Governments and health officials around the world continued to take steps Tuesday against the outbreak of swine flu that has killed scores of people in Mexico and spread to the U.S.,Europe and possibly Asia.

By early Tuesday,the swine flu outbreak in Mexico had caused in 152 deaths and more than 1,600 illnesses.So far,at least 113 cases have been proved worldwide,including 64 in the United States;six in Canada;11 in New Zealand and two each in Spain the United Kingdom and Israel.None has yet resulted in death.

    T'he World Health Organization on Monday raised its alert level from three to four on its six-level scale.The move means the U.N.agency has determined that the virus can transmit from human to human.

“In this age of global travel,where people move around in airplanes so quickly,there is no region to which this virus could not spread,”said Fukuda,assistant director-general of the WHO.

    Governments around the world struggled to prevent further outbreak.Some,like China and Russia,banned pork imports from the United States and Mexico U.S.President Barack Obama said the outbreak was a cause for concern,not for alarm.The gov-ernment urged travelers to avoid non-essential travel to Mexico.

The latest WHO report listed only seven proved swine flu deaths in Mexico but it was not clear why there was the discrepency.

Mexico City has closed all schools until at least May 6 to help curb (contro1) the spread of swine flu and ordered 35,00 public venues to close or serve only take away meals.In addition,bars,clubs,movie theaters,pool halls,gyms,sport centers and convention halls have been told to close until May 5.Armed police officers are also guarding hospitals in Mexico City while roads and schools in the city of 20 million people are deserted.Officials also have talked about shutting down the bus and subway systems.

【小题1】When learning the outbreak of swine flu,the WHO was         .

A.calm                   B.nervous

C.shocked                 D.careful

【小题2】Fukuda’s words suggest that         .

A.he likes travel by air

       B.global travel hasn’t been affected

C.this virus can spread quickly because of global travel

       D.planes must be forbidden to take to prevent swine flu

【小题3】The last paragraph mainly tells us         .

       A.Mexico has taken measures to control swine flu

       B.Mexico City is too dangerous to live in

       C.the normal life in Mexico has been changed

       D.people in Mexico are badly in need of help

Sports shoes that out whether their owner has enough exercise to warrant time in front of the television have been devised in the UK.

The shoes—named Square Eyes—contain an electronic pressure sensor and a tiny computer chip to record how many steps the wearer has taken in a day. A wireless transmitter passes the information to a receiver connected to a television, and this decides how much evening viewing time the wearer deserves, based on the day’s efforts.

The design was inspired by a desire to fight against the rapidly ballooning waistlines among British teenagers, says Gillian Swan, who developed Square Eyes as a final year design project at Brunel University to London, UK. “We looked at current issues and childhood overweight really stood out,” she says. “And I wanted to tackle that with my design.”

Once a child has used up their daily allowance gained through exercise, the television automatically switches off. And further time in front of the TV can only be earned through more steps.

Swan calculated how exercise should translate to television time using the recommended daily amounts of both. Health experts suggest that a child take 12,000 steps each day and watch no more than two hours of television. So, every 100 steps recorded by the Square Eyes shoes equals precisely one minute of TV time.

Existing pedometers (计步器) normally clip onto a belt or slip into a pocket and keep count of steps by measuring sudden movement. Swan says these can be easily tricked into recording steps through shaking. But her shoe has been built to be harder for lazy teenagers to cheat. “It is possible, but it would be a lot of effort,” she says. “That was one of my main design considerations.”

According to Swan, the purpose of her design project is to ________.

A.keep a record of the steps of the wearer

B.deal with overweight among teenagers

C.enable children to resist the temptation of TV

D.prevent children from being tricked by TV programs

Which of the following is true of Square Eyes shoes?

A.They regulate a child’s evening TV viewing time.

B.They determine a child’s daily pocket money.

C.They have raised the hot issue of overweight.

D.They contain information of the receiver.

What is stressed by health experts in their suggestion?

A.The exact number of steps to be taken.

B.The precise number of hours spent on TV.

C.The proper amount of daily exercise and TV time.

D.The way of changing steps into TV watching time.

Compared with other similar products, the new design ________.

A.makes it difficult for lazy teenagers to cheat

B.counts the wearer’s steps through shaking

C.records the sudden movement of the wearer

D.sends teenagers’ health data to the receiver

Which of the following would be the best title for the text?

A.Smart Shoes Decide on Television Time

B.Smart Shoes Guarantee More Exercise

C.Smart Shoes Measure Time of Exercise

D.Smart Shoes Stop Childhood Overweight

The quality of water supply in southern Beijing has been improving in recent years, an official said.
In addition to improvements in the network of pipes, the government has been upgrading three recycled water plants in the south of the capital, said Zhao Lei, spokesman for the Beijing Municipal Commission of Development and Reform.
"The transformation of the three plants has increased the recycled water processing capacity by 160,000 cubic meters per day," he said.
In addition, the city is also speeding up the construction of sewage treatment plants to further recycle the sewage, Zhao said.
Zhang Xiang, a researcher from Nature University, an environmental protection NGO in Beijing, said recycled water use should be promoted, especially in water-scarce cities such as Beijing.
Setting up more recycled water plants in the capital will not only promote efficient water use, but also reduce costs because recycling water is much cheaper than transferring it over long distances, he said.
According to the Beijing Water Authority, the capital will set up 46 more recycled water plants citywide in the next three years while upgrading 20 sewage treatment plants.
The treatment rate of domestic sewage in downtown Beijing will reach 98 percent by the end of 2015, it said.
The capital's recycled water is mainly used for industry, landscaping and cleaning, Zhang said.
Many new communities in southern Beijing are equipped with a network to recycle water.
In the past, people were not enthusiastic about using recycled water. However, as the government has boosted the quality of recycled water and set up more recycled water plants, more residents are gradually accepting it.
Residents in southern Beijing will also enjoy more clean energy, as the government will replace traditional coal-burning stoves with electric radiators as part of a three-year plan to develop southern Beijing from 2013 to 2015.
Since 2010, Beijing has taken measures to develop its southern areas. Earlier efforts have seen the region, which used to rely heavily on low-end industries such as cement factories and small coal mines, being turned into a bustling commercial center and home to many educational institutions.
【小题1】This passage may appear in ________ section.

A.businessB.lifeC.politicsD.forum
【小题2】which statement is true according to the passage
A.Recycled water will be mainly used for drink.
B.As usual, recycled water is accepted by people.
C.Traditionally people in southern Beijing use coal-burning stove for cooking.
D.The water Transferred over long distance is cheaper than recycled water.
【小题3】 How many recycled water plants will the capital city have in about 3 years?
A.46.B.20C.3D. 49
【小题4】 What does the last paragraph mainly tell us?
A.Southern area in Beijing has taken on a new look.
B.The southern area is hone to many educational institutions
C.Southern area in Beijing is more beautiful now.
D.Southern area in Beijing is a busy place now .
【小题5】 Which is the best title for the passage?
A.Beijing government has taken measures to improve its people`s life.
B.Recycled water flows to southern Beijing.
C.More recycled water plants will be built.
D.The southern Beijing residents will enjoy clean water

One of the world’s richest men has taken a close interest in one of man’s most basic functionsvisiting the toilet.Bill Gates’s charitable organizationthe Bill and Melinda Gates Foundationis looking for inventors to design the loo of the futurewhichthey hopewould improve sanitation for millions of people around the world.

Sowhat’s wrong with the traditional flush toiletFirstlyit wastes a huge amount of potential drinking water.Secondlythey are more likely to cause pollution.This is a real problem in many areas of the developing worldwhereaccording to United Nations estimatesunsafe sanitation causes half of all hospitalizations.Younger people are particularly at risk.Illnesses which cause diarrhea are responsible for the deaths of about 1.5 million children a year.Finallystandard lavatories simply aren’t practical in remote areas.

The challenge set by Bill Gates was to come up with a latrine which works without running waterelectricity or aseptic tank.It also needed to operate for less than 5 cents.28 designs were displayed at the recent Reinvent the Toilet Fairin SeattleUSA.Among them was one which turned human waste into electricity using microwavesanother which converted human waste into charcoaland yet another which used urine for flushing.

But the winner was a solar?powered design which generated hydrogen gas and electricity. The team from the California Institute of Technology(CIT) picked up a prize of $100,000.

But clearly Bill Gates doesn’t feel he’s flushing money down the toilet.After the Seattle event he said“We couldn’t be happier with the response we’ve gotten.” Gates has even pledged $370 million more to the future toilet project.They hope to field test more prototypes over the next three years.

1.Why is Bill Gates paying people to invent new toilets?

ABecause he wants to test people’s sense of creativity.

BBecause he wants to improve sanitation for many people.

CBecause he thinks the traditional ones are out of fashion.

DBecause he can’t design this kind of things himself.

2.Which of the following is NOT a problem with the traditional flush toilet?

AThey waste too much water.

BThey might cause diseases.

CThey are not always practical.

DThey are too complicated to use.

3.The underlined word “latrine” in the third paragraph might have similar meanings to the word “________” in the text.

Aloo? Bsanitation

Cdiarrhea? Dprototype

4.The team from CIT won the prize because their design ________.

Acan change human waste into electricity

Bcan turn human waste into charcoal

Ccan produce power with solar energy

Dcan use urine for flushing

 

No matter what type of business you run, it has to deal with situations in which things go wrong from your customer’s point of view. Complaints can be a great source of information for the organizations. So it’s important to learn to deal with customer complaints efficiently.

    Firstly, listen actively to what the customer has to say by keeping comfortable eye contact and giving full attention with no interrupting. You should also show your customer that you do understand him.

    Secondly, when receiving a complaint you should apologize for the failure the customer has identified. It’s important for you to know that your apology must appear authentic to the customer, and not an empty exercise. And also you should show the customer you’ve accepted the responsibility and provide him with choices if you have some in hand or otherwise assure the customer you’ll do something about his complaint.

    Thirdly, talk with the consumer and discover the best means to resolve his problem. There will be times when, after gathering the facts of a situation, you’ll be unable to resolve the problem immediately. In this case it’s important to let your customer know how long it’ll take to take action on his complaint.

    Fourthly, a simple “Thank you” is one way to let the customer know you appreciate the time and effort he has taken to inform you about a problem with your company’s service or product you need to know about.

    Lastly, give your customer something that shows your appreciation for him giving the feedback to you. And let him know you’re sorry for the mistake that was made. It isn’t necessary to give something that is costly; but a coupon(赠券) for a free drink or movie is fine.

Your professional and well-organized method of dealing with your customer complaints is one more way that will make you stay ahead of your competitors.

1.What does the passage mainly talk about?

A. Importance of dealing with customer complaints.

B. Effects of customer complaints on business.

C. Tips for handling complaints from customers.

D. Several factors resulting in customer complaints.

2.The author thinks that customer complaints _____________.

A. are easy to deal with                   B. are really quite annoying

C. can actually be avoided                 D. are sometimes beneficial

3.The underlined word “authentic” in Paragraph 3 most probably means _______.

A. touching        B. believable          C. attractive         D. clever

4.According to the passage, what is the first thing you should do when facing the customer complaints?

A. Showing sincere attitude.

B. Making an honest apology.

C. Making an absolute promise.

D. Listening to the complaint attentively.

 

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