The world economy has run into a brick wall. Despite countless warnings in recent years about the need to address a looming(逼近) hunger crisis in poor countries and a looming energy crisis worldwide, world leaders failed to think ahead. The result is a global food crisis. Wheat, corn and rice prices increases combined with soaring energy costs will slow if not stop economic growth in many parts of the world and will even undermine(破坏) political stability, as evidenced by the protest riots that have erupted in places like Haiti, Bangladesh and Burkina Faso. Practical solutions to these growing woes do exist, but we'll have to start thinking ahead and acting globally.
So, what should be done?Here are three steps to ease the current crisis and avert(防止, 避免) the potential for a global disaster. The first is to scale-up(按比例增加,扩大) the dramatic success of Malawi, a famine-prone(遭遇饥荒) country in southern Africa, which three years ago established a special fund to help its farmers get fertilizer and high-yield seeds. Malawi's harvest doubled after just one year. An international fund based on the Malawi model would cost a mere $10 per person annually in the rich world, or $10 billion in all.
Second, the U.S. and Europe should abandon their policies of subsidizing(给补助金) the conversion of food into biofuels(生物燃料).
Third, we urgently need to weatherproof(使防风雨) the world's crops as soon and as effectively as possible. For a poor farmer, sometimes something as simple as a farm pond--which collects rainwater to be used for emergency irrigation in a dry spell--can make the difference between a bountiful crop and a famine. The world has already committed to establishing a Climate Adaptation Fund to help poor regions climate-proof vital economic activities such as food production and health care but has not yet acted upon the promise.
The food crisis provides not only a warning but also an opportunity. We need to invest vastly more in sustainable development in order to achieve true global security and economic growth.Which of the following is the best title?
| A.How to end the global food shortage |
| B.How to end the global disaster |
| C.How to help the farmers in the poor countries |
| D.How to subsidize the farmers to increase food products |
The word “woes” in paragraph one is most likely to mean .
| A.hunger | B.things | C.matters | D.disasters |
What does the author think of the global food shortage?
| A.people in the world can do nothing. |
| B.The global food crisis will continue. |
| C.The food crisis provides not only a warning but also an opportunity. |
| D.We don’ know. |
What measures should be taken to ease the current crisis and avert the potential for a global disaster?
| A.to scale-up the dramatic success of Malawi |
| B.the U.S. and Europe should abandon their policies of subsidizing the conversion of food into biofuels |
| C.to prevent the world's crops from being destroyed by weather as soon and as effectively as possible. |
| D.All above . |
Are your children liked by their teachers? All parents want their children to impress(给...的印象) their teachers and succeed in school. You can get your children to impress their teachers by following these easy steps.
Make sure they’re prepared. Teachers are impressed by children coming to school prepared to learn. Make sure they have everything they need—pencils textbooks, erasers and so on.
Require them to be active in class. Teach them to ask teachers questions when they don’t understand something. Some children think teachers are bothered by questions, but most teachers are impressed when children take the initiative(采取主动) in asking questions. They should take part in class discussions, giving their opinions politely.
Keep your children healthy. If your children are tired and hungry, they won’t be ready to learn. Children need at least 8 to 10 hours of sleep per night. Feed your children a solid breakfast and prepare a healthy lunch. Provide them with fruit and other healthy foods—apples or bananas are better for them than cookies.
Make sure that your children do their homework. If they really don’t understand it, discuss it with them patiently. Don’t help them do their homework. Teachers can always tell who it is that does the work.
Teach your children good manners and habits. Children need to arrive at the school punctually, and be polite to their teachers and classmates. Parents need to teach these skills at home. Nothing is sweeter than children who say “please” and “thank you”, and these are children their teachers are certain to love.The first paragraph serves as ________.
| A.an explanation | B.an introduction | C.a background | D.a guidance |
Which of the following statements is NOT true?
| A.Hungry and tired children can’t focus on their study. |
| B.Children should go to school on time and learn to behave well. |
| C.Teachers aren’t able to decide if parents do homework for their children. |
| D.Teachers are impressed when children take an active part in class. |
The passage mainly tells us that being parents, you should ________.
| A.help your children to impress their teachers at school |
| B.ask your children to get ready for classes before going to school |
| C.teach your children to be polite to both their teachers and classmates |
| D.remind your children to observe all the rules when at school |
In the mid 1990’s, people started doing business on the Internet. At that time, there were two kinds of companies. First, there were traditional companies. They sold things in stores. Then there were Internet companies. They didn’t have a store, and they only sold things on the Net.
Traditional companies didn’t want to lose any business. Quickly they made their own websites and began selling things on the Net. These are the so-called “brick and click” companies. Many stores are made of brick. And you click on your mouse to buy things with your computer. That’s where the name “brick and click” comes from.
By the late 1990’s, e-business like amazon com , buy com. and etoys com. were in trouble. Their profits(利润) were not very high. Competition was great. Many of these businesses were losing lots of money. In 2000, many e-business went out of business.
Why are “brick and click” companies, like Barnes and Noble, Toys RVs and Walmart so successful? First, many customers know and trust their names. Their websites like walmart.com. are easy to remember. These companies also have lots of experience. They know how to run a successful business.
In the world of e-commerce, companies are fighting for every dollar and every customer. Will “brick and click” companies win the war? Only time will tell.What did many traditional companies do in the mid 1990’s? .
| A.They went out of business. |
| B.They made their websites. |
| C.They bought Internet companies. |
| D.They sold their companies. |
What gave Internet companies lots of trouble in the late 1990’s?
| A.Heavy competition |
| B.They were short of money. |
| C.They didn’t know what to do. |
| D.people didn’t believe in them. |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A.All the “brick and click” companies run a successful business. |
| B.“Brick and click” companies are certain to win the business competition. |
| C.It is uncertain whether “brick and click” companies will win the competition. |
| D.Both “brick and click” companies and Internet companies will be successful in the future. |
Life gets noisier every day and very few people can be free from noise of some sort or another. It doesn’t matter where you live- in the middle of a modern city, or a faraway village the chances that you will be disturbed by jet planes , transistor radios, oil-powered engines, etc, are almost everywhere. We seem to be getting used to noise, too. Some people feel quite lonely without background music while they are working.
Scientific tests have shown that total silence can be very frightening experience for human beings. However, some people enjoy listening to pop music which is very loud, and this can do harm to their eardrums (耳鼓). The noise level in some disco is far above the usual safety level for heavy industrial areas.
One recent report about noise and concentration(专心) suggested that although a lot of people say that any noise disturbs their concentration , what really affects their ability to concentrate is a change in the level of noise. It goes on to say that a background noise, which doesn’t change too much (music, for example ) may even help people to concentrate.The best title for this passage is________.
| A.Noisy Life |
| B.Background Noise |
| C.Disturbed Concentration |
| D.Changeable Noise |
From this passage, the pollution of noise __________.
| A.doesn’t matter much |
| B.has become better in big cities |
| C.has become better in villages |
| D.has become worse everywhere |
Scientists have discovered that what prevents people from concentrating is _________.
| A.any kind of noise |
| B.great changes in level of noise |
| C.background noise |
| D.various background music |
An 80-year-old man was sitting on the sofa in his house along with his 45-year-old son. Suddenly a crow (乌鸦) landed on their window.
The father asked his son, “What is that?”
The son replied, “That is a crow.”
After a few minutes, the father asked his son for the second time, “What is this?”
The son said, “Father, I told you just now. It’s a crow.”
After a little while, the father asked his son the same question for the third time, “What is this?”
This time, the son said to his father in a low and cold tone, “It’s a crow, a crow.”
After a moment, the father yet again asked his son for the fourth time, “What is this?”
This time his son shouted at his father, “Why do you keep asking me the same question again and again? I have told you already, ‘IT IS A CROW’. Are you not able to understand this?”
A minute later the father went to his room and came back with a diary, which he had kept since his son was born. On opening a page, he asked his son to read that page.
Today my little son aged three was sitting with me on the sofa when a crow suddenly landed on the window edge. My son asked me 23 times what it was, and I replied him 23 times that it was a crow. I hugged him lovingly each time he asked me the same question. I didn’t at all feel angry, but instead felt affection for my son.
If your parents reach old age, do not look at them as a burden, but speak to them gently, and be kind to them. From today say this aloud, “I want to see my parents happy forever. They have cared for me ever since I was a little child. They have always showered me with love. I will take care of my old parents in the best way no matter how they behave.”The old man brought out the diary, which he had kept since his son was born, because ______.
| A.he forgot what had happened |
| B.he would like his son to read it |
| C.it could remind himself of the past |
| D.he wanted to find what a crow was |
The underlined word “affection” (last but one Para.) probably means______.
| A.puzzle | B.hatred(恨) | C.worry | D.love |
The writer mainly intends to ______ .
| A.tell us the function (作用) of a diary |
| B.call on us to love our parents |
| C.teach us what a crow is |
| D.introduce a pair of son and father |
There once was a very honest shopkeeper whose business was to provide goods to the local people. He would open his shop at 8:00 a.m. after having his breakfast and at 1:00 p.m. he would go for lunch. In the evening at 8:30 p.m. he closed his shop to complete his daily routine.
However, to get time for lunch was really difficult be-cause he didn’t have anybody to help him at that time. Therefore, it was his daily practice that whichever customer was shopping at 1:00 p.m. would be asked to oversee (看管) the shop until the shopkeeper returned from lunch.
One day, a group of four thieves planned to steal from his shop while he was gone for lunch. One of the thieves went at 1:00 p.m. to be the customer that would be asked to oversee the shop.
The thief, pretending to be a customer, went in at 1:00 p.m. and started buying several items. As planned, the shop-keeper asked the thief to sit on his chair for thirty minutes until he returned from lunch.
Then, the other three thieves quickly came and told the pretend customer to help, but something had changed within him and he knew deeply in his heart that if he was given responsibility for the shop, he should not perform any dishonest acts during that time. His friends did not agree. As the now honest man tried to stop them, they resisted (抵抗) and a fight started. And at the same time the shopkeeper returned and asked why there was a fighting. The now honest man explained the entire plan.
The shopkeeper had been searching for an honest man who could take ownership of the shop and run it. The shop-keeper felt that he had found the right man.What is the problem for the shopkeeper?
| A.Nobody could prepare lunch for him every day. |
| B.He had nobody to keep the shop when he went for lunch. |
| C.He was too busy to have lunch every day. |
| D.He couldn’t find a person to work at the shop. |
Why did the thief go to the shop at 1:00 p.m.?
| A.Because he thought he would be asked to keep the shop. |
| B.Because the shopkeeper invited him to lunch then. |
| C.Because the shop was closed at that time. |
| D.Because he thought he could buy cheap things then. |
When the shopkeeper returned from lunch, he found _______.
| A.everything in his shop was stolen |
| B.the thief became the new owner of the shop |
| C.there was a fighting in his shop |
| D.the thief helped his fellows steal things from his shop |
From the passage, we can infer that _______.
| A.once a thief, he will always be a thief |
| B.an honest man will be responsible for his action |
| C.you can’t believe in a dishonest man forever |
| D.trust can change a thief into an honest man |