Scientists have developed a water treatment system that they say is a powerful but simple way to save lives. Four grams of chemicals can treat ten liters of dirty water for a low cost, about ten cents.
Experts say infections from dirty water kill several thousand children in developing countries every day. The Procter and Gamble company has been developing the "PUR Purifier of Water" system since 1995. The company has been working with the United States Centers for Disease control and Prevention(C.D.C.).
C.D.C. researchers tested it in Guatemala, Pakistan and Kenya. Procter and Gamble researcher Greg Allgood says cases of diarrhea(腹泻) in those studies fell by about 50 percent. Researchers from Johns Hopkins University in Maryland tested the system at a refugee camp in Liberia. Mr. Allgood says that study found a reduction of more than 90 percent. Use of the system is being expanded worldwide.
The treatment contains bleach(漂白剂) to kill disease-causing organisms. It also contains something that dirt and other particles stick to. Mr. Allgood says the chemicals can remove lead and other dangerous metals and even agricultural poisons like D.D.T.
Mr. Allgood heads the Children's Safe Drinking Water program at Procter and Gamble. He says about forty million packets of the treatment have been given to countries for free. They have been used in emergencies and in areas with limited supplies of clean water.
Clean water is a limited resource in many parts of the world. Delegates from about 130 nations attended the Fourth World Water Forum last month in Mexico City. Scientists, policy experts and others discussed ways to provide clean water to the world’s poor. Organizers say more than twenty percent of the world population lacks clean drinking water. The final declaration did not go so far as to declare water a human right. But it did say that governments, not private companies, must take the lead in improving the public’s ability to have clean water.
46. What is mainly talked about in this passage?
A. Water pollution around the world.
B. The causes of diarrhea in African countries.
C. A newly developed water treatment system.
D. The Fourth World Water Forum in Mexico City.
47. Which of the following developed the water treatment system?
A. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
B. The Procter and Gamble Company and C.D.C.
C. The Children’s Safe Drinking Water Program.
D. Johns Hopkins University.
48. Which of the following about the new water treatment system is NOT true?
A. It is effective but very expensive.
B. It was tested in Guatemala, Pakistan and Kenya.
C. It is being expanded worldwide.
D. It can remove dangerous metals in the water.
49. Which of the following shows that the shortage of clean water is a serious problem?
A. Forty million packets of the treatment have been given to countries for free.
B. Delegates from about 130 nations attended the Fourth World Water Forum.
C. Four grams of chemicals can treat liters of dirty water for a low cost.
D. Infections from dirty water kill several thousand children every day.
50. The best title for this article is ______.
A. A Small Packet of Chemicals, a Big Effect on Dirty Water
B. The Procter and Gamble Company and C.D.C.
C. The Shortage of Clean Water
D. How to Cure Diarrhea
To win an Oscar is an achievement at any age. To do so at 22, as Jennifer
Lawrence has, is just amazing. Recently, the American star won Best Actress at this year's Academy Awards for her role in the film The Silver Linings Playbook. According to Time magazine's Richard Corliss, Lawrence is that rare young actress who "lends a mature intelligence to any role".
Though Lawrence has found great success through her big screen work, Lawrence wasn't sure what she really liked doing before the age of 14. She thought she'd go to college and maybe find a career as a doctor or a travel agent.
Lawrence's two brothers were star athletes and one of them was a straight-A student. Unlike them, she suffered through school, never quite finding where she belonged. However, during a trip to New York, Lawrence suddenly realized that she wanted to be an actress. When she was enjoying the beautiful city, a model seeker asked if he could take her picture, and the next day he called her in for an audition (试镜).
"I read the script and it was the first time I had that feeling like I understand this," Lawrence said.
"Within 20 minutes, in the cab ride from the hotel room, I decided I didn't
want to be a model. In fact, I wanted to be an actress." Having appreciated
this young lady's performance, the agency was so impressed with her reading
that they signed her on the spot. But she insisted on finishing high school so
she could give her full attention to her acting career.
Lawrence burst onto the Hollywood scene last year with The Hunger Games,
which established her as the highest-grossing (票房最高的) female action hero of all time. Rolling Stone called her“the most talented young actress in America".What can we know about Jennifer Lawrence from Paragraph 3?
| A．Her parents were really strict with her. |
| B．She seemed not to fit in with her school days well. |
| C．Her school performance made her today's fame. |
| D．Her two brothers were doing well in all school subjects. |
Lawrence made up her mind to be an actress because of ______.
| A．a model interview |
| B．her brothers' examples |
| C．the taxi-ride to her hotel room |
| D．the beautiful scenery of New York |
From the text we can know that Lawrence is an actress of great ______.
| A．confidence | B．ambition | C．independence | D．talent |
What is the best title of the text?
| A．Choosing Right | B．Acting Wisely |
| C．Following Dreams | D．Winning Young |
I used to think of myself as a person learned in books, but my bookshelves told a different story. Apart from a few Indian novels and an Australian book, my literature collection only consisted of British and American titles. Worse still, I couldn’t ever found anything in translation. My reading was limited to stories by English-speaking authors.So, at the start of 2012, I set myself the challenge of trying to read a book from every country in a year to find out what I was missing.
With no idea where to get those books, I was unlikely to find publications from nearly 200 nations on the shelves of my local bookshop, so I decided to ask the readers all over the world for help. I created a blog called A Year of Reading the World and put out an appeal for suggestions of titles that I could read in English.
The response was amazing. People all over the world were getting in touch with me, offering ideas and book lists. Some posted me books from their home countries. In addition, several writers, like Turkmenistan’s Ak Welsapar and Panama’s Juan David Morgan, sent me unpublished translations of their novels, giving me a rare opportunity to read works unavailable in Britain. Even with
such an extraordinary team of bibliophiles(爱书者) behind me, however, sourcing books was no easy task. With translations making up only around 4.5 per cent of literary works published in the UK, getting English versions of stories was tricky.
One by one, the books from the countries on the list filled my heart with laughter, love, anger, hope and fear. Lands that had once seemed exotic and remote became close and familiar to me. At its best, I learned, reading makes the world real.The author realized she was not a learned person when she found ________.
| A．she could do nothing but read books |
| B．she didn’t have any translated books. |
| C．she had never been to Indian and Australian |
| D．she could only read simple English stories |
What was the challenge the author set for herself?
| A．Looking for publications to publish her own books. |
| B．Creating a blog to offer help to other readers. |
| C．Reading books from nearly 200 countries in a year. |
| D．Giving some suggestions on learning English. |
It was not easy to find the books mainly because ________.
| A．the readers were unwilling to offer help |
| B．there were too few translations in the UK |
| C．the author had no time and no chance to do it |
| D．the writers didn’t want to publish their books |
We can infer that by reading the books from other countries, the author feels ________.
| A．satisfied and rewarded |
| B．thankful and pitiful |
| C．calm and peaceful |
| D．bored and regretful |
Eating too much fatty food，exercising too little and smoking can raise your future risk of heart disease. But there is another factor that can cause your heart problems more immediately：the air you breathe.
Previous studies have linked high exposure（暴露）to environmental pollution to an increased risk of heart problems, but two analyses now show that poor air quality can cause heart attack or stroke（中风） within as little as a few hours after exposure. In one report of the research, scientists found that people exposed to high levels of pollutants（污染物）were up to 5% more likely to suffer a heart attack within days of exposure than those with lower exposure. Another study of stroke patients showed that even air that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency（EPA）considers to be of “moderate”(良好) quality and relatively safe for our health can raise the risk of stroke as much as 34% within 12 to 14 hours of exposure.
The authors of both studies stress that these risks are relatively small for healthy people and certainly modest compared with other risk factors such as smoking and high blood pressure. However, it is important to be aware of these dangers because everyone is exposed to air pollution regardless of lifestyle choices. So stricter regulation by the EPA of pollutants may not only improve environmental air quality but could also become necessary to protect public health. The text mainly discusses the relationship between _________.
| A．heart problems and air quality | B．heart problems and exercising |
| C．heart problems and smoking | D．heart problems and fatty food |
The underlined word “modest” in Paragraph 3 most probably means _________ .
| A．relatively high | B．extremely low |
| C．relatively low | D．extremely high |
We can learn from the text that __________？
| A．eating fatty food has immediate effects on your heart. |
| B．the EPA conducted many studies on air quality. |
| C．moderate air quality is more harmful than smoking. |
| D．stricter regulations on pollutants should be made. |
The author’s purpose of writing the text is most likely to _________ .
| A．inform | B．persuade |
| C．describe | D．entertain |
Plastic surgery is becoming popular with young people. But just a few days ago, it took the life of a pop singer in China. Wang Bei, 24, a former singer on Super Girl, died on Nov 15 during plastic surgery in Wuhan, Hubei province. The young singer’s jaw suddenly started bleeding during the procedure, blocking her throat and causing her to suffocate.
The Ministry of Health stepped in on Nov 27, calling on health authorities all over China to increase supervision of the country’s medical plastic surgery industry. It also told the Hubei health department to look into Wang’s death and “to make the results of the investigation public as soon as possible”
Wang’s death has raised concerns about the dangers of plastic surgery in China. In China, people, especially youngsters, are becoming more and more conscious of their looks and are willing to go to great lengths to make themselves look more attractive. Today, many young people see plastic surgery as the key to love, wealth and success.
Ding Xiaobang, a plastic surgeon at the Peking Union Medical College Hospital, said that in the past decade, he had seen a growing number of patients, like Wang Bei, who were young and naturally good-looking. “They want to improve their appearance to find better opportunities in work and in marriage,” said Ding.
Zhao, 23, a student at the Beijing International Studies University, spent 3,000 yuan on a eyelid tuck before graduating this year. She said: “ Of course I want to look prettier. I want to make a good impression on potential employers.”
Ding also owed this trend to frustration. “Some are frustrated with life and use surgery as a way to try and recover,” said Ding.
But a lot of people ignore the risk and danger of plastic surgery. In 12 years as a doctor, Zhu Wenbo from Chengdu has often seen unsuccessful plastic surgeries.“ I’ve met several people whose faces were ruined by plastic surgery, and helping them recover is difficult,” said Zhu.
Being yourself is the most beautiful thing in the world. But if you are considering plastic surgery, here is some advice from experts:
1. Choose qualified hospitals, especially those with a good reputation for plastic surgery. Avoid beauty salons.
2. Do not expect too much from changing your appearance. It can only change your face or another body part in certain ways. And safety should always come first. What does the underlined phrase “ go to great length” mean in para3 ?
| A．go as long as |
| B．try one’s best |
| C．spend a lot of money |
| D．go through all kinds of difficulties |
What is NOT the reason for so many young people go to plastic surgery?
| A．to make themselves more attractive |
| B．to improve their appearance and find better job opportunities |
| C．to seek better opportunities in marriage. |
| D．to stay young forever. |
What kind of lesson can we draw from Wang Bei’s case?
| A．Sometimes people can even sacrifice life to pursue beauty. |
| B．Being natural beauty is the most beautiful thing so there is no need to have plastic surgeries. |
| C．Choose qualified hospitals to do the plastic surgery if you really need one. |
| D．Accidents can always happen during the plastic surgery so never try it. |
What is the best title of this passage?
| A．The death of Wang Bei. |
| B．Plastic surgery—better job, better marriage. |
| C．The price of beauty. |
| D．Some advice on plastic surgery. |
When I was about 12, I had an enemy, a girl who liked to point out my shortcomings. Week by week her list grew: I was very thin, I wasn’t a good student, I talked too much, I was too proud, and so on. I tried to hear all this as long as I could. At last, I became very angry. I ran to my father with tears in my eyes.
He listened to me quietly, and then he asked. “Are the things she says true or not? Janet, didn’t you ever wonder what you’re really like? Well, you now have that girl’s opinion. Go and make a list of everything she said and mark the points that are true. Pay no attention to the other things she said.”
I did as he told me. To my great surprise, I discovered that about half the things were true. Some of them I couldn’t change (like being very thin), but a good number I could—and suddenly I wanted to change. For the first time I got a fairly clear picture of myself.
I brought the list back to Daddy. He refused to take it. “That’s just for you,” he said. “You know better than anyone else the truth about yourself. But you have to learn to listen, not just close your ears in anger and feel hurt. When something said about you is true, you’ll find it will be of help to you. Don’t shut your ears. Listen to them all, but hear the truth and do what you know is the right thing to do.”
Daddy’s advice has returned to me at many important moments. In my life, I’ve never had a better piece of advice. Which do you think would be the best title for this passage?
| A．Not an Enemy, but the Best Friend |
| B．The Best Advice I’ve Ever Had |
| C．My Father |
| D．My Childhood |
What does “Week by week her list grew” mean?
| A．Week by week she discovered more shortcomings of mine and pointed them out to me. |
| B．She had made a list of my shortcomings and she kept on adding new ones to it so that it was growing longer and longer. |
| C．I was having more and more shortcomings as time went on. |
| D．Week by week, my shortcomings grew more serious. |
Why did her father listen to her quietly?
| A．Because he believed that what her daughter’s “enemy” said was mostly true. |
| B．Because he had been so angry with his daughter’s shortcomings that he wanted to show this by keeping silent for a while. |
| C．Because he knew that his daughter would not listen to him at that moment. |
| D．Because he wasn’t quite sure which girl was telling the truth. |
What did the father do after he had heard his daughter’s complaint?
| A．He told her not to pay any attention to what her “enemy” had said. |
| B．He criticized (批评) her and told her to overcome her shortcomings. |
| C．He told her to write down all that her “enemy” had said about her and pay attention only to the things that were true. |
| D．He refused to take the list and have a look at it. |