Australians have been warned that they face a life or death decision over their water — drink recycled sewage (污水) or die.
With the drought (干旱) continuing, the country is set to be forced to use purified (净化的) waste water for drinking, even though there is great opposition to the measure.
Queensland has become the first state to introduce the policy after a warning from its premier.
"I think in the end, because of the drought, all of Australia is going to end up drinking recycled purified water," said Peter Beattie.
"These are difficult decisions, but you either drink water or you die. There's no choice. It's liquid gold, it's a matter of life and death."
Beattie said Australia's second largest state would become the first to use recycled water for drinking.
Water is recycled in Britain and parts of northern Europe along with the US and Israel.
But Australians have never liked the idea.
To try to change the way Australians think, Prime Minister John Howard and Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull have adhered to Queensland's move.
"I am very strongly for recycling and Mr. Beattie is right and I agree with him completely," Howard said.
“Australian cities, all now facing water shortages because of the worst drought on record, must start to use recycled water.” added Turnbull, "All of our big cities have to widen (使变宽) the range of water sources to include sources which do not depend on rainfall."
1. What is the text mainly about?
A. Continuing drought forces Australians to drink recycled sewage
B. Australians face the choice of life and death
C. Premier Beattie is worried about his people’s health
D. We should avoid drinking recycled water to keep healthy
2. The underlined phrase “adhered to” in Paragraph 9 probably means_________.
A. disliked B. gone against C. supported D. doubted
3. According to the passage, which of the following is TRUE?
A. Nobody disagrees to the idea of drinking recycled purified water
B. Australia's second largest state has become the first state to introduce the policy
C. No other countries but Australia decide to drink recycled water
D. The drought is the worst one in the droughts recorded in Australian history.
4. It can be inferred from what Premier Peter Beattie said that________.
A. he gives orders to drink purified waste water
B. It is painful for him to see his people drink recycled sewage
C. If the decision is made, people won’t survive the drought
D. It’s up to you to either make a life or death decision
Clothes can make phone calls, play music, dial your pal's number, keep you warm during cold weather and operate your computer.
This is not a fantasy. A British company, called Electrotextiles, has created a wide range of clothes—clothes that have minds of their own! Scientists, working for the company, have invented a kind of fabric that can be blended (混合) with flexible electronic materials to create intelligent clothing. The results are electronic garments.
If you think the wearer has to be wired to different devices, think again. These designer clothes are wire-free, soft to touch and washable! Like any electronic device, these high-tech clothes have to be powered. Currently, a tiny nine-volt battery serves the purpose. But the researchers hope that in the near future the clothes will generate electricity by using body heat. These clothes are 100% shock proof, they say.
The Electrotextiles team has also created the world's first cloth keyboard. This keyboard can be sewn into your trousers or skirt. To use this device, you will have to sit down and tap on your lap! These “lap-tap” gadgets (器具)are all set to take over laptop computers!
Another useful garment is the shirt-cum-mobile phone. This handy invention enables drivers to chat comfortably with others at the wheel! Other popular electronic wear include the denim(牛仔布) jacket with flexible earphones sewn into the hood(风帽) and the electronic ski jacket with a built-in heater. The ski jacket is also programmed to send signals to a satellite. This technology is known as global positioning system and can be used to track lost skiers and wandering kids.
Having completed the cloth keyboard, scientists have already started to work on a new project—a necktie that can be used as a computer mouse. What is the next? Do you have any idea?The electronic garments are similar to other electronic devices in that________.
| A．they use electricity to generate power |
| B．they feel smooth and soft |
| C．they can be washed in water |
| D．they are made from flexible materials |
How will researchers improve these high-tech clothes?
| A．A tiny nine-volt battery will work. |
| B．The wearer will not get shocked. |
| C． Body heat will be used to generate electricity |
| D．They will get charged automatically. |
What does the underlined phrase “This handy invention” in Paragraph 5 refer to?
| A．The laptop computer. |
| B．The electronic ski jacket. |
| C．The shirt-cum-mobile phone. |
| D．The world's first cloth keyboard. |
If you are going on a ski adventure, which device do you need?
| A．The cloth keyboard. |
| B．The electronic ski jacket. |
| C．The necktie to be used as a mouse. |
| D．The denim jacket with earphones. |
The main purpose of the text is________.
| A．to advertise for an English company |
| B．to predict the future trend of science |
| C．to show how rapidly science develops |
| D．to introduce some intelligent clothing |
New rules for pubs and clubs, including a ban (禁令) on drinking games like the awful "dentist's chair", will be introduced in Britain this year to prevent the heavy drinking culture, which costs the country billions of pounds a year.
Other activities like "all you can drink for 10 pounds ", "women drink free" nights and speed drinking competitions will also be banned.
But, on the other hand, offers of cheap alcohol in supermarkets will not be affected, which is widely regarded as one of the main sources of Britain's problems with under-age and over-drinking.
Doctors and health experts argue that the government has failed to use its most effective weapon, the taxation(征税) of minimum price controls on alcohol.
Home Secretary Alan Johnson said that the government and the industry had a duty to act on heavy drinking." These bans have a real impact on society, not to mention the lives of those who just want to enjoy a good night out," he said.
“The dentist's chair”, where drinks are poured directly into the mouth by others, was made famous by the celebrations of footballer Paul Gascoigne at Euro '96. That game and others that promote large consumption will be banned from April and publicans (酒店老板) will have to ensure free tap water is made available to the drinkers.
The government says over-drinking costs Britain up to 12 billion pounds a year and has announced that any pubs that go against the new mandatory code (强制性规定) will face severe punishment. For instance, publicans and vendors (小贩) could lose their licenses, be fined up to 20,000 pounds ($32,750) or face six months in prison.New rules for pubs and clubs will be introduced in Britain to ban heavy drinking because ________.
| A．people drink too much without paying taxes |
| B．drinking games are infamous |
| C．drinking competitions are very crazy |
| D．drinking in the country costs too much |
Some people believe when the tough new rules come into effect, ________.
| A．supermarkets will stop selling alcohol in low prices |
| B．“women drink free” nights will not be closed |
| C．over-drinking will still not be stopped |
| D．under-age people will not continue drinking |
What is probably the most effective way to control alcohol?
| A．bans | B．education | C．force | D．taxation |
According to the passage, “the dentist’s chair” is ________.
| A．a chair for the patient whose teeth should be treated |
| B．a drinking game made famous by the celebrations of footballers |
| C．a way to advertise different types of alcohol |
| D．to be banned in October this year |
What’s the main idea of the passage?
| A．Heavy drinking will be banned in Britain. |
| B．Over-drinking will be taxed. |
| C．Drinking in Britain will be banned. |
| D．12 billion pounds is spent on drinking. |
Are morning people born or made? In my case it was definitely made. In my early 20s, I hardly went to bed before midnight, and I would always get up late the next morning.
But after a while I couldn’t ignore the high relationship between success and rising early. On those rare occasions where I did get up early, I noticed that my productivity (效率) was always higher. So I set out to become a habitual early riser. But whenever my alarm went off, my first thought was always to stop that noise and go back to sleep. Eventually some sleep research showed that my strategy was wrong.
The most common wrong strategy is this: supposing you’re going to get up earlier, you’d better go to bed earlier. It sounds very reasonable, but will usually fail.
There are two main schools (流派) of thought on sleep patterns. One is that you should go to bed and get up at the same time every day. The second school says you should go to bed when you’re tired and get up when you naturally wake up. However, I have found both are wrong if you care about productivity. If you sleep at fixed hours, you’ll sometimes go to bed when you aren’t sleepy enough. You’re wasting time lying in bed awake.
My solution is to combine both methods. I go to bed when I’m sleepy and get up with an alarm clock at a fixed time. So I always get up at the same time (in my case 5 a.m.), but I go to bed at different times every night.
However, going to bed only when I’m sleepy, and getting up at a fixed time every morning are my ways. If you want to become an early riser, you can try your own.According to the passage, the underlined phrase refers to ________.
| A．people who stay up until the next morning |
| B．people who get up early in the morning |
| C．people who feel sleepy in the morning |
| D．people whose productivity is the lowest in the morning |
Why did the author want to become a habitual early riser?
| A．Because he / she wanted to have more sleep time. |
| B．Because he / she wanted to do morning exercise. |
| C．Because he / she wanted to test which school is better. |
| D．Because he / she found that the productivity was higher. |
The author experienced all the following EXCEPT ________.
| A．going to bed after midnight |
| B．asking scholars for advice on sleeping habits |
| C．getting up early occasionally |
| D．pressing off the alarm to go on sleeping |
What’s the author’s sleep pattern?
| A．Going to bed early and getting up early. |
| B．Going to bed late and getting up late. |
| C．Going to bed when sleepy and getting up at a fixed early time. |
| D．Going to bed early and getting up late. |
The passage is mainly about ________.
| A．main schools of thought on sleep patterns | B．how to have a good sleep |
| C．wrong strategies for getting up early | D．how to become an early riser |
Time out
Cover Price: ￡2.35
Save up to 42%
Time out — London’s arts and entertainment weekly. This magazine offers the best listings and reviews of arts, music, films and nightlife, and it is a necessary guide to the entertainment capital of the world. If you’re not using Time out, you’re losing out on London.
School Sport Magazine
Cover Price: ￡4.40
School Sport Magazine is the only publication of its kind to celebrate the sporting achievements of schools, pupils and teachers in the UK. The purpose of the magazine is to report sporting news and record national and regional school sporting events as well as interviews with famous sport stars about their own sporting schooldays. Five issues (期) a year.
Time
Cover Price: ￡2.70
Save up to 76%
Every week, Time keeps you well informed of world news, covering all the matters that affect your life, from political struggles to scientific progress, environmental problems, and what’s new in business, fashion and arts. Its feature articles give you brief but true information and unique insights from world-leading journalists. Time is a great magazine, which can help you develop a truly global perspective.
FourFourTwo
Cover Price: ￡3.90
Save up to 25%
FourFourTwo is a monthly football magazine for grown-up readers. Feature articles and wonderful action photographs will keep you attracted. You can read interviews with big name football stars, from today, tomorrow and yesterday. You’ll love it!Among all of the above, there is/ are ________ weekly magazine(s).
| A．one | B．two | C．three | D．four |
Which of the following magazines will probably provide you with articles about paintings and their painters?
| A．Time Out & School Sport Magazine. | B．School Sport Magazine & FourFourTwo. |
| C．Time Out & Time. | D．only Time. |
Which of the following magazines is suitable for a 13-year-old boy who wants to know about a famous football star’s playing experiences at school?
| A．Time Out. | B．School Sport Magazine. |
| C．Time | D．School Sport Magazine or FourFourTwo. |
We can learn from the passage that ________ .
| A．all of the magazines are intended for adults. |
| B．among all the magazines, only School Sport Magazine is about sports. |
| C．Time Out & School Sport Magazine might be published in the United Kingdom. |
| D．among all the magazines, Time Out will cost you the least. |
The author’s purpose in writing this passage is to ________ .
| A．advertise four best-sellers |
| B．introduce four popular magazines to readers |
| C．ask readers to decide which of the four magazines is the best |
| D．get more people to buy these magazines |
Why are we addicted to upgrades? According to Donald Norman, American author of the book The Design of Everyday Things, “planned obsolescence”（计划性报废） is the trick behind the upgrading culture of today’s consumer electronics industry.
The New York Times cited Norman last month, saying that electronics manufactures strategically release new upgrades periodically, both for hardware and software, so that customers on every level feel the need to buy the newest version.
“This is an old-time trick– they’re not inventing anything new,” he said.
Thomas Wensma, a Dutch designer, despises the “planned obsolescence” of companies, as recently reported by UK-based The Guardian.
Wensma said this is a wasteful system through which companies – many of them producing personal electronics – release shoddy products simply because “they know that, in six months or a year, they’ll put out a new one”.
But the new psychology of consumers is part of this system, as Wensma said to the newspaper: “We now want something new, something pretty, the next shiny thing.”
____________________
“It’s to the damage of the consumer and the environment,” as the New York Times quoted Norman. “But perhaps to the betterment of the stockholder.”
In its most recent fiscal(财务的) year, Apple’s profit margin was more than 21 percent, reported the Los Angeles Times. At Hewlett-Packard, the world’s biggest PC manufacturer, it was only 7 percent.
“Steven Jobs pushed the principle of ‘planned obsolescence’ to new heights,” the newspaper commented on the company’s profits and marketing strategy. “Apple’s annual upgrades of its products generate sales of millions of units as owners of one year’s MacBook or iPhone line up to buy the newest version, even when the changes are incremental.”
Peer pressure
As to Li Jijia, the need for upgrading his smart phone comes mainly from friends and classmates. When the majority of friends are switching to the latest devices, he worries about feeling left out.
“Some apps and games require better hardware to run,” said Li. “If you don’t join in, you lose part of the connection to your friends.”Donald Norman believes that electronics makers strategically release new upgrades periodically because __________.
| A．customers need the latest version | B．technology is developing so fast |
| C．they want to invent something new | D．they can make a lot of money |
Thomas Wensma’s attitude to the “planned obsolescence” is __________.
| A．positive | B．negative | C．indifferent | D．neutral |
What subtitle can best fit into the blank in the text?
| A．Huge profits | B．Apple’s principle |
| C．Environmental damage | D．Marketing strategy |
The writer takes the example of Li Jijia to show that __________.
| A．the new psychology of consumers is also to blame for the wasteful system |
| B．young people are always fond of something new, pretty and shiny |
| C．if you don’t upgrade your smart phone, you will lose contact with your friends |
| D．needs of consumers help to promote the development of electronics industry |