People want action on noise, a recent public meeting in Brisbane showed. Some want technical improvements such as quieter air conditioners or better sound barriers around major roads. Others want tougher laws to restrict noise from building sites or to require owners to take responsibility for barking dogs. But the highest priority was a noise complaints system that works.
Brisbane City Council receives more complaints about noise than all other problems put together. So it conducted a survey and found that about half its residents are upset by noise in one form or another –traffic, mowers, pool pumps, air conditioners or loud parties. This inspired the Council to bring together more than 100 citizens one evening to talk through a range of options.
The meeting found the present regulatory system bizarre. Depending on the problem, responsibility for noise can lie with the Council, the Environment Protection Authority, one of three government departments or even the police. So complainants often feel they are getting the run-round. When the people at the forum were asked to vote for changes, the strongest response was for a 24-hour noise hotline to be the first port of call for all complaints.
The forum also favored regulatory measures, such as tougher minimum standards for noise in appliances like air conditioners. This even makes economic sense, as noise is a waste of energy and money. Other measures the meeting supported were wider buffer (缓冲) zones around noisy activities and controls to keep heavy traffic away from residential areas.
But there are obvious conflicts. Many people like to have a bar within walking distance if they feel like a drink, but they don’t want a noisy pub keeping them awake when they want an early night. Most people want to live near a major road providing good access to other parts of the city, but they don't’ want the problem of road noise.
I was most interested by the proposals aimed at behavioral change. There was strong support for measures to reduce traffic: better public transport, cycle ways and footpaths, even charges for road use. Many people optimistically thought industry awards for better equipment would stimulate the production of quieter appliances. It was even suggested that noise from building sites could be alleviated (减轻) if Brisbane adopted daylight saving, thus shifting the working day and providing longer, quieter evenings.
1.According to the recent public meeting in Brisbane, what was the first step to take in order to reduce noise pollution?
A．Produce quieter air conditioners.
B．Provide better sound barriers around major roads.
C．Establish a noise complaints system.
D．Make stricter laws to require owners to take responsibility for barking dogs.
2.It can be inferred from the passage that _______.
A．the Brisbane residents were satisfied with the present noise regulatory system
B．many people in Brisbane preferred to live near a pub to which they have easy access
C．nearly all the inhabitants in Brisbane were bothered by noise in one form or another
D．noise pollution is the most serious among pollution complaints in Brisbane
3.Brisbane City Council brought together citizens to talk through solutions to the noise problem mainly due to .
A．the result of the survey carried out by itself
B．a noise complaints system that works
C．people asking for tougher laws on noise
D．requirements of an effective noise complaints system
4.What does the word “run-round” (Para. 3) mean?
A．Unfair treatment.
B．Quick response.
C．Delaying action in response to a request.
D．Full attention.
5.How could noise from building sites be alleviated if Brisbane adopted daylight saving?
A．If daylight saving was adopted, the daytime would be prolonged and the night would become quieter.
B．If daylight saving was adopted, the working hours during the daytime would be shortened
while the night would be extended and thus quieter.
C．If daylight saving was adopted, the night would be shortened and thus quieter.
D．If daylight saving was adopted, both the daytime and the night would be shortened and the
noise would be reduced.
For most people, shopping is still a matter of wandering down the street or loading a cart in a shopping mall. Soon, that will change. Electronic commerce is growing fast and will soon bring people more choices. There will, however, be a cost: protecting the consumer from fraud will be harder. Many governments therefore want to extend high street regulations to the electronic world. But politicians would be wiser to see cyberspace as a basis for a new era of corporate self-regulation.
Consumers in rich countries have grown used to the idea that the government takes responsibility for everything from the stability of the banks to the safety of the drugs, or their rights to refund when goods are faulty. But governments cannot enforce national laws on businesses whose only presence in their country is on the screen. Other countries have regulators, but the rules of consumer protection differ, as does enforcement. Even where a clear right to compensation exists, the online catalogue customer in Tokyo, say, can hardly go to New York to extract a refund for a dud purchase.
One answer is for governments to cooperate more: to recognize each other’s rules. But that requires years of work and volumes of detailed rules. And plenty of countries have rules too fanciful for sober states to accept. There is, however, an alternative. Let the electronic businesses do the “regulation” themselves. They do, after all, have a self-interest in doing so.
In electronic commerce, a reputation for honest dealing will be a valuable competitive asset. Governments, too, may compete to be trusted. For instance, customers ordering medicines online may prefer to buy from the United States because they trust the rigorous screening of the Food and Drug Administration; or they may decide that the FDA’s rules are too strict, and buy from Switzerland instead.
Consumers will need to use their judgment. But precisely because the technology is new, electronic shoppers are likely for a while to be a lot more cautious than consumers of the normal sort---and the new technology will also make it easier for them to complain noisily when a company lets them down. In this way, at least, the advent of cyberspace may argue for fewer consumer protection laws, not more.
1.According to the author, what will be the best policy for electronic commerce?
A．Self – regulation by the business. B．Strict consumer protection laws.
C．Close international cooperation. D．Government protection.
2.In case an electronic shopper bought faulty goods from a foreign country, what could he do?
A．Refuse to pay for the purchase. B．Go to the seller and ask for a refund.
C．Appeal to consumer protection law. D．Complain about it on the Internet.
3.In the author’s view, businesses would place a high emphasis on honest dealing because in the electronic world .
A．international cooperation would be much more frequent
B．consumers could easily seek government protection
C．a good reputation is a great advantage in competition
D．it would be easy for consumers to complain
4.We can infer from the passage that in licensing new drugs the FDA in the United States is .
A．very quick B．very cautious C．very slow D．rather careless
5.If a customer buys something that does not meet his expectation, what is the advantage of dealing through electronic commerce over the present normal one?
A．It will be easier for him to return the goods he is not satisfied with.
B．It will be easier for him to attain the refund from the seller.
C．It will be easier for him to get his complaints heard by other consumers.
D．It will be easier for him to complain about this to the government.
For a 400-year-old art form, operas had a bad fame: overweight actresses singing the words which are hard to understand in one of those romance languages you were supposed to learn in high school. And with tickets costing as much as $ 145 a performance, opera goers also have a certain appearance in people’s mind: rich, well-dressed and old.
But now opera companies around the country are loosening their ties and kicking off their shoes in an attempt to bring the opera to the audience. It needs to keep it alive, the young and not-so-rich.
Opera producers have found that to attract this crowd, they need to make the opera closer to common people. That means no formal suits, old-styled theatre or band-breaking ticket prices. And because young people don’t or won’t come to the opera, companies are bringing the opera to them, giving performances in such unusual places as parks, libraries and public schools.
The Houston Grand Opera’s choice is the public library, where it performs “mobile operas”, shortened versions (剧本) of child-friendly operas. This summer’s production is Hansel & Gretel. By performing smaller versions of large productions, producers are able to make people interested while keeping costs at a reasonable level. The San Francisco Opera, which will be celebrating its 75th anniversary this year, is staging Cinderella free of charge, keeping costs down by employing students from its Young Artists’ Training Program.
1.Which of the following is the main idea of this passage?
A．Opera is famous for is history.
B．Opera is only for rich people.
C．Opera companies are trying to keep opera alive.
D．Young people are not interested in opera.
2.The underlined part in Paragraph 2 most probably means .
A．breaking up the old rules B．changing the dresses
C．making the audience at ease D．advertising themselves
3.Opera companies prefer to perform smaller versions because .
A．they can be performed in public libraries
B．short versions are easy to perform
C．it is hard to find long versions
D．they can make people interested
4.The San Francisco Opera employs young students in order to .
A．attract young people B．reduce the cost
C．celebrate its 75th anniversary D．make Cinderella popular
5.What can you infer from the passage?
A．The tickets for opera are very expensive at present.
B．Opera is performed in a language difficult to understand.
C．Opera is not so popular an art form today.
D．Students enjoy performing operas very much.
He was just 12 years old when he died. But he brought courage and hope to people around the world.
Nkosi Johnson, who died last June, is remembered today as an AIDS fighter. This young boy challenged his government’s AIDS policies and millions of South Africans in the fight against the disease.
Johnson was the longest survivor born HIV positive（艾滋病病毒携带者）.He survived with this deadly disease for 12 years before it claimed his life.
At first, Johnson was expected to live for nine months when his foster mother, Gail Johnson took him in at the age of two. She now runs Nkosi’s Haven across town from her house in Melville. The Haven is home to 20 children living with HIV or AIDS, and 11 of their mothers.
Johnson attracted the world’s attention and stole the hearts of thousands of people across the world at the 13th International AIDS Conference in Durban in July 2000. He stood in front of a large audience including South African President Thabo Mbeki. He told them that he wanted AZT, a drug used to treat AIDS patients, to be given to HIV-positive pregnant（怀孕的） women to prevent the disease being passed on to their unborn babies. He received a loud cheer at the end of his speech.
Johnson’s speech was broadcast live across the world. With views beyond his age and even a sense of humor, Johnson soon became an international sign of the fight against AIDS and HIV.
1.The underlined words “claimed his life” (Paragraph 3) means _______.
A．did harm to Johnson’s life B．helped Johnson to survive
C．caused the death of Johnson D．made Johnson weak
2.The main idea in paragraphs 5 and 6 is ________.
A Johnson attracted the world’s attention
B．Johnson stood in front of South African President Thabo Mbeki
C．Johnson wanted AZT to treat AIDS pregnant women
D．Johnson helped prevent the disease being passed on to an unborn baby
3.The AIDS child gave the speech in order to _________.
A．steal the hearts of thousands of people
B．be an AIDS fighter
C．get more help from the world
D．fight against the government
4.From the passage we can infer that _______.
A．the government’s AIDS policies have to be improved
B．the government did nothing to help those with HIV positive
C．the boy’s speech changed the government’s policies
D．no one lived longer than the boy
5.The best title for this passage is .
A．The Sad Story of an AIDS Child. B．The Courage of an AIDS Child
C．AIDS, a Deadly Disease D．A Hero in South Africa
阅读下面短文，按照句子结构的语法性和上下文连续的要求，在空格处填入一个适当的词或使用括号中词语的正确形式填空，并将答案填写在答题卷标号为的相应位置上。
Roadside bomb explosions in southern Afghanistan have killed at least five civilians and five policemen. The attack came as NATO’s new Secretary General visited Kabul 1. (discuss) with Afghan officials and candidates ahead of the August 20 2. (president) election.
Afghan officials in southern Helmans province said a group of civilians 3. (travel) to a wedding party when 4. big vehicle, which was being pulled by a tractor, hit a roadside bomb.
Officials have blamed Taliban insurgents（叛乱分子）as part of efforts to discourage voters 5. taking part in the coming election.
Five policemen were also killed in a separate roadside bomb burst in Helmand, 6.region is a known Taliban stronghold（据点） 7. thousands of US Marines and British soldiers are engaged 8. major anti-insurgency operations to improve security 9. Afghans go to vote.
The security situation deteriorating（恶化）in southern parts of the country has been a cause of concern for both Afghan election officials and international observers since the 10. (remove) of the Taliban from power in 2001.
阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从1—15各题所给的A、B、C和D项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
In every cultivated language there are two greet classes of words which, taken together, comprise the whole vocabulary. First, there are those words 1 which we become acquainted in daily conversation, which we 2 ,that is to say, from the 3 of our own family and from our familiar associates, and 4 we should know and use we could not read or write. They 5 the common things of life, and are the stock in trade of all who 6 the language. Such words may be called “popular”, since they belong to the people 7 and are not the exclusive of a limited class. On the other hand, our language 9 a multitude of words which are comparatively used in ordinary conversation. Their meanings are known to every educated person, but there is little 10 to use them at home or in the market-place. Our 11 acquaintance with them comes not from our mother's or from the talk of our school-mates, from books that we read, lectures that we 12 ,or the more 13 conversation of highly educated speakers who are discussing some particular 14 in a style appropriately elevated above the habitual of everyday life. Such words are called “learned”, and the 15 between them and the “popular” words is of great importance to a right understanding of linguistic process.
1.A．at B．with C．by D．through
2.A．study B．imitate C．stimulate D．learn
3.A．mates B．relatives C．members D．fellows
4.A．which B．that C．those D．ones
5.A．mind B．concern C．care D．involve
6.A．hire B．apply C．adopt D．use
7.A．in public B．at most C．at large D．at best
8.A．consists B．comprises C．constitutes D． composes
9.A．seldom B．much C．never D．often
10.A．prospect B．way C．reason D． necessity
11.A．primary B．first C．principal D．prior
12.A．hear of B．attend C．hear from D．listen
13.A．former B．formula C．formal D． formative
14.A．theme B．topic C．idea D．point
15.A．diversionB．distinctionC．diversity D．similarity
