A new factory that turns used wine bottles into green sand could revolutionize the recycling industry and help to filter(过滤)the nation's drinking water.

For the last 100 years special high grade white sand quarried(开采)at Leighton Buzzard in Bedfordshire has been used to filter tap water to remove bacteria and impurities—but this may no longer be necessary.

The green sand has already been successfully tested by water companies and is being used in 50 swimming pools in Scotland to keep the water clean.

Backed by one million pounds from the European Union and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs(Defar),a company based in Scotland is building a factory to turn beverage bottles back into the sand from which they were made.

The idea is not only to avoid using up increasingly scarce sand in Scotland and avoid any further quarrying but also to solve a crisis in the recycles only 750 000 tones of it.

Howard Dryden, the scientist and managing director of the company has spent six years working on what he calls Active Filtration Meadia, or AFM, the recycled glass. He says he needs bottles that have already contained drinkable liquids to be sure that drinking water would not be polluted.

"The fact is that tests show that AFM does the job better than glass, it is easier to clean and reuse and has all sorts of properties that make it ideal for other applications, "he claimed. He also thinks the market will be able to take 250 000 tones of green sand a year. The plan is to build five or six factories in cites in UK where the bottles come from to cut down on transport.

The factory will be completed this month and is expected to go into full production on January 14 next year. Once it is providing a "regular" product, the government's drinking water inspectorate will be asked to perform tests and approve it for general use by water companies.

It may no longer be necessary to use high-grade white sand to keep water clean because_____.

there is no need to keep water clean

A new factory has been set up

The green sand has been used to keep the water clean

White sand is being use up

According to the passage ,the new idea can do the following except_____.

A. avoiding using up increasingly scarce sand

B. avoiding further quarrying of white sand

C. solving the crisis in the recycling industry

D. cutting down the cost on transport

Tests show that ______ in keeping the water clean.

A .AFM is more efficient than white sand

B.AFM is more efficient than glass

C. glass is more efficient than AFM

D. white sand is more efficient than green sand

The underlined word "Backed" in the third paragraph can best be replaced by"_____".

A. Allowed             B. Opposed

C. Supported            D. Forbidden

What would be the best title for the passage?

A. Revolution in the Recycling for the Industry.

B. Modern Technology an New Markets.

C. Revolution in Environmental Protection.

D. Unlocking the Benefits of Green Sand.


(C)
Most American students said goodbye to expensive fruits these days. In school canteens across the country, cheaper fruits like apples and oranges heave replaced them. “People are afraid to spend now” said Linda Morrow, who owns a shoe and handbag store. “They basically don’t know what the future will bring and keep waiting till after the Presidential Election.”
The current financial crisis(金融危机), during which several of the country’s biggest banks have been forced to sell or close, has made lots of Americans unwilling to buy expensive goods.
Samira Martino, a restaurant owner in Miami, found everyone is ordering water instead of juice and more people are sharing meals. In more than two dozen interviews with the Associated Press across the country last month, American talked about their concerns, from worries about small businesses to doubts about simply making ends meet.
The crisis began last year. Experts blame it on U.S. banks lending money too easily. A lot of people and companies, who borrowed money, have found themselves unable to pay it back. This left the banks, as well as the people who put their money in the banks, without money. Since the banks borrowed money between themselves and even across borders, the whole world’s financial markets were involved.
This month the U.S. government agreed on a $ 700 billion plan to try to save the financial market. But a turn-around(转机) is not sure. President George W. Bush has warned it will take some time for the full effects of the plan to take hold in an economy that has had a world of trouble.
Last week top finance officials from 20 major economies promised to work together to find a way out of the money trouble. They believe the current crisis is the worst since the Great Depression in 1929. And they all think international cooperation is the key to solve it.
51. From the first paragraph, we can infer that______
A. apples and oranges become more expensive
B. people are worrying about the Election
C. people are expecting a turn-around after the Election
D. expensive fruits are in short supply in American markets
52. Samira Martino’s restaurant is mentioned in the passage in order to ______
A. show that people cut down their expenses.
B. attract more people to come to his restaurant
C. show how hard he is trying to run his business
D. encourage people to start businesses like him
53. What is the cause of the current financial crisis of America?
A. The Presidential Election
B. U.S. banks lending money too easily.
C. The decreasing economy.
D. America’s rapid development.
54. According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true?
A. Many students can not eat expensive fruits in school canteens.
B. Americans are very worried about their lives.
C. The international cooperation is most needed.
D. The current financial crisis is the worst in American history.
55. This passage mainly talks about______
A. the terrible life of Americans
B. the situation of the financial crisis
C. the way to go through the crisis
D. the world financial market


( B )
In communities north of Denver, residents are pitching in to help teachers and administrators as the Vrain school District tries to solve a $13.8 million budget shortage blamed on mismanagement. “We’re worried about our teachers and principals, and we really don’t want to lose them because of this,” one parent said. “If we can help ease their financial burden, we will.”
Teachers are grateful, but I know it may be years before the district is solvent(有综合能力的). They feel really good about the parent support, but they realize it’s impossible for them to solve this problem.
The 22,000-student district discovered the shortage last month. “It’s extraordinary. Nobody would have imagined something happening like this at this level,” said State Treasurer Mike Coffman.
Coffman and district officials last week agreed on a state emergency plan freeing up a $9.8 million loan that enabled the payroll(工资单) to be met for 2,700 teachers and staff in time for the holidays.
District officials also took $1.7 million from student-activity accounts of its 38 schools.
At Coffman’s request, the District Attorney has begun investigating the district’s finances. Coffman says he wants to know whether district officials hid the budget shortage until after the November election, when voters approved a $212 million bond issue for schools.
In Frederick, students’ parents are buying classroom supplies and offering to pay for groceries and utilities to keep first-year teachers and principals in their jobs.
Some $36,000 has been raised in donations from Safeway. A Chevrolet dealership donated $10,000 and forgave the district’s $10,750 bill for renting the driver educating cars. IBM contributed 4,500 packs of paper.
“We employ thousands of people in this community,” said Mitch Carson, a hospital chief executive, who helped raise funds. “We have children in the school, and we see how they could be affected.”
At Creek High School, three students started a website that displays newspaper articles, district information and an email forum. “Rumors about what’s happening to the district are moving at lighting speed,” said a student. “We wanted to know the truth, and spread that around instead.”
46. What has happened to the Vrain School District?
A. A huge financial problem has arisen.
B. Many schools there are mismanaged.
C. Lots of teachers in the district are planning to quit.
D. Many administrative personnel have been laid off.
47. How did the residents in the Vrain School District respond to the budget shortage?
A. They felt somewhat helpless about it.
B. They accused those responsible for it.
C. They made their efforts to help solve it.
D. They demanded a thorough investigation.
48. In the view of State Treasurer Mike Coffman, the educational budget shortage is ________.
A. unavoidable       B. unbelievable       C. insolvable        D. invisible
49. Why did Coffman request an investigation?
A. To see if the financial problem was covered up on purpose
B. To find out how serious the consequence of the case would be.
C. To make sure that the school principals were innocent.
D. To stop the voters approving the $212 million bond issue.
50. Three high school students started a website in order to ________.
A. attract greater public attention to their needs
B. appeal to the public for contributions and donations
C. expose officials who neglected their duties
D. keep people properly informed of the crisis


E
Britain’s 101-year-old Queen Mother , who died on March 30 , was famous for never giving interviews . However , her few publicized comments showed humor , a strong will and love for life .
In the 1920s , many men wanted to marry lady Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon . She only agreed to marry the future King George Ⅵ when he got down on bended knee for a third time to ask her . But she never forgave her brother Edward Ⅷ for stepping down from the throne(王位)in 1936 to marry divorced(离婚)woman Wallis Simpson . This meant that her shy husband became king. “Those last few days were like sitting on the edge of a volcano,” she said of the crisis.
The Queen Mother’s most famous role in British life was to try to boost(提高)Londoners’ morale(士气)during the World War II bombing(轰炸), especially in the hardest-hit East End of London. When Buckingham Palace(白金汉宫)was hit by a bomb in 1940 , she said , “ I am glad we have been bombed . It makes me feel I can look the East End(people)in the face . ”
Famously , she refused suggestions that she and her children,the princesses Elizabeth and Margaret , should seek refuge(寻求避难)in Canada until the end of the war . “ The children won’t go without me , I won’t leave the king and the king will never go . ” she declared . “ I should die if I had to leave . ”
After better times returned,her love of expensive parties and high life continued,well into her old age . Her bank overdraft(透支)reached 4 million pounds .
She enjoyed fishing until well into her 80s but once choked(噎住)on a fishbone . After doctors removed the bone , she joked , “ After all these years of fishing , the fish are having their revenge(报复). ”
In the end, she outlived the 20th century with energy and enthusiasm. “I love life, that’s my secret,” she told a friend when she was in her 80s . In a television interview last week, her grandson Prince Charles said, “She saw the funny side of life and we laughed until we cried.”
Hundreds of people have signed books of condolence(哀悼)across the country , including former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher .
“She loved her country and in return her country loved her.” said Prime Minister Tony Blair.
72. The Queen Mother refused to seek refuge in Canada with her children because       .
A. she didn’t think it safe to stay in Canada
B. she wasn’t willing to go without her husband
C. she hoped to boost Londoners’ morale
D. she wanted to earn good fame through the war
73. When Queen Mother went into her old age, she______.
A. was tired of peaceful life
B. began to show interest in fishing
C. was very luxury(奢侈)
D. looked down upon many things people had done
74. Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage?
A. George VI became king of Britain when his wife was in her late thirties.
B. Queen Mother hadn’t expected her husband to become a king.
C. Buckingham Palace was burned to the ground during the World War II . 
D. Queen Mother showed bravery in face of the World War II.
75. From the passage we know that Queen Mother was______.
A. humorous and brave     B. talkative and humorous
C. talkative but shy               D. brave but shy

The energy crisis (危机) has made people aware of how the careless use of the earth’s energy has brought the whole world to the edge of disaster. The over – development of motor transport, with its increase of more cars, more traveling, has contributed to the near – destruction of our cities and the pollution not only of local air but also of the earth’s atmosphere.

Our present situation is unlike natural disasters of the past. Worldwide energy use has brought us to a state where long – range planning is vital. What we need is not a continuation of our present serious state, which endangers the future of our country, our children, and our earth, but a movement forward in order to work rapidly and effectively on planetary problems.

This country has been falling back under the continuing exposures of loss of morality (道德) and the revelation (揭露) that lawbreaking has reached into the highest place in the land. There is a strong demand for morality to turn for the better and for some devotion that is vast enough and yet personal enough to enlist the devotion of all. In the past it has been only in a way in defense of their own country and their own benefits that people have been able to devote themselves wholeheartedly.

This is the first time that we have been asked to defend ourselves and what we hold dear in cooperation with all the other people of this planet, who share with us the same endangered air and the same endangered oceans. There is a common need to reassess our present course, to change that course and to employ new methods through which the world can survive. This is a priceless opportunity.

To grasp it, we need a widespread understanding of nature if the crisis we and the world are facing is no passing inconvenience, no by-product(副产品)of the ambitions of the oil – producing countries, no environmentalists’ only fears, no byproduct of any present system of government. What we face is the result of the invention of the last four hundred years. What we need is transformed life style. This new life style can flow directly from science and technology, but its acceptance depends on a sincere devotion to finding a higher quality of life for the world’s children and future generation.

1. Which of the following has nearly destroyed our cities?

A. The loss of beliefs and ideas.                        B. More of law – breaking.

C. Natural disasters in many areas.                     D.  The rapid growth of motors.

2. By comparing past problems with present ones, the author draws our attention to the        .

A. seriousness of this crisis                                B. ineffectiveness of laws

C. similarity of the past to the present          D. hopelessness of the situation

3. Which of the following is used as an example to show the loss of morality?

A. Disregard for law.                                        B. Lack of devotion.

C. Lack of understanding.                                 D. Destruction of cities.

4. The author wrote the passage in order to        .

A. make a recommendation for a transformed life style

B. limit ambitions of the people of the whole world

C. demand devotion to nature and future generation

D. encourage awareness of the decline of morality

 

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