While scientists are worried that humans are causing higher temperatures on the Earth, a Maryland man, Ace, thinks we can save the world by spraying(喷射)huge amounts of water into the air.
Ace told the McClatchy News Service that at least 1,000 places should be chosen to spray water. The water would be sprayed between 20 and 200 feet into the air. Thousands of tons of seawater would be sprayed for years at a time.
The 1,000 sites would be picked after more studies. They would be mostly in the Northern Hemisphere(北半球). Ace says he would avoid tropical(热带的)areas of the globe. He says water turns to rain too quickly in these areas for his plan to work.
The water would be changed into vapor. That process requires heat. The water vapor would rise above the Earth. The water vapor would form clouds. The clouds would help in several ways. They would cool the Earth by reflecting sunlight. They would later turn into rains. The rains would provide another way of cooling the Earth.
Ace’s plan has gotten some support from a limited scientific study. Kenneth Caldeira is a climate scientist. He works at the Carnegie Institution’s Department of Global Ecology at Stanford University in California. Caldeira tested some of the Ace’s figures on a computer program. The computer model is used by top scientists to study global climate change. The model showed that the plan might work.
“More tests are planned in 2009. Ideas like Ace’s should be considered carefully and with an open mind,” Calderira said. “Every brilliant(卓越的)invention in the history of technology looked a little bit mad when first put forward.”
65.What’s the purpose of Ace’s plan?
A. To reduce air pollution.
B. To make summer cooler.
C. To offer dry areas more rain.
D. To solve the problem of global warming.
66.According to Ace’s plan,___________.
A. planes would be used to spray water.
B. it would be best to spray water on rainy days.
C. seawater would be sprayed high into the sky
D.1,000 sites in the Southern Hemisphere would be chosen.
67.Why wouldn’t Ace spray water in tropical areas?
A. Water is changed into vapor too quickly.
B. Water turns to rain too quickly.
C. It is hard for vapor to form clouds.
D. It is bad for local plants to have too much rain.
68. It seems that Caldeira ____________.
A. takes Ace’s plan seriously
B. thinks Ace’s idea too crazy
C. doesn’t believe the computer’s result
D. agrees to carry out Ace’s plan right away
Saturday, October 7th, was a marathon of sad tasks for Anna Politkovskaya. Two weeks earlier, her father, a retired official in the department of foreign affairs, had died of a heart attack as he emerged from the Moscow Metro while on his way to visit Politkovskaya’s mother, Raisa Mazepa, in the hospital. She had just been diagnosed(诊断) with cancer and was too weak even to attend her husband’s funeral. “Your father will forgive me, because he knows that I have always loved him,” she told Anna and her sister, Elena Kudimova, the day he was buried. A week later, she had an operation and since then Anna and Elena had been taking turns helping her deal with her grief.
Politkovskaya was supposed to spend the day at the hospital, but her twenty-six-year-old daughter, who was pregnant, had just moved into Politkovskaya’s apartment, on Lesnaya Street, while her own place was being prepared for the baby. “Anna had so much on her mind,” Elena Kudimova told me when we met in London, before Christmas. “And she was trying to finish her article.” Politkovskaya was a special reporter for the small newspaper Novaya Gazeta, and, like most of her work, the piece focused on the terror that can be seen all over the southern republic of Chechnya. This time, she had been trying to report repeated cruel acts done by people faithful to the Prime Minister, Ramzan Kadyrov, who are in favour of Russia. In the past seven years, Politkovskaya had written dozens of accounts of life during wartime; many had been collected in her book “A Small Corner of Hell: reports from Chechnya.” Politkovskaya was far more likely to spend time in a hospital than on a battlefield, and her writing bore frequent witness to robbery, and the uncontrolled cruelty of life in a place that few other Russians—and almost no other reporters—cared to think about. Politkovskaya’s father died of ______.
A.tiredness | B.a disease | C.an attack | D.an accident |
From the text we know that Raisa Mazepa ______.
A.didn’t love her husband |
B.didn’t attend her husband’s funeral |
C.was having an operation the day her husband was buried |
D.was too sad to attend her husband’s funeral |
The underlined word “emerged” most likely means ______.
A.came out | B.went into | C.looked into | D.left for |
How many family members of Anna are mentioned in the passage?
A.Three. | B.Four | C.Five | D.Six |
Which of the following words can best describe Politkovskaya’s character?
A.curious | B.easy-going | C.careless | D.responsible |
Researchers believe that the insect(昆虫) is better at managing congestion (拥挤) than humans. Ants are the most many type of animal on earth with brains that contain about 250,000 cells ---- the largest among insects.
Now an intelligence expert Dr. Dirk Helbing says understanding more about ants could help solve one of the headaches of modern life -- road congestion.
His team set up an "ant motorway" with two routes of different widths from the nest to some sugar syrup (糖浆). Soon the narrower(更窄的) route soon became crowded(拥挤的). But when an ant returning along the crowded route to the nest met with another ant just starting out, the returning ant pushed the newcomer onto the other path. However, if the returning ant had enjoyed a trouble-free journey, it did not send the newcomer in a different direction.
The result was that just before one route became clogged , the ants had turned to another route and traffic jams never formed.
The researchers also created a computer model of more complex ant networks with routes of different lengths. The team found that even though ants being sent in another direction sometimes took a longer route, they still got to the food quickly and efficiently.
Dr. Helbing, of the Dresden University of Technology in Germany, said that while you cannot allow cars to meet with traffic coming in the opposite(相反的)direction as a form of traffic control, you could do the next best thing and allow them to communicate.
His plan is to force cars traveling in one direction to tell oncoming traffic what the conditions they are about to meet with-- so they can avoid that situation if necessary.The first paragraph suggests that _______.
A.ants have a special way to manage congestion |
B.ants are clever and good at dealing with the traffic jams because of developed brain |
C.insects are similar to animals in dealing with the traffic jams because of developed brain |
D.insects have more advantages than humans |
The underlined word "clogged" can be replaced by _______ in the following four words.
A.cleaned | B.narrowed | C.crowded | D.shortened |
If an ant returns along crowded route to the nest, how does the ant solve the traffic problem?
A.The ant will change the direction of its own. |
B.The ant stopped the newcomer from moving ahead and forced the newcomer to wait there patiently. |
C.The ant can't direct the newcomer. |
D.The ant will push the newcomer to the other route, so traffic jams won't form. |
What's the advice that Dr. Helbing gives us?
A.The cars cannot be allowed to communicate with traffic coming in the opposite direction. |
B.The cars can communicate with traffic in the same direction. |
C.The cars that travel in one direction can tell oncoming traffic about the traffic conditions. |
D.We should build more routes of different lengths and widths. |
Bicycle tour and race
A bike tour and race will be held on August 26 and 27( Sat. &Sun.)at 5:30 am, the riders will leave Tian’an Men Square and ride the first 35 kilometers as a training leg. Then the next 55 kilometers leg, from Yanjiao to Jixian, will be the first competitive (比赛的)part of the tour. The riders and their bikes will then be taken from Jixian to Changli.
The second racing leg of the tour will be from Changli to seaside of Nandaihe, covering a distance of 20 kilometers. Saturday night includes the stay at Nandaihe and supper. Sunday morning is free for play at the seaside. At noon all the people and their bikes will be taken back to Beijing.
Cost: 200 yuan
Telephone: 4675027
Brazilian footballers
The Brazilian Football Club play Beijing Guo’an Team at the Workers Stadium on August 26.The club has four nation team players. Also coming is 1994 US World Cup star Ronario who has promised to play for at least 45 minutes.
Ticket prices: 60/100/150 yuan
Time /date: 4:30 pm, August 26(Sat.)
Telephone: 5012372`
Rocking climbing
The third National Rock Climbing Competition will be held on August 26~27 at the Huairou Mountain-climbing Training Base. More than 10 teams from Beijing, Wuhan, Dalian, Jilin and other places will take part in it. A Japanese team will give an exhibition climbing. Free for spectators(观众).
Take a long-distance bus from Dongzhimen to Huairou.
Time/Date: 9~12 am, August 26 and 27
Telephone: 7143177, 7144850 Wang ZhenghuaThe main purpose of announcing the above events is to give information about .
A.visiting teams | B.things to do for the weekend |
C.famous players | D.prices to pay for the sports events. |
If you take part in the bike tour, you will ride for .
A.110 kilometers | B.55 kilometers | C.75 kilometers | D.35 kilometers |
What is special about the rock climbing competition?
A.You don’t have to be a sportsman to take part in. |
B.The bus trip to the places of the competition is free. |
C.You can watch it without paying. |
D.Many foreign teams take part in it. |
If you want to do something on Saturday afternoon, which telephone number will you call?
A.7144850 | B.7143177 | C.4675027 | D.5012372 |
Garden building is considered an important part of Chinese culture. Some people say that if you have never walked through a Chinese garden, you cannot say that you have really visited China.
Traditional Chinese gardens are located in North China in such places as Beihai Park, the Summer Palace, the Forbidden City. In larger imperial gardens, the main buildings are connected by an imaginary(虚构的) line in the middle of the garden on the north-south axis(轴). Other features of imperial gardens are colored-paintings, man-made hills and lakes.
Most private gardens are found in the south, especially in cities south of the Yangtze River. Private gardens were mostly built at one side or at the back of the houses. Around the beautiful scene are small open areas with beautiful shaped-doors through which visitors can enjoy the sights. They are open on all sides and are often near the water so that the whole scene can be enjoyed. Suzhou, known as the home of gardens, displays the most and the best Chinese traditional private gardens. Different parts of it are examples of the garden style of the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties.[
The landscape(自然风景) garden contains a number of pleasant natural scenes and some fairy tales. The ancient Chinese used to call the garden landscape “Jing” , which means “scene” in English. Good examples include the ten West Lake Scenes in Hangzhou, the twenty-four slim West Lake in Yangzhou and the eight Daming Lake Scenes in Jinan. The passage tells mainly about ________.
A.an important part of Chinese culture |
B.how to enjoy Chinese gardens |
C.where foreigners can find Chinese gardens |
D.the characters of different style of Chinese garden building |
Which of the following is NOT true for the imperial garden?
A.There is a north-south axis in the center of garden |
B.They were built because of some fairy tales. |
C.There are man-made hills and lakes in the gardens. |
D.They have colored-paintings. |
According to the passage, we can learn that _______.
A.Chinese people often invite foreigners to visit a Chinese garden. |
B.The landscape garden reflects different styles of the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties. |
C.All three kinds of gardens make up the important part of Chinese culture which is appreciated by the people all over the world. |
D.People enjoy the private gardens more than other two styles. |
Eric and Doris King Turner are packing their bags for New Zealand. They're busy deciding what to pack and what to leave behind in Britain and are making plans to extend their new home in Nelson. Doris is looking forward to getting the garden into shape and Eric has his heart set on a spot of fly fishing. The difference is that Eric is 102, Doris is 87. Eric thinks he's Britain's oldest emigrant.
In January next year Eric King Turner and his wife of 12 years will wave goodbye to their neighbors, and set sail from Southampton on the voyage of a lifetime. The ocean liner (远洋客轮)Saga Rose will take six weeks to get to Auckland and the couple are expecting a red-carpet welcome from family.
Doris was born in New Zealand but gave up her homeland when the couple met and married in the late 1990s. But New Zealand is close to both their hearts and the attraction of family and friends, and the good fishing helped to persuade them to move.
Doris, who has five children and nine grandchildren, supported her husband's application to settle in New Zealand. The paperwork took five months. Eric says, "We not only had to produce a marriage certificate(证书) but we had to produce evidence that we were in a long and stable relationship!" He also said he was not asked about his age but had to show that he could support himself financially (财政上) in New Zealand.
"I like New Zealand. The way of life is very much the same as it is here but it is not so crowded." His wife has always been “a little bit homesick” but has never complained. Now the couple are in the middle of the task of sorting out possessions and selling their flat.Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?
A.They decided to leave all the things behind in Britain. |
B.The wife always complained about the life in Britain. |
C.The couple will set up their new home in Nelson. |
D.Doris and Eric will go to New Zealand to hold the wedding. |
The underlined word "emigrant" in Paragraph 1 probably refers to a person who___.
A.lives in a country forever | B.moves from one place to settle in another |
C.travels around the world | D.visits many places in a country |
What makes the couple's move to New Zealand special?
A.Their age. | B.The red carpet. |
C.The ocean liner Saga Rose. | D.Their marriage certificate. |
The best title of the passage may be .
A.Better late than never |
B.Eric and Doris King-Turner are packing their bags |
C.To leave or not to leave, that's the problem |
D.Eric, 102, leaves Britain with his wife |