Living an easy life, she looks quite young _______ her age.（ ）

A. than　　 B. as　　 C. to　　　　 D. for

 

Dave Bruno works as an online marketing manager. Several years ago, one weekend Bruno and his family did a major house cleanup and then donated several bags of unneeded items to the local Goodwill store. “After all were done, I looked around and realized that I still had too much stuff”, says Bruno, “It occurred to me that maybe I wanted to lead a simple life but in reality I behaved differently.” That realization prompted the 39-year-old father of three to try an experiment, “The 100Thing Challenge”.

With the goal of breaking free of what he calls a “bad habit of consumerism（消费主义）, Bruno was determined to live for one year with just 100 personal items. He cut down his possessions to 94 items, including a Bible, laptop, guitar, wedding ring, car and clothes. He created some guidelines for the experiment since his wife and daughters did not participate, familyshared and household items did not count as personal items. He also grouped together some basic things such as underwear and socks. Bruno began blogging about his new lifestyle and eventually wrote a book, The 100 Thing Challenge: How I Got Rid of Almost Everything, Remade My Life, and Regained My Soul.

Since completing the experiment, Bruno has continued to live by the motto: reduce, refuse, and rearrange and maintains just 110 personal things. “ Nearly three years of living with a minimal amount of personal possessions, I’m no longer in the habit of consuming for the sake of consumption (消费),” he wrote in his blog last week, “That has freed me up for all sorts of better endeavors (活动) than shopping—like spending time with family and writing a book and planning for business opportunities.”

Bruno’s project has also inspired others to live minimally, many of whom post their own 100 Thing Challenge updates on YouTube. “The reality is that the 100 Thing Challenge is surprisinglyeasy”, says Bruno, “I’m  not saying there were no challenges or disappointments. I miss some things, but not that much. Frankly, it’s far easier to live with less stuff than with excessive trash.”

1.What does the underlined sentence mean in Paragraph 1?

A．Bruno regretted to have an easy life.

B．Bruno had a special behavior in reality,

C．Bruno and his family led a happy life.

D．Bruno would have liked a life with fewer items.

2.The things were included in Bruno’s 94 items EXCEPT____________.

A．socks             B．a Bible            C．cookers           D．a wedding ring

3.What is the best title for the passage?

A．Live with 100 Things

B．Defeat 100 Challenges in Life

C．Survive by Your Motto

D．Consume for Consumption’s Sake

 

Since the 1950s, most of the stars of pop music have come from Britain and America. Howver, in the last ten years, when many different kinds of music have established themselves on the pop scene, more and more stars have come from other countries.
Pop music changes all the time and new stars appear and become famous. For a musician to stay popular and still produced good, original music over a long period of time, is a sign of true star.
Most stars start their careers in a simple way---- playing in unknown night clubs or dance-hall where people want to dance to the music, not listen to it. They may have continued doing this for many years untill they get a “break”---- a chance to perform in a well –known place or get a recording contract. To become a star is the aim of every singer or musician and the dream of many a pop-crazy teenager.
However a group or star makes it to the top, they can be sure that their lives will change once they are successful. Ordinary teenagers living at home with their parents may suddenly find themselves rich enough to buy their own houses. An established superstar may be able to buy several.
Despite the large amount of money that are earned, life at the top is not easy for many stars.. The pop scene is hard work and many stars need to spend a lot of time away from home. For a lot of them, this means they have no home life and their personal relationships suffer. Despite great public success, life at the top can be very lonely.
【小题1】Since the 1950s,most of the stars of pop music have come from______.

A．America	B．America and Britain
C．America and Europe	D．other countries

【小题2】According to the passage， a “break” may mean a chance to ______.

A．perform in a well-known concert	B．get a recording contract
C．play in dance-halls	D．meet a lot of pop-crazy teenagers

【小题3】If a star becomes successful,.he ______ according to the passage.

A．will live at home with their parents

B．will have an easy life because of the larger amount of money earned

C．may have a happy home life and good person relationships

D．may have a lonely life

Most people think of zoos as safe heavens for animals, where problems such as difficulty finding food and avoiding predators (食肉动物) don’t exist. Therefore, animals in zoos should live to a ripe old age.

But that may not be true for the largest land animals on earth. Scientists have known that elephants in zoos often suffer from poor health. They develop diseases and they are even unable to have babies.

To learn more about how captivity (圈养) affects elephants, a team of international scientists compared the lifespans (寿命) of the zoo-born elephants with the lifespans of thousands of wild elephants. They also compared some Asian elephants living in zoos with some Asian elephants which work in logging camp (伐木场), over almost the same time period.

The team found that elephants born in zoos lived an average of 16.9 years, but elephants that died of natural causes lived an average of 56 years. Asian elephants followed a similar pattern. In zoos, they lived 18.9 years, while those in the logging camp lived 41.7 years.

Scientists don’t yet know why wild elephants seem to live so much better than their zoo-raised counterparts (同类). Georgia Mason, a biologist at the University of Guelph in Canada, who led the study, thinks stress and obesity (肥胖) may be to blame. Zoo elephants don’t get the same kind of exercise they would in the wild. Elephants’ social lives are also much different in zoos than in the wild, where they live in large family groups.

Most people believe that________.

A. animals in zoos should live a longer life

B. zoos are not good for animals to live in

C. zoos are not suitable for large animals         

D. captivity can affect animals in many ways

The purpose of the international scientists is_________.

A. to compare the lifespans of different animals

B. to find out how captivity affects elephants

C. to learn the lifespans of male and female elephants

D. to compare the lifespans of elephants in different places

Which elephants live the longest according to the study?

A. Elephants born in zoos.             

B. Elephants that live in the wild.

C. Elephants that work in logging camps.   

D. Female Asian elephants in logging camps.

We can infer from the passage that_________.

A. elephants in zoos suffer less stress than those in the wild

B. elephants in zoos live an easy life

C. social lives are not important to elephants             

D. zoo life can be stressful to elephants

What are the advantages to elephants in the wild according to the passage?

A. They face fewer problems.            B. They can find food more easily.

C. They live in large social groups.  D. They are freer to move.  

Since the 1950s, most of the stars of pop music have come from Britain and America. However, in the last ten years, when many different kinds of music have established themselves on the pop scene, more and more stars have come from other countries.

    Pop music changes all the time and new stars appear and become famous. For a musician to stay popular and still produced good, original music over a long period of time, is a sign of true star.

Most stars start their careers in a simple way---playing in unknown night clubs or dance-hall where people want to dance to the music, not listen to it. They may have continued doing this for many years until they get a “break”---a chance to perform in a well–known place or get a recording contract. To become a star is the aim of every singer or musician and the dream of many a pop-crazy teenager.

However a group or star makes it to the top, they can be sure that their lives will change once they are successful. Ordinary teenagers living at home with their parents may suddenly find themselves rich enough to buy their own houses. An established superstar may be able to buy several.

Despite the large amount of money that are earned, life at the top is not easy for many stars. The pop scene is hard work and many stars need to spend a lot of time away from home. For a lot of them, this means they have no home life and their personal relationships suffer. Despite great public success, life at the top can be very lonely.

Since the 1950s, most of the stars of pop music have come from _________.

A. America  B. America and Britain  C. America and Europe  D. other countries

According to the passage, a “break” may mean a chance to ______.

perform in a well-known concert

C. play in dance-halls    B. get a recording contract

D. meet a lot of pop-crazy teenagers

If a star becomes successful, he ______ according to the passage.

A. will have an easy life because of the larger amount of money earned

B. may have a happy home life and good person relationships

C. will live at home with their parents  D. may have a lonely life