We may think we're a culture that gets rid of our worn technology at the first sight of something shiny and new, but a new study shows that we keep using our old devices (装置) well after they go out of style. That's bad news for the environment - and our wallets - as these outdated devices consume much more energy than the newer ones that do the same things.
To figure out how much power these devices are using, Callie Babbitt and her colleagues at the Rochester Institute of Technology in New York tracked the environmental costs for each product throughout its life - from when its minerals are mined to when we stop using the device. This method provided a readout for how home energy use evolved since the early 1990s. Devices were grouped by generation. Desktop computers, basic mobile phones, and box-set TVs defined 1992. Digital cameras arrived on the scene in 1997. And MP3 players, smart phones, and LCD TVs entered homes in 2002, before tablets and e-readers showed up in 2007.
As we accumulated more devices, however, we didn't throw out our old ones." The Living-room television is replaced and gets planted in the kid's room, and suddenly one day, you have a TV in every room of the house," said one researcher. The average number of electronic devices rose from four per household in 1992 to 13 in 2007. We're not just keeping these old devices-we continue to use them. According to the analysis of Babbitt's team, old desktop monitors and box TV's with cathode ray tubes are the worst devices with their energy consumption and contribution to greenhouse gas emissions(排放) more than doubling during the 1992 to 2007 window.
So what's the solution(解决方案)? The team's data only went up to 2007, but the researchers also explored what would happen if consumers replaced old products with new electronics that serve more than one function, such as a tablet for word processing and TV viewing. They found that more on-demand entertainment viewing on tables instead of TVs and desktop computers could cut energy consumption by 44%.
32.What does the author think of new devices?
| A． | They are environment-friendly. |
| B． | They are no better than the old. |
| C． | They cost more to use at home. |
| D． | They go out of style quickly. |
33.Why did Babbitt's team conduct the research?
| A． | To reduce the cost of minerals. |
| B． | To test the life cycle of a product. |
| C． | To update consumers on new technology. |
| D． | To find out electricity consumption of the devices. |
34.Which of the following uses the least energy?
| A． | The box-set TV. |
| B． | The tablet. |
| C． | The LCD TV. |
| D． | The desktop computer. |
35.What does the text suggest people do about old electronic devices?
| A． | Stop using them. |
| B． | Take them apart. |
| C． | Upgrade them. |
| D． | Recycle them. |
Signs in Chinese will be set up in public areas such as airports, to benefit Chinese travelers, the Italian Government announced in late February. Now many European countries are expected to follow this example.
Despite the different languages, travel across Europe has never been so simple. Just five years ago, if you wanted to visit Germany in the north and Spain in the south in one trip, you had to wait for weeks to apply for different visas from the two countries. You also needed a calculator because both countries had different money.
Today, with a Schengen Visa issued by any member country, you can travel across 15 European countries without stopping. Since 2002, within most of the EU, there is now just one type of money called the Euro. The Euro was designed to be the only money in the EU, and already makes it easier to shop around. If you drive, your driving license and car insurance policy are valid（有效的）in the other European countries. And you can use your mobile phone everywhere.
All the countries in the continent are melting into a united Europe under the EU. For Europeans and visitors, the result is that it is more convenient to travel back and forth between the different countries.By saying the underlined sentence “Now many European countries are expected to follow this example”, the writer means that ____.
| A．more signs will be set up in Chinese in European countries |
| B．more and more Europeans have a desire to know more about China |
| C．more and more Chinese people will go to travel across Europe |
| D．Chinese is now an important language in Europe |
Compared to five years ago, traveling in Europe has become easier because ___.
| A．you needn’t drive a car |
| B．you can use a calculator to exchange money |
| C．applying for different visas is much simpler |
| D．one visa is good enough for traveling in a number of countries |
It can be inferred from the passage that _____.
| A．an increasing number of Chinese tend to travel to Europe |
| B．Chinese has become an important language in Europe |
| C．the Euro is the only money used in the EU now |
| D．it is always necessary to unite many countries into one |
My father and I were very close. I loved pleasing him, and he was always proud of my success. If I won a spelling contest(竞赛) at school, he was on top of the world. Later in life whenever I got a promotion(提升), I'd call my father right away and he'd rush out to tell all his friends. In 1970,when I was named president of the Ford Motor Company, I don't know which of us was more excited.
Like many native Italians, my parents were very open with their feelings and their loves not only at home, but also in public. Most of my friends would never hug(拥抱) their fathers. But I hugged and kissed my dad at every opportunity for nothing could have felt more natural.
He was a curious man who was always trying new things. He was the first person in Allentown to buy a motorcycle. Unfortunately, my father and his motorcycle didn't get along too well. He fell off it so often that he got rid of it just a month after buying it. As a result, he never again trusted any vehicle with less than four wheels.
Because of that motorcycle, I wasn't allowed to have a bicycle when I was growing up. Whenever I wanted to ride a bike, I had to borrow one from a friend. On the other hand, my father let me drive a car as soon as I turned sixteen. I hugged and kissed my father at every opportunity,______.
| A．even though I hated to do so |
| B．because I was told to do so by my mother |
| C．as I was named president of the Ford Motor company |
| D．for I felt it quite natural to do so |
My father trusted no vehicle with less than four wheels because _____.
| A．he did not like the way I always borrowed bicycles from friends |
| B．he thought that cars were faster than motorcycles |
| C．he liked every new model made by the Ford Motor company |
| D．he had trouble in riding his motorcycle |
Which of the following statements shows that my father was a curious man?
| A．I wasn't allowed to have a car when I was growing up. |
| B．He was the first person in town to buy a motorcycle. |
| C．He was always proud of my success. |
| D．He was very open with his feelings and his love. |
Which of the following statements is NOT true?
| A．My father loved his motorcycle. He rode through the dirty streets of Allentown every day. |
| B．I was not allowed to have a bicycle when I was growing up, but when I was just 16 I was allowed to drive a car. |
| C．My father was always proud of what I did. He was very pleased when I won a spelling contest at school. |
| D．My father bought a motorcycle, but got rid of it because he fell off it so often. |
What is the difference between a college and a university? This is a good question for students who want to attend a college or a university in the United States.
Colleges and universities have many things in common. Both provide a greater understanding of the world and its past. Both provide education in the arts and sciences. And both can help prepare young people to earn a living.
Students who complete their undergraduate studies either at a four-year college or a university receive a bachelor’s degree. One difference is that many colleges do not offer graduate studies.
Universities are generally bigger, offer more programs and do more research. Modern universities developed from those of the Middle Ages in Europe. The word “university” comes from the Latin “universitas”. This described a group of people organized for a common purpose. The word “college” comes from a Latin word with a similar meaning, “collegium”. In England, colleges were formed to provide students with places to live in. Usually each group of students was studying the same thing. So college came to mean an area of study. But a college can also be a part of a university. The first American universities divided their studies into a number of areas and called each one a college. This is still true.
Programs in higher learning may also be called schools. The University of Arizona in Tucson, for example, has 18 colleges and 10 schools. They include the colleges of pharmacy (制药学), education, engineering and law. They also include the schools of architecture, dance and public administration.
College is also used as a general term for higher education. A news report might talk about “college students” even if they include students at universities. Or someone might ask, “Where do you go to college?”
Today, most American colleges offer an area of study called liberal arts. These are subjects first developed and taught in ancient Greece. They include language, philosophy and mathematics. The purpose is to train a person’s mind instead of teaching job skills. The passage is probably written to _________.
| A．persuade students to go to college instead of schools |
| B．tell students the differences between colleges and universities |
| C．help students make a better choice of what kind of colleges they should go to |
| D．inform students about how much they are going to spend in going to college |
When the term “college students” appears in a newspaper, it may refer to ________.
| A．only students studying in colleges |
| B．students studying in colleges in the USA |
| C．only students studying in universities |
| D．students receiving higher education |
What can we learn from the passage?
| A．Both universities and colleges include different schools. |
| B．The purpose of liberal arts is to train a person’s job skill. |
| C．Both universities and colleges can help prepare students to make a living. |
| D．Most American universities have 18 colleges and 10 schools. |
The area of study called liberal arts is designed to _______.
| A．get students ready to earn a living |
| B．teach students subjects from engineering to philosophy |
| C．help students achieve a stronger and clearer mind |
| D．encourage more students to begin the study of arts |
Have you thanked your grandma today? You might want to consider it. A recent study found that kids live longer when a grandmother takes part in their daily lives.
Most animals die soon after their childbearing years are over. Women, however, often live for many years after they stop having kids.
To try to understand why, researchers from Finland looked at birth and death records of two communities from the 18th and 19th centuries, one in Finland and one in Canada. In these communities, 537 Finnish women and 3,290 Canadian women were grandmothers who had lived past the age of 50.
For every decade they lived beyond 50, the researchers found that the women ended up with an average of two extra grandkids. It didn’t matter what the differences in health or living conditions were between the two communities or from family to family.
Grandchildren were also more likely to live into adulthood if their grandmothers were alive when they were born. If their grandmothers were younger than 60 at the time, that was even better. The study also found that women had children 2 to 3 years earlier if their own mothers were still alive at that time than those whose mothers had died.
The researchers suggested that grandmothers have provided important assistance in raising their grandchildren for at least the past 200,000 years. As a result, they helped extend everyone’s lifespan.
So, don’t take your grandma for granted!How many women in the survey in the two communities were grandmothers who had lived past the age of 50?
| A．537. | B．3,290. | C．3,827. | D．2,753. |
According to the passage, what influence did it have on a woman if her mother was still alive?
| A．She was also more likely to live into adulthood. |
| B．She had children 2 to 3 years earlier. |
| C．She ended up with an average of two extra grandkids. |
| D．It had no influence on her. |
How did grandmothers help extend everyone’s lifespan?
| A．They provided them with better living conditions. |
| B．They provided assistance in raising their grandchildren. |
| C．They helped with housework. |
| D．They made everyone happy. |
According to the passage, we don’t know that _______.
| A．kids live longer when grandmothers take part in their daily lives |
| B．most animals die soon after their childbearing years are over |
| C．women often live for many years after they stop having kids |
| D．grandchildren are less likely to live into adulthood if their grandmothers are alive |
American women experience a great variety of lifestyle. A typical American woman may be single. She may also be divorced or married. She may be a homemaker, a doctor or a factory worker. It is very difficult to generalize about American women. However, one thing that many American women have in common is their attitudes about themselves and their roles in American life.
Historically, American women have always been very independent. The first settlers to come to New England were ten young couples that had left behind their extended families. The women were alone in a new, undeveloped country with their husbands. This has two important effects. First of all, this was the uncivilized environment that demanded every person to share in developing it and in survival. Women worked with their husbands and children to make themselves accepted in this new land. Second, because they were in a new land without the established influence of older members of society, women felt free to step into non—traditional roles.
This role of women was strengthened in later years as Americans move west again, leaving families behind and meeting a new environment. Even later, in the east, as new settlers arrived, women often found jobs more easily than men. Women became the supporters of the family.
Within the established lifestyle of the industrialized twentieth century, the strong role of women was not attractive as in the early days of the country. Some women stepped into the men’s jobs as factory and business workers. After the war, some women stayed in these positions, and others left their jobs with a new sense of ability.A typical American woman is______________.
| A．single or married | B． divorced |
| C．sure about herself and her role | D． all of the above |
During the industrialized twentieth century, the role of women__________.
| A．was found out |
| B．was as important as before. |
| C．declined |
| D．was stronger than that of the early days |
Women took part in men’s job during the time of_________.
| A．the Second World War |
| B． the Westward Movement |
| C． the early immigration |
| D． the industrialized twentieth century. |