Growers around the world are using new methods to grow grapes to make wine. They use natural and organic methods to control harmful insects and weeds instead of using chemicals. Now, a winery in Canada has adopted a natural way to control its grapevines (葡萄藤).The Featherstone Winery is in southern Ontario. The grapevines, like other plants, need to be cut every year.

     Cutting grapevines must be done very carefully. Only a targeted area of leaves is removed from the lower part of the vines to help the grapes grow better. But at the Featherstone Winery, no man or machine does the cutting. Instead, the job is done by 40 little wooly lambs.www.zxxk.com

     David Johnson owns the vineyard. He says he learned about using lambs while visiting wineries in New Zealand. The young lambs are perfectly designed to do the job. They eat the grape leaves on the lower parts of the vine. But they are not tall enough to reach the grapes. They only weigh about 22 kilograms, so they do not beat down the soil. And their waste makes good organic fertilizer. In addition, using the lambs costs much less than hiring workers to cut the vines for seven weeks in summer. And when the cutting is done in August, the lambs become tasty dishes.

     Mr Johnson says he had a difficult time finding enough lambs to do the job. There are about 50 million lambs in New Zealand. But there are not nearly as many in Ontario. Also, some organic pesticides (杀虫剂) are harmful to lambs. And the lambs must be watched to make sure they do not eat too much of the grapevines.

    David Johnson says the lambs help him carry out his environmental ideas about farming. They are lovely and peaceful and he likes having them in his vineyard. People visiting the vineyard also enjoy watching the lambs do their job.

1.Farmers who grow grapes with natural and organic methods _____.

A. don't cut grapevines every year

B. don't use chemicals to control harmful insects and weeds  

C. don't need to control harmful insects and weeds   

D. don't use organic fertilizer

2.In order to help the grapes grow better, growers _____.

A. only have to remove the dead leaves    

B. need to remove a specific area of leaves    

C. shouldn't remove any part of the plants    

D. should let little lambs do the cutting

3.Paragraph 4 is mainly about _____.

A. the future of getting lambs to do the cutting    

B. the worries about using organic pesticides 

C. the ways to get lambs to do the cutting  

D. the problems related to lambs doing the cutting

4.We can infer from the passage that David Johnson______.

A. owns several wineries in Canada

B. buys lambs from New Zealand  

C. is concerned about protecting the environment   

D. loves keeping lambs instead of farming

 

Here in China, as the awareness of climate change improves, realizing a low-carbon way of life, also known as reducing your carbon footprint, is a growing trend among young Chinese.

Zheng Xiyu works at  1.  office in Beijing’s Central Business District.Every day,  2.   takes her roughly 40 minutes to go to work by bus.But she is thinking of  3.   (switch) to a different way of transport--a bicycle.When buying clothes, she will choose those purely made of cotton, 4.  it takes less carbon to produce cotton clothes.She’s also adapting to a vegetable diet as livestock(家畜) can make many contributions  5.    today’s most serious environmental problems.

A recent survey shows  6.   78% of all the 17,000 people questioned have developed environmentally friendly habits in their daily lives.They are doing things, such as taking reusable shopping bags to the store and setting the air conditioner at a temperature above 26oC in summer.

On many popular  7.    (society) networking websites, people are advocating a low-carbon lifestyle.Their tips include using the stairs and public transport more frequently  8.   elevators and cars.They hope this lifestyle  9.   (become) more than just a trend within certain groups.

As the most populous nation on the planet with the world’s fastest growing economy, China has become the second biggest emitter(排放者) of greenhouse gases.The recent extreme weather in the southern regions reflects a serious environmental challenge.Experts say there is no time  10.    (delay) with the effort to reduce carbon emissions.

 

When did you last see a polar bear(北极熊)? On a trip to a zoo, perhaps? If you had attended a winter activity in New York a few years ago, you would have seen a whole polar bear club. These "Polar Bears" are people who meet frequently in the winter to swim in freezing cold water. That day, the air temperature was 3℃,and the water temperature was a little higher. The members of the Polar Bear Club at Coney Island, New York are usually about the age of 60. Members must satisfy two requirements. First, they must get along well with everyone else in the group; this is very important because there are so many different kinds of people in the club. Polar Bears must also agree to swim outdoors at least twice a month from November through February.

Doctors don't agree about the medical effects of cold-winter swimming. Some are worried about the dangers of a condition in which the body's temperature drops so low that finally the heart stops. Other doctors, however, point out that there is more danger of a heart attack during summer swimming because the difference between the air temperature and water temperature is much greater in summer than in winter.

The Polar Bears themselves are satisfied with the benefits of cold-water swimming. They say that their favorite form of exercise is very good for the circulatory system(循环系统) because it forces the blood to move fast to keep the body warm. Cold-water swimmers usually turn bright red after a few minutes in the water. A person who turns blue probably has a very poor circulatory system and should not try cold-water swimming.

The main benefits of cold-water swimming are probably mental. The Polar Bears love to swim all year round; they find it fun and relaxing. As one 70-year-old woman says, "When I go into water, I pour my troubles into the ocean and let them float away."

1.The members of the Polar Bear Club must meet the following requirements except that____.

A.they must swim outdoors at least 8 times in the four cold months

B.they must reach the age of 60

C.they should be easy to make friends with

D.they must agree to swim outdoors from November through February

2.According to the passage, some doctors believe it is true that_____.

A.polar Bears are bears swimming in freezing water

B.cold-water swimming can make the body temperature dangerously high

C.you are healthy if cold-water swimming turns your skin color blue

D.cold-water swimming causes more heart attacks in summer than in winter

3.The Polar Bears like to swim year-round, for_____.

A.it is an easy way to keep the body warm in winter

B.they can remain young

C.they find it enjoyable and interesting

D.they might meet fewer troubles in life

4.The passage is mainly about_____.

A.the requirements of the Polar Bear Club

B.a group of cold-water-swimming lovers

C.the Polar Bears' life in New York

D.doctors' ideas about cold-water swimming

 

The Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake at 5:46 a. rn. on January 17, 1995,Kobe (神户) and its surrounding areas suffered a killer earthquake. Only two other events in this century, the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923 and World War II caused more deaths in Japan than this earthquake. The epicenter was at the northern tip of Awaji Island. The quake registered 7.2 on the Richter scale (里氏震级). The greatest amount of damage was seen in the Japanese port city of Kobe, and at final count 6 348 people had lost their lives.

The people of the area were quite unprepared for such a big earthquake. Experts had said that most modern buildings would be quite safe even from an earthquake as strong as the Great Kanto Earthquake. This was clearly not true. Television cameras showed the many buildings that had fallen down. The highway that ran through the city had fallen over on its side looking as if it had been pushed over by a giant.

Thousands of people were homeless, However, some of the finest human qualities were seen in the time of crises (moment of great danger). People formed long lines for water and other supplies. They shared what they had with one another. People from young to old stopped to talk to each other and give a few encouraging words. The people living in the area knew that their old life had been destroyed. They believe they can rebuild their life, and a better one,

64. Only two other events caused more deaths in Japan. They are _____.

A. the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake and the Second World War

B. the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923 and World War II

C. the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923 and the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake of 1995

D. the First World War and the Second World War

65. Which of the following is true?

A. The Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake was the greatest in the world history. 

B. The earthquake broke out in summer.

C. The center of the earthquake was in the northern end of the port city.

D. More than six thousand people lost their lives in the earthquake.

66. The passage seems to suggest that _____.

A. a giant was able to start an earthquake

B. modem buildings were strong enough to be safe from any earthquake

C. less people would have died if they had been prepared for it

D. experts always tell lies

 

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