Sports can help you keep fit and get in touch with nature. However, whether you are on the mountains, in the waves, or on the grassland, you should be aware that your sport of choice might have great influence on the environment.
Some sports are resource-hungry. Golf, as you may know, eats up not only large areas of countryside, but also tons of water. Besides, all sorts of chemicals and huge amounts of energy are used to keep its courses（球场）in good condition. This causes major environmental effects. For example, in the dry regions of Portugal and Spain, golf is often held responsible for serious water shortage in some local areas.
There are many environment-friendly sports. Power walking is one of them that you could take up today. You don’t need any special equipment except a good pair of shoes; and you don’t have to worry about resources and your purse. Simple and free, power walking can also keep you fit. If you walk regularly, it will be good for your heart and bones. Experts say that 20 minutes of power walking daily can make you feel less anxious, sle
ep well and have better weight control.
Whatever sport you take up, you can make it greener by using environment-friendly equipment and buying products made from recycled materials. But the final goal should be “green gyms”. They are better replacements for traditional health clubs and modern sports centers. Members of green gyms play sports outdoors, in the countryside or other open spaces. There is no special requirement for you to start your membership. And best of all, it’s free.
57. Which of the following is the author most probably in favor of?
A. Cycling around a lake B. Motor racing in the desert
C. Playing basketball in a gym D. Swimming in a sports center
58. What do we know about golf from the passage?
A. It is popular in Portugal and Spain
B. It causes water shortages around the world
C. It pollutes the earth with chemicals and wastes
D. It needs water and electricity to keep its courses green
59. The author uses power walking as an example mainly because______.
A. it is an outdoor sport B. it improves our health
C. it uses fewer resources D. it is recommended by experts
60. The author writes the passage to ______.
A. show us the function of major sports B. encourage us to go in for green sports
C. discuss the major influence of popular sports
D. introduce different types of environment-friendly sports.
Greeks play a special game at Easter and it’s good fun! The rules of the game are as follows: 1．Everyone picks out a hard-boiled Waster Egg．2．Each player finds a partner．One person will be a “holder”, and the other will be a “tapper”．Holders should hold the egg with either the pointy end or the round end facing up．Tappers should hold the egg with that same end facing down．Tapping must be done pointy-end-to-pointy-end or round-end-to-round-end．3．With one good tap, the tapper tries to crack the holder’s egg．One player will end up with a cracked egg．4．Each player finds another partner and repeats steps 2 and 3．（After one end of the egg is cracked, players may continue to play using the uncracked end）．5．A player loses when both ends of his egg have been cracked．The winner is the person who still has an uncracked egg．6．Enjoy eating the eggs!
Dye your Easter eggs．With an adult’s help, dye hard-boiled eggs red using food coloring or egg dye．For a nice sheen, use a paper towel to rub some oil on each egg．But don’t use too much oil---you wouldn’t want your egg to slide out of your hand when you play the egg-cracking game!
Why dye eggs red? Eggs represent new life and the red dye symbolizes the pain and suffering in the past．
Why crack eggs? Some say that the cracking of the eggs symbolizes a wish to break away from human misery and enter the new life．A player has to drop out of the game when _____．
| A．the pointy end of his egg is cracked |
| B．the round end of his egg is cracked |
| C．his egg slides out of the hand |
| D．his egg is cracked at both ends |
Why is oil rubbed on the egg?
| A．To give the egg a shiny appearance |
| B．To make the game more difficult to play |
| C．To protect the hand of the player |
| D．To symbolize the wealth of the Greeks |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．The holders hold the eggs with the pointy end facing up in most cases |
| B．If one end of the player’s egg is cracked, he will eat the egg |
| C．The player in the game must dye his egg red independently |
| D．It’s said that the broken eggs represent the wish to lead a new life |
Which of the following is the best title for the passage?
| A．The suffering of the Greeks | B．The Easter holidays |
| C．Celebrate Greek Easter | D．A special game |
With the rapid social development, the Internet now provides social networks that include online movies and videos．The major television networks have much less control over your mind and their broadcasts for entertainment and, more importantly, advertising．It has long been known that television’s audience will spend more time on the Internet than watching TV．People have found another means of entertainment by going to websites which seem to satisfy their specific interests more completely．This isn’t very good news for the television networks．
The influence of people using DVRs （Digital Video Recorder） also has led to fewer and fewer viewers watching television commercials．Market research indicates the effectiveness of TV ads is getting weaker as a result．Many DVR owners are fast forwarding and skipping television commercials．With viewers now spending an average of four times longer on the Internet and more viewers avoiding commercials, this trend isn’t good for television’s advertising revenues（收益）．
Major TV advertisers know full well that their advertising dollars on TV aren’t as an effective investment as they once were．The major players in advertising have been moving towards the Internet as a serious alternative means of advertising．
For thousands of people involved in Internet marketing, it’s history-making to share the revenue that previously all went to major television networks．There’s already a group of Internet marketers being paid a larger amount of advertising revenue．These are everyday people that work usually from home on their own．Advertisers can direct their advertising to websites where viewer types are more likely to be interested in their product or service．
The development of the Internet and its role and change in our lives cannot be compared to any other form of media created throughout the history of mankind．People are going to websites for entertainment because _______．
| A．they’d like to follow the last trend |
| B．there are fewer commercials |
| C．there are more movies and videos |
| D．they can choose what meets their particular needs |
We can learn from the second paragraph that ______．
| A．viewers are bored with television commercials |
| B．the television viewing time should be limited |
| C．many television commercials are of poor quality |
| D．there are more commercials on DVRs than on TV |
It can be inferred from the passage that _____．
| A．people spend time on the Internet mainly for entertainment |
| B．most people prefer to work at home nowadays |
| C．the Internet will attract more and more advertisers |
| D．the appearance of TV changed our lives |
The passage mainly tells us ________．
| A．the rapid social development |
| B．the fast development of the Internet advertising |
| C．the way to advertise on the Internet |
| D．the influence of television commercials |
“To be or not to be”.Outside the Bible, these six words are the most famous in all the literature of the world.They were spoken by Hamlet when he was thinking aloud, and they are the most famous words in Shakespeare because Hamlet was speaking not only for himself but for every thinking man and woman.To be or not to be----to live or not to live, to live richly and abundantly and eagerly, or to live dully and meanly and scarcely．A philosopher(哲学家) once wanted to know whether he was alive or not, which is a good question for everyone to put to himself occasionally.He answered it by saying, “I think, therefore I am.”
But the best definition of existence I ever saw was one written by another philosopher who said, “To be is to be in relations.” If this is true, then the more relations a living thing has, the more it is alive．To live abundantly means simply to increase the range and intensity （强度）of our relations．Unfortunately, we are so constituted (自作决定的)that we get to love our routine．But other than our regular occupation, how much are we alive? If you are interested only in your regular occupation, you are alive only to that extent．So far as other things are concerned----poetry and prose, music, pictures, sports unselfish friendships, politics, international affairs----you are dead.
On the contrary, it is true that every time you acquire a new interest----even more, a new accomplishment----you increase your power of life．No one who is deeply interested in different kinds of subjects can remain unhappy.The real pessimist is the person who has lost interest．
Bacon said that a man dies as often as he loses a friend．But we gain new life by contacts with new friends, and new ideas and thoughts, too．Where your thoughts are, there will be your life also．If your thoughts are limited only to your business, only to your physical welfare, only to your narrow circle of the town in which you live, then you live in a narrow restricted (有限的) life．But if you are interested in the characters of a good novel, then you are living with those highly interested people; if you listen intently to fine music, you are always away from immediate surroundings and living in a world of passion and imagination．
To be or not to be ---- to live intensely and richly, or merely to exist, that depends on ourselves.Let us widen and intensify our relations．While we live, let us live．What does the author mainly want to do by this passage?
| A．Argue against an idea． | B．Put forward an idea． |
| C．Introduce some famous sayings． | D．Explain some famous sayings． |
What does the underlined word “pessimist” most probably mean?
| A．Somebody who always expects the worst to happen． |
| B．Somebody who is always interested in making new friends． |
| C．Somebody who always lives in a world of passion and imagination． |
| D．Somebody who likes to live a rich and abundant life． |
Which of the following behaviors is most probably NOT encouraged by the author?
| A．Thinking more than your own business． |
| B．Caring only about your physical welfare． |
| C．Reading good novels． |
| D．Listening to fine music． |
What is the main idea of the passage?
| A．To be or not to be, that is a question． | B．I think, therefore I am． |
| C．To be is to be in relations． | D．A man dies as often as he loses a friend． |
Many of the most damaging types of weather begin quickly, strike suddenly, and disappear rapidly, destroying small areas while leaving neighboring areas untouched. Such event as a tornado(龙卷风) struck the northeastern part of Edmonton, Alberta, in July 1987. Total damages from the tornado went beyond $250 million, the highest ever for any Canadian storm.
Traditional computer models of the atmosphere have limited value in predicting short-lived local storms like the Edmonton tornado, because the available weather data are generally not detailed enough to allow computers to study carefully the slight atmospheric changes that come before these storms. In most nations, for example, weather-balloon observations are taken just once every twelve hours at places separated by hundreds of miles. With such limited data, traditional forecasting models do a much better job predicting general weather conditions over large areas than they do forecasting specific local events.
Until recently, the observation intensive (十分细致) method needed for exact, very short-range forecasts, or “Nowcasts,” was not possible. The cost of equipping and operating many thousands of conventional weather stations was extremely high, and the difficulties concerned in rapidly collecting and processing the weather data from such a network were hard to overcome.
Fortunately, scientific and technological advances have overcome most of these problems. Radar(雷达) systems and satellites are all able to make detailed, nearly continuous observation over large areas at a lower cost. Communications satellites can send out data around the world cheaply and immediately, and modern computers can quickly collect and analyze this large amount of weather information.
Meteorologists(气象学者) and computer scientists now work together to design computer programs and video equipment able to change weather data into words and graphic displays(图解) that forecasters can understand easily and quickly. As meteorologists have begun using these new technologies in weather forecasting offices, nowcasting is becoming a reality.Why can’t traditional computer models predict short-lived local storms?
| A．The weather data people collect are often wrong. |
| B．Detailed weather data in some small areas are not available. |
| C．The computers are not advanced enough to predict them. |
| D．The computers are not used to forecast specific local events. |
The word “Nowcast” in Paragraph 3 means .
| A．a network to collect storm data |
| B．a way of collecting weather data |
| C．a more advanced system of weather observation |
| D．a forecast which can predict weather in the small area |
What can make “Nowcasts” a reality according to the passage?
| A．Scientific and technological advances. | B．Advanced computer programs. |
| C．Computer scientists. | D．Meteorologists. |
What does the passage mainly talk about?
A.The advantages of “Nowcatsts”.
B.A tornado in Edmonton, A1bertA.
C.The difficulty in predicting tornado.
D.A great development in weather forecast.
Beldon and Canfield are two seashore towns, not far apart．Both towns have many hotels, and in summer the hotels are full of holiday-makers and other tourists．
Last August there was a fire at the Seabreeze Hotel in Beldon．The next day, this news appeared on page two of the town’s newspaper.The Beldon Post:
FIRE AT SEABREEZE
Late last night firemen hurried to the Seabreeze Hotel and quickly put out a small fire in a bedroom．The hotel manager said that a cigarette started the fire.We say again to all our visitors： “Please don’t smoke cigarettes in bed.” This was Beldon’s first hotel fire for five years.
The Canfield Times gave the news in these words on page one：
ANOTHER BELDON HOTEL CATCHES FIRE
Last night Beldon firemen arrived just too late to save clothing, bedclothes and some furniture at the Seabreeze Hotel．An angry holiday-maker said, “An electric lamp probably started the fire．The bedroom lamps are very old at some of these hotels．When I put my bed side light on, I heard a funny noise from the lamp.” We are glad to tell our readers that this sort of adventure does not happen in Canfield．
What are the facts, then? It is never easy to find out the exact truth about an accident．There was a fire at the Seabreeze Hotel last August: that is one fact．Do we know anything else? Yes, we know that firemen went to the hotel．
Now what do you think of the rest of the “news” ?Which of the following best gives the main idea of this text?
| A．Beldon and Canfield are both good places for tourists in summer． |
| B．A fire broke out at night in Seabreeze Hotel last summer． |
| C．Two newspapers gave reports on the same matter． |
| D．It was not easy to find out exact truth from newspapers． |
Which of the following are probably facts?
a.The fire broke out in a bedroom at the hotel．
b.A cigarette started the fire．
c.An old lamp started the fire．
d.The fire broke out at night．
e.There has never been a fire in Canfield．
| A．b and c | B．c and e | C．a and d | D．a and c |
The Canfield Times used the headline like this in order to make its readers think _____________．
| A．hotels in Beldon often catch fire |
| B．hotels in Beldon don’t often catch fire |
| C．Beldon was a good place except that hotels there are not quite safe |
| D．this was the second fire at the Seabreeze Hotel |
The Canfield newspaper gave a report just the opposite to the Beldon Post by saying that _______．
| A．the bedroom lamps were very old at the Seabreeze Hotel |
| B．the bedroom lights made funny noise when the fire took place |
| C．the firemen failed to save clothing, bedclothes and other things |
| D．such accidents never happened in Canfield for the past 5 years |