In Antarctica, you learn not to take anything for granted. Everything people depend on has to be shipped or flown into the continent. Why? There are no farms on the icy continent. There are certainly no cows, pigs or chickens. As for drinking water, special systems and a great deal of energy are needed to take the salt out of seawater to make it useable.

Then there is the matter of waste. The US Antarctic Program is committed (致力于) to reducing its impact- or footprint--on the Antarctic environment. That means that every bit of garbage a person might produce in a day has to be transported off the continent. That's true whether it's the wrapper from your candy bar, the green beans you didn't want to eat or the paper towels you used to wipe your hands,

McMurdo Station has put into place technology that helps it reduce its footprint. It starts with energy. The US research base has partnered its nearby neighbor, New Zealand's Scott Base, to share energy produced from three large wind turbines. Scott Base gets 100% of its power from wind, says Ron Blevins, manager at a power plant, while the American base gets about 35% of its energy from wind. The much larger US base uses oil-fired generators(发电机) to supply the rest of its energy needs. The waste heat produced by the generators is then used to warm many of its buildings.

The McMurdo base also has a wastewater treatment plant. Yubecca Bragg, an organic farmer, manages the treatment plant. Bragg explains that treatment depends on allowing microorganisms(微生物) to break down the waste until the liquid part of the waste can be safely released into the ocean. Between 150, 000 and 180,000 pounds a year of the remaining solid waste is packed into containers and sent back to the US.

1.We can learn from the first paragraph that .

A. farmers have to raise cows in Antarctica

B. people like taking the ships in Antarctica

C. it is not easy to live in Antarctica

D. water in Antarctica is useless at all

2.How do people in Antarctica deal with the solid garbage?

A. They have it taken away later. B. They wrap it in the paper towels.

C. They ignore it completely. D. They keep it in the dustbins.

3.It can be inferred from Ron Blevins’ words that .

A. the US base gets its most energy from wind

B. the US base doesn't need too much energy

C. Scott Base tries to remove its footprint

D. New Zealand's technology is advanced

4.Which of the following is harmful to the environment of Antarctica?

A. The large wind turbine. B. An oil-fired generator.

C. A wastewater treatment plant. D. Scott Base's power plant.

At a click of mouse consumers can purchase the goods and service they need at online shops. What they have to do is waiting for the goods sent to their homes. We shall all be grateful to the pioneers of online shopping for bringing us such convenience.

Michael Aldrich(the UK)

Online shopping was invented and pioneered by Michael Aldrich in the UK. In 1979 he connected a television via a telephone line to a real-time multi-user transaction(交易)processing computer. He sold mainly Business-to-Business systems. There were a number of significant world firsts with new applications in several business fields.

Jeff Bezos(the USA)

Jeff Bezos defined online shopping and rewrote the rules of commerce. Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web server and browser(浏览器)in 1990. In 1994, Jeff Bezos read an article about how the World Wide Web was growing by 2,300 percent a year. He knew he had to tap into such a great potential for commerce. On July 6, 1995, Bezos launched Amazon.com, which operated out of the garage of his two bedroom home in suburban Seattle, Washington. With almost no publicity, sales took off immediately. The company has now expanded into dozens of product categories, forcing the world’s biggest retailer(零售商)to rethink their business models, and finally changing the way people shop.

Jack Ma(China)

As a child, Jack Ma was bad at maths but fascinated by English. He travelled to the United States in 1995 as a translator to help a Chinese firm recover payment. The attempt failed. But a friend in Seattle showed Ma the Internet, and an idea began brewing.

In 1999, Mr Ma gathered 17 friends and founded Alibaba in his apartment in Hangzhou. Alibaba’s model was simple: allow small and medium-sized Chinese companies to find global buyers they would otherwise only be able to meet at trade shows. It works brilliantly. Alibaba’s sales are now more than those of eBay and Amazon combined.

1.What made Amazon.com a success?

A. Business-to-Business systems. B. The World Wide Web server and browser

C. Commercial publicity. D. Help from retailers.

2.How did Jack Ma have the idea of founding Alibaba?

A. A translator helped him. B. A Chinese firm inspired him.

C. lie was introduced to the Internet. D. lie was funded by some companies.

3.What do the pioneers have in common?

A. They have improved computers.

B. They have sold goods worldwide.

C. They have enlarged product categories.

D. They have contributed to online shopping.

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