Ask someone what they have done to help the environment recently and they will almost certainly mention recycling. Recycling in the home is very important of course. However, being forced to recycle often means we already have more material than we need. We are dealing with the results of that over-consumption in the greenest way possible, but it would be far better if we did not need to bring so much material home in the first place.
The total amount of packaging increased by 12% between 1999 and 2005. It now makes up a third of a typical household’s waste in the UK. In many supermarkets nowadays food items are packaged twice with plastic and cardboard.
Too much packaging is doing serious damage to the environment. The UK, for example, is running out of it for carrying this unnecessary waste. If such packaging is burnt, it gives off greenhouse gases which go on to cause the greenhouse effect. Recycling helps, but the process itself uses energy. The solution is not to produce such items in the first place. Food waste is a serious problem, too. Too many supermarkets encourage customers to buy more than they need. However, a few of them are coming round to the idea that this cannot continue, encouraging customers to reuse their plastic bags, for example.
But this is not just about supermarkets. It is about all of us. We have learned to associate packaging with quality. We have learned to think that something unpackaged is of poor quality. This is especially true of food. But it also applies to a wide range of consumer products, which often have far more packaging than necessary.
There are signs of hope. As more of us recycle, we are beginning to realise just how much unnecessary material is collecting. We need to face the wastefulness of our consumer culture, but we have a mountain to climb.
1.What does the underlined phrase “over-consumption” refer to?
A. Using too much packaging.
B. Recycling too many wastes.
C. Making more products than necessary.
D. Having more material than is needed.
2. The author uses figures in Paragraph 2 to show _______.
A. the tendency of cutting household waste
B. the increase of packaging recycling
C. the rapid growth of super markets
D. the fact of packaging overuse
3.What can be inferred from Paragraph 4?
A. Unpackaged products are of bad quality.
B. Supermarkets care more about packaging.
C. It is improper to judge quality by packaging.
D. Other products are better packaged than food.
4.What can we learn from the last paragraph?
A. Fighting wastefulness is difficult.
B. Needless material is mostly recycled.
C. People like collecting recyclable waste.
D. The author is proud of their consumer culture.
Jeanne Calment, a French woman, became a record breaker on 17 October of 1995, when at the age of 120 years and 238 days, she became the longest-lived human being on record. A Japanese man died in 1986 at the age of 120 years and 237 days.
Jeanne Calment lives in a small old people’s home in the south of France; her husband, her only child and her grandson have all died. She is nearly blind and deaf and is always in a wheelchair, but her doctor describes her as being more like a 90-year-old in good health than someone of 120. She still has a lively sense of humor. When asked on her 120th birthday what she expected of the future, she replied: A very short one. She also remarked that she thought the good Lord had forgotten all about her.
So what is the key to a long life? According to some doctors, diet, exercise and no smoking are the three important factors. Jeanne Calment has followed two of the tips. She has always eaten a healthy diet, and she used to do exercise every day until she broke her leg at the age of 115. However, until recently she drank two glasses of strong red wine a day, and she does smoke (now only a little). Besides, Jeanne Calment might have got very good genes from her parents. Her father lived to the age of 94 and her mother to 86.
A local lawyer bought her house when she was 80 under an agreement that he would pay her some money every year until her death. It must have seemed a good move at the time, but so far the lawyer has paid her at least three times the value of the house. Every year on her birthday Jeanne Calment sends him a card saying:
Sorry, I’m still alive!
1.How does Jeanne Calment feel about her old age?
A. She is miserable and unhappy.
B. She is cheerful and humorous.
C. She would like to live much longer.
D. She feels she is going to die very soon.
2.Jeanne Calment owes her good health and long life to _______.
A. smoking only a little every day
B. her giving up smoking and drinking
C. drinking two glasses of strong red wine every day
D. the good genes from her parents, a healthy diet and some exercise
3.Which of the following could best replace the word “move” in the fourth paragraph?
A. deal B. trick C. march D. sport
4.Why does Jeanne Calment say “Sorry, I’m still alive” to the local lawyer every year on her birthday?
A. Because she had an agreement at 80 with the lawyer which was to her advantage.
B. Because she has asked the lawyer to pay her more rent than they first agreed.
C. Because the lawyer has paid her much more money than the value of the house.
D. Because the house she sold to the lawyer isn’t worth the money he has already paid.
完形填空
阅读下面短文，从短文后各题的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出适合填入对应空白处的最佳选项, 并在答题卡上将该选项涂黑。
While attending a conference, I returned to my hotel room late one evening. The overhead light outside my door was burned out and I had ________ finding the keyhole. When I ________ to open the door, I ________ around the wall for a light switch. I found a plate where a switch was ________ installed... but no switch!
Not discouraged easily, I remembered ________ a lamp by the bed when I laid my luggage ________ in the day. I found the bed in the ________ and then the lamp, but when I switched it on, nothing ________ ! I thought that perhaps if I opened the curtains I might be able to use whatever light comes in from the ____________ to find another lamp. So I ________ my way slowly across the room to the curtains and... no drawstring! I finally stumbled（跌跌撞撞地走）around ________ I found a desk lamp which actually________ !
That evening I discovered in a whole new way just how dark the world _____________ be and how necessary light is! But even more necessary than ________ light is the light that shines from people — the light of ________ and faith. Because, for many people, the world is a dark and ________ place. For someone today just may be stumbling in discouragement or sadness or fear and in ________ of some light. So let your light shine. Whatever light you ________ may be a beacon of hope and encouragement. And if you feel that your light is ________ a candle in a forest remember — there isn’t enough darkness in all the world to ________ the light of one small candle.
1.A. confidence B. respect C. admiration D. difficulty
2.A. managed B. failed C. wished D. meant
3.A. touched B. felt C. sensed D. looked
4.A. already B. never C. still D. once
5.A. equipping B. producing C. spotting D. removing
6.A. later B. earlier C. lower D. upper
7.A. light B. dark C. room D. corner
8.A. happened B. operated C. fired D. developed
9.A. machine B. street C. room D. car
10.A. wound B. forced C. made D. lost
11.A. after B. until C. while D. since
12.A. helped B. affected C. worked D. inspired
13.A. can B. shall C. will D. must
14.A. mental B. psychological C. electrical D. physical
15.A. existence B. love C. truth D. wisdom
16.A. lonely B. colourful C. friendly D. complex
17.A. short B. favour C. face D. need
18.A. make B. offer C. take D. contribute
19.A. not more than B. other than C. no more than D. rather than
20.A. put out B. give out C. get over D. set up
–What’s that noise?
–Oh, I forgot to tell you. The new machine ______.
A. was tested B. will be tested
C. is being tested D. has been tested
A number of books in the library _______ been stolen so that the number of them ______smaller than before.
A. have; is B. has; is C. has; are D. have; are
The growing speed of a plant is influenced by a number of factors, _____ are beyond our control.
A. most of which B. most of them
C. most of what D. most of that
