Rescuers have found the bodies of over 130 people killed in two ferry disasters in Bangladesh.The accidents happened during a storm that hit the country on April 21st.Hundreds more are missing or feared to be dead.
The two ferries sank in different rivers near the capital city of Dhakfi as strong winds and rain hit the South Asian country.The government has since banned all ferries and other boats from traveling at night during the April-May stormy season. One of the ferries,MV Mitali,was carrying far more people than it was supposed to.About 400 passengers fitted into a space made for just 300,police said.The second ferry carried about 100 passengers.
“The number of deaths is certain to rise.”said an official in charge of the rescue work.“No one really knows how many people were on board the ferry or how many of them survived.” Ferries in Bangladesh don’t always keep passenger lists,making it difficult to determine the exact number of people on board.Besides the ferry accidents,at least 40 people were killed and 400 injured by lightning strikes.falling houses and trees and the sinking of small boats.Storms are common this time of year in Bangladesh,as are boating accidents.Ferry disasters take away hundreds of lives every year in a nation of 130 million people.Officials blame these river accidents on a lack of safety measures, too many passengers in boats and not enough checks on weather conditions. Ferries are a common means of transport in Bangladesh.It is a country covered by about 230 rivers.Some 20,000 ferries use the nation’s Waterways every year.And many of them are dangerously overcrowded.Since 1977, more than 3,000 people have died in some 260 boating accidents.
The two ferry disasters occurred_______.
A.at noon | B.in the morning | C.at night. | D.In the afternoon. |
_______ passengers was MV Mitali designed to carry?
A.500 | B.100 | C.400 | D.300 |
Officials attribute boating accident to _______
A.strong winds. | B.bad weather conditions. |
C.the blockages of waterways. | D.the lack of safety measures. |
Which of the following statements is NOT true of the two ferry disasters?
A.They happened during a storm. | B.They sank on April 21. |
C.The exact number of deaths could be easily determined. | |
D.They sank somewhere near Dhaka. |
1. 我细细地看了这篇文章,了解到那是为农村妇女写的。
I ___________________the text and realized that it was __________________ women in the countryside.
2. 我发现林巧稚把毕生都奉献给了病人,而自己却选择了独身。
I discovered that Lin Qiaozhi __________ her patients and had chosen not to have a family ___________.
3. 多亏了他的研究,联合国在消除世界饥饿的战斗中又多了些方法。
______________his research, the UN has more tools in the battle ______________.
4. 他们主要是想保持土壤肥沃且免受病害。
They ______________ keeping their soil ___________________.
5. 在人们感到沮丧的时候,他可以使他们开怀大笑,于是他们就对自己的生活感到比较满足。
He made people laugh at a time when they ______________, so they could feel _____________their lives.
6. 不是所有文化背景下的人都以同样方式寒暄,接触陌生人时,距离太近或太远都会使他们不舒服。
Not all cultures ______________________the same way, _____________________ in the same way with
touching or distance between people.
Angry survivors(幸存者)demanded answers on Sunday after a terrible accident at “Love Parade 2010”, a music festival in Germany, killed 19 people and left hundreds hurt.
The German Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed her shock over Saturday’s tragedy in the western city of Duisburg., “This was a very sad day,” Merkel said.
Witnesses(目击者)said that people pushed into the narrow tunnel, the only entrance to the Love Parade festival, from both sides until it was dangerously overcrowded. The panic began as festival-goers began to lose consciousness(意识)as they were crushed against the walls and each other. The dead included eight foreigners, from Australia, Italy, the Netherlands, China, Bosnia and Spain. More than 340 people were injured.
After the panic, a lot of emergency vehicles(救援交通工具), including helicopters, could be seen carrying away the injured people. The festival itself, however, went on. Police were afraid that ending the music altogether could cause further unrest among the crowd.
“The event was a real mess,” Patrick Guenter, a 22-year-old baker, said. “Although the festival was full, they kept letting people in,” he added. “It seems the organizers didn’t plan the route. And no one knew what was going on.” said Taggart Bowen-Gaddy, 20, an American from Philadelphia.
Officials said 4,000 police officers and 1,000 security guards provided security for the event, which attracted up to 1.4 million people.
“I warned one year ago that Duisburg was not a suitable place for the Love Parade. The city is too small and narrow for such events. It is a pity that…” German police union chief Rainer Wendt said.
The chief organizer, Rainer Schaller, said the popular event would never be held again, “out of respect for the victims and their families”.
How many Germans were killed in the stampede at “Love Parade 2010”?
A.19 | B.8 | C.11 | D.15 |
How did the German Chancellor Angela Merkel feel about the tragedy?
A.She was very disappointed. | B.She was very surprised. |
C.She was very puzzled. | D.She was very touched. |
According to Patrick Guenter and Taggart Bowen-Gaddy, _______.
A.the event was well-organized |
B.the performance was wonderful |
C.Duisburg was suitable for the Love Parade |
D.the organization was very bad |
We can infer from the passage that _____.
A.Rainer Wendt’s warning went unnoticed |
B.Rainer Wendt was a chief organizer of “Love Parade 2010” |
C.the popular event would be held in the next year |
D.Duisburg is a suitable place for the Love Parade |
According to the passage, we learn that ______.
A.the Love Parade has been canceled forever |
B.the Love Parade is a very popular sport event |
C.the festival was ended after the panic |
D.there are many entrances to the Love Parade |
The United Nations says forty million people or so around the world went hungry in 2008, mainly because of higher food prices. Early estimates from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) show that 963 million people did not get enough to eat.
World food prices have dropped since early 2008. Prices of major crops have decreased by more than half from their height earlier last year. But they remain high compared to earlier years.
But FAO official Hafez Ghana says lower prices have failed to end the food crisis(危机)in many poor countries. "For millions in developing countries," he says, "getting enough food every day to live an active and healthy life is a distant dream.”
The FAO says food shortage is a threat to people's health. Today, two-thirds of the world's undernourished people live in just a few countries. These are India, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan, Ethiopia and so on.
A report on food insecurity warns that the current economic crisis could send even more people into hunger and poverty.
In sub-Saharan Africa, the percentage of the people who continually go hungry fell from 34% in 1997 to 30% in 2008. But the FAO says Ghana is the only country that has reached two sets of hunger reduction targets. These were set by the 1996 World Food Summit and the Millennium Development Goals. The main reason is the growth in agricultural production in Ghana.
The FAO says some countries in Southeast Asia like Thailand and Vietnam have made progress in hunger reduction goals. But South Asia and Central Asia haven't, and North Korea is still in hot water.
What FAO official Hafez Ghana says implies _________.
A.it's easy but takes long to provide people with enough food |
B.enough food can make people more active and healthier |
C.there is difficulty solving the food shortage in a short time |
D.people in developing countries will never get enough food |
Ghana has reached the targets of hunger reduction mainly because of ________.
A.the still high food prices | B.the donation of developed countries |
C.the two targets of hunger reduction | D.the growth in agricultural production |
The underlined word “undernourished” in Para. 4 probably means _________.
A.hungry and unhappy | B.unhealthy for lack of food |
C.not fat because of poverty | D.undeveloped and poor |
Which country has not made progress in hunger reduction?
A.North Korea | B.Thailand | C.Vietnam | D.Ghana |
What is the best title of this passage?
A.The food production of the world | B.The hunger reduction target of the FAO |
C.The food shortage around the world | D.The solution to the global food shortage |
Following the nuclear at the Fukushima (福岛) nuclear power station in Japan, Germany has decided to abandon the use of nuclear energy sooner than it had planned.
Germany was planning to cut its use of nuclear power slowly over 25 years. But now, the government has speeded up its program. Germany’s government has said that seven of its 17 nuclear reactors (反应堆) will stop working for three months for safety checks.
Nuclear power has been very unpopular in Germany since the Chernobyl (切尔诺贝利) nuclear reactor disaster in Ukraine (乌克兰) in 1986. Since then, the country has been working on developing new resources of energy.
The plan to give up nuclear power will cost the country at least 150 billion euros (1.4 trillion yuan)) in investment. Experts say this will likely lead to a rise in electricity prices.
Some experts think Germany is setting a good example for countries such as the US to follow. Germany now gets 23 percent of its energy from nuclear power –about as much as the US.
However, France, which relies on nuclear energy for more than 70 percent of its power, shows no sign of changing its policy.
We can most probably read the article _______.
A.in a newspaper | B.in a pamphlet(小册子) |
C.in an advertisement | D.in a textbook |
The most appropriate heading for this article is _______.
A.Germany to develop its new resources of energy |
B.Nuclear power no longer popular in Germany |
C.Germany to have safety checks for some nuclear reactors |
D.Germany to end its nuclear energy program |
According to the article, all of the following statements are true EXCEPT______.
A.In both the US and Germany, approximately a quarter of their energy are from nuclear power now. |
B.The explosion of some Fukushima nuclear reactors has quickened Germany’s pace to abandon nuclear energy. |
C.France, which relies on nuclear energy for more than 70 percent of its power, will follow Germany and cut its use of it at any cost. |
D.The Chernobyl nuclear disaster seemingly cast a huge shadow over the Germans, making them increasingly suspicious of the safety of nuclear energy. |
Many of you may wonder what else to do besides watching TV or surfing the Internet on weekends.Why not have a picnic? Junior 2 students at Beijing No.4 Middle Schoo1 had a “King of cooking” competition·
Earlier this month,about 300 students at the schoo1 went to a suburb(郊区)of Beijing to have the contest.They were divided into 24 groups.Each group had buyers,slicers (掌刀),firemakers.washers and cooks.
Firemakers faced the most problems during the time.Some of them had no idea how to keep fire burning. “The fire kept going out.we had to blow at the sparks(火星)and put on corn leaves and old newspapers,”said Wu Mofei,13.
“It took us an hour to make the fire.Our eyes had tears from all the smoke and our faces became dirty,”he added.
When the fires were finally made,the cooks became the busiest people.Huang Lanye made fried celery(芹菜)and ham pickled cabbage(泡菜)and tomato soup.
She was proud of her work.“It’s my first time making Chinese dishes.My group members ate them up in minutes and said they were as delicious as what their parents made!” said the 14-year-old girl.
Finally over ten students were titled “King of Cooking”.Wang Xiaoyue,14,was one of them.“My group got a mark of 98 at the competition,’’Wang said.“We have 1earned a lot while
having so much fun! We are the best!”
Beijing No.4 Middle School has been organizing similar(类似的)fun activities for six years.“we want to give students a chance to get real life experiences and 1earn how to work as a team,’’said Jia Dong,who works for the school’s student affairs office.
The text mainly tells us——.
A.a “King of Cooking” competition organized by Senior 2 students at Beijing No.4 Middle School |
B.a picnic organized by Junior 2 students at Beijing N0.4 Middle School |
C.a “King of Cooking” competition organized by Junior 2 students at Beijing No.4 Middle School |
D.after-school activities of students at Beijing No.4 Middlle School |
Which of the following was not the problem some firemakers met?
A.They didn’t know how to keep fire burning. |
B.They spent a long time in making a fire. |
C.The fire kept going out. |
D.They didn’t have enough corn leaves and old newspapers. |
We can infer that Huang Lanye was a ___in their group
A.buyer | B.firemaker | C.washer | D.cook |
According to the passage,we can know____.
A.only ten students were titled “King of Cooking” in this competition |
B.the “King of Cooking” competition has been held once every year in the past six years |
C.Wang Xiaoyue was titled a “King of Cooking” in this competition |
D.Beijing No.4 Middle School has been encouraging students to take part in all kinds of competitions |
London Thursday July 26(Reuters)--Ian Johnstone missed his girlfriend so much that he flew back to Britain from Australia to propose to her.The problem is that she flew in the opposite direction.
He and Amy Dolby even managed to miss each other when they sat in the same airport waiting-room in Singapore at the same time to wait for connecting flights.
Dolby,heartbroken when she arrived at Johnstone’s Sydney apartment to find he had flown to London,told the Times:“It was as though someone was playing a cruel joke on us.He is the most romantic person I have ever known.I think our problem is that we are both quite impulsive(冲动的)people.We are always trying to surprise each other.”
After an 11,000-mile flight across the globe,she was greeted by Johnstone’s astonished flatmate asking what she was doing there.
“The terrible truth dawned when I found that Lan’s rucksack and most of his clothes were missing.I sat on the end of his bed and cried my eyes out.And that really annoyed me,”she said.
Johnstone,a 27-year-old bricklayer,had taken a year off to travel round Australia.But he was missing Dolby,a 26-year-old secretary,so much he got a job on a Sydney building site and started saving for a surprise.
He then flew home to Britain and went to her apartment armed with an engagement ring,champagne and flowers.
“I really missed Amy and I’d been thinking about her all the time.I thought she was winding me up when she phoned me from Australia.”he said.
Johnstone then asked Dolby to marry him on the phone.“I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry but I accepted,”she said.
Dolby was given a short tour of Sydney by Johnstone’s friends and Johnstone had to stay in Britain for two weeks because he could not change his ticket.
According to the text,it seemed that .
A.Johnstone and Dolby could have seen each other in the same airport waiting-room in Singapore |
B.the couple pretended not to see each other in the same airport waiting-room in Singapore |
C.the young lovestruck couple had both intended to propose to each other |
D.Dolby stayed longer in Sydney than Johnstone stayed in Britain |
We can learn from the text that .
A.Johnstone was not as impulsive as Dolby |
B.Johnstone got a job in Sydney in order to start saving money for a surprise to Dolby |
C.Dolby was heartbroken because someone was playing a cruel joke on her |
D.Dolby was greeted by Johnstone’s flatmate at the airport |
When Johnstone asked her to marry him on the phone,Dolby didn’t know whether to laugh or cry because she had a mixed feeling of .
A.excitement,anger and shyness |
B.sadness,happiness and surprise |
C.love,hatred and nevousness |
D.cheer,regret and annoyance |
Which of the following shows the right order of what happened in the story?
a.Johnstone flew back to Britain to propose to his girlfriend,Amy Dolby.
b.Johnstone started working at a Sydney building site.
c.Johnstone went to Amy’s apartment in Britain with an engagement ring.
d.Johnstone proposed to Dolby over the phone.
e.They were waiting for their connecting flight in the airport in Singapore.
f.Dolby called Johnstone from Australia.
A.b—a—d—e—c—f | B.c—a—b—e—f—d |
C.b—a—e—c—f—d | D.b—a—f—e—c—d |
BEIJING, May 29 — the US pop star Michael Jackson appeared in public in Tokyo on Saturday, accepting a music award and thanking “all the people who believe in me ”.
Introduced to an adoring(崇拜的)crowd as “the king of pop, the king of rock and the king of soul ”, Jackson flashed a quick “peace” sign as he walked onstage to the sound of one of his biggest hits —“Thriller”.
“I’m honored to be in Japan again and I’m very happy to be among the Japanese people because I love them very much,” Jackson said in a brief appearance at MTV Japan’s Legend Award ceremony(仪式)at Yoyogi Olympic Stadium, “Thank you for your belief.”
“Jackson also plans to visit Singapore, Shanghai and Hong Kong,” spokeswoman Raymone K. Bain said on Thursday.
Bain said, “The star plans to visit orphanages(孤儿院),tour the city of Tokyo, and meet with members of the Asian business communities during his trip.”
Bain said that Jackson planned to return to recording and hoped to release(发行)a new album(专辑)in 2007. Meanwhile, she said he had planned to raise some money for the victims of Hurricane Katrina.
67. This report may appear on the “ ” page of a newspaper.
A. Business B. Entertainment C. Sports D. Travel
68. The report mainly tells us .
A. Jackson accepted a music award B. Jackson’s tour to Asia
C. Jackson will visit orphanages D. Jackson plans to release a new album
69. Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?
A. Jackson is glad to be in Japan again
B. “Thriller” is one of Jackson’s famous songs
C. Jackson plans to visit Singapore before Japan
D. Jackson is good at both pop songs and rock music
70. It can be inferred (推断)from the passage that Michael Jackson .
A. is a popular Japanese singer
B. is disappointed with the orphanages’ situations
C. has done a lot of things for the victims of Hurricane Katrina
D. is very busy during this Asian trip
A
BEUING (Associated Press 美联社) —China has a growing middle class, a tradition of expecting education and 21 million new babies every year. Selling educational toys should be easy.
While China may be the world’s biggest toy maker, many of the best are exported. Department stores here do not have enough toys of high quality. It is said that the demand for educational toys is low.
A US company, Baby Care, is trying to change that with a new way to sell toys in China.
Baby Care works basically together with doctors in Beijing hospitals. People who join the company’s "mother club" can get lectures and newsletters on baby and child development at no extra cost, if they agree to spend 18 dollars a month on the company’s educational toys and child-care books.
"We want to build a seven year relationship with those people," said Matthew J. Estes, Baby Care’s president. "It starts during pregnancy (孕期), when the anxiety and needs are highest." Baby Care works on a one-to-one basis. Doctors, nurses, and teachers paid by Baby Care advise parents and explain toys that are designed for children at each stage of development to age six.
Baby Care opened its first store in China last June in a shopping center in central Beijing and another near Beijing Zoo. It plans to have 80 stores in China within six years.
It is a new model for China and develops a market in young children’s education and health that no other companies are in.
What do the first two paragraphs mainly tell us?
A.Educational toys and foreign toy markets. |
B.Problems with China’s toy market and education. |
C.Reasons for pushing sales of educational toys in China. |
D.Baby population and various kinds of toys made in China. |
Which of the following is a fact according to the passage?
A.Club members buy Baby Care products for free child care advice. |
B.Doctors in Beijing help in making Baby Care products. |
C.Parents are encouraged to pay $ 18 for club activities. |
D.Baby Care trains Chinese doctors at no extra cost. |
Baby Care is developing its business in China by ___________.
A.opening stores in Beijing hospitals |
B.offering 18 month courses on child care |
C.setting up children’s education centers |
D.forming close relationships with parents |
Which of the following would be the most suitable title for the passage?
A.Mother’s Club in China. | B.Baby Care and Doctors. |
C.American Company Model. | D.Educational Toys in China. |
In this century the traditional American family is constantly faced with the threat of breakdown. Some sociologists suggest that one little-noticed cause may be the introduction of the TV dinner.
Before the appearance of television sets, the American dinner was a big event for the family. In many homes, dinner time may be the only time when everyone got together. A typical dinner was usually in three stages. In the preparation stage, the children and Father frequently helped with setting while Mother put the last touches on the roast. In the eating stage, family members shared the day’s experiences and more than food was eaten. In this stage families got to know one another and made joint decisions around the dinner table, and thus the family unit was strengthened. In the cleaning-up stage, children or Father again gave their hands, so that their importance to the home community was clear. Unfortunately, all of these have been removed by a product-the television set.
By the beginning of the 1980s, the typical American family dinner was just twenty minutes long. The speed-up of the once-leisurely experiences is clearly connected to the pace of modern life and maybe a model of the modern life is the TV dinners-meals designed to be eaten from the beginning to the end of a half-hour program. The once family affair has now become nothing more than the use of a fork and knife.
The underlined word in the second paragraph can be replaced by
A.big | B.important | C.combined | D.separate |
In the past, Americans tended to .
A.spend more time eating their food at dinner table | B.eat more food than they have today |
C.spend more time talking about their day’s experiences at dinner table | |
D.talk so much that they forgot to eat |
The shortening of the dinner time in America is related to .
A.The TV programs | B.the pace of modern life |
C.the wide use of electrical equipment | D.the popularity of fast food |
. The best title for this passage might be
A.Talk at Dinner Table | B.TV Dinner | C.Pace of Modern Life | D.Problems Caused by TV |
WASHINGTON — Money can buy happiness, but only if you spend it on someone else, according to researchers.
Spending as little as $5 a day on someone else could significantly boost happiness, the team at the University of British Columbia and Harvard Business School found on Thursday.
Their experiments on more than 630 Americans showed they were measurably happier when they spent money on others --- even if they thought spending the money on themselves would make them happier.
“We wanted to test our theory that how people spend their money is at least as important as how much money they earn,” said Elizabeth Dunn, a psychologist at the University of British Columbia.
They asked their 600 volunteers first to rate their general happiness, report their annual income and detail their monthly spending including bills, gifts for themselves, gifts for others and donations to charity.
“Regardless of how much income each person made, those who spent money on others reported greater happiness, while those who spent more on themselves did not,” Dunn said in a statement.
Dunn’s team also surveyed 16 employees at a company in Boston before and after they received an annual profit-sharing bonus of between $3,000 and $8,000.
“Employees who devoted more of their bonus to pro-social spending experienced greater happiness after receiving the bonus, and the manner in which they spent that bonus was a more important predictor of their happiness than the size of the bonus itself,” they wrote in their report, published in the journal Science.
“Finally, participants who were randomly (随机地) required to spend money on others experienced greater happiness than those required to spend money on themselves,” they said.
They gave their volunteers $5 or $20 and half got clear instructions on how to spend it. Those who spent the money on someone or something else reported feeling happier about it.
“These findings suggest that very minor adjustment in spending allocations (分配) --- as little as $5 --- may be enough to produce real gains in happiness on a given day,” Dunn said.
This could also explain why people are no happier even though US society is richer.
“Indeed, although real incomes have increased dramatically in recent decades, happiness levels have remained largely flat within developed countries across time,” they wrote.
Dune’s experiment on 630 Americans was to ________.
A.help people make careful plans for their money | B.encourage people to be generous to others |
C.see how to spend money is important to happiness | D.test whether $5 is enough to buy happiness |
What can we conclude according to the experiment?
A.Happiness largely depends on the size of your bonus money. |
B.Happiness, as a matter of fact, has nothing to do with money. |
C.The more money you give away, the happier person you will be. |
D.Spending money for the good of society will make you happier. |
How many different ways are used by the researchers to test their theory?
A.Two. | B.Three. | C.Four. | D.Five. |
The last sentence of the passage means _______.
A.happiness does not necessary increase as money grows |
B.people in richer countries actually have more problems |
C.fast economic growth has a bad effect on people’s life |
D.great increase of income contributes to keeping happiness level stable |
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has declared October 15 as Global Handwashing Day in 2005.The first Global Handwashing Day is on October 15 of 2008.Activities are planned over twenty countries to get millions of people in the developing world to wash their hands with soap. Global Handwashing Day is the idea of the Public-Private Partnership for Handwashing with Soap. Partners include the UN Children's Fund, American government agencies, the World Bank and soap makers Unilever and Procter and Gamble. The goal is to create a culture of hand washing with soap.
Hand washing can prevent the spread of disease. Experts say people around the world wash their hands but very few use soap at so-called critical moments. These include after using the toilet, after cleaning a baby and before touching food.
When people get germs on their hands, they can infect themselves by touching their eyes, nose or mouth. Then they can infect others.
The organizers say all soaps are equally effective at removing disease-causing germs. The correct way to wash is to wet your hands with a small amount of water and cover them with soap. Rub it into all areas, including under the fingernails. Rub for at least twenty seconds.Then, rinse well under running water. Finally, dry your hands with a clean cloth or wave them in the air. Soap is important because it increases the time that people spend washing. It also helps to break up the grease and dirt that hold most of the germs.And it usually leaves a pleasant smell,which increases the likelihood that people will wash again.
Washing with soap before eating and after using the toilet could save more lives than any medicine. It could help reduce cases of diarrhea(痢疾) by almost half. And it could reduce deaths from pneumonia and other breathing infections by one-fourth. Diarrhea is the second leading cause of child deaths, killing more than one and a half million children a year. Pneumonia is the leading cause, killing about two million children under five each year. Hand washing can also prevent the spread of other diseases.
We can learn from Paragraph 1 that _______.
A.the first Global Handwashing Day was held in 2005 |
B.many originations support the idea of Global Handwashing Day |
C.Global Handwashing Day was founded by many soap makers |
D.the content of Global Handwashing Day is to wash your hand frequently |
The underlined phrase “critical moments” in Paragraph 2 refers to _______.
A.the important occasions |
B.schedules |
C.the arrangement of a time |
D.the necessary parts in health |
The main purpose of the story is to tell us ________.
A.hand washing is very important |
B.to create a culture of hand washing with soap |
C.germs can infect ourselves and others |
D.soaps play an important role in everyday life |
The last paragraph implies that ___________.
A.a soap is a kind of medicine to prevent a disease |
B.it is important for children to wash hands in a correct way |
C.Pneumonia kills about two million children each year |
D.Diarrhea is the second leading cause of child deaths. |
In the US and Britain, the slogan around colleges was “Save water. Shower with a friend.” Now, Wuhan University has come up with another system for the campus bathhouse. It charges students for the amount of time in a shower. Before entering the bathhouse, students pay for the amount of time they want in the shower with cash or their student ID card. The clock starts ticking the minute the tape is turned on. It pauses when a button is pressed for soap. An integrated circuit (IC) card reader at each tap shows the time. No money, no water. The benefits of the new system can be seen with the old system, which charged 1 Yuan for each person regardless of time in the shower. The university used about 320 tons of water daily under the old system, but only 160 tons now.
Many students use the new system but opinions on it are divided. Some students say it is bad because bathing had become a sort of race. Many people using it for the first time are not sure how long they need to shower. Some might be embarrassed if their time is up and they’re still covered in soap. They have to ask the bathhouse worker to help them buy extra time.
“It’s a flaw in the system that you can not buy extra time on the ID card,” said Ren, a freshman in Wuhan University. The university is also considering some students’ suggestions that they be allowed to pay after they’ve finished the shower. Not surprisingly, some are complaining about losing the hour shower. But many students say the move helps them develop a water-saving sense.
Without the time limits, most students tended to shower for 30 to an hour in the bathhouse.
Some even used the hot water to wash their clothes. “In my experience, 10—20 minutes is enough,” said Dai Zhihua, a third-year student who usually takes 8 minutes.
A similar system has been installed in other universities. Shanghai Normal University introduced it at its Fengxiang Campus in September. The bathing fee there is 0.2 Yuan per minute. One male student responded by setting a record with a two-minute shower.
According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true?
A.Students pay for the amount of time they want in the shower. |
B.The clock times all through while the student is bathing except when the bather paused for soap. |
C.If money runs out, there will be no water. |
D.Having finished bathing, the student has to pay for it. |
The underline word “flaw” (Paragraph 3) most probably means __________.
A.fault | B.advantage | C.pity | D.perfection |
Since the new system has performed, __________ of water can be saved.
A.a quarter | B.one third | C.one half | D.two thirds |
It can be inferred from the passage that __________.
A.The new operation can raise students’ environmental awareness. |
B.the new operation can solve the water crisis. |
C.a similar operation has been set in other universities. |
D.The university has saved a lot of water by using the new system. |
In which column can you find this passage?
A.People. | B.Society. | C.Campus Life. | D.Lifestyle. |
BEIJING—Seven prestigious universities in China announced Sunday that they would begin using the same independent exam —besides the national one —to test students hoping to gain entrance to them in 2011.
The seven are Peking University, Beihang University, Beijing Normal University, Nankai University, Fudan University, Xiamen University and Hong Kong University.
Students who want to gain entrance to any of the seven universities will only have to sit one independent exam, according to the joint announcement.
“This will help lighten tile students’ load, otherwise they must take several exams for different universities,”said the announcement.
Passing the exam could result in more than one interview chance, giving the students more opportunities to choose their favorite universities.
China’ s college entrance exam system is undergoing reform as universities aim to select students based on independent criteria rather than just using the results of the national exam.
In 2003, Peking University and another 21 universities were allowed to pilot (试用) the reform by using their own criteria to independently select five percent of their students.
Now nearly 80 universities across the country have the right to select talented students based on their own exams.
Education experts regard universities selecting students according to independent examinations as conducive (有助的) to better understanding where the students’ talents lie.
Although this may be the case, it has also created problems as students may sit many different exams as they often apply for a number of universities.
To relieve students from such pressures, the national education outline (2010—2020) released in July this year encourages high-level universities to group together to use the same exams.
If students want to be admitted to the seven prestigious universities, they can______.
A.only pass the interview. |
B.only take the national exam. |
C.only take the independent exam. |
D.either take the national exam or the take the independent exam. |
What’s the purpose of students sitting one independent exam to gain entrance to the seven universities?
A.It can reduce students’load to take several exams. |
B.The universities will have the same standard to test students. |
C.There will be less trouble marking students’ test papers. |
D.It can avoid fierce competition among these universities. |
If students pass the independent exam,they will ______.
A.take the national exam. |
B.have one or more interview chances. |
C.be admitted to one of the universities. |
D.he trained to be adapted to universities life and studies. |
What is the advantage of universities selecting students according to independent examinations?
A.Students needn’t take the national exam. |
B.Students’education cost can be lowered. |
C.Students abilities and talents can be better found. |
D.It can encourage middle schools to recommend more qualified students. |
A small town in southwest Britain is banning (禁止) plastic bags in an attempt to help the environment and cut waste-a step that environmentalists believe is a first for Europe.
Shopkeepers in Modbury population 1,500, agreed to stop handing out disposable plastic bags to customers on Saturday. They said paper sacks and cloth carrier bags would be offered instead.
Last month, San Francisco became the first U.S. city to ban plastic grocery bags. Internationally, laws to discourage the use of plastic bags have been passed in parts of South Africa and Ireland, where governments either tax shoppers who use them or fine companies that hand them out. Bangladesh already bans them, and so do at least 30 remote Alaskan villages.
Modbury, about 225 miles southwest of London, has also declared a bag ammesty (宽限期), allowing local people to hand in plastic bags that have piled up at home. They will be sent for a recycling.
The Modbury ban was the idea of Rebecca Hosking, who saw the effect of bags on marine life while working in the Pacific as a wildlife camerawoman. She said response in the town so far had been “really positive”.
“Modbury is quite an old-fashioned town and a lot of people have wicker(柳条) baskets to go out shopping anyway, ”Hosking told Sky News Television.
The World Watch Institute, an environmental research agency, states that 100 billion plastic bags are thrown away each year in the United States alone. More than 500 billion are used yearly around the world.
The underlined word “disposable” in the passage probably means .
A.acceptable | B.valuable | C.environmentally-friendly | D.long-lasting |
It can be inferred from the passage that .
A.most of the people in Modbury continue to use plastic bags |
B.fewer and fewer plastic bags will be used in the world |
C.San Francisco is the first city to ban plastic bags in the world |
D.most countries in the world have passed laws to ban plastic bags |
Which of the following would be the best title of the passage?
A.Environmental Protection | B.Big Cities Banning Plastic Bags |
C.British Town Banning Plastic Bags | D.Effect of Plastic bags on Sea Animals |
试题篮
()