D

At the railway stations all across Britain next week, groups of students will gather with their backpacks to wait for the trains that will carry them home for Christmas. This is a large movement of human beings as before, but with more contradictory traffic flows, so that trains filled with the young pass each other travelling in every direction.

At first, I went home every weekend with my washing, but then those visits became less regular. How did I let my parents know I was coming? They had no phone. Perhaps I wrote to them (“Expect me with dirty shirts this Friday afternoon”), but more likely I didn’t let them know, and just turned up or didn’t turn up, not understanding that my parents’ hopes of seeing me were a greater disappointment of my carelessness than a spoiled tea.

And in all this I suspect I was typical (有代表性的), at least of young men. As for our fathers and mothers, none of them talked of “empty-nest syndrome (綜合癥)”, even though its possible effect that the main human duty is to protect and feed the young would have suited their generation better than ours. Then, the feeling of loss went without a name. Today, it’s a condition with remedies, which will make parents feel more enjoyable in their life, The Mayo Clinic, for example, suggests you try to maintain regular contact with your children through “visits, phone calls, emails, texts or video chats”. If you feel unhappy, lean on (depend on … for support) loved ones or your mental health providers. Above all, stay positive: “Thinking about the extra time and energy that you might have to devote to your marriage or personal interests after your last child leaves home, it might help you adapt to this major life change.”

What can’t be denied, however, is that children often leave home. In modern societies, this is what they do. Christmas is the very time they can be depended on to return. For the non-religious, that may be this season’s true comfort and significance.

1.The main reason for the busy traffic across Britain next week is that _______.

A．young students will travel home for Christmas.

B．young people will travel in every direction.

C．it is a large movement of human beings

D．the traffic flows will be more contradictory

2.From the second paragraph we can learn that the writer _______.

A．went home every week to wash dirty clothes

B．understood his parents’ desire of seeing him

C．didn’t understand his parents’ feelings

D．went home to see his parents regularly

3.The underlined word “remedies” in paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to _______.

A．reasons           B．excuses           C．habits            D．solutions

4.From the last paragraph we know that _______.

A．in modern society, children should leave home

B．Christmas is likely a time for family reunion

C．the significance of Christmas is celebration

D．Christmas is not a comfort for the non-religious

5.From the passage we can infer that by writing the article the writer is to _______.

A．persuade the young to show concern for their parents

B．a(chǎn)sk the young to go home regularly

C．make the young understand their parents’ interest

D．enable the young to be more independent

 

短文改錯(cuò)

Two years ago my friend Lisa bought expensive mountain bike,      56.________

that I liked very much. So she tried to persuade me to buy one,       57.________

but I can’t afford it. From then on,I had been dreaming about        58.________

buy one. A week ago, my dream finally                            59. ________

was came true. Then Lisa and I were determined to                60.________

take a great bike trip.It was the Mekong River where we wanted to    61.________

cycle along. Lisa was stubborn. Although she                     62.________

didn’t know the best way getting to places ,she insisted that         63.________

we began our journey from the source of the                       64.________

River.I know Lisa well. Once she has made up her mind, something can  65.________

change it.Finally, I had to give in.

 

One of my China Dialogue colleagues in Beijing recently bought a Philips energy-saving light bulb to replace a standard one．He was happy with his choice．It may have cost 30 yuan （just under US$4．50） - ten times the price of a filament （燈絲） bulb - but he wanted to save energy as part of his low-carbon lifestyle．And according to the shopkeeper, he would save, in the long run, much more than the 30 yuan he was spending．

Yet only one month later, his expensive light bulb blew up, before he had saved even a small part of the purchase price．Will he stick to his high-cost, low-carbon lifestyle?

China's environmental organizations have started to advocate low-carbon lifestyles and the decrease of carbon footprints to help fight against climate change．But they have overlooked one fact: in China, low-carbon living comes at a high cost．It means buying energy-saving bulbs and appliances, and environmentally friendly building materials and daily goods．Cost can no longer be the only standard for purchases．An energy-saving and environmentally friendly product is more expensive than a standard alternative - whether it's a simple light bulb or the house it shines．For average consumers, even buying an ordinary bulb is a huge burden．How can we persuade ordinary people to choose an energy-saving residence? This is not a trend they can afford to follow; perhaps this fashion is only for the rich．

Most consumers today do not cause huge carbon dioxide （CO₂） emissions．Their responsibility lies not in choosing a low-carbon lifestyle today, but in avoiding a high-carbon life in the future．The principle of "common but differentiated responsibility" - a basis of sustainable development - can be applied here as well．

In China, low-carbon living still is resisted by a lack of social infrastructure（基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施）. Even if your salary allows you to make that choice, nobody is there to help you accomplish it．

Consider energy-saving homes. You need to find out whether or not the developer has used natural materials wherever possible; how effective the insulation（絕緣物、隔熱物） is; and what the green credentials of installed equipment are．You can read up a little, but you'll still be lucky to avoid being puzzled by the developers' marketing．Many so-called energy-saving buildings are nothing of the sort, and some are even more energy-hungry than the average home - as Li Taige warned in his article "Energy-efficient buildings? Not always", on China Dialogue last August．

1. What may probably be the best title of this passage?

A. To purchase a cheap bulb - your wise alternative．

B. To choose an energy-saving residence - a must of your life

C. To learn a low-carbon lifestyle - each citizen's responsibility

D. To learn a low-carbon lifestyle - a promising but difficult purpose

2.Why does the writer say this fashion is only for the rich in the fourth paragraph?

A. Because the cost is a very important standard for purchases.        

B. Because buying an ordinary bulb is very expensive.

C. Because energy-saving products are more expensive than the common alternatives.

D. Because rich people like to follow this trend.

3. What does the writer think of energy-saving homes?

A. Most of them are environmentally friendly.

B. They are musts of low-carbon lifestyle of Chinese.

C. They are huge burdens for Chinese people.

D. Many of them are more in name than in reality.

4.We can infer from the passage that ____．

A. Using energy-saving bulbs and appliances is a fashion．

B. It's easy for most Chinese to try to learn a low-carbon lifestyle．

C. All citizens in China don’t have the same responsibility in living a low-carbon lifestyle．

D. Most Chinese families cannot afford to purchase an energy-saving residence.

5.What is the writer's attitude towards the low-carbon lifestyle?

A. informative and entertaining           B. supportive but cautious

C. negative but wise                      D. positive and active

 

Alice trusts you, only you can _________ her to give up the foolish idea

A．try               B．a(chǎn)ttract            C．tempt            D．persuade

 

根據(jù)句中所給漢語，完成下列句子。（每空一詞，每空0.5分，共10分）

1.一旦吉姆下定決心，我們中沒有人能說服他。

Once Jim                                 , none of us can persuade him.

2.看起來似乎三分之一的游客死于酒店里的這場(chǎng)大火。

                      one third of the visitors were killed in the big fire in the hotel.

3.湯姆一聽到他得了癌癥，感覺自己好像已經(jīng)被判了死刑。

After knowing that he’d got cancer, Tom felt as if he had                         .

4.聽到她兒子上臺(tái)執(zhí)政的消息，她突然大哭了起來。

On hearing that her son came               , the woman               tears.

5.三分之二的村民在地震中遇難或受傷。

Two-thirds of the villagers                                 during the earthquake last night.