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 areas for burying 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 realise just how much unnecessary material 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 |
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. |
Selina, Michael, Tony and Sam enjoy listening to the radio. Read the following description and help them make proper choices.
57. ________ Tony, a sports lover, always cares much about sports events. He dreams to be a sports reporter after graduation.
58. ________ Michael is a university student. He likes music very much, especially rock and pop music.
59. ________ Sam is a teacher. He is one of the most popular teachers, because he always likes to tell his students what is going on world widely. So he needs to know global events of all kinds.
60. ________ Selina has three children. They are very lovely. They are interested in drama, reading and watching TV as well.
| A. BBC Radio 3 BBC 3 broadcasts radio entertainment all day, every day. Hear the original radio comedies which became TV hits and the all-time comedy greats. There’s drama as well as reading of favourite books and a daily show just for kids. |
B. BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 Music celebrates the very best in music. It’s a station for people who are passionate about rock and pop music. The station plays a rich mix of modern and classic artists and is devoted to the success of new rising bands. |
| C. BBC Radio 1 Devoted to giving you comments on news and sports events. Special rights on all the major sports events including up to the minute news and debates. |
D. BBC World Service World Service gets to the heart of global events. Programmes cover news to science and the environment to arts, religion and music of all kinds. |
When I was about 12, I had an enemy, a girl who liked to point out my shortcomings(缺点). Week by week her list grew: I was very thin, I wasn’t a good student, I talked too much, I was too proud, and so on. I tried to hear all this as long as I could. At last, I became very angry. I ran to my father with tears in my eyes.
He listened to me quietly, and then he asked. “Are the things she says true or not? Janet, didn’t you ever wonder what you’re really like? Well, you now have that girl’s opinion. Go and make a list of everything she said and mark(标记) the points that are true. Pay no attention to the other things she said.”
I did as he told me. To my great surprise, I discovered that about half the things were true. Some of them I couldn’t change (like being very thin), but a good number I could — and suddenly I wanted to change. For the first time I go to fairly clear picture of myself.
I brought the list back to Daddy. He refused(拒绝) to take it. “That’s just for you,” he said. “You know better than anyone else the truth about yourself. But you have to learn to listen, not just close your ears in anger and feeling hurt. When something said about you is true, you’ll find it will be of help to you. Our world is full of people who think they know your duty. Don’t shut your ears. Listen to them all, but hear the truth and do what you know is the right thing to do.”
Daddy’s advice has returned to me at many important moments. In my life, I’ve never had a better piece of advice.What does “Week by week her list grew” mean in the first paragraph?
| A．As time went by, she discovered more shortcomings of mine. |
| B．She made a longer list of my shortcomings the next week. |
| C．She more and more disliked me as time went by. |
| D．She added one more shortcoming on the list every week. |
What did the father ask her daughter to do when she complained(抱怨) about her “enemy”?
| A．To pay no attention to her “enemy’s” gossiping. |
| B．To keep away from her “enemy” at school. |
| C．To write down what the girl said and accept the truth. |
| D．To do whatever she wanted to as usual. |
Why did her father refuse to take the list her daughter made?
| A．Because he wanted her daughter to perfect herself. |
| B．Because what the list said were not his shortcomings. |
| C．Because he thought the list didn’t belong to him. |
| D．Because he believed the list could be well kept by her. |
Which do you think would be the best title for this passage?
| A．Not an Enemy, But a Good Friend | B．The Best Advice I’ve Ever Had |
| C．My Father and I | D．My Childhood |
With the new school year quickly coming near (or perhaps, for your early-starters, already under way), it’s time to get ready for a successful term(学期). And while you may be cleaning your wardrobe(壁柜), it’s equally important to freshen up(更新) your study skills, too.
Have you ever noticed that your study habits are different from those of your friends? Or how you seem to learn faster in certain classes? Some people are quick to blame(责备) the teacher or subject(学科) for their difficulties, but that isn’t always the cause(原因). One thing that many people seem to ignore(忽视) is their learning type.
Now, you may be wondering what a learning type is and how to find yours. There are three different learning types: Visual, Auditory, and Kinesthetic. You can be a combination of learning types, but most people have one main type.
1. Visual learners learn best by seeing. If you seem to easily get information from pictures, graphs, and videos, you are likely a visual learner.
2. Auditory learners learn best by hearing. If you seem to remember things by hearing them, whether listening to a lecture or repeating information out loud, then you are likely an auditory learner.
3. Kinesthetic learners learn best by doing. If you seem to learn best by working with your hands or testing out what you are shown, you are likely a kinesthetic learner.
So now that you know your personal learning style, the trick (窍门) is to find out how to use your new-found knowledge to help you in your classes.According to the speaker, why are some students slower than others in a certain subject?
| A．Because they find the subject too difficult. |
| B．Because they have lost interest in the subject. |
| C．Because their teacher is not good enough. |
| D．Because they don’t know their learning type. |
Which of the following can best replace the underlined word “combination”?
| A．success | B．mixture | C．wonder | D．model |
Stephen loves science and usually does experiments with his classmates in the lab to test what he has learned. So what type of learner is he?
| A．Visual | B．Auditory | C．Kinesthetic | D．Both A and B |
What do you think the speaker is going to do next?
| A．To give further explanation to the three types of learners. |
| B．To give clear examples of the three types of learners. |
| C．To make a survey(调查) about the three types of learners. |
| D．To suggest different study skills to different types of learners. |
The clock struck eleven at night. The whole house was quiet. Everyone was in bed except me. Under the strong light, I looked sadly before a huge pile of troublesome things they call “books”.
I was going to have my examination the next day. “When can I go to bed?” I asked myself. I didn’t answer, in fact I dared not.
The clock struck 12. “Oh, dear!” I cried, “ten more books to read before I can go to bed!” We pupils are the most wretched(可怜的) creatures in the world. Dad does not agree with me on this. He did not have to work so hard when he was a boy.
The clock struck one. I was quite hopeless now. I forgot all I had learnt. I was too tired to go on. I did the only thing I could. I prayed, “Oh, God, Please help me pass the exam tomorrow. I do promise to work hard afterwards, Amen.” My eyes were heavy, so heavy that I could hardly open them. A few minutes later, with my head on the desk, I fell asleep.When the author was going over his lessons, all the others in the house were_____ .
| A．asleep | B．working | C．outside | D．watching TV |
Reviewing his lessons didn’t help him at all because ____________.
| A．he thought it was useless doing this at night |
| B．his parents were not able to help him |
| C．his eyes were so heavy that he couldn’t keep them open |
| D．he hadn’t studied hard before the examination |
What do you suppose happened to the author later？
| A．He went to a church to pray again |
| B．He passed the exam by luck |
| C．He failed in the exam |
| D．He was punished by his teacher |
For some minutes, all was quiet in the street. Then from across the street someone came walking.
It looked like a man of middle height, dressed in a big raincoat, a soft hat and rubber-soled boots or shoes, and making little sound while walking. No one was in sight. It was a street with two rows of about fifty small houses and there were three lamps on either side. The lamp nearest to the child’s house could be seen clearly, but the others were almost hidden by the smoky air. A car passed the end of the street and its lights showed faintly，but clearly enough to show the smooth skin of a woman’s face. The car disappeared as the woman, wrapped up in her coat, reached the doorway of the child’s house. She put a key in the lock quickly, pushed the door open and stepped inside, then closed the door without looking round. She began to breathe hard.
She leaned against the door for a moment, then straightened up as if with an effort, and walked towards the door of the front room, the passage leading to the kitchen, and the narrow staircase. She hesitated outside the door, then went up the stairs quickly but with hardly a sound. There was enough light from the narrow hall to show the four doors leading off a small landing(楼梯平台). She pushed each door open in turn and shone a torch inside, and the light fell upon beds, walls, furniture, a bathroom hand-basin, a mirror which flashed brightness back; but this was not what the woman was looking for. She turned away and went downstairs, and hesitated again at the foot of the stairs, then turned towards the kitchen. Clearly there was nothing there, or in the small washroom that she wanted. Two rooms remained; the front room and a smaller one next to it. She opened the front room door. After a moment, she saw the child’s bed and the child.The lights of the car passing the end of the street showed that ______.
| A．a woman was driving the car |
| B．someone was standing by a street lamp. |
| C．a man and a woman were walking up the street. |
| D．a woman was walking by herself up the street. |
After the woman closed the front door, she ___________.
| A．looked round quickly | B．started breathing again |
| C．rested before moving | D．walked straight towards the front door |
When she was upstairs, the woman _______.
| A．saw that there was a wash-basin in each room |
| B．noticed a mirror which she was looking for |
| C．found a torch in one of the rooms |
| D．opened four different doors |
Once she was in the house, the woman behaved as if what she was looking for ____
| A．might be in the kitchen |
| B．was more likely to be upstairs |
| C．would be easily seen by the light from the hall |
| D．would look frightening to a child |