Ask someone what they have done to help the environment recently and they will almost certainly mention recycling. Recycling in the home is very important of course. However, being forced to recycle often means we already have more material than we need. We are dealing with the results of that over-consumption in the greenest way possible, but it would be far better if we did not need to bring so much material home in the first place.
The total amount of packaging increased by 12% between 1999 and 2005. It now makes up a third of a typical household’s waste in the UK. In many supermarkets nowadays food items are packaged twice with plastic and cardboard.
Too much packaging is doing serious damage to the environment. The UK, for example, is running out of it for carrying this unnecessary waste. If such packaging is burnt, it gives off greenhouse gases which go on to cause the greenhouse effect. Recycling helps, but the process itself uses energy. The solution is not to produce such items in the first place. Food waste is a serious problem, too. Too many supermarkets encourage customers to buy more than they need. However, a few of them are coming round to the idea that this cannot continue, encouraging customers to reuse their plastic bags, for example.
But this is not just about supermarkets. It is about all of us. We have learned to associate packaging with quality. We have learned to think that something unpackaged is of poor quality. This is especially true of food. But is also applies to a wide range of consumer products, which often have far more packaging than necessary.
There are signs of hope. As more of us recycle, we are beginning to realize just how much unnecessary materials are collecting. We need to face the wastefulness of our consumer culture, but we have a mountain to climb.What does the underlined phrase “over-consumption” refer to?
| A．Using too much packaging. |
| B．Recycling too many wastes. |
| C．Making more products than necessary. |
| D．Having more material than is needed. |
The author uses figures in Paragraph 2 to show _______.
| A．the tendency of cutting household waste |
| B．the increase of packaging recycling |
| C．the rapid growth of super markets |
| D．the fact of packaging overuse |
According to the text, recycling ______.
| A．helps control the greenhouse effect |
| B．means burning packaging for energy |
| C．is the solution to gas shortage |
| D．leads to a waste of land |
What can be inferred from Paragraph 4?
| A．Unpackaged products are of bad quality. |
| B．Supermarkets care more about packaging. |
| C．It is improper to judge quality by packaging. |
| D．Other products are better packaged than food. |
What can we learn from the last paragraph?
| A．Fighting wastefulness is difficult. |
| B．Needless material is mostly recycled. |
| C．People like collecting recyclable waste. |
| D．The author is proud of their consumer culture. |
Philip was a nine-year-old boy in a Sunday school class of 8-year-old girls and boys. Sometimes the third graders didn’t welcome Philip into their group and usually tricked him. This was not because he was older, but because he was “different”. You see, Philip suffered from a condition called Downs’s Syndrome. This made him “different”, with its facial characteristics, slow responses and mental problems.
One Sunday after Easter, the Sunday school teacher gathered some plastic eggs that pulled apart in the middle. The teacher gave one to each child. On that beautiful spring day, the children were to go out and discover for themselves some symbol of “new life” and place it inside the plastic eggs.
After the children returned to the classroom, the teacher opened their eggs one by one, asking each child to explain that symbol of “new life”. The first opened egg contained a flower. Everyone cheered. In another was a butterfly…. When the teacher opened the last egg, it was empty. “That’s stupid,” said someone. The teacher felt a pull at his shirt. It was Philip. Looking up, Philip said, “It’s mine. I did it. It’s empty. I have new life, because the tomb is empty.” Not a sound was heard in class at all. From that day on, Philip became a real part of the group. They welcomed him, and whatever made him different was never mentioned again.
Philip’s family knew he wouldn’t live a long life, for there were too many things wrong with him.The underlined word “condition” in the 1st paragraph probably means __________.
| A．grade | B．status | C．health | D．disease |
It can be inferred from the first paragraph that _______.
| A．the 8-year-olds were sometimes cruel. |
| B．The 8-year-olds were friendly to Philip. |
| C．Philip was really different in school. |
| D．Philip was older and more sensitive. |
The teacher gave each child one plastic egg to let them ______.
| A．play around on that beautiful spring day. |
| B．put some symbol of “new life” into it. |
| C．try to pull it apart in the middle. |
| D．go out and discover themselves. |
After Philip explained his new life, _________.
| A．the class thought he was clever. | B．The class fell silent. |
| C．He began to study in the class. | D．He felt dying. |
We learn from the passage that _________.
| A．the teacher used to have classes outdoors |
| B．Philip was healthy as a whole. |
| C．The Philip’s new life wish was empty |
| D．Philip was accepted by his classmates in the end |
In the competition of Olympic weightlifting，the athletes try to lift the maximum (最大的) weight they can. There are special conditions they have to meet in order to compete：body weight，height and strength.
The Olympic weightlifting mainly tests the limit of explosive strength (爆发力)．There are not many lifters who really like Olympic weightlifting and the explanation is very simple：they are short of explosive strength.
The weights used for Olympic weightlifting are added in kilograms. The order by which the athletes enter the competition is not general，but it is set depending on the event. Usually the athlete with the lowest weight begins. If he/she is not successful，he/she can try later. There is a maximum of three lifts allowed for every competition.
For many years Olympic weightlifting was only for men. However，now women also take part in Olympic weightlifting. It was at the beginning of the 21st century that women’s competitions entered an organized professional environment. For women，Olympic weightlifting is more difficult because of their different body structure. However，strength training techniques (技术) are widely and successfully used by women，too.
Lots of the athletes who’ve ended up in Olympic weightlifting competitions have started with strength training only to improve their muscle condition and their body power. However，the demarcation line (界线) is not still very clear between power training and Olympic weightlifting. This is how so many lifters have got into Olympic weightlifting competition，even if their purpose was different at the beginning.In the competition of Olympic weightlifting，athletes need to be all of the following EXCEPT________.
| A．the right age | B．the right height |
| C．the right weight | D．the right strength |
How many more times can a lifter try if he/she fails for the first time?
| A．One. | B．Two. | C．Three. | D．Four. |
According to the fourth paragraph，________.
| A．men often do better than women in weightlifting |
| B．women need to use different training techniques from men |
| C．men can learn the training techniques better than women |
| D．women used not to be allowed to compete in Olympic weightlifting |
According to the passage，many athletes began to practice weightlifting because they wanted to________.
| A．take part in the Olympics |
| B．get a reward in the competition |
| C．strengthen their body power |
| D．test the limit of explosive strength |
Benjamin Franklin was born on January 17,1706 in Boston，America. In his life he built a successful printing and publishing business in Philadelphia；he conducted scientific studies of electricity and made several important discoveries；he was a diplomat (外交官) and statesman；he helped establish Pennsylvania’s first university and America’s first city hospital；he also organized the country’s first subscription library (收费图书馆)．
Franklin was also unequaled in America as an inventor until Thomas Edison. Ben had poor eyesight and needed glasses to read. He got tired of always taking them off and putting them back on，so he decided to figure out a way to make his glasses let him see both near and far. He had two pairs of glasses cut in half and put half of them together. Today，we call them bifocals (双光眼镜)．Another invention of his，an iron stove，allowed people to warm their homes.
He loved to learn about new things. He also thought it was important to make life better with the things that he invented. Electricity was one of the things he experimented with when he retired from his business. Ben discovered that lightning (闪电) and electricity were the same thing. The lightning rod was an important invention that we still use today to protect buildings and ships from lightning damage.
Franklin preferred to have his inventions used freely for the comfort and convenience of everyone. Thomas Jefferson，the third president of America，called Benjamin Franklin “the greatest man of the age and country in which he lived”．To Benjamin Franklin there was no greater purpose in life than to “live usefully”．Benjamin Franklin was NOT a________.
| A．diplomat | B．scientist |
| C．businessman | D．president |
The underlined word “unequaled” in Paragraph 2 means________.
| A．better than any other | B．worse than any other |
| C．the same as others | D．confident as others |
Which of the following is NOT Benjamin’s invention?
| A．Bifocals. | B．The iron stove. |
| C．Printing. | D．The lightning rod. |
What was Benjamin Franklin’s purpose in life?
| A．To live comfortably every day. |
| B．To be useful to others. |
| C．To be a famous person in the world. |
| D．To earn a lot by inventing things. |
Just a few hours ago，the Italian ship Andrea Doria was sailing through thick fog toward the city of New York. Captain Piero Calamai kept watch. He knew that many other ships were nearby. He should have slowed down because of the fog but he decided not to. He wanted to arrive on time the next morning.
At about 11∶00 PM，another ship，the Stockholm，suddenly hit the Andrea Doria. It made a huge hole in the Italian ship. Some people were badly hurt. Others fell into the sea. But one girl was saved by the Stockholm.
Linda Morgan was fourteen. She lived in Spain with her mother and her little sister. She was going to visit her father in New York. She was excited about seeing her father.
Linda had loved the trip. She wanted to have dinner with the captain on the last night at sea. The captain did not sit at his table that night，though. He was busy guiding the ship through the fog. Linda did not get to talk to him.
When Linda went to bed，everything seemed fine. Her mother turned off the lights. Linda talked to her little sister. She thought about seeing her father the next morning.
What happened next was a terrible surprise. Linda woke up not knowing where she was. She was not in her bed. When she called to her family，no one answered. Both her knees were broken.
Linda had been saved by an amazing accident. When the Stockholm made a hole in the side of the Andrea Doria，it lifted Linda out of her bed. She landed on the deck (甲板) of the Stockholm instead of falling into the ocean. A sailor heard her cries and found her.
Right now，the girl is in the hospital. She is expected to get better. Her father is at her side，glad that his little girl was saved. The Andrea Doria lies under the waves at the bottom of the sea.Why didn’t Captain Piero Calamai reduce the speed?
| A．He didn’t want to be late. |
| B．He went crazy because of the bad weather. |
| C．He thought the fog was not serious. |
| D．He had rich experience. |
When the accident happened，________.
| A．Linda was asleep |
| B．the day was about to break |
| C．few people were killed |
| D．the Andrea Doria hit a hole in the Stockholm |
What can we learn from the text?
| A．Linda hated the trip very much. |
| B．Linda was saved by the Stockholm. |
| C．Linda lived with her father in Spain. |
| D．The Andrea Doria wasn’t badly damaged. |
What’s the main idea of the passage?
| A．A little girl’s braveness moved people. |
| B．Andrea Doria sailed through thick fog. |
| C．The Italian ship Andrea Doria was hit by Stockholm. |
| D．A fourteenyearold girl was saved by accident after the crash. |
This is a true story. Tristin Saghin enjoyed the movie Black Hawk Down very much，which is about the conflict in Somalia.The battle scenes and the exciting rescues of people who are dying，interested him greatly.
There was just one problem：Tristin was only 9 years old，and it was thought that movie was not for children. When his parents caught him watching it on TV，they made him turn it off，though he had finished his homework and it was not late. Then one day，Tristin and his family were visiting his grandmother in Mesa，Arizona. Tristin’s 2yearold sister got out of the house and fell in the backyard pool. Realizing the little girl was missing，the family ran outside，only to find the girl had fallen into the water.
Pulled from the pool and placed on the ground，the child wasn’t breathing. The family called the ambulance (救护车)，but no one knew how to do first aid. No one，that is，except for Tristin. A scene in Black Hawk Down describes a doctor giving first aid. Tristin remembered it. Then the 9yearold gave first aid to his sister at once and saved her life.
His parents don’t stop him seeing the movies he likes any more. Tristin taught himself how to do first aid but he had never thought he could use it to save his little sister’s life. Any skill can be used in time，so you should always learn.Black Hawk Down is a(n)________．
| A．war movie | B．comedy | C．action movie | D．love film |
Why did Tristin Saghin’s parents order him to turn off the TV?
| A．They wanted him to help look after his sister. |
| B．He often spent too much time watching films. |
| C．They thought the film was not good for children. |
| D．He was asked to finish his homework first. |
The author’s purpose in writing the text is to advise readers to________.
| A．see more movies | B．learn more skills |
| C．save others bravely | D．do what they like |