1 . At 88, I remain a competitive runner. The finish line of my life is drawing close, and I hope to reach it having given the best of myself along the way. I’ve been training my body to meet the demands of this final stretch. But, I wonder, should I have asked more of my mind?
If I didn’t exercise, I would release the hungry beasts that seek their elderly prey on couches, but not in the gym. The more I sweated, the more likely it was my doctor would continue to say, “Keep doing what you’re doing, and I’ll see you next year.” My mind, on the other hand, seems less willing to give in to discipline. I have tried Internet “brain games”, solving algebraic problems flashing past and changing the route of virtual trains to avoid crashes. But these never approach my determination to remain physically fit as I move deeper into old age.
Though I have many friends in their 70s, 80s and 90s, I’ve been far too slow to realize that how we respond to aging is a choice made in the mind, not in the gym. Some of my healthiest friends carry themselves as victims abused by time. Other friends, many, whose aching knees and hips are the least of their physical problems, find comfort in their ability to accept old age as just another stage of life to deal with. I would use the world “heroic” to describe the way they cope with aging.
One such friend recently called from a hospital to tell me a sudden brain disease had made him legally blind. He interrupted me as I began telling him how terribly sorry I was: “Bob, it could have been worse. I could have become dead instead of blind.”
In spite of all the time I spend lifting weights and exercising, I realized I lack the strength to have said those words. It suddenly struck me that I’ve paid a price for being a “gym rat”. If there is one characteristic common to friends who are aging with a graceful acceptance of life’s attacks, it is contentment. Aging had to be more than what I saw in a mirror.
But rather than undertaking a fundamental change in the way I face aging. I felt the place to begin would be to start small. A recent lunch provided a perfect example.
I’ve always found it extremely difficult to concentrate when I’m in a noisy setting. At this lunch with a friend in an outdoor restaurant, a landscaper began blowing leaves from underneath the bushes surrounding our table. Typically, after such a noisy interruption, I would have snapped, “let’s wait until he’s finished!. ”, then fallen silent. When the roar(吼叫)eventually faded, my roar would have drained(消耗)the conversation of any warmth. It troubled me that even a passing distraction(分心)could so easily take me from enjoying lunch with a good friend to a place that gave me no pleasure at all. I wanted this meal to be different.
My years in gyms had taught me to shake off pains and other distractions, never permitting them to stop my workout or run. I decided to treat the noise this way. I continued talking with my friend, challenging myself to hear the noise, but to hold it at a distance. The discipline was so familiar to me in the gym—this time applied to my mind— proved equally effective in the restaurant. It was as though I had taken my brain to a mental fitness center.
Learning to ignore a leaf blower’s roar hardly equips me to find contentment during my passage into ever-deeper old age. But I left the lunch feeling I had at least taken a small first step in changing behavior that stood in the way of that contentment.
Could I employ that same discipline to accept with dignity the unavoidable decline awaiting me like the finish line? Hoping that contentment will guide me as I make my way along the path yet to be travelled.
1. The author’s question in Paragraph 1 implies that ________.| A．he feels unsatisfied with the result of the brain games. |
| B．he has never believed the necessity of mind training. |
| C．He has realized he should mentally prepare for aging. |
| D．he feels regret for not sharpening his thinking skills |
| A．He takes physical illnesses as they come. |
| B．He fears that his illness will become worse. |
| C．He needs to find a way through those hardships. |
| D．He sees life as a series of disappointments. |
| A．he had made small changes to adapt to aging. |
| B．the restaurant was not an ideal place for eating |
| C．distractions were not uncommon in everything life. |
| D．his roar had spoiled the friendly conversation. |
| A．Benefits of Regular Exercise |
| B．Old Age Hate and Blessing |
| C．Never Too Old to Learn |
| D．The Secret to Aging Well |
2 . For more than a century, student journalists at the Daily Tar Heel (DTH) have written about life at UNC-Chapel Hill, US and raised questions on the issues of free expression, education, and big-time athletics.
The independent student newspaper recently celebrated its 125th anniversary(周年). To mark the special day, student reporters asked the question: What’s the future of the DTH? The proud newspaper has been searching for the answer, and so have college newspapers across the US.
Student newspapers are facing a dark reality. As they are free to read, they are making less money than ever, meaning that such newspapers are finding it hard to survive.
Most college papers have reduced their print editions (版本). Last year, the DTH printed a paper four days a week. This year, it prints a paper every three days. And while it used to produce around 22,000 newspapers each time, it only makes around 10,000 now, said Erica Perel, general manager.
Increasingly, student journalists have turned their focus to digital versions of their newspapers, and the new ways that social media allows them to tell stories. They’ve adapted (使适应) their skills to mirror what’s going on in the professional journalism world.
“I think we’re adapting very well … in moving away from that print mentality (心态). But it’s challenging,” said Jonathan Carter, a student at North Carolina State University.
So what should student newspapers do? LoMonte said the best solution would be for universities to financially(经济上) support student journalism.
University leaders like to talk about producing civically (公民地) responsible students, he said, and journalism is a part of that. “Colleges and universities have to recognize independent media coverage as a civic good and step up to the plate,” he said.
In the meantime, campus newspapers are figuring out their financial models as they go along.
Bruce dePyssler, adviser to North Carolina Central Universit’s Campus Echo newspaper, said his students post one story a day online. The best stories are put together for a once-a-semester(学期) print edition.
And even if student journalists don’t go into media jobs, Perel said, they’ve still had a great education.
“The number one thing that we teach is critical(批判性) thinking and how to be a lifelong learner,” she said. “ The ones who are living through this transition (过渡) are the ones that are going to be a lot stronger for it in the end.”
1. What can be read about at the Daily Tar Heel (DTH)?| A．Some famous sports facilities. | B．Articleon the reporters of the paper |
| C．Columns about the free subjects. | D．Students’ college life. |
| A．Poor printing quality. | B．The impact of digital media. |
| C．Expensive advertising fees. | D．A lack of student reporters. |
| A．Reduce print editions. | B．Ask colleges for money. |
| C．Publish more digital editions. | D．Create their own financial models. |
| A．They become good at storytelling. | B．They gain problem-solving skills. |
| C．They become a logical thinker. | D．They learn how to be a lifelong learner. |
| A．The proud history of the Daily Tar Heel. |
| B．Student reporters adapting to changing situations. |
| C．School newspapers under threat in the digital age in the US |
| D．An example of how to combine traditional newspapers with new media. |
3 . Do you know what “zero” means? Have you ever even stopped to think much about this concept (概念)? It’s an easy one to take for granted. Of course, everyone can understand the concept of nothing, or having nothing.
But did you know that some animals can understand zero as well? Experiments with monkeys and birds have proven that they can master this concept. But now, the understanding of zero has been found in a most unlikely candidate (候选人): bees.
According to a recently published study in the journal Science, Australian and French researchers worked together to conduct experiments to prove that bees are the first insects to “understand that zero belongs at the lower end of a sequence (序列) of numbers”, according to a report by Science Daily.
Scarlett Howard, a researcher at RMIT University in Melbourne, trained bees to choose from several cards with different numbers of shapes printed on them. Correctly choosing the card with the fewest shapes earned them a reward of sugar water. For example, the bees learned to choose three elements when presented with three VS four; or two elements when presented with two VS three. And then these bees were presented a challenge – a card that was entirely blank and that they had never seen before. But 64 percent of the time, they chose to fly toward the blank card instead of the card that had shapes on it. This suggests that the insects understand that zero stands for something less than two or three, according to Science magazine.
Associate Professor Adrian Dyer, also from RMIT University, said the number zero was the basis of modern mathematical and technological progress.
He told Science Daily that the findings have opened a door to new understandings of how different brains understand zero. “If bees can understand zero with a brain of less than a million neurons (神经元) [compared with the 86,000 million neurons of a human brain], it suggests there are simple and efficient (有效的) ways to teach artificial (人工的) intelligence new tricks .”
1. Why did the writer ask two questions in Para.1?| A．To expect an exact answer. | B．To introduce the topic. |
| C．To show the concept of “zero”. | D．To inspire scientists to study. |
| A．Most insects can recognize different shapes. |
| B．Bees can understand the meaning of zero. |
| C．Bees are better at numbers than monkeys and birds. |
| D．Most insects can be trained to understand numbers. |
| A．The bees were presented with one card each time. |
| B．The bees were trained to choose the card with more shapes. |
| C．The bees were rewarded when they chose an intended card . |
| D．Different groups of bees were trained at the same time. |
| A．By giving examples. | B．By designing cards. |
| C．By showing numbers. | D．By doing experimments. |
| A．It shows there might be easier ways to train AI. |
| B．It proves that animals can understand what zero is. |
| C．It suggests bees can complete more challenging tasks |
| D．It explains the importance of zero in modern mathematics. |
4 . What is the best part of a typical relaxing summer day? Nothing is better than sitting in an armchair with a beer and some chips in your hand, enjoying the great comfort.
The much-loved combination of beer and chips is being exploited for the first time to deal with climate change. Chips firm Walkers has adopted a technique it says will cut CO2 emissions (排放) from its production process by 70%.
The technology will use CO2 captured from beer processing in a brewery (啤酒厂), which is then mixed with potato waste and turned into fertilizer. It will then be spread on UK fields to feed the following year’s potato crop. Creating fertilizer normally produces high CO2 emissions, but the technology adopted by Walkers makes fertilizer without generating CO2. So, the beer-and-chips combination performs a double function. It stops the emission of brewery CO2 into the atmosphere — and it saves on the CO2 normally generated by fertilizer production.
This Creative win-win solution was developed with an approval from the UK government by a 14-employee start-up called CCm. The fertilizer was experimented on potato seed beds this year, and next year Walkers will install CCm equipment at its Leicester factory to prepare for its 2022 crop.
A decision has not yet been made on which brewery Walkers will work with on this. The new technology adds to carbon-saving techniques already under way. The firm has installed an anaerobic digester (厌氧消化池), which feeds potato waste to bacteria to produce a useful gas. The gas is burned to make electricity for the chip-frying process — so this saves on burning gas or coal.
The new system will go a step further by taking away potato “cake” left after digestion — and mixing the brewery CO2 into it to make an enriched fertilizer which will help put carbon back into the soil as well as encouraging plant growth.
It’s an example of scientists finding ways to use CO2 emissions which otherwise would increase the over-heating of the planet.
1. What is the purpose of the first paragraph?| A．To draw readers’ attention. |
| B．To entertain readers. |
| C．To show how useful beer and chips are to our life. |
| D．To introduce a way of life. |
| A．It will be totally cost-free. |
| B．It doesn’t consume any energy. |
| C．It will be a perfect solution to climate change. |
| D．It is environmentally-friendly. |
| A．How CO2 is turned into fertilizer. |
| B．How the technology stops CO2 emissions. |
| C．How an energy-saving green technology works. |
| D．The advantages of a new technology. |
| A．The technology will fix the problem of global warming. |
| B．Walkers has a wide range of partner choices.? |
| C．This technology will be adopted by many chips firms soon. |
| D．Scientists are seeking solutions to climate change. |
5 . Great Barrier Reef Choking on Pollutants
Attempts to protect the Great Barrier Reef are failing. A report released Monday by the government in Australia says water quality in the Great Barrier Reef is far below what it should be. It showed that pollution have decreased, but not enough to reach environmental targets.
Sediment (沉淀物) and chemicals can weaken coral, hurting its ability to feed and grow. Coral are live animals that take root in the ocean floor, but they are not plants. Reefs are the hard skeletons (骨架) left at the bottom of the sea by small marine creatures called polyps (珊瑚虫). The polyps then form the larger structure of a reef. Corals also are some of the most diverse ecosystems on the entire planet. They can make a home for invertebrates, crustaceans, fish, and sea snakes.
Steve Miles is Queensland’s environment minister. He says the research shows the Reef needs more protection. “Over that five-year period, we did see some progress towards our targets. Sediment is down 12 percent and pesticides (杀虫剂) loads are down 30 percent. But what is most disturbing is that these results are far from our targets. Progress towards these targets flat-lined in the period 2013-2014. If one of my kids came home with a report card like this, I would be a bit disappointed. There is more bad news here than good news. ” said Steve Miles.
The report also found that fewer than one-third of Queensland’s sugar plantations used techniques to reduce the use of pesticides. Only 28 percent of land managers managed their land properly. They had reduced harmful water run off to protect the health of the Reef. The official target is a 90 percent reduction in pesticide use within three years.
Scientists at the University of Queensland and the Australian Institute of Marine Sciences published their findings Wednesday, July 18 in the journal Science Advances. It found between 1992 and 2010, the recovery rate dropped by an average of 84 percent. But there is hope. The study also found some corals can recover quickly if “acute and chronic stressors” are lessened.
Meanwhile, the Australian government released its updated reef protection plan Friday. It clearly states global temperatures must be stopped from rising in order to save the world’s largest living structure.
1. What does the underlined word “They” in Paragraph 2 refer to?| A．Diverse ecosystems. | B．Sediment and chemicals. |
| C．Reefs and corals. | D．Small sea creatures. |
| A．He is satisfied with the protection of the Reef. |
| B．He thinks that the Reef needs more protection. |
| C．He feels angry with what his children did. |
| D．He is very happy about the Reef progress protection. |
| A．Not increase significantly. | B．Disappear. |
| C．Speed up. | D．Miss the chance. |
| A．were tough to deal with | B．failed to manage their land properly |
| C．reduced the amount of harmful water | D．were eager to quit pesticide soon |
| A．A news report. | B．A science fiction. |
| C．A book review. | D．A guide book. |
6 . Journalism (新闻业) is a fast-paced industry, requiring reporters to get the facts about newsworthy events and to write about them before a deadline (截止日期). It takes some skills to do this. At the same time, news reporters must follow strict requirements and have a deep understanding of news writing.
Know what you’re going to write about. Newsworthy events can happen anytime and anywhere. So reporters need to develop a good nose for news.
Get all the facts and look at the details. Be sure to look at a story from different angle (角度). Even if you are covering a popular story or topic that others are writing about, look for an angle that will make this one yours.
Check facts to avoid mistakes. Sources may also make mistakes and some may even deceive you. It’s wise to get in touch with other sources. In a shooting incident, for example, getting the facts from the police and from both the criminal (罪犯) and victim isn’t enough. You should also interview other witnesses who may give more information about the incident. Interviewing people and getting a firsthand source on your topic can be valuable.
Start writing the news. When it comes to the body of the article, the main information should be given in the leading statement. It is often a short one, including the basics of what happened, where and when it took place, who was involved and why it’s newsworthy. These details are the main point that informs the reader. Other information about the story follows. This form allows editors to cut off the last paragraphs if there’re space limits.
Check your article for mistakes. If time permits, leave the article for a moment and then read through it again with a fresh eye. Newspaper publications usually have someone check for mistakes but keep in mind that you’re the first line of defense. Grammar mistakes are embarrassing (令人尴尬的), and some mistakes may result in a lawsuit(诉讼).
1. What can we learn about journalism from the first paragraph?| A．It is developing fast. | B．It is very challenging. |
| C．It is very interesting. | D．It is popular worldwide. |
| A．Warn. | B．Assist. |
| C．Interest. | D．Cheat. |
| A．It begins with a summary. | B．It ends with a happy ending. |
| C．It has enough smart questions. | D．It gives opinions about the event. |
| A．By choosing a proper topic. | B．By checking it for grammar mistakes. |
| C．By filling it with enough details. | D．By removing boring facts from it. |
7 . As the effects of climate change become more disastrous, well-known research institutions and government agencies are focusing new money and attention on an idea: artificially cooling the planet, in the hopes of buying humanity more time to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
That strategy, called solar climate intervention (干预) or solar geoengineering, involves reflecting more of the sun’s energy back into space — abruptly reducing global temperatures in a way that imitates the effects of ash clouds flowing out from the volcanic eruptions. The idea has been considered as a dangerous and fancied solution, one that would encourage people to keep burning fossil fuels while exposing the planet to unexpected and potentially threatening side effects, producing more destructive hurricanes, wildfires floods and other disasters.
But. as global warming continues, producing more destructive hurricanes, wildfires floods and other disasters, some researchers and policy experts say that concerns about geoengineering should be outweighed by the imperative to better understand it, in case the consequence of climate change become so terrible that the world can’t wait for better solutions.
One way to cool the earth is by injecting aerosols (气溶胶) into the upper layer of the atmosphere. where those particles reflect sunlight away from the earth. That process works, according to Douglas MacMartin, a researcher at Cornell University.
“We know with 100% certainty that we can cool the planet,” he said in an interview. What’s still unclear, he added, is what happens next. Temperature, MacMartin said, is an indicator for a lot of climate effects. “What does it do to the strength of hurricanes?” he asked, “What does it do to agriculture production? What does it do to the risk of forest fires?”
Another institution funded by the National Science Foundation will analyze hundreds of simulations of aerosol injection, testing the effects on weather extremes around the world. One goal of the research is to look for a sweet spot: the amount of artificial cooling that can reduce extreme weather events without causing broader changes in regional rainfall patterns or similar impacts.
1. Why do researchers and government agencies work on cooling the earth?| A．To prevent natural disasters. | B．To win more time to reduce gas emissions. |
| C．To imitate volcanic eruptions. | D．To encourage more people to bur fossil fuels. |
| A．More volcanoes will throw out. |
| B．More solar energy will go into space. |
| C．More disasters will endanger the future of the world. |
| D．People will keep burning fossil fuels to keep warm. |
| A．He thinks more research remains to be done. |
| B．He is optimistic about the effect of cooling the earth. |
| C．He is concerned about the reduction in agriculture production. |
| D．He disapproves of the practice of solar climate intervention. |
| A．The rainfall pattern of a region. |
| B．The modest drop in temperature. |
| C．The number of extreme weather events. |
| D．The injection amount of aerosol. |
8 . A four-year-old girl sees three biscuits divided between a stuffed crocodile and a teddy bear. The crocodile gets two; the bear one. “Is that fair?” asks the experimenter. The girl judges that it is not. “How about now?” asks the experimenter, breaking the bear’s single biscuit in half. The girl cheers up: “Oh yes, now it’s fair. They both have two.” Strangely, children feel very strongly about fairness, even when they hardly understand it.
Adults care about fairness too---but how much? One way to find out is by using the ultimatum（最后通牒）game, created by economist Werner Guth. Jack is given a pile of money and proposes how it should be divided with Jill. Jill can accept Jack’s “ultimatum”, otherwise the deal is off, and neither gets anything.
Suppose Jack and Jill don’t care about fairness, just about accumulating cash. Then Jack can offer Jill as little as he likes and Jill will still accept. After all, a little money is more than no money. But imagine, instead, that Jack and Jill both care only about fairness and that the fairest outcome is equality. Then Jack would offer Jill half the money; and Jill wouldn’t accept otherwise.
What happens when we ask people to play this game for real? It turns out that people value fairness a lot. Anyone offered less than 20-30% of the money is likely to reject it. Receiving an unfair offers makes us feel sick. Happily, most offers are pretty equitable; indeed, by far the most common is a 50-50 split.
But children, and adults, also care about a very different sort of （un）fairness, namely cheating. Think how many games of snakes and ladders have ended in arguments when one child “accidentally” miscounts her moves and another child objects. But this sense of fairness isn’t about equality of outcome: games inevitably have winners and losers. Here, fairness is about playing by the rules.
Both fairness-as-equality and fairness-as-no-cheating matter. Which is more important: equality or no-cheating? I think the answer is neither. The national lottery（彩票）, like other lotteries, certainly doesn’t make the world more equal: a few people get rich and most people get nothing. Nevertheless, we hope, it is fair---but what does this mean? The fairness-as-no-cheating viewpoint has a ready answer: a lottery is fair if it is conducted according to the “rules”. But which rules? None of us has the slightest idea, I suspect. Suppose that buried in the small print at lottery HQ is a rule that forbids people with a particular surname （let’s say, Moriarty）. So a Ms Moriarty could buy a ticket each week for years without any chance of success.
How would she react if she found out? Surely with anger: how dare the organizers let her play, week after week, without mentioning that she couldn’t possibly win! She’d reasonably feel unfairly treated because ___________________.
To protest（抗议）against unfairness, then, is to make an accusation of bad faith. From this viewpoint, an equal split between the crocodile and the bear seems fair because （normally, at least）, it is the only split they would both agree to. But were the girl to learn that the crocodile doesn’t like biscuits or that the bear isn’t hungry, I suspect she’d think it perfectly fair for one toy to take the whole. Inequality of biscuits （or anything else） isn’t necessarily unfair, if both parties are happy. And the unfairness of cheating comes from the same source: we’d never accept that someone else can unilaterally（单方面地）violate agreements that we have all signed up to.
So perhaps the four-year-old’s intuitions（直觉）about fairness is the beginnings of an understanding of negotiation. With a sense of fairness, people will have to make us acceptable offers（or we’ll reject their ultimatums） and stick by the（reasonable）rules, or we’ll be on the warpath. So a sense of fairness is crucial to effective negotiation; and negotiation, over toys, treats etc, is part of life.
1. From Paragraph 2 to 4, we can conclude______.| A．a 30-70 split is acceptable to the majority |
| B．fairness means as much to adults as to children |
| C．something is better than nothing after all |
| D．people will sacrifice money to avoid unfairness |
| A．divisions of housework | B．favoritism between children |
| C．banned drugs in sport | D．schooling opportunities |
| A．the lottery didn’t follow the rules | B．she was cheated out of the money |
| C．the lottery wasn’t equal at all | D．she would never have agreed to those rules |
| A．establish rules | B．observe agreements |
| C．strengthen morality | D．understand negotiation |
9 . If a president, a philosopher, and ,and one of the best-selling authors of all time praised the same secret for their success, would you try to follow it too? In fact, you probably do it every day. Here's what Friedrich Nietzsche wrote: “It is only ideas gained from walking that have any worth." Thomas Jefferson:“Walking is the best possible exercise. Adapt yourself to walking very far." I totally agree that this habit isn't a habit but a necessary factor of creative process.
Are you still sitting there reading this? Get walking!
The movement aspect of walking is obvious key.You've probably heard the phrase- exercise your creativity, which refers to the brain as muscle.Our creative mindset(思维模式） is triggered(触发）by physical movement, which is exactly why walking-with your dog, a friend, or alone-helps creative thinking.Researchers have discovered a lot of connections between walking and producing ideas.A Stanford University study found that participants(参与者），were 81% more creative when walking as opposed to sitting.
Besides, the scenery is almost as important as the sweat. Walking can be a catalyst for gaining fresh understanding of problems. Just by going outside,you are stepping out of your familiar surroundings and your comfort zone, which is necessary if your want to open your mind to new possibilities.You can walk through a tree-filled neighborhood. You can walk through a park and observe people hanging around or birds singing. Even when you walk down a busy street,you can't help but notice the sweet smells flowing from a food cart or the child pointing to a building you hadn't even paid attention to before.
Finally, our brains work harder to process in different environments, so walking outside strengthen our ability to collect new ideas, to take in new sights, sounds and smells."Forest bathing",is a common form of relaxation and medicine in Japan.Recent studies show that being in the forest Towers your stress levels. The effects are so powerful that "Forest bathing" is now a government-proved policy in Japan., But you don't have to live near a a forest to receive the psychological(心理的）benefits.Research has shown that immersion(沉浸）in nature,and the disconnection from multimedia and technology increase performance on a creative problem-solving task by a full 50%.
So instead of setting a fitness goal, why not set a creativity goal that starts with walking, Engage more closely with your surroundings.Turn off your phone and give yourself the chance to hear conversations and natural sounds, to notice the way people move ,the way the sun reflects in a puddle.Walk not just for exercise. Walk for wonder.
1. Why does the author mention what the two famous men said in Paragraph 1?| A．To provide basic information. |
| B．To show the author's attitude. |
| C．To introduce the topic. |
| D．To present some reasons. |
| A．Promoter. | B．Cure. | C．Hope. | D．Must. |
| A．Taking a bath in the forest is relaxing and medically beneficial. |
| B．Walking in the woods is an effective way to get light-hearted. |
| C．The Japanese government encourages everyone to live near a forest. |
| D．Keeping away from multimedia and technology can greatly improve your creativity. |
| A．Setting a fitness goal. |
| B．Solving problems creatively. |
| C．Walking for creativity. |
| D．Exploring new possibilities. |
| A．Benefits of walking in nature. |
| B．Secret to success of famous men. |
| C．Ways of building up your creativity. |
| D．Keys to stepping out of the comfort zone. |
10 . Now, cities large and small often have remains of earlier historic streets and sidewalk pavements(人行道）。Yet they often go unprotected even when they may be older than neighbouring historic buildings that have enjoyed protection for tens of years.
There are many reasons to protect historic pavements - culture value, economics, environmental benefits and public safety. Pavements represented an important step in the modernization of city environments in the 19th century.
Before the laying of pavement, streets of dirt caused many problems to citizens,especially in wet weather when they became muddy(泥泞的），which limited the movement of people and vehicles.
To solve the problem, cities experimented with a wide range of materials in an attempt to balance durability(耐用性），economics,sources of materials and noise considerations.
The earliest pavement in many cities were cobblestones-naturally rounded stones.They were cheap and durable, but rough and noisy. Loose stone pavements were cheap and smooth, but not very durable. Wood also appeared in the 1850s as a popular option-smooth,quiet and affordable,but not very durable.
In many cities and towns,brick(砖）streets are the only historic pavements that have survived.This fact covers up the truth of pavement experimentation between the 1850s and 1920s, when a city could use up to a dozen different paving materials at the same time! Indeed, each city developed a unique "pavement identity” in the materials chosen and the way they were laid.
It is easy to think of the past when seeing historic pavements, as recalling “old world” city qualities. However, they are more similar to the early high buildings and parks-important city features that showed the modernization of the city. At a time when cities are becoming increasingly similar, such pavements also help define an important sense of place.
1. What is the present situation of historic pavements?| A．Failing to represent modern environments. |
| B．Failing to receive protection they should get. |
| C．Being brought back to its former glory. |
| D．Being highly valued as cultural buildings. |
| A．To help develop the local economy. |
| B．To prevent earth from being washed away. |
| C．To limit the movement of people and vehicles. |
| D．To bring convenience to citizens' life. |
| A．Popularity of different paving materials. |
| B．Different experiments on city identity. |
| C．Advantages and disadvantages of stone pavements. |
| D．Development of pavements of different materials. |
| A．They are similar to tall buildings. |
| B．They make cities appear similar. |
| C．They are unique of a particular place. |
| D．They represent the modernization of today's city. |
