The oldest and most common source of renewable energy known to man, biomass（生物质） is one of the most important forms energy production in the United States and elsewhere. Since such a wide variety of biomass materials is everywhere —- from trees and grasses to agricultural and city —- life wastes —-biomass promises to play a continuing role in providing power and heat for millions of people around the world.
According to the Union of Concerned Scientists(UCS), biomass is a kind of renewable energy source that produces no carbon dioxide(二氧化碳), because the energy it contains comes from the sun. When plant matter is burned, it gives off the sun’s energy. In this way, biomass serves as a sort of natural battery(电池) for storing the sun’s energy. As long as biomass is produced continuously —-with only as much grown as is used— the “battery” lasts forever.
According to the Energy Information Administration, biomass has been one of the leading renewable energy sources in the United States for several years running through 2007, making up between 0.5 and 0.9 percent of the nation’s total electricity supply. In 2008—-although the numbers aren’t all in yet—-wind power probably took over first place because of the rapid development of wind farms across the country.
Producing power from biomass helps reduce some 11 million tons of carbon dioxide each year. Some homeowners also try to make their own heat by using biomass materials. Such practice may save homeowner’s money, but it also produces a lot of pollution. So, the best way is to encourage power plants to use it.Why is biomass considered as “ a sort of natural battery”?
| A．It burns merely plant matter. |
| B．It keeps producing electricity. |
| C．It stores the energy from the sun. |
| D．It produces zero carbon dioxide |
We learn from the text that in 2008 ______.
| A．Wind power would be the leader of renewable energy. |
| B．there was a rapid growth of electricity production |
| C．biomass might become the main energy source |
| D．0.5~0.9 of power supply came from biomass |
Why does the author encourage power plants to use biomass?
| A．To prevent the waste of energy. |
| B．To increase production safety. |
| C．To reduce pollution. |
| D．To save money. |
Where does the text probably come from?
| A．A research plan. | B．A science magazine |
| C．A book review. | D．A business report. |
Before you leave for the airport
Ensure that you have your passports (and any necessary visas), tickets and money in your hand luggage.
If packing medicines, ensure that they are in their original packaging as this will avoid delays or prevent them from being taken away at customs.
Do not wrap presents as they may have to be unwrapped by security staff or customs.
The Department of Health has devoted a section of their site to health advice for traveling abroad.
Getting to the airport
Always allow plenty of time to reach the airport. You should arrive there 2 hours before the take-off for international flights and one hour before the take-off for domestic flights.
If you are driving to the airport, ensure that you have booked airport parking in advance.
If you are being driven by a friend who wants to see you off, ensure that he / she knows where the short stay parking is located.
If taking a taxi, ensure that the firm you intend to use has taxis available at the time you wish to travel.
At the airport
Be aware that increased security has considerably lengthened the time it takes to go through check in and security.
Make sure you keep your baggage with you at all times and alert any member of airport staff to any unattended package.
Never look after baggage belonging to other people or carry anything onto the aircraft for someone else.
Keep a close eye on the display boards announcing which gate flights depart from.
In the air
If on a long flight, move your feet around, or get up and walk around regularly if you can.
Avoid dehydration (脱水) by drinking plenty of water or other non-alcoholic drinks.
Don’t eat too heavily before or during a long flight as this will help to avoid indigestion and hypertension (高血压).
To reduce jet lag (时差反应), have some extra sleep before the trip, get some sleep during the flight and try to make mealtimes the same as the time of meals at your destination. Before leaving for the airport, you should NOT ______.
| A．make sure that you have all the necessary things with you |
| B．ensure that any packed medicines are in their original packing |
| C．wrap presents up tightly for the safety |
| D．know some advice for traveling abroad from the website |
You should ensure that you have booked the airport parking in advance if _______.
| A．you are going on an international flights | B．you drive to the airport yourself |
| C．a friend drives you to the airport | D．you take a taxi to the airport |
When waiting for your flight at the airport, you should pay the most attention to _______.
| A．the display boards showing which gate the flight departs from | |
| B．baggage belonging to other people | |
| C．unattended package | D．the time it takes to go through check in and security |
During the flight you should follow the following advice EXCEPT _______.
| A．always to sit on a long flight | B．to drink enough water to avoid dehydration |
| C．not to eat too much so as to avoid indigestion and hypertension | |
| D．to make mealtimes the same as the time of meals at your destination |
Do your spirits soar (猛增) on a sunny day? Do you relax at the sound of flowing water?
Some scientists suggest that these contacts with nature are good for your health. In one study, hospital patients with a view of trees had shorter hospital stays and less need for pain medications. Another study indicated that prisoners with a view of the outdoors had fewer doctor visits.
“Why do we desire nature? Maybe we’re programmed to need it, since our ancestors’ survival was so dependent on their connection with nature,” suggests biologist E.O. Wilson.
Want to find out if contact with nature improves your outlook on life? Try a few of these ideas.
Hang out a bird feeder and watch the birds that visit it.
Sit down in the backyard or a nearby park. Close your eyes. What do you hear? Birds singing? The wind in the trees? Crickets (蟋蟀) chirping?
Find an anthill. Sit down and watch the ants work.
Take a walk right after a rainstorm. What looks different? Smells different?
Go barefoot on a sandy beach.
Open the curtains and the window, if the weather allows it.
On a windy day, watch the trees.
Go to a creek, river or park fountain. Listen to the sound of water in motion.
Camp out in the backyard or at a nearby state park. Use a tent or sleep on the ground.
Find a wide-open space to study the stars. Learn about the different constellations (星座).
Raise a garden. Or plant some seeds in a flowerpot.
Go hiking with your family. Talk about all of the colors you see in nature.
Take a camera and capture your nature experience.From Paragraph 2 we can learn that ______.
| A．prisoners don’t like to go to the doctor when ill | B．trees can be used as pain medications |
| C．prisoners should often get out of prison to come into contact with nature | |
| D．contacts with nature are very helpful for hospital patients |
According to E.O. Wilson, we desire nature probably because ______.
| A．it can help us feel relaxed |
| B．we have inherited (继承) from our ancestors who were dependent on nature |
| C．people have lived with nature for thousands of years |
| D．contacts with nature can improve a person’s outlook on life |
The author gives us many ideas in order to let us ______.
| A．find out if contacts with nature improve our outlook on life | |
| B．hear birds sing and watch ants work | |
| C．talk about the colors we see in nature | D．capture our experience in nature |
From the passage, we can learn that ______.
| A．studying the constellations is important to everyone | |
| B．you can know all the colors only by going hiking | |
| C．nature is quite important to us | D．walking in a rainstorm can be very helpful |
What is the best title of the passage?
| A．Go hiking with your family. | B．Let nature nurture you. |
| C．Visit your doctor less. | D．Watch the trees more often. |
The unknown world’s mystry
The sea is the biggest unknown part of our world. It covers seventy-one percent of the earth. There is still much to be discovered about this vast blanket of water. If the waters of the ocean could be removed, the sea floor with its wide valleys, irregular mountains and rivers in the sea would be an unbelievable sight.
Tourism under the deep blue sea
Tourists can now explore the world beneath the waves without ever getting wet. From tourist submarines (潜艇) to underwater dining, undersea tourism is making a big splash.
Tourist submarines
The popularity of submarine tours has grown rapidly in the last decade. Now, tourist submarines operate in more than 20 locations worldwide, including the waters around Okinawa and Taiwan’s Green Island. The submarines carry nearly 2 million tourists each year. Large windows offer passengers spectacular views as the submarines explore colorful coral reefs and sunken ships. Most one-hour tours cost about US $80.
Under water dinning
For a more upscale experience, tourists can enjoy fine dining under the sea. Last summer the Hilton Maldives Resort opened the world’s first underwater restaurant, Ithaa. Diners walk down a staircase into the restaurant, which rests 35 feet beneath the waves of the Indian Ocean. Transparent walls surround the dining area, and you can treat guests to a panoramic (全景) ocean view.
But this excellent view doesn’t come cheap. The tasting menu costs US $200 per person. Be sure to make reservations early, too. The restaurant seats only 14 people.What does the author want to tell us in Paragraph 1?
| A．The sea is the biggest unknown part of our world. | B．The sea covers 71% of the earth. |
| C．Some information about the sea floor. | D．The reasons for researching undersea tourism. |
What does the author really mean by saying “undersea tourism is making a big splash” in Para2 ?
| A．Undersea tourism is a new fashion in travelling. | B．Your clothes will be made wet by the water splash. | C．Undersea tourism is dangerous. | D．There is still a long way for undersea tourism to go. |
Which of the following statements about tourist submarines is RIGHT?
| A．Tourist submarines only have a history of about 10 years. |
| B．There are tourist submarines in every part of the world now. |
| C．Tourist submarines have carried about 2 million tourists so far. |
| D．People can enjoy tourist submarines in the waters around Okinawa. |
The walls of the restaurant Ithaa are most probably made of .
| A．stone | B．brick | C．glass | D．steel |
We need to make better use of our resources. In developing countries we have more than enough, if we are less wasteful in our ways. Fortunately, we can improve. The challenge lies not so much with ‘technical fixes’ but with our approach to our world around us. In the recent past we were in a “Wild West” economy, supposing that there would always be enough resources. Now we know there are no new Earth to explore and exploit; one image to illustrate this is to think of Earth as a spaceship, where most materials have to be recycled. For us, “moving on” will be a case of leaving behind the throwaway society and advancing to a conserver society.
To qualify as citizens of a conserver society, we must change traditional attitudes and thinking. We need to recognize that there is not very often such a thing as “waste”, rather, there are materials which sometimes end up in the wrong place. The change has already begun. The European steel industry reuses scrap（废弃的）metal, resulting in an energy saving of up to 50% . Recycling a glass container saves only 18%; but, in parts of the United States, a citizen buying a bottle of soda or beer now pays a deposit against return of the empty bottle.
If all drink containers in the USA were to be reused, the annual saving would be 0.5 million tons glass, plus about 50 million barrels of oil used in production processes. In Japan, OPEC promoted an increase in recycling of raw materials from 16% to 48% in just five years. In Norway, the price of a new car includes a disposal cost element of about 100 dollars, redeemable（可换成现款的）when the junked car is turned in at an approved receiving center.
Major new businesses are trying to exploit waste chemicals and oil. The Chinese claim to reuse 2.5 million tons of scrap iron and at least one million tons of waste paper each year. In the main, the conserver society depends on the commitment of individuals. But they can be encouraged by government incentive(鼓励) and punishment, which should apply at least as strongly to industry and other commercial interests.
73 Which of the following best expresses the meaning of “a conserver society” in the second paragraph?
A. A wasteful society.
B. A society which thinks of ways of recycling waste materials.
C. A society which keeps everything.
D. A society which saves electricity.
74 In the last paragraph, the author suggests governments _______.
A. depends on individuals to find ways of conserving energy.
B. find ways of encouraging those industries and individuals who conserve energy and of punishing those who don’t.
C. depend on companies to find ways of saving energy and rewarding workers
D. help establish businesses that will exploit waste materials
75 In this passage the author _______.
A. explains that meaning of the “Wild West” economy
B. tells us what recycled materials are.
C. teaches us how to recycle materials.
D. recommend a change in our use of resources strongly
The repairman told me, “No charge, Professor Pan! We’re friends.” “I’d rather pay,” I replied. “If it’s free, I can’t afford it!”
Chinese often refuse payment for professional services, insisting, “We’re friends now!” But then they show up later to ask me to tutor them in English, or get them into an American university, and I wish I’d have just paid the 30 yuan I owed them in the first place!
According to the Americans “There’s no free lunch.” meaning, there’s a price for everything, and I’m always looking around to figure out what this means.
Many of our neighbors have given us fruit or flowers or costly teas, never asking anything in return. For years, a bicycle repairman has repeatedly refused to let me pay him. “Wait until you have something major to fix!” he insists.
I mentioned to a peasant friend that I wished I had a stone mill to grind (磨) flour for bread. A month later he showed up with a beautiful mill that he’d had his uncle in the countryside carve from a solid block of granting (花岗石).
Chinese generosity is a real education for Americans like me, who would rather avoid social entanglements (纠纷) and just hand over the money. But cash can’t compensate (补偿) for the greatest gift—friendship.
When an American saw some of my friends sitting on bamboo stools under the trees, sipping tea, he said, “They must have nothing better to do.” “Actually,” I said, “they are professors, with plenty of to do. But probably you’re right in saying that, at this moment, they have nothing better to do. And neither do I”
And I joined the group. We chatted about tea and Chinese cooking and how much my boys have grown since we arrived. One man said, “They were pocket-sized when you came here. Now they’re taller than you. How time flies!”
How time flies. And Chinese are smart enough to share what they know, which they cannot keep. They freely give off their time, never too busy to help a friend. And they are teaching me, slowly, to both give and receive.
So the next time someone says, “No charge. We’re friends!” I will thank them heartily. But if they show up later asking me to tutor them in English, I’ll make sure they tutor my son in Chinese as well, because there’s still no free lunch.
69.Why did the author insist paying the repairman when he was offered free repairs?
A. Because he was an upright (正直的) man.
B. Because he didn’t know the repairman.
C. Because he thought it natural to pay for others’ service.
D. Because he didn’t want to help others in return.
70. Generally, the author thinks that _____ .
A. Chinese are generous and always ready to help their friends
B. Chinese are good at exchange of equal values
C. Chinese are free enough to drink tea and chat with their friends
D. Chinese are helpful but don’t treasure time
71. The best title of the article should be _____ .
A. Still no free lunch
B. A good lesson from the Chinese
C. True help or not
D. Learn to both give and receive
72. Which of the following is TRUE?
A. Chinese seldom refuse payment for professional services.
B. When a peasant knew the author needed a mill, he made one for the author himself
C. The author thinks that Chinese are wise enough to enjoy their life.
D. Finally, the author changed his mind and decided to do as the Chinese do.