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  The British Isles

  To the west and off the European Continent, there are thousands of islands on the continental shelf(大陆架).They are generally called the British Isles.Of all these isles, the largest one is called Great Britain.For convenience’s sake, it is often shortened to Britain.Still further the west of Great Britain is the second largest island known as Ireland.The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland(U.K.)is made up of Great Britain, Northern Ireland, and a number of smaller islands around them.The total area of the country is some 240 000 square kilometers with a population of about 57 million.

  Great Britain runs nearly 1000 kilometers from south to north and extends, at the widest part, about 500 kilometers from west to east.Its area is some 230 000 square kilometers.Great Britain is traditionally divided into three parts, or countries:England in the south, Scotland in the north, and Wales in the southwest.There are discernible(可辨别的)differences between them even now.

  England is the largest and most developed of all the three.Its area, about 130 000 square kilometers, takes up nearly 60% of the whole island.Its population is more than 46 million which makes up 85% of the country’s whole population.The importance of England is so great in Britain that some foreigners just say “England” when they mean Britain.The same is true of the custom of speaking of the British people as the English who are the majority in the United Kingdom.

  Scotland is the second largest both in area and population.It has an area of about 78 760 square kilometers, less than 30% of the whole island and with a population of 5 million, less than one tenth of the whole population.

  Wales is the smallest of the three both in area and population.In area,20 700 square kilometers, it makes up less than 9% of the total area while its population, 2.7 million, does not exceed 5% of the whole.

(1)

The British Isles is made up of ________.

[  ]

A.

the European Continent and Great Britain

B.

the U.K.and the Republic of Ireland

C.

England, Scotland and Wales

D.

thousands of islands to the west and off the European Continent

(2)

Which of the following figures shows the correct position of Great Britain?

[  ]

A.

B.

C.

D.

(3)

From the third paragraph we can infer that Great Britain has a population of about ________ million.

[  ]

A.

54

B.

46

C.

60

D.

57

(4)

Which of the following figures shows the correct area of Great Britain?________

(5)

Which of the following statements is TRUE?

[  ]

A.

England is five times larger than Wales in area.

B.

England is five times larger than Scotland in area.

C.

Scotland is five times larger than Wales in area.

D.

The UK is five times larger than Wales in area.

Ever wonder how this season’s celebrations affect the environment? Guest blogger Krista Fairles takes an amusing look at this very topic:

The holidays are a wonderful, cheerful time when most people wait for Santa to bring them presents. But I’m not like most people. I spend my time wondering just what the environmental impacts of Santa Claus and his reindeer are, and more importantly, how I can calculate those impacts.

Lately I’ve been particularly curious as to whether Santa’s old sled is a clean green flying machine, or if he should be replacing his 8 reindeer with an environmentally-friendly car.

I should mention that, surprisingly, I was unable to find statistics specific to Santa’s magical flying reindeer, so these calculations use numbers from various sources and may not represent actual pollution caused by Santa and his animals. In other words, don’t complain to the government about the damage Santa is causing the environment based on this article.

Santa’s yearly trip around the globe is 44,000km long, twice the average of a North American driver. If we assume that the magic provides the altitude for this trip, then reindeer power only needs to push Santa’s sled forward. To complete the trip in 12 hours, I estimate they must travel at a speed of about 3100km/h. To travel at this speed, for this length of time, the reindeer need to eat an incredible 980 million calories each!!

So the next question is: how much food is in 980 million calories? Well, if they’re eating corn, they’d need to eat 16,500 lbs each — or 1.6 acres of food. Growing 12.8 acres of corn has its own implications for the environment that we’ll leave for another calculation.

We now need to consider that during the global trip the reindeer are “letting out” some of that corn in the form of methane (甲烷,沼气). A resting cow produces 110 kg of methane per year, so flying reindeer would each let out about 4.8 tons. With methane causing 20 times the global warming damage of CO2, and the altitude increasing that damage by 1000% that another 20 times, we can put Santa’s round-trip emissions at 15,488 tons. This is much more than the 100 tons an environmentally-friendly car would release on the same trip!

Bad Santa.

1. Which aspect does the writer NOT include in her analyses about reindeer’s influence on environment?

A. Distance covered.                                      B. Calories consumed.

C. Tons of waste let out.                       D. Money spent on food.

2. According to Paragraph 6, how many acres of corn would Santa need to feed 10 reindeer?

A. 1.6.                 B. 16.                           C. 12.8.                        D. 128.

3. Which of the following statements would the writer most probably agree with?

A. Christmas celebrations are really a waste of money.

B. Vegetarians are more likely to survive than meat-eaters.

C. Raising animals has a negative influence on environment.

D. The car industry does less harm to environment than farming.

4. Which of the following words best describes the language style of the passage?

A. Humourous and concerned.                    B. Cheerful and friendly.

C. Academic and formal.                               D. Serious and boring.

5. Which of the following is the best title for this passage?

A. Is Santa driving clean and green?

B. Santa, watch where you’re going!

C. Santa Claus is coming to town!

D. Let’s reduce waste on Christmas celebrations!

 

Frank Woolworth was born in Rodman, New York., in 1852. His family were very poor farmers, and there was never enough to eat. Frank decided he did not want to be farmer. He took a short business course, and went to work as a salesman in a large city.

Woolworth realized he had a natural skill for showing goods to attract people’s interest, but he soon learned something more important. One day his boss told him to sell some odds and ends (小商品 ) for as much as he could get. Frank put all these things on one table with a sign which said FIVE CENTS EACH. People fought and pushed to buy the things and the table was soon cleared.

Soon afterwards, Woolworth opened his own store., selling goods at five and ten cents. But he had another lesson to learn before he became successful. That is, if you want to make money by selling low-price goods, you have to buy them in large quantities directly form the factories. Once, for example, Woolworth went to Germany and placed an order for knives. The order was so large that the factory had to keep running 24 hours a day for a whole year. In this way, the price of the knives was cut down by half.

By 1919, Woolworth had over 1000 stores in the US and Canada, and opened his first store in London. He made many millions and his name became famous throughout the world. He always run his business according to strict rules, of which the most important was: “ THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT.”

1.Frank took a short business course in order to ____________.

A.earn more money for his family

B.learn something from a salesman

C.get away from the farm

D.get enough to eat.

2.Frank sold the odds and ends quickly because _____________.

A.he knew how to get people to buy his goods.

B.he cut down the price by half

C.he had put the goods on a table in a very nice way.

D.the sign he put on the table was well designed.

3.The price of the knives was cut down by half because ______________.

A.the factory workers worked 24 hours a day.

B.knives were ordered in large quantities directly from the factory.

C.the knives were made in Germany, where labour (劳动力) was cheap.

D.the knives were produced in one factory.

4._____________ make Woolworth a world-famous man.

A.His business skills and his wealth.

B.The low price of the goods he sold.

C.His trip to Germany and his huge order of knives.

D.His natural skill for showing things.

5.The belief that : “ The customer is always right” suggests that _______________.

A.whenever there is a quarrel between the customer and shop assistant, the customers are always right.

B.If you want to succeed, the rule is the only way.

C.stores must always follow the customer’s orders if they want to make more money.

D.stores should do their best to meet the customer’s needs if they want to be successful.

 

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