Electronic waste, or e-waste, refers to electronic products that are no longer usable. This can include TVs, cell phones and computers and other office electronics, electronic toys and videos machines. Today, the average turnover（更换）rate for a computer in the United States is every two years, according to the environmental group, Greenpeace.
The group's Dai Yun says e-waste is a global problem. "The electronic industry is one of the fastest growing industries in the world. The high speed of growth in this industry means more and more electronic products are being wasted and thrown away. If no one decides to retrieve the old products and process them properly, the electronic waste will sweep over the earth like the huge wave behind me and pollute the Earth seriously."
Greenpeace works out that 20 to 50 million tons of e-waste are produced globally each year. The components（部件）in many electronic products contain harmful chemicals that pollute ground water and the environment.
At present , the U.S. has no federal law for the disposal (处理) of e-waste although a few states have e-waste recycling programs in place, but there is no law. The U.S. exports much of its e-waste to third world countries, such as India and China, where workers took apart computers for valuable parts, hoping to sell them for money. But harmful wastes expert, Dr. Bakul Rao, says that's a dangerous practice. "From now on, the recyclers are not very educated. All they know is they can retrieve copper or gold out of it. So, the easiest way to do that is leach (过滤) it out in an acid or burn it off to retrieve it. So, that's where they don't know how to deal with it, neither do they have any health systems in place. So, their exposure is more." What does the underlined word "retrieve" (paragraph 2) probably mean?
| A．look into | B．take apart | C．get back | D．throw away |
What of the following statements is true according to the passage？
| A．The U.S. has strict national laws for dealing with e-waste. |
| B．Third world countries import e-waste to get valuable parts, which is a safe and easy way to make money. |
| C．The way uneducated workers deal with old computers does great harm to the environment as well as to their own health. |
| D．More and more electronic waste is being wasted and thrown away mainly because of people's bad habits. |
What is the purpose of writing the passage?
| A．To attract more people's attention to e-waste. |
| B．To call on people not to throw away e-waste anywhere. |
| C．To tell people what e-waste is and how to deal with it well. |
| D．To warn people to break away from the electronic industry. |
The next paragraph probably concerns ___.
| A．how to deal with e-waste properly |
| B．how to protect ourselves from harm by e-waste |
| C．How to slow down the development in the electronic industry |
| D．how to make full use of e-waste |
Death is natural, but do you have any idea of the process of dying? Modern scientists divide the process of dying into two phases --- clinical or temporary death and biological death. Clinical death occurs when the vital organs, such as the heart or lungs, have ceased to function, but have not suffered permanent damage. The organism can still be revived(复活). Biological death occurs when changes in the organism lead to the “breaking up” of vital cells and tissues. Death is then unchangeable and final.
Scientists have been seeking a way to prolong the period of clinical death so that the organism can remain alive before biological death occurs. The best method developed so far involves cooling of the organism, combined with narcotic sleep. By slowing down the body’s metabolism(新陈代谢), cooling delays the processes leading to biological death.
To illustrate how this works, scientists performed an experiment on a six-year-old female monkey called Keta. The scientist put Keta to sleep with a narcotic. Then they surrounded her body with ice-bags and began checking her body temperature. When it had dropped to 28 degrees the scientists began draining blood from an artery. The monkey’s blood pressure decreased and an hour later both the heart and breathing stopped: clinical death set in. For twenty minutes Keta remained in this state. Her temperature dropped to 22 degrees. At this point the scientists pumped blood into an artery in the direction of the heart and started artificial breathing. After two minutes Keta’s heart became active once more. After fifteen minutes, spontaneous(自发的)breathing began, and after four hours Keta opened her eyes and lifted her head. After six hours, when the scientists tried to give her a penicillin injection, Keta seized the syringe and ran with it around the room. Her behavior differed little from that of a healthy animal.For a person who suffers from the clinical death
| A．his most important organs are damaged. |
| B．he still has the possibility of getting back to life. |
| C．he can not avoid final death. |
| D．he is still very much alive |
Scientists try to make the time of clinical death longer in order to
| A．slow down the body’s metabolism. |
| B．bring vital cells and tissues back to active life. |
| C．cool the organism. |
| D．delay the coming of biological death. |
How did the scientists put Keta into clinical death?
| A．By putting her to sleep, lowering her temperature and draining her blood. |
| B．By surrounding her body with ice-bags and draining her blood. |
| C．By lowing her blood pressure and stopping her heart from beating. |
| D．By draining her blood, lowering her blood pressure and stopping her breathing. |
All of the following indicate that the monkey has almost restored to her original physical state except the fact that
| A．her heart beat again. |
| B．she regained her normal breath. |
| C．she rejected a penicillin injection. |
| D．she acted as lively as a healthy monkey. |
A
THIS WEEK’S TOURS of CATTY SHACK
Thursday, January 8, 2015—Daytime Tours
Hours: 1:00~4:00 PM, last admittance at 3:15 PM
Admission: Adults: $10
Children (3~11): $5
2 & Under: Free
Purchase Tickets:
Tickets may be pre-purchased up to 24 hours prior to the event by using the button below. Tickets may also be purchased at the ranch—cash, credit Visa, Mastercard & Discover are accepted forms of payment at the ranch. Tickets cannot be exchanged or money refunded. No reservations required.
Enjoy a leisurely, guided tour of our sanctuary and see all the residents (Siberian tigers, lions, cougars, black leopards, a bobcat, a coatimundi and foxes)! Tours last approximately 45 minutes.
Saturday, January 10, 2015—Night Feeding Tours
Hours: Gates open at 6:00 PM. Tours from 6:00 PM -7:00 PM. Last admittance at 7:15 PM. Feeding begins at 7:30 PM.
Admission: Adults: $15
Children (3~11): $10
2 & Under: Free
Purchase Tickets:
Tickets may be pre-purchased up to 24 hours prior to the event by using the button below. Tickets may also be purchased at the ranch — cash, credit Visa, Mastercard & Discover are accepted forms of payment at the ranch. Tickets cannot be exchanged or money refunded.No reservations required.
Enjoy a guided tour of all the residents (Siberian tigers, lions, cougars, black leopards, a bobcat, a coatimundi and foxes) at our sanctuary! Tours begin at 6:00 PM and leave approximately every 15 minutes. Tours last about 45 minutes and include a viewing of all our residents, as time allows, along with facts about the animals. To see the feeding, we suggest everyone arrive at the ranch by 7:15 PM to allow for adequate time for check-in and walking to the feeding point. At 7:30 PM, you will get to watch over 450 pounds of meat distributed throughout the sanctuary! Get ready to see their “wild” side — there’s sure to be plenty of roaring!
To learn about more upcoming tours, you can click on the calendar event listing for full details. A couple with his son aged 6 who will attend Daytime Tours on January 8 will pay ______.
| A．$10 | B．$15 | C．$ 20 | D．$25 |
From the text, we can know all EXCEPT ______.
| A．admission cost | B．event description |
| C．special comments | D．visiting hours |
Which of the following about Night Feeding Tours on January 10, 2015 is WRONG?
| A．Tickets are non-refundable. |
| B．Visitors can feed the animals in person. |
| C．Guide is available during the tours. |
| D．Visitors can’t be allowed in after 7:15 PM. |
Where can you find the text?
| A．On the website. | B．In the textbook. |
| C．In the magazine. | D．On the poster board. |
According to a survey，more Europeans go digital一changing from fixed lines to mobile phones and from narrowband to broadband Internet connections.
The survey showed that 22 percent of EU households use only mobile phones, up from I8 percent a year ago,while the percentage of households with at least one fixed line decreased by 5 percent to 72 percent, although the percentage of households with at least one mobile phone remains fairly stable at 8l per cent.
Broadband is presenting a rapid upward trend in the EU, showed the survey, which polled(对…进行民意调查)27,000 households across the union. 'Itventy-eight percent of households are now connected to the Internet via high-speed "broadband" links, up six percent from last year, while narrowband usage has dipped by three percentage points to 12 percent. More than half of households access the Internet via an ADSL line and 34 percent of broadband connections are wireless.
"Europe's digital economy is growing strongly as more and more households love to choose between fixed, mobile and Internet services," said EU Information Society and Media Commissioner wiane Reding. "The challenge of this year's reform of the EU's telecom rules will be to respond to this rapidly changing technological environment while enhancing(提高）at the same time effective competition:'
Meanwhile, nearly 20 percent of Europeans buy two or more telecom products from a single service provider, the combination of fixed telephony and.Internet access being the most common. The result may strengthen the commission's case for breaking up telecom giants, whose control over the fixed line networks～accused of hindering(妨碍）competition."Today's survey findings will feed into the ongoing public debate on the reform of the EU telecom rules, planned for summer this year," said Reding.Today, the percentage of households with at least one fixed line goes down to
A. 34%％ B, 22% C.72% D. 81%What will be covered in this year's reform of the EU's telecom hales?
| A．The quickly changing technological environment. |
| B．The plan to stop the use of the fixed lines. |
| C．Breaking up telecom giants. |
| D．The ongoing public debate on global economy. |
If a European will buy telecom products from a single service provider, what will be the result?
| A．Less than two services are provided for customers. |
| B．Competition will become fierce in the telecom field. |
| C．A plan on the reform of the telecom is breaking up. |
| D．It becomes more difficult to fight off big companies' control. |
The best title of this article is
| A．Mobile Phones Become Popular |
| B．More Europeans Go Digital |
| C．The disappearance of the fixed line |
| D．The Rules of the EU's Telecom |
Whenever we turn on the TV or radio, read the newspapers, surf the Internet, we'll be surrounded by the word "diet" everywhere. We have so easily been attracted by the promise of diet products that we have stopped thinking about what diet products are doing to us. We are paying for products that harm us psychologically（心理上地）and physically.
It's obvious that diet products weaken us psychologically. They allow us to jump over the thinking stage that our weight problems lie not in actually losing the weight, but in controlling the consumption of fat. All we have to do is to swallow or recognize the word "diet" in food labels.
What's more, diet products have greater psychological effects. Every time we have a zero-calorie drink, we are telling ourselves that we don't have to work to get results．Diet products make people believe that gain comes without pain, and that life can be without resistance and struggle.
As a matter of fact, the danger that diet products bring not only lies in the psychological effects they have on us, but also in the physical harm they cause. Diet foods and diet pills contain zero calorie. oaly because the diet industry has created chemicals to produce these wonder products, And they can indirectly harm our bodies because consuming them instead of healthy foods means we are stopping our bodies having basic nutrients. Diet products may not be nutritional, and the chemicals that go into diet products are potentially dangerous.
Losing weight lies in the power of minds, not in the power of chemicals. Think twice before buying diet products. Once we realize this, we will be much better able to resist diet products, 3rd therefore, prevent the psychological and physical harm that comes from using them.From Paragraph 1，we learn that
| A．diet products are in our daily life |
| B．people have trouble choosfng diet products |
| C．people should put up with diet products |
| D．diet products are misleading people |
The psychological effect of diet products is that people tend to
| A．hesitate before they enjoy diet foods |
| B．pay attention to their daily diet |
| C．watch their weight rather than their diet |
| D．try out varieties of diet foods |
The underlined part in Paragraph 3 probably means
| A．diet products cause no pain |
| B．it costs a lot to.lose weight |
| C．losing weight is effortless |
| D．diet products are free of fat and calories |
Diet products indirectly harm people physically because such products
| A．are over-consumed | B．are short of basic nutrients |
| C．lack chemicals | D．provide too much energy |
Leon, 12, was born without fingers on his left hand.That didn't -stop him from being able to do many tasks. But Leon could not grasp more than one object at a time. So Leon's father, Paul, created a prosthesis(假肢），using a 3D printer. Now Leon has fingers that open and close."It was a do-it-yourself, father and son adventure," says raw.
When Leon was a baby, his doctor advised his parents not to give him a prosthetic hand until he was in his early teens. "The doctor said Leon should first learn to get full use out of the hand he was born with," says Paul. As Leon got older, his father looked into buying a prosthetic hand, which can cost as much as $30,000. Paul found a more affordable solution.
One day, Paul discovered a video on the Internet about Robohand, a prosthesis created with a 3Dprinter. He downloaded the free instructions and called Robohand's creators for advice. They told him all he needed was a 3D printer一which costs around $2,000- and some materials.
Luckily, Leon's school had recently purchased a 3D printer and it offered to help Paul build the hand for Leon.“We used a soccer shin guard（护胫），cardboard, and tape. They cost about＄10," says Paul.
With his new hand, Leon can do things better. "I can help my mom more, because now I can carry two grocery bags,”he says.
Leon's father has already built .several hands for Leon. Leon helps design each one. He says there's one thing in particular that he wants to do with a future prosthesis.“The goal," he tells the
reporter from the local evening paper,“is to be able to tie my shoelaces:'Why did Leon's doctor disapprove of his using a prosthesis in his childhood?
| A．The prosthetic technology was underdeveloped then. |
| B．A prosthesis was very expensive at that time. |
| C．To master the disabled hand was important. |
| D．The original hand could do many tasks. |
Leon's father managed to get Leon a new hand by
| A．collecting money on the Internet. |
| B．buying a prosthetic hand |
| C．purchasing a 3D printer |
| D．printing a hand |
The materials used for Leon's hand can be described as
| A．cheap and common | B．strange and valuable |
| C．personal and lovely | D．basic and solid |
Where can the passage be taken from?
| A．An advertisement | B．A newspaper |
| C．A poster | D．A travel guide |