Peoplenowadaysbuyasecondhomefo-优题课

For years scientists have been worried about the effects of air pollution on the earth’s natural conditions. Some believe the air inside many houses may be more dangerous than the air outside. It may be one hundred times worse.
Indoor air pollution can cause a person to feel tired, to suffer eye pain, headache and other problems. Some pollutants（污染物）can cause breathing disorders, diseases of blood and even cancer. Most scientists agree that every modern house has some kind of indoor pollution.
People have paid more attention to the problem now. It is true that when builders began making houses and offices they did not waste energy. To do this they build buildings that limited the flow of air between inside and outside. They also began using man-made building materials. These materials are now known to let out harmful gases.
As the problem became more serious, scientists began searching for a way to deal with it. They discovered a natural pollution control system for building—green plants. Scientists do not really know how plants control air pollution. They believe that a plant’s leaves absorb（吸收）or take in the pollutants. In exchange the plant lets out oxygen through its leaves and tiny organizations on its roots. Scientists suggest that all buildings should have one large plant or several small plants inside for every nine square meters of space. Studies of different plants show that each absorbs different chemicals. So the most effective way to clean the air is to use different kinds of plants. Having green plants inside your house can make it a prettier and healthier place.
Generally speaking, indoor air pollution may be more harmful than the air outside because .

A．indoor air pollution can often make people seriously ill

B．man-made building materials give off dangerous gases

C．there may be more harmful gases outside the buildings

D．the air indoors is polluted, which is very harmful

Some kind of indoor pollution can be found in .

A．every modern house	B．every old house
C．all kinds of houses	D．all kinds of offices

The indoor air pollution is caused by .

A．the limit of the flow of air between inside and outside

B．the building way that the builders want to save energy

C．the building things that are made of man-made materials

D．the man-made building materials and the limit of air-flow

The reason why we should use different kinds of plants to clean the air is that

A．plants can let out all kinds of pollutants indoors

B．plants may take in more oxygen （氧气）which people need

C．plants can absorb all kinds of harmful indoor chemicals

D．plants can make our houses prettier and more healthy

Most of us are used to seasons. Each year, spring follows winter, which follows autumn, which follows summer, which follows spring. And winter is colder than summer. But the earth goes through temperature cycles over much longer periods than those that we experience.
Between 65,000 and 35,000 years ago, the planet was much colder than it is now. During that time the temperature also changed a lot, with periods of warming and cooling. Ice melted during the warm periods, which made sea levels rise. Water froze again during the cold periods.
A new study from Switzerland sheds light on where ice sheets melted during the ice age.
It now seems that the ice melted at both ends of the earth, rather than just in either northern or southern areas. This surprised the researchers from the University of Bern.
Scientists have long assumed（认为） that most of the ice that melted was in the Northern hemisphere(半球) during the 30,000-year long ice age. That belief was held because the North Pole is surrounded by land, while the South Pole is surrounded by the Antarctic Ocean. It is easier for ice sheets to grow on land. If surrounded by sea the ice can easily just slip into the ocean instead of building up.
The researchers used a computer model to look at ways the ice could melt and how it might affect sea levels. They compared these results to evidence of how temperatures and currents actually changed during that time.
The model showed that if it was only in the Northern hemisphere that ice melted, there would have been a bigger impact(影响) on ocean currents(洋流) and sea temperatures than what actually happened. Studies suggest that melting just in the Southern hemisphere would have been impossible, too.
The only reasonable conclusion, the scientists could make, was that ice melted equally in the North and the South.
It is still a mystery as to what caused the temperature changes that caused the ice to melt.
The underlined phrase “sheds light on” (in paragraph 3) can be replaced by.

A．throws doubts on

B．beats down on

C．makes it clear

D．makes light of

We can infer from the passage .

A．the ice can easily just slip into the ocean

B．melting just in the Northern hemisphere would have been impossible

C．volcanoes caused the ice to melt

D．researchers often use the computer models help their research work.

The scientists are not sure .

A．what caused the temperature changes

B．where ice sheets melted during the ice age

C．how long the ice age lasted

D．what the earth is made up of

Which of the following is the best title for the passage?

A．A computer model

B．Studies show ice melted equally in the North and the South during the ice age

C．Most of the ice melted in the Northern hemisphere during the 30,000-year long ice age.

D．A survey result

In 1978, I was 18 and was working as a nurse in a small town about 270 km away from Sydney, Australia. I was looking forward to having five days off from duty. Unfortunately, the only one train a day back to my home in Sydney had already left. So I thought I’d hitch a ride (搭便车).
I waited by the side of the highway for three hours but no one stopped for me. Finally, a man walked over and introduced himself as Gordon. He said that although he couldn’t give me a lift, I should come back to his house for lunch. He noticed me standing for hours in the November heat and thought I must be hungry. I was doubtful as a young girl but he assured （使…放心）me I was safe, and he also offered to help me find a lift home afterwards. When we arrived at his house, he made us sandwiches. After lunch, he helped me find a lift home.
Twenty-five years later, in 2003, while I was driving to a nearby town one day, I saw an elderly man standing in the glaring heat, trying to hitch a ride. I thought it was another chance to repay someone for the favour I’d been given decades earlier. I pulled over and picked him up. I made him comfortable on the back seat and offered him some water.
After a few moments of small talk, the man said to me, “You haven’t changed a bit, even your red hair is still the same.”
I couldn’t remember where I’d met him. He then told me he was the man who had given me lunch and helped me find a lift all those years ago. It was Gordon.
The author had to hitch a ride one day in 1978 because .

A．her work delayed her trip to Sydney

B．she was going home for her holidays

C．the town was far away from Sydney

D．she missed the only train back home

Which of the following did Gordon do according to Paragraph 2?

A．He helped the girl find a ride.

B．He gave the girl a ride back home.

C．He bought sandwiches for the girl.

D．He watched the girl for three hours.

The reason why the author offered a lift to the elderly man was that .

A．she realized he was Gordon

B．she had known him for decades

C．she was going to the nearby town

D．she wanted to repay the favour she once got

What does the author want to tell the readers through the story?

A．Giving sometimes produces nice results.

B．Those who give rides will be rapid.

C．Good manners bring about happiness.

D．People should offer free rides to others.

“Teenager” is the new term being used in the UK to describe kids at either 8—12 or 10—13 years old.
More and more companies are beginning to create products and services for teenagers. The Disney Company sells music and film to teenagers and their parents. You can get everything from lunchboxes and mobile phone covers, to monthly fan magazines and clothing. It’s all about sales, which suggests that teenagers must have more money, freedom and influence upon their parents than they’ve ever had before.
Most kids in the UK today get more pocket money than kids did ten years ago. Parents have more money to give their kids than before, since parents are having fewer children. In addition, the divorce（离婚） rate in the UK is continually rising and parents spend less time with their children than they used to, so many parents try to please their children by buying them presents. It’s a bad habit for both parents and kids to get into, but parents are under pressure from commercial marketing and the pleas（请求） of their children.
UK kids today are very media and computer-literate. A lot of kids have a TV, if not a computer, in their bedrooms. They have easy access to much more information about life and the world. They may have experienced a lot in life as well, since 24% of UK kids live in single-parent families, so people now say that “kids are getting older younger”. With such maturity (成熟)at such a young age, it’s no wonder teenagers are able to influence their parents and have more freedom than previous generations.
UK teenagers never used to be worried about spending money on clothes. That’s changed. Now, they are much more fashion(时尚) conscious and concerned about their image(形象). Many of them outgrow the bright colors and fashions of kids years ago and go for something darker and more rebellious(叛逆).
Surely none of the above is a good thing. The UK government is certainly concerned, and for that reason has strict laws preventing companies from marketing their products and services at children.
Why are more products and services created for teenagers?

A．Because companies are creating better products and services.

B．Because children education is becoming more important.

C．Because it is better to study music from an early age.

D．.Because children have more money to buy them.

Kids today can get more money partly because ________.

A．parents always accompany(陪) their kids

B．more parents divorce nowadays

C．parents have more expectation(期望) of kids

D．kids know how to make money

Teenagers have more freedom due to the following facts EXCEPT that ________.

A．they become mature at a younger age

B．they know more information than kids before

C．they have a lot of experience in life

D．parents can no longer influence them

Which is true about kids in the past?

A．They used to have more money to spend.

B．They couldn’t influence their parents.

C．They preferred to wear brighter clothes.

D．They looked older than their age.

What is the purpose of the passage?

A．To introduce a new phenomenon(现象).

B．To teach a new word “teenager”.

C．To warn parents to care about their kids.

D．To blame（责怪）today’s young people

Though Chinese is older than English, English is spoken by many people around the world every day. English speakers are always making new words and we should be able to know where most words come from.
Sometimes, however, no one may really knows where a word comes from. Did you ever think about why hamburgers are called hamburgers, especially when they are not made with ham? About a hundred years ago, some men went to America from Europe. They came from a big city in Germany called Hamburg.
They did not speak good English, but they ate good food. When some American saw them eating round pieces of beef, they asked the Germans what it was. The Germans did not understand the question and answered, “We came from Hamburg.” One of these Americans owned a restaurant, and had an idea. He cooked some round pieces of the beef like what the man from Hamburg ate and sold in many countries around the world.
Whether this story is true or not, it certainly is interesting. Knowing why a word has a certain meaning is interesting, too. The reason may be found in any large English dictionary.
Hamburg is _______ .

A．a kind of food	B．a city in Germany
C．the name of a village	D．a round piece of beef.

According to the story, _______.

A．few Americans like hamburgers

B．hamburgers are made with ham

C．hamburgers are made with beef

D．hamburgers were sold all over the world about a century ago

According to the writer, which of the following can be found in any large English dictionary?

A．Where all the new words come from.

B．Where those Germans came from.

C．The reason why English is spoken around the world.

D．The reason why a word has a certain meaning.

According to the story, the word “hamburgers” comes from _______.

A．China because it has a long history

B．England because Germans don’t speak good English

C．English speakers because they always make new words.

D．The round pieces of beef those people from Hamburg brought to America.

From the passage, we can infer that hamburgers was first sold to the world by _______.

A．Germans	B．Americans
C．Chinese	D．we don’t know