Everyone fancies a bargain; if it is fre...

    Britain’s first zero-carbon homes are being built—and they look like something from a science-fiction movie.

There are 25 eco-friendly homes currently being built in Southmoor, near Abingdon, Oxon. Buyers are able to have the final say on floor layouts，kitchens and bathrooms. One three-bedroom home is on the market for￡801 ,000,with a custom build available to suit your own specification. These eco-friendly houses are powered entirely by electricity from solar panels around the houses. They also have advanced ventilation (通风) systems, making sure that temperatures inside the building don’t go beyond 25℃ for more than 10% of hours annually, as well as mini heat pumps to generate (产生) the heating and hot water on-site. Part of the cooling design includes avoiding east-or west-facing windows, and window shading.

And they’re in high demand. Ian Pritchett, of Ssassy Property, thinks the Government should do more to promote the construction of this type of housing. “Unfortunately, the Government relaxed the proposed 2016 zero-carbon targets after being lobbied(游说)by house builders,” Ian explained. “At present, the main house-building corporations control the land and only build at the rate they are sure will sell, keeping the UK’s housing shortage so that the normal rules of ‘supply and demand’ don’t apply. When there is a shortage of housing, buyers have to purchase what is available rather than what they might want.”

In any sensible society, we would expect the planning system to actively encourage zero-carbon houses，and he tough on anyone failing to deliver the necessary standard. Instead, we have a planning system that focuses on other aspects such as numbers of bedrooms, garden sizes, and parking places. These are important aspects, but they pale into insignificance compared to the catastrophic consequences of climate change.

1.What can a purchaser do before buying the type of housing?

A.Negotiate its price. B.Choose where to build it.

C.Decide how the inside of it looks. D.Design its ventilation.

2.How do people react to the zero-carbon homes?

A.Welcome. B.Uncaring.

C.Skeptical. D.Demanding.

3.What do house-building companies intend to do?

A.Balance the “supply and demand” of houses.

B.Purchase more land to stop climate change.

C.Build more houses powered by the sun.

D.Make it more difficult to buy houses.

4.What’s the author’s attitude to the Government’s planning system?

A.Satisfied. B.Disapproving.

C.Worried. D.Ambiguous.

    In the shadow of Kenya’s Mount Kilimanjaro, nine Rothschild giraffes, the rarest giraffes on the planet, are free to wander at the English-style manor (庄园). Every day shortly before 9am, they come up to the house and stick their heads through the windows and doors in search of morning treats. The manor’s owners, Tanya and Mikey Carr-Hartley, share their dining table with them. And now the couple are sharing the fantastic experience with the public by opening the manor gates to guests at the giraffe hotel, the only hotel of its kind in the world. Now, guests can feed the giraffes at breakfast but can also get up close to them from their second-floor bedrooms.

Mr and Mrs Carr-Hartley，both 38, spent their childhood living close to the house in Nairobi and have always been enthusiastic about the animals. Tanya said, “Mikey and I grew up near this manor house when we were children. We are both third generation Kenyans and have always wanted to work in conservation. Mikey’s family have been related to the protection of animals for many generations. His granddad helped the removal of giraffes as far back as the 1930s because the Rothschild giraffes lost much of their natural living space. When the house came up for sale, we jumped at the chance to buy it as we had always dreamed of owning it. Now, we were absolutely overjoyed to do something for the giraffe protection. Having the giraffes so close is very special and something which people can now experience by staying in one of the ten rooms at the hotel.”

A conservation project to save them was started at the manor in 1974 by the previous owners. “The previous owners ran a very successful breeding (繁殖) programme, where many giraffes were set free into the wild and we hope to continue,” said Tanya.

1.Why are the Carr-Hartley family unusual?

A.They’re living on the rarest giraffes. B.They share their home with giraffes.

C.They’re good at making giraffes’ food. D.They train giraffes to manage the hotel.

2.What can we know about Mikey’s family?

A.It has had a long connection with giraffes. B.It used to raise giraffes around the manor.

C.It built a new manor for the wild giraffes. D.It removed giraffes to Mount Kilimanjaro.

3.Which can best describe the manor’s previous owners’ conservation project?

A.Visitor-friendly. B.Energy-saving. C.Costly. D.Fruitful.

4.What is the suitable title for the text?

A.Giraffes’ breakfast by guests B.Reasons for giraffe protection

C.The world’s only giraffe hotel D.History of the giraffe manor

    Some scientists believe that one of the most intelligent beings on Earth is in fact the octopus (章鱼).

Octopuses usually live at the bottom of river mouths and seas-areas which are not attractive to researchers. They are not social animals so it can be hard to study their interaction with others. And the octopus’ intelligence is not easy for humans to understand. When we observe some animals such as rats or dogs, we can often understand their behavior. Octopuses，however can seem like aliens (外星人). Scientists need to have a lot of imagination to understand what an octopus is thinking!

In the 1950s, the US Air Force sponsored scientists to study the way octopuses use their brains. They hoped that they could use this knowledge to help them build better computers. However, their brains were so complex that the scientists felt it of no significance to continue with it. Octopuses have a very complex nervous system and recent research suggests that they have some of their intelligence inside each arm, which means that each arm can “think” for itself. It also appears that they have a good memory, perhaps similar to a cat’s.

Perhaps the most striking thing about octopuses is their ability to change their color and body pattern. They do this to camouflage themselves to avoid their enemies and also to communicate with others. They can completely change their appearance in less than a second. It can change its skin to look like rocks, sand or planktron (浮游生物).

Some scientists have even suggested that these different patterns and colors are in fact a very hard language-and that each design is a different verb，adjective or noun. But nobody has been able to work out what they might be saying. There’s a long way to go to get to know the octopus completely.

1.What can we infer about the octopus’ intelligence from Paragraph 2?

A.It does not attract scientists. B.Little has been known about it.

C.It is equal to the cat’s or dog’s. D.Much has been done about it.

2.What can we say about scientists’ study on the octopus in the 1950s?

A.They had to give it up eventually. B.They used computers to help.

C.They found its arms could think. D.They judged it lived like a cat.

3.What does the underlined word “camouflage” in Paragraph 4 probably mean?

A.Relax. B.Strengthen. C.Hide. D.Express.

4.What does the author think of the octopuses?

A.They are the smartest animals. B.They’re easy to be seen in the sea.

C.It is useful to copy their language. D.It is difficult to understand them.

Buckingham Palace

It is the official residence of Queen Elizabeth II in London. The architectural core of Buckingham Palace is the former Buckingham House，built in 1703. You can visit the state rooms from August to October when the Queen is on holiday. It is one of the world’s most familiar buildings. It has 775 rooms. During the summer the famous Changing of the Guards takes place at the front of the palace at 11:30 and is a popular event for visitors to the capital.

Big Ben and Westminster Palace

It is one of London’s best-known landmarks. Big lien is the name of the clock inside the Clock Tower. It lies at the north-eastern end of the Houses of Parliament. Westminster Palace is one of the largest parliaments in the world. It was built between 1840 and 1880.

The Tower of London

The Tower of London is a historical monument in Central London on the north bank of the river Thames. It was founded by William the Conqueror. It was a palace and a prison (for Queen Elizabeth I for example).There you can see strange guards called “the Beefeaters”. Since the beginning of the 14th century, the Tower of London has been the home of the world famous British Crown Jewels-they are a must of your visit!

Trafalgar Square

It was named in 1835 to give honour to the memory of the British victory over the French at Trafalgar in 1805. There is a huge statue of Admiral Nelson (the British hero killed during the battle) in the middle of the square. It is a popular tourist attraction with the four lion statues.

1.Which has the second longest history?

A.Trafalgar Square. B.The Tower of London.

C.Westminster Palace. D.Buckingham House.

2.What is The Tower of London noted for in the world?

A.Its strange guards. B.Its British Crown Jewels.

C.Its founder. D.Its geographical site.

3.Why was Trafalgar Square built?

A.A battle happened here. B.It could be good for tourism.

C.Admiral Nelson was horn here. D.Four lion statues had been built.

    Student loan (贷款) debt has become a worldwide problem. In America, the country's overall student debt reached a record of $1.6 trillion in 2019. The average person with student loan debt owed between $20,000 and $25,000. A recent Japanese government report says it has been lending over $9 billion yearly to students since 2010. Similar conditions exist in Africa and South America.

Several factors account for high student loan debt. One is that employers everywhere have increased their demands for skilled workers, making higher education a requirement for many jobs. The students, however, after graduation, often find that their country's economy is not strong enough to support their financial needs, so their ability to pay back the loan becomes a problem.

To solve the problem, many countries are seeking their ways. Australia has developed a system where students do not have to pay anything back until they are earning at least $40,000 a year. In America, several candidates running for president in the 2020 election have offered more extreme solutions that all or at least some of these loans will be forgiven.

Some professors in several universities recently studied what the effects of debt forgiveness might be. They found that, overall, sudden debt relief greatly improved the borrowers' lives. Not only did they have more money, but they were more likely to move to a new area and seek better paying work.

Yet the professors' research doesn't include what might happen to financial institutions or the overall economy if debt were totally forgiven. It only looks at how debt forgiveness would help the borrowers. They warn of some other possible negative effects. If a borrower knew that if he ran into any trouble he would be saved because he could get the debt relief, then he might actually become more reckless (轻率的) with his borrowing in the future.

No matter what, the professors agree that if countries do decide to approve some student debt relief the neediest students should be helped first.

1.How does the author introduce the problem of student loan?

A.By making a comparison. B.By making classifications.

C.By presenting some statistics. D.By setting down general rules.

2.What can we learn about student loan debt relief?

A.It will surely provide some benefits to borrowers.

B.It has already been carried out in the United States.

C.It aims to encourage more students to borrow money.

D.It will prevent a person from landing a well-paying job.

3.What is the professors' attitude to debt forgiveness?

A.Uncaring. B.Positive.

C.Disapproving. D.Cautious.

4.What's the main idea of the text?

A.Student loan debt is the most serious problem worldwide.

B.Growing global student debt fuels search for solutions.

C.Student loan debt tends to pull the needy out of trouble.

D.People hold different opinions on debt forgiveness.