Soaring divorce rates around the globe are taking a toll on the environment, American researchers suggested in a study released on a Monday.
Michigan State University researcher Jianguo “Jack” Liu and his assistant Eunice Yu said the increasing number of divorces leads to more households with fewer people and greater consumption of water and energy. They said housing units require space, construction materials and fuel to heat and cool, regardless of the number of inhabitants.
For example, in the United States in 2005, divorced households consumed an extra 73 billion kilowatt hours of electricity and 627 billion gallons of water. An additional 38 million extra rooms required heating and lighting that same year due to divorced households.
That costs $6.9 billion in extra utility costs per year, Liu said, plus an added $ 3.6 billion for water, in addition to other costs such as land use.
“A married household actually uses resources more efficiently than a divorced household,” Liu said. He said that in cohabitating(同居) household, people will watch the same television, share the air conditioning and heat and use the same refrigerator. All things use energy at a regularly stable rate, regardless of the number of users.
Liu said he was not condemning divorce, “Some people really need to get divorced.” He said cohabitation—whether by a family or friends—was simply a more environmentally friendly option. Additonally, the researchers noted that trends other than divorce are also changing family living structures, such as the end of multiple generations of a family sharing a home and people remaining single longer.
“People’s first reaction to this research is surprise, and then it seems simple.” Liu said in a press release. “But a lot of things become simple after research is done. Our challenges were to connect the dots and quantify(量化) their relationships. People have been talking about how to protect the environment and fight against climate change, but divorce is a factor that people don’t notice and it needs to be considered”.
He said the increasing energy demands caused by divorce should be considered by governments when they are creating environmental policies.
The research was published in this week’s online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
1.This passage is mainly meant to _______ .
A. inform the readers of the increasing rates of divorce in America
B. emphasize the importance of protecting the environment
C. appeal to married people to maintain their marriage longer
D. tell people the impact divorce has on the environment
2. According to the passage, what’s the attitude of Mr. Liu towards divorce?
A. Critical . B. Indifferent. C. Objective. D. Negative.
3.We are told that ______ .
A. divorced households will use fewer resources than married households
B. married households are more willing to protect the environment
C. divorced households contribute more to rapid economic development
D. divorce is rarely considered when people think about protecting the environment.
4.The underlined phrase “taking a toll on” in Paragraph 1 probably means _____ .
A. taking efforts to improve B. having a bad effect on
C. preventing the pollution of D. benefiting from
5. How is the passage organized?
A. Main idea →Comparison → Supporting details
B. Comparison→Argument→Explanation
C. Main idea→Supporting details→Conclusion
D. Example → Explanation → Conclusion
A farmer had some puppies he needed to sell. He painted a sign advertising the pups and set about nailing it to a post on the edge of his yard. As he was driving the last nail into the post, he felt a tug on his overalls. He looked down into the sad eyes of a little boy.
“Mister," he said, "I want to buy one of your puppies."
"Well," said the farmer, as he rubbed the sweat of the back of his neck, “these puppies come from fine parents and cost a good deal of money."
The boy
dropped his head for a moment. Then reaching deep into his pocket, he pulled
out a handful of change and held it up to the farmer. "I've got thirty-
nine cents. Is that enough to take a look?” 
"Sure," said the farmer.
And with that he let out a whistle. "Here, Dolly!" he called.
Out from the doghouse and down the ramp ran Dolly followed by four little balls of fur. The little boy pressed his face against the chain link fence. His eyes danced with delight.
As the dogs made their way to the fence, the little boy noticed something else stirring inside the doghouse. Slowly another little ball appeared; this one noticeably smaller.
Down the ramp it slid. Then in a somewhat awkward manner, the little pup began hobbling toward the others, doing its best to catch up....
"I want that one," the little boy said, pointing to the runt.
The farmer knelt down at the boy's side and said, "Son, you don't want that puppy. He will never be able to run and play with you like these other dogs would."
With that the little boy stepped back from the fence, reached down, and began rolling up one leg of his trousers. In doing so he revealed a steel brace running down both sides of his leg attaching itself to a specially made shoe. Looking back up at the farmer, he said, "You see sir, I don't run too well myself, and he will need someone who understands."
With tears in his eyes, the farmer reached down and picked up the little pup. Holding it carefully he handed it to the little boy.
"How much?" asked the little boy.
"No charge," answered the farmer, "There's no charge for love."
The world is full of people who need someone who understands. It's National Friendship Week.
1.How many baby pups did the farmer have for sale?
A. 3 B. 4 C. 5 D. 6
2.Why did the farmer agree to sell the boy one of the puppies?
A. The boy had the money to buy one.
B. There were few people wanting to buy a dog.
C. The farmer felt sorry for the boy.
D. The farmer wanted to get rid of the dogs quickly.
3. Which of the following words is closest in meaning to the underlined word “ hobbling”?
A. strolling. B. crawling. C. limping. D. running.
4.Why did the boy finally choose the “ hobbling” pup?
A. He feared the farmer would kill it.
B. He thought no one else would buy that pup.
C. He believed it was the cutest of the pups.
D. He could identify with this pup.
5.What would be the most suitable title for this passage?
A. Man’s Best Friend B. Puppy For Sale.
C. Perfect Match. D. Love at First Sight.
Everyone has got two personalities-the one that is shown to the world and the other that is secret and real. You don't show your secret personality when you're awake because you can control your behavior, but when you're asleep, your sleeping position shows the real you. In a normal night, of course, people frequently change their position. The important position is the one that you go to sleep in.
If you go to sleep on your back, you're a very open person. You normally trust people and you are easily influenced by fashion or new ideas. You don't like to upset people, so you never express your real feelings. You're quite shy and you aren't very confident.
If you sleep on your stomach, you are a rather secretive（不外露） person. You worry a lot and you're always easily upset. You're very stubborn（顽固）, but you aren't very ambitious. You usually live for today not tomorrow. This means that you enjoy having a good time.
If you sleep curled up， you are probably a very nervous person. You have a low opinion of yourself and so you're often defensive. You're shy and you don't normally like meeting people. You prefer to be on your own. You're easily hurt.
If you sleep on your side, you have usually got a well-balanced personality. You know your strengths and weaknesses. You're usually careful. You have a confident personality. You sometimes feel anxious, but you don't often get depressed. You always say what you think even if it annoys people.
1.According to the writer, you naturally show your secret and real personality _______.
A. only in a normal night
B. only when you go to sleep
C. only when you refuse to show yourself to the world.
D. only when you change sleeping position
2.Which is NOT mentioned in the second paragraph about a person’s personality?
A. He or she is always open with others.
B. He or she always likes new ideas earlier than others.
C. He or she is always easily upset.
D. He or she tends to believe in others.
3. Point out which sentence is used to show the personality of a person who is used to sleeping on his or her stomach.
A. He or she is careful not to offend others.
B. He or she doesn’t want to stick to his or her opinion.
C. He or she always wants to get ahead.
D. He or she likes to have a good time.
4.Maybe you don’t want to make friends with a person who sleeps curled up. Why?
A. He or she would rather be alone than communicate with you.
B. He or she is rarely ready to help you.
C. He or she prefers staying at home to going out.
D. He or she wouldn’t like to get help from you.
5.It appears that the writer tends to think highly of the person who sleeps on one side because ________.
A. He or she always shows sympathy for people.
B. He or she is confident, but not stubborn.
C. He or she has more strengths than weaknesses.
D. He or she often considers annoying people.
First of all, successful language learners are independent learners. They 31 their own way to learn the language. Instead of 32 for the teachers to explain, they try to find the pattern and rules for themselves. They are good 33 who look for clues and form their own conclusions. When they guess wrong, they guess again. They try to learn from their mistakes.
Secondly, 34 language learners are active in 35 , therefore, they do not wait for a chance to use the languages, and they look for such a chance. They find people who speak the language and let those people 36 them when they make a 37 . They will try anything to communicate. They are not afraid to repeat what they hear or to say 38 things which sound weird. They are willing to make mistakes and try again, when communication is difficult. They can accept information that is 39 or incomplete. It is more 40 for them to learn to think in the language than to know the 41 of every word.
42 successful language learners are learners with 43 . They want to learn language because they are interested in the language and the people who speak it. It is necessary for them to learn the language in order to 44 with these people and to learn from them. They find it easy to practice using the language 45 because they want to learn it.
1.A. learn B. observe C. discover D. notice
2.A. delaying B. waiting C. postponing D. staying
3.A. finders B. thinkers C. believers D. guessers
4.A. winning B. lucky C. successful D. flourishing
5.A. discovering B. memorizing C. learning D. studying
6.A. correct B. change C. adjust D. mark
7.A. mistake B. point C. failure D. fault
8.A. awkward B. strange C. unfamiliar D. curious
9.A. unobvious B. incredible C. incorrect D. indifferent
10.A. funny B. interesting C. important D. boring
11.A. meaning B. content C. context D. explanation
12.A. Finally B. Secondly C. Thirdly D. Mostly
13.A. purpose B. interest C. matter D. concern
14.A. convey B. inform C. report D. communicate
15.A. regularly B. commonly C. typically D. usually
I can’t stand _________ with Jane in the same office. She just refuses ______ talking while she works.
A. working, stopping B. to work, stopping
C. working, to stop D. to work, to stop
My advisor encouraged _______ a summer course to improve my writing skills.
A. for me taking B. me taking C. for me to take D. me to take
