A simple piece of clothesline hangs between some environmentally friendly Americans and their neighbors.
On one side stand those who see clothes dryers(干衣机) as a waste of energy and a major polluter of the environment. As a result, they are turning to clotheslines as part of the “what-I –can do environmentalism(环境保护主义).”
On the other side are people who are against drying clothes outside, arguing that clotheslines are unpleasant to look at. They have persuaded Homeowners Associations (HOAs) access the U.S. to ban outdoor clotheslines, because clothesline drying also tends to lower home value in the neighborhood. This had led to a Right-to-Dry Movement that is calling for laws to be passed to protect people’s right to use clotheslines.
So far, only three states have laws to protect clothesline. Right-to-Dry supporters argue that there should be move.
Matt Reck, 37, is the kind of eco-conscious(有生态意识的) person who feeds his trees with bathwater and reuses water drops from his air conditioners to water plants. His family also uses a clothesline. But on July 9, 2007, the HOA in Wake Forest, North Carolina, told him that a dissatisfied neighlzir had telephoned them about him clothesline. The Recks paid no attention to the warming and still dried their clothes on a line in the yard. “Many people say they are environmentally friendly but they don’t take matters in their own hands,” says Reck. The local HOA has decided not to take any action, unless more neighbors come to them.
North Carolina lawmakers are saying that banning clotheslines is not the right thing to do. But HOAs and housing businesses believe that clothesline drying reminds people of poor neighborhoods. They worry that if buyers think their future neighbors can’t even afford dryers, housing prices will fall.
Environmentalists say such worries are not necessary, and in view of global warming, that idea needs to change. As they say, “The clothesline is beautiful”. Hanging clothes outside should be encouraged. We all have to do at least something to slow down the process of global warming.”One of the reasons why supporters of clothes dryers are trying to ban clothesline drying is that ____.
| A．clothes dryers are more efficient | B．clothesline drying reduces home value |
| C．clothes dryers are energy-saving | D．clothesline drying is not allowed in most U.S. states |
Which of the following best describes Matt Reck?
| A．He is a kind-hearted man. | B．He is an impolite man. |
| C．He is and experienced gardener. | D．He is a man of social responsibility. |
Who are in favor of clothesline drying?
| A．housing businesses. | B．Environmentalists. |
| C．Homeowners Associations. | D．Reck’s dissatisfied neighbors. |
What is mainly discussed in the text?
| A．Clothesline drying: a way to save energy and money. |
| B．Clothesline drying: a lost art rediscovered. |
| C．Opposite opinions on clothesline drying. |
| D．Different varieties of clotheslines. |
Choosing the Right Resolution (决定)
Millions of Americans began 2014 with the same resolution they started 2013 with, a goal of losing weight. However, setting weight loss as a goal is a mistake.
To reach our goal of losing weight --- the output, we need to control what we eat --- the input ( 输入). That is, we tend to care about the output but not to control the input. This is a bad way to construct goals. The alternative is to focus your resolution on the input. Instead of resolving to lose weight, try an actionable resolution: “I’ll stop having desert for lunch,” or “I’ll walk every day for 20 minutes.” Creating a goal that focuses on a well-specified input will likely be more effective than concentrating on the outcome.
Recently a new science behind incentives (激励) , including in education, has been discussed. For example, researcher Roland Fryer wanted to see what works best in motivating children to do better in school. In some cases, he gave students incentives based on input, like reading certain books, while in others, the incentives were based on output, like results on exams. His main finding was that incentives increased achievement when based on input but had no effect on output. Fryer’s conclusion was that the intensives for inputs might be more effective because do not know how to do better on exam, aside from general rules like “study harder.” Reading certain books, on the other hand, is a well-set task over which they have much more control.
As long as you have direct control over your goal, you have a much higher chance of success. And it’s easier to start again if you fail, because you know exactly what you need to do.
If you want to cut down on your spending, a good goal would be making morning coffee at home instead of going to a cafe, for example. This is a well-specified action-based goal for which you can measure your success easily. Spending less money isn’t a goal because it’s too general. Similarly, if you want to spend more time with your family, don’t stop with this general wish. Think about an actionable habit that you could adopt and stick to, like a family movie night every Wednesday.
In the long run, these new goals could become a habit.The writer thinks that setting weight loss as a goal is a mistake because _______ .
| A．it is hard to achieve for most Americans |
| B．it is focused too much on the result |
| C．it is dependent on too many things |
| D．it is based on actionable decisions |
In Roland Fryer’s research, some students did better than the others because ______ .
| A．they obeyed all the general rules |
| B．they paid more attention to exams |
| C．they were motivated by their classmates |
| D．they were rewarded for reading some books |
According to the writer, which of the following statements is a good goal?
| A．“I’ll give up desert.” |
| B．“I’ll study harder.” |
| C．“I’ll cut down my expense” |
| D．“I’ll spend more time with my family” |
The writer strongly believes that we should ________ .
| A．develop good habits and focus on the outcome |
| B．be optimistic about final goals and stick to them |
| C．pick specific actions that can be turned into good habits |
| D．set ambitious goals that can balance the input ang output |
However wealthy we may be, we can never find enough hours in the day to do everything we want. Economics deals with this problem through the concept of opportunity cost, which simply refers to whether someone’s time or money could be better spent on something else.
Every hour of our time has a value. For every hour we work at one job we could quite easily be doing another, or be sleeping or watching a film. Each of these options has a different opportunity cost—namely, what they cost us in missed opportunities.
Say you intend to watch a football match but the tickets are expensive and it will take you a couple of hours to get to and from the stadium. Why not, you might reason, watch the game from home and use the leftover money and time to have dinner with friends? This—the alternative use of your cash and time—is the opportunity cost.
For economists, every decision is made by knowledge of what one must forgo—in terms of money and enjoyment—in order to take it up. By knowing precisely what you are receiving and what you are missing out on, you ought to be able to make better-informed, more reasonable decisions. Consider that most famous economic rule of all: there’s no such thing as a free lunch. Even if someone offers to take you out to lunch for free, the time you will spend in the restaurant still costs you something in terms of forgone opportunities.
Some people find the idea of opportunity cost extremely discouraging: imagine spending your entire life calculating whether your time would be better spent elsewhere doing something more profitable or enjoyable. Yet, in a sense it’s human nature to do precisely that—we assess the advantages and disadvantages of decisions all the time.
In the business world, a popular phrase is “value for money.” People want their cash to go as far as possible. However, another is fast obtaining an advantage: “value for time.” The biggest restriction on our resources is the number of hours we can devote to something, so we look to maximize the return we get on our investment of time. By reading this passage you are giving over a bit of your time which could be spent doing other activities, such as sleeping and eating. In return, however, this passage will help you to think like an economist, closely considering the opportunity cost of each of your decisions.According to the passage, the concept of “opportunity cost” is applied to ________.
| A．making more money |
| B．taking more opportunities |
| C．reducing missed opportunities |
| D．weighing the choice of opportunities |
The “leftover ... time” in Paragraph 3 probably refers to the time ________.
| A．spared for watching the match at home |
| B．taken to have dinner with friends |
| C．spent on the way to and from the match |
| D．saved from not going to watch the match |
What are forgone opportunities?
| A．Opportunities you forget in decision-making. |
| B．Opportunities you give up for better ones. |
| C．Opportunities you miss accidentally. |
| D．Opportunities you make up for. |
Last summer, two nineteenth-century cottages were rescued from remote farm fields in Montana, to be moved to an Art Deco building in San Francisco. The houses were made of wood. These cottages once housed early settlers as they worked the dry Montana soil; now they hold Twitter engineers.
The cottages could be an example of the industry’ s odd love affair with “low technology,” a concept associated with the natural world, and with old-school craftsmanship (手艺) that exists long before the Internet era. Low technology is not virtual (虚拟的)—so, to take advantage of it, Internet companies have had to get creative. The rescued wood cottages, fitted by hand in the late eighteen-hundreds, are an obvious example, but Twitter’s designs lie on the extreme end. Other companies are using a broader interpretation (阐释) of low technology that focuses on nature.
Amazon is building three glass spheres filled with trees, so that employees can “work and socialize in a more natural, park-like setting.” At Google’s office, an entire floor is carpeted in glass. Facebook’s second Menlo Park campus will have a rooftop park with a walking trail.
Olle Lundberg, the founder of Lundberg Design, has worked with many tech companies over the years. “We have lost the connection to the maker in our lives, and our tech engineers are the ones who feel impoverished (贫乏的) , because they’re surrounded by the digital world,” he says. “They’re looking for a way to regain their individual identity, and we’ve found that introducing real crafts is one way to do that.”
This craft based theory is rooted in history, William Morris, the English artist and writer, turned back to pre-industrial arts in the eighteen-sixties, just after the Industrial Revolution. The Arts and Crafts movement defined itself against machines. “Without creative human occupation, people became disconnected from life,” Morris said.
Research has shown that natural environments can restore(恢复) our mental capacities. In Japan, patients are encouraged to “forest-bathe,” taking walks through woods to lower their blood pressure.
These health benefits apply to the workplace as well. Rachel Kaplvin, a professor of environmental psychology, has spent years researching the restorative effects of natural environment. Her research found that workers with access to nature at the office—even simple views of trees and flowers—felt their jobs were less stressful and more satisfying. If low-tech offices can potentially nourish the brains and improve the mental health of employees then, fine, bring on the cottages.The writer mentions the two nineteenth-century cottages to show that ________.
| A．Twitter is having a hard time |
| B．old cottages are in need of protection |
| C．early settlers once suffered from a dry climate in Montana |
| D．Internet companies have rediscovered the benefits of low technology |
Low technology is regarded as something that _______.
| A．is related to nature |
| B．is out of date today |
| C．consumes too much energy |
| D．exists in the virtual world |
The main idea of Paragraph 5 is that human beings ________.
| A．have destroyed many pre-industrial arts |
| B．have a tradition of valuing arts and crafts |
| C．can become intelligent by learning history |
| D．can regain their individual identity by using machines |
The writer’s attitude to “low technology” can best be described as ________.
| A．positive | B．defensive |
| C．cautious | D．doubtful |
What might be the best title for the passage?
| A．Past Glories, Future Dreams |
| B．The Virtual World, the Real Challenge |
| C．High-tech Companies, Low-tech Offices |
| D．The More Craftsmanship, the Less Creativity |
I was never very neat, while my roommate Kate was extremely organized. Each of her objects had its place, but mine always hid somewhere. She even labeled（贴标签）everything. I always looked for everything. Over time, Kate got neater and I got messier. She would push my dirty clothing over, and I would lay my books on her tidy desk. We both got tired of each other.
War broke out one evening. Kate came into the room. Soon, I heard her screaming. “Take your shoes away! Why under my bed!” Deafened, I saw my shoes flying at me. I jumped to my feet and started yelling. She yelled back louder.
The room was filled with anger. We could not have stayed together for a single minute but for a phone call. Kate answered it. From her end of the conversation, I could tell right away her grandma was seriously ill. When she hung up, she quickly crawled（爬）under her covers, sobbing.
Obviously, that was not something she should not go through alone. All of a sudden, a warm feeling of sympathy rose up in my heart.
Slowly, I collected the pencils, took back the books, made my bed, cleaned the socks and swept the floor, even on her side. I got so into my work that I even didn’t notice Kate had sat up. She was watching, her tears dried and her expression one of disbelief. Then, she reached out her hands to grasp mine. I looked up into her eyes. She smiled at me, “Thanks.”
Kate and I stayed roommates for the rest of the year. We didn’t always agree, but we learned the key to living together: giving in, cleaning up and holding on.What made Kate so angry one evening?
| A．She couldn’t find her books. |
| B．She heard the author shouting loud. |
| C．She got the news that her grandma was ill. |
| D．She saw the author’s shoes beneath her bed. |
The author tidied up the room most probably because _______.
| A．she was scared by Kate’s anger |
| B．she hated herself for being so messy |
| C．she wanted to show her care |
| D．she was asked by Kate to do so |
How is Paragraph 1 mainly developed?
| A．By analyzing causes |
| B．By showing differences |
| C．By describing a process |
| D．By following time order |
What might be the best title for the story?
| A．My Friend Kate |
| B．Hard Work Pays Off |
| C．How to Be Organized |
| D．Learning to Be Roommates |
Every day we are adding more and more vacation ideas，destinations，tours, and articles．As you explore our website，you will find there is an ever-growing collection of things that will help make your vacation easier and more affordable．
We change our featured destinations very frequently so be sure to keep coming back to see what new ideas we have for your family vacation．We feature a different state，park, and city destination on the front page of the website．These change frequently, so be sure to sign up for our newsletter so you can be sure to keep up with all the new information．
Another great feature we are offering is Guest Articles．These may come from a travel professional，author, parent or child about their travel ideas or offers．These informative articles are great to read and are perfect for discovering valuable tips and tricks for malting travel less stressful．Plus，in many articles you will discover some hidden gems(珍品)that you probably miss if you did not know about them．
One of the best things about our website is our ability to get you discounted Tours and Attraction Passes to the places you want to go most．This is a fantastic way to plan ahead and have your tours and passes paid for and pick them up before you leave your home．Now that is a helpful way to go．These programs can save you over 50％of what you could expect to pay when you arrive．And，we are adding new tours and programs every week．Be sure to check it out．
You can be sure we are working hard for you so that you can relax on your vacation. Let us do all the leg work for you so you can simply enjoy your family vacation!What does the writer want to do by writing this text?
| A．To give people tips on family vacations． |
| B．To offer travelers featured destinations． |
| C．To attract readers to surf a tourist website． |
| D．To introduce hidden gems for traveling． |
Why does the writer suggest surfing the website-frequently?
| A．Because the featured destinations are changeable． |
| B．Because the front page is quite unique |
| C．Because it can attract more advertisements． |
| D．Because it helps to sell more newsletters． |
What can we learn from Guest Articles?
| A．steps to sign up for the family vacation website． |
| B．Tips on keeping up with new travel information． |
| C．Tips and tricks for a comfortable trip. |
| D．Tricks for enjoying a free family vacation． |
Which isn’t the benefit that the website brings to us?
| A．We can get discounted Tours and Attraction Passes |
| B．We can get some information of new tours and programs |
| C．We can have our Passes in hand when starting off． |
| D．We can enjoy a family vacation with leg work． |
Which of the following shows the organization of the text?(P=Paragraph)
