2020-10

Booking Online and Saving the Environment

When you are looking to book a holiday, it is unlikely that you will think about how green your booking decision is, but it is something that you should think about. By “green” we mean the impact on the environment.

When looking to book a holiday, you will probably find that you are faced with two main decisions. The first is to go into a travel agency, pick up brochures(宣传册) read through them and go back with just one and book with the travel agents directly or over the phone. The second is to go onto the Internet

The Internet holds many advantages over the travel agencies. The main one is convenience. You can go online to look at holidays at any time of the day. The travel agents, however, are usually very busy at times when people can actually go, i.e. lunch hours or at the weekend. You could use the telephone, but you wouldn’t be able to see the pictures or the details of the holidays, so you would probably be sent a brochure anyway.

There are websites on the Internet that make shopping for holiday deals much easier. These websites are known as price comparison websites. They search through lots of different tour operators, and the results are displayed on one page, from which you can choose.

Compared with the travel agencies, booking online is greener. The piles of brochures are definitely not green, and the amount of unnecessary paper used can’t be good for the environment. In the days of the Internet, there is really no need for such a large amount of paper to be wasted. So booking online will not only save you time and effort, it will do a little bit towards saving the environment, too!

1. When planning holidays, few people will think about being green.
2. There are two main choices when people look to book their holidays.
3. People go to travel agencies and make their decisions directly.
4. The main advantage of booking online is saving money.
5. Many people go to travel agencies at lunchtime.
6. Booking holidays by telephone requires less communicative skills.
7. There are limited choices at price comparison websites.
8. Travel agencies make the best use of price comparison websites.
9. Travelers collect brochures as a hobby.
10. Booking online is a way to save the environment.

Urban Gardening

Urban gardening refers to the practice of planting a garden in the city. Apartments, town homes,and other areas with little or no land are being used for gardening. This method of gardening is becoming more common as the amount of land for gardening. in cities is becoming smaller and smaller.

Containers,hanging baskets and raised beds are examples of items people use to create a garden in a confined space. Some cities also offer a shared community garden for people who have no room to grow plants at home.

Many types of plants can be grown in containers and baskets. Tomatoes and peppers, for instance，can grow in containers on windowsills(窗台). Plants grown on a windowsill should usually receive at least six to eight hours of sunlight daily. Herbs are often grown in containers or baskets in the kitchen. They do not require much space and can be handy for cooking.

People who want to grow more plants may use raised beds which are usually made of wood pieces and filled with a mixture of soil and fertilizers. They can be built on top of any hard surface,including roof tops. People like them because the beds often cost much less than most other methods of gardening.

Community gardening could be an option for anyone who does not have space for a garden at home. Most cities that offer this will rent a small plot of land to someone for a fee, or allow them to use it free of charge. Instead of dividing the land into separate plots, some cities allow everyone in the neighborhood to share and work on the same land. This method could be beneficial for people in the neighborhood who share the passion for growing things.

11. Urban gardening came into being as a result of

A. the lack of land for gardening

B. new technology

C. government encouragement

D. the increasing population

12. The word “confined” (Para. 2) means

A. open

B. empty

C. limited

D. occupied

13. Plants grown on windowsills require a lot of

A. water

B. space

C. soil

D. sunlight

14. Raised beds are popular because they

A. are efficient

B. are cheap

C. last long

D. contain fertilizers

15. Community gardening is beneficial because it

A. saves more land

B. requires less work

C. increases output

D. connects people

My Science Teacher

①Usually when people decide to be teachers, they go to college, get a degree, and find a job at a school They prepare lesson plans, give out homework, and make up tests. To them, it is just a job, a way to make a living. But for my science teacher, Mrs. Cook teaching is not just her job; it's who she is. She teaches through her heart.

②She has so much enthusiasm in her lessons. She is the one who goes out late at night to buy 10 pounds of sugar for our experiments. She brings in water, from the nearby canal to make her point, and to make us remember the lesson. She makes us think that each new fact could change our lives.

③Mrs. Cook wants all of us to do well in school. She tries to reach each student. She neither ignores the sleeping kid in the back, nor lets the problem students alone. She shows special concern to slow students, and often helps them after school. None of us can slip away from her attention.

④Middle school is probably one of the hardest times of our lives. We change friends so often, and fight with our parents constantly . But Mrs. Cook has made this year so much better for us than it could have been. we know that if we had to turn to anybody, it would be her. And I'm not alone in feeling this way ; she is a role model for our whole class.

⑤Science had never been my favorite subject . I had never borrowed science books. I had never performed experiments in my home. But this year, it's the science class that I don't mind waking up for, the test I don't mind taking. I have Mrs. Cook to thank for that. She has taught us so much more than just a single subject.

Task 1

A. Mrs. Cook makes our school life easier.

B. I enjoy science class now.

C. Mrs. Cook cares about each student.

D. Mrs. Cook is strict with her students.

E. Mrs. Cook's lessons are well-prepared.

F. Teaching is more than a job for Mrs. Cook.

Task 2

2l. To become a school teacher, one needs

22. Mrs. Cook often goes out to collect

23. Mrs. Cook offers slow students extra help

24. Our whole class take Mrs. Cook as

25，I am lucky to have Mrs. Cook as

A. in class

B. my teacher

C. after school

D. a role model

E. a college degree

F. teaching materials

Lack of Sleep Is Dangerous

Do you know that if you miss out too much sleep you will die? It’s true! If you stay awake for a long, long time, your brain and body will break down.

The unofficial world record for staying awake is 11 days, and ifs held by Randy Gardner. 26__ He also had help from TV and radio reporters, a sleep researcher and a doctor.

What happened? 27__Then his brain started to lose sense. On day 4, he thought a street sign was really a person. On day 6, he began to speak very slowly. On day 9, he couldn’t finish sentences. On day 10, Randy thought he saw a forest in the next room. 28__ Eventually, after he’d broken the world record，Randy was told to go to sleep. Experiments that keep people awake for dangerously long periods are always stopped before the patients break down.

Rats，however，aren’t so well cared for. 29__That’s sooner than if they’d been allowed to sleep but were given no food. They get really thin. But that’s not because they stop eating-quite the opposite. Even though these rats are eating food，their bodies can’t process it in the normal way. On top of that, their little bodies lose more heat than normal, which makes them weak. This means that they need more food to stay at a healthy temperature. 30__

And that’s what lack of sleep does for you.

A.In fact, he went a bit crazy.

B.Normally rats wouldn't catch a cold

C.Towards the end, the health of these rats is failing.

D.When kept from sleeping, they die within three weeks.

E.Randy asked two of his friends to stop him falling asleep.

F.First of all staying awake long made Randy bad-tempered.

Talking Counts

Most words in a child’s vocabulary come from everyday encounters with language. Children(31) up language from books, media, and conversations.

You can increase your child’s vocabulary and (32) knowledge by having conversations with them. With babies, you can talk to them about what you’re doing so they can begin to(33)words with concepts. As your baby begins to speak, start asking,“What’s that?” when (34)to objects or pictures. Elaborate on their (35)answers as a way to have them listening to more words. “Yes，that is a banana! It’s (36)and smooth.”

With young children, you can talk about the things you see in your (37)，on trips around town，or on television. These conversations help build a child’s (38)of his world. When reading, pause to ask questions on the story. Ask, “Why do you think he did that?” or “What do you think is going to happen (39)?’’ Tell your children stories from your own life, or about the day they were (40). This helps develop their personal and cultural identity.

A. link B. simple C. secondly D. neighborhood

E. yellow F. build G. understanding H.pointing

I. pick J. born K. background L.next

Water Shortage

Getting water seems (seem) so easy for many people. You will be(41)(mistake) if you think there is an (42) (end)supply of water. In fact，the world has a water shortage. Seventy percent of the world is (43) (cover) in water. But most of it is salt water. Only a small(44)(percent) is fresh drinking water. Countries (45) (include) Spain, Italy and South Africa actually import water from countries such as the United States and Australia. (46) (surprising), 1.1 billion people on earth have difficulty (47) (get) clean drinking water. This global problem is predicted to get (48) (bad) as the atmosphere becomes warmer.

Every person in Britain (49) (use) about 150 litres of water a day. In some countries people only have 5 to 10 litres a day! They would be (50) (shock) to learn how we waste drinking water.

某英文报社正在举办题为“An Unforgettable Holiday”的征文活动。请就此题目写一篇英文短文应征，内容包括

• 哪一个假期令你难忘
• 为什么令你难忘

answers

一 AACBC CBCCA

二 ACDBD

五 IFAHB EDGLJ

41. mistaken (mistake)
42. endless (end)
43. covered (cover)
44. percentage (percent)
45. including (include)
46. Surprisingly (surprising)
47. getting (get)
48. worse (bad)
49. uses (use)
50. shocked (shock)