Snow-melting Agent

A heavy snow can kill pests and this means a good harvest next year.This will bring as well as trouble to urbanites.

On Nov.16,2003,a cold air current brought a heavy snow to Beijing.To prevent traffic jams,related government departments mobilized people to clear off snow on streets.

One of the most effective ways to clear off snow on roads is to scatter snow-melting agent on the roads.The major component of the snow-melting agent is salt.The snow-melting agent can make snow stop from freezing,make it easier to clear off the road,and allow traffic to flow smoothly.But it also brings about some hidden dangers.In the spring of 2003,over 300 000 trees in Beijing urban districts died.After analyzing soil around these trees,experts discovered that the salt content of these soils was 392 times higher than normal.Where did the excessive salt come from?After investigating,forestry experts found that when clearing snow in the winter,people usually heap snow containing snow-melting agent at trees’ roots,and that when the snow melts,this agent penetrates the soil and increases its salt content.The snow-melting agent indirectly killed the trees.

Statistics show that during a heavy snow in 2002,over 1000 tons of snow-melting agent was scatterred on streets in Beijing.Snow water containing a large amount of snow-melting agent got into the soil through sewers.

In addition,salt in the snow-melting agent can expedite the corrosion of steel bars in concrete buildings and cause the concrete to crack and peel,shortening the life of roads.

Scientists and government officials are required to solve traffic problems caused by heavy snows as soon as possible and at the same time try to reduce the negative effects of the snow-melting agent.This is a difficult problem placed before them.Related authorities have framed some local criteria to regulate the production and use of snow-melting agents.

Now,more harmless snow-melting agents are being developed.Now that even snow-melting agents that meet today’s criteria must still be used carefully,we have to rely more on our manpower and machines to clear off snow.

This year,in addition to using snow-melting agents,Beijing will use a large number of snow vehicles to clear snow on roads.In more places,citizens are mobilized to clear snow with their hands.This may be a test of a city’s civilization level.

Salt is a snow-melting agent while _________ is a cleaning agent.

A.water                 B.soap     C.a washing-machine     D.a housewife

The third paragraph of the text is mainly about _______.

A.the side effect of snow-melting agent

B.a case of damage to trees caused by snow-melting agent

C.the results of using snow-melting agent

D.the uses of snow-melting agent

According to the text,the most practical way to clear off snow is to _________.

A.use snow-melting agent as much as possible

B.only use more harmless snow-melting agent

C.encourage people to clear snow with their hands

D.use more snow vehicles

This text most probably appears in_________.

A.a newspaper                                                        B.a magazine on latest findings

C.a book on salt                                               D.a magazine on environmental protection

There are many customs and traditions connected to yearly celebrations which are part of Britain’s folklore (民俗). Lughnasadh is a celebration at the beginning of August. A custom connected with it is to make corn dolls with corn from the last of the harvest. The doll is saved until the following spring when it is put back into the earth with new seeds. People believe that the doll contains the spirit of the corn and will bring a good harvest. Christmas too is full of ancient customs. The traditions of lighting a fire and decorating the home with an evergreen have their roots in times long before Christianity. The fire is to keep away evil spirits and fill the home with light and the evergreen is valued because it is a sign that life continued during those cold, dark days.

Not all the origins of ancient traditions are remembered, however. The roots of Morris dancing, for example, are not known. This is a dance in which men (and sometimes women ) dressed in white dance together. Some people think the dance may be from pre-Christmas times, and others say it was introduced into Britain in the late 15th century and that it comes from Moorish dancing. In any case, it is interesting to see that Morris dancing is not a dying tradition. There are Morris dancing groups in places as far away as New Zealand and San Francisco!

Although these customs have been passed down to us from forgotten generations, they themselves have not been forgotten and continue to play a part in our modern lives. Every week groups of individuals regularly meet to sing, play instruments or practice ancient dances and this month people all over Britain shall be preparing their homes for the ancient celebration we now call Christmas, lighting fires and putting up Christian trees, just as their great-great–grandfathers once did.

Why are corn dolls used to celebrate Lughnasadh? (no more than 14 words)

___________________________________________

How do people celebrate Christmas according to the passage?(no more than 10 words)

___________________________________________

What idea does the underlined sentence try to support ? (no more than 11words)

___________________________________________

What’s the main idea of the passage? ( no more than 9 words) 

  ___________________________________________

Thanksgiving Day is special holiday in the United States and Canada. Families and friends gather to eat and give thanks for their blessing.
Thanksgiving Day is really a harvest festival. This is why it is celebrated in late fall, after the crops are in. But one of the first thanksgivings in America had nothing to do with a good harvest. On December 4, 1619, the Pilgrims from England landed near what is now Charles City, Virginia. They knelt down and thanked God for their safe journey across the Atlantic.
The first New England Thanksgiving did celebrate a rich harvest. The Pilgrims landed at what is now Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1620. They had a difficult time and the first winter was cruel. Many of the Pilgrims died. But the next year, they had a good harvest. So Governor Bradford declared a three-day feast(盛宴). The Pilgrims invited Indian friends to join them for their special feast. Everyone brought food.
In time, other colonies(殖民地)began to celebrate a day of thanksgiving. But it took years before there was a national Thanksgiving Day. During the Civil War, Sarah Josepha Hale persuaded Abraham Lincoln to do something about it. He proclaimed(宣布)the last Thursday of November 1863 as a day of thanksgiving. Today, Americans celebrate this happy harvest festival on the fourth Thursday in November. Canadians celebrate Thanksgiving Day in much the same way as their American neighbours. But the Canadian thanks-giving Day falls on the second Monday in October.
【小题1】Thanksgiving Day is celebrated      .

A.in springB.summerC.in autumnD.in winter
【小题2】The first to celebrate thanksgiving were      .
A.some people from EnglandB.the American Indians
C.Sarah Josepha HaleD.Governor Bradford
【小题3】We can infer from the passage that New England must be      .
A. in the U. S. A.   B. in Great Britain   C. in Canada   D. on some island off the Atlantic
【小题4】Which of the following is NOT true?
A.Thanksgiving Day used to be a holiday to celebrate a good harvest.
B.Abraham Lincoln was not the first to decide on thanksgiving celebrations.
C.Thanksgiving Day is celebrated to express the American and Indian people’s thanks to God.
D.There’s little difference between the American way and the Canadian way to celebrate Thanksgiving Day.
【小题5】The passage mainly tells us      .
A. how Thanksgiving Day is celebrated in the U. S. A.
B. how Thanksgiving Day came into being and the different ways it is celebrated
C. that Thanksgiving Day is in fact a harvest holiday
D. how the way to celebrate Thanksgiving Day changed with the time and places

   Have you ever complained why life is so tiring? Does the sky sometimes seem dark to you? Are your studies sometimes not successful? Well, friends, cheer up and smile all the time. If you see the world with your warm heart, you’ll find that the whole world smiles to you.
While in school, sometimes you are tired of your lessons, but have you ever noticed the happy smile on your teacher’s face when you did a good job?
One day it is fine. Just before you go out, it suddenly starts to rain. Maybe you would feel very sad and start to complain about the weather. But friends, why don’t you sit down and listen to the free concerts that the nature offers you? And with the timely(及时地) rain, crops in the fields will grow better and better and farmers will have a good harvest.
Although everyone wants to succeed in what he tries to do, sometimes failure can’t be avoided. I think failure is not terrible, and the terrible thing is that we are afraid of it and give up hope. When we face failure, we must be confident(信心) in ourselves, draw a useful lesson from it and try our best to finish what we have decided to do. As a popular saying goes, “Failure is the mother of success”.
Attitude(态度) decides everything. With an optimistic(乐观) attitude life is easy and pleasant. Let’s smile to whatever we meet and the whole world will smile to us.
【小题1】 People sometimes complain _________.

A.the sky is always darkB.their studies are successful
C.they see the world with their heartD.life is tiring
【小题2】When we face failure, we ___________.
A.must be confident in ourselvesB.shouldn’t be afraid of it
C.shouldn’t give up hope D.All of the above
【小题3】The best title for the passage is_______.
A.Smile and the World Smiles to YouB.Complaining about Life
C.Failure is the Mother of SuccessD.It is Very Hard to Succeed

John Davis doesn’t use his GPS system in his car. Instead of guiding the direction, the Delaware farmer uses it to determine where and how much fertilizer to use on the crops on his 4,000-acre family-owned farm. Technological advances like that last year helped Davis and other Ohio farmers set a record for corn product. Ohio's corn crop in 2009 totaled 546 million bushels(蒲式耳), despite a cooler and wetter than normal spring, a dry summer and a delayed, wet harvest. Davis said. “I knew it would be a good crop, but it was much better than we expected.”

A farmer can map his fields on GPS, spotting where soil turned out to be least fertile(肥沃的) and using more fertilizer the next year in those areas where corn didn’t grow as well.

Although Ohio farmers produced more corn, it was grown on less land than in the past years. Total area used for corn in Ohio was 3.35 million acres, about the same as in 2008 but down from 3.85 million acres in 2007, said Dwayne Siekman, director of the Ohio Corn Growers Association. “When you look at the total number of acres in Ohio used for corn, it’s clear that farmers are able to do more with less,” he said. “American farmers can grow five times more corn on 20 percent less land than they did in the 1930s, saying that modern farming techniques are necessary for a growing demand in the world today.” That technology includes using improved seeds that can withstand(忍受) greater temperature extremes and pests, Siekman said.

Farmers aren't the only ones who benefit. Consumers(消费者) do, too, as food costs reduce in the face of “enough supplies of corn,” said Fred Yoder, who runs a 1,500-acre corn, soybean and wheat farm in Plain City. “This is the best, highest-producing corn crop that I've raised in 30 years,” he said.

1.Most people usually use the GPS system for ______.

A. driving their cars

B. telling the position

C. mending the car

D. supplying the sunshine

2.The farmers in Ohio use GPS to ______.

A. check if the soil is fertile in some areas

B. control the rain of the place

C. water the crops if the weather is dry

D. draw the map of all the crops

3.Why did Ohio farmers produce more corn?

A. Because they expanded more land to grow corn

B. Because they turned to technological advances

C. Because they used more and more fertilizer.

D. Because they supplies themselves with more money.

4. From the passage, we can know _____.[

A. John Davis hadn’t expected a good harvest.

B. farmers grew less land than in the 1930s

C. improved seeds cost much more money

D. the output of corn in the same field is increased.

 

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