The global energy crisis is approaching. What can we do? Here are some steps you can take.
Cooling puts the greatest stress on your summer energy bill and the power grid(电网). Just as t tune-up for your car can improve your gas mileage, a yearly tune-up of your heating and cooling system can improve efficiency and comfort. Clean or replaces filters monthly or as needed.
For central air conditioning systems and room air conditioners, look for the ENERGY STAR, the federal government’s symbol for energy efficiency. For central air, purchase the system with the highest possible Seasonal Energy Efficiency Raton. (SEER)
Use energy-efficient ceiling fans either alone or with air conditioning. Ceiling fans do a great job of circulating air. When used with air conditioning, fans allow you to raise the thermostat(恒温器) and cut costs. Ceiling fans cool people, not rooms, so before you leave; turn off the ceiling fan.
Let a programmable thermostat! “remember for you” to automatically adjust the indoor climate with your daily and weekend patterns to reduce cooling bills by up to 10 percent. You can come home to a comfortable house without wasting energy and cresting pollution all day while you are at work.
Try to make your home airtight enough to increase your comfort, make your home quieter and cleaner and reduce your cooling costs up to 20 percent.
Gut your air conditioning load, and reduce pollution by planting planting leafy trees around your home and fixing reflective bricks on your roof.
Close blinds or shades on south-and west-facing windows during the day, or fix shading equipment to avoid heat build-up.
Turn off everything not in use: lights, TVs, computers. And use fluorescent bulbs(荧光灯), which provide bright, warm light while using at least two-thirds less energy, producing 70 percent less heat and lasting up to 10 times longer than incandescent bulbs(白炽灯).
Drive the car that gets better gas mileage whenever possible if you own more than one vehicle. If you drive 12,500 miles a year, switching 10 percent of your trips from a car that gets 20 mils per gallon to one that gets 30 mpg will save you more than ￡65 per year.
Carpool. The average U.S. commuter(乘车上班族) could save about ￡260 a year by sharing cars twice a week with two people in a car that gets 20.1 mpg---assuming the three passengers share the cost of gas.
【小题1】According to the passage, the thermostat is used to ______.

On numerous drives throughout my childhood, my mother would suddenly pull over the car to examine a flower by the side of the road or rescue a beetle (甲虫) from certain tragedy while I, in my late teens and early twenties, sat impatiently in the car.
Though Mother’s Day follows Earth Day, for me, they have always been related. My mom has been “green” since she became concerned about the environment. Part of this habit was born of thrift (节俭). Like her mother and her grandmother before her, Mom saves glass jars, empty cheese containers and re-uses her plastic bags.
Mom creates a kind of give-and-take relationship with wildlife in her yard. She knows to pick the apples on her trees a little early to fend off the bears and that if she leaves the bird feeders out at night, it’s likely they’ll be knocked down by a family of raccoons (浣熊). Spiders that make their way into the house are captured (捕获) in a juice glass and set loose in the garden.
I try to teach my children that looking out for the environment starts with being aware of the environment. On busy streets, we look for spent (开败的) dandelions (蒲公英) to parachute; we say hello to neighborhood cats and pick up plastic cups and paper bags. This teaching comes easily, I realize, because I was taught so well by example. Mom didn’t need to lecture; she didn’t need to beat a drum to change the world. She simply slowed down enough to enjoy living in it and with that joy came compassion and an instinct (本能) for preservation.
I am slowing down and it isn’t because of the weight of my nearly forty years on the planet, it is out of my concern for the planet itself. I’ve begun to save glass jars and re-use packing envelopes. I pause in my daily tasks to watch the squirrels race each other through the palm (棕榈树) leaves above my porch (门廊).
Last summer, in the company of my son and daughter, I planted tomatoes in my yard. With the heat of August around me, I ate the first while sitting on my low wall with dirt on my hands. Warm from the sun, it burst on my tongue with a sweetness I immediately wanted to share with my mom.
【小题1】Why does the author say Earth Day is connected with Mother’s Day?

What kind of car will we be driving in 2010? Rather different from the type we know today, with the next 20 years bringing greater change than the past 50．The people who will be designing the models of tomorrow believe that environmental problems may well accelerate the pace of the car’s development. Today they are students on the transport design course at London’s Royal College of Art.
Their vision is of a machine with three wheels instead of four, electrically powered, environmentally clean, and able to drive itself along “intelligent” roads equipped with built-in power supplies. Future cars will pick up their fuel during long journeys from a power source built into the road, or store it in small quantities for travelling in the city.
Instead of today’s seating arrangements—two in front, two or three behind, all facing forward--- the 2010 car will have a versatile interior with adults and children in a family circle.
This view of the future car is based on a much more sophisticated road system, with strips built into motorways to supply power to vehicles passing along them, cars will not need drivers, because computers will provide safe driving control and route finding. All the driver will have to do is say where to go and the computer will do the rest. It will become impossible for cars to crash into one another. The technology already exists for the car to become a true automobile.
71．What kind of car will we be driving in 2010?
A．Three wheeled.                B．Electrically powered.
C．With a versatile seating arrangement   D．All of the above.
72．How long will a volunteer be required to spend?
A．A few hours every day.                B．A couple of hours each day.
C．One or two hours every two weeks.     D．A few days per week.
73．What does the word “versatile” in Paragraph 3 mean?
A．having many different kinds of skill
B．easily able to change from one direction to another
C．easily able to change from one kind of activity to another
D．having many different uses
74．In paragraph 4 “with strips built into motorways to supply power to vehicles passing along them” means “there are many ____”.
A．traffic lights to control the speed of future cars
B．street posts to indicate directions for drivers
C．power sources along the street are able to supply power to automobiles
D．stop marks along the street to stop cars
75．What is the main idea of the passage?
A．Future cars are completely different from the automobiles we know today.
B．The design of future cars will be more sophisticated.
C．Because of the new type of cars, our future environment will become cleaner.
D．The road system will become more sophisticated than it is today.

When something goes wrong, it can be very satisfying to say, "Well, it's so-and-so's fault. "or "I know I'm late, but it's not my fault; the car broke down. " It is probably not your fault, but once you form the habit of blaming somebody or something else for a bad situation, you are a loser. You have no power and could do nothing that helps change the situation. However, you can have great power over what happens to you if you stop focusing on whom to blame and start focusing on how to remedy the situation. This is the winner's key to success.
Winners are great at overcoming problems. For example, if you were late because your car broke down, maybe you need to have your car examined more regularly. Or, you might start to carry along with you the useful phone numbers, so you could call for help when in need. For another example, if your colleague causes you problems on the job for lack of responsibility or ability, find ways of dealing with his irresponsibility or inability rather than simply blame the person. Ask to work with a different person, or don't rely on this person. You should accept that the person is not reliable and find creative ways to work successfully regardless of how your colleague fails to do his job well.
This is what being a winner is all about-creatively using your skills and talents so that you are successful no matter what happens. Winners don't have fewer problems in their lives; they have just as many difficult situations to face as anybody else. They are just better at seeing those problems as challenges and opportunities to develop their own talents. So, stop focusing on "whose fault it is." Once you are confident about your power over bad situations, problems are just stepping stones for success.
【小题1】According to the passage, winners ______.

第三部分阅读理解（共15小题；每小题2分，满分30分）
请认真阅读下列短文，从短文后各题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题纸上将该项涂黑。
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 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.