E
City officials are hoping to use the power of dog droppings. San Franciscans already recycle more than 60% of their dogs’ droppings, but in this dog-friendly town, such wastes make up nearly 4% of residential waste, or 6,500 tons a year.
Within the next few months, Norcal Waste, a company that collects San Francisco’s wastes, will begin a trial program under which it uses biodegradable (生物分解的) bags and dog-waste carts to pick up droppings at a popular dog park.
The droppings will be thrown into a machine called a methane digester (沼气处理机), which is basically a tank in which bacteria feed on droppings for weeks to create methane gas.
The methane could then be piped directly to a gas stove, a steam heater, an air turbine or anything else powered by natural gas. It can also be used to produce electricity.
Someone doubts whether this plan is practical. But Norcal Waste spokesman, Robert Reed points to San Francisco’s creative food composting (混合肥料) program, which began 10 years ago. It is a proof that an unusual idea can work in this forward-thinking city. Norcal Waste collects 300 tons of food left over after meals per day from homes and restaurants and changes it into a rich fertilizer sold to grape farms and organic farms.
Methane digesters are nothing new. The technology was introduced in Europe about 20 years ago, and more than 600 farm-based digesters are in operation there. Nine are in use on California cow farms, and chicken and pig farms elsewhere in the United States also use them.
“The main obstacle is probably getting communities around the country the courage to collect dog droppings, to give value to something we’d rather not talk about,” Brinton, a recycling and composting consultant, said. “San Francisco is probably the king of pet cities. This could be an advantage of it, which is very important.”
Some other experts believe energy production from dog droppings must become more attractive economically before it gets popular. Landfill space is relatively cheap, and natural gas and electricity also remain fairly inexpensive. However, Reed said confidently, “Now, the city authorities asked us to look at dog waste specifically.”
61. How many dogs’ droppings can be recycled at present per year in San Francisco?
A. About 6,500 tons. B. About 169,000 tons.
C. About 260 tons. D. About 3,900 tons.
62. It can be inferred from the passage that .
A. there are many pets that are treated well in San Francisco
B. Norcal Waste is a company of refuse (垃圾) treatment, which collects dog wastes only
C. most of the farms in Europe use Methane digesters
D. Brinton doesn’t feel optimistic about the collection of dog droppings in San Francisco
63. The underlined word “obstacle” in Paragraph 7 most probably means .
A. interest B. effect C. difficulty D. purpose
64. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
A. San Francisco is a city full of innovation.
B. Dog droppings can be changed into methane gas in several days.
C. It is the first time to utilize animal waste in San Francisco.
D. Utilizing dog droppings presently is more economical than the landfill.
65. Which of the following can be the best title of this passage?
A. Animal wastes collection by Norcal Waste
B. Changing dog droppings into energy
C. Methane digester technology in San Francisco
D. A dog droppings composting program
Around twenty years ago I was going through hard times. I could not find a satisfying job. To my shame, I had to drive a school bus to make ends meet and lived in a friend’s house.
One afternoon, while driving through a quiet suburban (郊外的) neighborhood I was so sad that I kept asking myself “Why has my life become so hard?” “What’s wrong with the world?” Then I pulled over the bus to drop off a little girl and as she passed she handed me a pretty earring, saying she found it on the floor of the bus and I should keep it in case the owner came to look for it.
In the evening, the owner did come to look for her earring. When I handed it to her, she got very excited and continued saying “Thanks, you’re a real gentleman.” I told her that she should thank the little girl who had found it. She said, “Yes, and you are a good driver, too. What a lovely world it is!” Then she left with satisfaction. I was touched by her last words. I had thought something was wrong with the world just because of my poor condition. In fact, nothing was wrong with the world. I should change my attitude towards life. I should be positive about life.
At first it was hard, and then it got easier. Every day I could find things to make me happy. Then one night there was a phone call for me at my friend’s house from a lady who was a manager in a large hospital. She said she had read my application form and asked me if I would like to work in the hospital. I said yes and got the job. Looking back at the experience I know the most important is to have a positive attitude towards life.We know from the second paragraph that ________.
| A．the author cried while driving that afternoon |
| B．a girl picked up an earring before getting off |
| C．there was only one passenger on the bus |
| D．the girl gave the author an earning as a gift |
The author decided to have a change in life because ________.
| A．what the earring owner said moved him |
| B．he didn’t want to be a driver any more |
| C．his friends helped him become positive |
| D．he was offered a better job in a hospital |
When the author got a call from the manager of the hospital, he felt ________.
| A．annoyed | B．delighted | C．shocked | D．disappointed |
Who was the owner of the earring lost on the bus according go the passage?
| A．One of the author’s friends. | B．A real gentleman |
| C．A manager in a hospital | D．Not mentioned |
What does the author want to show in this passage?
| A．Lost things should be returned to the owner. |
| B．Life is usually hard for the young at the beginning. |
| C．One should hold a positive attitude towards life. |
| D．It is not easy to find a good job nowadays. |
While football fans feel strongly angry and shocked about mistakes made by referees (裁判) because they cannot see clearly what has happened, a small German company is quietly pleased.
For Cairos Technologies, mistakes made by referees are the kind of advertising that money cannot buy. The company has developed a tiny chip(芯片) that fits inside a football and determines whether the ball has crossed the goal line, by being able to discover its exact location on the field. The world football organization, FIFA, has shown interest in the technology. It is very possible that the new technology will be used in the 2006 World Cup in Germany.
"We've been testing the technology at the main soccer stadium in Nuremberg for some time and more recently in an under-17 FIFA Cup in Peru," said Gunter Rohmer, a director of the company. "The technology has performed well, and we're pretty optimistic（乐观）that it will be used at the games in Germany next year."
The chip only weighs 12 grams, and is placed in the center of the football. It sends 2,000 signals a second to a receiver network of 12 antennas(天线),placed around the field. The receivers then send information about the ball's location to a central computer, and because it works in real time, it can immediately tell the referee whether a goal has been scored. The chip even can tell when the ball crosses the line in mid-air. Oliver Braun, one of the inventors of the chip, says that feedback from German referees was generally positive. Germany sports-wear giant Adidas is also optimistic about using this kind of chip in other ball sports.
FIFA aims to test the technology later this year at another game in Japan before deciding whether or not to introduce it in all 12 stadiums in Germany for next year's World Cup.Carlos Technologies is pleased because ________.
| A．football fans are angry with referees |
| B．their new product can satisfy football fans |
| C．their new product will have a good market |
| D．they can sell a lot of football in the future |
In the first sentence in Paragraph 2,"... mistakes made by referees are the kind of advertising that money cannot buy" means ___________.
| A．Carlos Technologies can't afford the high price for advertising their product |
| B．Mistakes in production are also a kind of advertisement |
| C．Carios Technologies has already spent a lot of money on advertising their product |
| D．Referees' mistakes will be of great help for the sale of Carlos Technologies' new product |
The underlined word "feedback" probably means ___________.
| A．information given back by a user | B．advice given by someone |
| C．supplying food to customers | D．food given back by consumers |
The new product has drawn attention from some _________.
| A．famous people | B．referees | C．big companies | D．countries |
According to the passage , the following are true except _______ .
| A．The chip sends 2,000 signals a second |
| B．The chip even can tell when the ball crosses the line in mid-air. |
| C．The chip will be used at the game in Japan. |
| D．The chip will also be used at the games in Germany next year." |
Louis Pasteur, one of the world's great scientists, was born in 1822, and died in 1895.While still a young boy, Louis Pasteur made his decision to become a scientist. He spent much of his life time studying the diseases of cattle, chickens and other tame animals. His wife learned to help him with his work. Almost everyone knows that Pasteur is the man responsible for finding a way of preventing milk from spoiling (变质). Not many people know he was the first to imagine and to prove that air we breathe is full of germs (细菌). One of his greatest successes was finding a treatment for people and animals to prevent a disease called rabies (狂犬病). Louis Pasteur won many honors and could have got large amount of money. But Pasteur preferred to live simply. The real happiness of this unusual man came from his work. Louis Pasteur did so well in his life that the French government took up his work and created the Institute Pasteur in the year 1888.According to the passage, which of the following statements is true?
| A．Pasteur was a scientist and doctor as well. |
| B．Pasteur lived for less than seventy years. |
| C．Everybody knows that Pasteur succeeded in finding a way of preventing milk from spoiling. |
| D．Pasteur's wife was of some help to him in his work.. |
From the passage, we know that Pasteur lived a simple life. This is because ________.
| A．he earned little money. |
| B．he cared much about money. |
| C．what he really enjoyed was a simple life. |
| D．of all mentioned above. |
Why were many honors given to Louis Pasteur?
| A．Because he was the greatest scientist in the world. |
| B．Because he spent much of his life time studying the diseases of people . |
| C．Because he lived simply. |
| D．Because he was a great success as a scientist. |
Pasteur could have got large amount of money if he had___________.
| A．cared much about it. |
| B．made more discoveries. |
| C．lived a better life. |
| D．achieved more successes. |
To Louis Pasteur the real happiness in his life was to __________.
| A．study | B．work |
| C．get large amount of money | D．raise tame animals |
If you see someone drowning, speed is very important. Once you get him out of the water, if he isn't breathing, you have four minutes before his brain is completely destroyed. Support his neck, move his head back and press his chin upwards. This stops the tongue blocking the airway in the throat and is sometimes enough to get him breathing again. If that doesn't work, start mouth-to-mouth breathing. Press his nostrils (the two holes at the end of your nose, through which you breathe and smell things) together with your fingers. Open your mouth and take a deep breath. Blow into his lungs until his chest rises, then remove your mouth and watch his chest fall. Repeat twelve times a minute. Keep doing until professional help arrives.
To bring a child back to life, keep your lips around his mouth and gently blow into his mouth. Give the first four breaths as quickly as possible to fill the blood with oxygen. If, in spite of your efforts, he starts turning a blue-grey colour, and you can feel no pulse(脉搏), then pressing is the last chance of saving his life.
With arms straight, rock forwards, pressing down on the lower half of the breastbone. Don't be too hard or you may break a rib. Check how effective you are by seeing if his colour improves or his pulse becomes independent to your chest pressing. If this happens, stop the pressing. Otherwise continue until rescue arrives. If you want to save someone drowning, you __________.
| A．have to pull off his clothes first . |
| B．should try to get him out of water as quickly as possible. |
| C．should first make out who he is. |
| D．ought to throw a life coat to him first . |
Once a person stops breathing, it means ___________.
| A．you have no more than 4 minutes to bring him to life again . |
| B．his brain is completely damaged . |
| C．he has passed away. |
| D．there is no way to save his life . |
To press his chin upwards is a way to _____________.
| A．keep the tongue from blocking the airway in the throat . |
| B．prevent the tongue from stopping the airway in the throat . |
| C．wipe the tongue out of the throat . |
| D．see if he can possibly be saved . |
If the drowning boy has no pulse,_____________.
| A．press his chin upwards is enough to get him breathing . |
| B．blow air into his mouth is sure to save his life . |
| C．press his nostrils together with your fingers can work . |
| D．press is the last chance of saving his life . |
Which of the following statement is true?
| A．Don’t stop pressing his chest, if the drowning man starts breathing again. |
| B．If you see someone drowning, you must give him mouth-to-mouth breathing. |
| C．If a man does not breathe for four minutes, his brain will be completely destroyed. |
| D．When pressing, you can do it as hard as you can. |
Popeye the Sailor first became a popular cartoon in the 1930s.The sailor in that cartoon ate lots of spinach to make him strong. People watched him, and they began to buy and eat a lot more spinach. Popeye helped sell 33 percent more spinach than before! Spinach became a necessary part of many people’s diets. Even some children who hated the taste began to eat the vegetable.
Many people thought that the iron in spinach made Popeye strong, but this is not true. Spinach does not have any more iron than any other green vegetable. People only thought spinach had a lot of iron because the people who studied the food made a mistake. In the 1890s, a group of people studied what was inside vegetables. This group said that spinach had ten times more iron than it did. The group wrote the number wrong, and everyone accepted it.
Today, we know that the little iron there is in spinach cannot make a difference in how strong a person is. However, spinach does have something else which the body needs—folic acid.
It is interesting to point out that folic acid can help make a person strong. Maybe it was really the folic acid that made Popeye strong all along.A good title for this reading passage is______.
| A．Popeye the Sailor | B．The Truth About Spinach |
| C．A Mistake with Numbers | D．Folic Acid Makes You Strong |
Why did many people eat spinach after they saw Popeye the Sailor?
| A．They thought spinach made them strong. |
| B．They thought Popeye was funny. |
| C．Spinach had a lot of iron. |
| D．People liked folic acid. |
A research group told people that spinach______.
| A．made Popeye strong |
| B．was a green vegetable |
| C．had less iron than other green vegetables |
| D．had more iron than other green vegetables |
The reading passage says that perhaps Popeye got his strength from______.
| A．iron | B．folic acid | C．spinach | D．exercise |
Folic acid is ______.
| A．something in food | B．a vegetable | C．dangerous | D．a certain kind of spinach |