Greenspace facilities (设施) are contributing to an important degree to the quality of the city environment. Fortunately it is no longer necessary that every lecture or every book about this subject has to start with the proof of this idea. At present it is generally accepted, although more as a self-proved statement than on the base of a closely reasoned scientific proof. Recognizing the importance of greenspaces in the city environment is a first step on the right way, this does not mean, however, that enough details are known about the functions of greenspace in towns and about the way in which people are using these spaces. As to this subject I shall within the scope (范围) of this lecture, enter into one aspect only, namely the recreative function of greenspace facilities.
The theoretical separation of living, working, traffic and recreation which for many years has been used in town and country planning, has in my opinion resulted in more attention for forms of recreation far from home, while there was relatively little attention for improvement of recreative possibilities in the direct neighborhood of the home. We have come to the conclusion that this is not right, because an important part of the time which we do not pass in sleeping or working, is used for activities at and around home. So it is obvious that recreation in the open air has to begin at the street door of the house. The city environment has to offer as many recreation activities as possible, and the design of these has to be such that more required activities can also have recreative aspect.
The very best standard of living is nothing if it is not possible to take a pleasant walk in the district, if the children cannot be allowed to play in the streets because the risks of traffic are too great, if during shopping you can nowhere find a spot for enjoying for a moment the nice weather, in short, if you only feel yourself at home after the street door of your house is closed after you.
1.. The importance of greenspaces in the city environment _____.
A. is still unknown B. is paid little attention to
C. is accepted on the base of scientific proof D. has been recognized
2. For many years town and country planning has _____.
A. brought living areas and places of entertainment close together
B. separated recreation facilities far from home
C. improved recreative possibilities in the neighborhood
D. enabled people to reach the best standard of living
3.. The word “recreation” in the passage probably means,_____.
A. activities done for pleasure or enjoyment B. doing something again in a creative way
C. doing something important after work D. required activities done after work
4.According to the author, greenspaces should be designed _____.
A. to reduce the number of recreative activities
B. to attract more and more people
C. for people to use more conveniently
D. for people to do recreative activities at the street door of the house
5. The main idea of this passage is that _____.
A. attention must be paid to the improvement of recreation
B. greenspace facilities should be used better to improve the quality of life
C. the city environment is providing more recreative activities
D. we should try our best to raise our living standard
It came as something of a surprise when Diana, Princess of Wales, made a trip to Angola in 1997, to support the Red Cross’s campaign for a total ban on all anti-personnel landmines. Within hours of arriving in Angola television screens around the world were filled with images of her comforting victims injured in explosions caused by landmines. “I knew the statistics,” she said, “But putting a face to those figures brought the reality home to me; like when I met Sandra, a 13-year-old girl who had lost her leg, and people like her.”
The Princess concluded with a simple message: “We must stop landmines”. And she used every opportunity during her visit to repeat this message.
But, back in London, her views were not shared by some members of the British government, which refused to support a ban on these weapons. Angry politicians launched an attack on the Princess in the press. They described her as “very ill-informed” and a “loose cannon (乱放炮的人).”
The Princess responded by brushing aside the criticisms: “This is a distraction we do not need. All I’m trying to do is help.”
Opposition parties, the media and the public immediately voiced their support for the Princess. To make matters worse for the government, it soon emerged that the Princess’s trip had been approved by the Foreign Office, and that she was in fact very well-informed about both the situation in Angola and the British government’s policy regarding landmines. The result was a severe embarrassment for the government.
To try and limit the damage, the Foreign Secretary, Malcolm Rifkind, claimed that the Princess’s views on landmines were not very different from government policy, and that it was “working towards” a worldwide ban. The Defence Secretary, Michael Portillo, claimed the matter was “a misinterpretation or misunderstanding”.
For the Princess, the trip to this war-torn country was an excellent opportunity to use her popularity to show the world how much destruction and suffering landmines can cause. She said that the experience had also given her the chance to get closer to people and their problems.
1. Princess Diana paid a visit to Angola in 1997______.
A. to voice her support for a total ban of landmines.
B. to clarify the British government’s stand on landmines.
C. to investigate the sufferings of landmine victims.
D. to establish her image as a friend of landmine victims.
2.. What did Diana mean when she said“…putting a face to those figures brought the reality home to
me” (Para.1)?
A. She just couldn’t bear to meet the landmine victims face to face.
B. The actual situation in Angola made her feel like going back home.
C. Meeting the landmine victims in person made her believe the statistics.
D. Seeing the pain of the victims made her realize the seriousness of the situation.
3. Some members of the British government criticized Diana because______.
A. she was ill-informed of the government’s policy.
B. they believed that she had misinterpreted the situation in Angola.
C. she had not consulted the government before the visit.
D. they were actually opposed to banning landmines.
4. How did Diana respond to the criticisms?
A. She made more appearances on TV.
B. She paid no attention to them.
C. She met the 13-year-old girl as planned.
D. She rose to argue with her opponents.
5. What did Princess Diana think of her visit to Angola?
A. It had caused embarrassment to the British government.
B. It had brought her closer to the ordinary people.
C. It had greatly promoted her popularity.
D. It had affected her relations with the British government.
Tsunami warning system is tested
If he, the founder of the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, were alive, Thomas Jaggar would be proud of the U.S. tsunami warning system after Friday’s devastating earthquake in Japan sent a surge (大浪，汹涌) of ocean water dashing toward the West Coast.
● WASHINGTON — So many people surged to the West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center website that it slowed to a crawl early Friday, unable to provide critical information to the public about the coastal impact in the U.S. of a massive earthquake in Japan.
McClatchy Washington Bureau — Mar 11 06:09 p.m.
● CHICAGO — A tsunami warning has been issued for the central and northern California coast and Oregon, the National Weather Service announced early Friday.
Chicago Tribune— Mar 11 06:07 a.m.
● HONOLULU — A tsunami warning was issued late on Thursday for Hawaii after an 8.9 magnitude earthquake struck in the Pacific near Japan, prompting state civil defense officials to order all coastal areas evacuated（把…撤出…）by 2 a.m. local time. Tsunami sirens (警报) began sounding at 9:59 p.m. on Thursday. They have sounded every hour since 11:15 p.m.
Alaska Tsunami Warning Center also issued a warning for much of the coasts of Alaska, Washington, Oregon and California.
Reuters via Yahoo! News — Mar 11 01:22 a.m.
● LOMPOC — Tsunami warning ‘a wake-up call’
A tsunami warning that led to evacuations for coastal communities and campgrounds in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties Friday served as a successful trial for a more serious emergency, officials said after the danger passed.
The Lompoc Record — Mar 11 11:29 p.m.
● WELLINGTON — The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre issued a warning after an 8.9 magnitude earthquake struck in the Pacific near Japan, and it said the sea level readings confirm that a tsunami has been generated and was in effect for some Pacific islands — Hawaii, China’s Taiwan, the Philippines and Indonesia etc.
New Straits Times — Mar 11 07:48 a.m.
— Reproduced by Yahoo Greenwich Meantime
1..
. A tsunami warning was issued for all the following states in the U.S. except for _____.
A. Ohio B. California C. Oregon D. Alaska
2..
The underlined word “prompting” (in the fourth paragraph) most probably means _____.
A. promoting B. advocating C. urging D. appealing
3..
According to the passage, the Pacific Tsunami warning was first reported by _____.
A. New Straits Times B. Reuters via Yahoo! News
C. McClatchy Washington Bureau D. Chicago Tribune
4..
In which city did the news agency issue a tsunami affecting for some other places apart from Japan and Hawaii?
A. LOMPOC. B. WASHINGTON. C. HONOLULU. D. WELLINGTON.
Dad taught me a lot about life, especially its hard times. I remembered one of his ___21___ one night when I was ready to ___22___ a political campaign I was losing, and wrote about it in my diary.
Tired, feeling the months of ___23___ in vain, I went up to my study to make some notes. I was looking for a pencil in the back of my desk drawer ___24___ I turned up one of Dad’s old business cards that he was proud of: Andrea Cuomo Italian-American Groceries --- Fine Imported Products. Then I thought about how he ___25___ with difficult situations. A lot of pictures ___26___ into my mind, but one scene came sharply into ___27___.
We had just moved to Holliswood, New York. We had our own house for the first time; it had some land around it, even trees. One, ___28___, was a great blue spruce (云杉) that must have been 40 feet tall.
Less than a week after we moved in, there was a terrible storm. We came home from the store that night to find the spruce pulled almost ___29___ from the ground and thrown onto the street. When my brother Frankie and I saw the spruce, our hearts ___30___. But not Dad’s.
The rain was falling. Then he ___31___ , “Ok, we’re going to push him up!” “ What are you talking about, Dad? The ___32___ are out of the ground!” “ Shut up, we’re going to push him up, he’s going to grow again.” We couldn’t say ___33___ to him. So we ___34___ him into the house and got what rope ___35___ was and tied it around the top of the tree that lay on the street, and then he stood up by the house, ___36___ me pulling on the rope, and Frankie in the street in the rain, ___37___ to push up the great blue spruce. In no ___38___ at all, we had him standing up straight again! Dad ___39___ the stakes (桩) in the ground, tied the rope from the trunk to the stakes, and said, “ Don’t worry. He’s going to grow again…”
I looked at the card and wanted to cry. I ___40 ___ wait to get back into the campaign.
1..
. A. ideas B. lessons C. talks D. conversations
2..
A. bury B. attempt C. trap D. quit
3..
A. struggle B. operation C. performance D. application
4..
A. as B. before C. while D. when
5..
. A. did B. occupied C. settled D. dealt
6..
A. appeared B. bumped C. leapt D. burst
7..
A. spot B. view C. scene D. site
8..
. A. in relief B. in need C. in particular D. in all
9..
A. absolutely B. accidentally C. totally D. automatically
10..
A. suffered B. carved C. sank D. infected
11..
A. announced B. challenged C. barked D. distributed
12..
A. trunks B. roots C. branches D. leaves
13..
A. anything B. no C. nothing D. something
14..
. A. accompanied B. hiked C. joined D. followed
15..
A. it B. that C. there D. this
16..
A. along B. via C. by D. with
17..
A. to help B. helped C. helping D. help
18..
. A. problem B. time C. way D. means
19..
A. drove B. removed C. delivered D. dragged
20..
A. needn’t B. wouldn’t C. shouldn’t D. couldn’t
--- Did you have a wonderful time at the ball last night?
--- __________! I’ve never had a more wonderful time all my life.
A. You bet B. No problem C. Don’t mention it D. That’s right
His oversight of the danger that resulted in two deaths and five wounded in the expedition was _________ criminal.
A. no less than B. not less than C. nothing less than D. less than
