FORBESCHINA’sannualcelebrityli-优题课

Exploit your parking space
An unused parking space or garage can make money. If you live near a city center or an airport, you could make anything up to £200 or £300 a week. Put an advertisement（广告）for free on Letpark or Atmyhousepark.
Rent a room
Spare room? Not only will a lodger（房客）earn you an income, but also, thanks to the government-backed “rent a room” program, you won’t have to pay any tax on the first £4500 you make per year. Try advertising your room on Roomspare or Roommateeasy.
Make money during special events
Don’t want a full-time lodger? Then rent on a short-term basis. If you live in the capital, renting a room out during the Olympics or other big events could bring in money. Grashpadder can advertise your space.
Live on set
Renting your home out as a “film set” could earn you hundreds of pounds a day, depending on the film production company and how long your home is needed. A quick search on the Internet will bring up dozens of online companies that allow you to register your home for free—but you will be charged if your home gets picked.
Use your roof
You need the right kind of roof, but some energy companies pay the cost of fixing solar equipment(around￡14,000), and let you use the energy produced for nothing. In return, they get paid for unused energy fed back into the National Grid. However, you have to sign a 25-year agreement with the supplier, which could prevent you from changing the roof.
If you earn ￡5000 from renting a room in one year, the tax you need to pay will be based on ______.

A．￡800

B．￡500

C．￡4500

D．5000

If you want to use energy free, you have to_____.

A．sign an agreement with the government

B．pay around ￡14,000 for the equipment

C．sell the roof to some energy companies

D．keep the roof unchanged for within 25 years

For whom the text most probably written?

A．Lodgers.	B．Advertisers.
C．House owners.	D．Online companies

Three-quarters of a million tourists flock to the white beaches every year，but this booming industry has come at a price．Poisonous smoke rising from open fires，rubbish made up of plastic bottles，packets…it’s a far cry from the white sands，clear waters and palm trees that we associate with the Maldives(马尔代夫)，the paradise island holiday destination set in the Indian Ocean．
Of its 200 inhabited islands，which are spread across an area of 35，000 square miles，99 are good resorts(旅游胜地)．So many tourists come every year，more than double the local population．Of these，over l 00，000 travel from the U K．The capital，Malé，is four times more densely populated than London．Given these facts，it’s hardly surprising that the Maldives has a waste disposal problem．
Years ago，when the tourists left，the government had to deal with a stream of rubbish．Their solution was to turn one of the islands into a dumping ground．Four miles west of Malé is the country’s dumping ground，Thilafushi．What you are seeing here is a view of the Maldives on which no honeymooners will ever clap eyes．Each visitor produces 3.5 kg of waste per day．The country dumps more than 330 tons of rubbish on the island every day．
Now，since many waste boats，fed up with waiting seven hours or more，directly offload their goods into the sea，the government of the Maldives has banned the dumping of waste on the island．So，the waste boats ship the rubbish to India instead．
The underlined part can probably be replaced by ___________.

A．it’s quite similar to	B．it’s a long distance from
C．it’s a loud shout from	D．it’s totally different from

What can we learn from the text?

A．It is much more crowded in Malé than in London.

B．Another island will be used as a dumpling ground.

C．No honeymooners are willing to visit the Maldives.

D．Waste on islands will be offloaded directly into the sea.

What’s the author’s purpose in writing the text?

A．To attract more tourists to the Maldives.

B．To state the waste disposal problem in the Maldives.

C．To call on us to protect the environment.

D．To explain the causes of pollution in the Maldives.

Well, parents, surprise! Lots of us are using Twitter and Facebook to find rides, and not just to school. It’s awkward to be refused when you call a friend and ask for a ride. But with Twitter, you just tweet (贴子,留言) and look for other people heading the same way.
It may sound risky, but many teens stay within their own social circles to find rides, and don’t branch out beyond friends when asking on Twitter just like me, but to some young people, especially those taking longer trips, stranger danger is less of a concern.
“I think the digital connection of young people is really key, because younger generations grew up sharing things online, sharing files, photos, music, etc, so they have been very used to sharing,” said Juliet Schor, a sociology professor at Boston College.
The sharing economy got big during the recession（经济衰退）, allowing people to access more goods and services using technology and even to share cost. And that technology, for me, is what the car was for my mom, a gateway to more freedom.
According to the researchers at the University of Michigan, 30 years ago, eight in ten American 18-year-olds had a driver’s license compared to six in ten today. So it’s not that surprising that on my 16th birthday I wasn’t rushing to get a license but an iPhone.
“Driving, for young people, does mean they have to disconnect from their technology, and that’s a negative. So if they could sit in the passenger side and still be connected, that’s going to be a plus,” Schor continued.
To me, another plus is that ridesharing represents something, something much bigger than trying to save money. I see it as evidence that people still depend on each other. My generation shares their cars and apartments the way neighbors used to share cups of sugar. For the system to work, some of us still need our own cars. But until I get my own version of the silver Super Beetle, you can find me on Twitter.
The American teens like me, prefer to possess an iPhone as a birthday gift because ______.

A．it is most fashionable and cool

B．they are bored with driving cars

C．they are fond of being connected

D．it is much cheaper than a car

Professor Juliet would agree that _______.

A．young people will sit waiting to be contacted by reading a passage

B．sharing economy is bound to be responsible for the recession

C．young people tend to share a car with strangers by means of Twitter

D．being connected via technology comes first for young people

The best title for the passage is probably _______.

A．Twitter, an Awesome Website

B．Cars or iPhone

C．Teens Use Twitter to Thumb Rides

D．Cool Teens on the Go

An African-born British scientist received an environment research prize for showing how bees can be used to reduce conflict between people and elephants. Lucy King's work proved that beehive (蜂房）"fences" can keep elephants out of African farmers’ fields. The animals are scared of bees, which can bite them inside their long noses, and flee when they hear buzzing (蜂鸣声).
Dr King's work offers an intelligent solution to an age-old challenge, while providing further confirmation of the importance of bees to people and a really clever way of preserving the world's largest land animal for current and future generations. Working in Kenya, Dr King and her team showed that more than 90% of elephants will flee when they hear the sounds of buzzing bees. Afterwards, they also found that elephants produce a special sound to warn their fellows of the danger. They used the findings to construct barriers where beehives are woven into a fence, keeping the elephants away from places where people live and grow food.
A two-year project involving 34 farms showed that elephants trying to go through the fences would shake them, disturbing the bees. Later, the fences were adopted by farming communities in three Kenyan districts , who also made increased amounts of money from selling honey.
As Africa's population grows, competition for space between people and elephants is becoming more serious, and there are fatalities on both sides. The same is true in parts of Asia. Sri Lanka alone sees the deaths of an estimated 60 people and 200 elephants each year from conflict.
Lucy King now wants to see whether the Kenyan technique will work in other parts of Africa and perhaps, eventually, in Asia.
Dr King's solution is described as “intelligent” because_____________.

A．it successfully keeps elephants out of African farmers' fields

B．the fences were adopted by farming communities in three Kenyan districts

C．more than 90％ of elephants flee when they hear the sounds of buzzing bees

D．it protects crops, produces honey and preserves the elephant at the same time

Which of the following orders of events correctly shows how Dr King’s project works?
①Beehive fences are built around a farm.
②Elephants hear the buzzing and run away.
③Bees are disturbed and fly out of the beehives.
④Elephants trying to enter the farm shake the fences.

A．①→②→③→④	B．①→④→③→②
C．④→③→②→①	D．①→②→④→③

The underlined word “fatalities” in Paragraph 4 is closest in meaning to__________.

A．deaths	B．communities
C．population	D．fences

“Mum, what does it mean when someone tells you that they have a skeleton（骨骼）in the closet（衣橱）?” Jessica asked. “A skeleton in the closet?” her mother paused thoughtfully. “Well, it’s something that you would rather not have anyone else know about. For example, if in the past, someone in Dad’s family had been arrested for stealing a horse, it would be ‘a skeleton in his family’s closet’. He really wouldn’t want any neighbor to know about it.”
“Why pick on my family?” Jessica’s father said with anger. “Your family history isn’t so good, you know. Wasn’t your great-great-grandfather a prisoner who was transported to Australia for his crimes?” “Yes, but people these days say that you are not a real Australian unless your ancestors arrived as prisoners.” “Gosh, sorry I asked. I think I understand now,” Jessica cut in before things grew worse.
After dinner, the house was very quiet. Jessica’s parents were still quite angry with each other. Her mother was ironing clothes and every now and then she glared at her husband, who hid behind his newspaper pretending to read. When she finished, she gathered the freshly pressed clothes in her arms and walked to Jessica’s closet. Just as she opened the door and reached in to hang a skirt, a bony arm stuck out from the dark depths and a bundle of white bones fell to the floor. Jessica’s mother sank in a faint（晕倒）, waking only when Jessica put a cold, wet cloth on her forehead. She looked up to see the worried faces of her husband and daughter.
“What happened? Where am I?” she asked. “You just destroyed the school’s skeleton, Mum,” explained Jessica. “I brought it home to help me with my health project. I meant to tell you, but it seemed that as soon as I mentioned skeletons and closets, it caused a problem between you and Dad.” Jessica looked in amazement as her parents began to laugh madly. “They’re both crazy,” she thought.
According to Jessica’s mother, “a skeleton in the closet” means ______.

A．a family honor	B．a family story
C．a family secret	D．a family treasure

What can we learn about some Australians’ ancestors from Paragraph 2?

A．They were brought to Australia as prisoners.

B．They were the earliest people living in Australia.

C．They were involved in some crimes in Australia.

D．They were not regarded as criminals in their days.

Jessica’s parents laughed madly at the end of the story probably because ______.

A．they were crazy

B．they were over excited

C．they realized their misunderstanding

D．they both thought they had won the quarrel