I will tell you the truth about plastic bags－the positive and the negative sides and provide a solution to this problem. Whether it is a shopping bag, a food bag or a trash bag, they are all made of plastic bags. Grocery store owners are very generous in using plastic bags. They place the fruit in one bag and drop the box of milk in another. Ever wonder why?
The positive side of plastic bags
Grocery stores, shopping centres, and restaurants are not thrifty in using and giving out plastic bags because they cost no more than a cent each, while a paper bag costs four cents. Plastic bags are produced so cheaply and massively（大量地）that they are used by 80% of store owners. In addition, they are light and very easy to carry and store.
The production of plastic bags has increased greatly over the last 20 years and producers of plastic bags are making large profits. However, the negative side of plastic bags is becoming well-known. More people are now getting worried that the earth is becoming a victim of the plastic bag success story.
The negative side of plastic bags
While production and consumption（消费）of plastic bags is good for business, it is not so for our Mother Earth. They have resulted in an increase in the amount of litter found floating in water or in the streets where we live.
Plastic storage bags, after usage, usually go to landfills（垃圾填埋地）as trash bags. They make the oceans poison sea animals. They give off toxins（毒素）when burned. They simply pollute the ground, air and water.
That is the true cost of plastic bags, and it looks like it is more than a cent. These are very alarming concerns and proper action needs to be taken.According to Paragraph 3, plastic bag producers ________.
| A．are now worried that the earth will become a victim of plastic bags |
| B．don’t think they have done enough to popularize plastic bags |
| C．have not realized the harm of plastic bags |
| D．have succeeded in popularizing the use of plastic bags |
From the last three paragraphs, we learn that .
| A．plastic bags harm the earth severely |
| B．most plastic bags are not made use of |
| C．the prices of plastic bags are reasonable |
| D．plastic bags are the leading polluter on the earth |
What will the writer most probably talk about in the following paragraph?
| A．How plastic bags are produced. |
| B．How plastic bags are used. |
| C．How to popularize the use of paper bags. |
| D．How to solve the problems caused by plastic bags. |
The rise of the Internet has been one of the most transformative developments in human history, comparable in impact to the invention of the printing press and the telegraph. Over two billion people worldwide now have access to vastly more information than ever before, and can communicate with each other instantly, often using Web-connected mobile devices they carry everywhere. But the Internet’s tremendous impact has only just begun.
“Mass adoption of the Internet is driving one of the most exciting social, cultural, and political transformations in history, and unlike earlier periods of change, this time the effects are fully global,” Schmidt and Cohen write in their new book The New Digital Age.
Perhaps the most profound changes will come when the five billion people worldwide who currently lack Internet access get online. The authors do an excellent job of examining the implications of the Internet revolution for individuals, governments, and institutions like the news media. But if the book has one major shortcoming, it’s that authors don’t spend enough time applying a critical eye to the role of Internet businesses in these sweeping changes.
In their book, the authors provide the most authoritative volume to date that describes — and more importantly predicts — how the Internet will shape our lives in the coming decades. They paint a picture of a world in which individuals, companies, institutions, and governments must deal with two realities, one physical, and one virtual.
At the core of the book is the idea that “technology is neutral, but people aren’t.” By using this concept as a starting point, the authors aim to move beyond the now familiar optimist vs. pessimist dichotomy (对立观点) that has characterized many recent debates about whether the rise of the Internet will ultimately be good or bad for society. In an interview with TIME earlier this week, Cohen said although he and his co-author are optimistic about many aspects of the Internet, they’re also realistic about the risks and dangers that lie ahead when the next five billion people come online, particularly with respect to personal privacy and state surveillance(监视).
【题文1】 In what way is the rise of the Internet similar to the invention of the printing press and the telegraph?
A. It transforms human history.
B. It revolutionizes people's thinking.
C. It is adopted by all human beings.
D. It makes daily communication easy.
【题文2】 In what respect is the book The New Digital Age considered inadequate?
A. It lacks an objective evaluation of the role of Internet businesses
B. It fails to look into the social implications of the Internet.
C. It fails to recognize the impact of the Internet technology.
D. It does not address the technical aspects of Internet communication.What will the future be like when everybody gets online?
| A．People don’t have to travel to see the world. |
| B．People will have equal access to information. |
| C．People will be living in two different realities. |
| D．People don’t have to communicate face to face. |
What does the passage say about the authors of The New Digital Age?
| A．They leave many questions unanswered concerning the Internet. |
| B．They don’t take sides in analyzing the effects of the Internet. |
| C．They have explored the unknown territories of the virtual world. |
| D．They are optimistic about the future of the Internet revolution. |
It’s hard to find Alice Munro in the media. Even after she won the 2013 Nobel Prize in Literature, the Canadian writer just appeared for a quick interview and then dropped out of sight. On Dec 29, she still didn't seek the spotlight（聚光灯）when she was named one of the five Women of the Year by the Financial Times.
In Munro's eyes, ordinary lives always hide larger dramas. So she records what we casually think of as the everyday actions of normal people. She often focuses on life in her hometown, a small village in Ontario which she is most familiar with. She writes about the ordinary things in the village－fox forming, trees filled in the Ontario wilderness, poor country alcohol and long last illnesses. Above all, she talks about girls and women who have seemingly ordinary lives but struggle against daily misfortune.
She has a special talent for uncovering the extraordinary in the ordinary. These are ordinary people, ordinary stories, but she has the magic. Her precise language, depth of detail and the logic of her storytelling have made her stories inviting.
Runaway, one of Munro’s representative works, is a good example of her writing style. One of the stories centers on the life of an ordinary woman Carla, who lives in a small Canadian town with her husband Clark. The story slowly forms a picture of Carla, trapped in a bad marriage, her unhappiness building into desperation until she decided to flee. The story of Carla is a story of the power and betrayals of love. It is about lost children and lots of chances that we can all find in life, There is pain beneath the surface, like a needle in the heart.
Since she published her first collection of short stories in 1968, Munro has won many awards, with the Nobel Prize being her biggest honor. On Oct 10, 2013, the Nobel Prize committee named Munro the “master of the contemporary short story”.We learn from Paragraph 1 that Alice Munro_____
| A．didn't get on well with the media |
| B．remained modest though very successful |
| C．didn’t value the title of Women of the Year |
| D．was surprised at winning the Nobel Prize |
What makes Alice Munro’s stories fascinating according to the text?
| A．Her writing techniques |
| B．The complicated plots |
| C．The humorous language |
| D．Her rich imagination |
In her representative work Runaway, Carla_____
| A．leads a happy life with Clark |
| B．is a faithful wife to her husband |
| C．loses all hopes for a better life |
| D．tries to run away from her husband |
What is the text mainly about?
| A．Alice Munro and her hometown |
| B．The awards Alice Munro won |
| C．Alice Munro and her writing style |
| D．Alice Munro’s literary life |
A small boy sat on the street with a hat by his feet. He held up a sign which said: “ I am blind, please help”. There were only a few coins in the hat.
A man was walking by. He took a few coins from his pocket and dropped them into the hat. He then took the sign, turned it around, and wrote some words. He put the sign back so that everyone who walked by would see the new words. Soon the hat began to fill up. A lot more people were giving money to the blind boy. That afternoon the man who had changed the sign came to see how things were.
The boy recognized his footsteps and asked :“Were you the one who changed my sign this morning? What did you write?” The man said: “I only wrote the truth. I said what you said but in a different way.”
What he had written was: “Today is a beautiful day but I cannot see it.”
Do you think the first sign and the second sign were saying the same thing? Of course both signs told people the boy was blind. But the first sign simply told people to help by putting some money in the hat. The second sign told people that they were able to enjoy the day, but the boy could not enjoy it because he was blind.
The first sign simply said the boy was blind. The second sign told people they were so lucky that they were not blind.
There are at least two lessons we can learn from this simple story.
The first is: Be thankful for what you have. Someone else has less. Help where you can.
The second is：Be creative. Think differently. There is always a better way! What was the boy doing on the street?
| A．He was selling his old hat. |
| B．He was busy counting coins. |
| C．He was begging for money. |
| D．He was showing his handwriting. |
How did the man help the blind boy?
| A．He took the boy's sign away. |
| B．He only gave the boy some money. |
| C．He changed the words on the sign. |
| D．He asked others to help the blind boy. |
The blind boy recognized the kind man by his ______ .
| A．words | B．smell | C．voice | D．Footsteps |
Moving to a new neighborhood，town，state，or even country can be a pretty scary experience. All you know is that things will be different and chances are you won’t know the kids at your new school.
The experiences that go with moving make many kids feel nervous and worried. This is perfectly normal but don’t let these emotions overrun your thoughts! You will soon get used to your surroundings and find new friends at your new school.
Leaving old friends and familiar places behind can be difficult. However，as you begin the moving process，keep in mind that saying goodbye to your old house，school，and friends does not mean that you have to forget them or that your farewell is permanent！If you’re moving to a new state or even a different country and won’t see your friends for a long time，don’t despair.
Make sure to ask everyone for their address so you can write them letters. Also，thanks to the Internet，it is very easy to stay in touch through email or instant messaging technologies. With your parent’s permission，you can even create a blog or web page to chronicle（记载） all of your new experiences. Include your thoughts，tales of your new adventures，even pictures of new friends，your new house，and new town. Your old friends will love seeing what you are busy with.
Many schools have an orientation（培训） program where a student already established at the school shows a new student around for their first week. This can help you to find your way around the school and to make new friends faster.
While moving is tough on kids of any age，high school counselor Karen Turner says moves can be particularly difficult for teens .“I think moving during adolescents is an extremely stressful experience，especially if you are into your junior high or senior year. Students tend to have established a very strong peer network during that period in their lives. Often this has more influence on them even than their families in some cases，and when they are torn from that there’s often resentment(怨气)．”However，Turner adds that while moving isn’t easy，there are things that your parents and the school can do to help you deal with the change.Who are the intended readers of the passage?
| A．Education experts. | B．School teachers. |
| C．Parents. | D．Students. |
Which of the following is mainly suggested in Paragraph 3?
| A．Staying in contact with old friends. |
| B．Expressing yourself when it is possible. |
| C．Forming good habits at school. |
| D．Keeping positive about your new school. |
According to the passage，Karen Turner may agree that________．
| A．many parents seem to care little about their children |
| B．teens can easily be attached to their friends |
| C．parents should communicate with the school teachers |
| D．teens tend to behave rudely in a new school |
If this passage continues，what would the author further discuss?
| A．What a new school is like. |
| B．Why parents move with their children. |
| C．How parents and the school can help the children. |
| D．How children can express their anxiety. |
Success is often measured by the ability to overcome adversity. But, it is often the belief of others that gives us the courage to try.
J. K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter book series，began writing at the age of 6. In her biography, she remembers with great fondness when her good friend Sean, whom she met in secondary school, became the first person to encourage her and help build the confidence that one day she would be a very good writer.
“He was the first person with whom I really discussed my serious ambition to be a writer. He was also the only person who thought I was bound to be a success at it, which meant much more to me than I ever told him at the time.”
Despite many setbacks, Rowling persevered in her writing, particularly fantasy stories. But it wasn't until 1990 that she first conceived the idea about Harry Potter. As she recalls，it was on a long train journey from London to Manchester that the idea of Harry Potter simply fell into her head.“To my immense frustration (沮丧), I didn't have a functioning pen with me, and I was too shy to ask anybody if I could borrow one. I think, now, that this was probably a good thing, because I simply sat and thought, for four (delayed train) hours, and all the details bubbled up in my brain, and this scrawny, blackhaired, bespectacled(戴眼镜的) boy who didn’t know he was a wizard became more and more real to me.”
That same year, her mother passed away after a tenyear battle with multiple sclerosis, which deeply affected her writing. She went on to marry and had a daughter, but separated from her husband shortly afterwards.
During this time, Rowling was diagnosed with clinical depression. Unemployed, she completed her first novel in area cafes, where she could get her daughter to fall asleep. After being rejected by 12 publishing houses, the first Harry Potter novel was sold to a small British publishing house.
Now with seven books that have sold nearly 400 million copies in 64 languages, J. K. Rowling is the highest earning novelist in history. And it all began with her commitment to writing that was fostered by the confidence of a friend !Rowling first came up with the idea about Harry Potter________.
| A．at the age of 6 |
| B．on a train journey |
| C．after her mother’s death |
| D．in her secondary school |
It can be concluded from Paragraph 5 and 6 that Rowling is________.
| A．openminded | B．warmhearted |
| C．goodnatured | D．strongwilled |
The text mainly tells us________.
| A．hardship makes a good novelist |
| B．the courage to try is a special ability |
| C．you can have a wonderful idea everywhere |
| D．encouragement contributes to one’s success |