【题目】阅读下面短文,根据其内容写一篇60词左右的内容概要。

With limited space for parks and gardens, architects and city planners often find it challenging to include greenery in neighborhoods in cities. One creative solution is to grow plants on unused areas like walls and rooftops. It’s a popular idea, and now rooftop gardens and green walls have been sprouting up(大量冒出) in cities around the world.

There are many benefits of having green spaces to the urban landscape. Adding gardens to rooftops or walls can create a pleasant environment — what was once a gray cement(水泥) wall can become a colorful, blooming garden. The CaxiaForum art gallery in Madrid, Spain, is a famous example — one of its walls is covered with 15,000 plants from over 250 different species. In other cities, green walls are being used more functionally, to cover up construction sites and empty buildings and to decorate the lobbies of office buildings.

Using plants to cover walls and rooftops can also keep cities cooler in the summer. Buildings and roads absorb the sun’s heat and hold it, causing a building or neighborhood to stay warmer longer. Plants, on the other hand, provide an enormous amount of shade. There is evidence that growing a roof or wall garden can lower a building’s energy costs.

In New York City, public schools plant rooftop gardens that can reduce heating and cooling costs. In addition to saving the school money, teachers and parents love the gardens because of their educational value — it’s a fun and healthy way for their kids to investigate the world around them. “For the children, it’s exciting when you grow something edible(可食用的),” said Lauren Fontana, principal of a New York public school.

Rooftop gardens and green walls may require a bit more effort to grow and maintain. However, hard work always brings rewards, and with green spaces, the rewards are plentiful.

【题目】This day marks the rising of a new food startup, the first company to be financed entirely by the crowd, and of it every business thus relies on thousands of customers to grow. Lisa, 25, its main founder and CEO, believes it will be a path that will become increasingly popular, and ultimately will produce more thriving(繁荣的)businesses from the scratch.

“In the food industry, no venture capital (VC, 风险投资) will even look at you until you’ve hit a million in sales. As a fresh hand in business, unless you’re independently wealthy, you will likely need to raise some money before then,” Lisa complained. So few businesses approached VC firms at the beginning. It was no exception with her. Thus, she turned to a new financing tool at hand, crowdfunding, to raise money from the crowd who’d like to take a bet on her company.

But for a company, it didn’t make sense to seek investments when all they had was an idea and a few months of consumer testing data. The food market is extremely competitive. No investor would put money behind a totally unproven new super food product founded by a bunch of twenty-somethings. “But we had a story. And crowds love stories.” Lisa said delightedly. So she put together an online crowdfunding campaign, explaining how she began working with this amazingly nutritious plant in the Peace Corps and then started selling it in the U.S. to support the poor in the West Africa.

On the online platform where they were to raise the money, a friend convinced them to change their goal from $20,000 to $50,000. Lisa stayed up all night worrying they wouldn’t hit it. But they reached $24,000 in 24 hours and ended their funding with $53,000. Seeing the number, Lisa said, “Thank you! To my crowd and for your belief!”

1Why couldn’t Lisa get investments in a traditional way?

A. She lacked confidence in business.

B. Her food company was in poor condition.

C. VC demanded too much in choosing partners.

D. Consumers were not satisfied with her new products.

2According to the passage, crowdfunding ________.

A. ensures the investors a good return

B. aims to help badly managed companies

C. attracts more people to become investors

D. helps startups deal with money shortages

3The underlined word “twenty-somethings” refers to ________.

A. twenty impractical ideas B. young people over twenty

C. twenty inexperienced partners D. a company with twenty branches

4Which of the following best explains Lisa’s success?

A. Great minds think alike. B. Honesty is the best policy.

C. Many hands make light work. D. A friend in need is a friend indeed.

【题目】How to Become an Effective Leader

The key to becoming an effective leader is not to focus on making other people follow, but on making yourself the kind of person they want to follow. 【1】_______ It takes time to become a trustworthy leader.

As you prepare yourself to become a better leader, use the following guidelines to help you grow:

Don’t be self-centered.

The truly great leaders are not in leadership for personal gain. 2________ Perhaps that is why Lawrence Bell remarked, “A man who cannot bother to do little things for others are unlikely to become a good leader.”

3________

Rare is the effective leader who didn’t learn to become a good follower first. That is why a leadership institution such as the United States Military Academy teaches its officers to become effective followers first.

Work with excellence.

No one respects and follows mediocrity(平庸). Leaders who earn the right to lead give their all to what they do. They bring into play not only their skills and talents, but also great passion and hard work. 4_______

Give your power away.

What makes leadership so special is that you become a better leader by sharing whatever power you have, not by saving it all for yourself. 5________ If you use your power to empower others, your leadership will extend far beyond your grasp.

A. Become a good follower first.

B. You are meant to be a river, not a pool.

C. They lead in order to serve other people.

D. Leaders help people to reach their potential.

E. Leadership isn’t learned or earned in a moment.

F. Leadership is influence, nothing more, nothing less.

G. They perform on the highest level of which they are capable.

【题目】Fitness Zone

Live fit, love life

Look your best this summer with our wonderful equipment and a tailor — made (量身定制的) program made specially for you by one of our best personal trainers.

If you are having a difficult time getting active, Fitness Zone is where you want to be.

With a personal trainer assigned (指定) to you, you will be placed in a tailor — made program that will make you look your best in just 12 weeks.

With our program, you will get the full benefits of:

Our one - on - one support and expert guidance by the top trainers in our industry.

The use of the best fitness equipment, including free weights, treadmills and bikes.

Ongoing group classes, from aerobics and yoga to dance and more.

Get started today!

Don’t miss out! Come for further information:

610, St. George Street, Suite 310, Chicago

Tel: 655 - 4866 Web: fitnesszone. com

1Who are likely to join Fitness Zone?

A. People who have health problems. B. People who are good at training others.

C. People who need a tailor - made suit. D. People who want to keep fit.

2What does the underlined phrase “look your best” mean?

A. Look in the mirror. B. Try your best to see.

C. Look more confident. D. Be in excellent condition.

3What is not offered in our program?

A. Group yoga classes. B. The best fitness equipment.

C. Special fitness clothes. D. Professional personal trainers.

4This passage is written to .

A. employ top personal trainers B. call on more people to do sports

C. call on people to join Fitness Zone D. encourage people to get through difficult times

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