We already know the fastest, least expensive way to slow climate change: Use less energy. With a little effort, and not much money, most of us could reduce our energy diets by 25 percent or more—doing the Earth a favor while also helping our wallets.
Not long age. My wife, PJ, and I tried a new diet—not to lose a little weight but to answer an annoying question about climate change. Scientists have reported recently that the world is bending up even faster than predicted only a few years ago, and that the consequences could be severe if we don’t keep reducing emissions（排放）of carbon dioxide（CO2）and other greenhouse gases that are trapping heat in our atmosphere.
We decided to try an experiment. For one month we recorded our personal emissions of CO2. . We wanted to see how much we could cut back, so we went on a strict diet. The average US household（家庭）produces about 150 pounds of CO2 a day by doing common-place things like turning on air-conditioning or driving cars. That’s more than twice the European average and almost five times the global average, mostly because Americans drive more and have bigger houses. But how much should we try to reduce?
For an answer, I checked with Tim Flannery, author of The Weather Makers: How Man Is Changing the Climate and What It Means for Life on Earth. In his book, he had challenged readers to make deep cuts in personal emissions to keep the world from reaching extremely important tipping points, such as the melting（融化）of the ice sheets in Greenland or West Antarctica. “To stay below that point, we need to reduce CO2 emissions by 80 percent,” he said.
Good advice, I thought. I’d opened our bedroom windows to let in the wind. We’d gotten so used to keeping our air-conditioning going around the clock. I’d almost forgotten the windows even opened. We should not let this happen again. It’s time for us to change our habits if necessary.
1.Why did the author and his wife try a new diet?
A. To take special kinds of food B. To respond to climate change.
C. To lose weight D. To improve their health
2.The underlined words “tipping points” most probably refer to
A. freezing points B. burning points C. melting points D. boiling points
3.It can be inferred from the passage that
A. it is necessary to keep the air-conditioning on all the time
B. it seems possible for every household to cut emissions of CO2
C. the average US household produces about 3,000 pounds of CO2 a month
D. the average European household produces about 1,000 pounds of CO2 a month
4.Which of the following would be the best title for this passage?
A. Saving Energy Starts at Home
B. Changing Our Habits Begins at Work
C. Changing Climate Sounds Reasonable
D. Reducing Emissions of CO2 Proves Difficult
Find Which Direction Is South
Do you have a good sense of direction? If not, please take with you a compass. But if you forget to take a compass, you can still find your way.
It’s never a good idea to imagine that the family member who was entrusted（委托）with the job of map-reading actually knows where the family is. You can tell by the slightly confused load on their faces that nothing on the ground seems to match the map. Never mind. The shu is shining and it’s still morning. If you don’t know the exact time, you can still find out where south is, but you’ll need to be patient.
①Find a straight sick and put it in the ground in a place where you can mark its shadow.
②Try to position the stick as vertically（垂直）as you can. You can check this by making a simple plumb line （铅锤线）with a piece of string and weight. You haven’t got any string? OK, use a thread from your clothes with a button tied at the end to act as a weight.
③Mark the end of the shadow cast by the stick.
④Wait approximately half an hour and mark the end of the shadow again.
⑤Keep doing this until you have made several marks.
⑥The mark nearest the stick will represent the shortest shadow, which is cast at midday, when the sun is highest in the sky and pointing to the exact south.
⑦Pick a point in the distance along the line between the shortest shadow and the stick.
⑧That point is south of where you are.
⑨Now you can turn the map, like you did before, and find which way you should be travelling.
1.To find the direction, we ought to be patient probably because
A. it is not easy to find a proper stick B. it is not easy to position the stick
C. it takes hours to make the marks D. it takes about half an hour to make the marks
2.The passage would probably be most helpful to .
A. those who draw maps B. those who get lost
C. those who make compasses D. those who do experiments
3.Which of the following pictures best shows the way of finding the direction of south?
4.The author presents this passage by .
A. telling an interesting story B. describing an activity in a lively way
C. testing an idea by reasoning D. introducing a practical method
14days from just ￡2,090pp
Fully inclusive from the UK
Price cover international airfares, departure taxes, fuel charge, local transportation all meals, entrance fees, guides, daily tours and visas for UK citizens.
◆ Days 1-3 UK-Shanghai
Fly to the great city of shanghai and in the evening sample traditional shanghai food. Visit the beautiful YU Garden, Old Town. Shanghai Museum, cross the Great Nampa Bridge and tour the Pudong area. Also explore Xintiandi with its 1920’s style Smkomen buildings and end your stay in shanghai with an amazing Huangpu river evening tour.
◆ Days 4-7:Shanghai-Yangtze River Tour
Fly to Yichang and change （approx: one hour）to board your Yangtze River ship for the next four nights. Enjoy a tour of the three Gorgee Dam（三峡大坝）before sailing on the grand Yangtze River ,passing through the impressive Three Gorges. We take a side tripe to the lesser Three Gorges or travel up the shennong Stream in a peapod boat and enjoy various shore trips along the way.
◆ Day8 :Chongqing—chengdu
Get off in Chongqing and drive to Chengdu for an overnight stay.
◆ Day9-10;Chengdu-xi’an
Visit the famous Panda Reserve to see the lovely animals We then fly to the bistoric city of xi’an for two nights stay and enjoy traditional Shuijiao. Next day, explore one of the most important discoveries of the 20th century—the Terracotta Warriors（兵马俑），followed by the ancient City wall and a performance of Tang Dynasty dancing.
◆ Day11-13:xi’an-beijing
Visit little wild goose pagoda and see the ancient objects at the well-known Shanxi provincial museum before walking through the lively militia Quarter to see the Great Mosque. Later fly to Beijing for three nights stay and try Peking Duck. During our stay in Beijing, we stroll through Tiananmen Square to the Forbidden city, the largest and best preserved collection of ancient buildings in china, and visit the summer palace. Next day we take a walk on the Great wall, tour the unique Temple of Heaven and enjoy an attractive Chinese Acrzibatio show.
◆ Day14:Beijing-UK
Fly back to the UK, arriving home later the same day filled with happy memories.
1.The underlined word “sample” in the passage probably means “ ”
A. buy B. reserve C. taste D. make
2.The first and last scenic spots to he visited in xi’an are .
A. the Terracotta Warriors and the Great Mosque
B. the Terracotta Warriors and shanghai provincial Museum
C. little wild goose Pagoda and Great Mosque
D. Little wild goose Pagoda and the Muslim Quarter
3.Which of the following is TRUE according to the ad ?
A. The tourists will have to pay extra for fuel and meals.
B. The tourists will visit the 1920’s Shikumen buildings in Beijing
C. The tourists will take a side trip to the Three Gorges Dam during the tour.
D. The tourists will stay in Beijing for three nights before leaving for the UK
4.The ad is mainly intended to .
A. encourage the British to travel in China
B. attract the British to traditional Chinese food
C. offer service of booking air tickets to tourists
D. provide the British with a better understanding of China.
Foreign drivers will have a pay on-the-spot fines of up to ￡900 for breaking the traffic law to be carried our next month.
If they do not have enough cash or a working credit card, their vehicles will clamped（扣留）until they pay law takes effect ,because the money would be returned if the driver went to court and was found not guilty , In practice, very few foreign drives are likely to return to Britain to deal with their eases.
Foreign drivers are rarely charged because police cannot take action against them if they fail to appear in court, Instead, officers often merely give warnings.
Three million foreign-registered vehicles enter Britain each year. Polish vehicles s make up 36 percent, French vehicles 10 percent and German vehicles 9 percent.
Foreign vehicles are 30 percent more vehicles entre Britain each year. Polish vehicles make up 36 percent. French crashes caused by foreign vehicle rose by 47 percent between 2003 and 2008. There were almost 400 deaths and serious injuries and 3,000 slight injuries form accidents caused by foreign vehicles in 2008.
The new Law is party intended to settle the problem of foreign lorry divers ignoring limits to weight and hours at the wheel. Foreign Lorries are throe times more likely to be in a crash than British Lorries. Recent spot checks found that three quarters of Lorries that failed safety teats were registered overseas.
The standard deposit for a careless driving offence —such as driving too close to the vehicle in front or reading a map at the wheel—will be ￡300. Deposits for speeding offences and using mobile phones will be ￡60. Foreign drivers will not get points as punishment added to their licenses, while British drivers will.
1.The first paragraph serves as a（n）
A. explanation B. introduction C. comment D. background.
2.The foreign drivers who break the traffic law and do not pay on the spot are likely to be forted up to .
A. ￡60 B. ￡300 C. ￡900 D. ￡980
3.We can learn from the passage that .
A. many foreign drivers have been fined by Britain police
B. 300,000German vehicles enter Britain every year
C. 25percent of foreign vehicles entering Britain have failed safety tests
D. British drivers will be punished with points and fines for breaking the traffic law
4.The new traffic law is mainly intended to .
A. limit the number of foreign vehicles entering Britain
B. increase the British movement’s additional income
C. lower the rate of traffic accidents and injuries
D. get foreign drives to appear in count
Only three local students won Chinese Blog（博客） Competition. And 15 of the 18 awards want to students from China.
170 students’ task: to get a fully-designed blog up and running, complete with many posting based on a theme of choice—all written in Chinese.
Themes ranged from local opinions－such as the usage of Singlish, education and whether Singapore can be a cultural centre－to food blogs.
The entries were judged on Language proficiency（ 熟练程度）and the quality of writing, as well as the design and level of exchanging ideas with readers.
Academics from the National University of Singapore and the SIM University IT experts, and a journalist from Chinese newspaper Lianhe Zaobao in Singapore made up the judges.
In the end, only three Singaporean students made it to the award list—the rest of the awards were swept up by students from China.
“No surprise.” said Mr. Chow Yaw Long, 37 , teachers in charge from Ianova Junior Collage, which organized the event. “Although the topics were local subjects, the foreign students were generally better in terms of the content of the posts and their grasp of the Chinese language.”
One of the three local students winning the first prize in the Best Language Award was blogger Christina Gao 19, from the Saint Andrew’s Junior Collage, who spared no effort in researching for and writing her blog. Each entry took her between five and seven days to produce, complete with pictures and even podcasts （播客）
Her advice for bloggers is: Be responsible
“Some bloggers out there only seek to blame the authorities and other bloggers.” Said Miss Gao. “I think they lack responsibilities and there is no value to their posts.”
1.The competition was organized by
A. the National University of Singapore B. Chinese newspaper Lianhe Zaobao
C. Innova Junior College D. the Saint Andrew’s Junior College
2.Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
A. Chinese students won most of the awards.
B. Not all the themes were about local subjects
C. The blogs could be written in Chinese or Singlish.
D. The judges were from university in Singapore and China.
3.What Miss Gao said suggests that
A. she likes to blame the authorities B. she has a sense of responsibility
C. she thinks highly of the others’ blogs D. she loves to read valuable posts
4.The passage in mainly about
A. how Chinese students won the awards in the competition
B. why bloggers should take responsibility for their blogs
C. how Miss Gao won the first prize in the competition
D. what the result of the competition was
阅读下面短文，从短文后各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
Children find meanings in their old family tales.
When Stephen Guyer’s three children were growing up, he told them stories about bow his grandfather, a banker, 1all in the 1930s, but did not lose sight of what he valued most. In one of the darkest times 2his strong-minded grandfather was nearly 3, he loaded his family into the car and 4them to see family members in Canada with a 5,“there are more important thins in life than money. ”
The 6took on a new meaning recently when Mr. Guyer downsized to a 7house from a more expensive and comfortable one. He was 8that his children ,a daughter, 15, and twins, 22, would be upset. To his surprise, they weren’t 9, their reaction echoed （共鸣） their great-grandfather’s. What they 10was how warm the people were in the house and how 11of their heart was accessible.
Many parents are finding family stories have surprising power to help children 12hard times. Storytelling expects say the phenomenon reflects a growing 13in telling tales, evidenced by a rise in a storytelling events and festivals.
A university 14of 65 families with children aged from 14 to 16 found kids’ ability to 15parents’ stories was linked to a lower rate of anger and anxiety.
The 16is telling the stories in a way children can 17. We’re not talking here about the kind of story that 18, “When I was a kid, I walked to school every day uphill both ways, barefoot in the snow. ” Instead, we should choose a story suited to the child’s 19, and make eye contact （接触） to create “a personal experience”,. We don’t have to tell children
20they should take from the story and what the moral is . ”
1.A. missed B. lost C. forgot D. ignored
2.A. when B. while C. how D. why
3.A. friendless B. worthless C. penniless D. homeless
4.A fetched B. allowed C. expected D. took
5.A. hope B. promise C. suggestion D. belief
6.A. tale B. agreement C. arrangement D. report
7.A. large B. small C. new D. grand
8.A. surprised B. annoyed C. disappointed D. worried
9.A. Therefore B. Besides C. Instead D. Otherwise
10.A. talked about B. cared about C. wrote about D. heard about
11.A. much B. many C. little D. few
12.A. beyond B. over C. behind D. through
13.A. argument B. skill C. interest D. anxiety
14.A. study B. design C. committee D. staff
15.A. provide B. retell C. support D. refuse
16.A. trouble B. gift C. fact D. trick
17.A. perform B. write C. hear D. question
18.A. means B. ends C. begins D. proves
19.A. needs B. activities C. judgments D. habits
20.A. that B. what C. which D. whom
