To prevent the deserts coming near, China has planted billions of trees---to replace destroyed forests and as barriers against the sand. This isn’t a cure, though, say experts, as thirsty trees can make the problem worse by taking in groundwater.
“Planting tress is one way, but it isn’t that simple. It doesn’t solve the basic issue of water resources,” says Wu Bo, a professor. “We need to calculate how much water the trees will absorb, or else it could have a negative effect.”
Villagers in Zhengxin have taken on this challenge, with limited success. When the irrigation channels began to run dry, Lu Xianglin switched from wheat to cotton on his land. He also planted trees to protect his fields from sandstorms. He says he still gets good yields(产量) using flood irrigation and earns a good income for his family.
Other farmers haven’t stuck it out(坚持到底): about one in three have left Zhengxin in the past 10 years after their wheat crops died. Young people who can find jobs in the towns rarely return.
Last week, Mr Lu joined the other men in his village on a government-arranged trip to see the land that has been set aside for their relocation, nearly 40 miles to the south. The next day, he was back, shaking his head at the plan. The idea of uprooting his family troubles him, as does the idea of giving up the land that fed his forefathers. He prefers to stay and keep up the fight.
“With enough water, this problem can be solved,” Lu says. “We can plant trees and grass, and they will grow bigger. That will stop the desert.”
Experts say that farmers could switch to drip irrigation (滴灌)to lessen their water intake for growing crops. Elsewhere in the region, farmers have built brick greenhouses as part of a plan to grow vegetables using less water. Roadside signs urge farmers to “Save Water, Protect the Environment”.The negative effect of planting trees in deserts is that __________.
A.it can make groundwater become less |
B.it can prevent the sand moving freely |
C.it can stop crops growing well |
D.it can get the soil to become poor |
Why did Mr. Lu NOT accept the idea of relocation?
A.Because the plan of relocation will cost him much money. |
B.Because his family had trouble moving away. |
C.Because he was reluctant to give up his land. |
D.Because he would rather stay than fight against the deserts. |
What can we infer from the passage?
A.The deserts drive more and more people to leave their homes for their lives. |
B.People have no means to fight against the land becoming desert. |
C.Water is the biggest barrier for people to stop the desert. |
D.Planting trees cannot solve the problem of desertification of farmland. |
What advice is given by experts to save water?
A.To plant more trees. |
B.To build greenhouses. |
C.To change crops. |
D.To use drip irrigation. |
Want to travel as cheaply as possible while enjoying the great scenery as much as you like?
Backpacking is the way. As the most popular traveling choice among young western people, backpacking allows you to travel at your own free will. Carrying a tent, sleeping bag and clothes, backpackers also need to pack an attitude that will help them deal with many mental and physical challenges.
It is a thrill to put our ability to test and challenge ourselves with sorts of difficulties we might come across. So, backpacking is something young people can hardly deny.
Young people in Europe often travel around by train. Now, with plane tickets dropping in price, more are traveling to distant countries, such as Australia and China. And some just travel within their own countries.
But no matter where a backpacker travels, planning in advance is important if he or she wants to enjoy the trip.
Clothing
In summer, light, waterproof clothes are best. Backpackers must remember to travel lightly and not pack too many clothes.
Medicine
There are many medicines, especially for summer, such as those for sunstroke, snake bites and mosquitoes. Others are useful in every season, such as those for common colds, poisoning and diarrhea.
Cards
Three types of cards are of great value for backpacks: student Identity Card, personal ID and a credit card.
A student ID card can be helpful for saving money. It often gets train tickets and entrance tickets for cheaper prices in many Western countries.
Personal ID card can, not only get you out of trouble with local police, but also prove useful in all sorts of other situations.
Carrying a credit card can be a safe way of carrying money, as cash can easily get lost, stolen or wet.
And of course, don’t forget to enjoy your trip!What does the underlined sentence mean?
A.Backpackers also need to be in high spirits when they want to travel. |
B.Backpackers may also face dangerous situations. |
C.Backpackers also need to talk with doctors about their traveling. |
D.Backpackers need to make preparation for many kinds of difficulty in advance. |
What does the underlined word “waterproof” mean?
A.Easy to wash. | B.Not letting water go through. | C.Washed without water. | D.Used in water. |
If you are stopped by a policeman in the street, you should show ______ to the police.
A.your student ID | B.your credit card | C.your personal ID | D.your passport |
What is of most advantage to backpackers?
A.They can travel very easily. |
B.They won’t worry about where to live. |
C.They can have the chance to take some adventures. |
D.They can take some physical exercise. |
What is the author’s purpose to write this passage?
A.To give some ideas about traveling. |
B.To encourage the young to travel. |
C.To tell people how to avoid something unpleasant. |
D.To offer some useful advice for traveling. |
He was the baby with no name. Found and taken from the north Atlantic 6 days after the sinking of the Titanic in 1912, his tiny body so moved the rescue workers that they called him “our baby.” In their home port of Halifax, Nova Scotia, people collected money for a headstone in front of the baby's grave, carved with the words: “To the memory of an unknown child.” He has rested there ever since.
But history has a way of uncovering its secrets. On Nov. 5, this year, three members of a family from Finland arrived at Halifax and laid fresh flowers at the grave. “This is our baby,” says Magda Schleifer, 68, a banker. She grew up hearing stories about a great aunt named Maria Panula, 42, who had sailed on the Titanic for America to be reunited with her husband. According to the information Mrs. Schleifer had gathered, Maria gave up her seat on a lifeboat to search for her five children -- including a 13-month-old boy named Eino, from whom she had become separated during the final minutes of the crossing. "We thought they were all lost in the sea," says Schleifer.
Now, using the teeth and bone pieces taken from the baby's grave, scientists have compared the DNA from the unknown child with those collected from members of five families who lost relatives on the Titanic and never recovered the bodies. The result of the test points only to one possible person: young Eino. Now, the family sees no need for a new grave. "He belongs to the people of Halifax," says Schleifer. "They've taken care of him for 100 years."The baby travelled on the Titanic with his_______.
A.mother | B.parents | C.aunt | D.relatives |
What is probably the boy's last name?
A.Schleiferi | B.Eino. | C.Magda. | D.Panula. |
Some members of the family went to Halifax and put flowers at the child's grave on Nov. 5 _______.
A.1912 | B.1954 | C.2012 | D.2004 |
Which of the following is closest in meaning to the underlined word recover?
A.uncover | B.find | C.bury | D.gather |
This text is mainly about how______________.
A.the unknown baby's body was taken from the north Atlantic |
B.the unknown baby was buried in Halifax, Nova Scotia |
C.people found out who the unknown baby was |
D.people took care of the unknown baby for 100 years |
Have you ever picked a job based on the fact that you were good at it but later found it made you feel very uncomfortable over time? When you select your career, there's a whole lot more to it than assessing your skills and matching them with a particular position. If you ignore your personality, it will hurt you long-term regardless of your skills or the job's pay. There are several areas of your personality that you need to consider to help you find a good job. Here are a few of those main areas;
1) Do you prefer working alone or with other people?
There are isolating(使孤立)jobs that will drive an outgoing person crazy and also interactive jobs that will make a shy person uneasy. Most people are not extremes in either direction but do have a tendency that they prefer. There are also positions that are sometimes a combination of the two, which may be best for someone in the middle who adapts easily to either situation.
2) How do you handle change?
Most jobs these days have some elements of change to them, but some are more than others. If you need stability in your life, you may need a job where the changes don't happen so often. Other people would be bored of the same daily routine.
3) Do you enjoy working with computers?
I do see this as a kind of personality characteristic. There are people who are happy to spend more than 40 hours a week on a computer, while there are others who need a lot of human interaction throughout the day. Again, these are extremes and you'll likely find a lot of positions somewhere in the middle as well.
4) What type of work environment do you enjoy?
This can range from being in a large building with a lot of people you won't know immediately to a smaller setting where you'll get to know almost all the people there fairly quickly.
5) How do you like to get paid?
Some people are motivated by the pay they get, while others feel too stressed to be like that. The variety of payment designs in the sales industry is a typical example for this.
Anyway, these are a great starting point for you. I've seen it over and over again with people that they make more money over time when they do something they love. It may take you a little longer, but making a move to do what you have a passion for can change the course of your life for the better.Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
A.Isolating jobs usually drive people mad. |
B.Almost everyone has a tendency in jobs. |
C.Interactive jobs make people shy easily. |
D.Extreme people tend to work with others. |
What does the underlined sentence in paragraph one mean?
A.Before you select your job, you should assess your skills and match them with your position |
B.You should ignore your skills when you select job. |
C.Nothing is important than assessing skills and match them with the position when you select job. |
D.There are more important things than assessing skills and match them with the position when you select job. |
What is the missing word about a job search in the following chart?
A.Design. | B.Changes. | C.Cooperation. | D.Hobbies. |
What is the best title for this passage?
A.Lifestyles and Job Pay | B.Jobs and Environment |
C.Personalities and Jobs | D.Job Skills and Abilities |
Nuclear power’s danger to health, safety, and even life itself can be summed up in one word: radiation.
Nuclear radiation has a certain mystery about it, partly because it cannot be detected by human senses. It can’t be seen or heard, or touched or tasted, even though it may be all around us. There are other things like that. For example, radio waves are all around us but we can’t detect them, sense them, without a radio receiver. Similarly, we can’t sense radioactivity without a radiation detector. But unlike common radio waves, nuclear radiation is not harmless to human beings and other living things.
At very high levels, radiation can kill an animal or human being immediately by killing masses of cells in vital organs. But even the lowest levels can do serious damage. There is no levels of radiation that is completely safe. If the radiation does not hit anything important, the damage may not be serious. This is the case when only a few cells are hit, and if they are killed immediately, your body will replace the dead cells with healthy ones. But if the few cells are only damaged, and if they reproduce themselves, you may be in trouble. They can grow into cancer. Sometimes this does not show up for many years.
This is another reason for some of the mystery about nuclear radiation. Serious damage can be done without the victim being aware at the time that damage has occurred. A person can be irradiated(辐射)and feel fine, then die for cancer five, ten, or twenty years later as a result. Or a child can be born weak as a result of radiation absorbed by its grandparents.
Radiation can hurt us. We must know the truth.What is the main idea of the passage?
A.How to detect nuclear radiation. |
B.How radiation kill a man. |
C.The mystery about nuclear radiation. |
D.Serious damage caused by nuclear radiation. |
Which of the following statements is true?
A.Nuclear radiation can cause cancer to human beings. |
B.Nuclear radiation can be safe to human beings if its level is low. |
C.Nuclear radiation can be detected by human senses. |
D.Nuclear radiation is just like common radio waves. |
What is not the reason why nuclear radiation has a certain mystery?
A.The hurt cells can stay in the body many years and then grow into cancer. |
B.It can do harm to a person while the victim isn't aware the damage has occurred. |
C.Nuclear radiation can kill a person very easily. |
D.Radiation can seldom kill a person immediately. |
If a human being is hit by nuclear radiation, he may _______.
A.die of cancer after many years | B.die immediately |
C.have a child who may be born weak | D.all of the above |
Farmers, especially in developing countries, are often criticized for cutting down forests. But a new study suggests that many farmers recognize the value of keeping trees.
Researchers using satellite images found at least ten percent tree cover on more than one billion hectares of farmland. That is almost half the farmland in the world. Earlier estimates were much lower but incomplete. The authors of the new study say it may still underestimate the true extent worldwide.
The study found the most tree cover in South America. Next comes Africa south of the Sahara, followed by Southeast Asia. North Africa and West Asia have the least.
The study found that climate conditions alone could not explain the amount of tree cover in different areas. Nor could the size of nearby populations, meaning people and trees can live together. There are areas with few trees but also few people, and areas with many trees and many people. The findings suggest that things like land rights, markets or government policies can influence tree planting and protection.
Dennis Garrity, who heads the World Agroforestry Center, says farmers are acting on their own to protect and plant trees. The problem, he says, is that policy makers and planners have been slow to recognize this and to support such efforts.
The satellite images may not show what the farmers are using the trees for, but trees provide nuts, fruit, wood and other products. They also help prevent soil loss and protect water supplies. Even under drought(干旱)conditions, trees can often provide food and a way to earn money until the next growing season.
Some trees act as natural fertilizers. They take nitrogen(氮气)out of the air and put it in the soil. Scientists at the Center say the use of fertilizer trees can re-duce the need for chemical nitrogen by up to three-fourths. Trees also capture carbon dioxide, a gas linked to climate change.Through the study, the researchers found that .
A.there are more trees on farmlands than expected |
B.fewer trees are being cut in developing countries |
C.most farmers still don’t realize the value of trees |
D.trees play a key role in preventing climate change |
Which of the following has the least tree cover?
A.Southeast Asia | B.West Asia. |
C.South America. | D.Africa south of the Sahara. |
In Dennis Garrity’s opinion,.
A.most farmers care about nothing but their own interests |
B.there are usually few people living in areas with few trees |
C.government plays a small role in tree planting and protection |
D.government should support farmers in planting and protecting trees |
The sixth paragraph mainly tells about .
A.how farmers plant trees |
B.what products trees can bring |
C.the importance of trees to farmers |
D.the environmental value of tree cover |