The price of coffee beans hits a 12 – year high today. I thought there might
be some kind of coffee – market story, like we saw with cocoa earlier this summer.
But the main driver of coffee prices right now is simpler: Colombia has had
a few years of weak coffee harvests because of too much rain, which has reduced
the global supply. And coffee drinkers keep buying coffee, even as prices rise, in
other words, demand is unchanged.
The higher price of beans – up about 40 percent since March – means higher prices for the coffee you buy by the pound. But it probably won’t affect the coffee you buy by the cup.
Smuckers, which sells Folgers and Millstone coffees, recently said it was raising its prices because of the higher cost of beans. Starbucks, however, said it would absorb the higher cost of beans without raising prices.
“You see it much more in the grocery store because the raw materials are a big factor of cost,” Jose Sette of the International Coffee Organization told me. “In a coffee shop, your big expenses are rent and labor.”
While real – world supply and demand is the big driver of the price of beans, there may be some speculative action in coffee business in the future.
But futures (期货) of the high – grade Arabica beans are traded in the US, where regulations prevent speculators (投机商) from controlling the market, hoping such things won’t happen just as in London summer market. That suggests that prices should fall when supply improves – which may happen next year.
Some experts say that farmers in third world countries won’t actually benefit from higher prices in this case. When the price difference is due to supply and demand, the profit of the seller usually doesn’t go up.
1.Which of the following is the best title for the passage?
A．Why coffee is getting more expensive?
B．How farmer benefits from the high price?
C．Whether the US will control the coffee market?
D．What has caused the reduction of coffee?
2.From the second paragraph we can infer that _______________________.
A．Colombia is the coffee trading center of the world
B．Colombia coffee output contains a final share of the world
C．People need more and more coffee
D．Coffee sales will be getting less and less
3.In this summer’s coffee bean market, ____________________________.
A．the US made more rules about coffee prices
B．speculators once held the coffee bean market in London
C．coffee bean trading was seriously disorganized
D．coffee bean prices were very low in the US
4.Which of the following is TRUE according to the text?
A．The price difference determines the profit of the seller.
B．Smuckers is a famous coffee manufacturer.
C．Real – world supply and demand decides the prices.
D．Coffee prices will become much higher next year.
When most people think of giant pandas, the pictures of the cute, black-and-white bears from China that eat bamboo will immediately jump into their mind. Scientists from Mississippi State University, however, are interested in what they leave behind: their poop(排泄物). At a recent meeting in Denver, Professor Brown at the university presented her research showing how panda poop could inspire a new way to obtain energy from plants, which are a renewable energy source. Usually, plants can be called biomass(有机燃料) when they are used as an energy source.
Burning biomass is one way to capture its energy, but Brown hopes panda poop can teach scientists something about breaking down biomass. Pandas—or at least the bacteria in their stomachs—are very good at getting energy out of bamboo. Unlike cows, which use 4 stomachs to digest large amounts of grass, a panda has only one stomach. Bamboo comes in, and poop goes out.
Every day for 14 months, Brown and her team on this project, counted the bacteria in the poop of the two pandas, YaYa and LeLe living at the Memphis Zoo. Her studies turned up 12 species of bacteria that break down biomass, including one that had never been found in pandas. Brown says that because the poop contains bacteria that break down biomass, it could also be used to break down other types of biomass.
Now the scientists hope to identify the chemicals that help with the process of breaking down biomass and then figure out how the bacteria work. If those chemicals can be made in the lab, they could be used to turn biomass—like grass or other plants—into fuel.
Brown says she doesn’t mind handling panda poop. “It’s probably the most pleasant material to work with,” she says, “My colleagues and I have been working with other poop for a long time, and we can assure you it has a fairly pleasant smell associated with it.”
1.The importance of studying panda poop is _______.
A. to create a renewable energy from plants
B. to explore a new way to get energy from plants
C. to learn a lesson of energy from panda poop
D. to figure out how the bacteria work for us mankind
2.The process of the panda poop project can be described as ______.
|
a. Identify the chemicals helpful to break down biomass. b. Find the bacteria in panda poop which break down bamboo. c. Reproduce the chemicals in the lab to turn biomass into energy. d. Analyze how the bacteria in panda poop work in panda’s stomach. |
A. a, b, d, c B. a, d, c, b C. b, a, d, c D. b, d, a, c
3.What does the author mainly want to express in the 2nd paragraph?
A. Pandas don’t digest bamboo the same way as cows.
B. Pandas are capable of getting energy using stomachs.
C. Pandas can get energy from bamboo more efficiently.
D. Scientists have learnt something new from panda poop.
4.What does Professor Brown think of working with panda poop?
A. Sick B. Challenging C. Inspiring D. Enjoyable
I fell in love with music from a young age and often sat down making a few songs of my own．What would life be like, I wondered, without a beautiful song? In 1992, I made two love songs to my darling wife and watched tears run down her face as I sang．"Sam," she said earnestly, "Your songs should be heard by more people."
She got my ballads and started bothering various media people about me, her singing barber husband．Two radio stations took an interest and played the songs．After the programme was aired, I became known in our community as the Singing Barber．
The biggest surprise, however, was still to come．I received a call from a music promoter who offered me a long-term recording contract．He explained that he would be investing a lot of money to market my songs．I needed to be wholly focused on selling my records all over Australia．
But I hesitated．
My friends all told me to go for it．And Mary also thought I should do．"Go, Sam．I'll manage with the family．．．it'll be OK．"
I watched my daughter and son playing in the backyard．Soon they would both be in high school．．．and where would I be? I was so used to my family turning to me for love and support．If I were to start a singing career, I would not only miss them terribly, I'd also certainly miss out on watching them grow up．Signing this contract would put a huge gap between my family and me．．．and I couldn't bear it．My family was my life．So I refused the music promoter's offer．I'm still making music, I'm rich in love and I have no regrets．
1.When the author was offered the contract, most of his friends _____．
A．envied him B．laughed at him C．encouraged him D．didn't believe him
2.Why did the author give up the contract?
A．Because his wife was strongly against it．
B．Because the pay was not attractive enough．
C．Because he wanted to care about his two kids．
D．Because he didn't want his family life damaged．
3.According to the passage, we can infer the author _____．
A．used to be a country singer
B．preferred his present life
C．went on the road to fame
D．regretted giving up his contract
4.What does the author mainly intend to tell us?
A．One should know himself．
B．Interest is the best teacher．
C．Family should come first．
D．Every dog has its day．
That holiday morning I didn’t have to attend school. Usually, on holidays, Mother 36 me to sleep in. And I would certainly take full advantage of it. On this particular morning, ___37___,I felt like getting up early.
I stood by my window overlooking the ___38___, having nothing better to do. But as it turned out, I was soon to learn about something ___39___ in life.
As I watched several people go by, get into their cars and go off, I ___40___ an old man on a bicycle with a bucket on its ___41___ and a basket rags and bottles on its back-carriage. He ___42___ from one car to another, washing and cleaning them. From the water on the ground, it seemed that he had already ___43___ washing and cleaning about a dozen or more cars. He must have begun to work quite early in the morning.
Several thoughts ___44___my mind as I watched him work. He wasn’t well-dressed. He had on a pair of shorts and a(n) ___45___ T-shirt. The bicycle he rode was not by any means the kind modern ___46___would want to be seen riding on. But he seemed___47___ with life. There he was, working hard at his small business, ___48___ at passers-by and stopping to chat now and then ___49___ elderly men and women on their way to the market nearby.
There was a noticeable touch of___50___ in the way he seemed to be doing things— ___51___the windscreen (挡风玻璃), then standing back to admire it; scrubbing (擦净) the wheels and ___52___, standing back to see what they look like after the scrub.
It was a ___53___ to learn, I felt. At no age need one have to beg for a ___54___if one has good health and is willing to work hard. For a while I felt ___55__ of myself. Young as I am—just sixteen, and there was this old man who must have been usefully engaged perhaps before the sun appeared above the horizon.
1.A．forces B．allows C．causes D．forbids
2.A．otherwise B．therefore C．however D．besides
3.A．parking lot B．bus stop C．school D．market
4.A．interesting B．surprising C．awful D．useful
5.A．noticed B．recognized C．called D．assisted
6.A．back B．handle C．wheel D．seat
7.A．searched B．left C．moved D．wandered
8.A．stopped B．started C．intended D．finished
9.A．crossed B．slipped C．disturbed D．inspired
10.A．attractive B．shiny C．simple D．expensive
11.A．repairmen B．businessmen C．drivers D．cyclists
12.A．busy B．content C．careful D．bored
13.A．waving B．looking C．laughing D．pointing
14.A．about B．for C．with D．like
15.A．worry B．respect C．sympathy D．pride
16.A．cleaning B．fixing C．replacing D．covering
17.A．still B．yet C．again D．soon
18.A．lesson B．subject C．skill D．fact
19.A．business B．living C．success D．right
20.A．tired B．doubtful C．fearful D．ashamed
----- Believe it or not, my sister and I are twins.
----Oh, you must have had the case ________ you were taken for your sister.
A. which B. whose C. where D. whom
_____ you are in a speech contest or you are giving a talk in class, a little preparation will make your presentation organized and dynamic.
A. Either B. On condition that C. No matter D. Whether
