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 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 |
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. |
How to Order
Ordering from BooksFirst is easy and safe.
Selecting Your Books
When you have found a book you would like to order, just click on Add to Basket and it will be added to your shopping basket. To make it easy to keep track of the books you’ve selected, My Shopping Basket will display your choices wherever you are on the site. When you’re ready to place your order, select View Basket.
View Basket
This is where you select the postal destination for your order, indicate whether you would like Next Day Delivery in the UK and choose gift-wrapping. You can also amend (修改) the contents of your basket by making any changes and then selecting Update Basket.
Overseas customers ordering three or more books can also request reduced airmail charges here. When you’re happy with the contents of your shopping basket, go to the Secure Checkout.
The Order Form
After you’ve completed the order form, you will receive an on-screen acknowledgment. This will be followed by an email confirming the details of your order.
We will then inform you when your order has been sent. If this is your first order, we will also inform you of your personal BooksFirst account number.
Your First Order
We’ll send you a personal account number after you have placed your first order. For following orders all you need to do is enter your personal account number and email address.
Returning Customers
If you have ordered from us before, online, by mail or telephone, you will have already owned a personal account number. You then only need to complete the full order form. Using your account number allows us to find your details from our records (they are not accessible online).
However, you do not need your BooksFirst personal account number to place an order—simply present all the required details on the order form. If you don’t have a note of your account number just Contact us so that we can supply it to you.We can probably read this advertisement ______.
| A．in a newspaper | B．in a magazine |
| C．on the Internet | D．on TV |
The information under RETRUNING CUSTOMERS is for those _____.
| A．who have forgotten their BooksFirst account numbers |
| B．who haven’t got their BooksFirst account numbers |
| C．who have experienced BooksFirst online shopping before |
| D．who have never done online shopping before |
Which of the following is true?
| A．You must put what you choose in a basket as you do in a supermarket. |
| B．You can find your Shopping Basket nowhere but in View Basket. |
| C．You will pay less if you are an overseas customer and buy over three books. |
| D．You can get an account number only after you place an order online |
The purpose of this advertisement is________.
| A．to promote the sale of books |
| B．to show the procedure of ordering books online |
| C．to help readers apply for account numbers |
| D．to supply account numbers to readers |
One answer to the question of land shortage was suggested by an organization some years ago. A city was to be built at sea, housing 30,000 people.
The suggestion was to shape the city like a harbor(港口).The outer wall of the harbor would stand on steel columns resting on the sea-bed. Naturally this could only be where the water was fairly shallow. The people would like to live in flats in the fifty-metre high outer wall. The flats would be all face inwards, and would be made of concrete(混泥土) and glass. The glass would be specially made and colored to control the heat and strong light from the sun. The planners called this man-made harbor would be calm. On it would be floating islands carrying more building: a hospital, two theaters, museum, an art exhibition hall and a church. On one of the islands would be a special factory to take the salt out of sea water and turn it into fresh water.
People living in the city could move around on small boats driven by electricity, so there would be no air pollution from the burning of gas. There would be platforms outside the man wall for ships bringing supplies. People could also travel to the mainland by motorboat or water plane. What was suggested about the construction of a new city at sea?
| A．The city was to be designed together with a harbor. |
| B．The walls around the city would be made of steel and glass. |
| C．The building of the city would rest on a floating island. |
| D．The people would live in tall building surrounded by a wall. |
How would fresh water be supplied to the city?
| A．By treating sea water. |
| B．By getting it from the surrounding islands. |
| C．By building a small lake of fresh water inside the city. |
| D．By transporting it from the mainland. |
The suggestion made by the organization is to solve the problem that _______.
| A．there is not enough space for building cities on land |
| B．land transportation has became increasingly difficult |
| C．there are too many people on land |
| D．present cities are heavily polluted by cars |
The purpose of the writer is _______.
| A．to suggest how new type of harbor could be built at sea |
| B．to give a description of a new-type city |
| C．to draw people's attention to the problem of air pollution |
| D．to introduce a new way of building harbor-cities |
Mobile phones are an important business tool for farmers in rural areas．But they also put a valuable educational tool in their hands．
The University of Illinois in the United States has a project called SAWBO—Scientific Animations Without Borders．It produces educational videos that can be downloaded to cell phones．The goal is to help people in developing countries improve their lives．
One video shows farmers how to make a natural insecticide from neem seeds to prevent insect damage to crops．The process starts with sorting and drying the neem fruits．Then let the fruit dry in the sun for about three or four days, until they become brown．Using a mortar（碾槌） and stick, the fruits are slightly pounded to remove the shells from the fruits without breaking the seed inside．
The videos use computer animation（动画）．Some of the animated characters are a little funny looking-like a farmer with a long nose．But the subjects are serious, including a health video on preventing cholera（霍乱）．Team member Francisco Seufferheld says the information in the videos is meant to be quickly understood．He says, “The information is digested in such a way that in two minutes, we can transmit a complex idea．”
The researchers tested the seven-minute video on seven mobile phones．They wanted to see if people would share the video using Bluetooth wireless technology．With Bluetooth, files can be passed to a nearby phone even if neither phone is connected to the internet．As a result, in one month, the video had spread to one hundred eighteen people in fifty different villages．" This is just incredible impact," said Francisco Seufferheld．
The team has made a few videos so far．These are available in a total of eighty languages, dialects and accents．Professor Barry Pittendrigh says there are plans for more videos later this year．What is the text mainly about?
| A．A best-selling mobile phone |
| B．A valuable educational project for farmers |
| C．United States support for developing countries |
| D．A new type of scientist –farmer relationship |
The SAWBO program is introduced in order to ____．
| A．raise farmers’ standard of living |
| B．do some research on mobile phones |
| C．develop farmers’ practical skills |
| D．help farmers prevent insect damage to crops |
The biggest advantage of the program is that it______．
| A．includes health video on preventing cholera |
| B．can be passed to farmers using Bluetooth technology |
| C．can be used to sort and dry the neem fruits |
| D．is easy for farmers to understand |
Which of the following words can best take the place of the word “ pound” in the 3rd paragraph?
| A．moved | B．beat | C．picked | D．cut |
Brrriiinnng．The alarm clock announces the start of another busy weekday in the morning．You jump out of bed, rush into the shower, into your clothes and out the door with hardly a moment to think．A stressful journey to work gets your blood pressure climbing．Once at the office, you glance through the newspaper with depressing stories or reports of disasters．In that sort of mood, who can get down to work, particularly some creative, original problem-solving work?
The way most of us spend our mornings is exactly opposite to the conditions that promote flexible, open-minded thinking．Imaginative ideas are most likely to come to us when we’re unfocused．If you are one of those energetic morning people, your most inventive time comes in the early evening when you are relaxed．Sleepy people’s lack of focus leads to an increase in creative problem solving．By not giving yourself time to tune into your wandering mind, you’re missing out on the surprising solutions it may offer．
The trip you take to work doesn’t help, either．The stress slows down the speed with which signals travel between neurons （神经细胞）, making inspirations less likely to occur．And while we all should read a lot about what’s going on in the world, it would not make you feel good for sure, so put that news website or newspaper aside until after the day’s work is done．
So what would our mornings look like if we wanted to start them with a full capacity for creative problem solving? We’d set the alarm a few minutes early and lie awake in bed, following our thoughts where they lead．We’d stand a little longer under the warm water of the shower, stopping thinking about tasks in favor of a few more minutes of relaxation．We’d take some deep breaths on our way to work, instead of complaining about heavy traffic．And once in the office—after we get a cup of coffee—we’d click on links not to the news of the day but to the funniest videos the web has to offer．What is the purpose of the first paragraph?
| A．To tell us a specific story． |
| B．To introduce the topic of the passage． |
| C．To indicate how busy one usually is in the morning． |
| D．To show mornings are not suitable for creative work． |
What does the author imply about newspapers?
| A．They are normally full of bad news． |
| B．They are solution providers． |
| C．They are a source of inspiration． |
| D．They are more educational than websites． |
By “tune into your wandering mind” （in Para．2）, the author means “_______”．
| A．wander into the wild | B．listen to a beautiful tune |
| C．stop concentrating on anything | D．switch to the traffic channel |
The author writes the last paragraph in order to _______．
| A．establish a routine for the future | B．summarize past experiences |
| C．advocate diverse ways of life | D．offer practical suggestions |
When it comes to success in business and success in life, there are few qualities as important as confidence．
People naturally have different levels of confidence．Some have a higher level of confidence than others do, but even those whose confidence is lacking can learn to build their level of confidence and reach their most important goals．Increasing self confidence is one of the most common reasons people give for seeking the help of psychologists and other professionals．
One of the many places where a greater level of confidence is useful is in the workplace．We all know how difficult it can be, for instance, to ask the boss for a raise．This process can be extremely difficult for those who lack confidence in their own abilities．After all, if you are unsure about your own abilities, how will you ever convince your boss that you deserve more money for the work you do?
Even if you are not asking for that big raise, having plenty of confidence in your abilities is important to success．If you are certain of your abilities, chances are that those around you, whether they are your coworkers, your colleagues or your superiors, will see that confidence, and that will help to assure them that you are the best at what you do．
Being thought of as the person to go to, and being seen as an expert in your chosen field, is naturally very important to success on the job．If you can make yourself the person people go to for guidance and advice, you will help to protect yourself from the ever present danger of downsizing（裁员）．After all, if you are a recognized expert at the office, you will be regarded as an indispensable member of the team．
Having a high level of confidence, after all, does not mean overlooking the places where you could improve．Knowing what you do well and where you need help will help you enjoy increased success and confidence．What is the passage mainly about?
| A．The influence of confidence on one's life． |
| B．The difference of people's confidence．． |
| C．The importance of confidence to success |
| D．The judgment on one's confidence． |
Psychologists and other professionals can offer help to those ______．
| A．who dream to be recognized experts |
| B．who expect to give guidance to others |
| C．who want to ask the boss for a raise |
| D．who think their goals are hard to reach |
What message does the author want to convey（传递） in the last paragraph?
| A．To overlook one's disadvantages． |
| B．To make full use of one's advantages． |
| C．To have great confidence in one's abilities． |
| D．To make objective evaluations of one's abilities． |