People want action on noise, a recent public meeting in Brisbane showed. Some want technical improvements such as quieter air conditioners or better sound barriers around major roads. Others want tougher laws to restrict noise from building sites or to require owners to take responsibility for barking dogs. But the highest priority (优先) was a noise complaints system that works.
Brisbane City Council receives more complaints about noise than all other problems put together. So it conducted survey and found that about half its citizens are upset by noise in one form or another—traffic, mowers, pool pumps, air conditioners or loud parties. This inspired the Council to bring together more than 100 citizens one evening to talk through solutions to the problem.
The meeting found the present noise complaints system bizarre. Depending on the problem, responsibility for noise can lie with the Council, the Environment Protection Authority, one of three government departments or even the police. So complaints often feel they are getting the run-round. When the people at the meeting were asked to vote for changes, the strongest response was for a 24-hour, noise hotline to be the first port of call for all complaints.
The meeting also favored regulatory measures, such as tougher minimum standards for noise in appliances like air conditioners. This even makes economic sense, as noise is a waste of energy—and money. Other measures the meeting supported were wider buffer zones around noisy activities and controls to keep heavy traffic away from residential areas（居民区）.
1. According to the passage, what do people want most?
A. Tougher laws. B. Technical improvements.
C. An effective noise complaints system D. Tougher minimum standards for noise
2. What does the underlined word bizarre in the second paragraph mean?
A. reasonable B. wonderful C. strange D. responsible
3. How many regulatory measures against noise are mentioned in the last paragraph?
A. 3. B. 4. C. 2. D. 5.
4. Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
A. Tougher minimum standards for noise in appliances are necessary.
B. Traffic, mowers, pool pumps, and air conditioners are all the sources of noise.
C. 90% of the residents are annoyed by noise.
D. Heavy traffic should be kept away from residential areas according to the meeting.
5. Brisbane City Council brought together citizens to talk through solutions to the noise problem mainly due to .
A. the result of the survey carried out by itself
B. a noise complaints system that works
C. people asking for tougher laws on noise
D. requirements of an effective noise complaints system
Here 's your weekly roundup of who's hiring in town and in nearby St. Charles County and Maryland Heights.
Who's Hiring: Petco
Location: St. Charles
Job: Cashier
Description: The cashier will help achieve store sales goals while helping to provide cus tomers with the products they need for happy and healthy pets. Petco is looking to you to pro vide exceptional customer service as you perform all aspects of point of sale service - cash, credit and check sales, returns and exchanges: This means offering quick and polite response to those customers who choose to shop with us.
Requirements: While a high school diploma is preferred, you must be able to demonstrate basic math skill and strong communication skills. You must be customer service focused and able to interact professionally and effectively through both verbal and written communication with everyone with whom you come into contact.
To Apply: Apply online .
Who's Hiring: City of St. Peters
Location: St. Peters
Job: Temporary Parks Worker
Description: Performs general labor to repair and maintain parks, playgrounds. athletic fields, and trails. Operates and performs minor maintenance to light and heavy equipment, power tools, motorized equipment, and vehicles.
Requirements: Must be a U.S. Citizen. High School graduate certificate. One year of applicable experience. Ability to frequently lift and/or move up t0 50 pounds and carry it a reasonable distance, and occasionally lift and/or move more than 75 pounds.
Pay: $15.27 per hour
To Apply: Apply in person ,fax t0 636-477-1044. or mail to: #1205-Human Resources. City of St. Peters, P.O. Box 9, St.Peters M0 63376.
Who's Hiring: Commerce Bank
Location: Maryland Heights
Job: Teller
Description: Responsible for handling deposits, check cashing, money orders, official checks. traveler's checks, and saving bonds. Know customers' needs and suggest appropriate bank services. Make referrals (移交 )to sales staff to assist the branch in meeting its sales goals. Commerce Bank reserves the right to fill all Part Time Teller positions as soon as qualified candidates are identified.
To Apply: Apply online .If you want to be a cashier
| A．you should provide customers what they need for free. |
| B．you should make the customers satisfied all the time |
| C．you should exchange ideas with customers freely |
| D．you should select goods instead of helping the customers |
If you apply for the Temporary Parks worker______ .
| A．you must be an excellent athlete |
| B．you should finish the college course |
| C．you must be an American citizen |
| D．you should have your own vehicle |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．A teller should make advice for customers wisely. |
| B．A parks worker should weigh less than 75 pounds. |
| C．You must get in touch with Commerce Bank by phone. |
| D．You can earn the most if you choose City of St. Peters. |
San Francisco's Chinatown is the biggest and oldest in the country. It's the third most visited tourist destination in the city. It's also the city's most densely populated neighbor- hood. So why are. businesses in Chinatown struggling?
In this week's paper, I outline some of the reasons for why Chinatown's crowded streets and busy shops might be declining. Underneath the surface, Chinatown is falling. And the city, local organizations and businesses are trying to figure out what they can do to turn things around.
While numbers of people visit Chinatown, they don't stay long and they don't spend a lot of money. And beyond annual festivals,1ike Chinese New Years, this month's Moon Festival and last month's Sunday Streets - which drew about 15,000 t0 20.000 people – the neighborhood has a hard time attracting locals.
Can you remember the last. time you went to Chinatown ?If you can't, You're not alone. Locals told me that Chinatown doesn't have much to offer them - that the stores are all the same. There are some good eating joints, people said, but they don't know how to find them. Some people even told me that they sometimes go to extreme measures to avoid the neighborhood altogether. But when asked if the-v would like to see Chinatown gone, the answer was always a strong no.
Locals are hopeful that things will get better and traffic will increase when the Central Subway is complete. But chat's not for another five years. at least. And if' new shops or restaurants don't make their way into Chinatown. the same problem of attracting locals will exist.
Not that Chinatown's going to die. The dragon still has some fire in its belly. And many people are rooting for positive change. The question is, how does Chinatown change without losing the very importance of what makes it unique?Which can we know about Chinatown according to the passage?
| A．Businesses in Chinatown are going well. |
| B．Local people like going shopping there. |
| C．A great number of people visit it every year. |
| D．No period has seen a more prosperous Chinatown. |
According to the locals we can know that _______.
| A．Chinatown doesn't love to offer them assistance |
| B．shops in Chinatown lack their own characteristics |
| C．it is hard to buy quality goods at proper prices |
| D．they feel annoyed to see so many familiar faces |
What is the author's attitude towards Chinatown?
| A．Negative. | B．Sympathy. | C．Hopeful. | D．Indifferent. |
It can be inferred from the passage ______.
| A．the Central Subway is under construction |
| B．Chinatown has to make way for subway |
| C．many restaurants have been closed down |
| D．the locals hope Chinatown will be extinct |
The biggest danger facing airlines nowadays may not be a terrorist with a gun, but the man with portable computer in business class. In the last 16 years, pilots have reported well over 100 incidents that could have been caused by electromagnetic interference (电磁干扰). The source of this interference remains not proved, but increasingly, experts are pointing the blame at portable electronic devices such as portable computers, radio and cassette players and mobile telephones.
RTC.A. an organization which advises the aviation (航空 )industry, has suggested that all airlines ban such devices from being used during "critical" stages of flight particularly take- off and landing. Some experts have gone further, calling for a total ban during all flights .Cur- rently , rules on using these devices are left up to individual airlines. And although some air- lines prevent passengers from using such equipment during take-off and landing, most are un- willing to carry out a total ban, given that many passengers want to work during flight.
The difficulty is predicting how electromagnetic fields might affect an aircraft's computers. Experts know that portable devices send out radiation which affects those wavelengths which aircraft use for navigation and communication. But, because they have not been able to reproduce these effects in a laboratory. they have no way of knowing whether the interference might be. dangerous or not.
The fact that aircraft may be fragile to interference raises the risk that terrorists may use radio systems in order to damage navigation equipment. As worrying, though, is the passenger who can 't hear the instructions to turn off his radio because the music's too loud.What is said about the over 100 aircraft incidents in the past 16 years?
| A．They may have been caused by the damage to-the radio systems. |
| B．They may have taken place during take-off and landing. |
| C．They were proved to have been caused by the passengers portable computers. |
| D．They were suspected to have resulted from electromagnetic interference. |
Why is it difficult to predict the possible effects of electromagnetic fields on an airplane 's computers?
| A．Because it is extremely dangerous to conduct such research on an airplane. |
| B．Because it remains a mystery what wavelengths are liable to be interfered with. |
| C．Because research scientists have not been able to produce the same effects in labs. |
| D．Because experts lack adequate equipment to do such research. |
Few airlines want to perform a total ban on their passengers using electronic devices because_______
| A．they don't believe there is such a danger as radio interference |
| B．the harmful effect of electromagnetic interference is yet to be proved |
| C．most passengers refused to take a plane ,which bans the use of radio and cassette players |
| D．they have other effective safety measures to fall back on |
The passage is mainly about_________.
| A．a new rule for all airlines |
| B．the disadvantages of electronic devices |
| C．a possible cause of aircraft incidents |
| D．effective safety measures for air flight |
The connection shared by grandparents and grandchildren is something very special and despite the changing family situation, it still remains strong across generations. For most of us, our grandparents were our first best friends, the ones with whom we shared our secrets and our pain.
In majority of the cases, grandparents would have babysat their grandchildren while parents were busy working and didn't have much time for their children. Even as a kid grows up, the love and affection for grandparents never dies, and for many teens, visiting grandparents or living with them in the same house is a pleasure. Kedar Patwary, a mass communication student, says, "I often end up having long conversations with my grandfather about the evolution of Indian society and I really admire him for the patience with which he answers all my questions. "
Many teenagers feel that their parents treat them as grown-ups, while their grandparents give them much freedom.
Leela Narayanan, a grandmother. says that she loves to pamper her grandchildren and cook favorite dishes for them. She further adds that her eldest granddaughter, who is now 19, was brought up by her till she was four and the closeness they shared remains the same even now。
At times, the gap m generations plays a negative role, when grandparents find it difficult adjusting to the modern lifestyle. Technology is what works against this relationship. Youngsters' eing crazy about with gadgets leaves them with no time for their loved ones.
Maria Kutty, is a grandmother t0 12 kids. Her face lights up every time her grandchildren are mentioned. But she has one complaint. "All my children stay close to me but when they come to visit and I want to spend time with them, I can't find them anywhere. They only have time for clickety-clackety things in their hands. Sometimes they listen to loud music and talk about things I don't understand. I feel very sad when I think of all those times," she says.The author uses Kedar Patwary as an example ______.
| A．to show Indian society is full of perfect harmony |
| B．to stress all the children admire their grandparents |
| C．to show grandparents get on well with grandchildren |
| D．to indicate grandparents are all good babysitters |
What does the underlined word "pamper" mean in the passage?
| A．Spoil. | B．Raise. | C．Manage. | D．Educate. |
The gap generation sometimes is negative because_______.
| A．grandchildren can 't fit in with modern lifestyle |
| B．grandparents are eager to know more technology |
| C．grandchildren are addicted to their digital products |
| D．grandparents spared no time with their grandchildren |
How does the author develop the passage?
| A．By giving example. |
| B．By following the order of time. |
| C．By making comparisons. |
| D．By his personal experience. |
Almost anywhere in the world, you can probably see graffiti (涂鸦画). Although it’s usually more common in big cities, it can be found in almost any community, big or small.
The problem with graffiti art is the question of whether it’s really art. This isn’t always an easy question to answer, simply because there are so many different types of graffiti. While some simply consists of collections of letters, known as tags, with little artistic value, such examples are easy to find, especially on larger spaces such as walls.
If it weren’t for the fact that most graffiti is placed on private property without permission, it might be more commonly recognized as a legal form of art. Most graffiti, however, annoys the property owner, who is more likely to paint over it or remove it than accept it as art.
Many ways of removing graffiti have been developed, such as paints that dissolve graffiti paint, or make it easy to remove. Community groups and government departments often organize graffiti-removal teams.
It hardly makes sense to encourage artists to deface (丑化) private or public property; but perhaps there are ways to work with them rather than just oppose them. Graffiti artists can, for example, create murals (壁画) for property owners, and get paid for them.
Maybe we need to start at a very basic level, and find a way to encourage the creation of graffiti art on paper or canvas rather than on walls. After all, who would remember Monet or Picasso if they’d created their masterpieces on walls, only to have them painted over the next day? Finding a solution to such a complex problem is never going to be easy, but with more and more graffiti art being recognized in galleries around the world, we do need to try.What would be the best title for this passage?
| A．How to Be a Good Graffiti Artist. |
| B．Stop Removing Graffiti! |
| C．Do You Like Graffiti? |
| D．Is Graffiti Art? |
The reason why people remove graffiti is that it ______.
| A．makes buildings ugly | B．has no artistic value at all |
| C．robs private property | D．takes up too much space |
In Paragraph 4, the underlined word "dissolve" is closest in meaning to ______.
| A．change | B．flow | C．remove | D．freeze |
The example of Monet and Picasso are mentioned in the passage to indicate that ______.
| A．they are world-famous artists |
| B．they are good at graffiti |
| C．walls are right places to keep their masterpieces |
| D．their works, if painted on the wall, might not be kept long |
The writer’s attitude toward graffiti is that graffiti ______.
| A．should be removed by more countries |
| B．should be saved on larger spaces |
| C．should be created only on paper or canvas |
| D．may be accepted as art |