In today's throw away society, dealing with the city's growing mountain of waste is an inereasing challenge for the city countil(市议会)。
Recently. Edinburgh is faced with the problem of dssposing of(处理)about250,000 Million tons of waster a year . Despite different ways to dispose of much of it in a green manner---largely through encouraging tecycling---its aging facilities such as the Powderhall landfill do not have the ability to deal with it.
The European Union(EU) has issued a new policy, regulating how such mountains of waster are to hr disposed of. The five councils (Edinburgh. East Lothian. West Lothian. Midlethian and Borders) face fine around $18million a year from 2013 it they don't inerease recycling levels and rely less on landfill. With this in mind, the coumlls got together with the idea of building a lage incinerator plant (垃圾焚烧厂)to burn half of the waste produced in their districts. But the plan fell apart after the change of target levels by a new UK government waste policy which required that no more than 25% of the city's waste should be disposed of in this way by 2025.
After the plan was abandoned, a private company which already transported millions of tons of the city's wast by train to a landfill site near Dunbar, offered an alternative soution when it suggested opening a huge waste site near Portobello.
Since Powderhall is supposed to close in 2015, it seemed necessary for the members of the Edinburgh Council to accept the suggestion. But soon they turned it down-after 700 local objections reached them-because it would have meant hundreds of lorries a day making loud noise through heavily populated areas.
That still leaves eth council with a problem. By 2013,only50%of 1995 levels of waste will benllewed to be sent to landfill. Even if recveling large are met, there will still be a large amount of rubbish to be burnt up. Due build an Edinburgh and Midlothian councils have now decided to work together to build an ineinerator plant as time to find a solution is fast running out.
The main way of handling waste in a green manmer in Edinburgh is
The five councils worked out a plan to build an incinerator plant to
The city council of Edinburgh rejected the suggestion to open a huge landfill site near Portobello because
What is the final dream an Edinburgh and Midlothian Country ?
C
In modern society there is a great deal of argument about competition. Some value it highly, believing that it is responsible for social progress and prosperity. Others say that competition is bad; that it sets one person against another; that it leads to unfriendly relationship between people.
I have taught many children who held the belief that their self-worth relied on how well they performed at tennis and other skills. For them, playing well and winning are often life-and-death affairs. In their single-minded pursuit (追求) of success, the development of many other human qualities is sadly forgotten.
However, while some seem to be lost in the desire to succeed, others take an opposite attitude. In a culture which values only the winner and pays no attention to the ordinary players, they strongly blame competition. Among the most vocal are youngsters who have suffered under competitive pressures from their parents or society. Teaching these young people, I often observe in them a desire to fail. They seem to seek failure by not trying to win or achieve success. By not trying, they always have an excuse: "I may have lost, but it doesn't matter because I really didn't try." What is not usually admitted by themselves is the belief that if they had really tried and lost, that would mean a lot. Such a loss would be a measure of their worth. Clearly, this belief is the same as that of the true competitors who try to prove themselves. Both are based on the mistaken belief that one's self-respect relies on how well one performs in comparison with others. Both are afraid of not being valued. Only as this basic and often troublesome fear begins to dissolve can we discover a new meaning in competition.
46. What does this passage mainly talk about?
A. Competition helps to set up self-respect.
B. Opinions about competition are different among people.
C. Competition is harmful to personal quality development.
D. Failures are necessary experiences in competition.
47. Why do some people favor competition according to the passage?
A. It pushes society forward.B. It builds up a sense of duty.
C. It improves personal abilities. D. It encourages individual effects.
48. The underlined phrase " the most vocal" in Paragraph 3 means ____________.
A. those who try their best to win
B. those who value competition most highly
C. those who are against competition most strongly
D. those who rely on others most for success
49. What is the similar belief of the true competitors and those with a "desire to fail" ?
A. One's worth lies in his performance compared with others'.
B. One's success in compeition needs great efforts.
C. One's achievement is determined by his particular skills.
D. One's success is based on how hard he has tried.
50. Which point of view may the author agree to?
A. Every effort should be paid back.
B. Competition should be encouraged.
C. Winning should be a life-and-death matter.
D. Fear of failure should be removed in competition.
III. Reading comprehension: 50% (共20小题；每小题2.5分，满分50分)
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳答案。
A
As any homemaker who has tried to keep order at the dinner table knows, there is far more to a family meal than food. Sociologist Michael Lewis has been studying 50 families to find out just how much more.
Lewis and his co-workers carried out their study by videotaping the families while they ate ordinary meals in their own homes. They found that parents with small families talk actively with each other and their children. But as the number of children gets larger,conversation gives way to the parents' efforts to control the loud noise they make. That can have an important effect on the children. "In general the more question-asking the parents do, the higher the children's IQ scores," Lewis says. "And the more children there are, the less question-asking there is. "
The study also provides an explanation for why middle children often seem to have a harder time in life than their siblings (兄弟姐妹). Lewis found that in families with three or four children, dinner conversation is likely to center on the oldest child, who has the most to talk about, and the youngest, who needs the most attention. "Middle children are invisible, "says Lewis. "When yon see someone get up from the table and walk around during dinner, chances are it's the middle child. "There is, however, one thing that stops all conversation and prevents anyone from having attention : "When the TV is on," Lewis says,"dinner is a non-event. "
36. The writer's purpose in writing the text is to _______
A. show the relationship between parents and children
B. teach parents ways to keep order at the dinner table
C. report on the findings of a study
D. give information about family problems
37. Parents with large families ask fewer questions at dinner because ________.
A. they are busy serving food to their children
B. they are busy keeping order at the dinner table
C. they have to pay more attention to younger children
D. they are tired out having prepared food for the whole family
38. By saying" Middle children are invisible" in Paragraph 3, Lewis means that middle children _________.
A. have to help their parents to serve dinner
B. get the least attention from the family
C. are often kept away from the dinner table
D. find it hard to keep up with other children
39. Lewis' research provides an answer to the question _________.
A. why TV is important in family life
B. why parents should keep good order
C. why children in small families seem to be quieter
D. why middle children seem to have more difficulties in life
40. Which of the following statements would the writer agree to?
A. It is important to have the right food for children.
B. It is a good idea to have the TV on during dinner.
C. Parents should talk to each of their children frequently.
D. Elder children should help the younger ones at dinner.
D
Among rich countries, people in the United States work the longest hours. They work much longer than in Europe. This difference is quite surprising because productivity per hour worked is the same in the United States as it is in France, Spain and Germany, and it is growing at a similar speed.
In most countries and at most times in history, as people have become richer they have chosen to work less. In other words they have decided to "spend" a part of their extra income on a fuller personal life. Over the last fifty years Europeans have continued this pattern, and hours of work have fallen sharply. But not in the United States. We do not fully know why this is. One reason may be greatly lower taxes in America, which increase the rewards to work. Another may be more satisfying work, or less satisfying personal lives.
Longer hours do of course increase the GDP (国内生产总值). So the United States has produced more per worker than, say, France. The United States also has more of its people at work, while in France many more mothers and older workers have decided to stay at home. The overall result is that American GDP per head is 40% higher than in France, even though productivity per hour worked is the same.
It is not clear which of the two situations is better. As we have seen, work has to be compared with other values like family life, which often get lost in its interest. It is too early to explain the different trends (趋势）in happiness over time in different countries. But it is a disappointing idea that in the United States happiness has made no progress since 1975, while it has risen in Europe. Could this have anything to do with trends in the work-life balance ?
51. From the text we know that the author __________.
A. believes that longer working hours is better
B. prefers shorter working hours to longer ones
C. says nothing certain about which pattern is better
D. thinks neither of the patterns is good
52. Which of the following countries has more of its people at work?
A. Spain. B. France. C. Germany. D. America.
53. In the last paragraph, the underlined word "which" refers to_________.
A. family life B. situations C. other values D. trends
54. What message can we get from the text?
A. The GDP of Europe, is higher than that of America.
B. Two possible reasons are given for working longer hours in the US.
C. People all over the world choose to work less when they are richer.
D. Americans are happier than Europeans.
55. Which of the following would be the best title for the text?
A. Americans and Europeans. B. Staying at Home.
C. Work and Productivity. D. Work and Happiness.
B
Instead of hitting the beach, fourteen high school students traded swimming suits for lab coats last summer and turned their attention to scientific experiments.
The High School Research Program offers high school students guidance with researchers in Texas A&M's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Jennifer Funkhouser, academic adviser for the Department of Rangeland Ecology and Management, directs this four-week summer program designed to increase understanding of research and its career potential(潜能).
Several considerations go into selecting students, including grades, school involvement and interest in science and agriculture. And many students come from poorer school districts, Funkhouser says. "This is their chance to learn techniques and do experiments they never would have a chance to do in high school".
Warner Ervin of Houston is interested in animal science and learned how to tell male from female mosquitoes (蚊子). His adviser, Craig Coates, studies the genes of mosquitoes that allow them to fight against malaria and yellow fever. Coates thought this experience would be fun and helpful to the high school students.
The agricultural research at A&M differs from stereotypes. It's “molecular (分子) science on the cutting edge”, Fnnkhouser says. The program broadened students' knowledge. Victor Garcia of Rio Grande City hopes to become a biology teacher and says he learned a lot about chemistry from the program.
At the end of the program, the students presented papers on their research. They're also paid $600 for their work---another way this program differs from others, which often charge a fee.
Fourteen students got paid to learn that science is fun, that agricuhure is a lot more than milking and plowing and that research can open many doors.
41. The research program is chiefly designed for ________
A. high school advisers from Houston
B. college students majoring in agriculture
C. high school students from different places
D. researchers at the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
42. It can be inferred from the text that the students in poorer areas ___________.
A. had little chance to go to college
B. could often take part in the program
C. found the program useful to their future
D. showed much interest in their high school experiments
43. When the program was over, the students ____________.
A. entered that college B. wrote research reports
C. paid for their research D. found a way to make money
44. The underlined expression " on the cutting edge" in Paregraph 5 means" on the most ________ position".
A. important B. favourable C. astonishing D. advanced
45. What would be the best title for the text?
A. A Program for Agricultural Science Students B. A Program for Animal Science Students
C. A Program for Medical Science LoversD. A Program for Future Science Lovers
E
Some recent reports on the death penalty have brought some interesting responses from
readers all over the country. Although I really don’t like to make fun of people who oppose the
death penalty because they are so sincere, I wish they would come up with some new arguments to
replace the worn-out ones.
For example, many said something like this : “Wouldn’t it be better to keep the killers alive so
psychiatrists（精神科医生）can study them in order to find out what makes them the way they are?”
It takes the average psychiatrist about five years to figure why a guy wants to stop for two drinks after work and won’t quit smoking. So how long do you think it will take him to determine why somebody with an IQ of 92 decided to murder the little old lady who lives next door? Besides, we have a huge number of killers in our prisons—more than enough to keep all the nation’s psychiatrists busy for the next 20 years.
Another standard is: “The purpose of the law should be to protect society, not to give cruel punishment, such as the death penalty.”
In that case ,we should tear down all the prisons and let all the criminals go because most people would consider a long period in prison to be cruel punishment--especially those who are locked up. Even 30 days in the Cook County Prison is no picnic.
And: “What gives society the right to take a life if an individual can’t?” The individuals who make up society give it that right. Societies perform many functions that individuals can’t. We can’t carry guns and shoot people, but we give that right to police.
Words can not explain the suffering the families of murder victim are left to live with. The families suffer a terrible loss, and they live with terrible memories. The knowledge that the killers are alive and will probably remain alive and cared for you by society is extremely painful. Probably, people who oppose the death penalty should try explaining to these people how cruel it is to kill someone.
72．What’s the writer’s attitude towards death penalty?
A．Death penalty is a must.
B．Death penalty doesn’t solve all the problems.
C．Death penalty should be practiced more carefully.
D．Death penalty should only be used on murderers.
73．How many arguments against death penalty are discussed in the passage?
A．Two B．Three C．Four D．Five
74．What does the last sentence of the text suggest?
A．It’s cruel to use death penalty to kill someone.
B．Murder victims need more comfort from the society.
C．Opponents of death penalty should offer explanations.
D．Murderers should be put to death as the punishment.
75．The author develops the passage by .
A．providing typical examples of death penalty
B．following the natural time order
C．presenting and analyzing ideas
D．comparing opinions from different fields