We may not be aware of it, but ordinary family homes in the U.S. and the rest of the world are not energy-efficient.
Most of their energy goes to heating and cooling, and a lot of it is wasted, as warm air and cool air escape through fireplace chimneys and thin or poorly fitting windows and doors. A passive house loses almost none."Imagine a thermos(保温瓶),"said housing developer Brendan O’Neill."You have insulation(隔绝) everywhere, and it’s basically completely sealed. And so the idea is to build a house like a thermos. So the windows are sealed. There’s insulation completely surrounding the building. We make it as sealed as possible."
A 147-square-meter passive house, presented by O’Neill Development Corp. as a demonstration unit just outside Washington, was brought to the site in two boxes. "Once it’s set and put together, it takes about four weeks to complete the outside construction, to put down carpets," O’Neill said. "If everything is set in place, you put a house like this together in about four months.”The total cost of building it was $325,000, or about 17 percent more than constructing an ordinary house. But its utility(公用事业) bill is only around $20 monthly, or one-tenth the amount for the average house of the same size.
While passive houses have been around for a long time, the idea has never taken root in the U.S. There was no driving force to push it.
However, David Peabody, an architect who designs passive houses said, "I think climate change is now becoming a larger issue. And I think building standards are catching on to that. So people are becoming more aware of energy."Peabody said the cost of building passive houses could come down."What really makes sense for truly affordable housing," he said, "is to build multi-storey buildings."
1.Why aren’t ordinary family homes energy-efficient?
A. Building them wastes much energy.
B. Their energy mainly goes to heating and cooling.
C. Their sealing performance is poor.
D. They have no insulation around at all.
2.What is the feature of a passive house?
A. There’re no windows or chimneys.
B. There’s little space to place furniture.
C. Its building cost is relatively high.
D. It takes about four weeks to build one.
3.What’s David Peabody’s attitude to the future of the passive house?
A. Cautious. B. Optimistic. C. Skeptical. D. Concerned.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
Ever feel like you’ve been hit on the head after a bad night’s sleep? According to scientists, the thought isn’t as unbelievable as it seems.
A study found going without sleep for just one night causes changes in the brain similar to those that occur after a blow to the head. The researchers said the healthy young men examined in the study showed a sudden increase in the same chemicals which indicate brain damage. Professor Christian Benedict, of Uppsala University, Sweden, explained that the chemicals NSE and S-100B are biomarkers for brain damage, such as concussion(脑震荡). He said, "What we found was their levels in the blood rose in the group that went without sleep for a night. This was not to the extent that would happen after a head injury, for instance, but it was still significant. During sleep, the brain cleans poisonous substances off itself."
Benedict also said previous studies which linked a lack of sleep with increased risk of Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and multiple sclerosis could applaud his study. The rise of the chemicals in the blood after sleep loss may suggest not getting enough sleep contributes to a loss of brain tissue, he explained. Benedict, whose study is published in the journal Sleep, added, "In conclusion, the findings of our experiment indicate a good night’s sleep may be critical to maintaining brain health."
A third of the UK population suffer from sleep-related problems, while the average person now sleeps for only seven hours a night, compared with almost nine a few decades ago. Many scientists believe irregular sleeping patterns lead to illnesses ranging from aches and pains to heart disease, while less than eight hours’ sleep a night can lower the IQ the next day.
1.If you don’t sleep for a night, what will happen?
A.NSE and S-100B will increase.
B.The brain damage will be likea head injury.
C.You will suffer from concussion.
D.The brain will get rid of poisonous substances.
2.What do we know about previous studies?
A.They found reasons for brain disorders.
B.Their findings were published inSleep.
C.They were supported by Benedict’s study.
D.They focused on brain health.
3.What can we infer from the last paragraph?
A.UK people have the worst sleep.
B.Man’s intelligence is affected by sleep in a way.
C.People were smarter in the past.
D.A lack of sleep causes all brain-related problems.
4.What’s the main idea of the passage?
A.Eight hours’ sleep is important.
B.Regular sleeping patterns improve health.
C.Sleep loss is close to a blow to the head.
D.Human brains work during sleep.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
It seems that the great desire among the young is to be popular. The desire to be popular can force you into looking and acting like everyone else. You can lose yourself in a sea of identical hairstyles and thinking styles.
I was forced to think about popularity not too long ago in a talk I had with my daughter. Margy had to change schools when my busy work schedule made it necessary for me to move houses. I suppose that, for a girl in her teens, entering a new school is like spending a season alone in the tropical jungles. At least that’s how Margy found it at first. However, as the school year drew to a close, one student after another came to her. I told Margy that I would have been more concerned if she had been an instant social success in her new school. Nobody can please everyone. If you try to do so, you will find values as lasting as soap bubbles blown into the air.
Some teenagers claim they want to dress as they please. But they all wear the same clothes. They set off in new directions in music. But somehow they all end up listening to the same record. Their reason for thinking or acting in a certain way is that the crowd is doing it. They have come out of their cocoon into a larger cocoon.
I know that it has become harder for a young person to stand up against the popularity wave. Our way of life makes a young nonconformist stand out like a Martian. These days there’s a great barrier for the young person who wants to find his or her own path. But the barrier is worth climbing over. You may want to listen to classical music instead of going to a party. Well, go to it. Be yourself. Popularity will come with the people who respect you for who you are. That’s the only kind of popularity that really counts.
1.Why was the author worried about his daughter’s popularity in her new school?
A.She might find no true friends.
B.She would ignore her academic performance.
C.She had no idea of her own.
D.She might betray her true self.
2.What does the author think of most teenagers?
A.They’re afraid of getting lost in life.
B.They have difficulty understanding each other.
C.They lack the courage to be truly different.
D.They find it hard to gain popularity as expected.
3.What is the probable meaning of the underlined word "nonconformist" in Paragraph 4?
A.Someone who cares about others’ opinion.
B.Someone who desires popularity greatly.
C.Someone who behaves in his own way.
D.Someone who wants to please others.
4.What is the author’s purpose of writing this passage?
A.To persuade readers to pursue valuable popularity.
B.To tell parents how to guide their children.
C.To criticize the present values and beliefs.
D.To suggest a good way to be popular.
难度: 困难查看答案及解析
More than a decade ago, cognitive scientists John Bransfgord and Daniel Schwartz, both then at Vanderbilt University, found that knowledge was not the ability to retain facts or apply previous knowledge to a new situation but a quality they called "preparation for future learning." The researches asked fifth graders and college students to create a recovery plan to protect bald eagles from extinction. Shockingly, the two groups came up with plans of similar quality (though the college students had better spelling skills). From the standpoint of a traditional educator, this outcome indicated that schooling had failed to help students think about ecosystems and extinction, major scientific ideas.
The researches decided to go deeper, however. They asked both groups to generate questions about important issues needed to create recovery plans. On this task, they found large differences. College students focused on critical issues. The college students had cultivated the ability to ask questions, the foundation of critical thinking. They had learned how to learn.
Museums and other institutions of informal learning may be more suitable to teach this skill than elementary and secondly schools. At the Exploratorium in San Francisco, we recently studied how learning to ask good questions can affect the quality of people's scientific inquiry. We found that when we taught participants to ask "What if?" and "How can?" questions that nobody present would know the answer to and that would spark exploration, they engaged in better inquiry at the next exhibit—asking more questions, performing more experiments and making better interpretations of their results. Specially, their questions became more comprehensive at the new exhibit.
This type of learning is not limited to museums of institutional settings. Informal learning environment tolerate failure better than schools. Perhaps many teachers have too little time to allow students to form and pursue their own questions and too much ground to cover in the curriculum. But people must acquire this skill somewhere. Our society depend on them being able to make critical decisions about their own medical treatment, says, or what we must do about global energy needs and demands. For that, we have a robust informal system that gives no grades, takes all comers, and is available even on holidays and weekends.
1.What is traditional educators' understanding of the search outcome mentioned in the first paragraph?
A.Students are not able to apply prior knowledge to new problems.
B.College students are no better than fifth graders in memorizing issues.
C.Education has not paid enough attention to major environmental issues.
D.Education has failed to lead students to think about major scientific ideas.
2.In what way are college students different from children?
A.They have learned to think critically.
B.They are concerned about social issues.
C.They are curious about specific features.
D.They have learned to work independently.
3.What is benefit of asking questions with no ready answers?
A.It arouse students' interest in things around them.
B.It cultivates students' ability to make scientific inquiries.
C.It trains students' ability to design scientific experiments.
D.It helps students realize not every question has an answer.
4.What does the author seem to encourage educators to do at the end of the passage?
A.Train students to think about global issues.
B.Design more interactive classroom activities.
C.Make full use of informal learning resources.
D.Include collaborative inquiry in the curriculum.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
根据短文内容，从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。
请把对应答案填涂到机读卡上，E涂AB; F涂AC; G涂AD。
Every single human being on this planet has a path and purpose to fulfill, whether they realize it or not. 1.
List what you love and connect the dots. 2. It may not make sense at first, but all of the things you enjoy doing are part of your path in one form or another, so grab a pen and a piece of paper and start writing. Once you have your list, take a step back and see how all these brilliant pieces might connect to the work you are meant to do.
Identify what you do with ease. Often our passion and purpose are staring us right in the face, but it’s so natural to us that we don’t think anything about it. 3. Just because they are easy for you doesn’t mean that’s the case for everyone else. By identifying what comes naturally to you, you have the ability to build on your strengths and help others in ways you never thought possible.
4. Finding your passion is directly related to doing the things that light you up and set your soul on fire. If you love to teach, run, and host live events, then please, do them all! Who says your life purpose has to be just one thing? You are meant to experience life and all that it has offered.
Ask others to help. If you are still feeling stuck in finding your passion and purpose in life, it might be time to ask others for help. It can be difficult for you to see where you truly shine because you are simply too close to connecting the dots on your own. Friends, family members and professionals have a view that you don’t. 5.
A. Do what makes you happy.
B. Find what you do with ease.
C. Don’t overlook the things that are easy for you.
D. They can help you to see things within yourself.
E. You cannot count on others to help you completely.
F. Here are ways to find your passion and purpose from now on.
G. Identifying the things you love is the best way to find your passion and purpose.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
My first lesson is at a meeting. As we settle around the table I hear Meg, who is a recent operation, talking to Judith, the manager of our project. “Thank you so much for my daughters to their dance lessons last week.” “Don’t mention it,” Judith says, “It was nothing.”
Knowing how Judith’s schedule is, with her work, kids and aging parents, I find her driving Meg’s children to lessons unbelievably . I am about to say more about this when Donna, another colleague, enters the room . She apologizes for being late, saying she just hosted a lunch for her friends who are over seventy. “That is so nice of you,” I say, how busy she is, how she doesn’t like to cook and clean. “Oh,” she says, waving her hand, “It was nothing.” , I can still tell the in her voice. She did gain a sense of satisfaction from the entertainment offered to her friends.
Seeing their to help others selflessly, I start thinking about the concept of “nothing”, this way of living--- had it really been nothing or are they simply saying that? It to me that once I spent a whole afternoon after work helping a friend a speech she was going to deliver. I her to rearrange the sequence of the stories in the lecture to make it sound more . After the fifth try, she finally it. She hugged me with , saying thanks to me. I smiled and said it was nothing.
Suddenly, I realized that helping someone was really something to me. I learned that giving from the heart doesn’t mean sacrifice and hard work. The is finding something we love to do and finding someone who that something. Our generosity can benefit others ourselves. Once you have a good of it, it’s nothing. And it’s really something.
1.A. recovering from B. adapting to C. going through D. rejoicing in
2.A. guiding B. fetching C. driving D. dragging
3.A. common B. tight C. strange D. practical
4.A. ridiculous B. eccentric C. tiresome D. generous
5.A. hastily B. angrily C. disappointedly D. unexpectedly
6.A. ignoring B. knowing C. forgetting D. predicting
7.A. Moreover B. Therefore C. Otherwise D. Somehow
8.A. pleasure B. sadness C. surprise D. regret
9.A. progress B. ambition C. promise D. willingness
10.A. refers B. appears C. occurs D. seems
11.A. prepare for B. put up C. give away D. deal with
12.A. begged B. invited C. recommended D. sponsored
13.A. confusing B. sensible C. sensitive D. typical
14.A. got B. meant C. caught D. made
15.A. concern B. worry C. gratitude D. apology
16.A. normally B. accidentally C. necessarily D. possibly
17.A. treat B. trick C. plot D. plan
18.A. needs B. admires C. loves D. defends
19.A. on account of B. as well as C. except for D. regardless of
20.A. order B. glimpse C. impression D. command
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容（不多于3个单词）或括号内单词的正确形式。
In China, the history of people planting and using bamboo can date back to as far as 7000 years. As early as the Shang Dynasty, bamboo was being used in ancient people’s daily lives. It was used for food, clothing, housing, transportation, 1. (music) instruments and even weapons.
The 2. (apply) of bamboo in science and technology is thrilling. In 251 BC, Li Bing, in Sichuan, 3. (lead) the local people in building the Dujiang Weirs(都江堰), the first irrigation network in the world, in which bamboo played 4. important role. The world’s oldest water pipe was also 5. (make) of bamboo. During the Han Dynasty, the people in Sichuan 6. (success) sank a 1600-metre-deep well with thick bamboo ropes. This technology did not spread to Europe 7. the 19th century, and it was by using the technology 8. the Americans drilled the first oil well in Pennsylvania in 1859.
In Chinese culture, bamboo is well-known as 9. of the “four gentlemen” in plants. To many distinguished men, bamboo is a symbol of goodness and honesty. It is always closely related to people of positive spirits. Influenced by bamboo culture, many people are taught to hold on when 10. (face) tough situations.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文，请你修改你同桌写的以下作文。文中共有10处语言错误，每句中最多有两处。错误仅涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号(∧)，并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用(＼)划掉。
修改：在错的词下画一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1.每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
2.只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。
Last Sunday I witness a traffic accident on my way home. I was wandering down the sidewalk while there went a loud crash. Two taxis crashed into each other about ten meters far away. I went up and found the two drivers bad injured, bleeding and trap in the taxis. Luckily, they were rescued on time because people came to help them and called an ambulance. As was clear that the taxi drivers were so eager take more passengers that they drove too fast. It reflected their lack of concern for the safe of both others and them.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
学校将于下周推广使用新学生卡。请你从学校的角度就相关事宜写一篇文章。要求如下：
1. 新卡主要优点：方便，快捷；校内支付功能；
2. 使用方法：下载安装应用程序；
3. 信息反馈、求助方式：致电87654321或咨询校财务办公室。
注意：
1. 词数100左右(开头不计入内)；
2. 可适当增加细节，使行文连贯；
3. 开头语已为你写好。
参考词汇:校财务办公室: the School Accounting Office
We’d like to make a brief introduction to ___________________________________
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难度: 中等查看答案及解析