A new study warns that about thirty percent of the world’S people may not have enough water by the year 2025．
A private American organization called Population Action International did the new study．It says more than 335 million people lack enough water now．The people live in 28 countries．Most of the countries are in Africa or the Middle East．
P—A—I researcher Robert Engelman says by the year 2025，about 3，000 million people may lack water．At least 18 more countries are expected to have severe water problems．The
demand for water keeps increasing．Yet the amount of water on Earth stays the same．
Mr．Engelman says the population in countries that lack water is growing faster than ini other parts of the world．He says population growth in these countries will continue to increase．
The report says lack of water in the future may result in several problems．It may increase health problems．Lack of water often means drinking waters not safe．Mr．Engelman says there are problems all over the world because of diseases，such as cholera。
which are carried in water．Lack of water may also result in more international conflict．Countries may have to compete for water in the future．Some countries now get sixty percent of their fresh water from other countries．This is true of Egypt，the Netherlands，Cambodia，Syria，Sudan，and Iraq．And the report says lack of water would affect the ability of developing to improve their economies．This is because new industries often need a large amount of water when they are beginning．
The Population Action International study gives several solutions to the water problem．One way，it says，is to find ways to use water for more than one purpose．Another way is to teach people to be careful not to waste water．A third way is to use less water of agriculture．
The report also says long--term solutions to the water problem must include controls on population growth．It says countries cannot provide clean water unless they slow population growth by limiting the number of children people have．
1．The first four paragraphs mainly tell us__________
A．the fact of the global lack of water
B．the importance of water resources
C．the seriousness of water shortage
D．the study of the global water condition
2．Which of the following problems is NOT true according to the passage?
A．It may bring about a lot of health problems．
B．It may result in more international conflict．
C．It may lead to the improvement of new industries．
D．It may influence the development of the economies．
3．Which of the following is the way to solve water problem in the long run?
A．To use water in a variety of ways
B．To become aware of the water problem
C．To reduce the use of agricultural water 。
D．To limit the r
ising birthrate of the earth
4．Which of the following shows the structure of the passage?
A．①②③→④⑤→⑥⑦
B．①②③④→⑤→⑥⑦
C．①②③④→⑤⑥→⑦
D．①②③→④→⑤→⑥⑦
The summer I was ten, my mother decided to bring us to the world of art. My brother and I were not very excited when we realized what my mother meant. What she meant was that we would have to spend one afternoon a week with her at the Fine Arts Museum. Before each visit to the museum, she made us read about artists and painting styles. It was almost as bad as being in school. Who wants to spend the summer thinking about artists when you could be with your friends at the swimming pool?
First we had to read about ancient Egyptians and their strange way of painting faces and then go to look at them at the museum. My 12-year-old brother thought this was so funny, but I was not interested. Later we had to learn about artists in the Middle Ages who painted people wearing strange long clothing. We had to look at pictures of fat babies with wings and curly (鬈曲的) hair and with no clothes on flying around the edges of paintings. I certainly couldn't see what was so great about art.
On our last visit to the museum, something happened when I saw a painting by a woman called Mary. In it, a woman was reading to a child. The colors were soft and gentle, and you could tell by the mother’s expression how happy she was just to be with the child. I couldn't stop looking at this painting! I wanted to see every painting Mary had ever made! It was really worth looking at so many paintings to find a painter who could interest me so much. The aim of the mother’s plan was to _______.
| A．take them to visit the museum | B．introduce them to the world of art |
| C．ask them to read about artists | D．show them different painting styles |
What was the writer’s experience in the museum before the last visit?
| A．She came to feel her mother’s love. | B．She liked many paintings. |
| C．She hardly enjoyed herself. | |
D．She could un derstand the pictures of fat babies. |
What made the writer go through a change that summer?
| A．One of Mary's paintings. | B．A strange way of painting. |
| C．Artists in the Middle Ages. | D．Her mother’s instruction. |
When someone says, “Well, I guess I'll have to go to face the music,” it doesn’t mean he is planning to go to a concert. It is something far less pleasant, like being called in your boss to explain why you did this and did that, and why you did not do this or that. Terrible music, indeed, but it has to be faced. At some time or another, every one of us has had to “face the music”, especially as children. We can remember father’s angry voice: “I want to talk to you!” And only because we did not obey him. What an unpleasant business it was!
The phrase “face the music” is known to every American, old and young. It is at least one hundred years old. Where did the expression come from?
The first explanation came from the American novelist James Fenimore Cooper. He said, in 1851, that expression was first used by actors while waiting in the wings (舞台的两侧) to go on stage. After they got their clue(暗示) to go on , they often said, “It’s time to go to face the music. ” And that is exactly what they did face the orchestra (乐队) which was just below the stage.
An actor might be frightened or nervous as he moved on to the stage in front of the audience(观众) that might be friendly, or perhaps unfriendly, especially if he forgot his lines. But he had to go out. If he did not, there would be no play. So “face the music” came to mean: having to go through something, no matter how unpleasant the experience might be, because you knew you had no choice. The expression “face the music” means ______.
A． plan to go to a concert |
| B．get one’s clue to do something |
| C．have to go through something far less pleasant |
| D．disobey what one's father says |
The passage tells us that the expression was first used by _____.
| A．children | B．novelists | C．actors | D．audience |
In the last paragraph the Chinese meaning of the word “line” is _______.
| A．老板 | B．同事 | C．角色 | D．台词 |
Boiler rooms are often dirty and steamy, but this one is clean and cool. Fox Point is a very new 47-unit living building in South Bronx, one of the city’s poorest areas. Two-thirds of the people living there are formerly (以前) homeless people, whose rent is paid by the government. The rest are low-income families. The boiler room has special equipment, which produces energy for electricity and heat. It reuses heat that would otherwise be lost to the air, reducing carbon emissions(碳排放)while also cutting costs.
Fox Point is operated by Palladia, a group that specializes in providing housing and services to needy people. Palladi
a received support from Enterprise Community Partners (ECP), which helps build affordable housing by providing support to housing developers.
ECP has created national standards for healthy, environmentally (环境方面) clever and affordable homes which are called, the Green Communities Standards. These standards include water keeping, energy saving and the use of environmentally friendly building materials. Meeting the standards increases housing construction costs by 2%, which is rapidly paid back by lower running costs. Even the positioning of a window to get most daylight can help save energy.
Michael Bloomberg, New York's mayor, plans to create 165,000 affordable housing units for 500,000 New Yorkers. Almost 80% of New York City’s greenhouse-gas emissions come from buildings, and 40% of those are caused by housing. So he recently announced that the city’s Department of Housing and Preservation and Development (DHPD) , whose duty is to develop and keep the city’s supply of affordable housing, will require all its new projects to follow ECP’s green standards.
Similar measures have been taken by other cities such as Cleveland and Denver, but New York’s DHPD is the largest city developer of affordable housing in the country.What is the purpose of describing the boiler room in the first paragraph?
| A．To explain the measures the city takes to care for poor people. |
| B．To suggest that affordable housing is possible in all areas. |
| C．To show how the environment-friendly building works. |
| D．To compare old and new boiler rooms. |
What is an advantage of the buildings meeting the Green Communities Standards?
| A．Lower running costs. | B．Costing less in construction. |
| C．Less air to be lost in hot days | D．Better prices for homeless people. |
It can be learned from the text that_______________.
| A．New York City is seriously polluted |
| B．people’s daily life causes many carbon emissions in New York City |
| C．a great number of people in New York City don't have houses to live in |
| D．some other cities have developed more affordable housing than New York City |
What is the main purpose of this text?
| A．To call on people to pay more attention to housing problems. |
| B．To prove that some standards are needed for affordable housing. |
| C．To ask society to help homeless people and low-income families. |
| D．To introduce healthy, environmentally clever-and affordable housing. |
Some people were eating and drinking in a coffee house. A young woman was sitting alone at a table. She was wearing a beautiful diamond necklace. There was an ugly man at a table not far from her. He was looking at her necklace all the time.
Suddenly the lights went out. The coffee house was in darkness. The woman started to shout. She was very frightened. A few minutes later the lights came on again. The woman was crying. Her necklace was missing.
The manager quickly closed all the doors. He telephoned the police. No one could get o
ut of the coffee house. The policemen soon came. The police inspector told his men to search everyone. The necklace was not on anyone. They then searched the whole coffee house. The necklace couldn’t be found.
The police inspector then looked at the faces of all the people in the coffee house. He saw the ugly man and looked at the man carefully. He went up to the man and picked up the bowl of soup that wa
s on his table. He then poured the soup into a glass. The necklace fell out. The policemen caught hold of the man and took him away. The young woman was happy to get back her necklace. A young woman lost her necklace in ______________.
| A．a hospital | B．a shop | C．a coffee house | D．a restaurant |
The manager closed all the doors and _______________.
| A．searched everyone in the coffee house |
| B．searched the whole coffee house |
| C．telephoned the police |
| D．looked at all the people in the coffee house |
The police inspector found the necklace in __________.
| A．a cup of coffee | B．a bowl of rice |
| C．a glass of milk | D．a bowl of soup |
The necklace was stolen by ___________.
| A．a beautiful girl | B．an old woman |
| C．a young student | D．an ugly man |
Are you a problem shopper? The answer is “Yes”, if you or someone else thinks that you sometimes get carried away with shopping. In other words, do you or does someone else think you are occupied in extreme shopping? If people have regrets later about their shopping, or have an “out-of-control” feeling about the quantities of what they buy or the amount of credit they use, they may be considered to be problem shoppers.
Extreme shopping can lead to a more serious problem –addictive shopping. Addictive shoppers feel driven by the desire to shop and spend money. They experience great tension which drives them to shop and spend money and they feel a “rush” during the time they are occupied with the shopping activity.
Extreme or addictive shopping may result from long-time unpleasant feelings, of which anxiety, pain and shame are common ones. When we feel bad inside, we often do something to make ourselves feel better. In this case, we often go shopping.
A few people shop to relieve their boredom or emptiness. For some people, the motivation is a desire for status, power, beauty or success. Some love to shop as it makes them feel valued in the eyes of the shop assistants. Others shop simply because it makes them forget, at least temporarily, tension, fear or unhappiness in their life.
Besides, shopping malls are designed to encourage continual shopping. For instance, there are some malls where you can’t see clocks displaying the time because they don’t want you to become too aware of the time you spend there. What’s more, food courts, coffee shops and restrooms are provided, so you don’t have to leave the mall because of your physical needs.
Therefore, once you become aware of how market forces work, you will certainly come to control your shopping behavior. For example, how much time you will spend and what areas you will visit can be decided before you enter the mall. Keep a written account of what items you will buy and how much money you will spend. Make a plan for what you are going to buy before you feel the urge to shop and then stick to it. That is vital for gaining self-control.Whichof the following people may not be problem shoppers?
| A．Those who cannot control the amount of credit they use. |
| B．Those who just walk around the shopping malls. |
| C．Those who are occupied in too much shopping. |
| D．Those who feel sorry for their shopping. |
According to the passage, what may not result in addictive shopping?
| A．The awareness of how market forces work. |
| B．The desire for status, power, beauty or success. |
| C．Boredom, emptiness, tension, fear or unhappiness in people’s life. |
| D．Long-time bad feelings of anxiety, pain and shame. |
How can we control our shopping behavior according to the passage?
| A．Never going to the shopping malls because there are many tricks. |
| B．Applying for a credit card before we go shopping. |
C．Making the s hopping time as short as possible. |
| D．Making a shopping list before we go shopping. |
The author writes this passage to_______________. .
| A．inform the shopping malls how to attract more shoppers |
| B．scold the problem shoppers |
| C．provide solutions for the problem shoppers. |
| D．tell a shopping story |