Chicken feathers are useful, and not just to a chicken. Some go into pillows, coats and other products. But countless chicken feathers go to waste.
In the United States, billions of chickens are produced yearly. Most of their feathers are thrown away.
But instead of being buried in land, some feathers could find a future in plastics（塑料）.
One of the products they have developed is a flowerpot（花盆）. It may look like other flowerpots. But the container breaks down in the earth within one to five years. And as it breaks down, it naturally becomes nutrient（营养物） in the soil.
The environmentally friendly flowerpot is the work of two researchers. Walter Schmidt is with the Agricultural Research Service, part of the United States Agriculture Department. Masud Huda is with the Horticultural Research Institute, a private（私人） organization（组织）.
Walter Schmidt has been working to find uses for chicken feathers since the 1990s. Progress in 2002 showed that plastic made from feathers could be formed like other plastics.
He says feathers are much stronger and last（持续） longer than another plant material. "Feathers are stronger. By design, feathers are also more durable（耐用的）. And the other part about it is if feathers were twice as heavy, or half as strong, then birds couldn't fly."
He points out that traditional flowerpots made from other plastics can last much longer. But he wonders if there is really a need. He says most flowerpots are never re-used.
"Why would you want a plastic that you use for a year to last for two hundred years? It makes no sense. You want to match the product with the use." said Walter Schmidt.
Walter Schmidt and Masud Huda are now adding another chicken product to their flowerpots -- chicken waste. The waste will add more nutrients to the soil as the pot breaks down. The scientists say they hope their flowerpot will be on the market in a year or two.What do people mainly deal with feathers?
| A．Feathers are used to make pillows, coats and other products. |
| B．Most feathers are paid no attention to. |
| C．Most feathers are used as nutrient |
| D．Most feathers are used to make flowerpots |
What’s the advantage of the flowerpots?
| A．They won’t last long. | B．They can’t break |
| C．They are environmentally friendly | D．They can be reused |
What does Walter Schmidt think of traditional flowerpots?
| A．Too heavy | B．Too old |
| C．Never re-used | D．lasting longer but unnecessary |
What do you think is the main idea of the passage?
| A．Chicken and its feathers | B．How to deal with feathers |
| C．feathers made into flowerpot | D．New flowerpots |
Psychology（心理学）tells us that many people hate to take risks. But it is good for us to take risks, especially (尤其)when the risk is to achieve a desired result. In that way, we become stronger and braver.
Our human nature should be to take risks, but some people just sit and wish they didn’t have the fear（恐惧）to move on. This is because of one or two failures in their lives. Please step out and don’t let the past hold you back from living life to the fullest. Move forward and move on!
In studying the psychology of taking risks, we find that human nature provides(提供) us with the desire (渴望)to experiment and take chances.
Risk taking is a great benefit（好处）that allowed our ancestors(祖先) to become stronger and stronger day by day. By taking risks they fought off enemies and discovered new territories（领土）. This attitude has become a part of our modern culture. Riding a roller coaster is a common risk taking activity that even the average person seems to enjoy although they have the understanding that it is dangerous. This psychological and biological (生物学上的) connection （联系）creates an interesting connection between what is unsafe and what humans enjoy.
Getting in a car each day is a risk. Getting out of bed is a risk. There is such thing as perfect safety. We need to take risks so that we can finish many things. Astronauts take risks when they get inside a rocket; however, the things they achieve are great. Businessmen take a risk when they buy parts of a company. However, without doing that, they could not make more money.
We need to take risks so that we can gain something. It is impossible to move forward in life, earn money, enjoy a relationship, play a sport, or do anything else without taking a risk. It is all part of the game. It’s one of the most important parts of life.Some people don’t want to take risks, mainly （主要）because ___________.
| A．they are too lazy to move on |
| B．they feel pleased with the present life. |
| C．they have experienced some failures before |
| D．they show little interest in the strange world outside |
What does the underlined part “This attitude” in Paragraph 4 mean?
| A．Taking risks | B．Fighting off enemies |
| C．Discovering new territories | D．Becoming stronger and stronger |
What can we infer from the passage?
| A．Daily life is full of risks |
| B．The safest place has the greatest risk |
| C．People should take risks when they are young |
| D．We can always achieve our goals by taking risks |
What would be the title for the passage?
| A．Taking risks is easier said than done | B．On risks taken by ancestors |
| C．Live our life to the fullest(充分地) | D．No risk, no gain. |
London, Reuters---What could annoy teenagers enough to make them stop hanging out with friends and go home？
No, it’s not a visit from their mothers, and not a threat to take away their cellphones or pocket money.
It’s high-frequency noise. The UK police recently agreed to use a device (装置) called the Sonic Teenager Deterrent. It sends out a sound that makes teenagers become so impatient and angry that they have to cover their ears tightly and walk away.
The sound is at extreme high-pitch that can be heard by those under 20. The body’s natural ability to detect some wave bands (波段) decreases almost entirely after 20, so few adults can hear the sounds. The black-box device, nicknamed the Mosquito because of its sound, can be fixed to the outside walls of shops, offices and homes. It sounds to youngsters like a crazy insect or a badly played violin. But it causes no physical damage.
A number of police forces and councils have given permission to use the system and want to install it at trouble spots.
Staffordshire Police Inspector Amanda Davies, who has given the device to shopkeepers in the Moorlands area, said," It is controlled by the shopkeepers--if they can see through their window that there is a problem, they turn the device on for a while until the group has run away."The device can be used to ____________.
| A．threaten teenagers in public |
| B．drive away trouble-makers under 20 |
| C．help mothers control their teenage children |
| D．help the police control shopkeepers |
From the passage we can know that ___________.
| A．young people often suffer from pains in ears |
| B．shopkeepers are troubled by noisy insects |
| C．high-frequency noise is beyond the listening ability of people over 20 |
| D．the police invented a new device to deal with teenagers |
The purpose of the writer to write the passage is ________.
| A．to advertise a new hi-tech device |
| B．to tell the reader a piece of news |
| C．to sell the device to shopkeepers |
| D．to inform the public as the spokesman of the police |
Who will welcome the device most?
| A．Shopkeepers. | B．The police. | C．Young people. | D．The producer. |
A woman came out of her house and saw three old men sitting in her front yard. She said, "I don’t think I know you, but you must be hungry. Please come in and have something to eat."
"Is the man of the house home?” they asked. "No", she replied, "He’s out.""Then we cannot come in", they replied.
In the evening when her husband came home, she told him what had happened. "Go to tell them I am home and invite them in!" The woman went out and invited the men in. "We do not go into a house together," they replied. "Why is that?" she asked.
One of the old men explained that their names were Wealth(财富), Success and Love. Then he added, "Now go in and discuss with your husband which one of us you want in your home."
The woman went in and told her husband what was said. Her husband was overjoyed and he suggested inviting Wealth to fill their home with wealth. And his wife wanted to invite Success; but their daughter-in-law suggested they should invite Love so that their home would be filled with love. At last the husband said to his wife. "Go out and invite Love to be our guest."
The woman went out and asked the three old men, "Which one of you is Love? Please come in and be our guest."
Love got up and started walking toward the house.
The other two also got up and followed him. Surprised, the lady asked Wealth and Success: "I only invited Love, Why are you coming in?"
The old men replied together: "If you had invited Wealth or Success, the other two of us would have stayed out, but since you invited Love, wherever He goes, we go with him. Wherever there is Love, there is also Wealth and Success!"The best title for this passage would be __________.
| A．A Woman and Three Men | B．Wealth, Success and Love |
| C．A Strange Thing Happened to a Woman | D．A Husband and his Wife |
The woman asked the three men to come in and have something to eat because _________.
| A．she was a warm-hearted woman | B．they were her neighbors |
| C．they asked her to do | D．they were her friends |
Who does the underlined word “the man” in the second paragraph refer to?
| A．The woman’s son. | B．The woman’s father. |
| C．The woman’s son-in-law（女婿） | D．The woman’s husband. |
It can be inferred（推断）from the passage that __________.
| A．The three old men are brothers and they can’t be separated. |
| B．The husband will refuse them in. |
| C．The wife will be scolded by the husband. |
| D．If a person has love, he will own everything. |
“How can I learn English well?” This is a question many students ask. In my opinion, the most effective way is to learn lessons by heart. If you can recite(背诵) the text and write it out, you’ve learned it fairly well. And if you can tell, in your own words, what the lesson says, you’re a very successful learner indeed. Your English will be quite perfect.
This is a difficult task. However, if you try to learn by heart only part of each lesson, you’ll find it not half so hard as you might have thought. Learning this way, you will make rapid progress. Of course, writing is also necessary. It helps you a lot on our way to success in English.
Equally important is to feel the language. You should be able to laugh at jokes and be shocked at bad news. When using English, try to forget your mother tongue. Instead of helping you, your own language gets in your way. So, never try to see English through translation.In the writer’s opinion, the most effective way in learning English is _______.
| A．to practise speaking, writing and feeling it |
| B．to memorize the English words and grammatical rules |
| C．to translate everything into his own language |
| D．to forget your own native language |
“Instead of helping you, your own language gets in your way.”This sentence means that memorizing your own language can ________.
| A．stop you mastering English | B．help you study English well |
| C．make English easy to learn | D．help you notice mistakes |
The underlined words“to feel the language” here means________.
| A．to get a knowledge of English by touching |
| B．to be able to read and write English |
| C．to be able to experience the rich feeling of the language |
| D．to translate English into your own by imagining |
Malnutrition (营养失调)remains a serious problem for India. But a new study shows that India’s leading causes of death now also include diseases related to obesity（肥胖）such as heart disease.
India’s National Family Health Survey shows that more than twenty percent of Indians living in cities are overweight or obese. And in the northwestern state of Punjab, that is true for almost forty percent of women.
Aradhna Tripathi is a business professional in New Delhi. She said, “ Eating is the most important thing in any Indian household and how you show your love and gratitude(感激) for a person is through the kind of food you serve him. And the kind of lifestyle we are leading is one of the reasons why we have the number of obese people increasing every day.
But Aradhna Tripathi says she has decided to lose weight. Her mother and grandmother are also diabetic(患糖尿病的). In fact, the International Diabetes Federation says India is now the diabetes capital of the world. Researchers say Indians store more body fat per kilogram than Europeans. That means obese Indians are even more at the risk of diabetes than other people.
Doctor Anoop Misra at Fortis Hospital in New Delhi says the risk of diabetes is crossing social and economic lines. Five years ago, he says, obesity and diabetes were limited to India’s richest people, but now things have changed.
But Doctor Misra is hopeful that the spread (蔓延，传播)of obesity can be slowed. And he says it must start in schools by giving all Indian children the same instruction on physical activity and diet.
The World Health Organization says China is also moving up in obesity rates. The estimate (估计) has reached about five percent countryside and as high as twenty percent in some cities.What is this passage mainly about?
| A．Obesity has become a big killer in India. |
| B．Heart disease is troubling people in India. |
| C．People in India live a very unhealthy life. |
| D．Malnutrition remains a serious problem in India. |
According to Aradhna Tripathi , one of the causes of the obesity problems is____.
| A．.the development of economy |
| B．the change of Indians’ lifestyle |
| C．Indians’ attitude （态度）towards eating |
| D．Indians’ attitude towards obesity. |
What can we infer from the underlined sentence in Paragraph 5?
| A．Most rich people in India are overweight. |
| B．Five years ago, few people in India were overweight |
| C．Few poor people are diabetic for economic reasons. |
| D．Now even the poor in India suffer from obesity. |