1 . It's March, 2050.
Frank and Mary Smith wake up in their comfortable house in the morning and switch on the bedroom computer to get the latest news. They used to read the Times, but changed to electronic newspapers many years ago.
There is the usual news about space: another space flight has returned from Mars and scientists have discovered a new planet. Then they turn to business news: the Us dollar has risen greatly in Shanghai, one of the world's leading business centres. Mary tells the computer to buy 5,000 dollars, and there is a quick response that it has been done. As they watch the screen, Mary orders one of the household robots to make coffee for them. Frank disappears into the study to join a video conference with his partners around the world. He is a computer engineer, working for several companies. This is his third job: he used to be in marketing and then television. Mary has a quick look at the shopping channels—the usual selection of electric cars, household robots and cheap travel offers-before picking up the video phone to talk to her assistant. She also has a job and she is doing medical research. Both she and Frank used to have an office desk in London, but in 2023 they decided to move to the seaside and work from home.
·Frank and Mary have one daughter, Louise, who also has her own workstation at home. She goes to school only one day a week, mainly to play with other students. Classrooms disappeared in 2030 because there was no longer any need for them: communications systems have made it much easier to learn at home. Louise, now thirteen, is studying Chinese at present, which has become a world language as important as English. Louise has many Chinese friends. They communicate by computer. According to the family doctor, Louise will live to at least 130. Her wish is to work for a few decades（十年）and then spend her time on music and painting.
1. Why do Frank and Mary switch on the bedroom computer in the morning?2. Who makes coffee for Mary and Frank?
3. How does Frank work with others from home?
4. What are the two world languages in 2050?
Quick-frozen, semicooked Chinese food has been gaining momentum domestically since the COVID-19 pandemic, and is expected to appear more often overseas as supermarkets and restaurants in Canada cater to a growing demand for authentic Chinese food.
Guangdong province held a ready-to-cook meal development forum in Toronto in early February, and a large number of dignitaries and celebrities attended the forum, organizers said. During the event, the Guangdong Prepared Cuisine Industry Development Center of North America was established.
Representatives from major Canadian Asian supermarkets and Chinese food takeout and delivery companies attended the forum. Speaking at the forum, they expressed a willingness to introduce more ready-to-cook meals from China as they look to further expand sales, organizers said.
Frozen dishes require only simple reheating and thanks to advanced cold-chain transportation, they can be delivered with extended quality guarantee times. Sales of such meals, including meats, seafood, vegetables and hot pot, have been growing rapidly.
“Amidst a range of global challenges, having conversations about food industries, products and supplies is more important than ever before,” Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wrote in a letter to the forum. “The occasion was an opportunity to recognize the immense contributions that Asian Canadians have made and continue to make every day to our shared nation.”
Guangdong Evergreen Group, a private company involved in businesses such as feed production, aquaculture, aquatic products processing and foreign trade, attended the Toronto forum. The company said the Canadian government’s support for Guangdong ready-to-cook meals has further boosted its confidence in developing such products.
1. What’s the passage mainly about?| A．Ready-to-cook Chinese cuisine big hit in Canada. |
| B．An oversea growing demand for authentic Chinese food |
| C．A ready-to-cook meal development forum in Toronto. |
| D．A promising future of semicooked food from Guangdong. |
| A．Happening instantly | B．Developing quickly |
| C．Coming to an end | D．Moving slowly |
| A．Covid-19 pandemic drove the overseas market of quick-frozen,semicook Chinese food. |
| B．Advance cold-chain transportation guarantees the cross-country food delivery. |
| C．Guangdong Evergreen Group boosted its confidence in overseas market after the forum. |
| D．More conversations about food industries, products and supplies will be held later. |
5. The company said the Canadian government’s support for Guangdong ready-to-cook meals has further boosted its confidence in developing such products.
Northwest China’s Gansu province will cooperate with Saudi Arabia on afforestation missions and help it combat desertification, according to the provincial foreign affairs office.
Competent scientific research institutes, universities and enterprises in Gansu will participate in Saudi Arabia’s "Green Middle East "international cooperation, the office said. They will spread China’s green development concept and promote the Belt and Road Initiative.
In May, Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture held the first International Green Technology Forum and Exhibition in Riyadh. Scientists from Northwest China shared techniques to prevent desertification, manage water resources and restore vegetation.
At the forum, the Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources of the Chinese Academy of Sciences highlighted China’s experience and achievements in sand control.
Qu Jianjun and Liu Benli, researchers from the institute, explained how wind speed and air density changed on a plateau and why conventional sand control measures — adopted in landlocked areas — did not work in coastal regions.
According to the presentation made by the researchers, sand can pose a serious threat in coastal areas, "given the complex interaction between wind and waves". Sandstorms can quickly damage buildings and other civilian structures, it said.
Members of the team shared their experiences in wide application of the straw checkerboard technique to prevent sand dunes from being buffeted by strong winds.
The technique uses dried stems of wheat, reeds and other plants to form a checkerboard design. Half of each stem is buried and the other half lies exposed. This straw grid acts as a windbreak.
However, these wind barriers become weak over time, so alternative materials such as clay, nylon, fibers and metals are being experimented with, the researchers said.
The environment institute is among the earliest centers in China to combat desertification. In 1988, its sand control measures on the edge of the Tengger Desert at Shapotou in Zhongwei, Ningxia Hui autonomous region, won the National Science and Technology Progress Award.
The straw checkerboard method was used to prevent sand from burying railway tracks between Baotou, Inner Mongolia autonomous region, and Lanzhou, Gansu.
1. cooperate with2. combat desertification
3. highlighted China’s experience and achievements
4. pose a serious threat
5. in wide application
6. being buffeted
7. lies exposed
