Feeling blue about world ? “Cheer up.” Says science writer Matt Ridley.”The world has never been a better place to live in, and it will keep on getting better both for humans and got nature.”
Ridley calls himself a tat ional optimist—tactical .because he’s carefully weighed the evidence optimistic .because that offence shows human progress to be both unavoidable and good .And this is what he’s set out to prone from unique point of view in his most recent book. The Rant anal Opting .He views mankind as grand enterprise that .on the whole .has done little but progress for 100.000 years. He backed his finding with hard gathered though years of research.
Here’s how he explains his views.
Shopping fuels invention
It is reported that there are more than ten billion different producers for sale in London alone. Even allowing for the many people who still live in poverty .our own generation has access to more nutritious food .more convenient transport .bigger houses, better ears .and of course, more pounds and dollars than any who lived before us .This will continue as long as we there things to make other things, This more we specialize and exchange, the better off we’ll be.
2) Brilliant advances
One reason we are richer, healthier, taller, cleverer, longer-lived and freer than ener before is that the four most basie human needs -food, clothing, fuel and shelter- have grown a lot cheaper. Take one example. In 1800 a candle providing one hour’s light cost six hours’ work. In the 1880s the same light from an oil lamp took 15 minutes’ work to pay for. In 1950 it was eight seconds. Today it’s half second.
3) Let’s not kill ourselves for climate change
Mitigating(减轻) climate change could prove just as damaging to human welface as climate change itself. A child that dies from indoor smoke in a village, where the use of fassil-fuel(化石燃料) electrieity is forhidden by well meaming members of green polucal movements trying to save the world, is just as great a tragedy as a child that mes in a flood caused by climate change. If chmaic change proves to be xxxx, but cutting carbon canses realparn, we may well find that we have stopped a nose bleed by putting a tournquet(止血带) around our necks.What is the theme of Ridley’s most recent book?
| A．Weakness of human nature. |
| B．Concern about climate change. |
| C．Importance of practical thinking. |
| D．Optimism about human progress. |
How does Ridley look at shopping?
| A．It encourages the creation of things. |
| B．It results in shortage of goods. |
| C．It demands more fossil fuels. |
| D．It causes a poverry problem. |
The candle and lamp example is used to show that .
| A．oil lamps give off more light than candles |
| B．shortening working time brings about a happier life. |
| C．advanced technology helps to produce better candles. |
| D．increased production rate leads to lower cost of goods. |
What does the last sentence of the passage imply?
| A．Cutting carbon is necessary in spite of the huge cost. |
| B．Overreaction to cliamate change may be dangerous. |
| C．People’s health is closely related to climate change. |
| D．Careless medical treatment may cause great pain. |
| A. London Alive This author of many famous novels has now turned to writing short stories with great success. The stories tell of Londoners’ daily lives and happen in eighteen different places——for example, one story takes place at a table in a cafe, another in the back of a taxi and another in a hospital. |
| B. The Last Journey John Reynold’s final trip to the African Congo two years ago unfortunately ended in his death. For the first time since then we hear about where he went and what happened to him from journalist Tim Holden, who has followed Reynold’s route. |
| C. The Missing Photograph Another story about the well-known policeman, Inspector Manning. It is written in the same simple but successful way as the other Manning stories——I found it a bit disappointing as I guessed who the criminal was halfway through! |
| D. Gone West A serious look at one of the least-known regions of the United States. The author describes the empty villages which thousands left when they were persuaded by the railway companies to go west in search of new lives. The author manages to provide many interesting details about their history. |
| E. The Letter The murder of a television star appears to be the work of thieves who are quickly caught. But they escape from prison and a young lawyer says she knows who the real criminals are. Written with intelligence, this story is so fast-moving that it demands the reader’s complete attention. |
| F. Free at Last Matthew Hunt, who spent half his life in jail for a crime he did not do, has written the moving story of his lengthy fight to be set free. Now out of prison, he has taken the advice of a judge to describe his experiences in a book. |
以下是几个有着不同阅读爱好的购书人，请匹配与之对应的书名：
With fifteen years Britain and other nations should be well on with the building of huge industrial complexes for the recycling of waste. The word “rubbish” could lose its meaning because everything which goes into the dumps would be made into something useful. Even the most dangerous and unpleasant wastes would provide energy if nothing else.
The latest project is to take a city of around half a million inhabitants and discover exactly what raw materials go into it and what go out. The aim is to find out how much of these raw materials could be provided if a plant(发电厂) for recycling waste were built just outside the city. This plant would recycle not only metal such as steel, lead and copper, but also paper and rubber as well.
Another new project is being set up to discover the best ways of sorting and separating the rubbish. When this project is complete, the rubbish will be processed like this: First, it will pass through sharp metal bars which will tear open the plastic bags in which rubbish is usually packed; then it will pass through a powerful fan to separate the lightest elements from the heavy solids; after that founders and rollers will break up everything that can be broken. Finally , the rubbish will pass under magnets(磁铁), which will remove the bits of iron and steel; the rubber and plastic will then be sorted out in the final stage.
The first full-scale giant recycling plants are perhaps fifteen years away. Indeed, with the growing cost of transporting rubbish to more distant dumps, some big cities will be forced to build their own recycling plants before long.
| A．have completed what was started |
| B．get ready to start |
| C．have achieved a great deal in |
| D．put an end to |
| A．Breaking up whatever is breakable. |
| B．Sharpening metal bars. |
| C．Separating light elements from the heavy ones. |
| D．Sorting out small pieces of metal. |
| A．To deal with wastes in a better way. |
| B．To protect the environment from pollution. |
| C．To get raw materials locally. |
| D．To get big profits from those plants. |
| A．began to operate fifteen years ago |
| B．will take less than fifteen years to build |
| C．will be built fifteen years later |
| D．will probably be in operation in fifteen years |
| A．a cheap way to get energy |
| B．the location of recycling plants |
| C．new ways of recycling wastes |
| D．the probability of city environment |
My grandfather died more than twenty-five years ago. I was fifteen. He was kind, strong, fair, and very funny. When I was a young musician, he was my biggest fan. I played my violin for him when he visited, and he loved everything, but each time he had one request. “Could you play ‘Amazing Grace’?” he asked, full of hope and with a twinkle in his eye, because he knew my answer was always, “I don’t know that one!” We went through this routine at every major holiday, and I always figured I’d have time to learn it for him later.
About the time I entered high school and started guitar, Grandpa got cancer. The last time I saw him alive was Thanksgiving weekend in 1985. My mom warned us that Grandpa didn’t look the same anymore and that we should prepare ourselves. For a moment I didn’t recognize him. He looked so small among all the white sheets. We had all gathered in Ohio for the holiday, and I’m sure we all knew we were there to say good-bye. I can see now that Grandpa held on long enough to see us each one more time. I remember how we ate in the dining room and laughed and talked while Grandpa rested in his hospital bed. I wonder if it was sad for him to be alone with our voices and laughter. Knowing Grandpa, he was probably content.
The next morning I found my moment alone with him. I pulled out my guitar, tuned to his appreciative gaze, and finally played for him “Amazing Grace.” I had worked on it for weeks, knowing it never mattered whether I actually played it well and choosing not to believe as I played that it was my last concert for my biggest fan. The cancer had stolen his smile, but I saw joy in his eyes. He held my hand afterward, and I knew I had done something important.
I argued with people all through college about my music major. I was told by strangers that music wouldn’t make me any money and it wasn’t useful like being a doctor. But I know firsthand that with music I was able to give my grandpa something at a point when no one else could.
A she hadn’t learned it yet
B. she found it difficult to play
C. she disliked playing it.
D. her grandfather was just joking.
| A．Grandpa treasured love from family |
| B．Grandpa was used to living alone |
| C．Grandpa was too weak to feel anything |
| D．Grandpa was optimistic about his health |
| A．she made him smile joyfully |
| B．she knew she must play it well |
| C．she brought him love and comfort |
| D．she believed she could play it many times for him. |
| A．Disapproving | B．Regretful |
| C．Doubtful | D．Positive |
| A．The author was 15 when she wrote the article. |
| B．The author has a great affection for her grandfather. |
| C．The author prefers to be a doctor rather than a musician. |
| D．The author is confident that music will make her much money. |
People are being lured (引诱) onto Facebook with the promise of a fun, free service without realizing they’re paying for it by giving up large amounts of personal information. Facebook then attempts to make money by selling their data to advertisers that want to send targeted messages.
Most Facebook users don’t realize this is happening. Even if they know what the company is up to, they still have no idea what they’re paying for Facebook because people don’t really know what their personal data is worth.
The biggest problem, however, is that the company keeps changing the rules. Early on, you keep everything private. That was the great thing about facebook — you could create your own little private network. Last year, the company changed its privacy rules so that many things — your city, your photo, your friends' names—were set, by default (默认) to be shared with everyone on the Internet.
According to Facebook’s vice-president Elliot Schrage, the company is simply making changes to improve its service, and if people don’t share information, they have a “less satisfying experience”.
Some critics think this is more about Facebook looking to make more money. Its original business model, which involved selling ads and putting them at the side of the page, totally failed. Who wants to look at ads when they’re online connecting with their friends?
The privacy issue has already landed Facebook in hot water in Washington. In April, Senator(议员) Charles Schumer called on Facebook to change its privacy policy. He also urged the Federal Trade Commission to set guidelines for social-networking sites. “I think the senator rightly communicated that we had not been clear about what the new products were and how people could choose to use them or not to use them,” Schrage admits.
I suspect that whatever Facebook has done so far to invade our privacy is only the beginning, which is why I’m considering deactivating(撤销) my account. Facebook is a handy site, but I’m upset by the idea that my information is in the hands of people I don’t know. That’s too high a price to pay.What do we learn about Facebook from the first paragraph?
| A．It is a website that sends messages to targeted users. |
| B．It makes money by putting on advertisements. |
| C．It profits by selling its users’ personal data. |
| D．It provides loads of information to its users. |
What does the author say about most Facebook users?
| A．They are reluctant to give up their personal information. |
| B．They don’t know their personal data enriches Facebook. |
| C．They don’t identify themselves when using the website. |
| D．They care very little about their personal information. |
Why does Facebook make changes to its rules according to Elliot Schrage?
| A．To provide better service to its users. |
| B．To follow the Federal guidelines. |
| C．To improve its users’ connectivity. |
| D．To expand its scope of business. |
What does Senator Charles Schumer advocate?
| A．Setting guidelines for advertising on websites. |
| B．Banning the sharing of users’ personal information. |
| C．Formulating(制订) regulations for social-networking sites. |
| D．Removing ads from all social-networking sites. |
Why does the author plan to cancel his Facebook account?
| A．He is dissatisfied with its current service. |
| B．He finds many of its users untrustworthy. |
| C．He doesn’t want his personal data abused. |
| D．He is upset by its frequent rule changes. |
Paper is a cheap and accessible medium that can produce beautiful results. To most people, making a paper plane could be one of the simplest things to do. It’s the simplest and easiest form of paper art. And paper art can be traced back to Japan, where it originated over a thousand years ago. However, there’s a special minority who takes paper art to the next level, magically turning the plain white or colored paper into some of the most amazing artworks. Check out the following artists and their works!
The Danish artist Peter Callesen is famous for his talent in combining the minimalism(极简的) of a white sheet of paper with the complexity of carefully cut and folded paper and uses the two to build out some pleasing works.
The British artist Su Blackwell often goes to secondhand bookstores — to look for materials with which she can carve out delicate sculptures. The models look as if they “grow” naturally from the pages of the books. The artist finds inspiration from the book title or a paragraph or picture inside and then spends months carefully slicing each one into an eye-catching paper model. Her old book sculptures sell for up to￡5,000 each.
By carefully folding simple pieces of paper, German artist Simon Schubert creates amazing masterpieces. He turns paper into architectural masterpieces by folding a simple piece of paper to shape the creases(摺缝), then unfolding it to show the fascinating artwork.
Another master of paper-folding is Jen Stark. Her artwork is often in the form of colorful caves and topographic(地形的) maps. Using her vivid imagination and a special knife, she is a modern day magician who turns humble materials like construction paper and glue into fantastic, complicated sculptures that puzzle the eyes. Her work draws inspiration from nature.
A. is about plane-foldingB. is most prosperous in Japan
C. dates back to 1000 B.C. D. is now on a new level
| A．combines the minimalism and complexity of paper |
| B．often gets inspired by secondhand books |
| C．makes architectural masterpieces with Simon Schubert |
| D．is a magician who uses simple paper materials |
| A．is from Germany |
| B．uses paper to build complicated shapes |
| C．creates things too puzzling to understand |
| D．works also as a magician |
| A．common and popular | B．simple and cheap |
| C．useless and priceless | D．numb and meaningless |
| A．Every dog has its day. |
| B．All that glitters are not gold. |
| C．One can't make brick without straw. |
| D．The greatness may come from ordinariness. |