For the past four years, the Green Festival in Washington, D.C., has brought together people from around the country who are interested in the environmental movement. The groups call the festival "a party with a purpose". They say the purpose of the Green Festival is to create an economy in which natural resources are used in a way that does not destroy the environment. To the people who organize the event, "green" means having a safe and healthy community and a strong local economy.
Throughout the two-day event, over one thousand people volunteered to help the festival run smoothly. Four hundred businesses and organizations showed their products and projects. About three thousand visitors came to the party. They could find everything from naturally made organic food to clothing made from bamboo plants.
There were over one hundred fifty speakers and discussion groups. For example, you could learn how to be an environmentally friendly traveler. You could also watch several movies about political and environmental issues. Then you could listen to some live music performances. After sitting for too long, visitors could take a yoga exercise class. There was even an area for children. Younger visitors could enjoy fun games and lessons on subjects like protecting the rainforest and creating chocolate sweets.
Green building was one of the important subjects at the festival. Many companies and organizations aim to create environmentally safe buildings. They design structures with reduced energy use, fewer chemicals and more recycled materials. The Loading Dock is an organization based in Baltimore, Maryland. Its message is that "a person could build a house with what others throw away". The Loading Dock collects donations of used building materials such as flooring, lighting, doors, and windows. These materials would otherwise end up in a landfill trash center. Then, the group resells the materials. This way, the materials are recycled. This form of recycling provides entire families and neighborhoods with low cost solutions for rebuilding their communities.
Spending a day at the Green Festival showed people many solutions for improving the health of our planet. People have inclusive green choices, from the things people buy to the ways people eat, think, and live. The Green Festival connects a wide community of people who care deeply about, and are working to improve, our shared environment.
1.What is the purpose of the Green Festival?
A. To bring people together.
B. To study the environment.
C. To improve people's health.
D. To develop a green economy.
2.What could younger visitors do in the festival?
A. They could watch some movies about love.
B. They could build a house with their hands.
C. They could play fun games and have lessons.
D. They could taste food made from bamboo plants.
3.The underlined word "inclusive" in the last paragraph probably means___________.
A. wide B. right C. important D. possible
Bethany Meilani Hamilton was born on February 8, 1990 Kauai, Hawaii, where she grew up with two older brothers. Hamilton's parents were both surfers and they started teaching Bethany how to surf at a young age, and she learned quickly with the support of her brothers. By age 8, Bethany was winning first place in surfing contests for her age group. Hamilton began competing more seriously at the age of nine, winning several more competitions in her age group.
On October 31, 2003, while surfing with friends near Tunnels Beach, a 14-foot tiger shark attacked her. Bethany said, "My arm was hanging in the water, and it just came and bit me. It kind of pulled me back and forth. But I just held onto my board and then the shark let go." The shark tore off Bethany's left arm just below her shoulder. Hamilton's friends rushed her to the hospital. Bethany made it through several surgeries without infection (感染), and miraculously survived even though she had lost almost 60% of her blood. The doctor said that her athletic training helped her to survive the attack and blood loss.
While she was healing, Bethany thought for a while that she might not surf again. She was concerned that it would be much harder to stand up on the board using only one hand and that her balance would be completely off. But with hard work and determination she returned to surfing. She says, "It's hard for me to describe the joy I felt after I stood up and rode a wave in for the first time after the attack. I was greatly thankful and happy inside. The tiny bit of doubt that would sometimes tell me 'you'll never surf again' was gone in one wave !"
As for fear of another shark attack, Bethany says that sometimes her heart pounds when she sees a shadow (阴影) under the water. But she believes that faith provides hope and a future for those who feel down and defeated in their lives.
Bethany's popularity and hope for the future led her to partner with World Vision to create "Surfing for Children in Crisis". Bethany hopes that her involvement in the campaign will help provide disabled children from around the world with care, support, and hope.
1.Who taught Bethany surfing when she was very young?
A. Her brothers. B. Her parents.
C. Her friend. D. Her doctor.
2.Why does Bethany's heart pound when she sees a shadow under the water?
A. She hopes she can swim down to see the shark.
B. She is afraid another shark might attack her.
C. She is worried she might get out of control.
D. She thinks she can enjoy a bigger wave.
3.From the passage, we know Bethany is a ____________ person.
A. careful B. proud
C. brave D. clever
4. This passage probably comes from a (an) ________.
A. guide B. novel
C. magazine D. advertisement
Blind poet's concert The blind poet and folk singer Zhou Yunpeng will hold a concert in Beijing. He will perform The Blind Man's Cinema and Silent Breaths Like Puzzle. Losing his sight at age 9, Zhou, now 45, became popular after releasing his first album, The Silent Breath, in Beijing in 2002. The Chinese rock band Sound Fragment will be the guest performers. 7:30 pm, Jan27-30 Century Theater, 40 Liangmaqiao Road, Chaoyang District Tel : 84004774 |
Ballet: The Nightingale and the Rose The Nightingale and the Rose will be performed at the 7th anniversary of Beijing Contemporary Dance Theatre. The show wants people to think more about love and sense of worth in modern society through their performance. 7:30 pm, Jan 14-15 Tianqiao Theater, No. 30, Beiweilu Street, Xicheng District Tel: 83156338/39 |
For much of my childhood, my mother filled the evening hours doing something for someone else. Sometimes she knitted (编织) hats for babies, and at other times she cooked chicken soup for sick neighbors. Therefore, I wasn't when one evening my mother announced she'd start a new project.
"I'm going to telephone neighboring every night," said my mother.
"Every night? But you don't even these people. "
"Doesn't matter," she said. "What's important is that I want to listen."
I was sixteen years old and couldn't figure out why my mother was willing to spend her evenings talking to strangers. She had friends and my two elder sisters to call she felt lonely.
My didn't affect my mother's project. That evening after supper, she settled on the sofa with the phone and began making phone calls.
For a while, I listened as she asked the lady on the phone about her day, what she had eaten for dinner, and asked if she had that the beautiful roses had come out in a neighboring park. When she finished the call, I said, "What do you whether she had cookie or cream pie for dessert?"
My mother replied, "I'm the person she talked to today."
It took me nearly thirty years to understand the of what she was doing. Now, as my mother is nearing sixty, I find myself thinking about those nightly she used to make.
I am often the only person who telephones my mother, and sometimes I'm the only person she speaks to all day. I ask her what she cooked for dinner, but mostly I just as she describes a walk she took, or how her dog Lucky stole a piece of cheese from the kitchen.
I that my mother's calls were lifelines (生命之线 ) that kept lonely seniors connected to the world. Somehow, she managed to work full-time and a family while improving the lives of others.
That kind of needs commitment (奉献，投入) and organizational skills that I do not have. While she freed several seniors from , I struggle to call just one － my mother.
1.A. interested B. satisfied C. surprised D. excited
2.A. teenagers B. children C. juniors D. seniors
3.A. meet B. know C. pass D. find
4.A. because B. if C. though D. until
5.A. doubt B. advice C. answer D. praise
6.A. decided B. felt C. noticed D. imagined
7.A. hate B. love C. mean D. care
8.A. only B. early C. first D. last
9.A. difficulty B. importance C. possibility D. difference
10.A. visits B. orders C. calls D. cries
11.A. think B. listen C. talk D. write
12.A. realize B. explain C. express D. recognize
13.A. protect B. start C. affect D. support
14.A. service B. experience C. promise D. tradition
15.A. hopelessness B. illness C. loneliness D. helplessness
Jim rode ____________ home, looking forward to showing his friends his new bicycle.
A. calmly B. skillfully C. proudly D. stressfully
We ________ a sign at the park entrance to tell people to protect the trees and flowers.
A. put down B. put up C. put away D. put off
