In Greek mythology(神话), fire is a gift form God, stolen from Zeus(宙斯) by Prometheus and handed over to humans suffering from cold. What could be more natural than sitting around a beautiful fire on a winter night, at a campsite in the Berkshires?
Hard as it may be to believe, the fireplace—long considered a trophy(奖杯), particularly in a city like New York—is acquiring a social shame. Among those who desire to be environmentally responsible, it is joining the ranks of bottled water and big houses.
Sally Treadwell, a 51-year-old public relations executive in Boone, N.C., said nothing makes her happier than building a fire on a cold winter night. But most of the time she doesn’t, because she feels too guilty about the damage it may do to the environment. Every time she builds a fire, it causes “inner conflict,” she said. “It’s a guilty pleasure”.
“The smoke from a fire smells very nice,” said Diane Bailey, a senior scientist with the Natural Resources Defense Council in San Francisco. “But it can cause a lot of harm. The tiny particles(颗粒) can cause illness, and can cross into the bloodstream, causing heart attacks as well as worsening other conditions.”
Growing concerns about the air pollution and health problems caused by smoke from wood fires are urging a number of areas across the country to pass laws regulating them. Idaho offers a tax cut to people who replace uncertified(不合格的)wood stoves with “greener” ones; San Joaquin County in California forbids selling a home unless its wood stove is replaced with an E.P.A. certified one；and Palo Alto and other governments in California forbid wood-burning fireplaces in new construction.
Certainly, many think otherwise. In any case, most fireplaces are used far too infrequently to cause any real damage to the environment, said Stephen Sears, the vice president of the Brick Industry Association, voicing an opinion shared by some.
Perhaps not coincidentally, sales of wood-burning equipment dropped to 235,000 in 2009 from 800,000 in 1999, according to the Brick Industry Association. It also reports that approximately 35,000 fireplaces were installed in the United States in 2009, compared to 80,000 in 2005. Certainly those numbers reflect the economic slowdown, but the may also be affected by growing mixed feelings to wood fries.We can infer from the 2nd paragraph that ________.
| A．big houses are not considered environmentally friendly |
| B．bottle water is a good companion for a fire place |
| C．a fireplace is viewed as a sign of success |
| D．people in New York are laughed at for their tradition |
Sally’s “inner conflict” in the 3rd paragraph resulted from ________.
| A．her love for the fireplace |
| B．the damage to the environment |
| C．the concern about her health |
| D．her mixed emotion fro the fireplace |
In terms of the regulations about wood fires we can learn from the passage that_______.
| A．uncertified fireplaces are forbidden in Idaho |
| B．some people are against the woodfire controlling regulations |
| C．only energy-efficient wood stoves can be used in the US |
| D．all the people support measures taken to control the use of fireplaces |
What is the author’s purpose in writing the passage?
| A．To urge people to burn less wood |
| B．To discuss wood-burning’s impact |
| C．To throw light on the causes of the fireplace’s decline |
| D．To indicate the cooling love for the fireplace |
The Healthy Habits Survey （调查）shows that only about one third of American seniors have correct habits. Here are some findings and expert advice.
1. How many times did you brush your teeth yesterday?
• Finding ： A full 33% of seniors brush their teeth only once a day.
• Step ： Remove the 300 types of bacteria in your mouth each morning with a battery-operated toothbrush. Brush gently for 2 minutes at least twice a day.
2. How many times did you wash your hands or bathe yesterday?
• Finding ： Seniors, on average, bathe fewer than 3 days a week. And nearly 30% wash their hands only 4 times a day-half of the number doctors recommend.
• Step ： We touch our faces around 3，000 times a day-of-ten inviting germs （病菌）to enter our mouth, nose, and eyes. Use toilet paper to avoid touching the door handle. And, most important, wash your hands often with hot run-ning water and soap for 20 seconds.
3. How often do you think about fighting germs?
• Finding ： Seniors are not fighting germs as well as they should.
• Step ： Be aware of germs. Do you know it is not your toilet but your kitchen sponge （海绵）that can carry more germs than anything else? To kill these germs, keep your sponge in the microwave for 10 seconds. What is found out about American seniors?
| A．Most of them have good habits. |
| B．Nearly 30% of them bathe three days a week. |
| C．All of them are fighting germs better than expected. |
| D．About one third of them brush their teeth only once a day. |
Doctors suggest that people should wash their hands __________.
| A．twice a day |
| B．three times a day |
| C．four times a day |
| D．eight times a day |
Which of the following is true according to the text?
| A．We should keep from touching our faces. |
| B．There are less than 300 types of bacteria in the mouth. |
| C．A kitchen sponge can carry more germs than a toilet. |
| D．W should wash our hands before touching a door handle. |
The text probably comes from __________.
| A．a guide book |
| B．a popular magazine |
| C．a book review |
| D．an official document |
The booking notes of the play "The Age of Innocence"：
Price： $10
BOOKING
There are four easy ways to book seats for performance ：
-in person
Hie Box Office is open Monday to Saturday，10 a. m. -8 p. m.
-by telephone
Ring 01324976 to reserve your tickets or to pay by credit card（Visa, MasterCard and Amex accepted）
-by post
Simply complete the booking form and return it to Global Theatre Box Office.
-on line
Complete the online booking form at wwww. Satanfiedtheatre. com
DISCOUNTS：
Saver ： $2 off any seat booked any time in advance for per-formances from Monday to Thursday. Savers are available for children up to 16 years old, over 60s and full-time students.
Supersaver ： half-price seats are available for people with disa-bilities and one companion. lt is advisable to book in advance. There is a maximum of eight wheelchair spaces available and one wheel-chair space will be held until an hour before the show.
Standby：best available seats are on sale for $6 from one hour before the performance for people eligible （suitable） for Saver and Supersaver discounts and thirty minutes before for all other custom-ers.
Group Bookings ： there is a ten percent discount for parties of twelve or more.
School ： school parties of ten or more can book $ 6 standby tickets in advance and will get every tenth ticket free.
Please note ： we are unable to exchange tickets or refund money unless a performance is cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances. If you want to book a ticket, you CANNOT __________.
| A．go to the Box Office on Sundays |
| B．ring the booking number and pay for the tickets by credit card |
| C．use the Internet |
| D．complete a booking form and post it to the Box Office |
According to the notes, who can get $2 off?
| A．The people who book the tickets on Fridays. |
| B．An 18-year-old teenager. |
| C．A 55-year-old woman. |
| D．A 20-year-old full-time college student. |
If you make a group booking for a group of 14 adults, how much should you pay?
| A．$120. |
| B．$126. |
| C．$140. |
| D．$150. |
Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
| A．There are only 8 wheelchair spaces in the theatre. |
| B．A school party of 15 students should pay $90 for the standby tickets. |
| C．A group of 12 persons can get 10 percent discount. |
| D．The audience can't refund money if the performance is on show. |
If you don't want people to know too much about you, then you had better keep your fridge contents secret, according to a British market research document released last week.
Researchers peered （凝视）into the fridges of 400 people in Britain and compared the contents with the owners' lifestyles. They claim to be able to classify the nation's people by fridge contents.
They say those people can be separated into five categories ：nutrition nerds （no social sense），food faddist （whatever's in style），martyr（苦行者）mums, fast food fanatics（狂热分子）and restaurant regulars.
Nutrition nerds care much about what they put into their bodies. Their fridges are stocked with fruit, vegetables and healthy meat. People in this category tend to be highly organized and usually work in law or accountancy （会计学）. The vast majority is single, but if they have a partner, that person will be similar.
A fridge full of vitamins-enriched juices implies its owner works in media or fashion. They tend not to eat the foods they buy. Known as the food faddist, they just want to be seen as purchasing the latest important things.
A fridge filled with everything from steak to frozen fish suggests the martyr mum. Her fridge tends to be stocked with every kind of product, except what she herself would want. This fridge hints at difficulty balancing family and work life.
Fast food fanatics always buy mineral water or soda pop （汽水）. The nearest they will get to fresh fruit is tomato sauce. Their fridges hint at someone who works hard and plays hard, also, someone who is not into long term planning.
Finally, a fridge filled with nothing more than a bottle of white wine and some sparkling mineral water implies an owner who is single, lives in a big city and enjoys the finer things in life. The fridge is empty because this person regularly eats in restaurants. What can we know from the first two paragraphs?
| A．Some researchers are fond of staring at other people's fridges. |
| B．People don't want others to know about their secrets. |
| C．The food you put in the fridge has something to do with your personality. |
| D．There are mainly five kinds of lifestyles among British people. |
According to the passage, people who belong to food faddist __________.
| A．don't care much about money when buying things |
| B．will try their best to stay healthy |
| C．often stay up late to finish their job |
| D．prefer to ask others about what to do next |
Which of the following is true according to the passage?
| A．"Nutrition nerds" are always organized and successful in their jobs. |
| B．"Food faddists" like to stock their fridges with all kinds of vitamins. |
| C．"Martyr mums" care themselves more than others. |
| D．"Fast food fanatics" usually do not stock their fridges with fresh fruit. |
What will those who often dine out put in the fridge?
| A．All kinds of food they like. |
| B．Only something to drink. |
| C．Fruit, vegetables and meat. |
| D．Food rich in vitamins. |
What is this passage mainly about?
| A．What people store in their fridges. |
| B．Fridge contents and its owner's secret. |
| C．What we should store in our fridges. |
| D．How to keep our fridge contents secret. |
They sit by the door waiting for me. And while I may speak more about the narrowness of my very limited life than their real worth, just the fact that they're sitting there, waiting for me, makes me happy.
I speak, of course, of my wonderful, brilliant, intelligently designed, calf-high rubber boots. They are a piece of industrial genius（杰作）. They are real and vibrant（活力的），and make my life more worth living.
My rubber boots are real and they do not fail me. I slip them on over my socks at a moment's notice. They go on easily. My feet feel joyful like the wagging（摇摆）tail of a dog waiting for its walk. My feet know they are safe.
I step outside the house and nothing can stop me the late season snowstorm, the pool of standing water at the bottom of my doorsteps that will never give off, the mud and dirt this season brings. My feet are warm and dry and happy. And so am I.
My boots are modest. They make no promise they can't keep. I found them at one-third the price of the long boots I looked at longingly for years. Mine are American-made and inexpensive and unattractive and brown and solid. They are now three years old and still look new. I know I will have them forever. I will die with them on. They are homely and they are wonderful.
My rubber boots make me braver and kinder and more generous. Yes, I will get the mail. Yes, I will get the newspaper. Yes, I will walk the dog. Yes to the garbage. Yes. Yes. Yes. I have rubber boots, good strong rubber boots-and I am not afraid. We can infer from the passage that __________.
| A．the writer has a small life circle |
| B．it must be very cold in winter where the writer lives |
| C．the writer enjoys the dog wagging its tail |
| D．the boots are designed by an industrial talent |
Which of the following is mentioned in the last two paragraphs?
| A．The writer is a postman by occupation. |
| B．The writer will wear the boots all his life. |
| C．The writer bought the boots out of curiosity. |
| D．The boots are good-looking, old and American made. |
Which is the right order of the writer's developing the passage?
a. He feels at home in the boots.
b. His feet feel safe.
c. They bring him happiness.
d. His life is meaningful.
e. He feels very fearless.
f. They warm his feet and keep wet out.
| A．a-c-b-e-d-f |
| B．c-d-e-f-b-a |
| C．a-c-b-f-d-e |
| D．c-d-b-f-a-e |
The writer writes the passage in order to __________.
| A．tell his daily life |
| B．advertise rubber boots |
| C．praise the objects ordinary but reliable |
| D．attach the importance to happiness and safety |
NSE Summer School is suitable for those who are at, or are about to start university. lt will begin accepting applications in January 2013.
Courses ： Accounting and Finance; Economics; Management; Law; International Relations; Government and Society
Dates ： Session （学习时间）1:7 July ~25 July Session 2 ： 28July~ 15 August
Rate ： Standard Rate ： One session: $ 1，400；Both session ： $2，400
Reduced Student Rate ： One session ： $ 1，100；Both session ： $1，875
The reduced student rate applies to （适用于）fulltime students registered at a university or college anywhere in the world. Accommodation is not included, and fees range from $ 500 ~ $ 1，000 for20 nights.
Applicant requirements ：
If you have studied in the USA then you do not need any additional English qualifications （资格）. Students from other countries will generally not require a visa （签证）to study at the Summer School; however, you will enter the USA as a "Student Visitor". You are permitted to change courses before the start of the program and within the first three days of the session.
Contact hours and teaching methods ：
Summer School courses are full-time and normally consist of 48contact hours over the three-week period, taking the form of 36hours of lectures and 12 hours of classes. Lectures, attended by all students, take place in either the morning or afternoon supplemented by small one-hour classes, of approximately 15 students.
Assessment and examinations ：
Assessment for Summer School is based upon the results of either two written examinations, or a final written examination and assessment work. Everyone is required to take the examinations and no exception can be made for any reason.
Summer School lecture series ：
Famous economists-Tony Godden and David Held-have agreed to give lectures to Summer School participants in July in 2013.
If any questions, please click here to see our Frequently Asked Questions/Contact Us Page. During the course，__________
| A．students can learn about everything from culture to science |
| B．students can choose not to attend the lectures they don't like |
| C．world-famous economists will give students lessons every day |
| D．all the students must take part in the exams without any excuse |
From the passage, we can learn that __________.
| A．the program is specially designed for foreign students |
| B．NSE Summer School 2013 is a university level program |
| C．students can change their courses whenever they want to |
| D．a visa is required to study at the NSE Summer School |
The purpose of the advertisement is to __________.
| A．attract students to NSE Summer School |
| B．introduce famous economists to students |
| C．help students to pass the final exams |
| D．advertise for new staff for university |
You will most probably find this passage __________.
| A．in a newspaper |
| B．in a guidebook |
| C．on a webpage |
| D．in a magazine |