Read the following four passages.Each passage is followed by several questions or unfinished statements.For each of them there are four choices marked A, B, C and D.Choose the one that fits best according to the information given in the passage you have just read.

  Most people in business have a strong sense that meetings are demanding more and more of their time.Fifty years ago meetings were barely necessary–the boss decided what was going to happen and told employees in a brief office memo.

  Now everything in business is discussed extensively in large meetings attended by anybody who has the remotest interest in the subject.The gradual erosion of formal systems of authority has increased the appetite for face-to-face meetings.Consultation and discussion has taken the place of direct instruction.

  The amount of travel to get to these meetings is increasing.More than nine million people passed through Heathrow(希思罗机场)in 2005 on the way to internal company events.As a consequence, corporate travel is a growing part of UK carbon emissions(排放).It would be easy to say we must reverse the trend towards more meetings to reduce the climate-change impact of modern business.Unfortunately, it is not going to be easy.Some interesting recent research shows that most of the attendees at corporate meetings do complain about the waste of time involved.But when they were questioned in private, the picture changes.Only 15 per cent of people rated their most recent meeting adversely.Though most attendees saw room for improvement, meetings were valuable both in helping build plans for action and in making employees feel part of the organization.

  But do these meetings have to be face-to-face?British Telecom recently presented some data on the success of its internal voice conferencing.In the most recent year, more than two million telephone conferences took place in the company.BT estimates a saving of over £200 m from the use of this technology and a cut of almost 100,000 tonnes of CO2.Of course BT has a clear interest in telling us that phone meetings are a good substitute for wasteful corporate get-togethers.So far, such conferencing has struggled to take off as people have tended to prefer to travel.It is, after all, rather more difficult to understand the boss's body language over the phone.Nevertheless, BT's research on the considerable benefits of conferencing is reasonable.Rather than try to get rid of apparently unproductive meetings, we need to find ways to make telephone and video conferences ever better substitutes for those traditional meetings.

(1)

Why are there more and more meetings according to the passage?

[  ]

A.

Because the formal systems of authority has been established.

B.

Because people prefer to solve problems through discussion.

C.

Because the organizations are getting more and more complex.

D.

Because modern transportation has been developing rapidly.

(2)

The word “ adversely” in the third paragraph is closest in meaning to ________.

[  ]

A.

approvingly

B.

enthusiastically

C.

feasibly

D.

unfavourably

(3)

British Telecom presented the figures to prove that voice conferencing ________.

[  ]

A.

stimulates the development of technology

B.

plays a vital role in large organizations

C.

may well replace conventional ones

D.

brings large profit to the company

(4)

What can we learn from the passage?

[  ]

A.

Traditional face-to-face meetings bring more benefits than harm.

B.

Corporate travel contributes a lot to environmental problems.

C.

The idea of telephone conference is well accepted by employees.

D.

Meetings should be abandoned because they are a waste of time.

Ever wonder how this season’s celebrations affect the environment? Guest blogger Krista Fairles takes an amusing look at this very topic:

The holidays are a wonderful, cheerful time when most people wait for Santa to bring them presents. But I’m not like most people. I spend my time wondering just what the environmental impacts of Santa Claus and his reindeer are, and more importantly, how I can calculate those impacts.

Lately I’ve been particularly curious as to whether Santa’s old sled is a clean green flying machine, or if he should be replacing his 8 reindeer with an environmentally-friendly car.

I should mention that, surprisingly, I was unable to find statistics specific to Santa’s magical flying reindeer, so these calculations use numbers from various sources and may not represent actual pollution caused by Santa and his animals. In other words, don’t complain to the government about the damage Santa is causing the environment based on this article.

Santa’s yearly trip around the globe is 44,000km long, twice the average of a North American driver. If we assume that the magic provides the altitude for this trip, then reindeer power only needs to push Santa’s sled forward. To complete the trip in 12 hours, I estimate they must travel at a speed of about 3100km/h. To travel at this speed, for this length of time, the reindeer need to eat an incredible 980 million calories each!!

So the next question is: how much food is in 980 million calories? Well, if they’re eating corn, they’d need to eat 16,500 lbs each — or 1.6 acres of food. Growing 12.8 acres of corn has its own implications for the environment that we’ll leave for another calculation.

We now need to consider that during the global trip the reindeer are “letting out” some of that corn in the form of methane (甲烷,沼气). A resting cow produces 110 kg of methane per year, so flying reindeer would each let out about 4.8 tons. With methane causing 20 times the global warming damage of CO2, and the altitude increasing that damage by 1000% that another 20 times, we can put Santa’s round-trip emissions at 15,488 tons. This is much more than the 100 tons an environmentally-friendly car would release on the same trip!

Bad Santa.

1. Which aspect does the writer NOT include in her analyses about reindeer’s influence on environment?

A. Distance covered.                                      B. Calories consumed.

C. Tons of waste let out.                       D. Money spent on food.

2. According to Paragraph 6, how many acres of corn would Santa need to feed 10 reindeer?

A. 1.6.                 B. 16.                           C. 12.8.                        D. 128.

3. Which of the following statements would the writer most probably agree with?

A. Christmas celebrations are really a waste of money.

B. Vegetarians are more likely to survive than meat-eaters.

C. Raising animals has a negative influence on environment.

D. The car industry does less harm to environment than farming.

4. Which of the following words best describes the language style of the passage?

A. Humourous and concerned.                    B. Cheerful and friendly.

C. Academic and formal.                               D. Serious and boring.

5. Which of the following is the best title for this passage?

A. Is Santa driving clean and green?

B. Santa, watch where you’re going!

C. Santa Claus is coming to town!

D. Let’s reduce waste on Christmas celebrations!

 

阅读理解。
     The IEA's World Energy Outlook report says increasing demand and use of energy has to be limited.
     The switch to more low-carbon energy will require an extra investment (投资) of£2.7 trillion-about 0.2%
of GDP-the IEA report said, with an average£11 spent per head worldwide on more efficient cars, buildings
and so on. The improved energy efficiency would deliver fuel-cost savings of almost£4.5 trillion.
     The report says that the world energy demand will grow by l.6% per year on average between 2006 and
2030. This figure is lower than planned last year because the economic slowdown has reduced demand.
Demand for oil will rise from the current 85 m barrels (桶) per day to 106 m barrels by 2030.
     Demand for coal will rise more than any other fuel-despite the environmental damage it causes-making up
more than a third of the increase in energy use.
     The report claims oil will remain the world's main source of energy for many years to come even with the
rapid development of altemative renewable energy technology but the amount of oil remaining, production
costs and consumer price will remain unpredictable.
     Mr. Tanaka, IEA executive director, said big international oil and gas companies would in the future have
limited chances to increase production while in contrast national companies are planned to make up about 80%
of the increase of both oil and gas production to 2030. 
     The report says measures to control CO2 emissions (排放) will improve energy security by reducing global
fossil-fuel energy use but this would not alarm the world's major oil producers.
     "OPEC production will need to be 12 m barrels higher per day in 2030 than today. It is clear that the energy
departments will have to play the leading role in handling climate change," said Mr. Tanaka.
1. According to the report, the switch to more low-carbon energy will _____.

[     ]

A. need an additional $2.7 trillion investment
B. take two per cent of the UK's GDP
C. cost each person in the UK $ 11 on average
D. save about £4.5 trillion in fuel costs
2. Which of the following will be the major energy source in the next few years?

[     ]

A. Oil.
B. Coal.
C. Gas.
D. Bio-fuel.
3. According to Mr. Tanaka, who will play the key role in dealing with climate change?

[     ]

A. The oil producers.
B. The energy departments.
C. The oil consumers.
D. The policy makers.
4. What's the passage mainly talking about?

[     ]

A. National companies in the UK should produce more oil and gas.
B. The increasing demand and use of energy should be controlled.
C. New efficient energy methods should be tested and widely used.
D. Measures should be taken to alarm the world's major oil producers.

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