As a child, I loved the natural world. Maybe it had something to do with growing up in a small town. Maybe it was because nature had so many secrets and I was thrilled to be a detective, uncovering them one by one. I'm sure that when people from my generation think back to their childhoods, many recall a tree house, family picnics, or a passion for fishing, hunting, or horseback riding. Most of us had an occasional appetite for dirt as we explored backyards and nearby vacant lots. As someone who grew up in such a world, I enthusiastically encourage parents to bring back that happy childhood pastime of letting kids get muddy once in a while. I have more than my own experience to show as evidence that this is a good thing: Study after study indicates that children grow up healthier and happier when they experience a direct connection to nature. Just as importantly, those young people are also far more likely to value the natural world when they've developed a connection to it. The need for this has never been greater than it is today. Our natural world is extraordinary in its diversity and complexity, but it's also under tremendous threat. In the past decade, countless tropical rainforests and coral reefs have been lost forever due to human activities, and many more are critically endangered. These areas don't just house animals and plants found nowhere else on the planet; they also provide important economic services that benefit human health. Streams make fresh water clean; forests reduce flooding; tree provide medicines and insects pollinate (......) crops. The natural world represents an economic backbone for the future of local communities by promoting tourism and local people's livelihoods. The damage to the earth's living systems is fast approaching irreversible "tipping points," and although we now have a wealth of technological tools--both to understand the threats and to assist with solutions--there's still no substitute for a connection to the real world when it comes to understanding the... The author writes the passage mainly to_. A) describe her childhood to the readers B) encourage readers to protect the nature C) stress the importance of natural science D) advise parents to let kids experience nature
D
Carl studied in our middle school three years ago. Last August his father found a job in another city and his family moved there. He began to study in the new school and we often write to each other. He often tells me something about the city where he lives now and his studies in the school. So I can know what happens to him. Last Friday Carl came to our city again. He hoped to accompany his old grandpa during the summer holiday. He was taller and stronger than before. We swam in the river outside the city together and had a picnic on the island. It surprised me that he had learnt to cook when we were traveling in the wild forest. He told me his parents were both busy and sometimes he stayed at home and he had to look after himself. "How do you like your school?" I asked. "Wonderful," said the young man." It has a tall building and there 're two chemistry labs, two biology labs and three physics ones. And its library is big and there're plenty of books in it." "I can see you are satisfied with it." "Yes," he answered. "But our geography teacher often says it himself in class." "So does our new history teacher." I said. "But he doesn't notice it. He often talks on and on in a flow of the eloquence , but none of us listens to him." Carl came back to our city to _ . A) take his summer holiday. B) look after his grandpa C) have a picnic on the island. D) travel in the wild forest.
B
Q: Charlie Chaplin was one of the greatest and widely loved silent movie stars. From "Easy Street" (1917) to "Modern Times" (1936), he made many of the funniest and most popular films of his time. He was best known for his character, the naive and lovable Little Tramp. The Little Tramp, a well meaning man in a raggedy suit with cane, always found himself wobbling into awkward situations and strangely wobbling away. More than any other figure, it is this kind-hearted character that we associate with the time before the talkies (sound films). Born in London in 1889, Chaplin first visited America with a theater company in 1907. Appearing as "Billy" in the play "Sherlock Holmes", the young Chaplin toured the country twice. On his second tour, he met Mack Sennett and was signed to Keystone Studios to act in films. In 1914 Chaplin made his first one-reeler, "Making a Living". That same year he made thirty-four more short films, including "Caught in a Cabaret", "Caught in the Rain", "The Face on the Bar-Room Floor", and "His Trysting Place". These early silent shorts allowed very little time for anything but physical comedy, and Chaplin was a master at it. Though Chaplin is of the silent movie era, we see his achievements carried through in the films of today. With the appearance of the feature-length talkies, the need for more subtle acting became apparent. To maintain the audience's attention throughout a six-reel film, an actor needed to move beyond constant comedy. Chaplin had demanded this depth long before anyone else. His strictness and concern for the processes of acting and directing made his films great and led the way to a new, more sophisticated, cinema. What do you think is the passage about? A) Life of Chaplin B) Works of Chaplin C) Characters of Chaplin D) An introduction of Chaplin
A: D
*Question*
The way we cook is important. In many countries, the two sources of heat used for cooking are natural gas or electric stoves. The World Health Organization(WHO) warns that millions of people are dying every year from indoor air pollution. The WHO finds that poor cooking, heating and lighting technologies are killing millions of people each year. Indoor air pollution results from the use of dangerous fuels and cook stoves in the home. WHO officials say nearly three billion people are unable to use clean fuels and technologies for cooking, heating and lighting. And they say more than seven million people die from exposure to indoor or outdoor air pollution each year. Of that number, the WHO says about 4.3 million people die from household air pollution given off by simple biomass and coal stoves. These findings show that the home use of poisonous fuels is to blame for many of these deaths. These fuels include wood, coal, animal waste and so on. Carlos Dora is Coordinator in the WHO' s Department of Public Health, Environmental and Social Determinants of Health. He says people should not use unprocessed coal and kerosene fuel indoors. He says opening a window or door to let out the harmful air will not correct the situation. It will only pollute the outdoors. "New technologies and clean fuels can rid people of this problem." The United Nations found that more than 95 percent of families in sub-Saharan Africa depend on solid fuels for cooking. It says huge populations in India, China and Latin American countries, such as Guatemala and Peru, are also at risk. Nigel Bruce is a professor of Public Health at the University of Liverpool. He says researchers are developing good stoves and other equipment to burn fuels in a more efficient way."There are already many technologies for clean fuels available now. An effective and reasonably low-cost ethanol stove that is made by Dometic (a Sweden-based company)is now being tested out. Another interesting development is electric induction stoves." In India, you can buy an... Which would be the best title for the passage? A) The way we cook is changing. B) Cause of indoor air pollution. C) The development of electric stoves. D) Indoor air pollution kills millions each year.
**Answer**
D