China is known for its long history, rich culture, and cute pandas. It's also known for some of the worst air quality in the world. But the Asian country is now using a natural weapon against air pollution – trees.
In February, China's government announced plans to cover at least 32,400 square miles with forest. That is about the size of Ireland. Some 60,000 soldiers will take charge of the tree-planting program. Most of the trees will be planted in Hebei Province. That is an area surrounding China's capital, Beijing.
Huang Wei is an environmentalist who works for Greenpeace East Asia. She is optimistic about the plan. “Trees act as a sink to absorb carbon dioxide and other pollutants,” she said. Carbon dioxide is a gas that traps the Earth's heat. It contributes to global warming.
Why is China's air filled with harmful chemicals? It's because the country relies on coal-fired power plants. When coal is burned, PM2.5 is produced, PM2.5 is a pollutant. It can cause shortness of breath, heart attacks, and even death.
Just two years ago, pollution levels were so high in Beijing that schools and factories had to close. Huang hopes China's tree-planting plan will reduce the nation's suffering from air pollution.
The Chinese government is getting help from others in its drive to make the nation greener. Stefano Boeri is an Italian architect and urban planner. He is leading an effort to plant vertical(垂直的)forests in China.
Boeri's designs have already taken root in the city of Nanjing, China. That's where the Nanjing Green Towers are under construction. The building has two towers. Thousands of trees and hanging plants will grow on the balconies and rooftops.
Boeri says his goal is to design buildings that help the environment and improve air quality. He also hopes to encourage a new generation of green architects.
增加:在缺词处加一个漏字符号(∧),并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除:把多余的词用斜线(﹨)划掉。
删除:在错的词下划一横线,并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意:1)每处错误及其修改均仅限一词;
2)只允许修改10处,多者(从第11处起)不计分。
I got up early this morning, so I went to school without breakfast. I walked in so a hurry that I stepped on a banana peel dropped by an old man walk in front of me. As the result, I fell in my back. I am so angry that I wanted to blame the old man, so I controlled myself at last. I picked the banana peel, putting it into the dustbin and ran to school. The class had begun, but I was very happy because I did that what I should do to protect our environment.
“People are ruder today because they are rushed and more 'time poor' than ever before,” says Patsy Rowe, “Manners_have_fallen_off_the_radar(雷达).” Due to our strong attraction to electronic equipment it is a wonder more people don't wake up each morning and greet the singing birds with a complaint(抱怨)about the noise. Here are some examples of rudeness.
Some people prefer to do almost everything over the Internet. To them, dealing with an actual human needs more patience. It feels very slow because humans don't work at 4G speeds. When you have dinner with friends, you will often notice someone paying more attention to his mobile phone. We have programmed ourselves to think that every new message brings life-changing news, so taking calls and checking our texts are more important than talking to the people we are with. What is worse, some people even tend to send anonymous(匿名的) rude messages by email.
However, rudeness is never acceptable. Don't assume it is OK to be rude if the person you're in touch with won't recognize you. If you have something awful to say, have the courage to face the person and say it, write a letter or email and sign it, or forget it. Upsetting people with unsigned messages is cruel and disgusting.(令人厌恶的)
We shouldn't blame technology for our shortcomings. Technology is here to help us,but we should not allow it to take over our lives. An important step is acknowledging our shortcomings. People spend a lot of time pointing out bad manners but it would be even more helpful if we'd publicly acknowledge good manners when we see them.
根据短文内容,选择最佳答案,并将选定答案的字母标号填在题前括号内。
Ways to avoid quarrels with your mother
1 . Don't give her the silent treatment
The best technique to get what you want and exert mental pressure on somebody is to give them the silent treatment.If you think the silent treatment will help you achieve a desirable result,then you're mistaken.
2 . Refuse to go into hysterics(歇斯底里)
There's no doubt that hysterics is an extremely effective type of processing mode,but you're not a little child. Pull yourself together and try to reach a compromise against all problems.
3 . Avoid deeply offensive words
Word is a unique and powerful thing that exerts a big influence on human mind.If you're in a quarrel with your mother,you should be careful what you say to her. Sooner or later,you'll apologize for your bad behavior,but the words you've said and the feeling of hate will live in her heart forever.
4 .
I had a terrible habit of drawing my brother and dad into conflicts between me and my mom.I wanted them to support me and help us find a beneficial solution.Unfortunately,their active participation only worsened the problem.As a result,small and insignificant mother-child fights grew into long-lasting family conflicts.I learned a big lesson and realized that my bad temper made my family suffer.
5 . Enhance your communication
Regular communication with your parents is a normal thing that makes them happier. When you finally find the reason,you'll be able to overcome misunderstanding in communication with your mom and bridge the generation gap in a quite short period of time.
A.Buy a small gift for your mother.
B.Don't draw other family members into a conflict.
C.So try your best to comfort your mother after a quarrel.
D.You shouldn't burst into tears and scream in front of your mother.
E.By all means you should take immediate action to stop this cold war.
F.Sometimes your word can be either a perfect pain reliever or a terrible weapon.
G.Lack of communication between mothers and children may cause frequent quarrels.
Remarkable Ways to Push Yourself Harder
Deep inside us, we know that hard work is supposed to be the key to success. Here are the rules that you can also apply to make yourself work really hard.
Practice working hard.
Therefore, if you want to be a hard worker, you must practice working hard. Practice waking up early, practice doing a lot of work, and practice working more hours. One day you will wake up and realize that you are a hard worker.
Many hard workers always have a large purpose that forces them to work. Don't just think of buying a car or a big house because this is not a purpose strong enough to push you forward. An example of a big purpose is deciding that you are working hard so that you bring change in the lives of your friends, family, and neighborhood. A strong purpose always involves bringing a large positive change in any particular setting.
Surround yourself with hard workers.
But if you surround yourself with hardworking people, you will find yourself working hard towards your goal. Avoid friends who just want to have fun all the time. This type of friends will always discourage you when you attempt to work hard. Therefore, always surround yourself with go-getters.
Read and watch inspirational materials.
You can also push yourself harder through reading and watching inspirational material. Motivational books and videos encourage you to work harder. These materials make you work hard.
A. Have a strong purpose.
B. Find a great goal to overcome your laziness.
C. Like other skills, one has to practice it to perfect it.
D. Inspirational material makes you believe in yourself.
E. Nevertheless, occasions are not rare when we always find it difficult to push ourselves harder.
F. They remove discouragement and assure you that you will never fail if you push yourself to the limit.
G. If you surround yourself with lazy people, you will also be lazy.
—You can depend on that all of us will stand by you all the time.
As Internet users become more dependent on the Internet to store information, are people remember less? If you know your computer will save information, why store it in your own personal memory, your brain? Experts are wondering if the Internet is changing what we remember and how.
In a recent study, Professor Betsy Sparrow conducted some experiments. She and her research team wanted to know the Internet is changing memory. In the first experiment, they gave people 40 unimportant facts to type into a computer. The first group of people understood thatthe computer would save the information. The second group understood that the computer would not save it. Later, the second group remembered the information better. People in the first group knew they could find the information again, so they did not try to remember it.
In another experiment, the researchers gave people facts to remember, and told them where to find the information on the Internet. The information was in a specific computer folder (文件夹). Surprisingly, people later remember the folder location (位置) better than the facts. When people use the Internet, they do not remember the information. Rather, they remember how to find it. This is called "transactive memory (交互记忆)".
According to Sparrow, we are not becoming people with poor memories as a result of the Internet. Instead, computer users are developing stronger transactive memories; that is, people are learning how to organize huge quantities of information so that they are able to access it at a later date. This doesn't mean we are becoming either more or less intelligent, but there is no doubt that the way we use memory is changing.
I went to a group activity, "Sensitivity Sunday", which was to make us more1the problems faced by disabled people. We were asked to "2 a disability" for several hours one Sunday. Some members, 3, chose to use wheelchairs. Others wore soundblocking earplugs (耳塞) or blindfolds (眼罩).
Just sitting in the wheelchair was a4experience. I had never considered before how5it would be to use one. As soon as I sat down, my6 made the chair begin to roll. Its wheels were not7. Then I wondered where to put my8. It took me quite a while to get the metal footrest into9. I took my first uneasy look at what was to be my only means of 10for several hours. For disabled people, "adopting a wheelchair" is not a temporary (临时的)11.
I tried to find a12position and thought it might be restful, 13 kind of nice, to be14 around for a while. Looking around, I15 I would have to handle the thing myself!My hands started to ache as I16the heavy metal wheels. I came to know that controlling the17 of the wheelchair was not going to be a (n)18task.
My wheelchair experiment was soon 19. It made a deep impression on me. A few hours of "disability" gave me only a taste of the20, both physical and mental, that disabled people must overcome.
--- Do you think we can get there on time?
--- __________ the car doesn’t break down.
A. So long as
B. Even though
C. As soon as
D. As if
If their marketing plans are changed, theirs sales by 10 percent.
| A. will be increased | B. have been increasing |
| C. have increased | D. would be increasing |
No one now likes to read his novel.However, it ______ very popular among teenagers.
A.had been B.was
C.has been D.would be
Over the next four years, Kyle and I became best friends.When we were seniors, we began to think about college.Kyle 1 on Georgetown, and I was going to Duke.I knew that we would always be 2 and that the miles would never be a problem.Kyle was 3 to prepare a speech for graduation.
Graduation day,l saw Kyle.I could see that he was 4 about his speech, So, I patted him on the back and said, “Hey, big guy, you'Il be great!” He looked at me with one of those 5 (the really grateful one) and smiled."Thanks," he said.
As he started his speech, he 6 his throat, and began."Graduation is a time to 7those who helped you 8 it through those tough years.Your parents, your teachers, your siblings, maybe a coach…but 9 , your friends.I am here to tell all of you that being a friend to someone is the best 10 you can give them.I am going to tell you a story.”
Ijust looked at my friend with 11 as he told the story of the first day we met.He had planned to 12 himself over the weekend.He talked of how he had 13 his locker so his Mom wouldnt have to do it later and was carrying his stuff home.He looked hard at me and gave me a little smile. “ 14 , I was saved.My friend saved me from doing the unspeakable.”
I heard the 15 go through the crowd as this handsome, popular boy told us all about his weakest moment.I saw his Mom and Dad 16 me and smiling that same grateful smile.Not until that moment did I 17 .its depth.
Never underestimate(低估)the 18 of your actions.With one small gesture you can change a person's life.For 19 or for worse.Friends are angles who lift us to our feet when our wings have 20 remembering how to fly.
1.A.decided B.called C.took D.agreed
2.A.classmates B.neighbors C.friends D.students
3.A.hoped B.chosen C.forced D.supposed
4.A.sure B.nervous C.eager D.curious
5.A.manners B.impressions C.interests D.looks
6.A.raised B.cleared C.swallowed D.felt
7.A.thank B.understand C.assist D.please
8.A.get B.catch C.manage D.make
9.A.practically B.nearly C.mostly D.seriously
10.A.lesson B.recluest C.gift D.position
11.A.dislike B.disbelief C.disagreement D.disrespect
12.A.kill B.help C.direct D.dismiss
13.A.brokenup B.putout C.set up D.cleanedout
14.A.Pfhankfully B.Unfortunately C.Actually D.Hopelessly
15.A.anger B.disappointment C.gasp D.terror
16.A.pointingto B.lookingat C.appealingto D.aiming at
17.A.reach B.observe C.realize D.measure
18.A.power B.purpose C.reason D.reward
19.A.fairer B.longer C.better D.harder
20.A.time B.energy C.freedom D.trouble
----My brother is not good at speaking English.
----I suggest _________ English for two hours every day.
A. he practice speaking B. him to speak
C. he speaking D. his practicing to speak