Besides containing attractive flowers, trees and other plants that beautify the community, ecofriendly rain gardens are healthy for the environment and the people living and working nearby.
A rain garden is not very different from a traditional garden. It is just a far more ecofriendly garden. Usually it is built lower than the ground. Rain gardens make smart use of rain and storm water by temporarily holding water from rain and storms and letting it soak(浸入)slowly into the ground before it runs into streams or enters the public drinking water supply.
Thus, a rain garden keeps the water, allowing it to be used as needed by plants in the rain garden, rather than flowing immediately into nearby streams and going unused. The water will soak slowly into the ground within a day or two. This creates an advantage that the rain garden does not allow mosquitoes to breed. This is a simple, attractive, and ecofriendly “green” way to treat storm water.
What’s more, planting a rain garden helps reduce pollution and improve the environment. Without using expensive machinery and chemicals, rain gardens remove harmful chemicals in the rainwater and cut down on the amount of pollution reaching streams and rivers by up to 30%.
Native plants are recommended for rain gardens because they are more used to the local climate, soil, and water conditions. They may attract local wildlife such as native birds. Water your rain garden immediately after planting and once a week, unless you have had at least an inch of rain during the week. Once native plants establish the necessary root system, they will require little care.
Often, local governments and private businesses develop large rain gardens in their yards and in public parks as a way to improve the environment and solve flooding problems. However, you don’t need to be a professionally environmental engineer to create a rain garden. As long as you’re ecoconscious homeowners, you can help the environment by building smaller rain gardens in your yards.Which of the following is NOT true for the function of rain gardens?
| A．They are good for living conditions. |
| B．They increase pollution. |
| C．They can beautify the community. |
| D．They improve the environment. |
Which of the following is the ecofriendly function of rain gardens discussed in Paragraph 4 ?
| A．They can help reduce the pollution problem. |
| B．They can keep the rain and storm water. |
| C．They can be healthy for the people around. |
| D．They can make the environment more beautiful. |
One of the main reasons why native plants are recommended is that .
| A．they cost less and are much easier to get |
| B．they may attract local wildlife to come |
| C．they require little care from the local gardener |
| D．they are more used to the local growing conditions |
What do we know about rain gardens?
| A．They need little water after all the plants are planted. |
| B．They may attract local birds and change the local climate. |
| C．They usually need at least an inch of rainwater a week. |
| D．They may reduce the water pollution problem by 70%. |
Last December, I performed 30 shows in 11 days. I knew it would be a tiring tour before I set off, but I just wanted to be there to support our men and women.
From the minute I walked onstage the afternoon I arrived at the army, the soldiers were cheering, singing along at the top of their voices. I had done hundreds of concerts, but it was my first time to perform for troops. Looking at the smiling faces of these soldiers --- some of them only teenagers --- I felt great joy moving through me. They were the loveliest fans I had ever met. Then, from out of nowhere, words came into my head. “I want to play you something new … a song just came in my head minutes ago. It’s called Here with Me,” I told them. Cheers rang out. As I sang, I could see the tears in some of soldiers’ eyes. I finished to thunderous applause.
At the autograph(亲笔签名)part afterward, one of the soldiers took out a picture of a high school student. “This is my girl. You know, I miss her so much,” he said. “That new song you sang … it meant so much to me. Those were the words I’ve always wanted to tell her.
I realized that the song wasn’t about me and that it was, in fact, a gift for these men and women. I played it in every concert after that, always with the same unbelievable reaction.
On the long plane ride home I kept thinking about the soldiers I’d met. They risked their lives every day to defend our country, yet they were grateful for a simple concert. I decided to record the new song to thank our men and women in uniform(制服).Which of the following words can best take the place of the word “troops” in the second paragraph?
| A．officials | B．teenagers | C．soldiers | D．students |
When the author performed on the stage, he felt _____.
| A．pleased | B．nervous | C．confident | D．worried |
What might be the topic of the new song?
| A．The tiring army life |
| B．The danger of being a soldier |
| C．The excitement of going to a concert |
| D．The family one misses |
From the text, we can infer that the author _____.
| A．served in the army before |
| B．received many gifts during shows |
| C．was impressed by the soldiers |
| D．always cared for the soldiers |
The passage is most probably written by a(n) _____.
| A．dancer | B．teacher | C．singer | D．official leader |
Maybe you are an average(一般的) student. You probably think you will never be a top student. However, anyone can become better if he or she does his or her best. Here are some tips to help you.
★ Plan your time carefully. You should plan your time for things such as eating, sleeping and dressing. Then make a good, regular time for studying. But don’t forget to set enough time for entertainment.
★ Keep your study quiet and clean. The study should have a desk, a chair and some study materials, but no games, no radio and no television! When you sit down to study, you can put your heart into it. Make good use of your time.
★ Listen to everything that the teacher says. Listening carefully in class means less work later. Taking notes will help you remember what the teacher says.
★ After you get home from school, go over your notes. Review the important points. If you know what your teacher is going to discuss next day, read the material. It will help you study better.
★ Develop a good attitude to tests. The purpose of a test is to show what you have learned about a subject. It helps you know what you are not good at. The world will still go on even if you fail in a test, so don’t be too worried.How many tips are mentioned in the passage?
| A．Three. | B．Four. | C．Five. | D．Six. |
What does the underlined word “study” mean in Chinese?
| A．学习 | B．研究 | C．书房 | D．教室 |
Which is a good place for studying?
| A．A clean and beautiful place. |
| B．The place with a computer. |
| C．The place with a television and a radio. |
| D．A quiet place with a chair, a desk and some study materials. |
Which of the following is NOT true?
| A．The purpose of a test is to show what you are good at. |
| B．After class, you should review what you have learned. |
| C．You should listen to your teacher and take notes carefully in class. |
| D．When you plan your time, you should think of the time for eating, sleeping and so on. |
What’s the passage mainly about?
| A．How to become a better student. | B．How to plan your time. |
| C．How to study English. | D．How to take notes. |
In western countries, especially in America, some social customs have lasted still today. For example, ladies first, that is to say, women in those countries are respected(尊重) in many ways.
In the U.S. and Europe, you will see men usually open doors for women and women generally walk ahead of men into a room or a restaurant unless the man have to be ahead of the ladies to choose the table, to open the door of a car or to give other services. On the street, men almost walk or across the street on the side of the ladies which is closer to traffic, but if a man walks with two ladies, he should walk between them.In this passage， “customs” especially refers to _______.
| A．what a group of people usually do |
| B．what people in western countries do |
| C．what people in eastern countries do |
| D．what people in united states do |
When you introduce a group of people in English, you will probably begin with _____.
| A．Men and women | B．Women and men |
| C．Gentlemen and ladies | D．Ladies and gentlemen |
In which country people may think it strange that men should open doors for women?
| A．England | B．Italy | C．Japan | D．Germany |
Which of the following statements is not true?
| A．In Europe, a man generally follows a woman when they enter a restaurant together. |
| B．In America a man who walks ahead of a women always gives services. |
| C．In the U.S, women almost always walk closer to the running cars. |
| D．In the U.S, men should always walk by the side of the ladies. |
Which of the following statements best expresses the main idea of this passage?
| A．In western countries, some social customs have lasted till today. |
| B．Women in western countries are respected in many ways. |
| C．Men usually open doors for women in the U.S. as well as in Europe. |
| D．Men show respect for women by giving them good services. |
Since people first sent rockets into space in the 1950s, we have been leaving behind all sorts of things. Some of them, like the camera, were lost by astronauts while they did work outside their spaceship. But much of the space junk is made up of little pieces of things that were once bigger objects, until they struck each other and broke apart.
Some things we send into space fall back toward the earth and burn up in the atmosphere. But larger pieces sometimes survive the extreme heat and hit the ground or the ocean at great speeds. So there is always concern that something may fall from the sky and do some harm.
But space junk falling on housetops (屋顶) is not the biggest worry. Scientists are concerned about what happens when an empty rocket strikes another while orbiting (绕轨道飞行) the earth. Two big things become many smaller things. They then hit other things. The pieces get smaller and smaller until they form a cloud of junk that blocks the path of future space vehicles.
So what can be done to clean up the space around our planet? Marco Castronuovo, an Italian researcher, talks about sending a satellite into space that would get very close to some of the larger pieces of space junk. The satellite would connect a small rocket to the useless object. When the rocket explodes, it pushes the junk into a lower and slower orbit, nearer the earth. After a time, the junk burns up in the atmosphere.
Mr. Castronuovo has proposed (提议) using a number of small satellites with robotic arms. One arm would catch the space junk, and another arm would connect the rocket. He imagines that each satellite would jump from one large piece of junk to another. He thinks this method could destroy about ten large objects each year.
Scientists have been concerned about space junk for many years. Right now, the costs of the clean-up have been too great. Mr. Castronuovo says his system could be put in place for a much more reasonable amount of money.Much of the space junk _____.
| A．was thrown by the astronauts |
| B．is from broken spaceship |
| C．is made up of small pieces of things |
| D．returns to the earth piece by piece |
Scientists are most worried that the space junk _____.
| A．will stop the future space vehicles |
| B．will do harm to the atmosphere |
| C．will fall on the housetops |
| D．will burn up in space |
What does Marco Castronuovo think of his system?
| A．It can remove space junk completely. |
| B．It can save a large amount of money. |
| C．It can create a large amount of space. |
| D．It can develop robotic technology. |
It’s a sure sign that summer is over and winter is on the way — leaves that were once deep green turn red, yellow and bright orange. It happens every autumn. But did you ever wonder why?
The leaves start changing color when the nights start getting longer and the temperature starts getting cooler. Some scientists think that as the number of daylight hours shrinks, the leaves stop making chlorophyll which makes plants green. The reason is that the process of making chlorophyll requires sunlight. But according to horticulture (园艺) educator Susan Rose from Colorado State University, it turns out leaves don’t really change color at all. “The fall colors are actually there all along,” she said. “But they are covered by the green chlorophyll. As the chlorophyll stops being produced, the other colors can shine through.”
The kind of color that the leaves are going to change to is determined by the plant’s genetic (基因的) background. In some places, the leaves start changing color in September — before autumn even officially begins. In other places, they don’t change until late October or even November. Some scientists say the leaves have been changing color later than usual in recent years. And they think global warming has something to do with that.
In one study, researchers found that the growing season in the Northern Hemisphere was nearly a week longer, on average, in 2008 than it was in 1982. And a professor from Harvard University found that the leaves, west of Boston, Massachusetts, are changing color about three days later than they used to. However, other scientists disagree with the global warming theory. Susan Rose said the leaves in her part of Colorado are changing “right on schedule.” But the leaves in other parts of that state are running a little late. “The lateness in the mountains may have something to do with the really warm late summer and early fall,” she said. “But I’m afraid that’s just a guess.”According to Susan Rose, _____.
| A．the fall colors are always in leaves |
| B．leaves make chlorophyll all the seasons |
| C．leaves’ changing color have nothing to with the weather |
| D．leaves begin changing color because they start making chlorophyll |
The underlined word “shrinks” in Paragraph 2 could best be replaced by _____.
| A．reduces | B．increases | C．lasts | D．appears |
Scientists guess leaves change color later than usual probably as a result of _____.
| A．genetic background | B．dry weather |
| C．global warming | D．low temperature |
The purpose of the last paragraph is to tell readers _____.
| A．why leaves change color at fall |
| B．leaves change color at different time |
| C．the effects of the global warming on plants |
| D．different opinions on the lateness of leaves’ changing color |