When you go shopping，you are given at least one plastic bag to carry what you’ve bought.They are so common that we don’t often give them a second thought.But the beginning of the end may have come for the plastic bag.

A small town in Tasmania，an island off the south coast of mainland Australia，is making itself an environmental role model (模范) by becoming the country’s first plastic­bag­free town.

Since April 28，Coles Bay’s population of 175 and its tourist shoppers have been using reusable paper or cloth bags to carry their shopping.

Coles Bay sits on the edge of the beautiful Freycinet national park.Around 180,000 tourists pass through the town and the park every year.

Ben Kearney，a local businessman who supports the bag ban，said it would cut the amount of waste and prevent damage to native wildlife who try to eat the plastic.

“Most of the business here comes from the tourism and that’s all based on the environment，so people were pretty supportive.”he said.

Every year Australians use more than 6 million plastic bags.More than half of these come from supermarkets.Since_it_takes_years_for_the_bags_to_biodegrade_(生物分解)，tens_of_millions_end_up_polluting_the_environment.They kill about 100,000 seabirds and animals，which mistake the bags for food，every year.

Only in the past few months have major Australian supermarkets begun cutting down on their use of plastic bags.Environmental groups are pushing for a plastic bag fee (费) like that in Ireland.There，since plastic bags cost 10 pence (about 1 yuan) each，their use has been cut by 90 percent.

Pollution caused by plastic bags is a big headache for countries all over the world.As early as 1999，Beijing said that only plastic bags of certain thickness could be used.This was to encourage them to be used again and again.In China’s capital alone，an average of 6 million plastic bags are used every single day.

36．What’s meant by“the beginning of the end may have come for the plastic bag”in the first paragraph?

A．It’s possible for the war against plastic bag use to have been started.

B．It’s likely that plastic bag use has been stopped.

C．It won’t be long before an end is put to plastic bag use.

D．Once started，plastic bag use will never end.

37．We can know from the passage that Coles Bay________.

A．is a small coastal city

B. is a place where you can see far more visitors than natives

C. was the first to offer plastic bags to shoppers free of charge

D．is a place where reusable plastic bags are used

38．According to Ben Kearney，the natives welcome the change in bag use because they________.

A．need to make money

B．are short of energy supply

C．don’t want to waste money

D．want to do something good for mankind

39．Judging from the underlined sentence in the Paragraph 7，“end up doing sth.” means“________”．

A．stop doing sth.                                     B．begin doing sth.

C．do sth.as a result                                  D．disappear while doing sth.

40．Which country or area is more polluted by plastic bags than the others?

A．Ireland.                                              B．Mainland Australia.

C．Coles Bay.                                          D．Beijing.

There is famous story about British poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge．He was writing a poem when he was interrupted by a knock at the door．
This was an age before telephones．Someone was delivering a message．When Colcridge got back to his poem, he had lost his inspiration．His poetic mood had been broken by the knock on his
door．His unfinished poem, which could otherwise have been a masterpiece, would now never be more than a fragment(碎片,片段)．
This story tells how unexpected communication can destroy an important thought, which brings us to the cell phone．
The most common complaint about cell phones is that people talk on them to the annoyance of people around them．But marc damaging may be the cell phone’s disruption of our thoughts．
We have already entered a golden age of little white lies about our call phones, and this is by and large a healthy, productive development．" I didn't hear it ring" or " I didn't realize my cell phone had shut off" arc among the lies we tell to give ourselves space where we’re beyond reach．
The notion or idea of being unreachable is not a new concept-we havoc "Do Not Disturb" signs on the doors of hotel rooms． So why must we feel guilty when it comes to cell phones? Why must we apologize if we decide to shut off the phone for a while?
The problem is that we come from a long-established tradition of difficulty with distance communication．Until the recent mass deployment of cell phones, it was easy to communicate with someone next to us or a few feet away, but difficult with someone across town, the country or the
globe．We came to take it for granted．
But cell phones make long-distance communication common, and endanger our time by ourselves．Now time alone, or conversation with someone next to us which cannot be interrupted by a phone, is something to be cherished．Even cell phone devotees, myself usually included, can't help at times wanting to throw their cell phone away, or curse the day they were invented．
But we don't and won't, and there really is no need．All that's required to take back our private time is a general social recognition that we have the right to it．
In other words, we have to develop a healthy contempt for the rings of our phones．Given the case of making and receiving cell phone calls, if we don-t talk to the caller right now, we surely will shortly later．
A cell phone call deserves no greater priority than a random word from a person next to us．Though the call on my cell phone may be the one-in-a-million from Steven Spielberg-who has  finally read my novel and wants to make it his next movie．But most likely it is not, and I'm better
off thinking about the idea I just had for a new story, or the pizza I’ll eat for lunch．
【小题1】What's the point of the anecdote about poet Coleridge in the first three paragraphs?

Heading overseas on a business trip or just for pleasure any time soon？If so，have you thought about what you are going to do about communication？You may need to arrange cab service or get directions to an attraction，not to mention you want to stay in touch with the folks back home.

Hope you aren’t counting_on your personal cell phone.Industry experts estimate that most American cell phones won’t work overseas due to compatibility (兼容性) issues.And even if yours did work，the roaming (漫游) charges would be too high.

So what are your choices？You could rent a phone with a local number in the country you’re traveling to，but that wouldn’t do you much good if you’re constantly on the go.A more cost?effective way would be to rent a satellite phone from a company like Global Cellular Rental.

The process is amazingly fast and simple.All you have to do is to log onto the company’s website，www.globalcellularrental.com，and place an order.The site will show you the countries you will be traveling to and ask you how long you will need the phone.The company then ships a cell phone directly to you anywhere in the world.The phone arrives with complete instructions.

The traveler also learns his overseas phone number well in advance，enabling him to inform all vital contacts of the number before he ever steps on a plane.

Roaming rates are usually 80 percent less than those charged by American service providers.Calls back to the US can be discounted 40 percent or more.The rentals cost is just $5 per day，and discount packages are available for long?term rentals of two months or more.

This cell phone solution is becoming so popular that Global Cellular Rental actually has relationships with hotel chains around the world to keep phones in stock for hotel guests.And for those whose journey really takes them off the beaten track，the company can also rent satellite phones to them.These phones work anywhere in the world as long as you are outside.

1.The underlined words in Paragraph 2 mean “________”．

A．throwing away? B．depending on

C．complaining about? D．figuring out

2.Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A．You must place an order on its website.

B．Discount packages need to be applied in advance.

C．The Global Cellular Rental is an American company.

D．The company doesn’t help those travelers to remote areas.

3.Which shows the cost?effective aspect of the satellite phone when an American user travels in Beijing?

A．The roaming rates are 20% discount compared to American local service.

B．Calls back to the US cost 60% less compared to American local service.

C．The rental cost is $150 per month if you rent for three months.

D．Forty percent or more discount is available when he calls back to the US.

4.How many ways of overseas communications by phone are mentioned in the passage?

A．2. B．3.

C．4. D．5.

根据短文内容，从短文后的选项中，选出能填入空白处的最佳选项，选项中有两项为多余选项。

    Is the customer always right?    Shopping is very much a part of a country’s culture, and

attitudes to shopping and consumers vary from country to country just as much as climate or taste

in food.

Recent economic hardship has given the consumers increased power in Europe because shopkeepers fight to win their share of reduced disposable（可支配的）income．This has meant failing prices，plenty of special offers and a re-examination of what customer service really means． In restaurants in the south of the USA，for example，waiters compliment．（恭维）you on your clothes，ask about your day，compliment you on your wisdom of your order and then return every ten minutes to refill your glass and make sure that everything is to your satisfaction．

Anyone who has waited 30 minutes to be served in fl restaurant may possibly dream of such customer service． a fact，different nationalities expect different types of service．As a friend of mine once told me，"By the end of evening I had spent as much time talking to the waiter as to my wife．"

A Chinese-American friend loves telling people about how her Chinese mother shops for clothes．First of all she waits until they are on sale． And later she finds some small fault with the product and demands a further reduction．She never buys anything at the regular price．Could you imagine trying such ways in department stores in other countries?

Attitudes to service are，of course，affected by employers’ attitudes to their workers．As American waiters heavily depend on tips，they have to provide more service．But is this fair? It might not be a case of"Is the customer always right ?"but a case of” How much service is it fair to expect?"

A．People often point to America as an example of good customer service．

B．It is a question of expectations．

C．Do we think it is fair to ask shop assistants to work late evenings or on Sundays?

D．Then she asks for a discount until she gets an even better price．

E．The answer，it seems，depends on which country you are in．

F．The way we shop shows the way we get along with other people．

G．However，do Europeans really want US style service?

Attempt a guess at the following question: In the English-speaking world, which country has the least affordable homes? You are wrong if you guessed the US, even with the housing bubble （气泡） and main sadness． Nor is it the UK, where prices have risen because demand is far from supply． According to a recent survey of 227 cities around the globe, you must go south of the equator （赤道） to Australia to find the priciest homes．

The report measured a city’s housing market along the following guidelines． An “affordable” home required three times or less of the average family’s income to purchase． At four times earnings, a home fell into the “unaffordable” category． And a “seriously unaffordable” home needed five times a family’s income． In Australia, homes in the least affordable city cost just about 9．5 times the average income． Sydney, Perth, and Melbourne were only a little under this figure．

Australian officials offered little comment, apart from a general statement on the dismal findings． These prices make the possibility that many Australians will one day own a home largely unbelievable． Land rationing （配给制） and excessive development charges have raised prices, and the problem will only be solved through urgent action by the Rudd government．

Some American cities were also included on the least affordable list, four of which were in California． America is still involved in a mortgage（抵押）crisis, though, affecting the affordability of homes． Yet a number of US cities garnered “affordable” status, namely Dallas and Kansas． Australia had no cities listed in the top fifty places with affordable homes．

The survey suggests that you can find affordable homes in most places, just not if you’re Australian and choose to live down under．

To buy an affordable house, you should pay _____．

   A． 3 times or less of the average family’s income

    B． 4 times or less of the average family’s income

    C． 5 times or less of the average family’s income

    D． 9．5 times or less of the average family’s income

What caused the prices of houses to increase in Australia?

   A． The rising family’s income．       B． The demand over supply．

   C． The excessive development charges． D． The decrease of land．

The underlined word “dismal” in Paragraph 3 may mean _____．

   A． cheerful       B． satisfactory

   C． difficult           D． gloomy 

What might be the most suitable title for the passage?

    A． Affordable Houses   B． A House is a Dream First

    C． Housing Bubble      D． Homes Too Expensive