Steven Stein likes to follow garbage trucks. His strange habit makes sense when you consider that he’s an environmental scientist who studies how to reduce litter, including things that fall off garbage trucks as they drive down the road. What is even more interesting is that one of Stein’s jobs is defending an industry behind the plastic shopping bags.
Americans use more than 100 billion thin film plastic bags every year. So many end up in tree branches or along highways that a growing number of cities do not allow them at checkouts(收银台). The bags are prohibited in some 90 cities in California, including Los Angeles. Eyeing these headwinds, plastic-bag makers are hiring scientists like Stein to make the case that their products are not as bad for the planet as most people assume.
Among the bag makers’ argument: many cities with bans still allow shoppers to purchase paper bags, which are easily recycled but require more energy to produce and transport. And while plastic bags may be ugly to look at, they represent a small percentage of all garbage on the ground today.
The industry has also taken aim at the product that has appeared as its replacement: reusable shopping bags. The stronger a reusable bag is, the longer its life and the more plastic-bag use it cancels out. However, longer-lasting reusable bags often require more energy to make. One study found that a cotton bag must be used at least 131 times to be better for the planet than plastic.
Environmentalists don’t dispute(质疑) these points. They hope paper bags will be banned someday too and want shoppers to use the same reusable bags for years.
1.What has Steven Stein been hired to do?
A.Help increase grocery sales.
B.Recycle the waste material.
C.Stop things falling off trucks.
D.Argue for the use of plastic bags.
2.What does the word “headwinds” in paragraph 2 refer to?
A.Bans on plastic bags.
B.Effects of city development.
C.Headaches caused by garbage.
D.Plastic bags hung in trees.
3.What is a disadvantage of reusable bags according to plastic-bag makers?
A.They are quite expensive.
B.Replacing them can be difficult.
C.They are less strong than plastic bags.
D.Producing them requires more energy.
4.What is the best title for the text?
A.Plastic, Paper or Neither
B.Industry, Pollution and Environment
C.Recycle or Throw Away
D.Garbage Collection and Waste Control
Cities usually have a good reason for being where they are, like a nearby port or river. People settle in these places because they are easy to get to and naturally suited to communications and trade. New York City, for example, is near a large harbour at the mouth of the Hudson River. Over 300 years its population grew gradually from 800 people to 8 million. But not all cities develop slowly over a long period of time. Boom towns grow from nothing almost overnight. In 1896, Dawson, Canada, was unmapped wilderness(荒野). But gold was discovered there in 1897, and two years later, it was one of the largest cities in the West, with a population of 30,000.
Dawson did not have any of the natural conveniences of cities like London or Paris. People went there for gold. They travelled over snow-covered mountains and sailed hundreds of miles up icy rivers. The path to Dawson was covered with thirty feet of wet snow that could fall without warming. An avalanche(雪崩) once closed the path, killing 63 people. For many who made it to Dawson, however, the rewards were worth the difficult trip. Of the first 20,000 people who dug for gold, 4,000 got rich. About 100 of these stayed rich men for the rest of their lives.
But no matter how rich they were, Dawson was never comfortable. Necessities like food and wood were very expensive. But soon, the gold that Dawson depended on had all been found. The city was crowded with disappointed people with no interest in settling down, and when they heard there were new gold discoveries in Alaska, they left Dawson City as quickly as they had come. Today, people still come and go — to see where the Canadian gold rush happened. Tourism is now the chief industry of Dawson City — its present population is 762.
1.What attracted the early settlers to New York City?
A.Its business culture.
B.Its small population.
C.Its geographical position.
D.Its favourable climate.
2.What do we know about those who first dug for gold in Dawson?
A.Two-thirds of them stayed there.
B.One out of five people got rich.
C.Almost everyone gave up.
D.Half of them died.
3.What was the main reason for many people to leave Dawson?
A.They found the city too crowded.
B.They wanted to try their luck elsewhere.
C.They were unable to stand the winter.
D.They were short of food.
4.What is the text mainly about?
A.The rise and fall of a city.
B.The gold rush in Canada.
C.Journeys into the wilderness.
D.Tourism in Dawson.
We’ve all been there: in a lift, in line at the bank or on an airplane, surrounded by people who are, like us, deeply focused on their smartphones or, worse, struggling with the uncomfortable silence.
What’s the problem? It’s possible that we all have compromised conversational intelligence. It’s more likely that none of us start a conversation because it’s awkward and challenging, or we think it’s annoying and unnecessary. But the next time you find yourself among strangers, consider that small talk is worth the trouble. Experts say it’s an invaluable social practice that results in big benefits.
Dismissing small talk as unimportant is easy, but we can’t forget that deep relationships wouldn’t
even exist if it weren’t for casual conversation. Small talk is the grease(润滑剂) for social communication, says Bernardo Carducci, director of the Shyness Research Institute at Indiana University Southeast. ＂Almost every great love story and each big business deal begins with small talk,＂ he explains. ＂The key to successful small talk is learning how to connect with others, not just communicate with them.＂
In a 2014 study, Elizabeth Dunn, associate professor of psychology at UBC, invited people on their way into a coffee shop. One group was asked to seek out an interaction(互动) with its waiter; the other, to speak only when necessary. The results showed that those who chatted with their server reported significantly higher positive feelings and a better coffee shop experience. ＂It’s not that talking to the waiter is better than talking to your husband,＂ says Dunn. ＂But interactions with peripheral(边缘的) members of our social network matter for our well-being also.＂
Dunn believes that people who reach out to strangers feel a significantly greater sense of belonging, a bond with others. Carducci believes developing such a sense of belonging starts with small talk. ＂Small talk is the basis of good manners,＂ he says.
1.What phenomenon is described in the first paragraph?
A. Addiction to smartphones.
B. Inappropriate behaviours in public places.
C. Absence of communication between strangers.
D. Impatience with slow service.
2.What is important for successful small talk according to Carducci?
A. Showing good manners. B. Relating to other people.
C. Focusing on a topic. D. Making business deals.
3.What does the coffee-shop study suggest about small talk?
A. It improves family relationships. B. It raises people’s confidence.
C. It matters as much as a formal talk. D. It makes people feel good.
4.What is the best title for the text?
A. Conversation Counts B. Ways of Making Small Talk
C. Benefits of Small Talk D. Uncomfortable Silence
Many of us love July because it’s the month when nature’s berries and stone fruits are in abundance. These colourful and sweet jewels form British Columbia’s fields are little powerhouses of nutritional protection.
Of the common berries, strawberries are highest in vitamin C, although, because of their seeds, raspberries contain a little more protein (蛋白质), iron and zinc (not that fruits have much protein). Blueberries are particularly high in antioxidants (抗氧化物质). The yellow and orange stone fruits such as peaches are high in the carotenoids we turn into vitamin A and which are antioxidants. As for cherries (樱桃), they are so delicious who cares? However, they are rich in vitamin C.
When combined with berries of slices of other fruits, frozen bananas make an excellent base for thick, cooling fruit shakes and low fat “ice cream”. For this purpose, select ripe bananas for freezing as they are much sweeter. Remove the skin and place them in plastic bags or containers and freeze. If you like, a squeeze of fresh lemon juice on the bananas will prevent them turning brown. Frozen bananas will last several weeks, depending on their ripeness and the temperature of the freezer.
If you have a juicer, you can simply feed in frozen bananas and some berries or sliced fruit. Out comes a “soft-serve” creamy dessert, to be eaten right away. This makes a fun activity for a children’s party; they love feeding the fruit and frozen bananas into the top of the machine and watching the ice cream come out below.
1.What does the author seem to like about cherries?
A.They contain protein. B.They are high in vitamin A.
C.They have a pleasant taste. D.They are rich in antioxidants.
2.Why is fresh lemon juice used in freezing bananas?
A.To make them smell better. B.To keep their colour.
C.To speed up their ripening. D.To improve their nutrition.
3.What is “a juicer” in the last paragraph?
A.A dessert. B.A drink.
C.A container. D.A machine.
4.From which is the text probably taken?
A.A biology textbook. B.A health magazine.
C.A research paper. D.A travel brochure.
Languages have been coming and going for thousands of years, but in recent times there has been less coming and a lot more going. When the world was still populated by hunter-gatherers, small, tightly knit(联系) groups developed their own patterns of speech independent of each other. Some language experts believe that 10,000 years ago, when the world had just five to ten million people, they spoke perhaps 12,000 languages between them.
Soon afterwards, many of those people started settling down to become farmers, and their languages too became more settled and fewer in number. In recent centuries, trade, industrialization, the development of the nation-state and the spread of universal compulsory education, especially globalisation and better communications in the past few decades, all have caused many languages to disappear, and dominant languages such as English, Spanish and Chinese are increasingly taking over.
At present, the world has about 6,800 languages. The distribution of these languages is hugely uneven. The general rule is that mild zones have relatively few languages. Often spoken by many people while hot, wet zones have lots, often spoken by small numbers. Europe has only around 200 Languages: the Americas about 1,000, Africa 2,400; and Asia and the Pacific perhaps 3,200, of which Papua New Guinea alone accounts for well over 800. The median number(中位数) of speakers is a mere 6.000, which means that half the worlds languages are spoken by fewer people than that.
Already well over 400 of the total of 6,800 languages are close to extinction(消亡), with only a few elderly speakers left. Pick, at random, Busuu in Cameroon (eight remaining speakers), Chiapaneco in Mexico(150). Lipan Apache in the United States(two or three) or Wadjigu in Australia (one, with a question-mark): none of these seems to have much chance of survival.
1.What can we infer about languages in hunter-gatherer times?
A.They developed very fast. B.They were large in number.
C.They had similar patters. D.They were closely connected
2.Which of the following best explains "dominant" underlined in paragraph 2？
A.Complex. B.Advanced.
C.Powerful. D.Modern.
3.How many languages are spoken by less than 6, 000 people at present?
A.About 6,800 . B.About 3,400
C.About 2,400 D.About 1,200.
4.What is the main idea of the text?
A.New languages will be created.
B.Peoples lifestyles are reflected in languages.
C.Human development results in fewer languages.
D.Geography determines language evolution.
Good Morning Britain’s Susanna Reid is used to grilling guests on the sofa every morning, but she is cooking up a storm in her latest role — showing families how to prepare delicious and nutritious meals on a tight budget.
In Save Money: Good Food, she visits a different home each week and with the help of chef Matt Tebbutt offers top tips on how to reduce food waste, while preparing recipes for under £5 per family a day. And the Good Morning Britain presenter says she’s been able to put a lot of what she’s leant into practice in her own home, preparing meals for sons, Sam,14, Finn,13, and Jack, 11.
"We love Mexican churros, so I buy them on my phone from my local Mexican takeaway restaurant," she explains. "I pay £5 for a portion(一份), but Matt makes them for 26p a portion, because they are flour, water, sugar and oil. Everybody can buy takeaway food, but sometimes we’re not aware how cheaply we can make this food ourselves. "
The eight-part series(系列节自), Save Money: Good Food, follows in the footsteps of ITV’s Save Money: Good Health, which gave viewers advice on how to get value from the vast range of health products on the market.
With food our biggest weekly household expense, Susanna and Matt spend time with a different family each week. In tonight’s Easter special they come to the aid of a family in need of some delicious inspiration on a budget. The team transforms the family’s long weekend of celebration with less expensive but still tasty recipes.
1.What do we know about Susanna Reid? 学-科网
A.She enjoys embarrassing her guests. B.She has started a new programme.
C.She dislikes working early in the morning. D.She has had a light budget for her family.
2.How does Matt Tebbutt help Susanna?
A.He buys cooking materials for her. B.He prepares food for her kids.
C.He assists her in cooking matters. D.He invites guest families for her.
3.What does the author intend to do in paragraph 4?
A.Summarize the previous paragraphs. B.Provide some advice for the readers.
C.Add some background information. D.Introduce a new topic for discussion.
4.What can be a suitable title for the text?
A.Keeping Fit by Eating Smart B.Balancing Our Daily Diet
C.Making yourself a Perfect Chef D.Cooking Well for Less
