1. Why is it very dirty there?
| A．The dustmen are not careful enough. |
| B．The dustmen are having a holiday. |
| C．The dustmen refuse to work. |
| A．Good. | B．Poor. | C．It is not told. |
| A．Important and necessary. |
| B．Important but unnecessary. |
| C．Unimportant but necessary. |
2 . In the rich countries of the West, the electric vehicle revolution is well occurring. Climate-conscious consumers drive Teslas or Polestars for reasons of morality (道德) and fashion. Poorer countries are also experiencing a wave of electrified trend. In Bangladesh, electric three-wheeler taxis, known as tuk-tuks, are rapidly replacing gas-powered ones on the streets. Such electric vehicles are climate friendly, cost effective, and help reduce air pollution.
Yet a glance under the hood (引擎盖) of these vehicles shows a poisonous secret: each tuk-tuk runs on five massive lead-acid batteries (铅酸电池), containing almost 300 pounds of lead (铅) in total. Every year and a half or so, when those batteries need to be replaced and recycled, about 60 pounds of lead leaks into the environment. Battery recycling, often at small-scale unregulated factories, is a highly profitable (高利润的) but deadly business.
Lead is dangerous, and any exposure to it is harmful to human health. Lead that has entered the environment hurts people on an unexpected scale. The numerous ways lead enters air, water, soil, and homes across the developing world and the enormous damage it does to human health, wealth, and welfare cause one of the biggest environmental problems in the world yet receives little attention.
The World Bank estimates that lead kills 5.5 million people per year, making it a bigger global killer than AIDS, malaria, diabetes, and road traffic deaths combined. On top of the shocking deaths, the social burden of lead poisoning is heavy, as is its contribution to global inequality — our research on the cognitive (认知的) effects of lead poisoning suggests that it may explain about one-fifth of the educational achievement gap between rich and poor countries.
But unlike many challenges faced by developing countries, lead poisoning is a problem that can be resolved through financial investment (财政投入). Better monitoring, research, and rules can help protect children all over the world from the unpleasant effects of lead poisoning and reduce the massive global costs it brings.
1. How does the author describe the lead problem in paragraph 2?| A．By listing some numbers. | B．By analyzing hidden causes. |
| C．By making an interesting comparison. | D．By explaining its working principle. |
| A．Lead enters poor countries in one way. |
| B．Lead leaking has been avoided in all the countries. |
| C．Lead will definitely not harm anymore. |
| D．Lead poisoning may make poor societies poorer. |
| A．Fixing these used batteries. | B．Reducing the cost of recycling lead. |
| C．Ignoring the illegal use of lead. | D．Putting certain effort and money. |
| A．The Impacts of Lead Poisoning on Man. |
| B．The Global Lead Poisoning Problem. |
| C．The Ways to Solve Lead Problem. |
| D．The Benefits of Using Electric Vehicles. |
1. What business does the speaker do?
| A．Book. | B．Party. | C．Credit card. |
| A．To express thanks to them. | B．To talk about the discounts. | C．To discuss their bookings. |
| A．The history of her business. | B．The closing of her business. | C．The reopening of her business. |
4 . New research from Barclays Life Skills found that 70% of the British noticed language changes at work over the last five years. Gen Z, people aged 18-24, appears to be leading the change. “Our research shows that the next generation are clearly going to make their mark on the workforce when it comes to how we communicate,” said Kirstie Mackey, head of Barclays Life Skills.
“Yours truly”, “Yours sincerely”, and “To whom it may concern” were the three phrases mostly likely to disappear from the workplace within the next ten years. “Compliments” and “Respects” at the end of an email were the fourth and fifth most likely to go extinct. While these phrases are behind the times in the eyes of the British, “thanks!” and “thanks so much” were found to be increasingly popular, with 46% and 50% of respondents (受访者) saying these were friendly responses.
Other more informal phrases, however, were considered to be more divisive — simply going with the short form for thank you, “ta!” was considered over-familiar by 29% of respondents, but friendly by 23%. And “hiya” was viewed as friendly by 42%, but as over-familiar by 26%.
The survey shows 49% of Gen Z often use immediate messaging platforms at work, but just 27% of those aged over 55 do so. That age group still prefers email, saying this method feels more professional.
Language expert Laura Bailey says the change toward a more informal way goes hand in hand with the appearance of workplace messaging platforms. “The generational differences can be explained by broader changes in what different age groups were familiar with,” Bailey said.
While traditional letter-writing styles translate into any form of written communication for older workers, younger ones have been influenced by changing language styles that spread quickly through social media, Bailey added.
Barclays Life Skills’ Mackey said that given office-proper language was changing, there were a few things to remember. Avoiding over-familiarity with co-workers and making sure your tone (语气) is considered as friendly were two of them, she said. Another important consideration was whether a short message or email would be enough to express what you want to say, and thinking about which choice the email receiver would favor, Mackey suggested.
1. What did the new research find about Gen Z?| A．They prefer formal language in the workplace. |
| B．They show less interest in new style of communication. |
| C．They place higher importance on direct communication. |
| D．They drive the changes in communication styles at work. |
| A．They’re extinct. | B．They’re friendly. |
| C．They’re over-familiar. | D．They’re old-fashioned. |
| A．They may replace emails soon. | B．They make office language informal. |
| C．They are more convenient than emails. | D．They are destroying the English language. |
| A．Use formal and proper language. |
| B．Consider the message receiver’s preference. |
| C．Keep their distance from senior co-workers. |
| D．Avoid sending short emails to familiar people. |
Time to appreciate food
Food is a necessity for human beings to survive and thrive. But it’s a lot more than that. As Mariette DiChristina of Scientific American wrote: “The most intimate relationship we will ever have is not with any fellow human being. Instead, it is between our bodies and our food.”
Nowadays, for most people in the world’s
Take Kenya for example. This African nation
So what can we do on World Food Day? One good way to spend it would be to feel humble and appreciate what we have.
| A.kill B.connection C.powered D.manufacturer E. potential F.expected G.catch H.developed I. reported J. react K.measured |
Love it or hate it, flying is necessary if we want to get to a faraway destination (目的地). For those of us who love to read e-books or listen to music on our phone to
This is because Chinese airlines didn’t allow smartphones to be
During the study, Kenny Kirchoff, a Boeing engineer,
Many Chinese airlines are now
7 . Which is more important for parents, making more money to give the kids a better life or spending more time with them? It is a problem for parents and it is not easy to decide. A new study shows that today’s parents are spending more time with their children than parents in the past. According to the study, today’s college-educated mothers spend about 21.2 hours a week taking care of their children. But women with less education spend about 15.9 hours. Before 1995, it was only 12 hours.
Dads are spending more time on ball games. Before 1995, fathers with college educations only spent about 4.5 hours a week playing with their children. Today, it increases to 9.6 hours a week. For fathers with high school education, the time goes up from 3.7 hours to 6.8.
These days, parents don’t care more about the cleaning or the cooking. They are trying their best to spend time with their families. As for the kids, they don’t mind how much time their parents spend with them. They just want to enjoy the time their parents do be with them.
So, take part in the kids’ activities when you are with them, such as helping with homework or playing soccer with them.
1. How long do college-educated mothers spend taking care of their kids a week?| A．About 9.6 hours. | B．About 12 hours. |
| C．About 15.9 hours. | D．About 21.2 hours. |
| A．Women with less education spend about12 hours staying with their kids, |
| B．Mothers in the past spent less time staying with kids than mothers these days. |
| C．Mothers with college education are lazier than those with less education. |
| D．Dads spend more time staying with their kids than mothers do. |
| A．About 4.5 hours. | B．Less than 9 hours. |
| C．About 13.5 hours. | D．About 18 hours. |
| A．They care about how much money their parents can make. |
| B．They care about how much time their parents spend with them. |
| C．They care if their parents are really with them. |
| D．They care if their parents can give them a better life. |
Capital cities usually contain a wide variety of people. This
Therefore, more buildings are
IS EXPLORING SPACE
A WASTE OF TIME AND MONEY?
NASA satellite image of Typhoon Goni
Countries around the globe are spending billions of dollars and lots of time on various space missions, whether to Mars or other planets much further away. Some people argue that we should stop wasting time and money exploring space. Instead, we should feed the world’s poor and find immediate solutions to other problems, such as pollution and fatal diseases. However, others feel this is a shallow view which fails to realise how exploring space helps us.
Firstly, exploring space has already made a difference in the fight against world hunger. It has directly resulted in the many satellites that now orbit Earth. A number of the satellites record data on land and weather patterns. Then the data is transmitted to scientists on Earth. After careful analysis, the scientists can provide useful recommendations and advice for farmers. As a result, space-based science has helped farming in its efforts to grow enough food to feed Earth’s increasing population.
Secondly, space exploration has already promoted technological improvements that benefit us all. High-end products around the world are made to a higher standard now because of advanced technology which was first created to meet the requirements for space exploration. For example, space technologies have helped the research and development of different types of new material. They have also helped companies make better heart monitors and other machines that doctors regularly use. Today, space technologies are widely used in all kinds of industries, and everyday products such as GPS, memory foam pillows, and smartphone cameras are changing our lives.
Finally, sending astronauts into space has helped people to think about the world’s problems and even to find ways to solve them. Seeing pictures of our planet as an island in a black sea made people realise that our planet’s resources are limited. In order to provide for such a rapidly increasing population, scientists are trying to find other planets that could one day be our new home. The greatest attention at present is on Mars because it is closer to Earth. In the future, humans may live on both planets.
In closing, exploring space provides the world with many different benefits. Therefore, it should continue so as to provide new and better solutions to people’s short-term and long-term problems.
| A. Space exploration has already promoted technological improvements that benefit us. B. Sending astronauts into space has helped people to think about the world’s problems and even to find ways to solve them. C. Different opinions about space exploration. D. Exploration space provides the world with many benefits, so it should continue. E. Exploration space has made a difference in the fight against world hunger. |
Para.2:
Para.3:
Para.4:
Para.5:
| A．She stayed at home. | B．She went to a party. | C．She saw a movie. |
