Two things I really believe in—saving money and saving the planet，and it's even better when I can do something that accomplishes both at the same time.
Rainwater harvesting is just such a thing.In the near future，rainwater harvesting will be as common as twelveyearold girls carrying cell phones.
Many countries already rely heavily on rainwater.Bermuda，for example，every building on the small island collects the rainwater from its roof and stores it for later use.However，America_is_just_slightly_behind_the_curve.
There are many ways you can begin harvesting rainwater and most of them are easy and inexpensive.Use rain barrels to collect the water that would run off of your roof.You'd be surprised how fast a fiftygallon barrel will fill with free，usable water.New building construction offers some good ways to gather rainwater，and the cost of installation is usually offset by reduced usage very quickly.Roof drains can be piped into underground tanks，where a pump can draw it up as needed.
The rainwater can even be treated to make it drinkable...but wait—there's more！If that rainwater were not collected，but allowed to run over your lawn，into the street and eventually to a stormwater treatment facility，it would pick up all sorts of pollutants on its journey—fertilizers and pesticides from the grass，motor oil，antifreeze and such from the roads，and who knows what else.
Depending on where you live，the stormwater may be piped to a treatment plant or it may run in natural channels to allow nature to remove the pollutants.Either way，the treatment of stormwater is costly.If you reduce the amount of stormwater runoff from your home or office，you reduce the need for treatment.
Water is rapidly becoming one of our most precious resources and it is not as abundant as you may think.In the year 2000，the United States used approximately 326 billion gallons of fresh water per day.What does the underlined sentence “America is just slightly behind the curve” mean?
| A．Americans don't show interest in harvesting rainwater. |
| B．There is no need for Americans to harvest rainwater. |
| C．Harvesting rainwater in America is not that common. |
| D．Americans can't collect rainwater from the roof correctly. |
According to the passage，harvesting rainwater can ________.
| A．benefit you economically and ecologically |
| B．benefit your health and the surroundings around |
| C．promote the development of economy and peace |
| D．make us live a better life in the near future |
What is the fourth paragraph mainly concerned with?
| A．How to take advantage of the rainwater. |
| B．How to fix the equipment under the ground. |
| C．How to reduce the cost of new equipment. |
| D．How to harvest rainwater effectively. |
It can be inferred from the passage that ________.
| A．it is not easy to make rainwater drinkable |
| B．the author calls on people to harvest rainwater |
| C．the stormwater cannot be made drinkable |
| D．people can treat the stormwater very easily |
There are two types of people in the world. Although they have equal degree of health and wealth and other comforts of life, one becomes happy, the other becomes unhappy. This arises from the different ways in which they consider things, persons, events and the resulting effects upon their minds.
People who are to be happy fix their attention on the convenience of things. The pleasant parts of conversation, the well prepared dishes, the goodness of the wine, the fine weather. They enjoy all the cheerful things. Those who are to be unhappy think and speak only of the opposite things. Therefore, they are continually dissatisfied. By their remarks, they sour the pleasure of society, offend(or hurt) many people, and make themselves disagreeable everywhere. If this turn of mind was founded in nature, such unhappy persons would be the more to be pitied. The intention of criticizing and being disliked is perhaps taken up by imitation. It grows into a habit, unknown to its possessors. The habit may be strong, but it may be cured when those who have it realize its bad effects on their interests and tastes. I hope this little warning may be of service to them, and help them change this habit.
Although in fact it is chiefly an act of the imagination, it has serious results in life since it brings on deep sorrow and bad luck. Those people offend many others; nobody loves them, and no one treats them with more than the most common politeness and respect. This frequently puts them in bad temper and draws them into arguments. If they aim at getting some advantages in social position or fortune, nobody wishes them success. Nor will anyone start a step or speak a word to favor their hopes. If they bring on themselves public objections, no one will defend or excuse them, and many will join to criticize their wrongdoings. These should change this bad habit and be pleased with what is pleasing, without worrying needlessly about themselves and others. If they do not, it will be good for others to avoid any contact with them. Otherwise, it can be disagreeable and sometimes very inconvenient, especially when one becomes mixed up in their quarrels.The phrase“sour the pleasure of society” most nearly means__________.
| A．have a good taste with social life | B．make others unhappy |
| C．tend to scold others openly | D．enjoy the pleasure of life |
We can conclude from the passage that__________.
| A．people can get rid of the habit of unhappiness |
| B．such unhappy people are dangerous to social life |
| C．we should pity all such unhappy people |
| D．unhappy people can not understand happy persons |
If such unhappy persons insist on keeping the habit, the author suggests that people should ______.
| A．prevent any communication with them |
| B．show no respect and politeness to them |
| C．persuade them to recognize the bad effects |
| D．quarrel with them until they realize the mistakes |
In this passage, the writer mainly________.
| A．describes two types of people | B．laughs at the unhappy people |
| C．suggests ways to help them unhappy | D．tells people how to be happy in life |
The Taj Mahal (泰姬陵) is considered to be one of the most beautiful buildings in the world and the finest example of the late style of Indian architecture (建筑). It is at Agra in northern India. It lies beside the River Jumna in the middle of gardens with quiet pools.
The Taj Mahal was built by the Mogul emperor (皇帝) Shah Jehan, who ruled India in the seventeenth century. It is in memory of his favorite wife, Arjumand Banu Bagam, known as Mumtaz Mahal, who died in 1631. The building, which was completed between 1632 and 1638, was designed by a local Muslim architect (建筑师), Ustad Ahmad Lahori. The whole building, with gardens and gateway structures, was completed in 1643. The Taj Mahal stands at one end of the garden tomb with marble (大理石) path. The room is softly lighted by the light that passes through double screens of carved marble set high in the walls. The building now is kept in good condition.
The Taj Mahal took 22 years to build. Shah Jehan planned a similar building, but in black instead of white, to lie on the other side of the river. But before it could be built, Shah Jehan was imprisoned (监禁) by his son and buried next to his wife in the Taj Mahal.The Taj Mahal was built for____ .
| A．Mumtaz | B．Shah | C．Either Mumtaz or Shah | D．Both Mumtaz and Shah |
Why do you think Shah Jehan was buried next to his wife?
| A．His own tomb hadn’t been built. | B．He hoped to be buried there. |
| C．King and Queen should be buried together | D．He liked Mumtaz all his life. |
The passage mainly tells us____ .
| A．why the Taj Mahal was built |
| B．the love story between Shah and Mumtaz |
| C．some information about the Taj Mahal |
| D．the Taj Mahal—the pride of Indians |
Form the passage we can learn that____ .
| A．the Taj Mahal looks more beautiful than before . |
| B．the Taj Mahal doesn’t exist now. |
| C．the Taj Mahal has completely changed. |
| D．the Taj Mahal has become a place of interest. |
I am a writer. I spend a great deal of my time thinking about the power of language — the way it can evoke（唤起） an emotion, a visual image, a complex idea, or a simple truth. Language is the tool of my trade. And I use them all—all the Englishes I grew up with.
Born into a Chinese family that had recently arrived in California, I’ve been giving more thought to the kind of English my mother speaks. Like others, I have described it to people as “broken” English. But feel embarrassed to say that. It has always bothered me that I can think of no way to describe it other than “broken”, as if it were damaged and needed to be fixed, as if it lacked a certain wholeness. I’ve heard other terms used, “limited English,” for example. But they seem just as bad, as if everything is limited, including people’s perceptions（认识）of the limited English speaker.
I know this for a fact, because when I was growing up, my mother’s “limited” English limited my perception of her. I was ashamed of her English. I believed that her English reflected the quality of what she had to say. That is, because she expressed them imperfectly her thoughts were imperfect. And I had plenty of evidence to support me: the fact that people in department stores, at banks, and at restaurants did not take her seriously, did not give her good service, pretended not to understand her, or even acted as if they did not hear her.
I started writing fiction in 1985. And for reasons I won’t get into today, I began to write stories using all the Englishes I grew up with: the English she used with me, which for lack of a better term might be described as “broken”, and what I imagine to be her translation of her Chinese, her internal（内在的）language, and for that I sought to preserve the essence, but neither an English nor a Chinese structure: I wanted to catch what language ability tests can never show; her intention, her feelings, the rhythms of her speech and the nature of her thoughts. By saying “Language is the tool of my trade”, the author means that ______.
| A．she uses English in foreign trade |
| B．she is fascinated by languages |
| C．she works as a translator |
| D．she is a writer by profession |
The author used to think of her mother’s English as ______.
| A．impolite | B．amusing | C．imperfect | D．practical |
Which of the following is TRUE according to Paragraph 3?
| A．Americans do not understand broken English. |
| B．The author’s mother was not respected sometimes. |
| C．The author’ mother had positive influence on her. |
| D．Broken English always reflects imperfect thoughts. |
The author gradually realizes her mother’s English is ______.
| A．well structured | B．in the old style |
| C．easy to translate | D．rich in meaning |
What is the passage mainly about?
| A．The changes of the author’s attitude to her mother’s English. |
| B．The limitation of the author’s perception of her mother. |
| C．The author’s misunderstanding of “limited” English. |
| D．The author’s experiences of using broken English. |
The US government has started a website, Admongo, to help children think critically about the advertising aimed at them. It claims to provide visitors with an “aducation” through games and other entertainment. 
A cartoon man dressed in old time pilot clothing greets visitors to Admongo. "Call me Haiz", he says upon arrival in a rocket ship that opens up with a crazy world inside it. Spacey dance music plays in the background as Haiz tells visitors that they need to learn about advertising.
Its inventors say eight to twelve years old is the age kids develop their critical thinking abilities. Kids that age are also a big market for advertisers.
The idea behind Admongo is to teach children three things: To identify the advertiser. To know what the advertiser is really saying. And to know what the advertisement is trying to get the child to do.
Children learn these things through a video game. They create their own game character. They can choose different skin colors, hair styles, eye and mouth shapes. Then they begin a trip through ad-land, where there are ads on buses and billboards. The players have to find all the marketing in the neighborhood before they can move on to the next level.
The Admongo game takes players inside a home, to the advertising studio and everywhere else ads can be found. It is a complete exploration of the world of marketing.
One such area is food marketing. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) says it is a big business. The FTC estimates that food, drink and fast-food restaurants spent more than one and a half billion dollars on advertising to young people in 2009.
The FTC says children are important for three reasons. They buy products. They influence parents and caregivers to buy. And they are the future adult buyers of the products.
A recent study says most advertising aimed at children is for foods of the lowest nutritional value. First Lady Michelle Obama has said she would like to see advertisers marketing healthy foods for children.What is the best title of the text?
| A．A website aimed at children’s food | B．The cartoon guide named “Haiz” |
| C．An “aducation” website for children | D．A popular online video game |
Why did the government start the website?
| A．To advertise the video game for children. |
| B．To help children know about advertising. |
| C．To attract the biggest market of buyers. |
| D．To sell the products of its company. |
What can players do in the website game?
| A．Play video games during the trip. | B．Travel to a supermarket. |
| C．Eat in a fast-food restaurant. | D．Choose appearance for their character. |
Children are important for advertising because they are ______.
| A．important for the society | B．the most potential buyers |
| C．easily influenced by ads | D．easily affected by poor products |
According to Michelle Obama, lots of foods advertised for children are ________.
| A．of low quality | B．yummy | C．of high nutrition | D．healthy |
However important we may regard school life to be, there is always the fact that children spend more time at home than in the classroom. Therefore, the teacher should realize that parents have a great influence on their children. Parents can become strong allies (助手) of the school or they can get in the way of the school education.
Experts have realized the need to keep parents informed of the newer methods used in schools. Many headmasters have conducted workshops explaining such matters as the reading readiness, program writing and mathematics to parents.
Moreover, the classroom teacher, with the permission of the supervisors(管理者), can also play an important part in giving more knowledge to reporting pupils progress, teachers can help parents a lot in educating their children and parents can give much help to teachers.
Suppose that a father has been drilling Junior arithmetic lessons night after night. In a friendly talk between the teacher and the father, the teacher can help the parent to make Junior interested in it. He might be persuaded to let Junior join in discussing the family budget, buying the food, using a ruler or measuring cup at home, setting the clock, calculating the distance of a trip and engaging in scores of other activities that have a mathematical basis.
If the father follows the advice, it is reasonable to say that he will soon realize that his son is making satisfactory progress in mathematics, and at the same time, enjoying the work.
Too often, however, teachers’ talks with parents are devoted to small accounts of children’s misdemeanors(不良行为). They talk about the laziness and poor work habits of the children.
What is needed is a more creative way in which the teacher, as an adviser, plants ideas in parents’ minds to make sure that the child spends the many hours out of the classroom learning something useful.
In this way the school and the home join forces in educating children.The main idea of the passage is that ____.
| A．home training is more important than school training |
| B．parents should help their children to do their homework |
| C．there’re many ways in which the mathematics program can be carried out at home |
| D．teachers can and should help parents to use better ways to teach their children |
From this passage we can know that the writer ____.
| A．is satisfied with the relationship between school and home |
| B．feels that parent-teacher talks can be made much more constructive |
| C．believes that schools can’t teach pupils well |
| D．calls on parents to teach their children mathematics at home |
What way that the writer doesn’t talk about can improve the present situation?
| A．Classes for parents. | B．New type of report card. |
| C．Parent-teacher talk. | D．Dinner or party. |
The writer implies that ____.
| A．interesting activities can improve one’s achievement |
| B．too many children are lazy and have poor work habits |
| C．teachers should often make home visits to parents |
| D．headmasters do more than teachers in this area |
We can infer from the passage that the writer does not favor ____.
| A．father’s helping his son with his study |
| B．written reports to the parents from the teachers |
| C．talking about children’s shortcomings |
| D．having the parents help their children with their lessons |