阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容（1个单词）或括号内单词的正确形式。
Mr. Wang has a shop in the center of the town where all kinds of cars are sold. These years he has been very successful in business. He bought a1.(furnish) house and often holds parties. Now he is well-known in the town.
But one evening, when he was dancing at a party, he2.(call) out. There were a few policemen3.(wait) in the room. It was easy for him4.(understand) why they were waiting for him there. He was soon put in prison.5.(lie) in the cold and wet ward made him sleepless until dawn. The next morning the man6.(share) the same room asked him, “Why are you in here?”
“I have a shop7.(sell) cars, ” answered Mr. Wang. “I often buy some old cars with little money. I repair them and then give them another coat of paint and sell them at8.high price. ”
“I don’t think you break the law, ” said the man.
“I paid 500 dollars for a car the day before yesterday and sold it for 3,000 dollars.”
“Was it a(n)9.(steal) car?”
“Even worse, ” Mr. Wang said10.(sad). “It was a police car!”
In our modern world, when something wears out, we throw it away and buy a new one. The ___ is that countries around the world have growing mountains of ___ because people are throwing out more rubbish than ever before.
How did we ___ a throwaway society? First of all, it is now easier to ___ an object than to spend time and money to repair it. ___ modern manufacturing(制造业)and technology, companies are able to produce products quickly and inexpensively. Products are plentiful and ___.
Another cause is our ___of disposable(一次性的)products. As ___ people, we are always looking for ___ to save time and make our lives easier. Companies ____ thousands of different kinds of disposable products:paper plates, plastic cups, and cameras, to name a few.
Our appetite for new products also ____ to the problem. We are ____ buying new things. Advertisements persuade us that ____ is better and that we will be happier with the latest products. The result is that we ____ useful possessions to make room for new ones.
All around the world, we can see the ____ of this throwaway lifestyle. Mountains of rubbish just keep getting bigger. To ____ the amount of rubbish and to protect the ____, more governments are requiring people to recycle materials. ____, this is not enough to solve(解决)our problem.
Maybe there is another way out. We need to repair our possessions ____ throwing them away. We also need to rethink our attitudes about ____. Repairing our possessions and changing our spending habits may be the best way to reduce the amount of rubbish and take care of our environment.
1.A. key B. reason C. project D. problem
2.A. gifts B. rubbish C. debt D. products
3.A. face B. become C. observe D. change
4.A. hide B. control C. replace D. withdraw
5.A. Thanks to B. As to C. Except for D. Regardless of
6.A. safe B. funny C. cheap D. powerful
7.A. love B. lack C. prevention D. division
8.A. sensitive B. kind C. brave D. busy
9.A. ways B. places C. jobs D. friends
10.A. donate B. receive C. produce D. preserve
11.A. adapts B. returns C. responds D. contributes
12.A. tired of B. addicted to C. worried about D. ashamed for
13.A. newer B. stronger C. higher D. larger
14.A. pick up B. pay for C. hold onto D. throw away
15.A. advantages B. purposes C. functions D. consequences
16.A. show B. record C. decrease D. measure
17.A. technology B. environment C. consumers D. brands
18.A. However B. Otherwise C. Therefore D. Meanwhile
19.A. by B. in favour of C. after D. instead of
20.A. spending B. collecting C. repairing D. advertising
If anyone had told me three years ago that I would be spending most of my weekends camping, I would have laughed heartily. Campers, in my eyes, were people who enjoyed insect bites, ill-cooked meals, and uncomfortable sleeping bags. They had nothing in common with me. 1.
The friends who introduced me to camping thought that it meant to be a pioneer. 2. We slept in a tent, cooked over an open fire, and walked a long distance to take the shower and use the bathroom. This brief visit with Mother Nature cost me two days off from work, recovering from a bad case of sunburn and the doctor’s bill for my son’s food poisoning.
I was, nevertheless, talked into going on another fun-filled holiday in the wilderness. 3. Instead, we had a pop-up camper with comfortable beds and an air conditioner. My nature-loving friends had remembered to bring all the necessities of life.
4. We have done a lot of it since. Recently, we bought a twenty-eight-foot travel trailer complete with a bathroom and a built-in TV set. There is a separate bedroom, a modern kitchen with a refrigerator. The trailer even has matching carpet and curtains.
5. It must be true that sooner or later, everyone finds his or her way back to nature. I recommend that you find your way in style.
A. This time there was no tent.
B. Things are going to be improved.
C. The trip they took me on was a rough one.
D. I was to learn a lot about camping since then, however.
E. I must say that I have certainly come to enjoy camping.
F. After the trip, my family became quite interested in camping.
G. There was no shade as the trees were no more than 3 feet tall.
From self-driving cars to care-bots（care+robots） for elderly people, rapid development in technology has long represented a possible threat to many jobs normally performed by people. But experts now believe that almost 50 percent of occupations existing today will be completely unnecessary by 2025 as artificial intelligence continues to change businesses.
“The next fifteen years will see a revolution in how we work, and a revolution will necessarily take place in how we plan and think about workplaces,” said Peter Andrew, Director of Workplace Strategy for CBRE Asia Pacific.
A growing number of jobs in the future will require creative intelligence, social skills and the ability to use artificial intelligence.
The report is based on interviews with 200 experts, business leaders and young people from Asia Pacific, Europe and North America. It shows that in the US technology already destroys more jobs than it creates.
But the report states: “Losing occupations does not necessarily mean losing jobs — just changing what people do.” Growth in new jobs could occur as much, according to the research.
“The growth of 20 to 40 person companies that have the speed and technological know-how will directly challenge big companies,” it states.
A 2014 report by Pew Research found 52 percent of experts in artificial intelligence and robotics were optimistic about the future and believed there would still be enough jobs in the next few years. The optimists pictured “a future in which robots do not take the place of more jobs than they create,” according to Aaron Smith, the report’s co-author.
“Technology will continue to affect jobs, but more jobs seem likely to be created. Although there have always been unemployed people, when we reached a few billion people there were billions of jobs. There is no shortage of things that need to be done and that will not change,” Microsoft’s Jonathan Grudin told researchers.
1.We can infer from the text that in the future _____.
A. people will face many difficulties
B. people will take up more creative jobs
C. artificial intelligence will threaten people's lives
D. most jobs will be done in traditional workplaces
2.According to the report, _____.
A. people won't necessarily lose jobs
B. big companies will face fewer challenges
C. small companies will win against big companies
D. most people will become interested in technology
3.What is the attitude of most experts in artificial intelligence and robotics to the future?
A. Mixed B. Worried.
C. Hopeful. D. Doubtful.
4.Jonathan Grudin’s words in the last paragraph suggest that _____.
A. there will be enough jobs for people
B. things will change a lot in a few years
C. many people will become unemployed
D. technology will totally change future jobs
In every British town, large and small, you will find shops that sell second-hand goods. Sometimes such shops deal mostly in furniture, sometimes in books, sometimes in ornaments（装饰） and household goods, sometimes even in clothes.
The furniture may often be “antique”, and it may well have changed hands many times. It may also be very valuable, although the most valuable piece will usually go to the London salerooms, where one piece might well be sold for hundreds of thousands of pounds. As you look around these shops and see the polished wood of chests and tables, you cannot help thinking of those long-dead hands which polished that wood, of those now-closed eyes which once looked at these pieces with love.
The books, too, may be antique and very precious; some may be rare first printings. Often when someone dies or has to move house, his books may all be sold, so that sometimes you may find whole libraries in one shop. On the border between England and Wales, there is a town which has become a huge bookshop as well. Even the cinema and castle have been taken over, and now books have replaced sheep as the town’s main trade.
There are also much more humble shops, sometimes simply called “junk shops”, where you can buy small household pieces very cheaply. Sometimes the profits（利润）from these shops go to charity. Even these pieces, though, can make you feel sad; you think of those people who once treasured them, but who have moved on to another country or to death.
Although the British do not worship（崇拜）their ancestors, they do treasure the past and the things of the past. This is true of houses as well. These days no one knocks them down; they are rebuilt until they are often better than new. In Britain, people do not buy something just because it is new. Old things are treasured for their proven worth; new things have to prove themselves before they are accepted.
1.Books found in second-hand book shops may .
A. be copies of the earliest printings B. be on sale for the first time
C. never be worth very much D. never be rare
2.What was the small town on the border between England and Wales famous for?
A. Its sheep. B. Its bookshops.
C. Its cinema. D. Its castle.
3.The average British person .
A. does not respect old things because they are not fashionable
B. likes to build new houses simply because it is fashionable to do so
C. likes to buy new things because they are fashionable.
D. does not like to buy things simply because they are fashionable
4.What does the underlined word “them” (Paragraph 4) refer to?
A. junk shops B. profits from shops
C. old things D. old houses
We didn’t have a tree. My dad had as much pride as anybody, I suppose, so he wouldn’t just say that we couldn’t afford one. When I mentioned it, my mother said that we weren’t going to have one this year, that we couldn’t afford one, and even if we could, it was stupid to mess up your house with a dead tree.
About three days before Christmas, I was out collecting for my paper route. It was fairly late, snowing and very cold. I went to the apartment building to try to catch a customer who hadn’t paid me for nearly two months. she owed me seven dollars. Much to my surprise, she was home. She invited me in and not only did she pay me, she also gave me a dollar tip.
On the way home, I walked past a Christmas tree shop and the idea hit me. The selection wasn’t very good because it was so close to the holiday, but there was this one real nice tree. It had been a very expensive tree and no one had bought it; now it was so close to Christmas that the man was afraid no one would.
He wanted ten dollars for it, but when I told him what I had, he said he might sell it for that. I really didn’t want to spend the whole money on the tree, but it was so pretty that I finally agreed. I dragged it all the way home and I tried hard not to damage it. I arrived at home at last. My heart was bursting as I announced that I had a surprise.
“Where did you get that tree?” my mother exclaimed. But it wasn’t the kind of exclamation that indicates pleasure. After she knew the truth, she said that I was going to end up in the poorhouse(救济院) because I believe in stupid things like Christmas trees. My mother had never talked to me like that before and I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
1.Why did the writer’s mother refuse a tree?
A. Because she couldn’t afford a dead Christmas tree.
B. Because she thought it was unreasonable to have a tree.
C. Because she was much so proud that she felt better.
D. Because she thought she wasn’t very proud of herself.
2.How did the writer feel when he got home?
A. Upset and calm. B. Anxious and happy.
C. Proud and excited. D. Sorry and confused.
3.What made the shop owner sell the tree?
A. His pity on the writer’s situation B. His desire of offering help
C. His worry of keeping the tree. D. His kindness of helping others
4.What the writer’s mother said in the last paragraph means ______.
A. she was pleased B. she was angry
C. she was doubtful D. she was embarrassed
