An energy watchdog is alarmed about the threat to the environment from the increasing electricity needs of gadgets like MP3 players, mobile phones and flat screen TVs. In a report today, the Paris-based International Energy Agency says new electronic gadgets will be three times their energy consumption by 2030 to 1,700 terawatt hours , which is equal to today's home electricity consumption of the United States and Japan combined. The world would have to build around 200 new nuclear power plants just to power all the TVs, iPods, PCs and other home electronics expected to be plugged in by 2030,when the global electric bill to power them will rise to $200 billion a year, the agency said. "Consumer electronics is the fastest growing area and the area with the least amount of policies in place to control energy efficiency, " said Paul Waide, a senior policy analyst at the agency. Electronic gadgets already account for about 15 percent of household electric consumption, a share that is rising rapidly as the number of these gadgets multiplies. Last year, the world spent $80 billion on electricity to power all these household electronics, the energy agency said. " Most of the increase in consumer electronics will be in developing countries, where economic growth is the fastest and ownership rates of gadgets are the lowest , " Waide said. "This will _ efforts to increase energy security and reduce the amount of greenhouse gases blamed for global warming." the agency said. Existing technologies' could cut down gadgets' energy consumption by more than 30 percent at no cost or by more than 50 percent at a small cost, the agency estimates, meaning total greenhouse gas emissions from households' electronic gadgets could be held stable at around 500 million tons of CO2 per year. How many terawatt hours did the energy consumption of new electronic gadgets reach? A) Nearly l, 700. B) Nearly 600. C) About 200. D) About 60.
B
(Question)
Two men were sitting together on a ship. They were on a long travel. One of them was a professor. The other was a farmer. They sat without talking for a while, and then the farmer said, "Let's do something to pass the time." "What do you want to do?" the professor asked. "We can ask each other riddles." The farmer said, "You start." "Let's make the rules first," the professor said. "That's not fair. You are a professor with much knowledge. You know more things than I do. I am just a farmer." "That's true." The professor said. "What do you want we should do?" "If you don't know the answer to a riddle, you pay me $100. And if I don't know the answer, I'll pay you $50." The farmer said. The professor thought about this, then he said, "OK. That's fair. Who will go first?" "I will," The farmer said. "Here is my riddle. What has three legs when it walks, but only two legs when it flies?" The professor man repeated the riddle, "What has three legs when it walks, but only two legs when it flies? Mm, that's a good one. I'm afraid I don't know the answer." He gave the farmer $100, then said, "Tell me the answer. What has three legs when it walks, but only two legs when it flies?" "I don't know." The farmer said and gave him $50. What does the word "riddle" mean in this story? A) something to win money. B) something to help to make rules. C) a difficult question to find the answer to. D) a kind of game in doing business.
(Answer)
C
Ques: Lao Yang was born in a small town. He liked reading when he studied at school. He thought the writers were respected and could get a lot of money. He wrote a lot of stories and posted them to the editorial departments but didn't receive any answers. Now he works in a factory. He's busy at work. When he's free, he always reads something. He always remembers he hoped to be a writer when he was young. One day, Xiao Ping, his ten-year-old daughter, came back. She looked worried and didn't eat anything. She said Miss GAO, her Chinese teacher, told them to write a solicit article "My Father" that evening. But she did not know what to write. "That's easy," said Lao Yang. "Let me help you." Then he sat down to write the solicit article at once. He easily finished it on time. He was sure Miss GAO would like it. But one afternoon he asked his daughter if the article had been chosen to post to the editorial department. "My teacher said your article digressed from the subject," said the girl. "I don't think so," Lao Yang shouted angrily. "I described just my father!" Lao Yang wrote a lot of stories because _ . A) he likes reading B) he learned much at school C) he wanted to be a writer D) he wanted to help others
Ans: C
Mr. Baker lived in an old and low house. His wife was blind in both eyes and the two children were very young. All his family often went hungry(.) He had nothing but a small piece of field. One autumn he grew some wheat in his field. He hoped it would do well because all family would depend on it. The whole winter it often snowed. And the next spring the wheat was doing well. Mr. Baker was happy. One day Mr. Baker went to watch his wheat. To his surprise, a lot of crops were eaten up by a horse. He became angry but could not find out whose horse had eaten them. He thought the horse would go there again. So he decided to stay in his field and tried to catch the horse. A few days later a yellow horse came in his field again and began to eat the wheat. Mr. Baker ran after it quickly, with a stick in his hand. But the beast ran much faster than he. He tried his best, but could not catch up with it. The next morning, when Mr. Baker was working in his field, he saw the yellow horse pulling carriage on the road. He picked up a stick at once, ran closer to the horse and began to beat it up. The driver was surprised and stopped him. He asked, "Why are you beating my horse?" "It has nothing to do with you, " Mr. Baker said angrily. "The beast knows why I'm beating him!" Why was Mr. Baker happy at first? A) Because wheat was doing well. B) Because he would soon get a good harvest. C) Because he found out the beast that ate up his wheat. D) Because his family would not grow any more wheat.
A