BEIJING—As China scrambles to respond to the choking smog that has blanketed Beijing in recent weeks, authorities in several major cities are experimenting with carbon trading platforms. The schemes are one effort to get control over greenhouse gases in an economy still hungry for cheap energy.
It has been a persistent concern in recent years, but the spiking pollution levels in January are sparking a public outcry.
Emissions from coal-fired electricity plants and busy factories are part of the problem that officials hope to get control over through carbon trading platforms. Seven cities are expected to open carbon markets later this year, including Tianjin.
“The government has decided to start with programs because the carbon trading is something new to China,” said David Tang, secretary of the board of the Tianjin Carbon Exchange. “So we want to have a number of programs to explore the use of the market.” said Tang.
China wants to launch a national carbon trading program by 2016. If it is successful, analysts say, the program would be one of the largest in the world and would help the country meet its target of cutting carbon dioxide emissions by 45 percent within seven years.
The platforms allow companies to earn credits for lowering greenhouse gas emissions, which can then be traded. If it works, it would encourage for-profit businesses to invest in green technology.
As public concern builds pressure for the government to find a solution, Wu Changhua, greater China director of the Climate Group, says there is a broad shift under way in how Chinese weigh their quality of life.
China has long put economic growth ahead of environmental concerns, making it the world’s biggest polluter. Carbon trading supporters hope that the markets could be one way to curb pollution and keep the economy growing.Which of the following is TRUE about carbon trading platforms?
| A．They are used to trade various resources. |
| B．They caused the choking smog in China. |
| C．They have been in existence for many years in China. |
| D．The choking smog may promote their development. |
The underlined word in Paragraph 1 means “ ______”.
| A．to make blanket | B．to cover something | C．to make something empty | D．to be like a blanket |
Tang’s attitude towards carbon markets is ______.
| A．unknown | B．indifferent | C．optimistic | D．pessimistic |
What can we infer from the passage?
| A．China will have built a national carbon trading program by 2016. |
| B．Chinese have lived a life of high quality in all aspects. |
| C．The markets could slow the development of economy. |
| D．Standards of life will be changed in China. |
What's the main idea of this passage?
| A．The choking smoke in China. | B．The urge for carbon trading platforms. |
| C．Greenhouse gases. | D．The world’s biggest polluter. |
People are always talking about "the problem of youth". If there is one—which I take leave to doubt—then it is older people who create it, not the young themselves. Let us get down to something basic and agree that the young are after all human beings—people just like their elders. There is only one difference between an old man and a young one: the young man has a beautiful future before him and the old one has a splendid future behind him and maybe that is where the rub is.
When I was a teenager, I felt that I was just young and unknown—that I was a new boy in a huge school, and I would have been very pleased to be regarded as something so interesting as a problem. For one thing, being a problem gives you a certain identity, and that is one of the things the young are busily engaged in seeking.
I find young people exciting. They have an air of freedom, and they have not a dull promise to mean ambitions(卑鄙的野心) or love of comfort. They are not anxious social climbers, and they have no devotion to important things. All these seem to me to link them with life, and the origins of things. It is as if they were in some sense from outside space and lovely contrast with us suburban people. All that is in my mind when I meet a young person. He may be ill-mannered, self-confident, but I do not turn for protection to boring clichés(陈腔烂调) about respect for elders as if the age is a reason for respect. I accept that we are equals, and I will argue with him, as an equal, if I think he is wrong.From the text we can see the writer’s attitude towards the young is ______.
| A．kind and satisfied | B．considerate and understanding |
| C．angry and unpleased | D．hopeless and boring |
The word "rub" in the last sentence of paragraph 1 is closest to the meaning of the following ________.
| A．polishing | B．difficulty | C．future | D．age |
One of the things the young are engaged in seeking is that ________.
| A．they want people to notice them |
| B．they want to make great troubles |
| C．they want to excite people around |
| D．they want to make some interesting events |
The combined sales of the 100 largest foreign investing companies in the U.S. increased by 40% in the two years between 1987 and 1989, and the number has continued to increase steadily. In 1990, South Africa proved to be the largest financial investor in the U.S., controlling about $19.2 billion in sales. The Netherlands and the U.K. follow as second largest investors—and Germany next. New of the list of the top 100 foreign investors are 12 banking and finance and insurance companies—the largest, the Hong Kong-Shanghai Banking Corp from Hong Kong. The number of Latin American companies engaged in business here is growing steadily, often through third country holding companies.
Why are so many firms coming to the U.S.? There are many reasons. One of the greatest attractions, of course, is a market of over 200 million consumers with a high average per capital income. In addition, with the devalued dollar the cost of American labor has declined markedly, relative to many foreign labor costs. Some firms seeking to avoid bureaucratic and/or political pressures at home find the U.S. a politically stable environment in which to work. Many hope they may be able to continue selling to the American market even if the U.S. Government restricts imports further, or if major price changes occur due to currency fluctuations (波动). Many foreigners are attracted by U.S. technology, its modern management methods, its labor saving and mass production techniques.All the following statements are mentioned in the passage except ______.
| A．South Africa controlled about $19.2 billion in sales in 1990 |
| B．in 1989 Hong Kong was the largest foreign investor in the U.S. |
| C．more and more Latin American companies were engaged in business in the U.S. |
| D．the combined sales of the top 100 foreign investing companies increased steadily |
The most important reason why so many companies come to the U.S. is that _______.
| A．the U.S. technology is advanced |
| B．the environment is politically stable |
| C．the labor cost there has been reduced |
| D．the market in the U.S. is very attractive |
Which of the following reasons for many firms coming to the U.S. is not mentioned in the passage?
| A．Skillful labor force in the U.S. |
| B．Modern management method. |
| C．Mass production techniques. |
| D．Rich American consumers. |
The best title for this passage would probably be________.
| A．Foreign Investors in the U.S. |
| B．Why Foreign Investors Like the U.S. |
| C．Foreign Business Is Growing in the U.S. |
| D．The 100 Top Largest Companies in the U.S. |
Australia has passed regulations that will enable more international students to further their education in the country.
The new measures were released by the Australian Department of Tertiary Education, Skills, Jobs and Workplace Relations in September and will take effect in mid-2012.
As a result, the student visa application process for overseas students has been simplified, and the deposit (押金) required to study in Australia has been reduced. Language requirements for overseas students have also been eased.
Also, overseas students receiving a higher education in Australia will be granted a working visa lasting from two to four years after graduation, as long as they meet the basic IELTS requirement.
"This change will definitely make Australia a more attractive destination for Chinese students planning to study overseas," says Wang Lan, a consultant from Education International Cooperation Group (EIC), a Beijing-based company that provides services to students wishing to study overseas.
However, in the past few years, many of Wang's student clients could not start studies in Australia because they did not meet the language requirements, visa processing took a long time and deposit regulations were tough. The change in policy is good news for the parents of students wishing to study in Australia, Wang says.
A 22-year-old female student surnamed Li, in Beijing, who is planning to do her postgraduate studies in Australia, learned about the policy change several weeks ago.
"According to the previous deposit requirement for my student visa, my family was required to put down 550,000 yuan ($86,850). Now we only need to prepare 410,000 yuan. This is a relief for my parents," Li says.
She also says that the two to four years working visa makes her feel much clearer about her study plans.
"I believe several years of working experience abroad will strengthen my competitiveness when I return to China," she says.
Gaining a competitive advantage is the major reason for Chinese students to study abroad, according to the report by EIC.What's the main idea of the passage?
| A．Language requirement for overseas students have been eased in Australia. |
| B．Australia is a most attractive place for students in China. |
| C．More students will work in Australia after their graduation. |
| D．Australia widens window of opportunity for international students. |
Which of the following is NOT the content of the new regulations?
| A．Language requirements for overseas students have been more difficult. |
| B．The deposit required to study in Australia has been reduced. |
| C．The student visa application process for overseas students has been simplified. |
| D．After graduation, some overseas students can get a working visa in Australia. |
After the new regulations are passed, _______ .
| A．more students will come to Australia to work |
| B．more Chinese students will choose to live in Australia. |
| C．the opportunities to work in Australia decrease for overseas students |
| D．more Chinese students will choose to further their education in Australia |
Why do many students want to work in Australia after their graduation?
| A．They can earn more money in Australia. |
| B．The working experience abroad will strengthen their competitiveness. |
| C．Their working experience can make them stay in Australia forever. |
| D．They have to do so according to the new regulations. |
Just as the world’s most respected scientific bodies have confirmed that the world is getting hotter, they have also stated that there is strong evidence that humans are driving the warming. Countless recent reports from the world’s leading scientific bodies have said the same thing. For example, a 2010 summary of climate science by the Royal Society stated that: “There is strong evidence that the warming of the Earth over the last half-century has been caused largely by human activity.”
The idea that humans could change the planet’s climate may be counter-intuitive, but the basic science is well understood. Each year, human activity causes billions of tons of greenhouse gases to be released into the atmosphere. As scientists have known for years, these gases hold heat that would otherwise escape to space, wrapping the planet in an invisible blanket.
Of course, the planet’s climate has always been changing thanks to “natural” factors such as changes in solar or volcanic activity, or cycles relating the Earth’s going around the sun. According to the scientific literature, however, the warming recorded to date matches the pattern of warming we would expect from a build-up of greenhouse gas in the atmosphere – not the warming we would expect from other possible causes.
Even if scientists did discover another reasonable explanation for the warming observed so far, that would beg a difficult question. As Robert Henson puts it in The Rough Guide to Climate Change, “If some newly discovered factor can account for the climate change, then why aren’t carbon dioxide and the other greenhouse gases producing the warming that basic physics tells us they should be?”
The only way to prove with 100% certainty that humans are responsible for global warming would be to run an experiment with two identical Earths –one with human influence and one without. That obviously isn’t possible, and so most scientists are careful not to state human influence as an absolute certainty. In most scientists’ opinion, the global warming is mainly caused by ________.
| A．human activity |
| B．volcanic activity |
| C．the Earth’s going around the sun |
| D．solar activity |
The text is developed by ________.
| A．giving typical examples |
| B．following the order of space |
| C．comparing and finding differences |
| D．analyzing a theory and arguing it |
The underline word “identical” means ________.
| A．totally different |
| B．exactly the same |
| C．extremely important |
| D．relatively independent |
Which of the following can be the best title?
| A．Are All the Scientists Really Scientific? |
| B．Where Is Global Warming Leading Us to? |
| C．Are Humans Definitely Causing Global Warming? |
| D．What’s Relation of Global Warming and Greenhouse Gases? |
Driving to a friend’s house on a recent evening, I was attracted by the sight of the full moon rising just above my friend’s rooftop. I stopped to watch it for a few moments, thinking about what a pity it is that most city people — myself included — usually miss sights like this because we spend most of our lives indoors.
My friend had also seen it. He grew up living in a forest in Europe, and the moon meant a lot to him then. It had touched much of his life.
I know the feeling. Last December I took my seven-year-old daughter to the mountainous jungle of northern India with some friends. We stayed in a forest rest house with no electricity or running hot water. Our group had campfires outside every night, and indoors when it was too cold outside. The moon grew to its fullest during our trip. Between me and the high mountains lay three or four valleys. Not a light shone in them and not a sound could be heard. It was one of the quietest places I have ever known, a bottomless well of silence. And above me was the full moon, which struck me deeply.
Today our lives are filled with glass, metal, plastic and fiber-glass. We have television, cell phones, electricity, heaters and ovens and air-conditioners, cars, computers.
Struggling through traffic that evening at the end of a tiring day, most of it spent indoors, I thought, “Before long, I would like to live in a small cottage. There I will grow vegetables and read books and walk in the mountains. And perhaps write, but not in anger. I may become an old man there, and wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled and measure out my life in coffee spoons. But I will be able to walk outside on a cold silent night and touched the moon.”The best title for the passage would be _________.
| A．Break away from the Reality |
| B．A Bottomless well of Silence |
| C．Touched by the Moon |
| D．The Pleasures of Modern Life |
The writer felt sorry for himself because __________.
| A．he failed to see the fullest moon. |
| B．there were too many accidents on the road. |
| C．he didn’t adapt to modern inventions |
| D．there was too much pollution. |
Modern things are mentioned mainly to ___________.
| A．show that the writer likes city life very much. |
| B．show that we can also enjoy nature at home through them. |
| C．tell us that people greatly benefit from modern life. |
| D．explain that people have less chances to enjoy nature. |