1 . It is sad but true that people die in earthquakes
First, make sure you buy a house which is earthquake safe. All pipes should be fixed to the walls and all walls should be
Second, look at the objects in your house. Objects
Electronic trash, or e-waste, is piling up faster than ever in American homes and businesses. People do not know what to do with old televisions or computers so they throw them in the trash.
National Solid Waste Management Association (NSWMA) state programs director Chaz Miller says the large amount of electronic waste Americans product is not unexpected.
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates more than 400 million consumer electronic items are dumped each year, and there is a push by more states to ban the waste from landfills (垃圾填埋场) and create recycling programs. They can be torn apart and sorted for useable parts. Mike Fannon who runs the plant in Baltimore says, “There are lots of valuable metals that can be recovered and reused instead of just putting them in the landfill, and in certain components there are some materials that should not really be in the landfill.”
Fannon says nearly 20 percent of electronic waste is recycled nationwide. Thirteen years ago, it was only about 6 percent. Recycling rates continue to rise as more communities have banned electronics from landfills in order to keep e-waste poisons like lead (铅) and mercury (汞) out of garbage dumps.
This year several states like Vermont imposed a ban on electronic waste in landfills. More than 25 other states have also adopted bans on e-waste in landfills. Chaz Miller says more can be done to boost electronic waste recycling.
“We can do much better,” noted Miller. “I think clearly our goal should be to do as well as we do recycling newspapers.”
1. Which of the following does NOT belong to e-waste?
A.Old televisions. | B.Old computers. |
C.Old cell phones. | D.Old newspapers. |
A.Because it can not be recycled. |
B.Because the landfills are already full. |
C.Because it might damage the environment. |
D.Because it can be shipped to other countries. |
A.Recycling it. | B.Selling it. |
C.Burying it. | D.Breaking it. |
A.Chaz Miller works for EPA. |
B.Miller is optimistic about the future of e-waste. |
C.At present, less than 10 percent of e-waste is recycled. |
D.All states in the US have banned e-waste from landfills. |
3 . In a world with limited land, water and other natural resources, the harm from the traditional business model is on the rise. Actually, the past decades has seen more and more forests disappearing and globe becoming increasingly warm. People now realize that this unhealthy situation must be changed, and that we must be able to develop in sustainable (可持续的) ways. That means growth with low carbon or development of sustainable products. In other words, we should keep the earth healthy while using its supply of natural resources.
Today, sustainable development is a proper trend in many countries. According to a recent study, the global market for low-carbon energy will become three times bigger over the next decades. China, for example, has set its mind on leading that market, hoping to seize chances in the new round of the global energy revolution. It is now trying hard to make full use of wind and solar energy, and is spending a huge amount of money making electric cars and high-speed trains.
In addition, we are also seeing great growth in the global markets for sustainable products such as palm oil (棕榈油), which is produced without cutting down valuable rainforest. In recent years the markets for sustainable products have grown by more than 50%.
Governments can fully develop the potential of these new markets. First, they can set high targets for reducing carbon emissions (排放) and targets for saving and reusing energy. Besides, stronger arrangement of public resources like forests can also help to speed up the development.
Finally, governments can avoid the huge expenses that are taking us in the wrong direction, and redirecting some of those expenses can accelerate the change from traditional model to a sustainable one.
The major challenge of this century is to find ways to meet the needs of growing population within the limits if this single planet. That is no small task, but it offers abundant new chances for sustainable product industries.
1. The traditional business model is harmful because of all the following EXCEPT that____________.A.it makes the world warmer |
B.it consumes natural resources |
C.it brings severe damage to forests |
D.it makes growth hard to continue |
A.China lacks wind and solar energy. |
B.China is the leader of the low-carbon market. |
C.High-speed trains are a low-carbon development. |
D.Palm oil is made at the cost of valuable forests. |
A.cut public expenses |
B.forbid carbon emission |
C.develop public resources |
D.encourage energy conservation |
A.develop sustainable products |
B.explore new natural resources |
C.make full use of natural resources |
D.deal with the major challenge |
A.To introduce a new business model. |
B.To compare two business models. |
C.To predict a change of the global market. |
D.To advocate sustainable development. |
We are dealing with the results of that over-consumption in the greenest way possible, but it would be far better if we did not need to bring so much material home in the first place. The total amount of packaging increased by 12% between 1999 and 2005. It now makes up a third of a typical household’s waste in the UK. In many supermarkets nowadays food items are packaged twice with plastic and cardboard. Too much packaging is doing serious damage to the environment. The UK, for example, is running out of it for carrying this unnecessary waste. If such packaging is burnt, it gives off greenhouse gases which go on to cause the greenhouse effect. Recycling helps, but the process itself uses energy. The solution is not to produce such items in the first place.
Food waste is a serious problem, too. Too many supermarkets encourage customers to buy more than they need. However, a few of them are coming round to the idea that this cannot continue, encouraging customers to reuse their plastic bags, for example. But this is not just about supermarkets. It is about all of us.
We have learned to associate packaging with quality. We have learned to think that something unpackaged is of poor quality. This is especially true of food. But is also applies to a wide range of consumer products, which often have far more packaging than necessary.
There are signs of hope. As more of us recycle, we are beginning to realize just how much unnecessary material are collecting. We need to face the wastefulness of our consumer culture, but we have a mountain to climb.
1. The author uses figures in Paragraph 2 to show _______.
A.the tendency of cutting household waste |
B.the increase of packaging recycling |
C.the rapid growth of super markets |
D.the fact of packaging overuse |
A.helps control the greenhouse effect |
B.means burning packaging for energy |
C.is the solution to gas shortage |
D.leads to a waste of land |
A.Unpackaged products are of bad quality. |
B.Supermarkets care more about packaging. |
C.It is improper to judge quality by packaging. |
D.Other products are better packaged than food. |
A.Fighting wastefulness is difficult. |
B.Needless material is mostly recycled. |
C.People like collecting recyclable waste. |
D.The author is proud of their consumer culture. |
So how does it work? First you have to sign up to the scheme to be sent a key. The key will unlock one of the bikes, which are kept at docking stations in and around central London. You have to pay an access fee for the key and then you pay as you go, for the length of time you use the bike.
Transport for London, which runs the scheme, is hoping to have 6,000 bikes and 400 docking stations in place by the end of the year. The new hire system is hoping to ease congestion (拥挤) in London and is expected to create up to 40 ,000 extra cycle trips a day into the city centre. London Mayor Boris Johnston launched the scheme and said London had been 6ifilled with thousands of gleaming machines that will transform the look and feel of our streets and become as commonplace on our roads as black cabs and red buses".
However, there have been a few problems since the scheme was launched last Friday. On the first day some people found they couldn't dock their bike properly and their usage of the bike had not registered. Transport for London did admit they had been expecting a few "teething problems" and have said they wouldn't charge for the first day as a "gesture of goodwill". Some other people have criticized the lack of docking stations and locks for the bikes as well as the price it costs to hire the bicycles.
Despite the comments, the green-thinking London Mayor still seems very positive about things, saying, "My campaign for the capital to become the greatest big cycling city in the world has taken a big pedal-powered push forwards. "
1. London Mayor Boris Johnston launched the new bike scheme in order to______.
A.reduce the air pollution of the city |
B.deal with the city's traffic problems |
C.increase employment opportunities |
D.encourage the citizens to take exercises |
a. pay for the key to a bike
b. sign up as a member to get a key
c. cycle in and around central London
d. pay for the bike according to the time you use it
A.b→a→c→d | B.b→d→c→a |
C.d→c→b→a | D.d→b→c→a |
A.the high cost to hire a bike |
B.docking the bikes properly |
C.not registering their usage of the bikes |
D.not charging for the first day of the scheme |
A.the cycling revolution is not successful |
B.all the citizens in London support the scheme |
C.the London Mayor is confident in the scheme |
D.the scheme will be cancelled because of the problems |
6 . Are you facing a situation that looks impossible to fix?
In 1969,the pollution was terrible along the Cuyahoga River Cleveland, Ohio. It
But the river wasn’t changed in a few days
Maybe you are facing an impossible situation. Maybe you have a habit
While there are
7 . Since the first Earth Day in 1970, Americans have gotten a lot “greener” toward the environment. “We didn’t know at that time there even was an environment, let alone that there was a problem with it,” says Bruce Anderson, president of Earth Day USA.
But what began as nothing important in public affairs has grown into a social movement .Business people, political leaders, university professors, and especially millions of grass-roots Americans are taking part in the movement. “The understanding has increased many, many times,” says Gaylord Nelson, the former governor from Wisconsin, who thought up the first. According to US government reports, emissions (排放)from cars and trucks have dropped from 10.3 million tons a year to 5.5 tons .The number of cities producing CO beyond the standard has been reduced from 40 to 9. Although serious problems still remain and need to be dealt with, the world is a safer and healthier place. A kind of “Green thinking” has become part of practices.
Great improvement has been achieved. In 1988 there were only 600 recycling programs; today in 1995 there are about 6,600. Advanced lights, motors, and building designs have helped save a lot of energy and therefore prevented pollution.
Twenty –five years ago, there were hardly any education programs for environment. Today, it’s hard to find a public school, university, or law school that does not have such a kind of program. “Until we do that, nothing else will change!” says Bruce Anderson.
1. According to Anderson, before 1970, Americans had little idea about ___.A.the social movement | B.recycling techniques |
C.environmental problems | D.the importance of Earth Day |
A.The grass –roots level. | B.The business circle. |
C.Government officials. | D.University professors. |
A.They have cut car emissions to the lowest. |
B.They have settled their environmental problems. |
C.They have lowered their CO levels in forty cities. |
D.They have reduced pollution through effective measures. |
A.Education. | B.Planning |
C.Green living | D.CO reduction |
8 . Going green seems to be fad (时尚) for a lot of people these days. Whether that is good or bad, we can’t really say, but for the two of us, going green is not a fad but a lifestyle.
On April 22,2011,we decided to be green every single day for an entire year. This meant doing 365 different things, and it also meant challenging ourselves to go green beyond the easy things. Rather than recycle and reduce our energy, we had to think of 365 different things to do and this was no easy task.
With the idea of going green every single day a year, Our Green Year started. My wife and I decided to educate people about how they could go green in their lives and hoped we could show people all green things that could be done to help the environment. We wanted to push the message that every little bit helps.
Over the course of Our Green Year, we completely changed our lifestyles. We now shop at organic (有机的) stores. We consume less meat, choosing green food. We have greatly reduced our buying we don’t need. We have given away half of what we owned through websites. Our home is kept clean by vinegar and lemon juice, with no chemical cleaners. We make our own butter, enjoying the smell of home-made fresh bread. In our home office anyone caught doing something ungreen might be punished.
Our minds have been changed by Our Green Year. We are grateful for the chance to have been able to go green and educate others. We believe that we do have the power to change things and help our planets.
1. What might be the best title for the passage?A.Going Green. | B.Protecting the Planet. |
C.Keeping Open-Minded | D.Celebrating Our Green Year. |
A.they were expected to follow the green fad |
B.they didn’t know how to educate other people |
C.they were unwilling to reduce their energy |
D.they needed to perform unusual green tasks |
A.They tried to get out of their ungreen habits. |
B.They ignore others’ ungreen behavior. |
C.They chose better chemical cleaners. |
D.They sold their home-made food. |
A.The government will give support to the green people. |
B.The couple may continue their project in the future. |
C.Some people disagree with the couple’s green ideas. |
D.Our Green Year is becoming a national campaign. |
Chinese cities will need to put efforts to clear up the sky when a new department to improve regional air quality is set up by 2015,according to the latest plan released by the State Council.
Besides the existing pollution control program for CO2,regional emission caps(区域排放上限) for other certain chemicals will be established in the three key air polluting areas—the Yangtze River Delta,Pearl River Delta and the Beijing-Tianjin- Hebei region. Coal-consumption caps will also be tried out in some areas,according to the plan.
The plan is aimed at dealing with regional air pollution—such as acid rain and smog—which have become increasingly obvious in China in recent years and caused a severe threat to people’s health,Zhang Lijun,viceminister of environmental protection,said in an interview on Monday.
The air quality in a city affects the areas nearby because pollutants can travel in the sky,said Chai Fahe,vice-director of Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences.
“So efforts to reduce air pollution in a single city,targeting a certain pollutant(污染物) will not be enough,” Chai said.
Zhang said the country’s major industrial districts—the Yangtze River Delta,Pearl River Delta and the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region—have recorded more than 100 misty days annually in recent years.
These three regions,home to at least 200 million people,occupy only 6.3 percent of the country’s area but consume 40 percent of the country’s coal and produce half of its steel,according to official figures.
Studies also show that the visibility(能见度) in eastern regions of China has dropped by 7 to 15 km compared to that in the early 1960s,as a result of air pollution.
Liaoning province,the Shandong Peninsula,Wuhan in Hubei province and its surrounding area,the Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan region in Hunan province,the Chengdu-Chongqing region,and the western coast of the Taiwan Straits are also listed as areas to carry out such regional air pollution control programs,according to the plan.
The new plan also requires an improved air quality system,which will measure the pollution levels. “The current system,which only measures some major pollutants,cannot reflect the_truepicture.” said Chai.
1. It will not be enough to reduce air pollution in a single city because ________.
A.air pollution has been becoming more and more serious in recent years |
B.air pollution like acid rain and smog is threatening people’s health |
C.air pollutants in a city can travel in the sky and affect nearby areas |
D.air pollutants stay in fixed places over the cities |
A.123 to 115 km | B.137 to 145 km |
C.123 to 145 km | D.115 to 137 km |
A.to inform readers of the damage caused by air pollution |
B.to introduce the new plan to control air pollution |
C.to provide official figures of air pollution levels |
D.to point out the regions affected by air pollution |
A.The major pollutants. |
B.The key polluted areas. |
C.The major polluted cities. |
D.The pollution levels. |
Water costs money. In some places water is hard
Very
The town
In most places, water is used and thrown
A.supplying | B.getting | C.to get | D.to supply |
A.happens | B.happening | C.is happened | D.happened |
A.key | B.answer | C.answering | D.way |
A.little | B.a little | C.few | D.a few |
A.of itself | B.of its own | C.for its own | D.for itself |
A.fetch | B.take | C.brought in | D.guided |
A.come to | B.came to | C.coming to | D.came for |
A.many | B.plenty of | C.more | D.many more |
A.has | B.had | C.must | D.needed |
A.many | B.a few | C.a great many | D.a lot of |
A.put | B.made | C.supply | D.noticed |
A.a way | B.ways | C.an answer | D.a key |
A.for | B.by | C.at | D.in |
A.man-making | B.man-make | C.man-made | D.man made |
A.boating | B.to boat | C.to boating | D.on boating |
A.must | B.could | C.needed | D.had to |
A.as | B.with | C.for | D.to |
A.water enough | B.enough water | C.crops enough | D.enough crops |
A.off | B.of | C.away | D.out of |
A.it’s | B.its | C.one’s | D.his |