Businesses are witnessing a difficult time, which has in turn produced influence on consumers’ desire to go green. However, shoppers are still laying stress on environmental concerns.
Two thirds of customers say that environmental considerations inform their purchases to the same degree as they did a year ago, while more than a quarter say that they are now even better aware of the environmental effect on what they buy.
This may help to influence how shops store goods on their shelves. And the companies should still make efforts to become more environmentally friendly. Two out of three people think it is important to buy from environmentally responsible companies, with about one in seven saying that they had even decided to take their custom elsewhere if they felt a company’s environmental reputation was not good enough.
Harry Morrison, chief executive(主管)of the Carbon Trust, sympathizes:“I understand this situation where survival is very important now. But from environmental considerations, the clock is ticking—we don’t have much time. In addition, cutting carbon has an immediate effect as costs drop and a medium-term benefit for the brand.”
Larger companies have an extra motivation to look at reducing their carbon footprint, as new rules next year will require businesses to buy carbon allowances to make up for their emissions(排放). Those that have taken early action will have a head start. More than two thirds of consumers are not clear about which companies are environmentally responsible. This suggests that firms that are able to relay clearly their message to the public will be in a pole position to attract shoppers.
The Carbon Trust believes that it can help by informing customers about the good work companies are doing.“When companies are granted(授予)the standard, they can use a logo(标识)in all their marketing which makes it clear that they are working towards cutting emissions,”Mr. Morrison said.
1.What’s the main idea of the passage?
A. Businesses are finding ways to send their message to the shoppers.
B. Companies will soon get information about cutting carbon emissions.
C. Firms are making efforts to encourage customers to keep goods at home.
D. Firms are urged to cut carbon emissions by shoppers’ environmental awareness.
2.The underlined word“inform”in Paragraph 2 probably means“ ”.
A. affect B. change C. disturb D. reject
3.According to Harry Morrison, businesses .
A. will benefit from cutting carbon emissions
B. should buy carbon allowances for shoppers
C. are required to make up for their carbon emissions
D. have encouraged shoppers to take their custom elsewhere
4.We can learn from the passage that businesses will .
A. have a strong desire to reduce costs
B. use the same logo in their marketing
C. gain advantages by taking early action
D. attract more shoppers by storing goods
Forget Twitter and Facebook, Google and the Kindle. Television is still the most influential medium around. Indeed, for many of the poorest regions(地区)of the world, it remains the next big thing——finally becomes globally available. And that is a good thing, because the TV revolution is changing lives for the better.
Across the developing world, around 45% of families had a TV in 1995; by 2005 the number had climbed above 60%. That is some way behind the U.S., where are more TVs than people, and where people now easily get access to the Internet. Five million more families in sub-Saharan Africa will get a TV over the next five years. In 2005, after the fall of the Taliban(塔利班),which had outlawed TV, 1 in 5 Afghans had one. The global total is another 150 million by 2013——pushing the numbers to well beyond two thirds of families.
Television’s most powerful effect will be on the lives of women. In India, researchers Robert Jensen and Emily Oster found that when TVs reached villages, women were more likely to go to the market without their husbands’ approval and less likely to want a boy rather than a girl. They were more likely to make decisions over child health care. TV is also a powerful medium for adult education. In the Indian state of Gujarat, Chitrageet is a popular show that plays Bollywood songs with words in Gujarati on the screen. Within six months, viewers had made a small but significant(有意义的) improvement in their reading skills.
Too much TV has been associated with violence, overweight and loneliness. However, TV is having a positive influence on the lives of billions worldwide.
1.The underlined word “outlawed” in paragraph 2 probably means “ ”.
A. allowed B. banned C. offered D. refused
2.Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
A. Americans used to get access to the Internet easily.
B. The world’s TV sets will total 150million by 2013.
C. 45% of families in the developing countries had a TV in 2005.
D. Over two thirds of families in the world will have a TV by 2013.
3.The author intends to .
A. stress the advantages of TV to people’s lives
B. persuade women to become more independent
C. encourage people to improve their reading skills
D. introduce the readers some websites such as Google
4.What would be the best title for the passage?
A. TV Will Rule the World B. TV Will Disturb the World
C. TV Will Better the World D. TV Will Remain in World
F. Scott Fitzgerald, born on September 24,1896, an American novelist, was once a student of St.Paul Academy, the Newman School and attended Princeton. University for a short while. In 1917 he joined the army and was posted in Alabama, where he met his future wife Zelda Sayre. Then he had to make some money to impress her.
His life with her was full of great happiness, as he wrote in his diary :“ My own happiness in the past often approached such joy that I could share it even with the person dearest to me but had to walk it away in quiet streets and take down parts of it in my diary.”
This side of paradise, his first novel, was published in 1920, encouraged by its success, Fitzgerald began to devote more time to his writing. Then he continued with the novel the Beautiful and Damned (1922), a collection of short stories Thales of the Jazz Age (1922), and a play The Vegetable (1923). But his greatest success was The Great Gatsby, published in 1925,which quick brought him praise from the literary world. Yet it failed to give him the needed financial security. Then, in 1926, he published another collection of short stories All the Sad Young Men.
However, Fitzgerald’s problems with his wife Zelda affected his writing. During the 1920s he tried to reorder his life, but failed. By 1930, his wife had her first breakdown and went to a Swiss clinic. During this period he completed novels Tender Is the Night in 1934 and The love of the last Tycoon in 1940. While his wife was in hospital in the United States, he got totally addicted to alcohol. Sheila Graham, his dear friend, helped him fight his alcoholism.
1.Which of the following is the correct order to describe Fitzgerald’s life according to the passage?
a. He became addicted to drinking.
b. He studied at St.Paul Academy.
c. He published his first novel This Side of Paradise.
d. The Great Gatsby won high praise.
e. He failed to reorder his life.
f. He joined the army and met Zelda.
A. f-c-e-a-b-d B. b-e-a-f-c-d C. f-d-e-c-b-a D. b-f-c-d-e-a
2.We can infer from the passage that Fitzgerald .
A. had made some money when he met Zelda in Alabama.
B. was well educated and well off before he served in the army
C. would have completed more works if his wife hadn’t broken down
D. helped his friend get rid of drinking while his wife was in hospital
3.The passage is probably followed by a concluding paragraph about .
A. Zelda’s personal life
B. Zelda’s illness and treatment
C. Fitzgerald’s friendship with Graham
D. Fitzgerald’s contributions to the literary world
听下面一段独白，回答以下小题。
1.How long do Dereck and Beverly usually work in a day?
A. For 10 hours. B. For 12 hours. C. For 16 hours.
2.What do they usually do when they finish filming and taking photographs?
A. Dereck usually writes while Beverly looks at her photographs.
B. Beverly usually writes while Dereck looks at his photographs.
C. They write and look at their photographs together.
3.Where do Dereck and Beverly usually sleep at night?
A. In a car. B. In a tent. C. In a house,
4.What does Beverly think of the wild animals?
A. They are something to look at.
B. They are very important.
C. They can teach people a lot.
听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。
1.Whom does the boy want to buy a gift for?
A. His father. B. His mother. C. His teacher.
2.Why does the boy give up the brown leather wallet?
A. He doesn’t like the design.
B. His father doesn’t like the color.
C. He can’t afford it.
3.How did the boy get the money to buy a gift?
A. He borrowed the money from his friends:
B. He saved his pocket money.
C. He helped his mother do housework.
4.How much will the boy have after he buys the gift?
A. $10 B. $2. C. $8.
听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。
1.Where does the conversation happen?
A. In a library. B. In a hospital C. In a medicine shop.
2.How long has the boy had his eye problem?
A. For five years. B. For seven years. C. For twelve years.
3.How much will Zhang Ming pay for his eye treatment?
A. Not much. B. A lot of money. C. Free of charge.
