Our new machines are much cheaper to run.
A. effective B. efficient C. energetic D. enthusiastic
______ today, he would get there by Friday.
A. Were he to leaveB. If he had left C. Did he to leaveD. Had he left
某英语报举办以勤俭节约为主题的中学生英语写作大赛：要求参赛者根据以下四幅图内容，用英语描述发生在李华身上真实的故事并阐述其意义。
注意：1、文章的开头已给出，不计入总词数；
2、词数120左右。
参考词汇：节俭thrift
One day， Li Hua went shopping in a supermarket. At the checkout,
阅读下面短文，根据以下提示：1)汉语提示，2)首字母提示，3)语境提示，在每个空格内填入一个适当的英语单词。所填单词要求意义准确，拼写正确。
The Old saying starts，“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day。。。”Those words were taken to heart by Robert Egger, who used to be in the restaurant business．
He knew from1._______(经验)how much perfectly good food was2.t_______ away each day．So an organization3.________into being to collect leftovers，unserved food from restaurants in the neighborhood．Volunteers put together more than 3,0004.________（均衡的）meals a day and distribute them to5.______(社区)cents and homeless shelters．
But giving6.a_________ food was only step one“I wanted to do more．”he says．As the rest of that old saying7.______，“Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime．”that’s 8._______ the organization also runs a training program for people who are prepared9.________ careers in he food service industry．They learn cooking methods．Many graduates find jobs and express their 10. s_________ thanks to Egger’s training program．“Whether it be food，money or life，”Egger says ,“we can’t afford to waste any of them．”
Australians have evidently realized the fact that water means life and we need to he more thoughtful in our use of this rather precious resource．Since the year 2000, Australians have managed to reduce their use of water by 14% ． In the most populous city, Sydney, they've managed to use less water in 2007 than in 1974, even though the city grew by l． 2 million souls in this period．
Across the country nearly 20% of all households have water tanks．That would probably be due, in large part, to the various state governments offering generous rebates． In NSW, for example, where 24,000 households have taken up the offer, you can get $1,500 AUD back if you fix a 7,000 + litre tank and have it attached into your toilet and washing machine．
Creywater use has taken off too． The Australian Bureau of Statistics suggest that it's now the second most common source of water in Australia, with over half of the country's homes reusing water from their washing machines, showers and baths． The state of Victoria leads with 70% using greywater, and Queensland, coming close behind with 63%．
Up in the northern state of．Queensland, some of their dams have been below 20%． Sydney's main dam is only at 56% of its potential capacity．
The country's ongoing drought（干旱） has seen more than 95% of the length of the Murray- Darling Basin （ the two major river systems that supply the nation's 'food basket' ） regarded as ' degraded', Supply of water has become such an issue that hydro-electric power（水力发电） output has dropped 7% in a recent 9 year period for the states of NSW, Victoria and Tasmania．Not good for promoting our uptake understanding of renewable energy in these climate changing times．But at least the message is getting through about making every drop count．
1.The underlined word "rebate" in paragraph 2 probably means ．
A． discount or allowance B． water tanks for free
C． agreements or payment D． washing machine of high quality
2.Which of the following statements is TRUE?
A． The state of Victoria is playing a leading role in greywater use．
B． More water has been used in Australia with the growing population．
C． The state of Queensland gets its water mostly from the north of its state．
D． Some of the dams in Queensland are too weak to hold potential water．
3.We can learn from the last paragraph that ．
A． the country's water shortage is partly due to continuous drought
B． large quantities of water are being used to produce electricity
C． the author hopes water resource could be used to the fullest
D． the author disagrees with the use of renewable energy
4.The passage is likely to appear in ．
A． a scientist's diaryB． a history paper
C． a travel guidebookD． a newspaper
A study by St． Louis University has found that a lovable dog named Sparky and a robotic dog AIBO, were about equally effective at reducing the loneliness of nursing home residents． The study confirmed previous findings that dogs have a good effect on nursing home residents（居民）．
Dr． Andrew Smith led the Stanford University team出at built a home-assistance robot． "If humans can feel an emotional tie with robots, some day they could be not just our assistants, but also our companions," he said．
To test whether residents responded better to Sparky, a trained dog, or the Sony-made robotic dog, researchers divided 38 nursing home residents into three groups at three long-term care centers in St, Louis.
One group had weekly 30-minute one-on-one visits with Sparky; another group had similar visits with AIBO; a control group had no contact with either dog．The groups' respective levels of loneliness were tested by having them answer a number of questions at the beginning and near the end of the visits．
After two months, both groups that had contact with the dogs were less lonely and more attached． Most of the elderly regarded Sparky, a 9-year-old dog, as an audience for their life stories, said investigator Marian Banks.
"He listened attentively, wagged his tail, and allowed them to pet him," said Banks, who adopted and trained Sparky after finding him in a street behind her home seven years ago．
Those who were together with AIBO took a little longer to warm to the robotic creature．Over time, however, they grew comfortable with him, and petted and talked to him． He would respond by wagging his tail, vocalizing（发出声音）, and blinking his lights．
"AIBO is charming once you start to interact with him," said the study's author, Dr． William Banks, " He's an attractive sort of guy． He gives a feeling: of being personal, not just a robot． "
1.Before the new study, it was known that ．
A． dogs could help get rid of old people's loneliness
B． robots could build close connection with humans
C． robots were more effective at reducing people's loneliness
D． dogs and robots were equally effective at reducing loneliness
2.The first time those who contacted with the robotic dog ．
A． accepted it immediately
B． found it easy to interact with it
C． were not quite comfortable with it
D． were confused by its behavior
3.The findings of the researchers tell us that .
A． robots are actually attractive sorts of guys
B． robots could make a good companion of the old.
C． it's easy for people to become close with robots
D． the elderly will have a robot assistant in no time
4.What would be the best title for the passage?
A． Robots Serve People Better Than Thought
B． No More Lonely Old Age with Emotional Robots
C． Dogs equipped with robots to Help the Elderly
D． Robots and Dogs Can Equally Cheer up the Elderly
