There has been a large increase in the number of natural disasters over the past few years, and it is believed that global warming and climate change could cause even more disasters in thefuture. Some of the world’s leading cities are facing disasters like floods and heat waves.
London
London’s flood defences are getting older. Since 1982, the Thames Barrier(水闸)has protected the city from the threat (威胁)of flooding, but it was only designed to last until 2030 and close once every two or three years. About 31 years later the barrier now closes five or six times a year and according to Environment Agency predictions, by 2050 the barrier will be closed on almost every tide if the problem is not solved
There are 26 underground stations, 400 schools, 16 hospitals, an airport and 80 billion worth of property(财产）in London’s flood risk area, so large scale flooding would be disastrous.
Paris
Over a six week period in July and August 2003, more than 1 1,400—mainly elderly people—died in France from dehydration(脱水)and extremely high body temperature in a deadly heat wave. Heat waves of similar intensity(强度)are expected every seven years by 2050, so what can be done to make sure such a disaster does not happen again?
One solution is to have air-conditioners installed（安装）in elderly care homes. But this is considered a short-term solution, as the increase in demand for electricity also increases carbon emissions(排放).
In Paris the local authorities are encouraging architects to design new types of buildings such as the building “Flower Tower,” which uses a covering of bamboo to act as a natural air-conditioner.
Shanghai
Shanghai is the fastest growing city on Earth. It has a population of 18 million and is only 4 meters above sea level. Sea levels are predicted to rise by 20 cm within the next century.
About 250，000 people move to Shanghai every year in search of work, placing extra demands on energy consumption（消耗）. China depends heavily on coal—fired power stations, but these emissions increase temperatures and, in turn, warmer seas increase the risk of typhoons.What problem should be settled now in London?
| A．How to protect the city’s property |
| B．Where to build its flood defences |
| C．How to use the Thames Barrier to protect the city |
| D．How to improve the function of the old flood defences |
Which of the following measures can’t solve the heat wave disaster in Paris?
| A．Putting up new types of buildings with a covering of bamboo. |
| B．Having air-conditioners installed in elderly care homes. |
| C．Forbidding the city to build “Flower Tower”. |
| D．Encouraging architects to design new types of buildings. |
The major threats to Shanghai are __________.
| A．increasing population and coal-fired power stations |
| B．rising sea levels and typhoons |
| C．extremely high temperature and rising sea levels |
| D．extra demands on energy consumption and typhoons |
The purpose of the passage is __________.
| A．to tell us how to protect the big cities |
| B．to give advice on how to defend natural disasters |
| C．to explain what causes flood and heat waves |
| D．to warn us of the increasing natural disasters in big cities |
Social change is more likely to occur in societies where there is a mixture of different kinds of people than in societies where people are similar in many ways. The simple reason for this is that there are more different ways of looking at things present in the first kind of society. There are more ideas, more disagreements in interest, and more groups and organizations with different beliefs. In addition, there is usually a greater worldly interest and greater tolerance(容忍) in mixed societies. All these factors tend to promote social change by opening more areas of life to decision. In a society where people are quite similar in many ways, there are fewer occasions for people to see the need or the opportunity for change because everything seems to be the same. And although conditions may not be satisfactory, they are at least socially accepted customs.
Within a society, social change is also likely to occur more frequently and more readily in the material aspects of the culture than in the non-material, for example, in technology rather than in values; in what has been learned later in life rather than what was learned early; in the less basic and less emotional aspects of society than in their opposites; in the simple elements rather than in the complex ones; in form rather than in substance(物质); and in elements that are acceptable to the culture rather than in strange elements.
Furthermore, social change is easier if it is gradual. For example, it comes more readily in human relations on a continuous scale rather than on a sharp one. This is one reason why change has not come more quickly to Black Americans as compared to other American minorities, because of the sharp difference in appearance between them and white counterparts.Which of the following factors tends to promote social change?
| A．Different points of view | B．Less emotional people |
| C．Advanced technology | D．Similar interests |
Why is social change less likely to occur where people are quite similar in many ways?
| A．Because the social tolerance in such a society is greater. |
| B．Because the social interests are fairly shared. |
| C．Because the conditions are generally satisfactory. |
| D．Because the present situation is commonly accepted. |
What does the underlined word “one” refer to in the passage?
| A．Change | B．Relation | C．Scale | D．Reason |
The passage mainly talks about social change in terms of .
| A．why and how | B．where and what |
| C．what and why | D．how and when |
The life-long benefits of teaching children good money habits make it well worth the effort. Children who are not taught these lessons pay the consequences for a life time. Some parents don’t teach children about money because they think they shouldn’t talk about money with children, don’t have the time, or think they don’t have enough money. Parents should take the time to teach children about money regardless of their income and should start when children are young.
Most people have strong feelings and opinions about money, based on childhood experiences and the values and beliefs of their families. Most often, these experiences, values, and beliefs are different for each parent. It is important for the healthy development of children that parents talk about these feelings and opinions and establish a consistent(始终如一的)approach to teaching children about money.
Here are some guidelines parents can keep in mind as they begin the financial socialization of their children:
★Advise rather than order how the child’s money should be used.
★Allow children to learn by mistakes and by successes.
★Be consistent while taking children’s differences into account.
★Include all family members in money management discussions, decision making, and activities suitable for their age.
★Explan to children what they can and cannot do and the consequences of going above the limits.
★As children get older increasingly include them in discussions of limits and consequences.
★Expect all family members to perform unpaid, routine household work based on their abilities.
★Express your desire to have things you can’t afford. Children need to know that parents say “no” to themselves, too.The writer believes that if children don’t learn good money habits, they.
| A．won’t be able to earn enough |
| B．won’t be involved in housework |
| C．will have to work hard all their life. |
| D．will suffer the bad results all their life |
Some parents don’t teach their children good money habits, because.
| A．they don’t have money for their children to spend |
| B．they think miney is too serious for children |
| C．they think children can learn naturally |
| D．they believe money is an adult thing |
According to the 2nd paragraph, the writer seems to believe that .
| A．childhood experiences will heip people create a lifelong money value |
| B．taking is the most important way to help children from their values |
| C．values of money should be different from parent to parent. |
| D．children’s opinion about money will never change if established |
Which of the following are parents advised to do?
| A．To allow children to make mistakes if they’re likely to succeed. |
| B．To make children do housework for the family and pay them. |
| C．To help children learn to say “no” to their own unrealistic desires. |
| D．To encourage children to set limits for themselves. |
When 24-year-old Hannah Brencher moved to New York after college, she was hit by depression and loneliness. One day she felt so lonely that she wanted to reach out to someone. So she put pen to paper and started writing letters—letters to complete strangers.
But these weren’t sad letters about how she was feeling. They were happy letters, all about the other person, not her. She would write messages for people to have a “bright day” and tell strangers how outstanding they were, even if they thought no one else had noticed. Brencher began dropping the notes all over New York, in cafes, in library books, in parks and on the subway. It made her feel better, knowing that she might be making somebody’s day through just a few short, sweet words. It gave her something to focus on. And so, the website The World Needs More Love Letters was born.
The World Needs More Love Letters is all about writing letters—not emails, but proper, handwritten letters. Not traditional love letters, written to a real beloved, but surprise letters for strangers. They don’t necessarily say “I love you”, but they are full of kindness—telling people they are remarkable and special and all-around amazing.
Brencher’s initiative (初衷) has now exploded. She has personally written hundreds of letters. Last year, she did a TED talk, in which she talks about a woman whose husband, a soldier, comes back home from Afghanistan and they struggle to reconnect: “So she leaves love letters all over the house as a way to say: ‘Come back to me. Find me when you can.’” And then comes another story of a man threatening to kill himself on his Facebook page, only to now be in the land of the living, with many love letters under his pillow.
The World Needs More Love Letters Project works on the idea that “A love letter a day keeps the doctor away” . It’s about sharing positive energy, restoring confidence and happiness. There are now more than 10,000 people from all over the world joining in to write letters to the lonely and depressed, to basically tell them that everything will be okay.When feeling lonely, Brencher wrote letters to _________________.
| A．share her sad feelings with strangers |
| B．tell strangers how outstanding she was |
| C．express her wish to have a bright day |
| D．brighten strangers’ day with kind words |
According to the passage, which of the following letters can be found on the website?
| A．The email to remarkable people. |
| B．The handwritten letters to friends. |
| C．The traditional love letters to beloved ones. |
| D．The encouraging letters to strangers. |
What can be inferred from Brencher's TED talk?
| A．The man leaves love letters to his wife, asking her to look for him |
| B．The woman gets on well with her husband after his return from Afghanistan |
| C．The life of the man in the second story has been saved by the inspiring love letters |
| D．The man in the second story has written many love letters and put them under his pillow |
In the last paragraph, the underlined sentence means .
| A．love letters can help cheer you up in spirits |
| B．love letters can keep you physically healthy |
| C．love letters can make the doctors out of work |
| D．love letters can keep you sway from loneliness |
Below is some adviee on how to prevent cancer.
Eat Blueberries
Aside from being a healthy and delicious snack, blueberries contain pterostilbene, which has important colon cancer-fighting prosperities. But wait, it gets better. Blueberries also offer a large dose of vitamins C (14 milligrams per cup). So at breakfast, try to take in a cup and a half of blueberries in your cereal or yogurt, or mixed with other berries.
Drink Pomegranate（石榴）Juice
The deep red juice of the pomegranate contains various chemicals, which together create a powerful anticancer mixture. Most recently, researchers from the University of Wisconsin at Madison has discovered that 16 ounces of pomegranate juice per day also may inhibit(阻碍) the growth of lung cancer.
Relax
Feeling stressed or worried? Find ways to relax and you may reduce your chances of developing cancer. Purdue University researchers tracked 1,600 men over 12 years and found that half of those with high levels of worry died during the study period. Only 20 percent of the optimists died before the study were completed, while 34 percent of the extremely anxious men died of some type of cancer. Instead of stressing about the past or future, focus on the present and relax!
Take Selenium（硒）
Selenium is well known for its cancer-fighting properties. In a study of almost 1,000 men, researchers from the Journal of the National Cancer Institute found that when men with the lowest initial levels of selenium in their bodies received a daily supplement over a 4-year period, they cut their prostate（前列腺）cancer risk by a remarkable 92 percent. However, it is possible to get too much of a good thing, so monitor your intake of selenium-containing supplements, Brazil nuts, tuna, meats and grains carefully.
Break a Sweat
Even a small amount of exercise can offer major cancer-fighting benefits. In a study of 29,110 men published in the International Journal of Cancer, men who exercised just once a week had a percent lower risk of prostate cancer than men who didn’t work out at all. The better the frequency, duration and intensity of the exercise, the bigger the reduction in risk, according to the study.To prevent yourself from catching colon cancer, you should eat ____ as often as possible.
| A．selenium | B．blueberries |
| C．pomegranates | D．Vitamin D |
A person is very likely to catch some type of cancer if ______.
| A．he is very fond of exercise every day. |
| B．he is addicted to drinking |
| C．he always feels extremely stressed or worried |
| D．he likes to have meals in restaurants |
will remarkably reduce the risk of men’s prostate cancer.
| A．Having a proper supplement of selenium |
| B．Drinking a cup of pomegranate juice every day |
| C．Breathing fresh air now and then |
| D．Taking exercise at least once a week |
If you want to keep cancer away, it is very important to ______.
| A．have a daily supplement of vitamins B and C |
| B．try to ignore the secondhand smoking |
| C．take in as much selenium as possible |
| D．have exercise as often as possible |
Sarah Outland’s weeklong “staycation” gave her a chance to explore her new surroundings after moving to Chicago. A day after moving to the Windy City last year, Outland started a new job and never got a chance to explore her new surroundings. After nine months as a resident, she finally took a week off work to visit famous landmarks, museums and shopping centers that were right under her nose.
If you glance through a newspaper or listen to a news broadcast recently, you may hear or spot a strange word, “staycation”. Staycation is a new word the American press is employing to describe a vacation very close to your home, or simply staying at home during your vacation. It is a combination of words “stay”and “vacation”.
According to many news reports, these staycations are achieving great popularity among American families this year. When asked about the reason for their expected staycation, respondents stated “gas prices are too high” (61 percent), “travel in general is too expensive (44 percent). The high price of gas for cars and airplanes has made it very expensive for Americans to travel compared to past years. When you combine this with the weak American dollar, it all adds up to people deciding to stay close to home during their traditional summer vacations.
For aggressive young Americans who are trying to balance family and work, a staycation can be a great concept. They want to enjoy their homes and the attractions in their area without the stress of packing or making reservation. They won’t be paying high fuel prices either directly, at the pump, or indirectly, in airfare, other than the gas required to drive around town. Absolutely, it’s friendlier on the environment when locals take trips to attractions in their own area, and not everyone is game for a vacation that involves staying on a hotel compound. Few people live close enough to a real destination to make this worth their while.How long after moving to Chicago did Sarah Outland take a staycation?
| A．A day | B．A week | C．A month | D．Nine months |
The author develops the second paragraph of the passage by______.
| A．making a comparison | B．giving a definition |
| C．offing an analysis | D．providing an example |
Staycations are popular with American people mainly due to _____.
| A．high traveling expenses | B．stress of packing |
| C．relatively low income | D．lack of real destinations. |