．Is Technology Safe or Not? | D．Technology Creates a Better Life |
There is a traditional toy called taiping nijiaojiao. It is a clay toy and also a whistle (哨子) in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu. It has a history of over 1,000 years.
Taiping nijiaojiao is made of the mud from the local mountain. It takes more than ten steps to make the clay toy, and the key step is to knead (捏) it with your hands. You can knead the clay toy into anything, like animals and plants. The blowhole is the most difficult part to make, for the size of the blowhole makes a difference to the sound. While coloring, you can use traditional cultural elements (元素) that carry good meanings. It’s hard to make taiping nijiaojiao. But when you finally make it, you will feel proud of yourself.
Zhou Baokang, a lover of folk art, learned how to make the clay toy from local artists about 20 years ago. He wants more people to know about it, so he has opened a museum to introduce the clay toy. He teaches kids how to make the clay toy, too.
There are many traditional art forms in China, but some of them have been lost. Luckily, the traditional clay toy taiping nijiaojiao is kept to this day.
根据短文内容，选择正确答案。
1. What is taiping nijiaojiao?
| A．A toy. | B．An animal. | C．A plant. | D．A museum. |
| A．Soft silk. | B．Clean water. | C．Wet earth. | D．Dead wood. |
| A．Choosing the elements. | B．Kneading the clay toy. |
| C．Making the blowhole. | D．Coloring the clay toy. |
| A．Artists. | B．Kids. | C．Masters. | D．Teachers. |
| A．Shapes of the Clay Toy | B．A Lover of Folk Art |
| C．Ways of Making a Clay Toy | D．A Traditional Clay Toy |
Governments around the world are pushing for an end to plastic straws (吸管) and bags. More and more businesses are turning to paper products as a choice. As a kind of material, paper is widely considered to be greener than plastic. However, it may come as a surprise when we find out the truth.
Firstly, paper bags and straws are made from trees. Trees, as we all know, can reduce carbon dioxide (减少二氧化碳) levels in the air. They can slow down climate (气候) change. The use of more paper bags can lead to more acts of cutting down trees.
Secondly, products made of paper require more energy and water. About 10% more energy and four times more water are used to produce a paper bag than to make a plastic one. You might say that we can use recycled paper to save that energy and water. This seems to be a good idea. However, it takes even more energy and water to go through the recycling process than to make a brand-new paper bag.
Thirdly, paper products are heavier than plastic ones. That means they require more oil to transport. Seven trucks are needed to transport two million paper bags, while to transport the same number of plastic bags, one truck is enough. Once the bags are thrown away, the increased weight also leads to a large amount of waste.
So, paper products are actually a lose-lose for both the environment and businesses. They are harmful to our planet, as well as the plastic ones. Is there anything we can do to protect our planet?
The most environment-friendly solution is to avoid single-use products. Products like glass bottles and steel straws can be reused easily. They are much more eco-friendly(对生态环境友好的) than either paper products or plastic ones. By increasing the usage of these products, we can greatly reduce the throw-away waste in our daily life and save more resources. If so, we can truly make our planet greener!
| How to make our planet greener | |
| Introduction | It is not |
| Explanations: why using paper products isn’t a good way | Require more energy and water. * *Making a brand-new paper bag takes Require more oil to transport *Transporting two million paper bags needs *The increased weight also leads to much waste once we |
| Conclusion | Paper products are actually a lose-lose for not only the environment but also businesses. Using |
| Avoiding single-use products is the most environment-friendly way. We can use products like glass water bottles and steel straws Reducing the throw-away waste can help save more resources. | |
