Almost a decade ago, the federal government dropped $10 million for an Earth-monitoring satellite that never made it into space. Today it sits in a closet in Maryland. Cost to taxpayers for storing it: $1 million a year. And that's just what's hiding in one closet. Who knows what's in the rest of them?

Because we think the government should be held to at least the same standards as a publicly traded company, and because as taxpayers, we're America's shareholders, we performed an audit （财务检查）of sorts of the federal books. We're not economists, but we do have common sense. We tried to get help from Congressional staffers from both parties, as well as various watchdog groups and agencies. In the end, we found that the federal government wastes nearly $1 trillion every year.

That's roughly equal to the amount collected annually by the Internal Revenue Service in personal income taxes. Put another way, it's also equal to about one-third of the country's $2.9 trillion total annual budget. And reclaiming that lost trillion could help wipe out the country's annual budget deficit（赤字）, improve education, and provide health insurance for those who don't have it.

So how do you define "waste"? David Walker of the Government Accountability Office (GAO), a federal watchdog agency, calls it "the government's failure to give taxpayers the most for their money." For our part, we used the kind of household test you would use on a piece of meat sitting in your refrigerator: If it smells rotten, it's waste. Our government regularly pays for products and services it never gets, wildly overpays companies to do things it could do more cheaply itself, loses money outright due to lax（不严格的）accounting and oversight, and spends money randomly on unnecessary programs.

How exactly does the federal government waste your hard-earned tax dollars? We've identified what we consider ten of the worst ways.

1.The underlined sentence in Paragraph1 really means         .

A．there are many other closets     B．there are some other satellites

C．there is something else in the closets    D．the waste may be quite amazing

2.Which of the following can best describe the feeling of the author?

    A．Annoyed.       B．Calm.          C．Surprised.     D．Not concerned.

3.Which of the following statements may be right?

    A．The country’s annual budget is usually decided by the public.

    B．The government failed in launching the satellite.

    C．The government is only wasting money in space experiments.

    D．The amount collected annually in personal income taxes is equal to the country’s budget.

4.The best title for the passage would be         .

    A．Protecting Our Rights!          

    B．Our Country Is In Danger!

    C．The Government Is Wasting Our Tax Dollars!

    D．How to Prevent Government from Wasting Money!

5.What might be talked about if the passage is continued?

    A．The government’s taking some steps to stop wasting taxes.

    B．Presenting people’s feelings against the government’s wasting taxes.

    C．Giving suggestion to help the government solve the financial problem.

    D．Listing how the government is wasting taxes.

 

The devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina is a wake-up call. It is a call for every American to pay attention to the destruction we risk by allowing human-induced(导致的) climate change to continue. It is impossible to prove that Hurricane Katrina was caused by global warming, or even that human activities made the storm more severe. However, a paper published in the scholarly journal Nature reports that the force of dangerous hurricanes has increased by 50% during the last 50 years. It also reports that a global warming-induced rise in temperature near the ocean’s surface has probably contributed to this increase in dangerous storms, and thus to property(财产) damage and human death.

On August 30, the Los Angeles Times summed up(总结) the view of many scientists who agree that if the frequency of hurricanes does not decrease in the next few years, then we will be fairly certain that humans, and not natural storm cycle, are at the root of the problem. I believe there is at least a chance that by reducing U.S. reliance on fossil fuels for energy, we can prevent future tragedies like Hurricane Katrina. Let the change begin now.

There are many ways to reduce the volume of greenhouse gas emissions. My family drives the most fuel-efficient car we can afford, but I prefer to take public transportation whenever possible. My family buys locally grown food instead of produce that was transported thousands of miles on fuel-burning vehicles. We also replaced our incandescent light bulbs（白炽灯泡）with more energy-efficient compact fluorescents（荧光灯）. This might sound like a trivial move, but the Union of Concerned Scientists reports that if every household in the United States replaced one incandescent bulb with a compact fluorescent, it would have the same effect on U.S. carbon-dioxide emissions as removing 7.5 million cars from the roads. Now think if every household replaced not just one but all of their incandescent bulbs!

The United States, with just five percent of the world’s population, is responsible for close to one quarter of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide, yet our country is doing far less than most European nations to fight global warming. We don’t have to sacrifice our lifestyles; Europeans enjoy the same standards of living as Americans. So what are we waiting for? It is time to act.

Which of the following is a fact?

A. Hurricane Katrina was caused by global warming.

B. Human activities made the storm more severe.

C. The force of dangerous hurricanes has increased by 50 percent during the last 50 years.

D. A global rise in temperature near the ocean’s surface accounts for more dangerous storms.

From Paragraph 2 we can infer that many scientists agree ________.

A. it might be human activities that lead to global warming.

B. natural storm cycles have caused global warming.

C. hurricanes are likely to come more frequently.

D. burning fossil fuels for energy is a better alternative.

If every household in the U.S. replaced all their incandescent bulbs, ________.

A. it would have the same effect as removing 7.5 million cars from the roads.

B. it would save 7.5 million tons of carbon-dioxide from going into the air.

C. this would reduce the total output of CO??emissions in huge amounts.

D. cars will be much more environmentally friendly.

According to the writer,_______in reducing the volume of greenhouse gas emissions.

A. Europe does a better job.   

B. Europe should follow the example of America.

C. he, as an European, wants to see more efforts made by Americans.

D. Europeans should shoulder a greater responsibility.

The devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina is a wake-up call. It is a call for every American to pay attention to the destruction we risk by allowing human-induced(导致的) climate change to continue. It is impossible to prove that Hurricane Katrina was caused by global warming, or even that human activities made the storm more severe. However, a paper published in the scholarly journal Nature reports that the force of dangerous hurricanes has increased by 50% during the last 50 years. It also reports that a global warming-induced rise in temperature near the ocean’s surface has probably contributed to this increase in dangerous storms, and thus to property(财产) damage and human death.

On August 30, the Los Angeles Times summed up(总结) the view of many scientists who agree that if the frequency of hurricanes does not decrease in the next few years, then we will be fairly certain that humans, and not natural storm cycle, are at the root of the problem. I believe there is at least a chance that by reducing U.S. reliance on fossil fuels for energy, we can prevent future tragedies like Hurricane Katrina. Let the change begin now.

There are many ways to reduce the volume of greenhouse gas emissions. My family drives the most fuel-efficient car we can afford, but I prefer to take public transportation whenever possible. My family buys locally grown food instead of produce that was transported thousands of miles on fuel-burning vehicles. We also replaced our incandescent light bulbs（白炽灯泡）with more energy-efficient compact fluorescents（荧光灯）. This might sound like a trivial move, but the Union of Concerned Scientists reports that if every household in the United States replaced one incandescent bulb with a compact fluorescent, it would have the same effect on U.S. carbon-dioxide emissions as removing 7.5 million cars from the roads. Now think if every household replaced not just one but all of their incandescent bulbs!

The United States, with just five percent of the world’s population, is responsible for close to one quarter of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide, yet our country is doing far less than most European nations to fight global warming. We don’t have to sacrifice our lifestyles; Europeans enjoy the same standards of living as Americans. So what are we waiting for? It is time to act.

1. Which of the following is a fact?

A．Hurricane Katrina was caused by global warming.

B．Human activities made the storm more severe.

C．The force of dangerous hurricanes has increased by 50 percent during the last 50 years.

D．A global rise in temperature near the ocean’s surface accounts for more dangerous storms.

2.From Paragraph 2 we can infer that many scientists agree ________.

A．it might be human activities that lead to global warming.

B．natural storm cycles have caused global warming.

C．hurricanes are likely to come more frequently.

D．burning fossil fuels for energy is a better alternative.

3. If every household in the U.S. replaced all their incandescent bulbs, ________.

A．it would have the same effect as removing 7.5 million cars from the roads.

B．it would save 7.5 million tons of carbon-dioxide from going into the air.

C．this would reduce the total output of CO?emissions in huge amounts.

D．cars will be much more environmentally friendly.

4. According to the writer,_______in reducing the volume of greenhouse gas emissions.

A．Europe does a better job.

B．Europe should follow the example of America.

C．he, as an European, wants to see more efforts made by Americans.

D．Europeans should shoulder a greater responsibility.

 

The devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina is a wake-up call. It is a call for every American to pay attention to the destruction we risk by allowing human-induced(导致的) climate change to continue. It is impossible to prove that Hurricane Katrina was caused by global warming, or even that human activities made the storm more severe. However, a paper published in the scholarly journal Nature reports that the force of dangerous hurricanes has increased by 50% during the last 50 years. It also reports that a global warming-induced rise in temperature near the ocean’s surface has probably contributed to this increase in dangerous storms, and thus to property(财产) damage and human death.
On August 30, the Los Angeles Times summed up(总结) the view of many scientists who agree that if the frequency of hurricanes does not decrease in the next few years, then we will be fairly certain that humans, and not natural storm cycle, are at the root of the problem. I believe there is at least a chance that by reducing U.S. reliance on fossil fuels for energy, we can prevent future tragedies like Hurricane Katrina. Let the change begin now.
There are many ways to reduce the volume of greenhouse gas emissions. My family drives the most fuel-efficient car we can afford, but I prefer to take public transportation whenever possible. My family buys locally grown food instead of produce that was transported thousands of miles on fuel-burning vehicles. We also replaced our incandescent light bulbs（白炽灯泡）with more energy-efficient compact fluorescents（荧光灯）. This might sound like a trivial move, but the Union of Concerned Scientists reports that if every household in the United States replaced one incandescent bulb with a compact fluorescent, it would have the same effect on U.S. carbon-dioxide emissions as removing 7.5 million cars from the roads. Now think if every household replaced not just one but all of their incandescent bulbs!
The United States, with just five percent of the world’s population, is responsible for close to one quarter of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide, yet our country is doing far less than most European nations to fight global warming. We don’t have to sacrifice our lifestyles; Europeans enjoy the same standards of living as Americans. So what are we waiting for? It is time to act.
【小题1】 Which of the following is a fact?

A．Hurricane Katrina was caused by global warming.

B．Human activities made the storm more severe.

C．The force of dangerous hurricanes has increased by 50 percent during the last 50 years.

D．A global rise in temperature near the ocean’s surface accounts for more dangerous storms.

【小题2】From Paragraph 2 we can infer that many scientists agree ________.

A．it might be human activities that lead to global warming.

B．natural storm cycles have caused global warming.

C．hurricanes are likely to come more frequently.

D．burning fossil fuels for energy is a better alternative.

【小题3】 If every household in the U.S. replaced all their incandescent bulbs, ________.

A．it would have the same effect as removing 7.5 million cars from the roads.

B．it would save 7.5 million tons of carbon-dioxide from going into the air.

C．this would reduce the total output of CO?emissions in huge amounts.

D．cars will be much more environmentally friendly.

【小题4】 According to the writer,_______in reducing the volume of greenhouse gas emissions.

A．Europe does a better job.

B．Europe should follow the example of America.

C．he, as an European, wants to see more efforts made by Americans.

D．Europeans should shoulder a greater responsibility.

1.He said he would________(推荐) me to Professor Wang as his student. 

2.I don’t understand why he refused to________(承认) that he had been defeated. 

3.Our country is ________(丰富的；充裕的) in natural resources.

4.We           (用... 代替)a red ball for the blue one to see if the baby would notice.

5.You must not be          (支配) by what other people say.

6.Between 1942 and 1945 more immigrants came to California to work in the ship and a____(飞机) industries.

7.Most _____________(申请者) know that they have very little chance of getting a visa to California.

8.It became a____________(显而易见的) to everyone that they made a wrong decision.

9.The m___________ of the first Spanish were religious men who came to teach the Catholic religion to the natives.

10.I think you should make an ________(道歉) to her at once.