August was one of the nastiest months I can remember: torrential rain; a hailstorm or two; cold, bitter winds; and mists. But we are accustomed to such weather in England. Lord Byron used to say that an English summer begins on July 31 and ends on Aug. 1. He called 1816 "the year without a summer." He spent it gazing across Lake Geneva, watching the storms, with 18-year-old Mary Shelley. The lightening flickering across the lake inspired her Frankenstein, the tale of the man-made monster galvanized into life by electricity.
This summer's atrocious weather tempted me to tease a Green whom I know. "Well, what about your weather theory now?" (One of the characteristics of Greens is that they know no history.) He replied: "Yes, this weather is unprecedented. England has never had such an August before. It's global warming, of course." That's the Greens' stock response to anything weather-related. Too much sun? "Global warming." Too little sun? "Global warming." Drought? "Global warming." Floods? "Global warming." Freezing cold? "Global warming."
I wish the great philosopher Sir Karl Popper were alive to denounce the unscientific nature of global warming. He was a student when Albert Einstein's General Theory of Relativity was first published and then successfully tested. Einstein said that for his theory to be valid it would have to pass three tests. "If," Einstein wrote to British scientist Sir Arthur Eddington, "it were proved that this effect does not exist in nature, then the whole theory would have to be abandoned."
The idea that human beings have changed and are changing the basic climate system of the Earth through their industrial activities and burning of fossil fuels--the essence of the Greens' theory of global warming--has not much basis in science. Global warming, like Marxism, is a political theory of actions, demanding compliance with its rules.
Those who buy in to global warming wish to drastically curb human economic and industrial activities, regardless of the consequences for people, especially the poor. If the theory's conclusions are accepted and agreed upon, the destructive results will be felt most severely in those states that adhere to the rule of law and will observe restrictions most faithfully. The global warming activists' target is the U.S. If America is driven to accept crippling restraints on its economy it will rapidly become unable to shoulder its burdens as the world's sole superpower and ultimate defender of human freedoms. We shall all suffer, however, as progress falters and then ceases and living standards decline. The writer of the passage is probably _______.
| A．one of the “Greens” |
| B．an American |
| C．not quite a believer in Global Warming |
| D．an environmentalist |
Which person(s), in the writer’s eyes, is the one he agrees with?
| A．Karl Marx | B．Sir Karl Popper | C．The Greens | D．Mary Shelley |
Sir Arthur Eddington could be inferred as a ______.
| A．politician | B．poet | C．Greenpeacer | D．physicist |
“denounce” in the third paragraph can be replaced by ______.
| A．announce | B．pronounce |
| C．speak out for | D．speak out against |
Which of the following is probably a good title for this article?
| A．Why Einstein’s Theory Stands the Tests. |
| B．Which Country the “Greens” Are Attacking? |
| C．Global Warming? I See Little Point. |
| D．The Climate in England and beyond. |
Full face transplants are no longer science fiction fantasy, a leading surgeon has said, adding that they are technically practical but ethically（道德地）complex.
Peter Butler from London’s Royal Free Hospital called for a debate on the ethics of such an operation made possible by new drugs which stop the body’s immune (免疫）system rejecting a transplanted face. “It is not ‘can you do it?’ but ‘should we do it?’” he told the BBC. “The technical part is not complex, but I don’t think that’s going to be the very great difficulty. The ethical and moral debate is obviously going to have to take place before the first facial transplantation.”
The British Association of Plastic Surgeons will discuss the microsurgical procedure (微型外科技术), which could give new skin, bone, nose, chin, lips and ears from deceased donors to patients disfigured（毁容的）by accidents, burns or cancer. But surgeons could have trouble finding enough willing donors. Butler said his survey of doctors, nurses and members of the public showed most would accept a face transplant but few were willing to donate their own after dying.
Despite a number of ethical concerns, Christine Piff, who founded the charity Let’s Face It after suffering a rare facial cancer 25 years ago, welcomed the possibility of face transplants. She rejected the idea that the procedure would mean people would end up living with a dead person’s face. “There are so many people without faces, I have half a face… but we are all so much more than just a face… you don’t take on their personality. You are still you,” she told reporters. “If we can donate other organs of the body then why not the face. I can’t see anything wrong with it.”The underlined word “deceased” in the third paragraph probably means _________.
| A．living | B．dead | C．diseased | D．dying |
When Christine Piff says “There are so many people without faces…”, she refers to the people _________.
| A．who are dishonorable and shameless |
| B．who disagree with the full face transplant |
| C．who are seriously injured by an accident |
| D．who are disfigured by accidents, burns and cancer |
According to the passage, what makes it likely to carry out a facial transplantation?
| A．Drugs are available to stop the body’s immune system rejecting a transplanted face. |
| B．There are some people who are willing to donate their faces after dying. |
| C．Most people accept the idea of face transplants. |
| D．It’s morally practical, though technically complex. |
What is implied but not stated in the passage?
| A．Christine Piff has been the first lucky patient to receive a face transplant. |
| B．Surgeons have difficulty finding enough willing donors. |
| C．The main difficulty with the operation lies in the matter of ethics and morality. |
| D．Nobody other than Christine Piff is quite in favor of the donation of organs. |
What would be the best title for the text?
| A．First Facial Transplantation |
| B．Debate on the Ethics of Transplant |
| C．Face Transplant No Longer Science Fantasy |
| D．Let’s Face It |
The evidence for harmony may not be obvious in some families. But it seems that four out of five young people now get on with their parents, which is the opposite of the popularly-held image of unhappy teenagers locked in their room after endless family quarrels.
An important new study into teenage attitudes surprisingly shows that their family life is more harmonious than it has ever been in the past. “We were surprised by just how positive today’s young people seem to be about their families,” said one member of the research team. “They’re expected to be rebellious （叛逆的） and selfish but actually they have other things on their minds; they want a car and material goods, and they worry about whether school is serving them well. There’s more negotiation and discussion between parents and children, and children expect to take part in the family decision-making process. They don’t want to rock the boat.”
So it seems that this generation of parents is much more likely than parents of 30 years ago to treat their children as friends. “My parents are happy to discuss things with me and willing to listen to me,” says 17-year-old Daniel Lazall, “I always tell them when I’m going out clubbing. As long as they know what I’m doing, they’re fine with it.” Susan Crome, who is now 21, agrees. “Looking back on the last 10 years, there was a lot of what you could call negotiation. For example, as long as I’d done all my homework, I could go out on a Saturday night. But I think my grandparents were a lot stricter with my parents than that.”
Maybe this positive view of family life should not be unexpected. It is possible that the idea of teenage rebellion is not rooted in real facts. A researcher comments, “Our surprise that teenagers say they get along well with their parents comes because of a brief period in our social history when teenagers were regarded as different beings. But that idea of rebelling and breaking away from their parents really only happened during that one time in the 1960s when everyone rebelled. The normal situation throughout history has been a smooth change from helping out with the family business to taking it over.” What is the popularly- held image of teenagers?
| A．They worry about their school life. |
| B．They live in harmony with their parents. |
| C．They have to be locked in to avoid making troubles. |
| D．They quarrel a lot with their parents. |
The study shows that teenagers don’t want to ______.
| A．share family responsibility | B．cause trouble in their families |
| C．go boating with their family | D．make family decisions |
Compared with parents of 30 years ago, today’s parents______．
| A．go to clubs more often with their children |
| B．are much stricter with their children |
| C．care less about their children’s life |
| D．give their children more freedom |
According to the author, teenage rebellion _______．
| A．may be a false belief | B．is common nowadays |
| C．is based on real facts | D．resulted from changes in families |
What is the passage mainly about?
| A．Negotiation in family. | B．Education in family. |
| C．Harmony in family. | D．Teenage trouble in family. |
Jiang Nan, a full-time mother in Beijing, keeps a dozen or so cloth bags at home, carefully selecting one or two before heading out to get groceries. "Most of them were giveaways from advertising marketing campaigns, but others had been handed out in the street by various environmental protection organizations," she explained.
Since June 2008 China has forbidden the production, sale and usage of plastic bags thinner than 0.025 millimeter (毫米), and retailers (零售商) are not allowed to provide free plastic bags to their customers, no matter how thick they are.
Many Chinese consumers like Jiang have learned to refuse plastic bags whenever possible in their shopping. "A plastic bag may only cost a few jiao, but it's more about how bad they are for the environment," Jiang said.
The plastic ban is for the most part well carried out in big cities, and has been obviously effective in reducing white waste. On the first anniversary of the plastic ban Global Village of Beijing, an NGO environmental organization, shows that during the year of the ban the consumption of plastic bags fell by about 40 billion pieces in chain supermarkets alone, saving more than 1.2 million tons of petrol.
However, enforcement (实施) shows rather less muscle in smaller cities, towns and countryside. In a remote town like Lichuan, the awareness of environmental protection is not as strong as that in big cities. Street vendors (街头小贩) worry that they are likely to lose customers if they charge them for plastic bags. Seeing no significance in the issue, local government often turn a blind eye to banned bag trade in the market.
There are still those who don't have an interest in living green. Cui Lin, another Beijinger, often forgets to bring a cloth bag when shopping, and has to buy plastic bags. "Anyway I think plastic bags are neater and cleaner, and I don't mind paying a couple more jiao," he shrugged.
Mrs Yu, a vegetable vendor in Lichuan County, Jiangxi Province, recalled that before plastic bags became popular in the early 1990s, Chinese people always carried a bamboo basket when they visited the market. "Plastic bags are more convenient," she comments, and her view might be that of the tens of millions of people in the nation who still cling to plastic bags, paid or free. This is suggested by her trade where piles of plastic bags are still passed out every day. In Paragraph 1, the writer uses Jiang Nan's case to __________.
| A．introduce a topic | B．tell a story |
| C．describe a person | D．offer an argument |
How did Jiang Nan get her cloth bags?
| A．She bought them at a low price. |
| B．She borrowed them from her relatives. |
| C．She got them for free. |
| D．She made them herself. |
Which is NOT the reason why some people still use plastic bags when shopping?
| A．Cloth bags are difficult to get and heavy to carry. |
| B．People's awareness of environmental protection is not strong enough. |
| C．People don't mind paying a couple more jiao for plastic bags. |
| D．Street vendors worry that they are likely to lose customers if they charge them. |
What does the underlined phrase “cling to” in the last paragraph mean?
| A．stop using | B．continue to use | C．stay close to | D．hold tightly |
What message does the writer mostly convey in the passage?
| A．To reduce white waste is urgent. |
| B．The plastic bag ban has achieved great success. |
| C．There is still a long way to go for the plastic bag ban. |
| D．People's awareness of environmental protection should be stressed. |
Moving can bring out the best and the worst in people, I’m finding. And I’ve discovered where a very generous spirit lives: Defiance, Ohio.
After suffering through many months of unemployment, my wife and I had to move this week from Colorado to Ohio, where she would work as a sales assistant. Not knowing a person there, we were pretty concerned about all the work, including how we’d get all the things unloaded without killing ourselves.
We decided to pay a couple of college students to help with all the heavy lifting once we got there. But one neighbor after another stopped by and joined in. “What? Have we moved to some other country? Maybe we’ve died and gone to heaven!” I thought.
Unloading actually became fun as we connected with so many wonderful new friends as we worked. The more people that helped, the easier the work became. A job we were afraid might take days for the two of us alone was done in just a few hours. Many total strangers would either walk by or drive by to ask us if we were moving in. Many were delighted that this fine old house that had sat empty for so long was coming to life again. We were invited to an outdoor meal yesterday by neighbors on the same street.
All the while, my brain was on this new sense of hope that people could be outgoing and kind to strangers. Among all the conversations were lots of offers to be of help to one another in a variety of ways. It’s wonderful to live in such a kind little town. I feel so grateful to be here, and wish the rest of the world could see how an entire society can be a model for what it’s like to look out for one another. I used to stay away from friendships with strangers, but now I live in Defiance! The author and his wife moved to Defiance because ________.
| A．they thought moving often brought out the best |
| B．a couple of students had promised to help them |
| C．they liked this little town |
| D．his wife had found a job |
When offered help, the author at first felt________.
| A．grateful | B．surprised | C．embarrassed | D．excited |
The neighbors did all of the following EXCEPT________.
| A．help them unload | B．invite them to a dinner |
| C．offer to drive them around | D．welcome their coming |
What can we know about the author’s past life?
| A．He hated to live in a little town. |
| B．He liked to make friends with strangers. |
| C．He usually offered some help to others. |
| D．He refused to make friends with strangers. |
The author mainly wants to tell us ________.
| A．we don’t know what is good until we have lost it |
| B．kindness is the sunshine of social life |
| C．where there is a will, there is a way |
| D．there is no place like home |
London is the capital of Britain. It is located in the southeast plain of England. The Thames River goes through this city.
The British have lived there for about 3,000 years. The Roman Empire intruded into (侵入)Britannia Island in 54 BC. The Romans built the first wooden bridge over the Thames River.
London is a world-famous cultural city. There are many famous cultural sites. It is one of the world's great tourist destinations. About eight million people visit London every year.
The largest museum is the British Museum, which was built in the 18th century. There are many ancient cultural relics of Britain and of other countries in the museum. The London Tower stands on the southeast of Tower Mountain. It was once a palace, and it is now an exhibition center. Westminster Hall is located on the west bank of the Thames River and was built in 750 AD. It is the largest Gothic building of the world and was a palace in the past, too.
The Clock Tower, which is about 97 meters high, is located northeast of the parliament. The famous “Big Ben” weighs about 21 tons and its big pendulum（钟摆）is about 305 kilograms. Hyde Park is one of the great parks in the world and it is in the west district of London. There is a free forum(论坛) there and some people give speeches there every week. They can say almost anything, but they can't attack the Queen or support violent revolution.Which of the following statements is WRONG?
| A．London lies in the southeast plain of England. |
| B．The British first lived in London thousands of years ago. |
| C．People can enjoy a walk along the Thames River in London. |
| D．The Roman Empire intruded into Britannia Island over 2,100 years ago. |
We learn from the passage that _________.
| A．London receives millions of visitors every month |
| B．only in the British Museum can you see ancient cultural relics of Britain |
| C．the famous "Big Ben" in the Clock Tower is about 97 meters high |
| D．not everything can be talked about in the forum at Hyde Park |
This passage is most probably taken from a website about ___________ .
| A．traveling | B．kids | C．museums | D．Holidays |