1 . It happens in every disaster (灾难): For those in need, people often donate (捐赠) things that turn out to be more of a trouble.
Juanita Rilling remembers it happened in 1988 when she was a disaster expert trying to help people suffering from a hurricane (飓风) in Honduras. “One morning I received a call from one of our logistic operators (物流运营商), and he explained to me that there was a plane carrying medical supplies that needed to land,” says Rilling. “But the ground was full, with lots of donations that no one had required. The plane—full of needed supplies—had to find someplace else to go. And it ended up stopping everyone’s plans by about 48 hours, which is important time in a disaster.”
Rilling now runs the Center for International Disaster Information, which is trying to make sure things like that don’t happen again. So when Superstorm Sandy hit, Rilling’s group started a project to encourage money donation. “Even a small donation can make a big difference and can quickly become exactly what people affected by a disaster need most,” Rilling says. But despite this, donators do that over and over. About 60% of the things donated after a disaster couldn’t be used. Often it’s old clothing or food.
Meghan Hara, who deals with kind donations for the American Red Cross, says she knows that some people are careful with giving money. And she doesn’t think that the need to give something concrete (实物) should be completely stopped.
“Part of what people are doing is that they’re helping, and they’re trying to help. What we need to work out is how to effectively deal with that,” Hara says.
1. What caused needed supplies to be put off after the hurricane in 1988?| A．Workers on the plane. | B．A weather report. |
| C．Useless donations on the ground. | D．The call from the operator. |
| A．Clothing. | B．Money. | C．Medicine. | D．Food. |
| A．Supportive. | B．Doubtful. | C．Uncaring. | D．Worried. |
| A．Studies on natural disasters. |
| B．The benefits of helping others. |
| C．Tips on choosing useful donations. |
| D．The ways of managing people’s donations. |
When you are surfing the Internet, you can be anyone or anything. Avatars are a key part while people use the Internet to communicate. and express themselves. The first simple 2D avatars
3 . Guess what former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and United States president Donald Trump’s granddaughter, Arabella Kushner, have in common?
Although Chinese is known as one of the hardest languages to learn, a lot of people from different backgrounds are studying it with hopes of big benefits. On Nov. 2, more than 120 people, coming from 105 countries, compete in the finals of the 12th “Chinese Bridge” Competition for foreign secondary school students. Held in Zhengzhou, Henan Province, the finals were mainly made up of speech contests and talent shows.
While reasons for learning Chinese were different, a common one was interest in the country’s rich culture and rapid development. Raissa, 17, from the Union of the Comoros, developed a strong emotional connection with China after her grandmother was cured by doctors of the Chinese medical team in Africa three years ago.
Robert Davis, director of the Chinese-language program in Chicago’s public school system, may give you a hint. “
| A．Chinese isn't the new French. |
| B．It may not be the best choice. |
| C．Shaolin Temple attracted them to Henan. |
| D．I would like to further my studies in China. |
| E．They all study Chinese as a second language. |
| F．The contestants also visited the Shaolin Temple, Longmen Grottoes and other historical sites in Henan. |
| G．This led her to learn Chinese at a local Confucius Institute. |
4 . In January, Rio Verde Foothills, an Arizona desert community, found itself in a bad situation: The water supply was cut off.
The community is made up of about 2,000 homes. For years, many in the community have depended on water trucked in from the nearby city of Scottsdale. which gets its water from the Colorado River. But the river is drying up Scottsdale says it has to save water for its own. Now people in Rio Verde Foothills must find a solution.
Some experts say the solution is to bring water from outside of the state. One idea is to build a desalination (海水淡化) plant on Mexico’s Sea of Cortez. The plant would take away salt from the water and supply that water to Arizona through a 200-mile pipeline (管道). Supporters say this could provide fresh water for about ten years.
Environmentalists say the desalination project would harm the planet in several ways. Some of the salt taken out of the Sea of Cortez might end up back in the ocean, harming wildlife. The pipeline would be harmful to land where people and animals live. And the desalination process uses lots of power. This would create greenhouse gases, which are causing the conditions that have led to Arizona’s water problems.
Margaret Wilder, a professor at the. University of Arizona, says the government should focus on cutting water demand (需求) rather than increasing supply. That would mean taking water-saving measures and controlling how many homes are built in the desert. “We need to start asking questions when people present us with unproblematic and carefree solutions to the water problem,’ says Wilder.
People in Tucson, Arizona, have found a solution to the city’s water shortage: rainwater Thousands of households are collecting it and using it for cooking, for drinking, and in their gardens.
1. Why did Scottsdale cut off the water supply to Rio Verde Foothills?| A．The locals wasted plenty of fresh water | B．Mexico’s, Sea of Cortez has been, polluted |
| C．The water level in Colorado River has fallen. | D．More and more people move to the community. |
| A．It could improve people’s well-being. | B．It won’t solve the water shortage. |
| C．It can’t meet the community’s needs. | D．It might be bad for the environment |
| A．Increasing the water supply. | B．Taking action to save water. |
| C．Making the most of rainwater. | D．Planting trees, on the river bank |
| A．A newspaper. | B．A guidebook. | C．A diary. | D．A novel. |
5 . Japan has a population of 127 million. Tokyo is the largest city and holds one third of the population in the country. There are thousands of people passing by in a minute at the center of the busiest crossing in the city. At weekends, the supermarkets and subway stations are crowded with people.
Japan's government is considering a new way to get people to consider life outside Tokyo: Pay them to leave.
According to a report from NHK on Nov. 22, if someone decides to move from the 23 blocks of Tokyo and find jobs somewhere else, the government will think about giving as much as 3 million yuan to people. The population is increasing all the time in Tokyo and the areas around the city even though the whole population of Japan reduces. That's often been at the cost of other cities. The number of people moving to Tokyo has exceeded the number moving out for 22 years and the number counting. Nearly one out of every three people in Japan lives in the Tokyo area.
In the past several years, Japan's government has taken many measures to encourage people to keep away from the capital. for example, help build smaller population areas. Some local governments have used tax cuts to encourage companies to leave the Tokyo area, while others will pay them to leave.
But Japan's large government institutions, its top schools, as well as companies all lie in Tokyo, leaving the capital seems to be a day dream for most Japanese.
1. What's the population of Tokyo?| A．About 127 million. | B．About 42 million. |
| C．About 31 million. | D．About 127 hundred million. |
| A．The people who live in Tokyo. | B．The people who work in Tokyo. |
| C．The people who leave for Tokyo. | D．The people who move out of Tokyo. |
| A．Useless. | B．Helpful. | C．Boring. | D．Easy. |
| A．Japanese in Tokyo can get as much as tax cuts. |
| B．Most Japanese will still live and work in Tokyo. |
| C．“Pay them to leave” is popular among Japanese. |
| D．Japan's government cares nothing about population. |
Your smartphone may seem like the center of your entertainment, but a Kent State University study shows that too much phone use is taking the fun right out of our spare time.
Researchers watched a group of nearly 500 students and recorded their daily smartphone use. Those who were considered in the“high-use”group experienced more stress during their spare time than the other group.
So what can we do in order to really take advantage of our spare time? We have collected the following activities that also take a few hours to complete, but best part of all, you'll improve your health in the process.
Whether you're at home or on holiday, it's important to disconnect from the Wi-Fi. Walking in nature can do good to your health. As a professional (职业的) traveler. Samantha Brown put it in a recent passage, “I put my map in my back pocket, put down my phones and take a good, long walk. Just walk around.”
Go to bed earlier. What can help improve your mood? Extra sleep, naturally. Getting the right number of sleep is very important to our health and studies show that we don't get enough of it. Read a book. And let yourself get lost in a good story. Research shows that reading can reduce stress, keep your brain sharp and can even help you sleep better. Everyone should spend at least 30 minutes reading every day.
Putting pen to paper is a good exercise. Try writing down your thoughts. Writing has a lot of health advantages. Besides, writing down your thoughts may even help clear your mind.
1. Who experienced more stress according to the research? （不超过15个词）2. How can people improve their moods according to the passage? （不超过15个词）
3. What are the advantages of reading? （不超过15个词）
