Besides containing attractive flowers, trees and other plants that beautify the community, eco-friendly rain gardens are healthy for the environment and the people living and working nearby.
A rain garden is not very different from a traditional garden. It is just a far more eco-friendly garden. Usually it is built lower than the ground. Rain gardens make smart use of rain and storm water by temporarily holding water from rain and storms and letting it soak（浸人）slowly into the ground before it runs into streams or enters the public drinking water supply.
Thus, a rain garden keeps the water, allowing it to be used as needed by plants in the rain garden, rather than flowing immediately into nearby streams and going unused. The water will soak slowly into the ground within a day or two. This creates an advantage that the rain garden does not allow mosquitoes to breed. This is a simple, attractive, and eco-friendly “green” way to treat storm water.
What’s more, planting a rain garden helps reduce pollution and improve the environment. Without using expensive machinery and chemicals, rain gardens remove harmful chemicals in the rainwater and cut down on the amount of pollution reaching streams and rivers by up to 30%.
Native plants are recommended for rain gardens because they are more used to the locals climatem, soil, and water conditions. They may attract local wildlife such as native birds. Water your rain garden immediately after planting and once a week, unless you have had at least an inch of rain during the week. Once the native plants establish the necessary root system, it will require little care.
Often, local governments and private businesses develop large rain gardens in their yards and in public parks as a way to improve the environment and solve flooding problems. However, you don’t need to be a professional environmental engineer to create a rain garden. As long as you’re eco-conscious homeowners, you can help the environment by building smaller rain gardens in your yards.
1.Which of the following is the eco-friendly function of rain gardens discussed in Paragraph 4?
A．They can keep the rain and storm water.
B．They can help reduce the pollution problem.
C．They can be healthy for the people around.
D．They can make the environment more beautiful.
2.One of the main reasons why native plants are recommended is that .
A．they cost less and are much easier to get
B．they may attract local wildlife to come
C．they require little care from the local gardeners
D．they are more used to the local growing conditions
3.What do we know about rain gardens?
A．They need little water after all the plants are planted.
B．They usually need at least an inch of rainwater a week.
C．They may attract local birds and change the locals climate.
D．They may reduce the water pollution problem by 70%.
4.Who are the intended readers of the passage?
A．Homeowners. B．Governors. C．Engineers, D．Educators.
People use their mouths for many things. They eat, talk, shout and sing. They smile and they kiss. In the English language, there are many expressions using the word “mouth.”
For example, if you say bad things about a person, the person might protest and say “Do not bad mouth me.” Sometimes, people say something to a friend or family member that they later regret because it hurts that person’s feelings. Or they tell the person something they were not supposed to tell. The speaker might say: “I really put my foot in my mouth this time.” If this should happen, the speaker might feel down in the mouth. In other words, he might feel sad for saying the wrong thing.
Another situation is when someone falsely claims another person said something. The other person might protest: “I did not say that. Do not put words in my mouth.”
Some people have lots of money because they were born into a very rich family. There is an expression for this, too. You might say such a person, “was born with a silver spoon in his mouth.” This rich person is the opposite of a person who lives from hand to mouth. This person is very poor and only has enough money for the most important things in life, like food.
Parents might sometimes withhold sweet food from a child as a form of punishment for saying bad things. For example, if a child says things she should not say to her parents, she might be described as a mouthy child. The parents might even tell the child to stop mouthing off.
But enough of all this talk. I have been running my mouth long enough.
1.In what kind of situation will a person say “Do not bad mouth me.” ?
A．When he feels down. B．When he feels regretful.
C．When he is spoken ill of. D．When he feels innocent.
2.If a person feels sorry for what he has said, he might say “ .”
A．Do not bad mouth me
B．I really put my foot in my mouth this time
C．Do not put words in my mouth
D．Stop mouthing off
3.If a person lives from hand to mouth, it implies .
A．he is badly – off B．he is hard – working
C．he is well – off D．he has enough to eat
4.By saying, “I have been running my mouth long enough”, the speaker means “ ”.
A．I have run a long way B．I have been a mouthy person
C．I have learned a lot D．I have talked too much
Mearl Jacobs’ body was at the funeral home. The memorial service was 31 for the next day. We 32 in the family room to tell stories, sharing 33 of her. She had lived a life 34 with stories. Most people didn’t know that she had worked for thirty years at Rockwall International to help the homeless, or that 35 she really didn’t care much for baseball, she loved listening to the 36 because her son loved baseball.
Before long the 37 turned from stories about Mearl to stories of how she changed and 38 the lives in the room.
Her daughter Carol, said, “Just a few hours before Mom died she said she wanted to go home. I asked her if she 39 back to her apartment. She said, ‘NO!’ I asked, ‘Home in Heaven?’ ‘YES!’”
A series of love and 40 was realized that night. Mearl had lived a life that affected the young and old 41 . When she did so, you became a different person, a 42 and reformed person. She was 43 that way. She knew how to show the things that really 44 in the life. She 45 for values that she held dear and she always seemed to know how to influence people and to accept them “as is”. He grandkids talked of her 46 acceptance of them, no matter what.
Some things have to be seen to be understood, such as love, forgiveness and acceptance. Mearl knew how to help you 47 . She had always shown total 48 to the family and friends – to people.
The next day Mearl was 49 the topic. We buried the body, but she lives in all those, present and 50 . She is always there, giving and loving.
1.A．canceled B．ordered C．set D．left
2.A．gathered B．waited C．cried D．consulted
3.A．dinner B．memories C．possessions D．success
4.A．mixed B．combined C．compared D．filled
5.A．unless B．until C．if D．although
6.A．games B．songs C．operas D．stories
7.A．argument B．comment C．background D．conversation
8.A．rescued B．shaped C．lost D．prevented
9.A．meant B．moved C．dated D．went
10.A．curiosity B．envy C．kindness D．sympathy
11.A．equally B．hopefully C．eventually D．properly
12.A．happier B．better C．milder D．ruder
13.A．interested B．shocked C．puzzled D．gifted
14.A．lacked B．troubled C．mattered D．admitted
15.A．made up B．stood up C．watched out D．reached out
16.A．unnecessary B．unusual C．unconditional D．unfamiliar
17.A．see B．improve C．explain D．remove
18.A．appreciation B．devotion C．determination D．operation
19.A．almost B．still C．ever D．even
20.A．beyond B．behind C．within D．outside
As we know, a schedule may be more appropriately expnessed and analyzed if it is put a graph.
A．in the direction of B．in the process of
C．in the form of D．in the shape of
Like most simple puzzles, it is easily , but putting it back together is something else.
A．taken apart B．built up C．set off` D．dealt with
I wasn’t complaining. I expressed my surprise because I had never seen this happen in that case before.
A．mostly B．rarely C．nearly D．merely
