A sunflower is a sunflower. A mobile phone is a mobile phone. But can you combine the two to do something for your local environment?
As early as next year it may well be possible. When you have finished with your mobile phone you will be able to bury it in the garden or a plant pot and wait for it to flower. A biodegradable (生物可降解的) mobile phone was, this month, introduced by scientists. It is hoped that the new type of phone will encourage consumers to recycle.
Scientists have come up with a new material over the last five years. It looks like any other plastic and can be hard or soft, and able to change shape. Overtime it can also break down into the soil without giving out any toxic (有毒的) chemicals. British researchers used the new material to develop a phone cover that contains a sunflower seed. When this new type of cover turns into waste, it forms nitrates (硝酸盐). These feed the seed and help the flower grow.
Engineers have designed a small transparent (透明的) window to hold the seed. They have made sure it only grows when the phone is thrown away.
"We've only put sunflower seeds into the covers so far. But we are working with plant experts to find out which flowers would perform best. Maybe we could put roses in next time," said one scientist.
As phone technology is developing so quickly people are constantly (经常地) throwing their mobiles away. This means manufacturers are under pressure to find ways of recycling them.
Some 650 million mobile phones have been sold this year. Most of them will be thrown away within two years, adding plastic, heavy metal and chemical waste to the environment. A biodegradable cover can offer some relief for nature, according to the scientists.
"The seed is released and the flower grows in the pot so you don't have to concern yourself with the phone when you have finished using it," said Kerry Kirwan. She leads the research team, which is based at the University of Warwick in Britain.After you have finished using the new type of mobile phone, ________.
| A．the sunflower seed will come out and flower wherever you throw it |
| B．the phone cover will break down easily in the soil which you bury it in |
| C．it will be recycled by the manufactures |
| D．it can recharge itself in an environmental friendly way |
Which of the following is wrong about the cover of the new type of phone?
| A．It can provide useful fertilizer for the sunflower seed after the mobile phone breaks down. |
| B．It looks like normal plastics but it can break down. |
| C．It can serve as the storage for the sunflower seed. |
| D．It makes sure the seed only grows after the phone is thrown away. |
This type of research is done because ________.
| A．the technology that produces mobile phones is changing rapidly |
| B．consumers tend to throw away their mobile phones within two years |
| C．nobody has ever thought of recycling mobile phones |
| D．producing mobile phones uses a lot of energy, so this has become a very big problem for the environment |
We can infer from the story ________.
| A．the new type of mobile phone is already on the market |
| B．the new type of mobile phone will sell extremely well |
| C．recycling mobile phones is increasingly important to the environment |
| D．other flowers may be used in the new type of cell phone |
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 I 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.
| 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 |
| A．Americans do not understand broken English. |
| B．The author’s mother was not respected sometimes. |
| C．The author’s mother had positive influence on her. |
| D．Broken English always reflects imperfect thoughts. |
| A．well structured |
| B．in the old style |
| C．easy to translate |
| D．rich in meaning |
| A．The change 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. |
At exactly eleven Sir Percival knocked and entered, with anxiety and worry in every line of his face. This meeting would decide his future life, and he obviously knew it.
“You may wonder, Sir Percival,” said Laura calmly, “if I am going to ask to be released (免除) from my promise to marry you. I am not going to ask this. I respect my father’s wishes too much.”
His face relaxed a little, but one of his feet kept beating the carpet.
“No, if we are going to withdraw(退出) from our planned marriage, it will be because of your wish, not mine.”
“Mine?” he said in great surprise. “What reason could I have for withdrawing?”
“A reason that is very hard to tell you,” she answered. “There is a change in me.”
His face went so pale that even his lips lost their color. He turned his head to one side.
“What change?" he asked, trying to appear calm.
“When the promise was made two years ago,”she said, “my love did not belong to anyone. Will you forgive me, Sir Percival, if I tell you that it now belongs to another person?”
“I wish you to understand,” Laura continued, “that I will never see this person again, and that if you leave me, you only allow me to remain a single woman for the rest of my life. All I ask is that you forgive me and keep my secret.”
“I will do both those things, ”he said. Then he looked at Laura, as if he was waiting to hear more.
“I think I have said enough to give you reason to withdraw from our marriage,” she added quietly.
“No. You have said enough to make it the dearest wish of my life to marry you,” he said.
| A．Angry. | B．Calm. |
| C．Nervous. | D．Excited. |
| A．Laura had once promised to marry Percival |
| B．Laura's father wished to end her marriage |
| C．Percival had been married to Laura for two years |
| D．Percival asked to be released from the marriage |
| A．a novel | B．a report |
| C．a diary | D．an essay |
Older people who have low expectations for a satisfying future may be more likely to live longer, healthier lives than those who see brighter days ahead, according to new research
"Our findings showed that being overly optimistic in predicting a better future was associated with a greater risk of disability and death within the following decade," said Frieder R. Lang, the leading researcher of the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg in Germany." Pessimism(悲观) about the future may encourage people to live more carefully, taking health and safety measures."
Lang and colleagues examined data collected from 1993 to 2003 for the national German Socio-Economic Panel, an annual survey on approximately 40,000 people from 18 to 96 years old. The researchers divided the data according to age groups: 18 to 39 years old, 40 to 64 years old and 65 years old and above. Through mostly in-person interviews, the participants were asked to rate how satisfied they were with their lives and how satisfied they thought they would be in five years.
Five years after the first interview, 43 percent of the oldest group had underestimated(低估) their future life satisfaction, 25 percent had predicted accurately and 32 percent had overestimated (高估), according to the study. The researchers calculated that each increase in overestimating future life satisfaction was related to a 9.5 -percent increase in reporting disabilities and a 10- percent increase in risk of death。
Because a darker outlook on the future is often more realistic, older adults' predictions of their future satisfaction may be more accurate, according to the study. In contrast, the youngest group had the sunniest outlook。
"We argue, though, that the analysis may depend on age and available resources. These findings shed new light on how our perspectives can either help us take action or prevent us from taking action that can help improve our chances of a long, healthy life," Lang said.Based on the passage, the researchers____________.
| A．collected 13 years of nationwide data |
| B．calculated people's life satisfaction within five years |
| C．interviewed 40,000 people from 18 to 65 years old |
| D．divided the data into four age groups |
According to the study, older people predicted their life satisfaction more accurately because_________.
| A．they demanded less materially |
| B．they were more satisfied with their lives |
| C．they had a deeper insight into life |
| D．their outlook on the future was more realistic |
What is Frieder Lang's attitude towards the results of the study?
| A．Critical. | B．Doubtful. |
| C．Astonished. | D．Objective |
What can we learn from the passage?
| A．The researchers only took age into consideration. |
| B．Being pessimistic leads to a greater risk of disability and death. |
| C．The findings could help people to live a healthy life. |
| D．Most participants had overestimated their future life satisfaction. |
The passage most probably appears in the __________ section of a website.
| A．health and fitness | B．arts and life |
| C．public education | D．psychology help center |
On February 3, a Laysan albatross(信天翁), a large seabird, named Wisdom, which is 62 years old, hatched a healthy chick on a Pacific island near Hawaii,. It was the sixth year in a row this bird has hatched a chick. Wisdom’s species normally lives only 12 to 40 years, while she is able to hatch healthy chicks into her 60s.
At breeding time, the Laysan albatross will dig out a shallow nest in the ground. The female then lays a single egg. Both she and her mate will take turns incubating (孵) the egg until it hatches. More than seven out of every 10 Laysan albatrosses’ nests are on just one island -Midway Atoll. That’s Wisdom’s home.
But her species spends most of its time in the air. In fact, biologists observe that after learning to fly, these birds may not set foot on land for the next three to five years.
Albatrosses are powerful gliders (滑翔者), With their six-foot, nearly two-meter, wingspan, Laysan albatrosses can ride wind currents for hundreds of miles or more. Biologists now estimate that Wisdom has flown for an unusually large number of miles-between two million and three million. That is equivalent to traveling from Earth to the moon and back-four to six times! And in the months when these birds are not breeding, they stay in the air, and even sleep there.
Wild albatrosses often die long before they come close to Wisdom’s age. Some are eaten. Others starve, get sick or suffer life-threatening injuries from people’s fishing boats. Clearly, Wisdom is special. She may have raised as many as 35 chicks in her life.Which of the following is TRUE about albatrosses?
| A．The females are responsible for hatching the eggs. |
| B．They can fly hundreds of miles or more in the wind. |
| C．The females usually lay several eggs at a time. |
| D．Most of them normally live more than 40 years. |
What makes Wisdom so special?
| A．She spends most of its time in the air. |
| B．She has lived more than 100 years. |
| C．She hatched a healthy chick in her 60s. |
| D．She hasn’t set foot on land for three to five years. |
What is the main idea of Paragraph 2?
| A．Where Laysan albatrosses live. |
| B．How albatrosses produce babies. |
| C．How albatrosses make their nests. |
| D．Why Wisdom can give birth to babies in her 60s. |
What can be inferred from the text?
| A．Wisdom has outlived her species by at least two decades. |
| B．Most albatrosses sleep and breed on Midway Atoll. |
| C．Wisdom gives birth to babies every six years. |
| D．Albatrosses build their big nests on trees. |
Which of the following would be the best title for the text?
| A．Albatrosses-Powerful Gliders. |
| B．Laysan Albatrosses’ Paradise-Midway Atoll. |
| C．Endangered Birds-Laysan Albatrosses. |
| D．The Oldest Mother Bird-Wisdom. |
Lavender (薰衣草) is a beautiful yet tough plant that grows in heat and dust. It has narrow, hairy leaves and a plentiful supply of oils to protect it from drying out. It has been cherished by all cultures alike, not only for its fine smell but also its valuable medicinal properties (特性) , since 3000 B.C.
Lavenders are a small plant group containing about 50 different species Today, "true" lavender can be found growing wild in Italy, France, on the eastern coast of Spain and right into North Africa. It is also commonly found in cultivated form throughout the rest of Europe, as well as in India, China, Australia, the U.S.A. and other countries. Most lavender is cultivated at the latitudes of 40-45 degrees north and south of the equator.
Lavenders is popular in part because it is so useful.
Its essential oil is a very safe oil which can be used for first-aid as well as for a wide variety of common problems such as skin complaints, muscular pain and childhood illnesses. It is recognized for its antiseptic(防腐的)qualities, its ability to drive insects away, and its usefulness in washing. It is also one of the most popular oils for cosmetics(化妆品)and perfumes.
Lavender is also known for flavouring teas, cocktails, desserts and cakes, and is often added to salt and pepper to create the very famous Herbes de Provence (普罗旺斯香草) spice mixture. Its colour and smell have also made lavender a garden favourite for centuries, Finally, dried lavender has long been used as a spice to scent homes and closets.Which of the following about lavender does the text NOT mention?
| A．its disadvantages |
| B．its characteristics. |
| C．its uses |
| D．its growing environment |
We learn from the text that lavender ___________.
A. has broad leaves
B. had been used as medicine since 3000 BC.
C. likes growing in humid places
D. includes over one hundred speciesThe second paragraph is mainly about __________.
| A．where to find wild lavender |
| B．the places where lavender grows |
| C．the origins of lavender |
| D．how to plant lavender |
Which of the following is NOT true, according to the text?
| A．Lavender grow along the equator. |
| B．Wild lavender can be found in North Africa. |
| C．Lavender’s oil is used in cosmetics. |
| D．Lavender’s oil can be used to protect the skin. |
Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the last paragraph?
| A．Lavender is a popular garden plant. |
| B．Lavender is used as a spice |
| C．Lavender is a popular perfume |
| D．Lavender is used as flavouring in cooking. |