Taking away a city’s rubbish is a big job. Every day trucks come into a city to collect it. Most rubbish is made up of things we can’t eat or use. If we kept these things we would soon have a mountain of rubbish.

In some cities the rubbish is collected and taken outside of the city to a dump(垃圾站). Often the city dump is placed where the ground is low or there is a big hole. The kitchen rubbish is broken into small pieces and sent into the sewage system. The sewage system takes away the used water from toilets, bathtubs(澡盆) and other places.

To keep mice and flies away, some earth is used to cover the newly dumped rubbish. Later, grass may be planted on the rubbish-filled land. Finally, a house or a school may be built there, and then you’d never know that this had once been an old rubbish dump.

In other cities the rubbish is burnt in special places. The fire burns everything but the metal. Sometimes the metal can be used again in factories where things are made of metal. The food parts of rubbish are put in special piles where they slowly change into something called humus(腐殖土), which looks like black earth. It is rich with kinds of things that feed plants and help make them grow.

1.You can most probably read the passage in _______.

A.a history book      B.a TV guide         C.a science book     D.a telephone book

2.The underlined word “sewage” in the passage means_______.

A.排污             B.染色             C.洗涤             D.吸尘

3.According to the passage, the food parts of rubbish can be used again_______.

A.to feed animals     B.to feed plants      C.to build a house     D.to make machines

4.How should we take care of a used metal box according to the passage?

A.By burning it off.                        B.By putting it in water.

C.By throwing it away.                      D.By reusing and recycling it.

 

Rent(出租)a room

Spare room? Not only will a lodger (房客) earn you some money, but also, thanks to the government-backed “rent a room” program, you won’t have to pay any tax (税) on the first £4,500 you make per year. Try advertising your room on Roomspare or Roommateeasy.

Make money during special events

Don’t want a full-time lodger? Then rent on a short-term basis (基础). If you live in the capital, renting a room out during the Olympics or other big events could bring in money. Grashpadder can advertise your space.

Use your roof (屋顶)

You need the right kind of roof, but some energy companies pay the cost of fixing solar equipment (around£14,000), and let you use the energy produced for nothing. In return, they get paid for unused energy fed back into the National Grid. However, you have to sign a 25-year agreement with the supplier (供应商), which could prevent you from changing the roof. 

1.If you earn £5,000 from renting a room in one year, the tax you need to pay will be based on ________.

A.£300            B.£500            C.£4,500           D.£5,000

2.If you want to use energy free, you have to ________.

A.sign an agreement with the government

B.pay around £14,000 for the equipment

C.sell the roof to some energy companies

D.keep the roof unchanged for within 25 years

3.Who would most like to read the passage?

A.Lodgers.                              B.Advertisers.

C.House owners.                         D.Online companies.

 

The scientists from the Lockheed Space Company (公司) work in Felton, California, with the help of a computer. But the computer is placed in Sunnyside, about 80 kilometers away. What the scientists input is sent by telephone lines to the computer, and after a time, copies of the designs are needed back in Felton as possible. Lockheed people have tried several ways of sending the prints (印刷品), but the most effective seems to be by pigeon (鸽子). Are pigeons really used to carry messages in these days? They are, and they send the prints faster and cheaper than any other way.

Human (人类的) messengers (persons carrying messages) are much more expensive and slower than the pigeons. The road to Felton goes through the mountains, and the driving is not easy. An electronic printout system(电子印刷系统) could do the work in Felton, but at a cost of 10 dollars a print. Pigeons carry the designs for about 1 dollar each.

Now Lockheed people have ten pigeon messengers. The pigeons do the work, and they have made Lockheed more famous. You can often read the news about the pigeons in the newspapers around the world.

1.The story is mainly about     .

A.Felton, California

B.the scientists

C.how to work with computers

D.sending prints by pigeon

2.This story is unusual because pigeons       .

A.don’t like carrying things

B.are often cheap to keep

C.seem out of place in the space age

D.aren’t friendly to the scientists

3.Something that’s effective(有效的)      .

A.usually costs more

B.is something that works

C.is often unhappy

D.is often don by animals

4.Which happened first?

A.Pigeons were used as messengers.

B.Human messengers were used.

C.What the scientists input was sent to the computer.

D.Scientists got their designs.

5.Lockheed likes the pigeons because they      .

A.do the work at low cost

B.get their pictures on television

C.understand the computer

D.make the scientists pleased

 

违法和不良信息举报电话:027-86699610 举报邮箱:58377363@163.com

精英家教网