Thousands of cities around the globe turned off their lights for an hour to mark Earth Hour 2014, a symbolic show of support for the environment organized by the World Wide Fund for Nature. Since the movement began in Sydney, Australia, in 2007, it has spread to more than 7,000 cities across more than 160 countries. Singapore continues to hold one of the world's largest lights-off events, drawing around 9,000 people this year to Marina Bay Sands, a commercial center typically awash in electricity. To mark the event actors Andrew Garfield, Jamie Foxx, Emma Stone and a group of other famous stars from The Amazing Spider-Man 2 movie were in town. Other iconic landmarks that fell dark included the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok's Wat Arun temple, the Empire State Building in New York, the Eiffel Tower in Paris, Sydney Opera House, Red Square in Moscow, the Bird's Nest in Beijing and Hong Kong Harbor. As the movement has grown, more organizations and business have committed to switching off their lights in support of efforts to reduce their environmental footprint. In Singapore, at least 600 organizations and companies agreed to either switch off their lights or participate in movements to use fewer plastic bags, take shorter showers, turn up their air-conditioning units or switch to LED lighting. This year the World Wide Fund for Nature, which first launched worldwide Earth Hour, also launched Earth Hour Blue, a crowdfunding platform aimed at raising money for environmental projects around the globe. On Mar. 26 a project to stop the illegal wildlife trade in Asia by providing assistance to wildlife rangers became the first one to reach its target of $20,000 by relying completely on crowdfunding. The hour-long event has little if any impact on electricity consumption, but as an awareness raising event it has registered success. In a statement to mark Saturday's event, Andy Ridley, CEO and Co-Founder of Earth Hour, said Asia's rapidly growing digital presence is an added bonus that has... How many different specific places are mentioned in the text to have participated in Earth Hour 2014 across the world? A) 7 B) 8 C) 9 D) 10
C
Air pollution, such as haze, has become a serious problem around the world. Besides wearing a mask, what else can we do to protect ourselves from the dirty air? Scientists have developed a new inhaler that can reduce the effect air pollution has on people. It could help millions of people who are suffering from air pollution,the Guardianreports. This inhaler is developed by German company Bitop and contains a molecule named Ectoine. The molecule creates a layer that protects lungs from polluted air. It's reported that the inhaler will be affordable to most people when it comes to the market. Air pollution kills more than three million people a year worldwide and leads to health problems like lung and heart disease and strokes, according to a 2016 research project in the journalNature. It is also linked to brain disease, mental illness and diabetes . Andreas Bilstein at Bitop believed that the inhaler could be useful around the world, because air pollution is not just a European problem: "Especially in Asia - China in particular - the demand for such a product is even higher." Many Chinese cities have been suffering from haze. According to World Health Organization, two of the 10 most polluted cities in the world in 2015 were in China. About 800,000 deaths that are linked to air pollution take place in the country every year. However, such inhalers should never be an excuse for not trying to stop air pollution, said Professor Jean Krutmann at the Leibniz Research Institute for Environmental Medicine. "The best thing is that we have clean air and we don't need any prophylactic treatment," he said. Which is Professor Jean Krutmann's opinion? A) Such inhalers mean much to people. B) We should take action to control air pollution. C) We can depend on inhalers to solve air pollution problems. D) We'd better produce more medicines to treat lung diseases.
B
Q: An Ofsted study reports that teachers are discouraging students who want to leave school and work as apprentices in beauty salons or hair dressers. Inspectors questioned 105 young people for a report on apprenticeships published on Wednesday. They found several examples of young people who felt they had been laughed at by their teachers for wanting to progress to work-based learning, particularly in care or hairdressing, rather than stay on at school. Right or wrong, is it any surprise that this is happening? From 2014,the government will measure schools according to the rate of their pupils who go to university. Brian Lightman , general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, says the government has already put teachers under "very great pressure to focus on academic subjects" On the other hand, the Education Act 2011,which came into force in November, places schools under a duty to give fair career advice to pupils. This advice must include information on all post-16 education and training choices, including apprenticeships. This doesn't appear to be happening in several schools, according to Ofsted9S report. Many of the young people the inspectors talked to said the advice they had received on apprenticeships was "unsatisfactory". Schools were also blamed for lack of work experience courses, which are particularly important for teenagers considering an apprenticeship. _ help students decide whether they enjoy a line of work and enable employers to see whether those on work experience have the potential to be hired as apprentices in future years. But there is a good reason why they can't do this: they'd be unable to adapt to GCSE exams if they did. Sometimes, it seems, schools just can't win. What does the author think of teachers' discouraging students working as apprentices? A) Surprising B) Understandable C) Wrong D) Right
A: B
It's time you started eating sensibly. Experts at the first Chinese Students Nutrition and Health Festival in Kunming last week listed eight bad eating habits. *Watching television while having meals or snacks. Doing this means you don't pay attention to your food, forget how full you are, and so overeat. It can also cause digestion diseases. One way to avoid this is only to eat in certain areas of your home. * Replacing meals with snacks. Many students think that eating small snacks can help them diet. But it often results in overeating and health problems related to a lack of vegetables, carbohydrates ,proteins and vitamins. Snacking only works if it is well planned and includes healthy foods such as nuts, vegetables, fruit and yogurt. *Having drinks rather than water. Fizzy drinks and fruit juice are usually high in calories and sugar, which can cause weight problems. Water is important in making your brain cells and every organ in your body work properly. For your body to burn fat, it needs at least eight glasses of pure water a day. Liquids like soda and coffee actually take water away from your body. *Refusing to drink milk. Milk is the best natural food--it provides you with protein, which makes your bones strong and teeth healthy. * Choosing meat and certain vegetables over others. Different foods provide different kinds of nutrition. If you don't have a balanced diet, this can result in malnutrition and a weaker body. *Eating in front of the computer and staying there after meals. Take a walk after eating and it helps your stomach digest the meal. *Buying from roadside snack bars. If you shop at these places, be careful--many are not clean enough. * Eating throat tablets as if they were sweets. If you eat throat tablets when you have no throat disease, they may affect the bacteria in your mouth and cause real throat problems. Which of the following is NOT the habit that will possibly result in a lack of nutrition? A) Often eating small snacks. B) Never drinking milk. C) Always eating the same kinds of food. D) Staying in front of a computer after the meal.
D