1 . The Sieferts are the kind of environmentally conscious family who has solar panels atop their home. They use timers on their kids' showers and have planted drought-tolerant landscaping. But they feel kind of guilt. “I haven’t thought about the pool as much as I probably should,” said Annette Siefert.
As California's drought worsens, swimming pools have become a target for those who think the classic backyard greens waste water. Some water districts have banned new pools from being filled and have limited how much water existing pools can use.
But some of those agencies are walking back the rules as they make a surprising discovery: Pools aren't the water wasters some have made them out to be. Analyses by various water districts, along with scientific studies, conclude that pools and their surrounding landscapes use about the same amount of water as a lawn(草坪) of the same size. Over time, pools might even use less water. With pool covers, experts say water evaporation(蒸发)can be cut by almost half, making pools significantly less wasteful than grass and about as efficient as drought-tolerant landscaping.
Facing complaints over a recent ban on filling pools, the Santa Margarita Water District conducted its own water-use analysis. It found that pools require thousands of gallons of water to fill initially, but they use about 8,000 gallons less water than a traditional landscape after that. By the third year, the analysis found, the savings add up, and a pool's cumulative water use falls below that of a lawn.
Water agencies such as the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power have come to similar conclusions. Armed with new information, Santa Margarita Water District officials will reconsider their ban next week.
“We want to respect the people's rights to use their property. There are many families we know that have saved for pools,” said Jonathan Volzke, spokesman for the 155,000-customer district. “But at the same time, the reality around us is that we're in the third year of a serious drought, and we don't know if we're in the third year of a three-year drought or the third year of a 10-year drought.”
1. Annette Siefert feels guilty mainly because of ______.A.being a typical water waster |
B.the water-use of their swimming pool |
C.her control over her kids' showers at home |
D.the construction of the drought-tolerant landscaping |
A.had belter be filled up in the beginning |
B.becomes more efficient against drought |
C.isn't what people think to be wasteful of water |
D.consumes more water than a lawn of the same size |
A.He expects the serious drought to come to an end. |
B.He thinks highly of those who have saved for pools. |
C.He appeals for reasonable use of the swimming pools. |
D.He tries to maintain the right to use the swimming pools. |
A.Water Crisis In California |
B.Strict Ban On Filling Pools |
C.The Sieferts—Real Environmentalists? |
D.Pools—A Big Factor During Drought? |
As we live through life, we tend to get caught up in our individual world, our problems — our life. When we
Think back on a time when someone made a difference in your life.
Here is one of mine: I was going to college, working part-time, and just
Other examples are the numerous times I have had people smile at me, which
There are
Make a difference in someone's life today, and
A.rebuild | B.establish | C.expand | D.develop |
A.direct | B.minor | C.remarkable | D.positive |
A.thoroughly | B.smoothly | C.barely | D.actually |
A.observed | B.witnessed | C.inspected | D.accompanied |
A.hanging out | B.checking out | C.setting out | D.working out |
A.expectation | B.hesitation | C.assumption | D.intention |
A.deal with | B.take in | C.make up | D.cut down |
A.much | B.enough | C.little | D.awful |
A.urgent | B.absurd | C.hopeless | D.embarrassing |
A.roughly | B.clearly | C.correctly | D.dimly |
A.brightens | B.ruins | C.begins | D.influences |
A.undertook | B.tried | C.promised | D.failed |
A.dynamic | B.appealing | C.friendly | D.merciful |
A.neither | B.either | C.no | D.another |
A.limited | B.vital | C.necessary | D.countless |
A.deserve | B.charge | C.determine | D.cost |
A.efforts | B.achievements | C.returns | D.consequences |
A.assist | B.remind | C.permit | D.persuade |
A.similar | B.beneficial | C.fundamental | D.appropriate |
A.admit | B.prefer | C.recommend | D.consider |
A.at the mercy of | B.at the risk of |
C.at the expense of | D.at the bottom of |
A.artificial | B.primitive |
C.relevant | D.ample |
A.certificates | B.ingredients |
C.approaches | D.instructions |
A.taking over | B.adapting to |
C.making for | D.fitting into |
One afternoon last autumn, sitting on a bench doing no parenting at all, I suddenly felt I was getting the hang of it.
That afternoon, my sister and I took our children to the park. We had lots to talk about, so we sat down on a bench and drove the children away. After briefly complaining, the cousins wandered off and started jumping into puddles (水洼).
They jumped and jumped, and then one of them kicked some muddy water at the others. My sister and I, deep in conversation, didn't notice this. So my nephew became more adventurous. He scooped up a handful of mud and threw it on my son's head. My son caught his breath happily, wiped the mud out of his eyes, and threw one back. My nephew, who has a talent for naming things, puffed out his tiny chest and roared: “Let's play Muddikins!”
The rules of Muddikins are simple. You run around throwing mud at each other until everyone is so thickly coated that you can no longer be sure which child is whose. Nothing is learnt from it; nobody is improved. It is pure fun, of the sort that can only happen when parents drop the reins (缰绳). They did it. “ Whoa, that's so cool,” said one. “I wish my mum was like you.”
1. What is stressed in Paragraph 1?
A.Child-led play matters in the development of children. |
B.Parents' concern over their children is unnecessary. |
C.Children's activities should be well organized. |
D.Parenting is everything in a family. |
A.Amazing. | B.Troublesome. |
C.Adventurous. | D.Worthwhile. |
A.The reins were dropped. |
B.She failed to distinguish her child. |
C.The children learned from the Muddikins. |
D.She confirmed Dr. David Whitehead's theory. |
A.parents and children |
B.individual and group |
C.play and acquisition |
D.theory and practice |
A.condemn | B.convert |
C.contradict | D.confirm |
A.aggressively | B.deliberately |
C.tentatively | D.definitely |
I happen to have the “Concise Oxford dictionary” on my desk and that will do as well as any other. The word I am looking for appears at the bottom of Page 344. edition 1912.
“Geography: the science of the earth's surface, form, physical features, natural and political divisions, climate, productions and population.”
I could not possibly hope to do better, but I still stress some of the aspects of the case at the expenses of others, because I intend to place man in the centre of the stage. This book of mine will not merely discuss the surface of the earth and its physical features, together with its political and natural boundaries. I would rather call it a study of man in search of food and shelter and leisure for himself and for his family and an attempt to his background or has reshaped his physical surroundings in order to be comfortable and well nourished and happy with his limited strength.
Among the two million human beings in the world, there is of course the widest possible range for all sorts of experiments of an economic and social and cultural nature. It seems me that those experiments deserve our attention before anything else. For a mountain is after all merely a mountain until it has been seen by human eyes and has been walked on by human feet and until its and slopes and valleys have been occupied and fought over and planted by a dozen generation of hungry settlers.
The Atlantic Ocean was just as wide and deep and as wet and salty before the beginning of the 13th century as after, but it took the human touch to make it what it is today—a bridge between the New World and the Old, the highway for the commerce between East and West.
For thousands of years the endless Russian plains lay ready to offer their abundant harvest to whoever should take the trouble to sow the first grain. But the aspect of that country today would he a very different one if the hand of a German or a Frank, rather than that of a Slav, had guided the iron-pointed stick that plowed the first furrows (犁沟).
The island of Nippon would shake and quake just as continually, whether they happened to be settled by Japanese or by the Tasmanian race, but in the latter case they would hardly be able to feed 60,000,000 people.
Generally speaking, I have paid more attention to the purely “human” side of geography than to the commercial problems which are so important in a day and age devoted to mass production.
1. In the first four paragraphs, the author wants to share with the readers ______.
A.his approach to planning a voyage |
B.his emphasis on using a dictionary |
C.his definition of the word “geography” |
D.his altitude to the earth's physical features |
A.Exploring a mountain. |
B.Climbing a mountain. |
C.Planting on slopes and valleys. |
D.Becoming hungry. |
A.It is wide, deep, wet and salty. |
B.Human touch makes it important. |
C.There is a bridge over it. |
D.The highway is busy there. |
A.they both feed a lot of people |
B.they enjoy very good natural conditions |
C.different people may make the same place different |
D.their natural conditions haven't changed for many years |