A “Green” Christmas spirit is upon us this year and it seems like everyone is wondering which kind of Christmas tree serves eco-friendly the best this year.
One of the concepts that I have seen this year is whether to purchase a real Christmas tree or an artificial tree. Which one is more “Green”? People are leaning in the wrong direction when they assume that the artificial Christmas tree poses less of a threat to the Earth.
The truth of the matter is, if you have to have a tree this year(because the greenest option is no tree) the real tree is far more eco-friendly than the fake one. Why? Most of the artificial trees are made of PVC. Beyond the fact that the creation of PVC emits nasty gases into the atmosphere, this plastic is definitely not recyclable, which means that you should throw away artificial trees and bury them in land-and that is something that eco-conscious people want to steer away from.
If you want to take your sustainable Christmas tree, find a local organic Christmas tree farm. They don’t use the harmful pesticides and chemicals. You will want to start thinking and planning ahead in order to locate the best place to purchase your “Green” Christmas tree. Don’t forget to figure out what you will do with your tree after the holiday is over as well.
Here are some Earth-friendly ways to dispose of your real tree this year:
1)If you purchased the tree at an organic tree farm and you are sure that it wasn’t treated with harmful chemicals, think about dumping it into s small lake or pond. It can offer a wonderful new play land for fish.
2)Most cities gather trees on a certain day after Christmas. Be sure to call your local township and ask them if and when they do this prior to the holidays.
3)You could replant it, however you will need to make sure that you choose the right tree and have enough roots to make this option work.
Planning ahead is the key to hosting a Green Christmas this year. Map out where you will purchase your tree and where and how you will dispose of it prior to Christmas in order to achieve the most sustainable plans. You don’t have to go treeless to enjoy a Green Holiday Season…just make sure that you look into all of your options and choose the most sustainable option that is available in your area. Happy Holidays!
阅读快车系列答案科目：高中英语 来源：2010-2011河北衡水中学高二下学期期末考试英语试卷 题型：阅读理解
Construction workers in Southern California have made a wild discovery. They were digging at a building site in San Timoteo Canyon (峡谷) when they unearthed hundreds of ancient animal fossils. Researchers say the bones hold important clues about the history of the region.
Nearly 1, 500 fossils were recovered from the dusty canyon. The remains are about 1.4 million years old. They include the bones of a new species of deer, several small rodents (啮齿目动物) and more. A giant cat fossil was also found. Scientists believe the animal was an ancestor of the saber- toothed tiger. Signs of plant life were uncovered as well.
“This is a huge find,” says Rick Greenwood, a scientist studying the site. “I don’t think most people had any idea that those types of animals were wandering around here more than a million years ago.”
San Timoteo Canyon is located about 85 miles from Los Angeles. The area of the canyon where the fossils were found was once part of a green river valley. Today, the region is dry and plant life is rare.
Most of the fossils are well preserved. Experts say a muddy lake bed may have trapped thirty animals that wandered over for a drink. The mud helped to protect the animal fossils.
The remains are a million years older than those discovered at the famous La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles. Scientists studying the bones will be able to learn more about how the animals adapted to changes in the environment.
“We have a confused view of what this time period was like, ” says another scientist. “A discovery like this could really be an important contribution.”
About 35 different animal species are represented in the fossil collection. Scientists began removing bones from the site last fall. The project was completed this summer. Starting next year, the fossils will be on display at the Western Science Center in the nearby city of Hemet, California.
【小题1】
What does the passage mainly focus on?
| A．The secret of ancient animals’ deaths. |
| B．The preparation for a future fossil exhibition. |
| C．A great discovery of fossils. |
| D．The history of San Timoteo Canyon. |
| A．fossils were discovered in the canyon for the first time. |
| B．the canyon in ancient times was quite different. |
| C．more research work will be carried on in the canyon. |
| D．the river water helped to protect the animal fossils. |
| A．are far older | B．include more species |
| C．are better preserved | D．make experts more confused |
| A．All of them are of new species. |
| B．Some of them have been destroyed |
| C．They were looked for under experts’ guidance. |
| D．They will be on show in the near future. |
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科目：高中英语 来源：2012届福建省漳州五中高三模拟考试英语试卷（带解析） 题型：阅读理解
A long time ago, there lived a poor man whose real name has been forgotten. He was little and old and his face was wrinkled, and that was why his friends called him Mr. Vinegar. His wife was also little and old, and they lived in a little old cottage at the back of a little old field.
"John," said Mrs. Vinegar, "you must go to town and buy a cow. I will milk her and churn（搅拌） butter and we shall never want for anything."
"That is a good plan," said Mr. Vinegar, so he started off to town while his wife waited by the roadside.
Mr. Vinegar walked up and down the street of the town looking for a cow. After a time, a farmer came that way, leading one that was very pretty and fat.
"Oh, if I only had that cow," said Mr. Vinegar, "I would be the happiest man in the world!"
"She's a very good cow," said the farmer.
"Well," said Mr. Vinegar, "I'll give you these 50 gold pieces for her."
The farmer smiled and held out his hand for the money, "You may have her," he said, "I always like to oblige（施恩惠） , my friends!"
Mr. Vinegar took hold of the cow's halter and led her up and down the street. "I am the luckiest man in the world," he said, "for only see how all the people are looking at me and my cow!"
But at one end of the street, he met a man playing bagpipes（风笛） . He stopped and listened -- Tweedle Dee Tweedle Dee.
"Oh, that is the sweetest music I ever heard," he said, "and just see how all the children crowd around the man and give him pennies! If I only had those bagpipes, I would be the happiest man in the world!!"
"I'll sell them to you," said the piper.
"Will you? Well then, since I have no money, I will give you this cow for them."
"You may have them," answered the piper, "I always like to oblige a friend."
Mr. Vinegar took the bagpipes and the piper led the cow away.
"Now we will have some music," said Mr. Vinegar, but try as hard as he might, he could not play a tune. He could get nothing out of the bagpipes but "squeak, squeak". The children instead of giving him pennies laughed at him.
The day was chilly and in trying to play the pipes, his fingers grew very cold. He wished he had kept the cow.
He just started for home when he met a man who had warm gloves on his hands. "Oh, if I only had those pretty gloves," he said, "I would be the happiest man in the world."
"How much will you give for them?" asked the man.
"Oh, I have no money, but I will give you these bagpipes," answered Mr. Vinegar.
"Well," said the man, "you may have them for I always like to oblige a friend."
Mr. Vinegar gave him the bagpipes and drew the gloves on over his half frozen fingers. "How lucky I am," he said as he trudged（跋涉） homeward. His hands were soon quite warm, but the road was rough and the walking hard. He was very tired when he came to the foot of the steep hill. "How shall I ever get to the top?" he said. Just then he met a man who was walking the other way. He had a stick in his hand which he used as a cane to help him along.
"My friend," said Mr. Vinegar, "if only I had that stick of yours to help me up this hill, I would be the happiest man in the world!"
"How much will you give me for it?" asked the man.
"Well, I have no money, but I will give you this pair of warm gloves," said Mr. Vinegar.
"Well," said the man, "you may have it for I always like to oblige a friend."
Mr. Vinegar's hands were now quite warm, so he gave the gloves to the man and took the stout（结实的） stick to help him along. "How lucky I am!'' he said as he toiled upward.
At the top of the hill he stopped to rest. But as he was thinking of all his good luck that day, he heard someone calling his name. He looked up and saw only a green parrot sitting in a tree.
"Mr. Vinegar, Mr. Vinegar," it cried.
"What now?" said Mr. Vinegar.
"You're a dunce（傻瓜） , you're a dunce!'' answered the bird, "you went to seek your fortune and you found it, then you gave it for a cow, and the cow for some bagpipes, and the bagpipes for some gloves, and the gloves for a stick which you might of cut by the roadside. He He He, you're a dunce! You're a dunce!''
This made Mr. Vinegar very angry. He threw the stick at the bird with all his might. But the bird only answered, "You're a dunce! You're a dunce!" And the stick lodged in the tree where he could not get it again.
Mr. Vinegar went on slowly for he had many things to think about. His wife was standing by the roadside and as soon as she saw him, she cried out, "Where's the cow? Where's the cow?" "Well, I just don't know where the cow is," said Mr. Vinegar. And then he told her the whole story.
【小题1】What’s the meaning of the underlined word in the passage?
| A．成功 | B．财富 | C．幸福 | D．健康 |
| A．1 | B．2 | C．3 | D．4 |
| A．Because Mr.Vinegar married an old woman |
| B．Because Mr.Vinegar gave his fortune for nothing |
| C．Because Mr.Vinegar was little and old |
| D．Because Mr.Vinegar did nothing but be angry |
| A．Sad | B．Calm | C．Happ | D．Angry |
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科目：高中英语 来源：2012-2013学年浙江省金华一中高二下学期期中考试英语试卷（带解析） 题型：阅读理解
August was one of the nastiest months I can remember: torrential rain; a hailstorm or two; cold, bitter winds; and mists. But we are accustomed to such weather in England. Lord Byron used to say that an English summer begins on July 31 and ends on Aug. 1. He called 1816 "the year without a summer." He spent it gazing across Lake Geneva, watching the storms, with 18-year-old Mary Shelley. The lightening flickering across the lake inspired her Frankenstein, the tale of the man-made monster galvanized into life by electricity.
This summer's atrocious weather tempted me to tease a Green whom I know. "Well, what about your weather theory now?" (One of the characteristics of Greens is that they know no history.) He replied: "Yes, this weather is unprecedented. England has never had such an August before. It's global warming, of course." That's the Greens' stock response to anything weather-related. Too much sun? "Global warming." Too little sun? "Global warming." Drought? "Global warming." Floods? "Global warming." Freezing cold? "Global warming."
I wish the great philosopher Sir Karl Popper were alive to denounce the unscientific nature of global warming. He was a student when Albert Einstein's General Theory of Relativity was first published and then successfully tested. Einstein said that for his theory to be valid it would have to pass three tests. "If," Einstein wrote to British scientist Sir Arthur Eddington, "it were proved that this effect does not exist in nature, then the whole theory would have to be abandoned."
The idea that human beings have changed and are changing the basic climate system of the Earth through their industrial activities and burning of fossil fuels--the essence of the Greens' theory of global warming--has not much basis in science. Global warming, like Marxism, is a political theory of actions, demanding compliance with its rules.
Those who buy in to global warming wish to drastically curb human economic and industrial activities, regardless of the consequences for people, especially the poor. If the theory's conclusions are accepted and agreed upon, the destructive results will be felt most severely in those states that adhere to the rule of law and will observe restrictions most faithfully. The global warming activists' target is the U.S. If America is driven to accept crippling restraints on its economy it will rapidly become unable to shoulder its burdens as the world's sole superpower and ultimate defender of human freedoms. We shall all suffer, however, as progress falters and then ceases and living standards decline.
【小题1】 The writer of the passage is probably _______.
| A．one of the “Greens” |
| B．an American |
| C．not quite a believer in Global Warming |
| D．an environmentalist |
| A．Karl Marx | B．Sir Karl Popper | C．The Greens | D．Mary Shelley |
| A．politician | B．poet | C．Greenpeacer | D．physicist |
| A．announce | B．pronounce |
| C．speak out for | D．speak out against |
| A．Why Einstein’s Theory Stands the Tests. |
| B．Which Country the “Greens” Are Attacking? |
| C．Global Warming? I See Little Point. |
| D．The Climate in England and beyond. |
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科目：高中英语 来源：2011-2012学年甘肃省武威第五中学高二3月月考英语试卷（带解析） 题型：写作题
校学生会正在面向全校师生征集创建绿色校园活动的建议。下面是一些已经征集到的建议，请你为校报写一篇英文报道。
| Creating a Green Campus |
| 1.绿化环境，多植树种草，愉悦身心； |
| 2.保护环境，尽可能少使用塑料制品等，减少白色污染； |
| 3.考试不作弊，不抄袭作业，不浏览不健康网站。 |
| 你的建议…… |
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科目：高中英语 来源：2012-2013学年四川省乐山市高三9月月考英语试卷（解析版） 题型：阅读理解
You’ve just come home, after living abroad for a few years. Since you’ve been away, has this country changed for the better—or for the worse?
If you’ve just arrived back in the UK after a fortnight’s holiday, small changes have probably surprised you—anything from a local greengrocer suddenly being replaced by a mobile-phone shop to someone in your street moving house.
So how have things changed to people coming back to Britain after seven, ten or even 15 years living abroad? What changes in society can they see that the rest of us have hardly noticed—or now take for granted? To find out, we asked some people who recently returned.
Debi: When we left, Cheltenham, my home town, was a town of white, middle-class families—all very conservative (保守的). The town is now home to many eastern Europeans and lots of Australians, who come here mainly to work in hotels and tourism. There are even several shops only for foreigners.
Having been an immigrant (移民) myself, I admire people who go overseas to find a job. Maybe if I lived in an inner city where unemployment was high, I’d think differently, but I believe foreign settlers have improved this country because they’re more open-minded and often work harder than the natives.
Christine: As we flew home over Britain, both of us remarked how green everything looked. But the differences between the place we’d left behind and the one we returned to were brought sharply into focus as soon as we landed.
To see policemen with guns in the airport for the first time was frightening—in Cyprus, they’re very relaxed—and I got pulled over by customs officers just for taking a woolen sweater with some metal-made buttons out of my case in the arrivals hall. Everyone seemed to be on guard. Even the airport car-hire firm wanted a credit card rather than cash because they said their vehicles had been used by bank robbers.
But anyway, this is still a green, beautiful country. I just wish more people would appreciate what they’ve got.
1.After a short overseas holiday, people tend to _______.
|
A．expect small changes |
|
B．notice small changes |
|
C．welcome small changes |
|
D．exaggerate small changes |
2.How does Debi look at the foreign settlers?
|
A．Cautiously. |
B．Sceptically. |
|
C．Positively. |
D．Critically. |
3.When arriving at the airport in Britain, Christine was shocked by _______.
|
A．the relaxed policemen |
B．the messy arrivals hall |
|
C．the bank robbers |
D．the tight security |
4.Which might be the best title for the passage?
|
A．Back in Britain. |
B．Life in Britain. |
|
C．Britain in Future. |
D．Britain in Memory. |
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