The behaviour of a building’s users may be at least as important as its design when it comes to energy use, according to new research from the UK Energy Research Centre (UKERC). The UK promises to reduce its carbon emissions (排放）by 80 percent by 2050, part of which will be achieved by all new homes being zero-carbon by 2016. But this report shows that sustainable building design on its own — though extremely important- is not enough to achieve such reductions: the behaviour of the people using the building has to change too.
The study suggests that the ways that people use and live in their homes have been largely ignored by existing efforts to improve energy efficiency (效率)，which instead focus on architectural and technological developments.
‘Technology is going to assist but it is not going to do everything,’explains Katy Janda, a UKERC senior researcher，‘consumption patterns of building users can defeat the most careful design. ’In other words，old habits die hard, even in the best-designed eco-home.
Another part of the problem is information. Households and bill-payers don’t have the knowledge they need to change their energy-use habits. Without specific information，it’s hard to estimate the costs and benefits of making different choices. Feedback (反馈） facilities, like smart meters and energy monitors，could help bridge this information gap by helping people see how changing their behaviour directly affects their energy use; some studies have shown that households can achieve up to 15 percent energy savings using smart meters.
Social science research has added a further dimension (方面），suggesting that individuals’behaviour in the home can be personal and cannot be predicted 一 whether people throw open their windows rather than turn down the thermostat (恒温器) , for example.
Janda argues that education is the key. She calls for a focused programme to teach people about buildings and their own behaviour in them.As to energy use, the new research from UKERC stresses the importance of________.
| A． zero-carbon homes | B．the behaviour of building users |
| C． sustainable building design | D．the reduction of carbon emissions |
The underlined word “which” in Paragraph 2 refers to”________.”
| A．the ways | B．their homes |
| C． developments | D．existing efforts |
What are Katy Janda’s words mainly about?
| A． The importance of changing building users, habits. |
| B． The necessity of making a careful building design. |
| C． The variety of consumption patterns of building users. |
| D． The role of technology in improving energy efficiency. |
The information gap in energy use _______.
| A． can be bridged by feedback facilities |
| B． affects the study on energy monitors |
| C． brings about problems for smart meters |
| D． will be caused by building users’ old habits |
What does the dimension added by social science research suggest?
| A． The social science research is to be furthered. |
| B． The education programme is under discussion. |
| C． The behaviour of building users is unpredictable. |
| D． The behaviour preference of building users is similar. |
Seeing a volcano erupt (喷发) is a wonderful experience, and you can really feel the beat by climbing to the summit(山顶) of Pacaya for a close-up view. There are guided tours every day up this highly active volcano from Antigua. Giving travelers a chance to see Mother Nature at her most powerful.
Pacaya is an easy drive from Antigua, a beautiful city with many colorful houses along its old streets that are turned into art-works during its Holy Week festival. No matter when you come to Antigua, you won't miss the Pacaya-tour companies.
But climbing Pacaya is no easy job: it is 2560 metres high, and reaching the summit takes two to three hours of seemingly one-step-forward and two-step-back movements. As you climb, you hear the dull sounds of eruptions high above. Steaming. Hot remains from recent eruptions begin to line the path as you near the active summit; the McKenney Cone(火山锥). Just as though you were going to walk over to the edge of the cone, the road turns to the left and up to the relative safety of the old, inactive summit.
Many tours are timed so that you arrive at the cone of the volcano is plenty of time for sunset and the full contrast between the erupting red lava(熔岩) and the darkening sky. On a good day the view from the summit is extremely exciting. The active mouth boils, sending red lava over its sides, and once in a while shoots hot streams up to 100 metres into the air. There is a strong bad smell in the air even if you take care to be upwind of the cone. As evening turns deeper into the night. the burning lava quietly falls down tae side of the volcano. For you, too, it is time to get down .
| 1． |
What is the main purpose of this passage?
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| 2． |
Antigua is a city.
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| 3． |
Climbing to the McKenney Cone, people will.
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| 4． |
Many tours are timed for people to.
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Being able to multitask-doing several things at the same time-is considered a welcome skill by most people. But if we consider the situation of the young people aged from eight to eighteen, we should think again.
What we often see nowadays is that young people juggle an ever larger number of electronic devices(电子产品)as they study. While working, they also surf on the Internet, send out emails, answer the telephone and listen to music on their iPods. In a sense, they are spending a significant amount of time in fruitless efforts as they multitask.
Multitasking is even changing the relationship between family members. As young people around them. They can no longer greet family members when they enter the house, nor can they cat at the family table.
Multitasking also affects young people's performance at university and in the workplace. When asked about their opinion of the effect of modern gadgets(器具)on their performance of tasks, many young people gave a positive response(反应). However, the response from the worlds of education and business was not quite as positive. Educators feel that multitasking by children has a serious effect on later development of study skills. They believe that many college students now need help to improve their study skills. Similarly, employers feel that young people entering the job market need to be taught all over again, as modern gadgets have made it unnecessary for them to learn special skills to do their work.
| 1． |
What does the underlined word "juggle" in Paragraph 2 most probably mean?
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| 2． |
In Paragraph 3, the author points out that.
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| 3． |
What is the main idea of the last paragraph?
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| 4． |
The author develops the passage mainly by.
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While all my classmates seen to be crazy about a one-way ticket to Mars(火星), I’d rather say Mars is totally unsuitable for human existence. People won’t have enough food supplies there, and the terrible environment would make it impossible for them to live a long life. Besides, the journey won’t be safe. Can anybody explain to me just why people would go to Mars, never to return?
Steve Minear, UK
Here are the things you can think of: the desire to explore a foreign and unique environment, the excitement of being the first humans to open up a new world, the expectation of fame and glory…For scientists there is another reason. Their observations and research will probably lead to great scientific achievements.
Donal Trollop, Canada
There are already too many people on the Earth. I think that sometime before the end of the century, there will be a human colony(殖民地)on Mars. It will happen when people finally realize that tow-way trips to the red planet Mars are unnecessary. Most of the danger of space Flight is in the launches(发射) and landings. Cutting the trip home would therefore reduce the danger of accidents, save a lot of money, and open the way to building an everlasting human settlement on another world.
Enough supplies can be sent on ahead. And every two years more supplies and more people will needs, and Mars is far more pleasant than the other planets in the outer space.
Paul Davies. USA The main purpose of Steve Minear’s writing is .
| A．to report his classmates’ discussion | B．to invite an answer to his question |
| C．to explain the natural state of Mars | D．to show his agreement on going to Mars |
Which of the following best states Donal Trollop’s idea?
| A．There is a plan to send humans to Mars. |
| B．There are many reasons for going to Mars. |
| C．Scientists become famous by doing research on Mars. |
| D．It is possible to build an Earth-like environment on Mars. |
Paul Davies points out that .
| A．humans need only a one-way ticket to Mars. |
| B．two-way trips to Mars will be made safe soon |
| C．it is easy to reduce the danger and cost of flights to Mars |
| D．it is cheap to build an everlasting human settlement on Mars |
What does Paul Davies think of human existence on Mars?
| A．Humans will have to bring all they need from the Earth. |
| B．Humans will find Mars totally unsuitable for living. |
| C．Humans can produce everything they need. |
| D．Humans can live longer in the colony on Mars |
I arrived at my mother’s home for our Monday family dinner. The smells of food flew over from the kitchen. Mother was pulling out quilt(被子)after quilt from the boxes, proudly showing me their beauties. She was preparing for a quilt show at the Elmhurst Church. When we began to fold and put them back into the boxes, I noticed something at the bottom of one box. I pulled it out. “What is this?” I asked.
“Oh?” Mom said, “That’s Mama’s quilt.”
I spread the quilt. It looked at if a group of school children had pieced it together; irregular designs, childish pictures, a crooked line on the right.
“Grandmother made this?” I said, surprised. My grandmother was a master at making quilts. This certainly didn’t look like any of the quilts she had made.
“Yes, right before she died. I brought it home with me last year and made some changes,” she said. “I’m still working on it. See, this is what I’ve done so far.”
I looked at it more closely. She had made straight a crooked line. At the center of the quilt, she had stitched(缝) a piece of cloth with these words: “My mother made many quilts. She didn’t get all lines straight. But I think this is beautiful. I want to see it finished. Her last quilt.”
“Ooh, this is so nice, Mom,” I said. It occurred to me that by completing my grandmother’s quilt, my mother was honoring her own mother. I realized, too, that I held in my hands a family treasure. It started with the loving hands of one woman, and continued with the loving hands of another.Why did the author go to mother’s home?
| A．To see her mother’s quilts. | B．To help prepare for a show. |
| C．To get together for the family dinner. | D．To discuss her grandmother’s life. |
The author was surprised because .
| A．the quilt looked very strange. | B．her grandmother liked the quilt. |
| C．the quilt was the best she had seen. | D．her mother had made some changes |
The underlined wood “crooked” in the passage most probably means .
| A．unfinished | B．broken | C．bent | D．unusual |
Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?
| A．A Quilt Show | B．Mother’s Home | C．A Monday Dinner | D．Grandmother’s Quilt |
阅读理解: 阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项。
Melissa Poe was 9 years old when she began a campaign for a cleaner environment by writing a letter to the then President Bush. Through her own efforts, her letter was reproduced on over 250 donated billboards across the country.
The response to her request for help was so huge that Poe established Kids For A Cleaner Environment (Kids F.A.C.E.) in 1989. There are now 300,000 members of Kids FACE worldwide and is the world's largest youth environmental organization.
Poe has also asked the National Park Service to carry out a "Children's Forest" project in every national park. In 1992, she was invited as one of only six children in the world to speak at the Earth Summit in Brazil as part of the Voices of the Future Program. In 1993, she was given a Caring Award for her efforts by the Caring Institute.
Since the organization started, Kids F.A.C.E. members have distributed and planted over 1 million trees! Ongoing tree-planting projects include Kid's Yards – the creation of backyard wildlife habitats (栖息地) and now Kids F.A.C.E. is involved in the exciting Earth Odyssey, which is a great way to start helping.
"Starting the club turned out to be a way to help people get involved with the environment. Club members started doing things like recycling, picking up litter and planting trees as well as inviting other kids to join their club."
"We try to tell kids that it's not OK to be lazy," she explains. "You need to start being a responsible, environmentally friendly person now, right away, before you become a resource-sucking adult."
1. Kids F.A.C.E is _____.
A. a program to help students with writing
B. a project of litter recycling
C. a campaign launched by President Bush
D. a club of environmental protection
2. What can we learn about Poe?
A. She was awarded a prize in Brazil.
B. She donated billboard across the country.
C. She got positive responses for her efforts
D. She joined the National Park Service.
3. Kid’s Yards is _____.
A. established in a national park.
B. started to protect wildlife
C. a wildlife- raising project
D. an entertainment park for kids.
4. Which of the following can be inferred from the text?
A. Adults are resource-sucking people
B. Poe sought help from a youth organization
C. Kids F.A.C.E members are from the U.S.
D. Kids are urged to save natural resources.