In today’s world, almost everyone knows that air pollution and water pollution are harmful to people’s health. However, not all the persons know that noise is also a kind of pollution, and that is harmful to human health, too.
People who work and live under noisy conditions usually become deaf. Today, however, scientists believe that 10 percent of workers in Britain are being deafened by the noise where they work. Many of the workers who print newspapers and books, and who weave（织） cloth become deaf. Quite a few people living near airports also become deaf. Recently it was discovered that many teenagers in America could hear no better than 65-year-old persons, for these young people like to listen to pop music and most of pop music is a kind of noise. Besides, noise produced by jet planes or machines will make people’s life difficult and unpleasant, or even make people ill or even drive them mad.
It is said that a continuous noise of over 85 decibels（分贝） can cause deafness. Now the governments in many countries have made laws to control noise and make it less than 85 decibels.
In China, the government is trying to solve not only air and water pollution problems but also noise pollution problems.The passage is mainly about ______ .
| A．air pollution | B．water pollution | C．noise pollution | D．world pollution |
According to the passage, a continuous noise of _______decibels can make people deaf.
| A．less than 85 | B．less than 65 | C．about 65 | D．more than 85 |
10 percent of the workers in Britain are being deafened because _______ .
| A．they are working in noisy places |
| B．they often listen to pop music |
| C．they live near airports |
| D．they are too busy to listen to others’talk |
The government of China is trying to reduce ______.
| A．only the air pollution |
| B．only the air and water pollution |
| C．only the water pollution |
| D．the air, water and noise pollution |
According to the passage,which of the following statement is TRUE?
| A．People working and living under noisy places usually have good hearing. |
| B．Many teenagers in the US was said to have bad hearing because they enjoy listening to pop music. |
| C．A few people living near airports become deaf. |
| D．Noise coming from jet planes or machines won’t do much harm to people. |
When Charles Stratton was five, he stopped growing. His mother took him to see the famous showman, P. T. Barnum. Mr. Barnum thought a small person would be the perfect addition to his show. He hired Charles' parents along with him, and they traveled the world together.
He gave the two-foot-tall Charles a name, General Tom Thumb. He taught Tom how to sing, dance, act and tell jokes. When he felt Tom was ready to perform on stage, he made up ads. To stir up great interest, he said that Tom was eleven years old and had come from England.
During the show, Tom fought battles pretendedly with tall people. He also danced upon a wooden plate held by a person who was eight feet tall. Tom's act was very popular and brought in a lot of money. By the time Tom was an adult, he had grown very rich. He had become a billionaire at the age of twenty five.
Fortunately for Tom, Mr. Barnum added more little people to his show, and Tom became lucky in love as well. One of the little people was Lavinia Warren, a schoolteacher. Tom was able to win her love, and they married.
The ceremony and reception were the talk of the town. They were attended by many rich and famous people and by about 2000 guests. Crowds filled the streets of New York to have a look at their tiny wedding marriage. The couple even met with President Abraham Lincoln on their honeymoon just before going to live in Tom's house in Connecticut.
Their wedding, which took place during the Civil War, provided a welcome escape from the sad problems of war. Not willing to let this bit of sunshine fade, communities throughout the country sponsored(发起) "Tom Thumb" weddings. In these weddings, small boys and girls, all dressed up, went through marriage ceremony for fun.The underlined words "Talk of the town" means________.
| A．it was in the newspaper |
| B．it was the most popular topic |
| C．people spread bad rumors about it |
| D．it was discussed in a city meeting |
What does the author think about Tom's wedding?
| A．Tom and Lavinia were stupid. |
| B．People gave it too much of their attention. |
| C．It was funny and ridiculous. |
| D．It helped people cheer up in a dark time. |
What is the main idea of the last paragraph?
| A．Weddings always make people feel full of sunshine. |
| B．People are always disappointed during war time. |
| C．Entertainment can serve an important purpose. |
| D．People should be married when they are small children. |
Like most people, I was brought up to look upon life as a process of getting. It was not until in my late thirties that I made this important discovery: giving-away makes life so much more exciting. You need not worry if you lack money.
This is how I experimented with giving-away. If an idea for improving the window display of a neighborhood store flashes to me, I step in and make the suggestion to the storekeeper. One discovery I made about giving-away is that it is almost impossible to give away anything in this world without getting something back, though the return often comes in all unexpected form.
One Sunday morning, the local post office delivered an important special delivery letter to my home, though it was addressed to me at my office. I wrote the postmaster a note of appreciation. More than a year later I needed a post-office box for a new business I was starting. I was told at the window that there were no boxes left, and that my name would have to go on a long waiting list. As I was about to leave, the postmaster appeared in the doorway. He had overheard(无意中听到)our conversation. "Wasn’t it you that wrote us that letter a year ago about delivering a special delivery to your home?" I said yes. "Well, you certainly are going to have a box in this post office if we have to make one for you. You don’t know what a letter like that means to us. We usually get nothing but complaints."From the passage, we understand that _____.
| A．the author did not understand the importance of giving until he was in late thirties |
| B．the author was like most people who were mostly receivers rather than givers |
| C．the author received the same education as most people during his childhood |
| D．the author liked most people as they looked upon life as a process of getting |
According to the author, _____.
| A．giving means you will lack money |
| B．the excitement of giving can bring you money |
| C．you don’t have to be rich in order to give |
| D．when you give away money, you will be rich |
The author would make the suggestion to the storekeeper _____.
| A．in writing | B．in person |
| C．in the window display | D．about the neighborhood |
When the author needed a post-office box, _____.
| A．he had put his name on a waiting list |
| B．he wrote the postmaster a note of appreciation |
| C．many people had applied for post-office boxes before him |
| D．he asked the postmaster to make one for him |
What would Barbie look like if she were average?
According to US artist Nickolay Lamm, she would be a brunette with a rounded face and a much thicker waist．
Frustrated with the unrealistic beauty standards of Barbie and her friends, Lamm took data from Disease Control and Prevention about an average 19-year-old American woman, who is about 163 cm tall, with a 84-cm waist． With those measurements, Lamm created a doll．
The doll-s tagline （口号）is “Average is beautiful．”
“I think a realistic-size doll is important because when I look at current dolls on the market, they all look like supermodels," the artist told APF． “I just had the impression that the wall of supermodels suggests that something is wrong with you if you don-t look like one． So I created an alternative to suggest that it’s OK to look like a normal person．"
The Lammily dolls, which are 27 cm tall, have been on sale since last month．
Lammily also has other features． Unlike Barbie and her friends, whose pointed legs would force her to walk on all fours if she were real, Lammily has articulated（枢接的） joints – able to walk, run, and play． The doll can even be put in a yoga position．
What’s more, the Lammily dolls include a sticker package that can help to add real-life marks to the dolls, including freckles, acne, moles, and tattoos．
“You can also add minor cuts and bruises, like ones you'd get from falling down while snowboarding," Lamm told NBC．
“I feel that, right now． dolls are very perfect looking, when, in real life, few of us have perfect skin," Lamm told The Huffington Post． “Things like pimples are a natural part of who we are． So, why not give dolls a real treatment?"
As The Huffington． Post said, "Getting kids used to the idea that these things are completely normal and not 6flaws'（缺陷） to be ashamed of can only be a good thing．"Why did Nickolay Lamm make the Lammily doll? （No more than 14 words） （2 marks）
How is the Lammily doll different from Barbie dolls? （No more than 13 words） （3 marks）
What does Lamm mean when he says, "why not give dolls a real treatment?" in the second-to-last paragraph? （No more than 1 words） （3 marks）
What is the author-s attitude toward Lammily dolls? （No more than 6 words） （2 marks）
Six seconds after its launch in Virginia, US, an unmanned rocket bound for the International Space Station （ISS） exploded, disappointing people both on Earth and in space．
Hundreds of millions of dollars worth of cargo was destroyed in the Oct． 28 explosion due to An“equipment failure”, said Orbital Sciences, the company hired by NASA for the resupply mission．
The rocket was carrying a cargo ship loaded with 2,200 kilograms of supplies such as food, tools, parts, and experiments． Roughly a third of the cargo was a series of scientific investigations． Some of them were from high school students in the US． For example, 10 students from the Cristo Rey Jesuit College Preparatory School of Houston were conducting experiments about microgravity and put their samples on the rocket． “I know that failure is a part of science, but I really feel sorry for my students," science teacher Greg Adragna told the Houston, Chronicle ．
Astronauts at the ISS felt a more urgent disappointment, however． The cargo included 617kg of food． Now they will have to rely on supplies from a Russian launch on Oct． 29．
Launched in 1998 and involving the US, Russia, Canada, Japan, and the member countries of the European Space Agency, the ISS is one of the most ambitious international collaborations in history． Currently, there are six astronauts at the station, five male and one female． Three are from Russia, two are from the US, and one is from Germany． They have lived together for about six months． The station gets regular resupplies from Earth, using unmanned spacecrafts． Food is always a big part of the supplies． Most of the food is frozen and ready to eat, and often tastes bad-somewhat like trying to eat when you have a heavy cold．
To make space life better, however, scientists have made breakthroughs． Earlier this year, Russian astronauts managed to grow a variety of crops aboard the station． Next year they are going to try to grow rice and other plants． And, as transporting water to space is expensive, astronauts are looking for ways to recycle water． "Astronauts on board the ISS already drink water distilled from sweat and urine<尿） ," Russian news agency RIA Novosti reported．
Is that the reason the astronauts were so disappointed not to get the water from the failed resupply mission, by any chance? What is the author-s main purpose in writing the article?
| A．To explain what caused the explosion of NASA-s unmanned rocket． |
| B．To inform us of the explosion of NASA-s unmanned rocket and its effects． |
| C．To tell us about astronauts lives at the International Space Station． |
| D．To tell us how the world reacted to the explosion of NASA-s unmanned rocket． |
The underlined word “cargo” in the second paragraph is closet in meaning to
| A．goods | B．equipment |
| C．food supply | D．investigation |
How did teacher Greg Adragna feel about the explosion of the rocket?
| A．Angry． | B．Anxious． |
| C．Frustrated． | D．Unconcerned． |
We can conclude from the article that the situation seemedfor astronauts on board the ISS when the rocket exploded．
| A．hopeless | B．interesting |
| C．depressing | D．dangerous |
Which of the following statements is TRUE about the ISS, according to the article?
| A．Half of the astronauts at the ISS are from the US． |
| B．The ISS was set up by four countries． |
| C．The water that astronauts at the ISS drink is mainly made by recycling． |
| D．Most of the food astronauts eat at the ISS is frozen and tastes bad． |
From our smartphones to our latest weaponry, the technology that underpins（支撑） modern life would be impossible without rare earth metals． The importance of rare earths has only grown as emerging markets increase their demand for technologies made with it, as does the renewable energy industry．
The 17 metallic elements are common in the earth-s crust, but the technique used to extract and refine them is labor-intensive, environmentally hazardous and increasingly costly． Thomas Gradael, a professor of geology and geophysics at the Yale School of Forestry Environmental Studies, explains that the钰criticality" of rare earths was only recently understood after China, which dominates the world-s supply of the minerals, cut exports by 40% in 2010, citing concerns over how polluting the rare earth industry was．
Along with colleagues at Yale, Gradael decided to investigate the metals used in modern technologies to determine if there were viable（可行的） substitutes．“Twenty or thirty years ago electronics were being made with 11 different elements," explains Gradael． “Today's computers and smartphones use something like 63 different elements．" Their findings showed that there were no "readily apparent" substitutes for a metal that would not compromise on quality or performance．
However increased mining for these scarce resources can have some nasty side effects for the environment． China, which has intensively mined for rare earths with little regulation, allowing it to dominate the global industry since 1990, has acknowledged the incredible environmental harm caused by the process． “Excessive rare earth mining has resulted in landslides, clogged rivers, environmental pollution emergencies and even major accidents and disasters, causing great damage to people's safety and health and the ecological environment," read a white paper issued by the Chinese cabinet in June last year．
Recycling metal has been advocated by some as a possible way of managing these precious resources-the European Parliament adopted a law curbing dumping of electric waste in 2012． But Gradael says that for rare earths, recycling will have little impact．Rare earths are growingly important in that
| A．they exist in small numbers |
| B． they are essential in modern technologies |
| C．life would be impossible without them |
| D．new technology markets are emerging |
Which one of the following can be used in the blank?
| A．It is in China that rare earths are fully understood． |
| B．Despite the name, rare earth metals are not in fact rare． |
| C．There is a growing concern over the rare earth industry． |
| D．Rare earth metals are difficult to collect though important． |
Gradael investigated the use of rare earths in modern technologies to．
| A．prove the important role rare earths play |
| B．learn the number of different elements used |
| C．determine whether there are substitutes for rare earths |
| D．research further the quality or performance of rare earths |
Why does the author take China as an example in Para．4?
| A．To tell the wide use of rare earth in China． |
| B．To prove the side effects of rare earth mining． |
| C．To warn people of the possible damage． |
| D．To teach other countries a lesson to follow． |
The text may probably be followed by the paragraphs about
| A．the reasons why recycling works little |
| B．the ways to manage rare earths |
| C．the effects brought about by rare earths |
| D．the attitudes people hold to the law |