Boiler rooms are often dirty and steamy, but this one is clean and cool. Fox Point is a very new 47-unit living building in South Bronx, one of the city’s poorest areas. Two-thirds of the people living there are formerly (以前) homeless people, whose rent is paid by the government. The rest are low-income families. The boiler room has special equipment, which produces energy for electricity and heat. It reuses heat that would otherwise be lost to the air, reducing carbon emissions(碳排放)while also cutting costs.
Fox Point is operated by Palladia, a group that specializes in providing housing and services to needy people. Palladia received support from Enterprise Community Partners (ECP), which helps build affordable housing by providing support to housing developers.
ECP has created national standards for healthy, environmentally (环境方面) clever and affordable homes which are called, the Green Communities Standards. These standards include water keeping, energy saving and the use of environmentally friendly building materials. Meeting the standards increases housing construction costs by 2%, which is rapidly paid back by lower running costs. Even the positioning of a window to get most daylight can help save energy.
Michael. Bloomberg, New York's mayor plans to create 165,000 affordable housing units for 500,000 New Yorkers. Almost 80% of New York City’s greenhouse-gas emissions come from buildings, and 40% of those are caused by housing. So he recently announced that the city’s Department of Housing and Preservation and Development (DHPD) , whose duty is to develop and keep the city’s supply of affordable housing, will require all its new projects to follow ECP’s green standards.
Similar measures have been taken by other cities such as Cleveland and Denver, but New York’s DHPD is the largest city developer of affordable housing in the country.
1.What is the purpose of describing the boiler room in the first paragraph?
A. To explain the measures the city takes to care for poor people.
B. To suggest that affordable housing is possible in all areas.
C. To show how the environment-friendly building works.
D. To compare old and new boiler rooms.
2.What is an advantage of the buildings meeting the Green Communities Standards?
A. Lower running costs.
B. Costing less in construction.
C. Less air to be lost in hot days.
D. Better prices for homeless people.
3. It can be learned from the text that, ____________________.
A. New York City is seriously polluted
B. people’s daily life causes many carbon emissions in New York City
C. a great number of people in New York City don't have houses to live in
D. some other cities have developed more affordable housing than New York City
4.What is the main purpose of this text?
A. To call on people to pay more attention to housing problems.
B. To prove that some standards are needed for affordable housing.
C. To ask society to help homeless people and low-income families.
D. To introduce healthy, environmentally clever-and affordable housing.
I grew up in a house where the TV was seldom turned on and with one wall in my bedroom entirely lined with bookshelves, most of my childhood was spent on books I could get hold of. In fact, I grew up thinking of reading as natural as breathing and books unbelievably powerful in shaping perspectives (观点) by creating worlds we could step into, take part in and live in.
With this unshakable belief, I, at fourteen, decided to become a writer. Here too, reading became useful. Every writer starts off knowing that he has something to say, but being unable to find the right ways to say it. He has to find his own voice by reading widely and discovering which parts of the writers he agrees or disagrees with, or agrees with so strongly that it reshapes his own world. He cannot write without loving to read, because only through reading other people’s writing can one discover what works, what doesn’t and, in the end, together with lots of practice, what voice he has.
Now I am in college, and have come to realize how important it is to read fiction (文学作品)．As a. law student, my reading is in fact limited to subject matter—the volume (量) of what I have to read for classes every week means there is little time to read anything else. Such reading made it all the clearer to me that I live in a very small part in this great place called life. Reading fiction reminds me that there is life beyond my own. It allows me to travel across the high seas and along the Silk Road, all from the comfort of my own armchair, to experience, though secondhand, exciting experiences that I wouldn't necessarily be able to have in my lifetime.
1.What can be inferred about the author as a child?
A. He never watched TV.
B. He read what he had to.
C. He found reading unbelievable.
D. He considered reading part of his life.
2. The underlined word "voice" in the second paragraph most probably means “ ”.
A. an idea
B. a sound quality
C. a way of writing
D. a world to write about
3.What effect does reading have on the author?
A. It helps him to realize his dream.
B. It opens up a wider world for him.
C. It makes his college life more interesting.
D. It increases his interest in worldwide travel.
4.Which of the following can be the best title of this text?
A. Why do I read?
B. How do I read?
C. What do I read?
D. When do I read?
Robert Moody, 52, is an experienced police officer. Much of his work involves dealing with 41 —an gang (团伙)problems in the schools of his community. Knowing that many kids often 42 trouble, he decided to do something about it. So in 1991 he began to invite small groups of kids to go fishing with him on his day 43 .
Those fun trips had a(n) 44 impact. A chance encounter(偶遇) in 2000 proved that. One day, 45 working security at a school basketball game, Moody noticed two young guys 46 .He sensed trouble between them. 47 one of them headed toward Moody and gave him a hug.” I 48 you. You took me 49 when I was in fifth grade. That was one of the 50 days of my life .”
Deeply touched by the boy’s word, Moody decided to create a foundation（基金会）that 51 teenagers to the basics of fishing in camping programs. “As a policeman, I saw 52 there was violence, drugs were always behind it. They have a damaging 53 on the kids,” says Moody.
By turning kids on to fishing, he 54 to present an alternative way of life, “When you’re sitting there waiting for a 55 ,”he says, “you can’t help but talk to each other, and such 56 can be pretty deep.”
“Talking about drugs helped prepare me for the peer（同龄人）pressures in high school,” says Michelle, 17 who 57 the first program. “And I was able to help my little brother 58 drugs.”
Moody faces 59 in three years, when he hopes to run the foundation full-time.” I’m living a happy life and I have a responsibility to my 60 to give back,” Moody says.” If I teach a kid to fish today, he can teach his brother to fish tomorrow.”
1.A. drinking B．drug C．security D．smoking
2.A. ran into B．got over C．left behind D．looked into
3.A．ahead B．away C．off D．out
4.A．immediate B．damaging C．limited D．lasting
5.A．once B．while C．since D．until
6.A．quarreling B．complaining C．talking D．cheering
7.A．Slowly B．Suddenly C．Finally D．Secretly
8.A．understand B．hear C. see D．remember
9.A．fishing B．sailing C．boating D. swimming．
10.A．quietest B．longest C．best D．busiest
11. A．connects B．introduces C．reduces D．commits
12.A．where B．unless C．as D．whether
13. A．impression B．burden C．decision D．impact
14.A．asked B．intended C．pretended D．agreed
15.A．solution B．change C．bite D．surprise
16.A．concerns B．interests C．conversations D．emotions
17.A. participated in B. worked out C. approved of D. made up
18.A. misuse B. avoid C. tolerate D. test
19.A. unemployment B. challenge C. competition D. retirement
20.A. team B. school C. family D. community
---Why do you look so upset?
---I broke up with my girlfriend. If only I _______ more about her.
A. care B. cared C. had cared D. had been cared
Jenny _______ her word. I wonder why she changed her mind.
A. must have kept B. can have kept
C. should have kept D. needn’t have kept
---I’ve told Nancy many times about the meeting, but she still forgot it!
---I understand. Actually, anyone _______ be very forgetful at times.
A. must B. should C. ought to D. can
