One of my China Dialogue colleagues in Beijing recently bought a Philips energy-saving light bulb to replace a standard one．He was happy with his choice．It may have cost 30 yuan （just under US$4．50） - ten times the price of a filament （灯丝） bulb - but he wanted to save energy as part of his low-carbon lifestyle．And according to the shopkeeper, he would save, in the long run, much more than the 30 yuan he was spending．

Yet only one month later, his expensive light bulb blew up, before he had saved even a small part of the purchase price．Will he stick to his high-cost, low-carbon lifestyle?

China's environmental organizations have started to advocate low-carbon lifestyles and the decrease of carbon footprints to help fight against climate change．But they have overlooked one fact: in China, low-carbon living comes at a high cost．It means buying energy-saving bulbs and appliances, and environmentally friendly building materials and daily goods．Cost can no longer be the only standard for purchases．An energy-saving and environmentally friendly product is more expensive than a standard alternative - whether it's a simple light bulb or the house it shines．For average consumers, even buying an ordinary bulb is a huge burden．How can we persuade ordinary people to choose an energy-saving residence? This is not a trend they can afford to follow; perhaps this fashion is only for the rich．

Most consumers today do not cause huge carbon dioxide （CO₂） emissions．Their responsibility lies not in choosing a low-carbon lifestyle today, but in avoiding a high-carbon life in the future．The principle of "common but differentiated responsibility" - a basis of sustainable development - can be applied here as well．

In China, low-carbon living still is resisted by a lack of social infrastructure（基础设施）. Even if your salary allows you to make that choice, nobody is there to help you accomplish it．

Consider energy-saving homes. You need to find out whether or not the developer has used natural materials wherever possible; how effective the insulation（绝缘物、隔热物） is; and what the green credentials of installed equipment are．You can read up a little, but you'll still be lucky to avoid being puzzled by the developers' marketing．Many so-called energy-saving buildings are nothing of the sort, and some are even more energy-hungry than the average home - as Li Taige warned in his article "Energy-efficient buildings? Not always", on China Dialogue last August．

1.What may probably be the best title of this passage?

A. To purchase a cheap bulb - your wise alternative．

B. To choose an energy-saving residence - a must of your life

C. To learn a low-carbon lifestyle - each citizen's responsibility

D. To learn a low-carbon lifestyle - a promising but difficult purpose

2.Why does the writer say this fashion is only for the rich in the fourth paragraph?

A. Because the cost is a very important standard for purchases.        

B. Because buying an ordinary bulb is very expensive.

C. Because energy-saving products are more expensive than the common alternatives.

D. Because rich people like to follow this trend.

3.What does the writer think of energy-saving homes?

A. Most of them are environmentally friendly.

B. They are musts of low-carbon lifestyle of Chinese.

C. They are huge burdens for Chinese people.

D. Many of them are more in name than in reality.

4.We can infer from the passage that ____．

A. Using energy-saving bulbs and appliances is a fashion．

B. It's easy for most Chinese to try to learn a low-carbon lifestyle．

C. All citizens in China don’t have the same responsibility in living a low-carbon lifestyle．

D. Most Chinese families cannot afford to purchase an energy-saving residence.

5.What is the writer's attitude towards the low-carbon lifestyle?

A. informative and entertaining           B. supportive but cautious

C. negative but wise                      D. positive and active

Your peers are people your age or close to it who have experiences and interests similar to yours. You and your friends make dozens of decisions every day, and you influence each other’s choices and behavior. This is often ________ --- it’s human nature to listen to and learn from other people in your age group.

Sometimes, though, the stresses in your life can actually come from your peers. They may pressure you into doing something you’re uncomfortable with, such as shoplifting, doing drugs or drinking, or taking dangerous risks when driving a car.

The pressure to conform（随潮流） can be powerful and hard to resist. A person might feel pressure to do something just because others are doing it. Peer pressure can influence a person to do something that is relatively harmless--- or something that has more serious consequences.

People may feel pressure to conform, so they fit in or are accepted, or so they don’t feel awkward or uncomfortable. When people are unsure of what to do in a social situation, they naturally look to others for cues（暗示）about what is and isn’t acceptable.

The people who are most easily influenced will follow someone else’s lead first. Then others may go along, too --- so it can be easy to think, “It must be OK. Everyone else is doing it. They must know what they’re doing.” Before you know it, many people are going along with the crowd --- perhaps on something they might not otherwise do.

Responding to peer pressure is part of human nature --- but some people are more likely to give in, and others are better able to resist and stand their ground.

It’s not always easy to resist negative peer pressure. But when you do, it is easy to feel good about it afterwards. And you may even be a positive influence on your peers who feel the same way --- often it just takes one person to speak out or take a different action to change a situation.

1.Which of the following is a kind of peer pressure?

A.Your teachers give you a lot of homework.

B.Your parents expect high scores from you.

C.Your classmates persuade you to cut class.

D.Your relatives invite you to attend a party.

2.Which is most likely to be filled in the blank in Paragraph 1?

A.negative

B.impossible

C.positive

D.uncertain

3.Most people tend to do what others are doing in order to _________.

A.feel a sense of achievement

B.get a feeling of being accepted

C.set a good example for others

D.stand out in a crowd

4.What can we know according to the author?

A.Giving in to peer pressure is unavoidable.

B.Peer pressure usually leads to serious results.

C.Going along with the crowd usually means making a right choice.

D.Everyone can make a difference by resisting negative peer pressure.

5.This passage is mainly about _______.

A.thoughts on peer pressure

B.different types of peer pressure

C.ways to deal with peer pressure

D.the influence of peer pressure on people

Mark Twain said that “habit is habit, and not to be flung(扔) out the window by anyone, but coaxed (劝诱)downstairs a step at a time.” The chances of successfully changing negative behavior        when you make gradual changes that give you time to        negative patterns for positive ones.

On any given day, countless numbers of us get out of bed and        to begin to change a given behavior “today.” Whether it be exercising more, drinking less, managing time        or some other change in a negative behavior, we start out with high       . In a short time, however, a vast majority of people fail and are soon doing        it was they thought they shouldn't be doing.

 After considerable research, some researchers believe that behavior changes usually do not        if they start with the change itself.       , they believe that we must        a series of “stages” to adequately prepare ourselves for that        change. Once you have analyzed all the factors that        what you do, you must decide which behavior-change technique will work best for you.

According to the psychologist Albert Ellis, most        problems and related behaviors arise from irrational (不理性的) statements that people make to        when events in their lives are different from what they would like them to be. For example, suppose alter doing        on an exam, you say to yourself, “I can't believe I failed that easy exam, I’m so stupid.” By changing this irrational “catastrophic” self-talk into rational,        statements about what is really going on, you can increase the        that positive behaviors will occur.

 Positive self-talk might be        as follows: “I really didn’t study enough for the exam. I just need to prepare for the next       .”

 Such self-talk will help you to recover quickly from        and take positive steps to correct the situation. Some other technique like purposefully        or stopping negative thoughts and refusing to dwell on(沉湎于) negative images can also spare you wasted energy, time and emotional resources and move on to positive changes.

1.A. decline       B. remain  C. disappear      D. improve

2.A. substituteB. cancel     C. find       D. ignore

3.A. refuse        B. determine     C. hesitate         D. advocate

4.A. more B. better   C. worse   D. less

5.A. values         B. requirements        C. expectations D. levels

6.A. whicheverB. however         C. wherever      D. whatever

7.A. succeed     B. fail         C. exist      D. fade

8.A. NeverthelessB. Otherwise C. Instead D. Moreover

9.A. look throughB. break through    C. go through    D. pull through

10.A. initial        B. temporary     C. instant  D. eventual

11.A. involve     B. influence       C. explain D. adjust

12.A. emotionalB. physical         C. technical       D. professional

13.A. all    B. others   C. someone       D. themselves

14.A. poorly      B. carefully        C. completely    D. slowly

15.A. positive    B. ridiculous      C. negative        D. explicit

16.A. danger     B. awareness     C. amount D. probability

17.A. written     B. phrased         C. listed     D. captioned

18.A. research  B. test        C. talk        D. problem

19.A. tirednessB. habits     C. disappointment     D. burdens

20.A. recalling  B. starting C. blocking         D. holding

One of my China Dialogue colleagues in Beijing recently bought a Philips energy-saving light bulb to replace a standard one．He was happy with his choice．It may have cost 30 yuan （just under US$4．50） - ten times the price of a filament （灯丝） bulb - but he wanted to save energy as part of his low-carbon lifestyle．And according to the shopkeeper, he would save, in the long run, much more than the 30 yuan he was spending．

Yet only one month later, his expensive light bulb blew up, before he had saved even a small part of the purchase price．Will he stick to his high-cost, low-carbon lifestyle?

China's environmental organizations have started to advocate low-carbon lifestyles and the decrease of carbon footprints to help fight against climate change．But they have overlooked one fact: in China, low-carbon living comes at a high cost．It means buying energy-saving bulbs and appliances, and environmentally friendly building materials and daily goods．Cost can no longer be the only standard for purchases．An energy-saving and environmentally friendly product is more expensive than a standard alternative - whether it's a simple light bulb or the house it shines．For average consumers, even buying an ordinary bulb is a huge burden．How can we persuade ordinary people to choose an energy-saving residence? This is not a trend they can afford to follow; perhaps this fashion is only for the rich．

Most consumers today do not cause huge carbon dioxide （CO₂） emissions．Their responsibility lies not in choosing a low-carbon lifestyle today, but in avoiding a high-carbon life in the future．The principle of "common but differentiated responsibility" - a basis of sustainable development - can be applied here as well．

In China, low-carbon living still is resisted by a lack of social infrastructure（基础设施）. Even if your salary allows you to make that choice, nobody is there to help you accomplish it．

Consider energy-saving homes. You need to find out whether or not the developer has used natural materials wherever possible; how effective the insulation（绝缘物、隔热物） is; and what the green credentials of installed equipment are．You can read up a little, but you'll still be lucky to avoid being puzzled by the developers' marketing．Many so-called energy-saving buildings are nothing of the sort, and some are even more energy-hungry than the average home - as Li Taige warned in his article "Energy-efficient buildings? Not always", on China Dialogue last August．

1. What may probably be the best title of this passage?

A. To purchase a cheap bulb - your wise alternative．

B. To choose an energy-saving residence - a must of your life

C. To learn a low-carbon lifestyle - each citizen's responsibility

D. To learn a low-carbon lifestyle - a promising but difficult purpose

2.Why does the writer say this fashion is only for the rich in the fourth paragraph?

A. Because the cost is a very important standard for purchases.        

B. Because buying an ordinary bulb is very expensive.

C. Because energy-saving products are more expensive than the common alternatives.

D. Because rich people like to follow this trend.

3. What does the writer think of energy-saving homes?

A. Most of them are environmentally friendly.

B. They are musts of low-carbon lifestyle of Chinese.

C. They are huge burdens for Chinese people.

D. Many of them are more in name than in reality.

4.We can infer from the passage that ____．

A. Using energy-saving bulbs and appliances is a fashion．

B. It's easy for most Chinese to try to learn a low-carbon lifestyle．

C. All citizens in China don’t have the same responsibility in living a low-carbon lifestyle．

D. Most Chinese families cannot afford to purchase an energy-saving residence.

5.What is the writer's attitude towards the low-carbon lifestyle?

A. informative and entertaining           B. supportive but cautious

C. negative but wise                      D. positive and active

A portable lung which could help those with breathing problems lead a normal life is being developed by scientists.

     The Swansea University scientists say it could take many years before the device(装置) , the size of a spectacle box (眼镜盒) , is available . Lung patients , who have seen how it would work , have welcomed the research.

     Its research suggests that one person in every seven in the UK is affected by lung disease---- this equates to approximately 8 million people. As of 6 March 2009, 217 people were on the waiting list for a lung transplant（移植） according to figures by NHS Blood and Transplant .

     Now scientists in Swansea are developing a portable artificial lung which could transform (改观) the lives of patients . Researchers claim that in the long term the device could offer an alternative to lung transplant , giving hope to those who suffer from conditions such as emphysema(肺气肿) and cystic fibrosis.

     The device mimics the function of a lung---by getting oxygen into and carbon dioxide out of the blood stream . Professor Bill Johns came up with the idea after his son died of Cystic Fibrosis . It is important that we make something that will help people , who instead of being confined (局限) to a wheelchair with an oxygen bottle , can actually walk around and do things for themselves , he said.

      Although the research has been welcomed by leading charities(慈善) , caution has also been voiced over the length of time it will take before a portable lung will become available .

      “We have to stress that this is several years away from being used , even in a trial stage,” said Chris Mulholland , head of the British Lung Foundation.

     Patient Elizabeth Spence from Swansea has been refused the double lung transplant she needs but remains hopeful that one day the new device could save her . “ My body will reject the lungs , so this possibly could be an answer--- another way of getting new lungs without actually having the transplant,” she said.

1.Which of the following about the portable lung would the author agree?

A. It can help a lot in lung transplants

B. It was once on display

C. It works differently from the normal one in the body

D. It’s just like an oxygen bottle.

2.It seems as if _______ really matters before the portable lung is put into use.

A. support       B. money       C. time      D. trial

3.What’s the author’s attitude towards the portable lung ?

A. Negative.      B. Doubtful.         C. Curious.         D. Objective.

4.Which edition can you probably find the passage ?

A. Science.        B. Culture.         C. Economy.       D. Education.