London, Dec.17 (Xinhua) “Drivers on London Underground trains have started reading out sayings from great thinkers like Mahatma Gandhi , Frindrich Engels, and Albert Einstein in a bid to cheer up passengers ,” officials said. As well as the usual announcements urging passengers to “mind the steps” and warning of delays, the sayings such as “ an ounce ( 盎司) of action is worth a ton of theory” have taken the place of commercial ad in the underground carriages .
New York, Oct.8 (Xinhua) Once as a famous actor, now the governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger wants to abandon textbooks in favor of digital ones. He plans to launch this program in August next year when California’s high-school pupils will have access to online math and science text. But some teachers wonder whether his idea of getting rid of textbooks might end up costing more not less, with digital textbook going for $300.
Amsterdam, Nov.30 (Xinhua) A few cups of coffee a day may not only help to put off the disease—dementia(痴呆) but also can treat it, according to Dr. Arendash, who led the research. After giving mice with memory damage water containing caffeine, he found the mice developed better memories and quick thinking. The reason is that caffeine is a safe drug for most people. It easily enters the brain and directly affects the disease process. He suggested people should drink five eight–ounce cups of ordinary coffee, two cups of strong ‘coffee shop’ coffee, 14 cups of tea, or 20 cola drinks to get the same amount of 500 milligrams of caffeine.What’s the purpose of putting up sayings on the underground carriages in London?
| A．to help passengers to kill time. |
| B．to encourage passengers to learn. |
| C．to lift the spirits of passengers. |
| D．to make money as a commercial ad. |
What can we conclude from the second news?
| A．digital textbooks will replace traditional textbooks. |
| B．online math is already available to high-school pupils . |
| C．digital textbooks are convenient to carry anywhere. |
| D．Not all the teachers support their governor’s idea. |
Which of the following statements is true from the third news?
| A．The more coffee you drink, the less chance there will be for dementia. |
| B．Caffeine can make mice become more and more intelligent and energetic. |
| C．Caffeine can affect the process of the disease—dementia and treat it. |
| D．Caffeine is a safe drug for all the people for everyday use so enjoy it. |
Environmentalists said our planet was doomed to die. Now one man says they are wrong.
"Everyone knows the planet is in bad shape," thundered a magazine article last year. Species are being driven to die out at record rates, and the rivers are so poisonous that fish are floating on the surface, dead.
But there's a growing belief that what everyone takes for granted is wrong: things are actually getting better. A new book is about to overturn our most basic assumptions about the world's environment. Rivers, seas, rain and the atmosphere are all getting cleaner. The total amount of forests in the world is not declining. The Skeptical Environmentalist by Bjorn Lomborg, professor of statistics at the University of Aarhus in Denmark, is an attack on the misleading claims of environmental groups, and the "bad news" culture that makes people believe everything is getting worse.
Now the attacks are increasingly coming from left-wing environmentalists such as Lomborg, a former member of Greenpeace. The accusation is that, although the environment is improving, green groups — with profits of hundreds of mil-lions of pounds a year — are using scare tactics(谋略)to gain donations. Lomborg's book doesn't deny global warming — probably the biggest environmental threat — but destroys almost every other environmental claim with many official statistics.
The Worldwatch Institute claims that "deforestation(沙漠化) has been accelerating over the last 30 years". But Lomborg says that is simply rubbish. Since the dawn of agriculture the world has lost about 20 per cent of its forest cover, but in recent decades the forest area's depleting has come to a stop. According to UN figures, the area of forests has remained almost steady, at about 30 per cent of total land area, since the 1940s. Forests in countries such as the US, the UK and Canada have actually been expanding over the past 40 years. Despite all the warnings the Amazon rainforest has only shrunk by about 15 per cent.
Nor are all our species dying out. Some campaigners claim that 50 per cent of all species will have died out within 50 years. But other studies show only 0.08 per cent of species are dying out each year. Conservation efforts have been successful. Whales are no longer threatened and the bald eagle is off the endangered list.
Environmental groups claim that many of the improvements are the results of the success of their campaigns. Stephen Tindale, director of Greenpeace UK, said, "There are important examples, such as acid rain and ozone, where things aren't as bad as predicted, and that's because behavior has changed."In his book, The Skeptical Environmentalist, what is Lomborg's main argument?
| A．Our planet is in bad shape. |
| B．The world's environment is improving. |
| C．The total amount of forests in the world is not declining. |
| D．Conservation efforts have been successful. |
What is Lomborg's main accusation of environmentalists?
| A．They scared people into making donations. |
| B．They overturned our basic assumptions about the world's environment. |
| C．They changed their behavior toward the environment. |
| D．They only told people bad news about the environment. |
The underlined word "depleting" in Paragraph 5 is closest in meaning to "____".
| A．reducing | B．limiting | C．expanding | D．accelerating |
According to the passage, which of the following statements is true?
| A．The total area of forests in the world has increased significantly. |
| B．The effects of global warming are not as bad as first expected. |
| C．It appears that the bald eagle will now survive. |
| D．In the last 50 years the number of whales has increased. |
More Chinese are seeking out the surgeon’s knife to improve their looks.Yet the tragic death of the former Super Girl Wang Bei has made people aware of the risks of cosmetic surgery, which is becoming increasingly popular. Wang Bei，24，is said to have gone under the knife in Wuhan，to jump-start her stage-show career. It seems that the ambitious singer has finally achieved the fame and influence after her death.
For years Miss Lu expected a plastic surgery to make her jaw fashionable narrow and her face smaller. She finally decided against it after hearing of the death of Wang Bei. "Wang Bei’s death rang the warning bell for me，"Miss Lu said in her blog." It was frightening and I gave up the plan. "
A common thread of online discussion is why someone considered beautiful was so dissatisfied with her looks. Some netizens said Wang was a victim of society’s impractical standard of beauty：double eyelids，and the pointed chin typical of Western actresses. Others said her death indicated the limits to which people would go to achieve fame and fortune.
Last year 15 billion yuan was spent on cosmetic surgery and the figure is expected to rise 20％ annually. The International Society of Plastic Surgery ranks China first in Asia in terms of the number of cosmetic surgeries in 2009. Worldwide, China is third, after Brazil, while the United States is first.
Nowadays，people are living longer and better. But the effect of aging off their appearance affects their mood and confidence. Many older women want to look young and beautiful. Young people, on the other hand, see cosmetic surgery as the key to wealth and love. "They want to improve their appearance to find better opportunities at work and in marriage，"says a famous plastic surgeon. "We’re living in a highly competitive society. People regard appearance as a weapon in life battle. Those who are young and naturally good-looking tell me，‘I don’t care how much I spend. Just make me look more beautiful.’ "
Advice from a surgeon and psychologist：
1.Choose regular, qualified hospitals with a good reputation.
2.Try to find an expert surgeon who will not suggest several operations over time.
3.Don’t expect too much from changing your appearance. Safety should be the first.
4.Have a realistic understanding of the risks of the surgery (death，injury and failure)and make a balanced decision.What’s the influence of Wang Bei’s death on the public?
| A．People will feel alarmed at cosmetic surgery. |
| B．Young people will have no interest in beauty. |
| C．Doctors will be afraid to perform operations. |
| D．No one will dream of becoming a Super Girl. |
It is mentioned in the passage that________.
| A．Miss Lu’s face is narrow and small |
| B．Wang Bei is a victim of the Internet |
| C．all Westerners have the pointed chin |
| D．the US ranks first in cosmetic surgery |
What’s the main idea of the 5th paragraph?
| A．People are living 1onger and better nowadays. |
| B．People are living in a highly competitive society. |
| C．Social competition leads females to seek beauty. |
| D．Cosmetic surgery is the key to wealth and love. |
According to a surgeon and psychologist,it is better to________.
| A．change your appearance sooner |
| B．make a reasonable decision |
| C．do several operations over time |
| D．try some different hospitals |
After graduation I returned home to my small town in Indiana. I didn’t have a job yet. Mr. Hobbs, a friend of my father’s, owned a small shirt factory in town. Within the past five years it had grown from twenty to eighty workers. Mr. Hobbs was worried that his plant was getting too big and inefficient, so he asked me to come in on a short-term basis as a consultant.
I went to the plant and spent about a week looking around and making notes. I was really a mazed at what I saw.
Most curious of all, there was no quality control at all. No one inspected the final product of the factory. As a result some of the shirts that were put in boxes for shipment were missing one or two buttons, the collar, and even a sleeve sometimes!
The working conditions were poor. The tables where the workers sat were very high and uncomfortable. Except for a half hour at lunchtime, there were no breaks in the day to relieve the boring work. There was no music. The walls of the workrooms were a dull gray color. I was amazed that the workers hadn’t gone on strike.
Furthermore, the work flow was irregular. There was one especially absent-minded young man in the assembly（组装）line who sewed on buttons. After a while I recognized him as "Big Jim", who used to sit behind me in math class in high school. He was very slow and all the shifts were held up at his position. Workers beyond him in line on his shift had to wait with nothing to do; therefore, a great deal of time and efficiency were lost as Big Jim daydreamed while he worked. All week I wondered why he wasn’t fired.
After I made observations for a week, Mr. Hobbs asked me for an oral report of my findings.The shirts from Mr. Hobbs’ factory can be described as ____.
| A．of low quality | B．of high quality | C．fashionable | D．unfashionable |
Why did Mr. Hobbs ask the writer to the factory?
| A．The factory was too big. |
| B．The factory was not producing fast enough. |
| C．The factory was not big enough. |
| D．The writer was a college graduate. |
Which is not likely to happen in the factory?
| A．The workers will have more rest in the day. |
| B．Someone will examine the final product. |
| C．New machines will be bought. |
| D．The factory will be repainted. |
Big Jim may get fired mainly because ____.
| A．he was slow |
| B．he wasted much time |
| C．he was absent-minded |
| D．the work flow was irregular |
Australian Flag Designs by Readers of the Sun-Herald
We received dozens of responses after inviting readers to send in their designs for a new flag. The designs we received include:
James Anthony, Drummoyne
James reduces the Union Jack down in size and changes its shape to become a reminder of the British tradition rather than canceling it altogether. At the same time he suggests enlarging the stars of the Southern Cross. His design attempts to use the best of both worlds in a newly designed flag.
As he says, “the British part of the Australian Flag is too big and the Australian bits are too small. When you make the stars bigger the Australian flag can look impressive.”
Joe Bollen, Turranmurra
Joe’s flag has the main elements of a risen sun, white horizon(地平线), red earth at the base and the Southern Cross. He intends to make the risen sun a special Australian symbol on the flag. He believes it represents life. The Southern Cross shows that we live in the Southern Hemisphere. (半球)
Maria Ieraci, Sydney
Maria deleted the Union Jack but otherwise kept the flag as is with the Southern Cross and Federation Star. She says, ‘There is only one correct way to change the Australian flag” and that is “to drop the Union Jack ---- when Australia becomes a Republic”, which she hopes will be before 2010.
Ron Bennett, Sydney
Ron recommends using the Aboriginal colors but replacing their image of the sun with the map of Australia. He says, “Australia is unique being an island continent with an instantly recognizable outline at that” and “this will leave no doubt as to which country the flag belongs.”Which of the four designs can remind you of the past of the country?
| A．Joe’s | B．Maria’s | C．Ron’s | D．Jame’s |
The Southern Cross in some of the designs represents _________.
| A．the spirit of the nation |
| B．the position of the country |
| C．the tradition of Britain |
| D．the expectations of the people |
What does the Union Jack refer to?
| A．the British flag |
| B．A former British ruler |
| C．group of stars |
| D．A former symbol of Australia |
Oscars organizers promised a new progress to this month’s Academy Awards to greet this year’s nominees (被提名人)．
After years of falling view that ended in last year’s 80th Oscars recording low view rate，the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has to make a fresh start for Hollywood’s yearly show.
The coproducers of the February 22 show，Bill Condon and Laurence Mark，have so far kept full details of their planned changes to the Oscars’ triedandtested method secret.
Oscars organizers have already made sure of one change by announcing Australian actor Hugh Jackman as the host of the show.
Among the changes reported to be considered are the decision to leave out the ceremony’s opening monologue(独白)．
The names of the invited on the awards night have also been kept secret while in earlier years the Academy made presenters to the ceremony public before weeks.
The NewYorkTimes reported on Monday that the producers are trying to improve the show by asking studios to provide scenes from films.
At the same time Ganis also advised nominees to give some thought to make their acceptance speeches memorable－and short.
“As for the acceptance speeches－you know what’s required，” Ganis said.“Be brief，be personal and be heartfelt.You_have_an_impressive_speech_total_of_45_seconds.”
This year’s Oscars are expected to be a great event. Many films will touch you，“Slumdog Millionaire”has 10 nominations，and “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” with 13.In the past the film with the most Oscar nominations is the one that has succeeded in box office.Oscars organizers want to improve the ceremony of Academy Awards because ________.
| A．the view rate of it is falling |
| B．the nominees don’t like to attend |
| C．people in Hollywood are against it |
| D．the 80th Oscars was best organized |
The Oscars’ triedandtested method ________.
| A．has been known by most of the actors |
| B．is kept a secret by now |
| C．is known only by hosts |
| D．hasn’t been decided at all |
From the underlined sentence we can learn ________.
| A．the winners must speak for 45 minutes |
| B．the speech of winners must be moving |
| C．the speech must be brief，impressive and moving |
| D．the speech of winners must be easily understood |
The main idea of the passage should be ________.
| A．Oscars leaders announce new film |
| B．films with most nominations |
| C．Oscars organizers are waiting for actors |
| D．Oscars leaders promise “brave，fresh”show |