Farming is moving indoors, where the sun never shines, where rainfall is irrelevant (无关的) and where the climate is always right. The perfect crop field could be inside a windowless building with controlled light, temperature，humidity，air quality and nutrition. It could be in a New York high- rise or a complex （建筑群） in the Saudi desert. It may be an answer to the world’s food problems.
The world already is having trouble feeding itself. Half the people on Earth live in cities, and nearly half of those – about 3 billion – are hungry or ill–fed. Food prices, currently increasing, are badly affected by dryness, floods and the cost of energy required to plant, harvest and transport it. And prices will only get more unstable. Climate change makes long-term crop planning uncertain. Farmers in many parts of the world already are using water available to the last drop. And the world is getting more crowded: by mid-century, the global population will grow from 6.8 billion to 9 billion.
To feed so many people may require expanding farmland at the expense of forests and wilderness, or finding ways to greatly increase crop output.
Gertjan Meeuws and three other Dutch bioengineers grow vegetables and house plants in closed and regulated environments. In their research station, water flows into the pans when needed, and the temperature is kept constant. Lights go on and off, creating “day” and “night”, but according to the rhythm of the plant.
Meeuws says a building of 100 square meters and layers of plants could provide a daily diet of 200 grams of fresh fruit and vegetables for the entire population of Ken Bosch, about 140,000 people. Their idea isn’t to grow foods that require much space, like corn or potatoes.
Sunlight is not only unnecessary but can be harmful. Plants need only specific wavelengths of light to grow. Their growth rate is three times faster than under greenhouse conditions. They use about 90 percent less water than outdoor agriculture. And city farming means producing food near the consumer, so there’s on need to transport it long distances.
1.According to the text, Gertjan Meeuws’ farming _______.
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A．can be used for corn production |
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B．is much like greenhouse farming |
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C．is adaptable to any environment |
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D．uses more water than outdoor farming |
2.What is the second paragraph mainly about ?
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A．The effect of climate |
B．The hungry people in cities. |
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C．The world’s food problem. |
D．The world’s increasing population. |
3.What is the purpose of the text ?
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A．To compare traditional and indoor farming. |
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B．To discuss the influence of climate change. |
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C．To explain the world’s food problem. |
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D．To introduce a new model of farming. |
Last Sunday, I waked into the house in the afternoon to find my brother rushing around in a hurry. As soon as I took my coat off, my little brother placed a bunch of papers in my hands and asked me to fold them up so they could fit into an envelope as quickly as possible. He said it needed to get done quickly before it turned dark.
I was a little surprised that something could be so urgent on a Sunday. It wasn’t until I was halfway through that I actually looked at what I was folding. After I read it, it put the biggest smile on my face. It was a lovely letter to all the residents （居民）in my neighborhood. My brother was asking everyone to let him know if anyone needed help. He left his contact information and said that anyone that needed help should get in touch with him and he would figure something out. He also asked people to get in touch if they were able to help out.
London received an unusual amount of snow last week, and the city was completely under- prepared for it. So it was quite difficult to get anywhere. Only the major roads had been cleared, and smaller roads and pavements could be quite treacherous. There are a good number of old people in our little community. So my brother thought that the snow may have posed （造成）some difficulty for some of them, particularly because we live on a hill.
A few elderly people got in touch with him asking for help for things they needed. One of them was especially grateful because his caregiver couldn’t make it. To our surprise, he got more responses from people offering to help. Then he received help from people who wanted to help. Everyone was really touched and wrote to my brother wonderful email. One of our neighbors wrote email saying that although she wasn’t able to help, she was “very proud of having a neighbor like him who puts other people’s interests first.”
1.The author’s brother wrote the letter to _______.
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A．ask for help from his neighbors |
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B．give a hand to those in need of help |
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C．require his neighbors to clear the snow |
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D．raise money for the old people in his community |
2.What can we learn from the text?
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A．Few people were willing to help out. |
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B．The snow was unexpectedly heavy. |
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C．Most residents in the community are elderly people. |
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D．The community was completely cut off from the outside world. |
3.The underlined word “treacherous” in Paragraph 3 probably means “_______”.
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A．dirty |
B．dangerous |
C．safe |
D．crowded |
4. One of their neighbors sent email to the author’s brother to ________.
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A．express thanks |
B．lend a hand |
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C．show appreciation |
D．ask for help |
Dear Bridge of Hope supporters,
July 2010 was a productive month for the teachers at BOH. Marilyn traveled to Liberia and helped Kathleen Ngenda with her teacher training program on Basic Adult Literacy. During the eight-day training, she helped the teachers learn to pronounce, spell and write correctly. They are currently working on personal sets of cards and lists so that they can teach this concept to students in the fall. Kathleen plans on two trips back to the school to monitor teachers in their teaching.
Marilyn found a very dedicated （投入的）and enthusiastic group of elementary teachers who are focused on bettering themselves as educators. BOHUSA will offer financial support for their further educational studies this fall. Our goal is to have all staff be certified by the end of 2013.
The Liberian government recommends a C-certificate for teachers of elementary students, which can be obtained in one year of education classes (taken on Saturdays).
There is a great need to add seventh and eighth grade classrooms and a library. There is actually no room, however, and so we need to add a second floor. Currently the ground floor houses the church and the school uses this space for daily services. The first floor would give space for three more classrooms, in addition to a large reading room and computer labs. About $40,000 to 50,000 is required to meet the educational needs.
If you would like to contribute to this building project, please make out your check to:
Bridge of Hope
12002 Arnold Rd.
Orrville, Ohio 44667
Bridge of Hope Foundation is a non-profit organization. You do not have to pay tax on your contributions.
1.Marilyn went to Liberia to ______.
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A．take a trip |
B．visit a school |
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C．take training classes |
D．help train teachers |
2.What do we know about the school from Paragraph 4?
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A．It needs repair |
B．It needs expansion |
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C．It has no office. |
D．It has an old library, |
3.The purpose of the letter is to _________.
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A．show the achievements of BOH |
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B．thank BOH supporters for their concern |
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C．raise money for an educational project |
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D．call people’s attention to education in Liberia |
Pulled from the rubble （碎砖）of the big earthquake after eight days of unimaginable suffering, 8- year-old Kiki Joachin caught the world’s attention. Today he and his 21 struggle to rebuild their home, their lives and their hopes.
When the terrible earthquake broke out, Kiki’s mother 22 from the porch （门廊）of their apartment building 23 her five –year-old-son, David, who was outside fetching water. 24 injured by falling concrete （水泥），she tried to dig through it and 25 toward her five other kids who were 26 in the ruins of their home. 27 , she could make little progress.
For eight days Kiki and his 28 were buried beneath. They curled (蜷缩) their bodies in a (n) 29 space, with no food or water, hardly able to move; nearby lay the 30 of their three other siblings（兄弟姐妹）. Kiki 31 as his sister covered them with her T-shirt.
On the eighth day, a neighbour 32 her possessions heard Kiki’s 33 cries for water. Two 34 spent the next four hours 35 drilling through the rubble and finally 36 Kiki and his sister. As Kiki was 37 by the firefighters from the hole, he made a victory gesture.
Now Kiki hopes to be an engineer when he grows up, so he can help 38 his country. His father wants to start a 39 for his family, maybe selling rice and beans, to be able to put another room on the house so his kids can sleep better. Meanwhile, his father and mother are 40 for what they have and the survival of the three children.
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The road conditions there were very good, _______ was more than we could expect.
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A．it |
B．what |
C．which |
D．that |
Because he was not ________ the new speed limit, he was stopped and fined by the police.
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A．good at |
B．tired from |
C．interested in |
D．aware of |
