The Truth About the Environment
For many environmentalists, the world seems to be getting worse. They have developed a hit-list of our main fears: that natural resources are running out, that the population is ever growing, leaving less and less to eat, that species are becoming disappeared in huge numbers, and that the planet‟s air and water are becoming ever more polluted.
But a quick look at the facts shows a different picture. First, energy and other natural resources have become more abundant, not less so. Second, more food is now produced per head of the world‟s population than at any time in history. Fewer people are starving. Third, although species are indeed becoming disappeared, only about 0.7% of them are dying out in the next 50 years, not 25-50%, as has so often been predicted. And finally, most forms of environmental pollution either appear to have been best cured not by limiting economic growth, but by accelerating it.
Yet public opinion surveys suggest that many people hold the belief that environmental standards are declining and four factors seem to cause this gap between what they know and what the reality is.
One is the unbalanced budget for scientific research. Scientific funding goes mainly to areas with many problems. That may be wise policy, but it will also create an impression that many more potential problems exist than is the case.
Secondly, environmental groups need to be noticed by the mass media. They also need to keep the money rolling in. Understandably, perhaps, they sometimes overstate their arguments. In 1997, for example, the World Wide Fund for Nature issued a press release entitled: „Two thirds of the world‟s forests lost forever‟. The truth turns out to be nearer 20%.
A third source of confusion is the attitude of the media. People are extremely more curious about bad news than good. Newspapers and broadcasters are there to provide what the public wants: That, however, can lead to significant misunderstanding. An example was that America came across EI Nino(厄尔尼诺) in 1997 and 1998. This climatic phenomenon was accused of breaking tourism, causing allergies, melting the ski-slopes, and causing 22 deaths. However, according to an article in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, the damage was estimated at $4 billion but the benefits amounted to some $19 billion.
The fourth factor is poor individual knowledge. People worry that the endless rise in the amount of things everyone throws away will cause the world to run out of places to dispose of waste. Yet, even if America‟s trash output continues to rise as it has done in the past, and even if the American population doubles by 2100, all the rubbish America produces through the entire 21st century will still take up only one 12,000th of the area of the entire United States.
It is extremely important that we look at the facts if we want to make the best possible decisions for the future. It may be costly to be overly optimistic, but more costly still to be too pessimistic.
1.What aspect of scientific research does the writer express concern about in Paragraph 4?
A. The need to produce results.
B. The lack of financial support.
C. The selection of areas to research.
D. The desire to solve every research problem.
2.The writer suggests that newspapers and broadcasters are intended to_______.
A. educate readers B. meet readers‟ expectations
C. mislead readers D. encourage readers‟ feedback
3.What does the writer say about America‟s waste problem?
A. It will increase in line with population growth.
B. It is not as serious as we have been led to believe.
C. It is only effective in certain areas of the country.
D. It has been reduced through public awareness of the facts.
4.What is the author‟s attitude to the truth about the global environment?
A. Unconcerned. B. Optimistic.
C. Objective. D. Puzzled.
The Lumière Brothers had their film shows, taken over 100 years ago, to 100 paying customers on December 8, 1985. One of their earliest films was a 30-second piece which showed a section of a railway platform. As the train approached, panic started in the theatre: people jumped and ran away. In their confusion, the audiences feared that a real train was about to crush them. That was the moment when cinema was born.
Early cinema audiences often experienced the same confusion. In time, the idea of films became familiar, the magic was accepted — but it never stopped being magic. Film has never lost its unique power to embrace its audience and transport them to a different world.
One effect of this realism was to educate the world about itself. Cinema makes the world smaller. Long before people travelled to America or anywhere else, they knew what other places looked like and how other people worked and lived. Undoubtedly, in the lives recorded in film people knew more about American life. Hollywood has dominated the world film market. American imagery — the cars, the cities, the cowboys became the primary imagery of film. Film carried American life and values around the globe.
And, thanks to film, future generations will know the 20th century more familiarly than any other period. We can only imagine what life was like in the 14th century or in classical Rome. But the life of the modern world has been recorded on films. We shall be known better than any preceding generations.
The “star” was another natural consequence of cinema. The cinema star was effectively born in 1910. Because everybody in the world seems to know who they are, they appear more real to us than we do ourselves. The star as magnified human self is one of cinema‟s most strange and enduring legacies(遗产).
Cinema films originally were planned as short stories, because early producers doubted the ability of audiences to concentrate for more than the length of a reel. Then, in 1912, an Italian 2-hour film was hugely successful, and Hollywood settled upon the novel-length narrative that remains the dominant cinematic convention of today.
And it has all happened so quickly. Almost unbelievably, it is only 100 years since that train arrived and the audience screamed and fled, perhaps, suddenly aware that the world could never be the same again — that, maybe, it could be better, brighter, more astonishing and more real than reality.
1.The writer refers to the film of the train in order to show_______.
A. the effect of early films
B. the simplicity of early films
C. the short length of early films
D. the vivid imagination of early films
2.When cinema first began, people thought that_______
A. its future was uncertain
B. it would always tell stories
C. it should be used in fairgrounds
D. the audiences were unappreciative
3.What is the main idea of the Paragraph 3?
A. How fast cinema has changed.
B. How attractive the film actors are.
C. How cinema comes to focus on stories.
D. How cinema teaches us about other cultures.
4.What is the best title for this passage?
A. The Comparison Between Cinema and Novels.
B. The Domination of Hollywood.
C. The Rise of the Cinema Stars.
D. The Power of the Big Screen.
Paris is the city of dreams; the city of love. If you are thinking of heading to Paris for a study period, then perhaps a little reality check is in order. But my experience was a romantic one.
I paved my path to Paris through an exchange program. On arrival in Paris, I was constantly reminded of the official processes I was required to complete — forms to be filled in, meetings to attend, the list seemed endless. Perhaps it was due to my well organizational habit, but somehow this endless list of to-do‟s was completed in little more than a week.
Then the real work began. Once classes were underway, I found myself volunteering to do oral presentations and assignments first, rather than last. This method turned out to be very helpful.
Once I had finished class for the week, I had an ever-increasing list of museums to visit, neighborhoods to explore, cafés to sit in, and parks to run around. Read as many books about Paris as you can. Talk to as many locals and other foreigners living there as you can. The one thing that reading a book or talking to someone cannot do is to provide you with the experience of wandering Paris on foot. I discovered some of my favorite places in Paris by wandering. The people watching, the sounds of the city, the colors as the seasons change, they all add to the ecstasy that is experiencing Paris as an exchange student.
After spending five months wandering through the charming neighborhoods, I fell in love with the atmosphere that came out from every open door, and with every spoken word. There is something comforting about walking to the market each Sunday to be faced with the beautiful display of fruits, vegetables and dairy products. There is warmth in saying bonjour to the man across the hall.
On my last day in Paris, I confidently said, “Bonjour Monsieur,” as I passed the little store down the street. I guess no matter how hard I tried I was always going to be an outsider, a tourist. The best part about going on exchange in Paris is falling in love with the city in your own unique way. Everyone‟s experience of Paris is different. I know mine is unique and special to me, my own little pieces of Paris.
1.What does the passage mainly tell us?
A. The special working experience in Paris.
B. The charming neighborhoods in Paris.
C. Living abroad in Paris as a student.
D. The stressful study life in Paris.
2.What does the underlined word “ecstasy” in Paragraph 4 probably mean?
A. Happiness. B. Imagination.
C. Courage. D. Reputation.
3.Beyond reading books, which experience would the author treasure most?
A. Enjoying a cup of coffee in his spare time.
B. Greeting people in French in the street.
C. Buying vegetables in the market.
D. Wandering in Paris on foot.
4.According to the passage, what left the author the deepest impression?
A. The steps he went through before the exchange program.
B. The presentations and assignments he did in class.
C. The academic achievement he made in his study.
D. The special culture he experienced in the city.
Legal information on call
1.Dial-A-Law is_______.
A. a group of lawyers B. a legal Internet message bank
C. a legal telephone service D. a collection of law suggestions
2.Dial-A-Law is available to customer_______.
A. at any time B. on weekdays only
C. during business hours D. for thirty minutes at a time
3.The Legal Referral Service will_______.
A. recommend a legal adviser
B. suggest three lawyers in the customer‟s area
C. choose the best of three lawyers for the customer
D. decide whether the customer must pay for a legal problem
A Doll from Santa
Alice‟s mother died when she was five years old. That year was 1925, and life was hard. Alice, who grew up to be my mother, told me that her family was too ________to even afford to give her a doll.
One afternoon in December 1982, I was decorating the tree to prepare for the Christmas season. A young lady ________me with a sample of her handiwork: beautiful handmade ______. She was taking orders for Christmas. I decided to get one for my daughter, Katie, who was almost five years old. Then I had an idea. I asked the lady if she could make me a _____doll for my mother — one with gray hair and a pair of glasses: a grandmother doll.
The doll maker felt that this idea was certainly ___and took it on as a creative challenge. So I placed my Christmas ___: two dolls, one blonde and one gray-haired for Christmas morning! Things really started to fall into place ________a friend had told me that his dad, who played Santa Claus in my area, would be willing to make a visit on Christmas morning to our home to __________my Katie her presents!
Christmas Day arrived and at the planned time, ___did Santa Claus. Katie was delighted that Santa had come to see her at her ________house, the happiest I had ever seen her in her young life. My mother was enjoying watching her granddaughter‟s _______to the visit from this special guest. As Santa turned to leave, he looked once more into his bag and took out one more _____. As he asked who Alice was, my mother, surprised by her name being called, ___that she in fact was Alice. Santa handed her the gift, which was accompanied by a message card that read: For Alice,
I was cleaning out my sleigh before my ________this year and came across this package that was supposed to be delivered on December 25, 1925. The present inside has _______, but I felt that you might _________wish to have it. Many apologies for the_________of the gift.
Love, Santa Claus
My mother‟s reaction was one of the greatest deeply ____scenes I have ever witnessed. She couldn‟t speak but only gazed at the doll she had _________fifty-seven years as tears of joy running down her cheeks. That doll, given by “Santa”, made my mother the happiest “__________” alive.
1.A. large B. busy C. poor D. crowded
2.A. approached B. educated C. helped D. joined
3.A. glasses B. dolls C. socks D. bags
4.A. special B. live C. cheap D. baby
5.A. fair B. impractical C. simple D. unique
6.A. wish B. order C. tree D. collection
7.A. because B. though C. when D. if
8.A. save B. sell C. find D. deliver
9.A. and B. or C. but D. so
10.A. own B. new C. former D. small
11.A. request B. dream C. reaction D. panic
12.A. letter B. gift C. candy D. bell
13.A. denied B. indicated C. pretended D. explained
14.A. trip B. plan C. try D. term
15.A. burnt B. reappeared C. gone D. aged
16.A. still B. never C. yet D. almost
17.A. weakness B. carefulness C. lateness D. darkness
18.A. lovely B. emotional C. beautiful D. unpleasant
19.A. chosen B. wasted C. waited D. spent
20.A. customer B. daughter C. seller D. child
Harry is an American businessman. His job requires him to do a lot of traveling. In the past six months he has made nine trips,1.purpose is to attend meetings and make presentations. Harry loves to travel and feels each country has a charm of its own. After graduation, Harry decided to make travel part of his career. He wanted to experience different cultures of other 2.(country). He was dreaming of3.(work) for an international company. Then his dream came true. Now he‟s working for a German hi-tech company.
