The hottest“green”toy in Germany isn't made of organic or recycled materials.This one has a solar panel and only runs if kids remember to insert bright red “energy stones”that power the space station.Germany,a pioneer in many renewable energy initiatives,is also at the forefront of creating environment?friendly toys aimed at making kids think about where energy comes from and how much of it they can use,raising awareness through play.A number of high?tech green toys are on display at this year's Nuremberg toy fair,which runs through Sunday.

Among them,there are hydroelectric?powered(水电动力的)toy cars,and doll houses with wind turbines and rainwater catchers.The bright green “Future Planet”space station features an inner atrium(中庭)with a fan that is powered by a functioning solar cell.Its aim is to get kids to use their imagination about how energy will be created in the future.

Makers and retailers believe such toys will play an increasingly important role in their future—and that of our kids.“Energy is the question of the future and we are definitely thinking about this as we move ahead,”said Judith Schweinitz,a spokeswoman for Playmobil,maker of the solar panel?fitted space station.“It is increasingly being brought into our play concept.”Green toys—which range from those made of sustainable materials to ones like the space station that just raise environmental awareness—make up only a sliver of the $ 84 billion international toy market,but their share is growing,studies indicate.Environmental research firm Earthsense,based in Syracuse,New York,predicts that green toys will account for about $ 1 billion,or 5 percent of U.S.toy sales in the next five years.Parents are smart and they want information about what's in the product.That's what's really driving the market.

1.The hottest “green”toy in Germany is ________.

A. made of rubbish

B. made of organic or recycled materials

C. equipped with a solar panel

D. driven by an advanced motor

2.The purpose of making the green toys is to ________.

A. raise kids' awareness about energy and environment

B. improve kids' imagination

C. give kids the knowledge of technology

D. improve the safety of toys

3.We can infer from the last paragraph that the green toys ________.

A. can help save little energy

B. are not accepted by parents

C. will sell well in the future

D. have not been produced

4.Which of the following BEST describes the opinion of Earthsense about green toys?

A. Doubtful. B. Optimistic.

C. Disappointed. D. Proud.

Like many new graduates, I left university full of hope for the future but with no real idea of what I wanted to do. My degree, with honors, in English literature had not really prepared me for anything practical. I knew I wanted to make a difference in the world somehow, but I had no idea how to do that. That’s when I learned about the Lighthouse Project.

I started my journey as a Lighthouse Project volunteer by reading as much as I could about the experiences of previous volunteers. I knew it would be a lot of hard work, and that I would be away from my family and friends for a very long time. In short, I did not take my decision to apply for the Lighthouse Project lightly. Neither did my family.

Eventually, however, I won the support of my family, and I sent in all the paperwork needed for the application. After countless interviews and presentations, I managed to stand out among the candidates and survive the test alone. Several months later, I finally received a call asking me to report for the duty. I would be going to a small village near Abuja, Nigeria. Where? What? Nigeria? I had no idea. But I was about to find out.

After completing my training, I was sent to the village that was small and desperately in need of proper accommodation. Though the local villagers were poor, they offered their homes, hearts, and food as if I were their own family. I was asked to lead a small team of local people in building a new schoolhouse. For the next year or so, I taught in that same schoolhouse. But I sometimes think I learned more from my students than they did from me.

Sometime during that period, I realized that all those things that had seemed so strange or unusual to me no longer did, though I did not get anywhere with the local language, and returned to the United States a different man. The Lighthouse Project had changed my life forever.

1.What do we know about the author?

A. His university education focused on the theoretical knowledge.

B. His dream at university was to become a volunteer.

C. He took pride in having contributed to the world.

D. He felt honored to study English literature.

2.According to the Project Lighthouse, it is likely that the author______________

A. discussed his decision with his family.

B. asked previous volunteers about voluntary work

C. attended special training to perform difficult tasks

D. felt sad about having to leave his family and friends

3.In his application for the volunteer job, the author _______________

A. Participated in many discussions

B. Went through challenging survival tests

C. Wrote quite a few paper on voluntary work

D. Faced strong competition from other candidates

4.On arrival at the village, the author was ___________

A. asked to lead a farming team

B. sent to teach in schoolhouse

C. received warmly by local villagers

D. arranged to live in a separate house.

5.What can we infer from the author’s experiences in Nigeria?

A. He found some difficulty adapting to the local culture

B. He had learned to communicate in the local language.

C. He had overcome all his weakness before he left for home.

D. He was chosen as the most respectable teacher by his students.

Things You Should Quit Doing to be Successful

Would you like to be successful? But what are you willing to do in order to reach your goal? 1. If you want it bad enough, you will get it. When you are productive, you efficiently finish various tasks and achieve better results. However, there are many bad habits that successful people will try to avoid to reach their desired success.

They don’t do without first learning. The greatest thing about learning is the benefit that we receive in all aspects of our lives. If we stop learning, then the only thing we can do is settle with what we already know; if we settle for that, then there is no way to expand our minds. 2. Since our minds require learning for expansion, we must never stop seeking new knowledge.

They don’t work in their comfort zone. What is your comfort zone? Your comfort zone is defined as “A psychological state in which a person feels familiar, at ease, in control, and experiences low anxiety.” When you get outside of your comfort zone, it doesn’t mean that you should strive for a constant state of anxiety and stress. 3.

4. Social networks are great for staying in touch with family and friends. However, when chatting, posting, sharing, and looking at various funny photos, we waste hours just scrolling through pages. Usually, before we fall asleep, we decide to check if there is something new in the news feed and end up falling asleep very late at night. You then feel tired in the morning and incapable of doing anything that demands focus and hard work.

They don’t hang around negative people. Negative people are very harmful to be around when it comes to achieving success. 5. When you are around negative people enough, you start to see things negatively and you begin to lose sight of your dream. If that happens, life will reward you with negative outcomes to deal with.

A. They don’t fear asking for advice.

B. Expansion is essential on the path to success!

C. They don’t spend a lot of time on social networks.

D. Success is not something that happens by accident.

E. Getting lost in small things causes us to miss out on the overall views.

F. Success is more about a person’s way of thinking than anything else.

G. It simply means that, in order to grow, you should try new things and expand your horizons.

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