Forget chip fat, sugar cane or rapeseed oil — the latest source of biofuel could be watermelons. Scientists have discovered that the fruit is a great source of sugar that can be readily distilled (蒸馏) into alcohol to power cars and farm machinery.
And sellers reject 360,000 tons of “substandard” fruit every year in America alone which could be used as an economical way to make fuel. The waste from US growers could produce nearly two million gallons (nine million litres) of biofuel per year.
In the study, researchers at the United States Department of Agriculture set out to determine the biofuel potential of juice from rejected watermelons —those not sold due to cosmetic imperfections, and currently ploughed back into the field. About a fifth of each yearly watermelon crop is left in the field because of surface blemishes (瑕疵) or because they are misshapen.
Dr. Wayne Fish, who led the team, found that 50 percent of the fruit was fermentable (可发酵的) into alcohol which could provide valuable fuel.
“We’ve shown that the juice of these watermelons is a source of readily fermentable sugars, representing an unexploited raw material for alcohol biofuel production,” he said.
The study, published in the journal Biotechnology for Biofuels, discovered that watermelons could produce around 20 gallons of fuel per acre from fruit that otherwise would go to waste.
Production of biofuels has been targeted by Western governments as a way to support renewable energy targets.
The European Union has a target for 2010 that 5.75 percent of transport fuels should come from biological sources, but the target is unlikely to be met.
The British government’s Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation requires five percent of the fuel sold at the pump by 2010 to be biofuel.
1.The passage mainly tells us ______.
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A．watermelon juice will be the largest source of renewable energy |
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B．the advantages of fuel made from watermelons |
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C．Western countries aim at producing biofuels |
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D．watermelons could be used to make fuel |
2. It can be learned from the text that ______.
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A．about two gallons of fuel could be made from rejected fruit per acre |
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B．sellers in the world throw away 360,000 tons of watermelons every year |
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C．half of the watermelons were fermentable into alcohol to provide energy |
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D．five percent of fuel is required to be biofuel from watermelons by 2010 in Britain |
3.The underlined word “cosmetic” in Paragraph 3 probably means ______.
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A．fresh |
B．sweet |
C．surface |
D．inside |
4.We can infer from the passage that ______.
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A．it will cost a lot to make biofuel from watermelons |
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B．Western countries are engaged in biofuel study but still have a long way to go |
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C．watermelon juice has been used as a source of sugars to produce alcohol biofuel |
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D．the European Union is likely to meet its target of transport fuels from biological sources |
What’s On Stage
An acrobatic show: To celebrate its 50th anniversary, the China Acrobatic Troupe (剧团) will present “The Soul of China”, where the seemingly impossible is made real. Chills will run down your spine(脊柱) as you watch breathlessly as performers take their art and their bodies to the edge.
Time: 7:30 p.m., September 13-19
Place: Capital Theatre, 22 Wangfujing Dajie, Dongcheng District
Exhibitions
Joint Show: A group ink painting exhibition is running at the Huangshicheng Art Gallery in Beijing. About 50 works by 25 young artists including Ge Yun and Yu Yang are on display.
Time: 9:00 a. m.-5:00 p.m. until September 10
Place: Huangshicheng Art Gallery, 136 Nanchizi Dajie, Dongcheng District
Oil paintings: The Wanfung Art Gallery will host a joint show of oil painting by 10 young and middle-aged artists. On display are more than 30 of their latest works, which capture the wondrous variety of life in unique styles.
Time: 9:00 a.m. -4:00 p.m. until September 15
Place: 136 Nanchizi Street, Dongcheng District
Literature museum: The National Museum of Modern Chinese Literature offers an in-depth study of the evolution of Chinese contemporary literature from 1919 to 1949.
Time: 9:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m., daily
Place: 45 Anyuan Donglu, Chaoyang District (Shaoyaoju area)
Concerts
Beijing rocks: “The Fashion Night of Chinese Rock” is set to bring rock fans out by the thousands next month. Nine Chinese rock bands will perform at the concert, including older generation bands, middle generation and some recent arrivals. The audience will be given a chance to decide what songs they want to hear, which is sure to bring a storm.
Time: September 16
Place: The Olympic Center
Belgium orchestra：La Petite Bande, the Baroque Orehestra of Belgium, will perform in Beijing at the Grand Theatre of the Cultural Palace of Nationalities as part of activities across the world in memory of the 250th anniversary of Bach’s death.
Time: 7:30 p.m. September 11-14
Place: Grand Theatre of the Cultural Palace of Nationalities
1. What do you think of the acrobatic show mentioned above?
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A．When you watch it, you will certainly feel cold. |
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B．Unexpected things will make you excited and surprised. |
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C．Something strange will puzzle everyone, including scientists. |
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D．Even the bravest ones will be too frightened to go on watching. |
2.The most characteristic thing about the Fashion Night of Chinese Rock is that ______.
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A．it will certainly cause a rock storm throughout China |
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B．it is to bring thousands of rock fans out of their homes |
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C．it is to be held in memory of one of the greatest musicians |
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D．it will let the audience choose the performers and the music |
3. Suppose it is September 14 today, how many activities can people choose to attend?
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A．2. |
B．3. |
C．4. |
D．5. |
4.On the whole, we can conclude ______.
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A．we can enjoy a large variety of cultural activities in Beijing |
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B．people in Beijing prefer modern culture to something traditional |
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C．most of the cultural activities in Beijing are for foreign visitors only |
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D．there are usually more cultural activities in September than in any other month |
Slow parenting means parenting children in the contact of nature without any interference (干预) of materialistic influence. We can also term it as “self-raising”. In slow parenting children are allowed to do what they think proper and parents just keep a watch over the child. Curiosity of the child leads to exploring and discovering things. Parents provide little help only when it’s too necessary, otherwise keep themselves away from the child and just have a look on him/her: This brings about a feeling of self-dependency and they are encouraged to solve their problems.
This is a natural way of learning. When a child is left to learn in a natural environment, the child’s natural development takes place. Influence of any materialistic way doesn’t let the mind develop naturally. Watching TV, playing video games or joining classes of dance, swimming or any other sports will not let the mind develop naturally.
Here creativity of their mind is developed. They explore ideas. The logic behind this is that the kids of animals learn by nature, so can our kids. So let our children play in the garden, to watch flowers, plants, birds, butterflies and other gifts of nature. In the classes of dance, swimming etc. their creativity is influenced and their natural creativity is suppressed (压制). In these classes they are overburdened and can’t train their creativity. So let them play in the open air or garden without any burden instead of joining classes.
Generally parents give toys to their children and explain how to operate them. But those parents who believe in slow parenting give toys and observe how the children are managing them. Their skill to learn and understand comes out. Maybe the process is slow, but it will be their exploration, which will make them self-dependent, and self-capable to learn.
1.In slow parenting, parents ______.
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A．set limits to what their children do |
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B．keep a close watch over their children |
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C．give the whole directions to what their children do |
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D．give their children freedom to do what they think proper |
2. What is the main advantage of slow parenting according to the passage?
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A．Arousing children’s curiosity. |
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B．Helping children to be independent. |
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C．Making children interested in exploring nature. |
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D．Keeping children away from materialistic influence. |
3.We can infer from the third paragraph that______.
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A．children should join some classes |
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B．slow parenting should be done in a logical way |
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C．exploring nature is a good way of slow parenting |
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D．children can’t learn by nature like the kids of animals |
4.What is the passage mainly about?
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A．Slow parenting and its advantages. |
B．Different parenting styles. |
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C．The requirements of slow parenting. |
D．The author’s opinion on slow parenting. |
Dr Asim Syed, 32, has performed more than 100 operations at London’s Hammersmith Hospital in the country’s busiest transplant unit, but never imagined that he would one day become a donor himself.
He stepped forward when was told his 64-year-old mother might be dead within months unless she got a new kidney (肾). The worried surgeon brought her to London to be cared for at his hospital. However, it was not all plain sailing. Tests showed Dr Syed was the wrong blood group, so the only way was to go through a special blood-washing process. He consulted colleagues about that, but they didn’t agree, because the risk of rejection is still too high. Dr Syed and his mother were then advised to consider a new way of donating and receiving, called an organ-paired. That is, Dr Syed donated his kidney to an unknown person and another donor in the chain was a successful match for his mother. The chain of three transplants took place at the same time on July 31 with Dr Syed’s kidney going to a recipient in the Midlands and Mrs. Syed receiving her kidney from a person in the south of England.
Just hours after donating his own kidney, Dr Syed found himself recovering in bed next to his mother. Mrs Syed said, “When I came round from my operation Asim was in the next bed and the first thing he said was, ‘Mum now all your worries are over.’ Tears fell down.”
Now mother and son are recovering well with Dr Syed already back at work. Mrs. Syed is staying with him for several months while the hospital monitors her progress.
He said, “I did what anyone would do when they see a relative suffering disease. Although I wasn’t able to help mum directly, by agreeing to be part of a chain, I was also very happy.”
1. Why isn’t it a plain sailing?
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A．No one can treat his mother well. |
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B．Dr Syed was the wrong blood group. |
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C．They didn’t have money to be in hospital. |
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D．Mrs. Syed was unwilling to receive the operation. |
2.Why didn’t his colleagues agree to the method of blood-washing?
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A．It is very dangerous. |
B．It costs too much. |
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C．They didn’t know how to do it at all. |
D．They didn’t have the relative equipment. |
3. What can we learn about Mrs. Syed?
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A．She was touched by his son’s deed. |
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B．She has already recovered completely. |
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C．After operation, she went her own home. |
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D．She was in hospital in London for many years. |
4.What can be inferred from the text?
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A．The hospital still needs improving. |
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B．Dr Syed has love and devotion to his parents. |
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C．The expense in the hospital is too high to afford. |
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D．Dr Syed donated his kidney to his mother directly. |
完形填空（共20小题；每小题1.5分，满分30分）
阅读下面短文，从短文后所给各题的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
My husband and I sat outside. A small child about three came up the street, accompanied by her mother. As she saw another girl a few feet away, she gave her admiring comment, “Mommy, I like her dress.” Her mom 1 , “Well, why don’t you go and tell her?”
The little girl walked 2 toward the girl wearing the pretty dress. The other one,
3 the same age, was standing with her 4 turned, alongside her parents. They had not heard the compliment (赞美). Receiving no answer, this little one 5 . My husband said to the other girl, “ 6 wants to tell you something.” As she turned around, 7 was made. Once again, the little one 8 “I like your dress,” and upon hearing those words, the other one gave her a big smile and excitedly 9 “Look, it’s a spinning (旋转) dress!”, at which moment she began to spin. Both of them smiled widely.
Now, the one stopped spinning and said, “It’s my favorite dress and I have (a) 10 that match!” She 11 running toward a stroller (婴儿车) parked nearby.
The mom and daughter started to 12 down the street, 13 the encounter (邂逅) had ended. Moments later, the “spinning dress girl” reappeared, shoes in hand, 14 her new friend who had seemingly disappeared. Now, an elderly couple, seated on a bench, had obviously been
15 of all this. The man 16 the child, saying, “There’s someone coming behind you.” Then we saw one showed and the other 17 the beautiful shoes.
If you can make a 18 better, do it. I have no idea how many others that evening might have 19 this act, hoping to help good things to happen. But such brief moments,
20 together, make up what might very well be the important times in our lives.
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It’s not what you say ______ matters, but what you do.
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A．which |
B．how |
C．that |
D．when |
