Many cities around the world today are heavily polluted. Products (产品) arc not produced in a "green" way and people haven't realized the importance of buying and using environmentally-friendly products. These lead to the pollution problem. One result is that millions of tons of waste like glass, paper and plastics is produced (生产). The waste problem is difficult to deal with.
However, today, more and more people are choosing “green” and expecting that the products they buy should be safe for the environment. Before they buy a product, they ask questions like these: “Will this soap be bad for the environment”“Can this metal container be reused or can it only be used once?”
Over 20,000 people took part in a web survey (调查) on buying environmentally-friendly products. Among them, 8129 people say that they now consider the environmental safety of a product before they buy it. That is to say, companies must change the way they make and sell their products to make sure that the products are “green”.
A few years ago, it was impossible to find green products in supermarkets, but now there are hundreds. Some supermarket products carry labels to show that they are green. Some companies have made the clean and safe products their main selling point in advertisements.
The growing need for a safer and cleaner environment is making companies rethink how they do business. The public will no longer accept the old idea of “buy it, use it, throw it away, and forget it”. As a result, the companies have to take action.
【小题1】Is it easy to deal with the waste problem?
【小题2】What do more and more people consider before they buy products?
【小题3】In the survey, how many people prefer green products in the supermarket now?
【小题4】Is it possible or impossible to get green products in the supermarket now?
【小题5】Why do the companies have to rethink how to do business and take action?

Parking has been a problem for drivers for a long time in Taizhou. The Transportation Department(部门) is mapping out a new plan for the city’s parking system. There are about 100 thousand cars on the road inTaizhou but only enough parking space to provide room for 15 percent of these vehicles. It is no wonder that local drivers get so worried trying to find a place to park.

The number of the private(私人的) car owners is becoming lager and larger. In March, the city sent out 1,000 private car licenses, the highest number of licenses ever sent out in a month. And prices rose to over 200 yuan, 500 more than in February. Industry experts(专家) say this suggests that local people have a strong, active interest in buying cars.

By the year 2020, the number of cars in Taizhou will probably reach 200 thousand. If one parking lot is for each car, then a lot of parking space should be built for these vehicles. The center of Taizhou is most short of parking space. However, experts point out that simply building more parking lots in these areas is not practical and doesn’t solve the problem. The idea of “ Park & Ride” system has been suggested. This means that underground train and city train should be developed quickly. Drivers can leave their vehicles in car parks nearby subway(地铁) and bus stations and then they can ride public transport to go to the city center. Based on this idea, the city will cut down the number of parking lots in the city center and need higher parking fees(费用). But it will build more parking areas near main subway and bus stops.

1.The underlined phrase “ mapping out ” in the first paragraph means _____.

A. making        B. arguing          C. replying        D. comparing

2. About _____ drivers can find places to park their cars in Taizhou now.

A. 8,500         B. 10,000           C. 15,000          D. 20,000

3. What can we infer from the second paragraph?

A. The city sent out more private licenses in February.

B. Less and less people bought cars in March.

C. The city sent out less private licenses in March.

D. More and more people are going to buy cars.

4. According to the idea of a “ Park & Ride ” system, the city will _____.

A. send out more private car licenses

B. build more parking lots near bus stops

C. encourage people to buy more cars

D. build more parking areas in the city center

5.This passage is mainly about_____.

A. parking problems                  

B. heavy traffic    

C. pollution in Taizhou              

D. building more parking lots in the city center 

 

 

Kelly Christopher, a student at Lutheran High School in California, US, loves oranges. One day last week, she used a pole(竿子) to pick oranges off trees and collect them in baskets. It's the first time in her 15 years she's picked fruit from trees.
"This is quite different from buying oranges in the supermarket," said Christopher. "Every time I eat an orange, I'll remember this experience."
Christopher was one of the 30 student volunteers at Soil Born Farms. She volunteered as part of a project which was set up in 2009 to help homeowners in South Land Park pick oranges and other fruits out of their backyards. Before, the fruit would rot on the ground or get eaten by animals. Now the fruit is donated to those who need it.
"It is good for many people", said Randy Stannard, who works for the project. "The homeowner gets fruit picked and more people can have healthy food."
"Two harvests (收成 ) were organized in 2009 and volunteers picked 3,000 pounds (1,360kg) of fruit", Stannard said. In 2010, the number was 20,000. This year, Soil Born Farms hopes to get 40,000 pounds. They will harvest every weekend from January to April.
Shannon Galloway, Christopher's science teacher, brought her students into the project this year.
"You're making use of a resource that might be wasted," she said. "I think it's meaningful to everyone."
Donato Frazier, 15, always climbs up a ladder(梯子) and gets on the top of the tree.
"Standing on the treetop is pretty cool," Frazier said. "I can see clearly that many baskets are filled up, and even see that many people are eating healthy fruit because of our volunteer work."                                          
【小题1】Christopher and other students went to pick fruits from real trees because they wanted to _____.

A．have some fresh fruit for themselves

B．make some money by selling fruit

C．provide people with more healthy fruit

D．buy some cheap fruit from their neighbors

【小题2】When was the project set up?

A．In 2008.

B．In 2009.

C．In 2010.

D．In 2011.

【小题3】What will happen to the fruit if they don’t help the homeowners pick it?

A．The fruit will rot or be eaten by small animals.

B．People who need the fruit will come to pick it.

C．The fruit will be used as a resource for research.

D．Homeowners will pick the fruit and sell it.

【小题4】What does the underlined word resource mean?

A．资源

B．调查

C．对策

D．娱乐

【小题5】How do the students feel about their work?

A．It’s interesting and easy.

B．It’s meaningless and hard.

C．It’s meaningful and exciting.

D．It’s tiring and boring.