Several years ago, a television reporter was talking to three of the most important people in America. One was a very rich banker, another owned one of the largest companies in the world, and the third owned many buildings in the center of New York. The reporter was talking to them about being important. "How do we know if someone is really important?" the reporter asked the banker. The banker thought for a few moments and then said," I think anybody who is invited to the Whiter House to meet the President of the United States is really important. " The reporter then turned to the owner of the very large company. "Do you agree with that?" she asked. The man shook his head, "No. I think the President invites a lot of people to the White House. You'd only be important if while you were visiting the President, there was a telephone call from the president of another country, and the President of the US said he was too busy to answer it. " The reporter turned to the third man. "Do you think so?" "No, I don't." he said. "I don't think that makes the visitor important. That makes the President important. " "Then what would make the visitor important?" the reporter and the other two men asked. "Oh, I think if the visitor to the White House was talking to the President and the phone rang, and the President picked up the receiver, listened and then said, "It's for you." The banker thought _ . A) he was really important because he was a rich banker B) the visitor to the White House was really important C) the visitor who met the President of the United States D) the reporter was really important
B
You may have known several kinds of police --- traffic police, fire police and street police. But have you ever heard of energy-saving policeman? A group of 22 energy-saving policemen went to work last week in Beijing. They go around the city to see the use of energy in hotels, office buildings, shopping centers and other public places. One of their aims is to make sure that these places have set their air conditioning no cooler than 26degC. They also set up a special phone line so that people can tell them which buildings fail to follow the rule. "If everyone sets their air conditioning at 26degC, Beijing will save 400 million kilowatthour of electricity in one summer. That's one-third of all the usages of the city in the season," said a TV advertisement. Other Chinese cities, like Wuhan in Hubei Province and Yangzhou in Jiansu Province, are going to follow Beijing's steps in setting up a similar police team. As one of the fastest developing countries, China is using a lot of energy. This has a great effect on the country's environment and limited energy. From 1986 to 2005, the country experienced 20 warm winters continuously . Numbers show that Chinese cities have to spend billions of yuan solving environmental problems every year. At the beginning of this month, China made its first action plan to fight pollution. It aims to reduce energy usage by 20% and increase renewable energy up to 10% from 7% by 2010. To introduce the public to a green life, last week Beijing held a show on energy-saving technology and productions. Environment-friendly machines, such as a vending machine that helps collect used bottles, have attracted lots of attention. "We want to tell people that there are certain ways to protect the environment. Each of us can find effective ways to do it on our daily lives," said Liu Qianguang, an environmental engineer in Beijing. In the year 2010 China's energy usages is going to be cut by _ . A) 7%. B) 10%. C) 17%. D) 20%.
D
Q: You can't always know when there'll be a heavy rain or when to take an umbrella with you. But designer Mikhail Belyaev doesn't think that forgetting to check the weather report before going out should cause you to get wet in the rain. That's why he created the Lampbrella--a lamp post with its own "umbrella". The designer says he came up with the idea after watching people get wet on streets in Russia. "Once, I was driving on a central Saint Petersburg street and saw people trying to hide from the rain under the street lamps. I thought it would be a good idea to have a Lampbrella built into a street lamp." he said. The Lampbrella is a street lamp fitted with an umbrella canopy . It has an inside electric motor which can open or close the umbrella freely. The Lampbrella will offer people cover whenever it starts raining. After three minutes of not being used the canopy is closed. According to the designer, the Lampbrella would move at a very low speed in order not to cause harm to people. What's more, it would be grounded to protect from a possible lightning hit. Each Lampbrella would offer enough cover for several people. Being 2 meters off the ground, it would only be a danger for the tallest man. While there are no plans to take the Lampbrella into production , Belyaev says he recently introduced his creation to one Moscow company, and insists his creation could be on any street where a lot of people walk but there are no canopies to provide cover. The best title of this passage is _ . A) A special umbrella - Lampbrella B) Why Belyaev created the Lampbrella C) A special light - Lampbrella D) Where the Lampbrella first appear
A: A
Question: Do you have any books on your bookshelf for many years? Instead of throwing them away, here is another way for you to consider. If you have books that you do not read anymore, you can share them with others. You can take the books to Share and Read. Share and Read offers used books in different categories , such as storybooks, children books, language books, cook books and computer books, etc. All the books are sold at low prices. Share and Read also aims to help poor children in China. The money raised will be donated to help build schools in rural areas. We welcome all quality books. We do not want textbooks, magazines and dictionaries. Just make sure that your books are in good condition before giving them to us. Address: 201 Riverside Main Street Working hours: Thursdays to Sundays from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm Hotline: 7654-4321 We look forward to seeing you at Share and Read! When can you take books to Share and Read? A) At 3:00 pm on Thursday B) At 7:00 pm on Sunday C) At 11:00 am on Tuesday D) At 8:00 am on Wednesday
Answer: A
Q: Once there was a parrot on sale in a pet store. It was a beautiful red and blue bird. It sat on a perch in the middle of the store, so that everyone could see it when they came in. The owner was very proud of it and asked a high price for it. One day a man went into the store. "That's a beautiful bird," he said to the pet store owner, "But why is it so expensive? Is it unusual bird?" "No, it's not very unusual. It's expensive because it can talk," the pet store owner said. "I see. How can I make it talk?" the man asked. The pet store owner asked him, "Do you see those string tied to each of the bird's legs?" "Yes," the man answered. "Well, you pull those strings," the pet store owner told him. "That will make the parrot talk." The man asked, "Do you mind if I try?" "Not at all," the pet store owner said. The man walked up to the parrot and pulled the string on its left leg. The parrot said, "Good morning." The man pulled the string on the parrot's right leg. This time the parrot said, "How are you today?" "That's not very interesting," said the man. "Any parrot could do that." Then he laughed, "But what would happen if I pulled both strings at the same time?" "I'll fall off my perch, you fool!" the parrot said. The parrot was expensive because _ . A) it was pretty beautiful B) it could talk with the people C) it was a very unusual bird D) it was in the middle of the store
A: B