Since Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay climbed Mount Everest, Mount Qomolangma’s peak is no longer a lonely place and is turning into a trash heap.
So far, more than 350 climbers have successfully reached the peak. And they have complained about waiting for hours in the bottlenecks (狭窄路段) on the way to the peak, a situation that isn’t just uncomfortable — it’s cold and windy up there — but downright dangerous. If bad weather strikes, climbers can and do die.
As a matter of fact, the dangerous crowds aren’t the only problem on Qomolangma. All those climbers need to bring a lot of gear—and much of them ends up being left on the mountain, sometimes even the peak itself. Mount Qomolangma is becoming the world’s largest dump. Here’s mountaineer Mark Jenkins writing in National Geographic about the state of Qomolangma: “The two standard routes, the Northeast Ridge and the Southeast Ridge, are disgustingly polluted with oxygen cans and torn tents everywhere.”
But the good news is that some mountaineers are taking it upon themselves to clean up Qomolangma. Mountianeer Paul Thelen and his friend Eberhard Schaaf are part of the annual Eco Everest Expedition, which has been cleaning up rubbish from base camps to the peak since 2008. So far they’ve collected over 13 tons of garbage.
Some of that rubbish is even being used for a higher purpose. As part of the Mount Everest 8844 Art Project, a group of 15 artists from Nepal collected 1.5 tons of garbage brought down the mountain by climbers. They’ve transformed the cans and oxygen tanks—and in one case, part of the remains of a helicopter—into 74 pieces of art that have already gone on exhibition in Nepal’s capital. Part of the profit from sales will go to the Everest Peakers Association, which has helped collect tons of rubbish on the slopes of the mountain.What does the underlined word “gear” mean?
| A．Equipment for climbing mountains. |
| B．The food climbers brought onto the mountain. |
| C．Some important machines used for the bottlenecks. |
| D．Some rubbish found on the mountain. |
The group of 15 Nepali artists_________.
| A．created works of art using rubbish from Qomolangma |
| B．were employed by the Everest Peakeers Association |
| C．climbed Qomolangma and collected 1.5 tons of trash |
| D．painted 74 beautiful pictures of Mount Qomolangma’s peak |
What can be the best title for the text?
| A．Eco Everest Expedition Proves Successful |
| B．Qomolangma Has Become A Huge Mess |
| C．Test Yourself Against Qomolangma |
| D．Recycle Rubbish On Qomolangma |
Micro bloggers: don’t be too excited if you have more fans than your friends on your Sina Weibo or Tencent micro blog—some of them might be “zombie fans”, or fake(假的) followers.
That’s what Chen Chuanliang, creator of Leijian Network, found when he bet against his friend several months ago. Chen, who used to do data mining for Microsoft Asia Research Institute, discovered that there were far more invalid(无效的)micro blog accounts than he had imagined.
Later Chen picked 10 users on Sina Weibo and analyzed their statistics. Kai-Fu Lee, the former CEO of Google China, who’s on Chen’s list of research, posted a message on his micro blog after he found out that he had more than 1 million fake fans(out of about 5 million), joking “I have 1 million zombie fans? If united, we can finally defeat those plants.”
According to a report by S Weekly in March, zombie fans on micro blogs are defined as invalid accounts signed up by network companies for the purpose of increasing the number of fans for certain users and getting them more attention.
And this kind of fake followers are also very much alive on Western social networks such as Twitter and Facebook.
The Financial Times reported in August，that Newt Gingrich，a Republican candidate in the US presidential election, bought about 80 percent of his 1.3 million Twitter followers and tried to use them as help in his campaign.
Now there are also business deals through which users can get hundreds of thousands of fans for their micro blog accounts, by paying a small amount of money.
“We have been working to find ways to block or delete those invalid accounts,” Mao Taotao, a spokesperson for Sina Weibo told S Weekly.
“But as the fake accounts grow so fast, they’re going to be here for a while.”
Which of the following might be the best title for the passage?
| A．Micro Bloggers | B．Blog Accounts |
| C．Zombie Fans | D．Micro Blog Fans |
Users get zombie fans for their micro blog accounts by________.
| A．making friends with people |
| B．paying a little money |
| C．helping their weibo followers |
| D．doing search on the Internet |
It can be learnt from the passage that________.
| A．there are more fake fans in America than in China |
| B．invalid accounts for micro blogs will be deleted in no time |
| C．there exist many fake fans on western social networks as well |
| D．Newt Gingrich had 1.3 million followers in his presidential election |
The underlined word “their” in the passage refers to ________.
| A．deals’ | B．fans’ |
| C．campaigns’ | D．users’ |
You will enjoy a wonderful summer vacation with these easy tips.
1. Fly into Alternate Airports
Most major destinations are served by more than one airport. Flying into a less popular one can result in cheaper tickets. Another added perk of quieter airports? Shorter check-in and security lines, and less waiting around.
2. Use Public Transportation for City Travel to Save Time and Money
When possible, take public transportation from the airport to your hotel. For example, the London-Heathrow express train takes just 15 minutes to get from airport to city and costs under 20 pounds. By contrast, “A taxi costs about 70 pounds and takes 40 minutes,” reports DiScala.
3. Eat Smart, Explore…and Save
Look for ways to take your order in pricey restaurants and you can avoid “Are we about to run out of money?” “Don’t order an appetizer. Don’t drink a lot of booze,” says DiScala.
Also, cover more ground by spreading out your snack places. “Have dessert at a café or ice cream stand, instead of at the dinner restaurant,” suggests DiScala. You’ll see more of the city and decisions about where to go for dinner will be less worrying.
4. Hit the Market
Much like reading the local newspaper, visiting a market gives context to a foreign country. Even the smallest villages tend to have a weekly open-air market(often on Saturday mornings), while in larger towns and cities, expect additional market days, as well as big supermarkets.
Markets also sell amazing, wallet-friendly souvenirs. Think about sea salt, local spices or sauces, and regional oils and vinegars. Eatable gifts are almost always appreciated, saving you the stress of finding the “perfect” gift for each person on your list.The passage aims to tell the readers how to________.
| A．take a plane without waiting for long |
| B．spend your holidays abroad economically |
| C．eat in a pricey restaurant at the smallest expense |
| D．save money to buy eatable gifts in a foreign market |
What does the underlined word “perk” in Line 4 mean?
| A．Special benefit. | B．Strict standard. |
| C．Common scene. | D．Extra trouble. |
Which of the following will best help you save time and money?
| A．Choosing a bigger airport. |
| B．Visiting local markets. |
| C．Having dinner at the hotel. |
| D．Taking an express train. |
What can be inferred from the passage?
| A．Having coffee at a cafe will cost more money. |
| B．Souvenirs bought at local markets are expensive. |
| C．You will run out of your money if you eat out. |
| D．Markets help you understand your tourist destination. |
As an American artist and writer of children’s books, Tasha Tudor’s art and nineteenth-century lifestyle have fascinated adults and children for decades. She received many awards and honors for her contributions to children’s literature. When people talk about her creativity in artwork, she said, “I do it to support my dogs and my four children.” Her great publishing record, the number of magazine stories that have been written about her over the years, and her admirers have no effects on her at all.
Much of Tasha’s artwork and her reading are done in the wintertime. “I love winter. It’s delightful,” she says. “I don’t have to go anywhere because I work at home. If I’m snowed in, I can stay this way for months.” She hopes for early, deep snow to protect her garden from the hardship of the New England winter, and when it comes she puts on snowshoes when she needs to get down the mile-long dirt path that leads to the road.
Given her enjoyment of winter and her fantasy(梦幻)way of life, it’s not surprising that Tasha’s Christmas is a storybook holiday. She hangs flowers over the front door. Her tree comes from the woods, and it goes up on Christmas Eve, lit by homemade candles and decorated with her great- grandmother’s collection that dates from 1850. In a place of honor on the tree are large cookies cut into the shapes of her animals.
The grandchildren and friends get presents from Tasha’s old dolls; so do the animals and they have their own Christmas tree. “Of course, it’s a known fact that all the animals talk on Christmas Eve,” she has written. Small, handmade gifts fill a big wooden box.
At the end of each year, Tasha can look back and know that her life is perfect, that she has again ignored the twentieth century, and that the magic continues. And for the rest of us，here’s a bit of advice, Tasha style: “Nowadays, people are so restless. If they took some tea anti spent more time rocking on the porch(门廊) in the evening listening to light music, they might enjoy life more.”
Tasha loved winter because it allowed her to ________.
| A．read stories to her grandchildren |
| B．show her DIY snowshoes to kids |
| C．stay indoors working mid reading |
| D．enjoy bicycle tiding along the path |
From the passage, we can learn that Tasha’s life is ________.
| A．modern and fashionable |
| B．simple and fantastic |
| C．lonely and hard |
| D．adventurous and inspiring |
Which of the following is TRUE about Tasha?
| A．She cared little about fame. |
| B．She created an animal fund. |
| C．She wrote many stories for magazines. |
| D．She bought presents for her relatives. |
In which section of a paper can you probably read the article?
| A．Travel. | B．Sports. | C．Economy. | D．People. |
Indeed, many failures are experienced in our lives and the effect could be extremely unpleasant. I do have a share of my experience and you might have yours too. As the sayings goes, “Experience is the best teacher.” Many people believe it’s the other way around. Experience, in fact, can be the worst teacher since it takes the first before you learn the lesson.
Often, when people around us try to comfort us that we shouldn’t be too hard on ourselves, we say “sure”, yet we are doing otherwise. We are becoming too hard on ourselves because failure is something that wouldn’t leave your mind quickly. Failure is something that can make you regret spending money, time, and effort but all go down the drain. But it is common everywhere and it usually leads us to success.
“There were once two prison men sitting behind the bars. One saw mud while the other saw stars.” In this story, those two prison men were paying the costs of their actions. However, as they faced their situation, one prisoner was completely defeated by his depression. But the other prisoner held his head up with his hopes and dreams. As you may well notice, failure happens, but people deal with it quite differently.
However, true failure comes in when you react negatively to the situation. True failure is about giving up completely. It is about being unable to recognize that if you look at the midnight skies, the stars are still shinning. See, no matter how disheartening and discouraging your fall was true failure is about not getting up and not moving on. You must accept failure as a great opportunity for you to learn. You will also be able to learn from the failures of other people. But it’s your own failure that will help you meaningfully.
| A．experience is really good at teaching |
| B．the best teacher usually experiences a lot |
| C．something valuable can be learned from failure |
| D．the worst teacher can teach you how to be successful |
| A．listing some true facts |
| B．mentioning a story |
| C．showing some figures |
| D．blaming the two prison men |
| A．We can’t live without failure |
| B．It is easy to get rid of failure |
| C．People should try to avoid failure |
| D．People should treat failure properly |
| A．Failure opens the door to learning |
| B．Experience is interesting and pleasant |
| C．Success is not easy for us to achieve |
| D．Everything comes from failure |
New Zealand
【What can you see? Mountains, volcanoes, rivers, lakes, waterfalls, forests, beaches. Both islands are mountainous. In fact, only 30% of New Zealand is flat.】
The Maoris
When the Maoris first arrived in New Zealand, they lived in villages and were excellent fishermen, hunters and farmers. About 50 years ago many Maoris started to live and work in the large cities and took jobs in government, industries, medicine and education. They are proud of their culture and are determined to keep many of the customs which are part of their way of life.
Who can you meet? Most people live on North Island. Eighty-five percent of New Zealanders are “pakeha” (“white men”), which means their “great grandfathers” came from Europe. Ten percent are Maoris. The Maoris came to New Zealand from the Polynesian islands probably around the tenth century. The “pakeha” started to arrive in New Zealand from Europe about 200 years ago as farmers and traders.
Fact box: New Zealand
Position: South of the Equator ;
Nearest neighbor: Australia, 1600 km away.
Size: Two main islands — North Island and South Island: together they are 268.680 sq. km.
Population: 4 million
Capital: Wellington
Languages: English and Maori
| A．20% of the population being Maoris. |
| B．Four million white people. |
| C．About 1600 km south of the Equator. |
| D．Nearly 1/3 of the country being plains. |
| A．1000 years ago. | B．200 years ago. |
| C．85 years ago. | D．50 years ago. |
| A．Living in small villages. | B．Developing farming skills. |
| C．Keeping their own culture. | D．Taking up government jobs. |