Feeling blue about world? “Cheer up.” Says science writer Matt Ridley．”The world has never been a better place to live in, and it will keep on getting better both for humans and for nature．”

Ridley calls himself a rational optimist—rational, because he’s carefully weighed the evidence; optimistic, because that evidence shows human progress to be both unavoidable and good．And this is what he’s set out to prove from a unique point of view in his most recent book．The Rational Optimist．He views mankind as grand enterprise that on the whole, has done little but progress for 100,000 years．He backs his finding with hard facts gathered through years of research．

Here’s how he explains his views．

1) Shopping fuels invention

It is reported that there are more than ten billion different products for sale in London alone．Even allowing for the many people who still live in poverty, our own generation has access to more nutritious food, more convenient transport, bigger houses, better ears, and of course, more pounds and dollars than any who lived before us．This will continue as long as we use these things to make other things. The more we specialize and exchange, the better off we’ll be．

2）Brilliant advances

One reason we are richer, healthier, taller, cleverer, longer-lived and freer than ever before is that the four most basic human needs -food, clothing, fuel and shelter- have grown a lot cheaper．Take one example．In 1800 a candle providing one hour’s light cost six hours’ work．In the 1880s the same light from an oil lamp took 15 minutes’ work to pay for．In 1950 it was eight seconds．Today it’s half second．

3）Let’s not kill ourselves for climate change

Mitigating（减轻）climate change could prove just as damaging to human welfare as climate change itself．A child that dies from indoor smoke in a village, where the use of fossil-fuel（化石燃料）electricity is forbidden by well - meaning members of green political movements trying to save the world, is just as great a tragedy as a child that dies in a flood caused by climate change．If climate change proves to be mild, but cutting carbon causes real pain, we may well find that we have stopped a nose - bleed by putting a tourniquet（止血带）around our necks．

1.What is the theme of Ridley’s most recent book?

A．Weakness of human nature．

B．Concern about climate change．

C．Importance of practical thinking．

D．Optimism about human progress．

2.How does Ridley look at shopping?

A．It encourages the creation of things．

B．It results in shortage of goods．

C．It demands more fossil fuels．

D．It causes a poverty problem．

3.The candle and lamp example is used to show that    ．

A．oil lamps give off more light than candles

B．shortening working time brings about a happier life．

C．advanced technology helps to produce better candles．

D．increased production rate leads to lower cost of goods．

 

     The other day, my friend Jane was invited to a 40th birthday party. The time printed on the invitation was 7.30pm. Jane went off with her husband, expecting a merry evening of wine, food, and song.

By 9.45, everybody was having great fun, but no food had appeared. Jane and David were restless. Other guests began whispering that they, too, were starving. But no one wanted to leave, just in case some food was about to appear. By 11.00, there was still no food, and everyone was completely off their heads. Jane and David left hungry and angry.

Their experience suggests that the words an the printed invitations need to be made clearer. Everyone reads and understands the invitations differently. Most of us would agree that 6.30 -8.30pm means drinks only, go out to dinner afterwards; 8.00pm or 8.30pm means possible dinner, but 9.30pm and any time thereafter means no food, oat beforehand, roll up late.

But this is not always the case. If asked to a students’ party at 6.30pm, it is normal for guests not to appear before midnight, if at all, and no one cares. Being the first to arrive - looking eager - is social death. When my mother is asked to a party for 6.30, she likes to be them, if not on lime, then no later than seven. My age group （late thirties） falls somewhere between the two, but because we still think we're  young, we're probably closer to student-time than grown-up time.

The accepted custom at present is confusing （混乱的）, sometimes annoying, and it often means you may go home hungry, but it does lend every party that precious element （成分） of surprise.

68. The underlined words "off their heads" probably mean______.

       A. tired       B. crazy       C. curious   D. hopeless

69. Jane and David’s story is used to show that______.

       A. petty-goer8 usually get hungry at parties

       B. party invitations can be confusing

      C. people should ask for food at parties

      D. birthday parties for middle-aged people are dull

70. For some young people, arriving on time for a students’ party will probably be considered_______.

    A. very difficult           B. particularly thoughtful

       C. friendly and polite      D. socially unacceptable

71. According to the writer, people in their late thirties_______.

       A. are likely to arrive late for a party

      B. care little about the party time

      C. haven’t really grown up yet

      D. like surprises at parties

72. What is the general idea of the text?     

      A. It’s safe to arrive late just when food is served.

      B. It’s wise to eat something before going to a party.

      C. It’s important to follow social rules of party-going.

      D. It’s necessary to read invitations carefully.

The other day, my friend Jane was invited to a 40th birthday party. The time printed on the invitation was 7:30 pm．Jane went off with her husband, expecting a merry evening of wine, food, and song．

By 9:45, everybody was having great fun, but no food had appeared. Jane and David were restless. Other guests began whispering that they, too, were starving．But no one wanted to leave, just in case some food was about to appear. By 11:00, there was still no food, and everyone was completely off their heads. Jane and David left hungry and angry．

Their experience suggests that the words on the printed invitations need to be made clearer. Everyone reads and understands the invitations differently. Most of us would agree that 6:30 - 8:30 pm means drinks only, go out to dinner afterwards; 8:00 pm or 8:30 pm means possible dinner, but 9:30 pm and any time thereafter means no food, eat beforehand, arrive late．

But this is not always the case．If asked to a students’ party at 6:30 pm, it is unaccepted for guests to appear on time. Being the first to arrive — looking eager — is social death. When my mother is asked to a party at 6:30, she likes to be there, if not on time, then no later than seven．My age group (late thirties) falls somewhere between the two, but because we still think we’re young, we’re probably closer to student-time than grown-up time．

The accepted custom at present is confusing, sometimes annoying, and it often means you may go home hungry, but it does lend every party that precious element of surprise．

1.The underlined words “off their heads” probably mean _______．

A．tired

B．crazy

C．happy

D．encouraging

2.Jane and David’s story is used to show that _______．

A．party invitations can be confusing

B．party-goers usually get hungry at parties

C．people should ask for food at parties

D．birthday parties for middle-aged people are dull

3.For some young people, arriving on time for a students’ party will probably be considered _______．

A．very difficult	B．particularly thoughtful
C．friendly and polite	D．socially unacceptable

4.What is the general idea of the text? 

A．It’s safe to arrive late just when food is served．

B．It’s wise to eat something before going to a party．

C．It’s important to follow social rules of party-going．

D．There’s no need to read invitations carefully．

 

Recently a Beijing father sent in a question at an Internet forum (论坛) asking what “PK” meant.

   “My family has been watching the ‘Super Girl’ singing competition TV programme. My little daughter asked me what ‘PK’ meant, but I had no idea,” explained the puzzled father.

   To a lot of Chinese young people who have been playing games online, it is impossible not to know this term. In such Internet games, “PK” is short for “Player Kill”, in which two players fight until one ends the life of the other.

   In the case of the “Super Girl” singing competition, “PK” was used to refer to the stage where two singers have to compete with each other for only one chance to go up in competition ranking (排名).

   Like this father, Chinese teachers at high schools have also been finding their students’ compositions using Internet jargons which are difficult to understand. A high school teacher from Tianjin asked her students to write compositions with simple language, but they came up with a lot of Internet jargons that she didn’t understand.

   “My ‘GG’ came back this summer from college. He told me I’ve grown up to be a ‘PLMM’. I loved to ‘FB’ with him together; he always took me to the ‘KPM’,” went one composition.

   “GG” means Ge Ge (Chinese pinyin for brother). “PLMM” refers to Piao Liang Mei Mei (beautiful girl). “FB” means Fu Bai (corruption). “KPM” is short for KFC, Pizza Hut and McDonald’s.

   Some specialists welcome Internet jargons as a new development in language.

   If you do not even know what a Kong Long (dinosaur, referring to an ugly looking female) or a Qing Wa (frog, referring to an ugly looking male) is, you will possibly be regarded as a Cai Niao!

1. By writing the article, the writer tries to ________.

  A. explain some Internet language      B. suggest common Internet language

  C. laugh at the Beijing father          D. draw our attention to Internet language

2.What does the writer think about the term “PK”?

  A. Fathers can’t possibly know it.       B. The daughter should understand it.

  C. Online game players may know it.    D. “Super Girl” shouldn’t have used it.

3. The examples of the Beijing father and the Tianjin teacher are used to show that Internet jargons ________.

  A. are used not only online            B. can be understood very well

  C. are welcomed by all the people       D. cause trouble to our mother tongue

4.The underlined word “jargons” probably means  ________.

  A. expressions     B. phrases      C. letters      D. spellings

5. What would be the best title for the passage?

  A. A puzzled father                 B. Do you speak Internet jargons?

  C. Keep away from Internet jargons    D. Kong Long or Qing Wa?

 

Feeling blue about world ? “Cheer up.” Says science writer Matt Ridley.”The world has never been a better place to live in, and it will keep on getting better both for humans and got nature.”

Ridley calls himself a tat ional optimist—tactical .because he’s carefully weighed the evidence optimistic .because that   offence shows human progress to be both unavoidable and good .And this is what he’s set out to prone from unique point of view in his most recent book. The Rant anal Opting  .He views mankind as grand enterprise that .on the whole .has done little but progress for 100.000 years. He backed his finding with hard gathered though years of research.

Here’s how he explains his views.

Shopping fuels invention

It is reported that there are more than ten billion different producers for sale in London alone. Even allowing for the many people who still live in poverty .our own generation has access to more nutritious food .more convenient transport .bigger houses, better ears .and of course, more pounds and dollars than any who lived before us .This will continue as long as we there things to make other things, This more we specialize and exchange, the better off we’ll be.

2) Brilliant advances

 One reason we are richer, healthier, taller, cleverer, longer-lived and freer than ener before is that the four most basie human needs -food, clothing, fuel and shelter- have grown a lot cheaper. Take one example. In 1800 a candle providing one hour’s light cost six hours’ work. In the 1880s the same light from an oil lamp took 15 minutes’ work to pay for. In 1950 it was eight seconds. Today it’s half second.

3) Let’s not kill ourselves for climate change

Mitigating(减轻) climate change could prove just as damaging to human welface as climate change itself. A child that dies from indoor smoke in a village, where the use of fassil-fuel(化石燃料) electrieity is forhidden by well meaming members of green polucal movements trying to save the world, is just as great a tragedy as a child that mes in a flood caused by climate change. If chmaic change proves to be xxxx, but cutting carbon canses realparn, we may well find that we have stopped a nose bleed by putting a tournquet(止血带) around our necks.

1.What is the theme of Ridley’s most recent book?

A. Weakness of human nature.

B. Concern about climate change.

C. Importance of practical thinking.

D. Optimism about human progress.

2.How does Ridley look at shopping?

   A. It encourages the creation of things.

   B. It results in shortage of goods.

   C. It demands more fossil fuels.

   D. It causes a poverry problem.

3.The candle and lamp example is used to show that     .

   A. oil lamps give off more light than candles

   B. shortening working time brings about a happier life.

   C. advanced technology helps to produce better candles.

   D. increased production rate leads to lower cost of goods.

4.What does the last sentence of the passage imply?

   A. Cutting carbon is necessary in spite of the huge cost.

   B. Overreaction to cliamate change may be dangerous.

   C. People’s health is closely related to climate change.

   D. Careless medical treatment may cause great pain.