As the saying goes, man struggles upwards; water flows downwards. Water runs downhill from mountaintops to streams to rivers to oceans. But downhill isn’t the only way that water moves .A new study measures how water travels from country to country for human consumption. This flow isn’t the type we usually think about .These scientists looked at the water used to grow and make the products which get shipped from nation to nation as imports or exports. They call this a flow of “virtual water（虚拟水）”.
We typically think about water as the liquid that flows from a tap. However,92％of the water used by people goes into growing crops，according to water researcher Arjen Hoekstra. He recently studied the hidden travels of virtual water used in products made from things like crops and meats .These products are shipped around the world.
For example, consider a sugary soft drink. Hoekstra estimated that to produce one half-liter of the drink requires between 170 and 310liters of the water—about 95％—is used to grow and process the ingredients(原料).Another 4％goes into the packaging and labeling. In Hoekstra’s calculation, when one country produces a half-liter of soda and sells it abroad，it exports as much virtual water as would fill a large refrigerator．
According to Hoekstra’s new report，dry countries like Israel and Kuwait，both in the Middle East,get the majority of their virtual water from other countries，through imported products. More surprisingly, some wetter countries，like the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, also get the majority of their virtual water from other places. That means that most of the water used to grow or produce the products and food consumed in those countries came from other countries.
In the United States most of the virtual water used comes from American sources .In China even less of the water associated with its products.
1.The example of a sugary soft drink in Paragraph 3 is given to show_________.
A. how drinks are shipped
B. how virtual water is exported
C. how virtual water is used
D. how drinks are made
2.In which countries does most part of virtual water come from outside?________
A. Kuwait and the Netherlands
B.China and the United Kingdom
C. America and the Netherlands
D. Israel and America
3.What is the best title for the passage?
A. Crops and Virtual Water
B. Water’s worldwide travels
C. Benefits of Virtual Water
D. Import and Export of Water
4.The passage is most probably a________.
A.science news report B. science fiction story
C. newspaper advertisement D. book review
“My Best Teacher Ever” Contest
Students
Tell us why, in 300 words or less, your teacher (present or past) is the best teacher ever.
Assay Topic
Who was/is your best teacher ever? What makes him or her the best?
Participation
The contest is open to all students enrolled in grades 2 through 12.
Entries
Word limit: 300
Essays will be judged on the following criteria by Readers editorial staff:
·originally, creativity—40 percent
·clarity of presentation— 40 percent
·grammar, punctuation, spelling —20 percent
All entries should be word-processed, typed, or hand-printed on 8.5-inch by 11-inch paper or submitted as an attached word or text document via email.
Each entry must include the entrant’s name, age, complete home mailing address, phone number, school name, and grade, as well as the submitting teacher’s name, school name, complete school mailing address and email address.
Contest Deadline
Entries must be postmarked on or before April 26, 2013, or mailed by EST on that date.
Submission
Email your entry with attached essay and entry information (entrant’s name, age, complete home mailing address, phone number, school name, and grade, submitting teacher’s name, email address, school name, and complete school mailing address) to web-contest @ readers.com or mail your entry with attached entry form to this address:
Readers Publishing My Best Teacher Ever Contest
Attn: Anne Flounders 44 South Broadway, 18th Floor White Plains, NY10601
Prizes
One winner will be chosen in each of two categories: elementary (grades 2-6) and secondary (grades 7-12). Winning students will win a $ 50 gift card and may have their essays published on readers.com. Teachers of winning students will win one free classroom subscription to the Readers magazine of their choice. Winning essays will be posted up on signing of a release by students and their agent or guardian. Winning essays will be announced on May 7, 2013, Teacher Appreciation Day, on readers.com, and winners will be notified directly.
1.Essays will be judged on the following criteria EXCEPT _________.
A. punctuation B. handwriting
C. presentation D. creativity
2.If you become a winner, you _________.
A. will be awarded $ 150 in cash
B. will be informed of your success online
C. may have your essay published online
D. can have the Readers magazine for free
3.According to the text, your essay _________.
A. should have a total of 300 words at least
B. can’t have any mistakes in grammar
C. will be judged by some best teachers
D. must be mailed on or before April 26, 2013
You may never think a documentary film could have aroused so much public enthusiasm in Chinese history. Nowadays everybody is talking about a new 7-part documentary called A Bite of China which was recently broadcast late at night on CCTV I. The documentary describes various gourmet items across the vast Chinese culinary (烹饪) landscape.
According to Taobao, China’s biggest online retail website, just five days after the series began to air, nearly 6 million people went to the site in search of various local specialties, particularly those mentioned in the documentary. More than 7.2 million deals were concluded. A ham producer from Yunnan Province saw his sales grow 17-fold in five days.
However, one can’t help but believe that the documentary’s popularity is probably linked to the endless stream of terrible food security issues that have emerged in recent years. In one well-received article, a netizen wrote, “I wonder how many felt so empty-hearted and sighed after watching the film. Blue-vitriol watered chive, formaldehyde(甲醛) sprayed cabbage, Sudan Red colored salty eggs, restaurants using gutter oil. The list is long…”
A varied and ancient food culture that is famous world-wide and which should have made the Chinese proud ends like this: one can only sigh. Food is the most vital thing in people’s lives. Yet China’s food industry is a typical description of “bad money driving out the good”.The market is huge while the cost of faking and cheating is so low for immoral businessmen; and the punishment is too light. Take the milk industry as an example. Although Sanlu, the company that sold the melamine-adulterated milk powder, was punished, thousands of other dairies didn’t work hard to improve the quality. In order to allow national brands to survive, Chinese authorities are happy to loosen their regulations.
As the documentary shows, people are attracted not to gourmet items like matsutake, a species of rare mushroom grown naturally in remote forests, but to common Chinese dishes like barley, lotus root or tofu. They are what meet our basic needs. This explains why people are so excited about A Bite of China---it is a reminder that there is still a world out there where food is excellent and people have dignity.
1.The underlined word “gourmet items” probably means_______.
A. delicious food B. latest technology
C. beautiful clothes D. great inventions
2.The second paragraph mainly talks about______.
A. the content of the documentary
B. the producer of the documentary
C. The popularity of the documentary
D. the history of Chinese gourmet
3. We can infer from what a netizen wrote in one well –received article that _____.
A. the price of food is too high for many common people
B. the documentary was made by a world-famous Chinese director
C. there is a huge contrast between the ancient food culture and the reality
D. none of the television viewers have a knowledge of the Chinese food culture
4.According to the passage, China’s food industry is full of faking and cheating because_____.
A. there are still so many poor people at the present time
B. the punishment for unscrupulous businessmen isn’t serious enough
C. the Chinese government encourages it to do so
D. the food technology is not so advanced as in developed countries
请根据以下提示，并结合具体事例，用英语写一篇短文。
People nowadays are facing more and more pressures in life and therefore they are more likely to do something they like in their spare time. They hold the belief that a hobby is a good way to relax themselves and live a colorful life.
注意：1、无需写标题；
2、除诗歌外，文体不限；
3、内容必须结合你生活中的具体事例；
4、文中不能透露个人姓名和学校名称；
5、字数不少于120词，如引用提示语则不计入总词数。
阅读下列各小题，根据汉语提示，用句末括号内的英语单词完成句子，并将答案写在答题卡上的相应题号后。
1.______________________ the film Transformers 4: Age of Extinction, Lucy absolutely didn’t notice someone dipping into her bag. (devote)
专心于看电影《变形金刚4：绝迹重生》，露西全然没有注意到有人把手伸进她的包。
2. Many netizens to spend 2,000 dollars going to Brazil just to watch a football match. (think)
许多网民认为花两千美元去巴西只为看一场足球不值得。
3. I had never been exposed to the terms at the seminar. (come)
我从没有接触过在研讨会上提出的这些术语。
4. He is wearing that I am sure the exam result has been made known to him. (such)
他面带难过的表情，以至于我确信他已经知道了考试结果。
5.The technology is great. Without it we the ocean’s depth or put a man on the moon in the last century. (explore)
这项技术了不起。没有它， 我们不可能在上个世纪探索海洋的深度以及把人送上月球。
6.“It took me about twenty minutes to dig out that black sweater. The cupboard does need .” my husband complained. (sort)
“今天早上我花了二十分钟才找到那件黑色的毛衣。衣柜确实需要整理了”丈夫抱怨道。
7.Most students in Senior 3 have been burying themselves in study all day. Seldom
a variety of activities. (part)
高三的大多数学生整天忙于学习。他们很少参加各种各样的活动。
8.There is some doubt the Most Welcome Singer this year. (award)
不确定他今年是否会被授予“最受欢迎的歌手”。
9.The project manager as well as his team members us so far, which undoubtedly puts us at a disadvantage. (familiar)
到目前为止那个项目经理和他团队的成员都不为我们所了解，这毫无疑问让我们处于劣势。
10. her colleagues, whether young or old, she always remains a modest attitude. (consult)
她无论什么时候向年轻或年长的同事请教，都保持谦逊的态度。
On Sept 18, they arrived before polling stations even opened, dressed in school uniforms, with book bags over their shoulders—and, for the first time in British history, ballot (选票) cards in hands.
More than 109,000 Scottish teenagers aged 16 to 17 took part in the Scottish independence referendum (公民投票), in which Scotland eventually decided not to become independent.
The age group only made up a small part of the 4.29 million total voters, but they have “demonstrated how the youngest voters can be some of the most enthusiastic in a mature democracy”, commented The Associated Press. Casting their ballots, they were “proud and passionate” to help their nation decide whether to break away from the UK after 307 years in union.
“You feel like you’ve got a say, because it is going to be you. You are going to decide what it is like when you’re older,” 16-year-old Erin Cheshire in Glasgow, who voted “yes”, told The Wall Street Journal.
At age 16, Scottish residents are allowed to join the military, get married, and work. Eighteen is the legal drinking age, as well as the UK’s voting age. But in 2013, Scottish law was changed to allow 16- and 17-year-olds in Scotland to vote in the referendum. The government pushed for the change because “younger voters are more likely to vote with their hearts, not their heads—and embrace fundamental change by voting for the pro-independence Yes Scotland campaign”, NBC News said.
But when the decision was handed down, some worried that high school students might not be as informed as adult voters. However, many experts said that assumption was wrong.
Professor Jan Eichhorn of the University of Edinburgh insisted that Scottish teenagers were as likely to read newspaper articles and campaign materials as their parents. They would simply get these resources through social media.
“There’s no evidence to suggest that they’re less capable than adults of voting, from a research point of view,” Eichhorn told NPR.
Scotland’s move to let younger teenagers vote in the referendum has led to a discussion about whether the voting age ought to be lowered to 16, both in the UK and the US.
“By 16, most people have about as stable an ideology (思想意识) as they are going to get,” Professor Jason Brennan of Georgetown University wrote for CNN, arguing that the US should also think about allowing younger US citizens to vote.
1. The Scottish independence referendum was held on Sept. 18 ______.
A. to encourage youngsters to be concerned with politics
B. to lower the minimum voting age to 16 for the referendum
C. to elect who would be the new leader of Scotland
D. to decide whether Scotland would become independent from the UK
2. According to the passage, we can learn ______.
A.It is possible for the USA to lower the voting age to 16 in the future.
B.Scotland gained its independence from the UK eventually.
C.All the people in Scotland thought highly of the government’s decision to lower the voting age to 16.
D.Scottish teenagers aged 16 are allowed to join the military, get married, work and drink alcohol now.
3.What doe the underlined word “embrace” (in para.5) probably mean?
A. Approve of B. Object to
C. Know about D. Admit to
4.What is Jan Eichhorn’s opinion of the Scottish teenagers aged 16 to 17?
A.They are too enthusiastic to make informed decisions.
B.They make no difference to the voting result.
C.They are as informed and capable as adults of voting.
D.They are unwilling to be involved in the decision of the country’s future.
