You might think that “global warming” means nothing more than a rise in the world’s temperature But rising sea levels caused by it have resulted in the first evacuation(撤离)of an island nation—the citizens of Tuvalu will have to leave their homeland.
During the 20th century , sea level rose 8—12 inches. As a result ,Tuvalu has experienced lowland flooding of salt water which has polluted the country’s drinking water.
Paani Laupepa , a Tuvaluan government official ,reported to the Earth Policy Institute that the nation suffered an unusually high number of fierce storms in the past ten years .Many scientists connect higher surface water temperatures resulting from global warming to greater and more damaging storms.
Laupepa expressed dissatisfaction with the United States for refusing to sign the Kyoto Protocol, an international agreement calling for industrialized nations to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions(导致温室效应的气体排放),which are a main cause of global warming . “By refusing to sign the agreement ,the US has effectively taken away the freedom of future generations of Tuvaluans to live where their forefathers have lived for thousands of years,” Laupepa told the BBC.
Tuvalu has asked Australia and New Zealand to allow the gradual move of its people to both countries .
Tuvalu is not the only country that is vulnerable (易受影响的)to rising sea levels .Maumoon Gayoon ,president of the Maldives ,told the United Nations that global warming has made his country of 311,000 an “endangered nation”. The text is mainly about .
A.rapid changes in earth’s temperature |
B.bad effects of global warming |
C.moving of a country to a new place |
D.reasons for lowland flooding |
According to scientists ,the direct cause of more and fiercer storms is .
A.greenhouse gas emissions in industrialized nations |
B.higher surface water temperatures of the sea |
C.continuous global warming |
D.rising sea levels |
Laupepa was not satisfied with the United States because it did not .
A.agree to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions |
B.sign an agreement with Tuvalu |
C.allow Tuvaluans to move to the US |
D.believe the problems facing Tuvalu were real |
The country whose situation is similar to that of Tuvalu is .
A.Australia | B.New Zealand | C.the Maldives | D.the United States |
C
Walt Disney is credited for creating such wonderful things as Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse. However, he cannot take the credit for creating other well-loved characters, such as Cinderella and Snow White. They are almost automatically associated with Disney because Disney turned old fables(寓言) into cartoon movies.
The original Cinderella varies very much from the Disney version we know today. It started off with the girl mourning her mother’s death and going to her tomb three times a day. In addition, there were only birds that helped Cinderella; there was no such thing as a fairy godmother or helpful mice, nor was there mention of a horse and carriage.
The stepsisters were cruel: they always threw Cinderella’s food into the ashes of the fire and made her sleep on the ashes on the floor, hence(因此)her name.
In the original story, the king’s ball actually lasted for three days. With the help of the birds, the girl, beautifully dressed, danced with the prince on all three nights and the prince fell in love with her. However, she broke away from him to rush back home each night. On the last night, the prince placed soothing sticky on the stairs; as Cinderella made her escape, a shoe got stuck on it.
Here now is where the story becomes unpleasant: when the prince went to the house looking for the girl whose foot fit the shoe, the wicked(邪恶的) stepmother told one of her two daughters to cut off her big toe to fit into the shoe. The daughter did as told. So the prince took her away to be his bride. But when they passed the tomb of Cinderella’s mother, the birds called out to the prince,
“Turn and peep, there’s blood in the shoe;
the shoe is too small, the true bride waits for you.”
Realizing he had been tricked, the prince returned the daughter to her mother. The other then had to cut off part of her heel in order to fit into the shoe, with the same result. Only Cinderella’s foot fit perfectly and so the prince chose to marry her. The story ends with the wedding day: as Cinderella’s two stepsisters followed her, pretending to be devoted to her so that they could enjoy the king’s riches, two birds flew by and plucked(啄) out their eyes. Because of their wickedness and falsehood, they had to spend the rest of their days blind.
The original Cinderella is so different from the Disney version. Thank goodness Disney made such changes; it indeed was a wise move.What dose the underlined word “They” in the first paragraph refer to?
A.Such wonderful things. |
B.Other well-loved characters. |
C.Old fables. |
D.Cartoon movies. |
How did Cinderella get her name?
A.The Birds came up with it. |
B.It was given by Disney. |
C.It came from the word “ash”. |
D.She got it from her mother. |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the original story?
A.Helpful mice got Cinderella a beautiful dress. |
B.The ball was held to celebrate the prince’s wedding. |
C.Cinderella left her shoe on the stairs on purpose. |
D.The birds told the prince that he had been cheated. |
The moral of the original story is that ____________.
A.a wicked person cannot escape punishment. |
B.a devoted person certainly deserves respect. |
C.a well-behaved child earns a great reward. |
D.a dishonest child cannot get mother love. |
What does the author think of the Disney version?
A.Excellent. | B.Ordinary | C.Dull. | D.Ridiculous. |
B
MAP ARTIST PROGRAM
Map Artist is the perfect tool for creating customized maps to include in research projects and reports. Map Artist offers endless possibilities. It has a huge collection of map styles to choose from, and they can be customized to suit your special needs. In this program, we will assume you have been asked to create a map for a social studies report.
Step 1. When you open Map Artist, a world map will be displayed. Type “USA” in the dialogue box. Click GO. A map of USA will be displayed.
Step 2. Click on the drop-down menu next to the outline map of the state. Click on the type of map you need for your report.
· OUTLINE shows only the outline shape of the state with no highways or population centers indicated.
· TOPOGRAPHIC indicates elevations(海拔)as well as the location of major cities.
· SHADED RELIEF shows only natural landforms (mountains, valleys, rivers) and national parks.
· POLITICAL shows major cities, interstates, and major highways.
· HISTORICAL recalls the oldest maps on record.
For the purposes of this program, select OUTLINE. A map showing an outline of USA will be displayed.
Step 3. Click CUSTOMIZE on the menu bar down the left side of the screen.
CUSTOMIZE allows you to place custom data on the map you have selected.
1.Click on the button next to the appropriate symbol. For practice, click on the shovel, which symbolizes archaeology.
2.Next to the word TEXT, type “The Presidio”, which is an archaeological site near San Francisco.
3.Now use your mouse to click on the spot on the map where you would like this data to be placed.
4.You can add as many sites as you wish.
Step 4. Click SAVE if you would like to save the map to a file. Later, after opening the saved document, click on the map with your right mouse button and select COPY. And then PASTE it at the location where you want the map to appear.If your report is about Plants and Animals in New York, you may click on__________ map.
A.HISTORICAL | B.SHADED RELIEF |
C.TOPOGRAPHIC | D.POLITICAL |
Which function is required to place a specific location on a CUSTOMIZE map?
A.Clicking on GO. | B.Cutting and pasting. |
C.Clicking on the map. | D.Opening the file. |
Which of the following orders is true according to the Map Artist Program?
A
A young man returns to his hometown of Aractataca, Colombia. He visits the house where he lived as a child. Here, he remembers the most important memories of his childhood. Standing in front of his old house, the young man makes an important decision. He says to himself, “I will start my life over again. I will become a writer.”
This man is the world famous writer, Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
Gabriel Garcia Marquez was born on March 6, 1928. During his early life, Garcia Marquez’s grandmother and grandfather told him many stories. His grandmother would tell him legends as if they were real. Garcia Marquez says that his grandmother’s way of storytelling later influenced his own methods.
When Garcia Marquez was about 20 years old, he left Aractataca and attended university in Bogota. He began studying law because this was what his father wanted him to study. However, Garcia Marquez was not happy.
During this time Garcia Marquez returned to Aractataca. It was on this visit that he realized he must stop studying law. And he recognized that he must return to the dream of his childhood-writing. For the next few years, Garcia Marquez wrote for many different newspapers. And in 1955, he published his first book called “Leaf Storm”.
For many years, Garcia Marquez knew he wanted to write about his grandfather’s house in Aractataca. To write this book, Garcia Marquez and his wife had to sell almost all of their possessions to survive. But their act was worth it. The book, “One Hundred Years of Solitude” was immediately successful. And this book created a path for Garcia Marquez’s future success.
In 1982, Gabriel Garcia Marquez was given the Nobel Prize in Literature for his book “One Hundred Years of Solitude”, making him the first Colombian and the fourth Latin American to win a Nobel Prize in Literature.Who influenced Garcia Marquez’s writing style?
A.His grandfather. | B.His father. |
C.His grandmother. | D.His wife. |
Garcia decided to take up writing_________.
A.when he worked for a newspaper |
B.under the influence of his family |
C.when he graduated from college |
D.after a visit to his hometown |
Garcia’s book “One Hundred Years of Solitude” .
A.was written in the 1950s |
B.enjoyed a quick success |
C.helped Garcia lead a better life |
D.was about Garcia’s grandfather |
San Francisco(People's Daily Online)-- Apple Inc. Tuesday introduced its mobile payment service Apple Pay alongside the company's iPhone 6 Plus and Apple Watch at the Flint Center in Cupertino, California.
What apple does is to replace consumers' wallet with its cell phone. Apple said it hopes to speed up the checkout process, make credit-card payments more secure and ultimately, to replace physical wallets.
With the near-field communication technology, Apple's gadgets like iPhone and Apple watch can transmit a radio signal between the device and a receiver when the two are in an inch apart. "To pay, just hold your iPhone near the contactless reader with your finger on Touch ID. You don’t even have to look at the screen to know your payment information was successfully sent," Apple says on its official website.
Apple said that each transaction (交易)would be authorized(授权) with a one-time, unique number, creating a security code that it said is more secure than the one on the back of your credit card because cashiers won’t see your name, card number or security code. The service will work with the three major payment networks — American Express, MasterCard and Visa — and Apple said that there are 220,000 merchant locations that accept these contactless payments.
When some applaud this disrupted service that will compete with Paypal and endanger other online payment companies, some others concern about its safety, especially when another retailer Home Depot confirmed a data opening yesterday and iCloud was reported exposing nude (裸体)pictures of celebrities (名人) a week ago.
Leo Zheng, a technology reporter in Silicon Valley said: "When Apple attracts consumers to put all their cards into one iPhone and promised the security, Jennifer Lawrence should say something."Which can be the best title for the passage?
A.Apple announces mobile payment service to replace consumers' wallet. |
B.Consumers can pay in cash through mobile phones. |
C.Apple Inc. will introduce new models to the market. |
D.Mobile payment will be popular soon. |
After reading the third paragraph, we know.
A.Apple’s new products are popular |
B.Apple can be used as an ID |
C.Apple's gadgets can receive message easily |
D.how Apple's gadgets work |
The attitude of the writer towards the mobile payment is .
A.indifferent (冷漠的) | B.objective |
C.skeptical | D.positive |
What could have happened to Jennifer Lawrence?
A.She made great contributions to Apple. |
B.She put all her cards into her iPhone. |
C.Her nude pictures were spread online. |
D.Her iPhone often broke down. |
For centuries, the body’s blood has been linked closely with the emotions. People who show no human emotions or feelings, are said to be cold-blooded killer. For example, the police are searching for a cold-blooded killer. He seems to kill for no reason, and no emotion, as if taking someone’s life as nothing.
Cold can affect other parts of the body. The expression “get cold feet” has nothing to do with cold or your feet. The expression means being afraid to do something you have decided to do. For example, you agree to be president of an organization. But then you learn that all the other officers have resigned, and all the work of the organization will be your responsibility. You are likely to get cold feet about being president when you understand the situation.
The expression “give someone the cold shoulder” probably comes from the physical act of turning your back toward someone, instead of speaking to him face to face. You may give a cold shoulder to a friend who has not kept a promise he made to you. Or, to someone who has lied about you to others.
A cold fish is not a fish. It is a person. But it is a person who is unfriendly, unemotional and shows no love or warmth. A cold fish does not offer much of himself to anyone. Someone who is a cold fish could be cold-hearted. Now a cold-hearted person is someone who has no sympathy. Several popular songs in recent years were about cold-hearted men or cold-hearted women who, without feelings, broke the hearts of their lovers.
Out in the cold means not getting something that everybody else got. A person might say that everybody but him got a pay raise--he was left out in the cold. And it is not a pleasant place to be.There are _____ expressions related to cold that are mentioned in the passage.
A.3 | B.4 | C.6 | D.7 |
When you refuse to speak to a man and treat him in a distant way, you may express by “_________”.
A.I give him the cold shoulder |
B.I think he is a cold-blooded man |
C.I think he is a cold fish |
D.I’m likely to get cold feet |
If Sue shows absolutely no reaction to those awful pictures of starving children in Africa, you will say _________.
A.she is a cold-blooded killer |
B.she gets cold feet |
C.she is a cold fish |
D.she is out in the cold |
We can use the expression “__________” to describe a man who abandons or hurts his lover without mercy.
A.cold-blooded | B.cold shoulder |
C.cold feet | D.cold-hearted |
The topic of this passage is about _________.
A.the relationship between cold and our body |
B.some expressions about friendship |
C.some expressions connected with cold |
D.how cold weather comes into being |