The environmental group 350.org has launched a new campaign called Climate Name Change that proposes to revise to how hurricanes are named: call them after policymakers who say that humans are not to blame for global warming.
This will save the Katrinas and Sandys of the world from the injustice of having their names attached to major disaster, the group says. And, as a bonus, it will produce some peculiar weather reports.
“Rick Perry leaves trail of death,” appears under a broadcast titled “Rick Perry: The Tragedy.”
“Michelle Bachman is incredibly dangerous. If you value your life, please seek shelter from Michelle Bachman,” says an official while addressing a news conference.
The campaign is unlikely to influence the World Meteorological Organization, which has since 1954 named Atlantic tropical storms from an official list.
But the campaign’s goal seems less to actually name a hurricane after the speaker of the house, and more to call attention to an issue that this month has reached an alarming level of seriousness. The campaign comes just a month before the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change will release its most recent report on the state of global warming and a week after a draft（草稿）of the report was given away to Reuters.
In the draft, scientists concluded with near certainty – about 95 percent sure – that humans are to blame for the worldwide temperature hikes over the last few decades. That was a revision from the 2007 report, which put scientific certainty that human activities were driving global climate change at about 90 percent.
And global warming, the report said, is not slowing down – it, actually, is accelerating. That means that sea levels could balloon upward as much as three feet by the end of the century, if emissions(排放量) continue at their current pace.
Still, as the Washington Post Climate notes, hurricanes are not the best sign of global warming. Though current data suggests that global warming will in the future stir up terrible super storms, there is still not enough evidence to support the idea that climate change strengthens the recent hurricanes that have torn at the US’s eastern coastline. It can be inferred that__________ is one of the policymakers who believe that humans are not to blame for global warming.
| A．Katrina | B．Rick Perry | C．Flossie | D．Sandy |
350.org has launched the campaign with the real purpose of _________________.
| A．changing the ways of naming hurricanes |
| B．introducing the methods of naming hurricanes |
| C．reminding policymakers to change their attitudes |
| D．calling attention to the coming report on global warming |
The draft of the global warming report tells us that _____________.
| A．global warming is speeding up at the same rate |
| B．it is human beings that have caused global warming |
| C．the new report has a more accurate data than the one in 2007 |
| D．human beings are not the only one to blame for global warming |
The writer of the passage seems to believe that______________.
| A．policymakers should be blamed for the global warming |
| B．the campaign will cause the change of naming hurricanes |
| C．global warming has no necessary relation to terrible hurricanes |
| D．global warming will surely cause terrible super storms in the future |
The day when the jobs were handed out was one of the most exciting moments for all the children in the class. It took place during the first week of the term. Every kid was given a job for which they would be responsible for the rest of that school year.
Some jobs were more interesting than others, and the children were eager to be given one of the best ones. When giving them out, the teacher took into account which pupils had been most responsible during the previous year. During the previous year Rita had carried out the teacher’s instructions perfectly. All the children knew Rita would be given the best job.
But there was a big surprise. Each child received a normal job. But Rita’s job was very different. She was given a little box containing some sand and one ant. Though the teacher insisted that this ant was very special, Rita felt disappointed. Most of her classmates felt sorry for her. Even her father became very angry with the teacher and he encouraged Rita to pay no attention to this insignificant pet. However, Rita preferred to show the teacher her error by doing something special with that job of little interest.
Rita started investigating all about her little ant and gave the ant the best food, and it grew quite a bit bigger.
One day, a man, who looked very important, came into their classroom and declared, “Your class has been chosen to accompany me, this summer, on a journey to the tropical rain forest, where we will investigate all kinds of insects. Among all the schools of this region, your class has best cared for the little ant.”
That day the school was filled with joy and celebration. Everyone thanked Rita for having been so patient and responsible. And many children learnt that to be given the most important task you have to know how to be responsible even in what are the smallest tasks.What does the underlined sentence mean?
| A．Each child got an important job. |
| B．Each child got an interesting job. |
| C．The perfect student got the job of everyone’s preference. |
| D．The most responsible student got the job of least interest. |
What is Rita’s attitude to her father’s suggestion?
| A．Negative. | B．Uncertain. |
| C．Totally positive. | D．Acceptive. |
We can infer that the man who made the declaration is a _________.
| A．hunter | B．director |
| C．biologist | D．principal |
What would be the best title for the passage?
| A．Never complain about life. |
| B．Small tasks can lead to fortunes. |
| C．Men are best known by their friends. |
| D．Responsibility and intelligence bring good luck. |
When Flora Kahlo’s paintings were on show in London, a poet described her paintings as “a ribbon around a bomb”. Such comments seem to suggest Kahlo had a big influence on the art world of her time. Sadly, she is actually a much bigger name today than she was during her time.
Born in 1907 in a village near Mexico City, Kahlo suffered from polio(小儿麻痹症 )at the age of seven. Her spine(脊柱) became bent as she grew older. Then, in 1925, her back was broken in several places in a school-bus accident. Throughout the rest of her life, the artist had many operations, but nothing was able to cure the terrible pain in her back. However, the accident had an unexpected side effect. While lying in her bed recovering, Kahlo taught herself to paint.
In 1929, she got married to Diego Rivera, another famous Mexican artist. Rivera’s strong influences on Kahlo’s style can be seen in her early works, but her later works from the 1940s, known today as her best works, show less influence from her husband.
Unfortunately, her works did not attract much attention in the 1930s and 1940s, even in her home country. Her first one-woman show in Mexico was not held until 1953. For more than a decade after her death in 1954, Kahlo’s works remained largely unnoticed by the world, but in the 1970s her works began to gain international fame at last.What does the phrase “a much bigger name” in Paragraph 1 most probably mean? ______
| A．a far better artist |
| B．a much more famous person |
| C．a much stronger person |
| D．a far more gifted artist |
The terrible pain Kahlo suffered was caused by ______.
| A．back injuries | B．her bent spine |
| C．polio | D．the operations she had |
Kahlo’s style had become increasingly independent since the _________.
| A．1930s | B．1970s |
| C．1950s | D．1940s |
What is the author’s attitude toward Kahlo? ______
| A．Devotion | B．Encouragement |
| C．Ironic | D．Sympathy |
In her new book, “The Smartest Kids in the World,” Amanda Ripley, an investigative journalist, tells the story of Tom, a high-school student from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, who decides to spend his senior year in Warsaw, Poland. Poland is a surprising educational success story: in the past decade, the country raised students’ test scores from significantly below average to well above it. Polish kids have now outscored(超过……分数) American kids in math and science, even though Poland spends, on average, less than half as much per student as the United States does. One of the most striking differences between the high school Tom attended in Gettysburg and the one he ends up at in Warsaw is that the latter has no football team, or, for that matter, teams of any kind.
That American high schools waste more time and money on sports than on math is an old complaint. This is not a matter of how any given student who plays sports does in school, but of the culture and its priorities. This December, when the latest Program for International Student Assessment(PISA) results are announced, it’s safe to predict that American high-school students will once again display their limited skills in math and reading, outscored not just by students in Poland but also by students in places like South Korea, Belgium, the Netherlands, Finland, Singapore, and Japan. Meanwhile, they will have played some very exciting football games, which will have been breathlessly written up in their hometown papers.
Why does this situation continue? Well, for one thing, kids like it. And for another, according to Ripley, parents seem to like the arrangement, too. She describes a tour she took of a school in Washington D.C., which costs thirty thousand dollars a year. The tour leader—a mother with three children in the school—was asked about the school’s flaws(暇疵). When she said that the math program was weak, none of the parents taking the tour reacted. When she said that the football program was weak, the parents suddenly became concerned. “Really?” one of them asked worriedly, “What do you mean?”One of the ironies(讽刺) of the situation is that sports reveal what is possible. American kids’ performance on the field shows just how well they can do when expection are high. It’s too bad that their test scores show the same thing.Tom decides to spend his senior year in Poland because _______.
| A．there are striking differences between the 2 countries |
| B．Polish kids are better at learning |
| C．he intends to improve his scores |
| D．sports are not supported at schools in Gettysburg |
According to Paragraph 2, we know that _______.
| A．little time is spent on sports in Japanese schools |
| B．too much importance is placed on sports in America |
| C．American high schools complain about sports time |
| D．PISA plays a very important role in America |
The underlined sentence in the last paragraph means _______.
| A．American students’ academic performance worries their parents a lot |
| B．high expectations push up American students’ academic performance |
| C．lacking practice contributes to American students’ average performance |
| D．low expectations result in American students’ poor PISA performance |
The purpose of this article is to _______.
| A．draw public attention to a weakness in American school tradition |
| B．call on American schools to learn from the Polish model |
| C．compare Polish schools with those in America |
| D．explain what is wrong with American schools and provide solutions |
Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis was one of the most private women in the world, yet when she went to work as an editor in the last two decades of her life, she revealed（展现）herself as she did nowhere else.
After the death of her second husband, Greek shipping magnate（巨头）Aristotle Onassis, Jacqueline’s close friend and former White House social secretary Letitia Baldrige made a suggestion that she consider a career in publishing. After consideration, Jacqueline accepted it. Perhaps she hoped to find there some idea about how to live her own life. She became not less but more interested in reading. For the last 20 years of her life, Jacqueline worked as a publisher’s editor, first at Viking, then at Doubleday, pursuing（追求）a late-life career longer than her two marriages combined. During her time in publishing, she was responsible for managing and editing more than 100 successfully marketed books. Among the first books were In the Russian Style and Inventive Paris Clothes. She also succeeded in persuading TV hosts Bill Moyer’s and Jose Campbell to transform their popular television conversations into a book, The Power of Myth. The book went on to become an international best-seller. She dealt, too, with Michael Jackson as he prepared his autobiography（自传）, Moonwalk.
Jacqueline may have been hired for name and for her social relations, but she soon proved her worth. Her choices, suggestions and widespread social relations were of benefit both to the publishing firms and to Jacqueline herself. In the books she selected for publication, she built on a lifetime of spending time by herself as a reader and left a record of the growth of her mind. Her books are the autobiography she never wrote. Her role as First Lady, in the end, was overshadowed by her performance as an editor. However, few knew that she had achieved so much.We can learn from the passage that Jacqueline _________
| A．became fond of reading after working as an editor |
| B．was in charge of publishing 100 books |
| C．promoted her books through social relations |
| D．gained a lot from her career as an editor |
The underlined sentence in the last paragraph probably means that_________
| A．Jacqueline was more successful as an editor than as First Lady |
| B．Jacqueline’s life as First Lady was more colorful than as an editor |
| C．Jacqueline ended up as an editor rather as First Lady |
| D．Jacqueline’s role as First Lady was more brilliant than as an editor |
What can be inferred from the passage?
| A．Jacqueline’s two marriages lasted more than 20 years |
| B．Jacqueline’s views and beliefs were reflected in the books she edited |
| C．Jacqueline’s own publishing firm was set up eventually |
| D．Jacqueline’s achievements were widely known. |
The passage is mainly______________
| A．a brief account of Jacqueline’s career as an editor in her last 20 years |
| B．a brief description of Jacqueline’s lifelong experiences |
| C．an introduction of Jacqueline’s life both as First Lady and as an editor |
| D．an analysis of Jacqueline’s social relations in publishing |
Argentina in the late nineteenth century was an exciting place. Around 1870, it was experiencing an economic boom, and the capital, Buenos Aires, attracted many people. Farmers, as well as a flood of foreigners from Spain and Italy, came to Buenos Aires seeking jobs. These jobs didn’t pay well, and the people felt lonely and disappointed with their new life in the city. As the unhappy newcomers mixed together in the poor parts of the city, the dance known as the tango (探戈舞) came into being
At the beginning the tango was a dance of the lower classes. It was danced in the bars and streets. At that time there were many fewer women than men, so if a man didn’t want to be left out, his only choice was to dance with another man so that he could attract the attention of the few available women. Gradually, the dance spread into the upper classes of Argentinean society and became more respectable.
In Europe at this time, strong interest in dance from around the world was beginning. The interest in international dance was especially evident in Paris. Every kind of dance from ballet to belly dancing could be found on the stages of the Paris theaters. After tango dances from Argentina arrive in Europe, they began to draw the interest of the public as they performed their exiting dance in cafes. Though not everyone approved of the new dance, saying it was a little too shocking, the dance did find enough supporters to make it popular.
The popularity of the tango continued to grow in many other parts of the world. Soldiers who returned to the United States from World War I brought the tango to North America. It reached Japan in 1926, and in 2003 the Argentinean embassy in Seoul hired a local tango dancer to act as a kind of dance ambassador, and promote tango dancing throughout South Korea.The origin of the tango is associated with _________.
A Belly dances B. American soldiers
C. the capital of Argentina D. Spanish cityWhich of the following is true about the tango?
| A．It was created by foreigners from Spain and Italy. |
| B．People of the upper classes loved the tango most |
| C．A dancer in Seoul became the Argentinean ambassador. |
| D．It was often danced by two male in the beginning |
Before World War I, the tango spread to __________.
| A．America | B．Japan |
| C．France | D．South Korea |
What can be the best title for the text?
| A．How to Dance the Tango |
| B．The History of the Tango |
| C．How to Promote the Tango |
| D．The Modern Tango Boom |