People typically wash their hands seven times a day in the United States, but they do it at a far higher temperature than is necessary to kill germs (病菌) , a new study says. The energy waste is equivalent to the fuel use of a small country.
Amanda R. Carrico, a research assistant professor at the Vanderbilt Institute for Energy and Environment in Tennessee, told National Geographic that hand washing is often “a case where people act in ways that they think are in their best interest, but they in fact have inaccurate beliefs or outdated perceptions.”
Carrico said, “It’s certainly true that heat kills bacteria, but if you were going to use hot water to kill them it would have to be way too hot for you to tolerate.”
Carrico said that after a review of the scientific literature, her team found “no evidence that using hot water that a person could stand would have any benefit in killing bacteria.” Even water as cold as 40°F (4.4°C) appeared to reduce bacteria as well as hotter water, if hands were scrubbed, rinsed（冲洗）and dried properly.
Using hot water to wash hands is therefore unnecessary, as well as wasteful, Carrico said, particularly when it comes to the environment. According to her research, people use warm or hot water 64 percent of the time when they wash their hands. Using that number, Carrico’s team calculated a significant impact on the planet.
“Although the choice of water temperature during a single hand wash may appear unimportant, when multiplied by the nearly 800 billion hand washes performed by Americans each year, this practice results in more than 6 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent emissions annually,” she said.
The researchers published their results in the July 2013 issue of International Journal of Consumer Studies. They recommended washing with water that is at a “comfortable” temperature, which they noted may be warmer in cold months and cooler in hot ones.What’s the meaning of what Carrico told National Geographic in the second paragraph?
| A．People are more concerned about their health and begin to wash their hands. |
| B．It’s important for people to wash their hands to keep healthy. |
| C．Generally, people’s hand washing behaviors and perceptions are not correct. |
| D．People like washing their hands very much. |
The figures in the sixth paragraph are used to show that __________.
| A．using hot water to wash hands has a bad influence on our planet. |
| B．air pollution has become more and more serious. |
| C．using hot water to wash hands is a waste of energy. |
| D．people should pay more attention to the environment around us. |
This passage is organized in the pattern of __________.
| A．fact and opinion | B．cause and effect |
| C．definition and classification | D．time and events |
What can we learn from the passage?
| A．It’s necessary and useful for people to wash their hands frequently every day. |
| B．We can wash our hands with water that is at a “comfortable” temperature. |
| C．Using cold water to wash hands is necessary and much healthier. |
| D．Hot water can’t kill germs. |
D
We all know what it is like to be unable to turn your head because of a cold in the muscles of your neck, or because an unexpected twist has made your neck ache and stiff. Your whole body feels tight. The slightest move makes you jump with pain. Nothing could be worse than a pain in the neck.
That is why we use phrase to describe some people who give you the same feeling. We have all met such people.
One is the man who always seems to be clapping his hands—often at the wrong time—during a performance in the theater. He keeps you from hearing the actors.
Even worse are those who can never arrive before the curtain goes up and play begins. They come hurrying down to your row of seats. You are comfortably settled down, with your hat and heavy coat in your lap. You must stand up to ;et them pass. You are proud of your self—control after they have settled into their seats…Well, what now…Good God, one of them is up again. He forgot to go to the men’s room, and once more you have to stand up, hanging on to your hat and coat to let him pass. Now, that is “a pain in the neck.”
Another, well—known to us all, is the person sitting behind you in the movies. His mouth is full of popcorn; he is chewing loudly, or talking between bites to friends next to him. None of them remain still. Up and down, back and forth, they go—for another bag of popcorn, or something to drink.
Then, there is the main sitting next to you at a lunch counter smoking a smelly cigar. He wants you to enjoy it too, and blows smoke across you food into your mouth.
We must not forget the man who comes into a bus or subway car and sits down next to you, just as close as you will let him. You are reading the newspaper and he leans over and stretches his rock so that he can read the paper with you. He may even turn the paper to the next page before you are ready for it.
We also call such a person a “rubber neck,” always stretching his neck to where it does not belong, like neighbors who watch all your visitors. They enjoy invading your privacy. People have a strong dislike for rubbernecks. They hate being spied upon.
68．Where can you find this passage?
A．Medicine dictionaries. B．Social science books,
C．Kids’ comic books. D．Science text books.
69．How do you feel when late comers walk back and forth in front of you in a cinema?
A．Ignored. B．Bored. C．Disturbed D．Relaxed.
70．A “rubber neck” often .
A．says bad words behind people.
B．quarrels face to face with neighbors.
C．bargains the price with sales women
D．asks about other people’s business
71．Which of the follow is a “pain on the neck”?
A．Someone who helps you find your seat in a movie theatre.
B．Someone who smokes in a smoking section on a train.
C．Someone who throws trash out of his car window on the highway.
D．Someone who goes to the doctor for his severe pain on the neck.
（二）
A
How Do Animals Catch Their ZZZ’s?
Different creatures have developed some pretty creative ways to get their rest and stay safe. The lizard（蜥蝎）likes to sleep at the far end of small branches hanging out over a pond or lake in the rain forest. If a snake tries to slither up the branch to eat it ,it will shake the branch and knock the lizard off ,and the lizard will fall safely into the water. Chameleons can change color to match their surroundings in order to hide even while sleeping.
Corillas（大猩猩）like to sleep high in the trees. They build a new bed every night, sometimes taking up to half an hour to pile branches ,twigs ,and leaves into a comfortable bed .Birds also find it safe to sleep in the trees, but unless they have eggs or young chicks ,they don’t use a nest .They just lock their feet around a branch and hang on .A special tendon（腱）in their legs in automatically tight when they are at rest ,so they won’t let go and fall.
Dolphins live underwater ,but must come to the surface to breather .Scientists now believe that dolphins may sleep with only half their brain, while the other half stays awake to keep them safe and breathing. Seals also do this ,lying on their sides on the surface of the water with one flipper underwater paddling to keep their noses above the surface. Some ducks may also have this ability, and actually sleep with one eye closed and one eye open.
56．How many animals are mentioned in this passage?
A．6. B．7. C．8. D．9.
57．How does a chameleon protect itself while sleeping?
A．By changing its body colors. B．By hinging out over a pond.
C．By sleeping with half their brain. D．By making beds with branches.
58．Why will not birds fall when they are at rest?
A．They build nests and sleep in them. B．They fall asleep automatically.
C．They have a loose tendon in their legs. D．They lock their feet around a branch.
59．What does the writer intend to tell us?
A．The cleverest animal is the gorilla because it can make beds.
B．Differences in habitat could lead to different living habits.
C．The ways animals catch their ZZZ’s are pretty much he same .
D．In order to protect themselves most animals choose not to sleep.