If Dick Drew had listened to his boss in 1925, we might not have a product that we now think of as of great importance: a new type of tape. Drew worked for the Minnesota Mining Company. At work he developed a kind of material strong enough to hold things together. But his boss told him not to think more about the idea. Finally, using his own time, Drew improved the tape, which now is used everywhere by many people. And his former company learned from its mistake. Now it encourages people to spend 15 percent of their work time just thinking about and developing new ideas.   
Creativity is not something one is just born with, nor is it necessarily a character of high intelligence. The fact that a person is highly intelligent does not mean that he uses it creatively. Creativity is the matter of using the resources one has to produce new ideas that are good for something.
Unfortunately, schools have not tried to encourage creativity. With strong attention to test results and the development of reading, writing and mathematical skills, many educators give up creativity for correct answers. The result is that children can give back information but can’t recognize ways to use it in new situations. They may know the rules correctly but they are unable to use them to work out practical problems.
It is important to give children choices. From the earliest age, children should be allowed to make decisions and understand their results. Even if it’s choosing between two food items for lunch, decision-making helps thinking skills. As children grow older, parents should let their children decide how to use their time or spend their money. This is because the most important character of creative people is a very strong desire to find a way out of trouble.

1. 1.

   What did the company where Drew once worked learn from its mistake?

   1. A.
      They should encourage people to work a longer time.
   2. B.
      People should be discouraged to think freely.
   3. C.
      People will do better if they spend most of their work time developing new ideas.
   4. D.
      It is necessary for people to spend some of their work time considering and improving new ideas.
2. 2.

   According to the passage, creativity is ________.

   1. A.
      something that most people are born with
   2. B.
      something that depends mainly on intelligence
   3. C.
      a way of using what one has learned to work out new problems
   4. D.
      something that is not important to the character of a person at all
3. 3.

   Why do schools tend to fail to encourage creativity?

   1. A.
      They give children too many choices.
   2. B.
      They are not strict enough with children.
   3. C.
      They care too much about examination marks.
   4. D.
      They don’t understand the importance of education.
4. 4.

   Which of the following skills is the most important in developing creativity?

   1. A.
      Reading.
   2. B.
      Writing.
   3. C.
      Mathematical skill.
   4. D.
      Decision-making.

Solar energy for your home is coming. It can help you as a single home owner. It can help the whole country as well. Whether or not solar energy can save your money depends on many things. Where you live is one factor. The type of home you have is another. Things like insulation(绝缘) present energy costs and the type of system you buy are added factors.
Using solar energy can help save our precious fuel. As you know, our supplies of oil and gas are very limited. There is just not enough on hand to meet all our future energy needs. And when Mother Nature says that’s all, the only way we can delay hearing those words is by starting to save energy now and by using other sources, like the sun.
We won’t have to worry about the sun’s running out of energy for another several billion years or so. Besides begin an endless source of energy, the use of the sun has other advantages as well. The sun doesn’t offer as many problems as other energy sources. For example, fossil fuel plants add to already high pollution levels. With sola energy, we will still need sources of energy, but we won’t need as much. That means we can cut down on our pollution problems.
With all these good points, why don’t we use more solar power? There are many reasons for this. The biggest reason is money. Until now, it was just not practical for a home owner to put in a solar unit. There were cheaper sources of energy. All this is changing now. Solar costs are starting to equal the costs of oil and electricity. Experts say that gas, oil and electricity prices will continue to rise. The demand for electricity is increasing rapidly. But new power plants will use more gas, oil or coal. Already in some places the supply of electricity is being rationed. Solar energy is now in its infancy. It could soon grow to become a major part of our nation’s energy supply.
57. Which statement best expresses the main idea?
A. Something about Solar Energy and Pollution.        B. Solar Energy.
C. Energy and Pollution                                           D. Energy and Money
58. Solar energy can help us save ____.
A. the earth and nature resources                                  B. mother nature
C. the sun                                                                     D. our precious fuel
59. Which of the following statements is correct?
A. Energy from coal would not pollute our living environment.
B. Energy from natural gas would not pollute our living environment.
C. Energy from the sun would not pollute our living environment.
D. Energy from oil would not pollute our living environment.
60. Solar energy is in its infancy, ____.
A. but it will be considered as an important part of our nation’s energy supply
B. yet we will build more power plants
C. and the supply of electricity will be rationed
D. but we don’t need practice energy rationing now

Solar energy for your home is coming. It can help you as a single home owner. It can help the whole country as well. Whether or not solar energy can save your money depends on many things. Where you live is one factor. The type of home you have is another. Things like insulation(绝缘) present energy costs and the type of system you buy are added factors.

Using solar energy can help save our precious fuel. As you know, our supplies of oil and gas are very limited. There is just not enough on hand to meet all our future energy needs. And when Mother Nature says that’s all, the only way we can delay hearing those words is by starting to save energy now and by using other sources, like the sun.

We won’t have to worry about the sun’s running out of energy for another several billion years or so. Besides begin an endless source of energy, the use of the sun has other advantages as well. The sun doesn’t offer as many problems as other energy sources. For example, fossil fuel plants add to already high pollution levels. With sola energy, we will still need sources of energy, but we won’t need as much. That means we can cut down on our pollution problems.

With all these good points, why don’t we use more solar power? There are many reasons for this. The biggest reason is money. Until now, it was just not practical for a home owner to put in a solar unit. There were cheaper sources of energy. All this is changing now. Solar costs are starting to equal the costs of oil and electricity. Experts say that gas, oil and electricity prices will continue to rise. The demand for electricity is increasing rapidly. But new power plants will use more gas, oil or coal. Already in some places the supply of electricity is being rationed. Solar energy is now in its infancy. It could soon grow to become a major part of our nation’s energy supply.

57. Which statement best expresses the main idea?

A. Something about Solar Energy and Pollution.        B. Solar Energy.

C. Energy and Pollution                                           D. Energy and Money

58. Solar energy can help us save ____.

A. the earth and nature resources                                  B. mother nature

C. the sun                                                                     D. our precious fuel

59. Which of the following statements is correct?

A. Energy from coal would not pollute our living environment.

B. Energy from natural gas would not pollute our living environment.

C. Energy from the sun would not pollute our living environment.

D. Energy from oil would not pollute our living environment.

60. Solar energy is in its infancy, ____.

A. but it will be considered as an important part of our nation’s energy supply

B. yet we will build more power plants

C. and the supply of electricity will be rationed

D. but we don’t need practice energy rationing now

Solar energy for your home is coming. It can help you as a single home owner. It can help the whole country as well. Whether or not solar energy can save your money depends on many things. Where you live is one factor and the type of home you have is another. Things like insulation (绝缘材料), present energy costs, and the type of system you buy are added factors.

Using solar energy can help save our precious fuel. As you know, our supplies of oil and gas are very limited. There is just not enough on hand to meet all our future energy needs. Sooner or later Mother Nature will say that's all. The only way we can delay hearing those words is by starting to save energy now and by using other sources, like the sun.

We won't have to worry about the sun's running out of energy for another several billion years or so. Besides, the sun doesn't offer as many problems as other energy sources. For example, fossil fuel(矿物燃料) adds to already high pollution levels. With solar energy, we will still need sources of energy, but we won't need as much. That means we can cut down on our pollution problems.

With all these good points, why don't we use more solar power? There are many reasons for this. The biggest reason is money. Until now, it was just not practical for a home owner to put in a solar unit. There were cheaper sources of energy.

All that is changing now. Solar costs are starting to equal the costs of oil and electricity. Experts say that gas, oil and electricity prices will continue to rise. The demand for electricity is increasing rapidly. But new power plants will use more gas, oil or coal. Already in some places the supply of electricity is being rationed (限量供应). Solar energy is now in its infancy (初期). It could soon grow to become a major part of our nation's energy supply.

60. What's this passage mainly about?

A. Something about solar energy and pollution.  

B. Solar energy.

C. Energy and pollution.                                  

D. Energy and money.

61. Solar energy can help us _____.

A. escape punishment from nature                     B. become home owners

C. get rid of present energy                              D. save our precious fuel

62. The sun is an endless source of energy, and it will not run out of energy for _____.

A. several million years                       B. several hundred years

C. several billion years                        D. several thousand years

63. Which of the following statements is TRUE?

A. Energy from coal would not pollute our living environment.

B. Energy from natural gas would not pollute our living environment.

C. Energy from the sun would not pollute our living environment.

D. Energy from oil would not pollute our living environment.

64. Solar energy is now in its infancy, _____.

A. but in the future it will become an important part of our nation's energy supply

B. so we will build more power plants

C. and the supply of electricity will be rationed throughout the country

D. so we don't need it

Solar energy for your home is coming. It can help you as a single home owner. It can help the whole country as well. Whether or not solar energy can save your money depends on many things. Where you live is one factor. The type of home you have is another. Things like insulation(绝缘) present energy costs and the type of system you buy are added factors.

Using solar energy can help save our precious fuel. As you know, our supplies of oil and gas are very limited. There is just not enough on hand to meet all our future energy needs. And when Mother Nature says that’s all, the only way we can delay hearing those words is by starting to save energy now and by using other sources, like the sun.

We won’t have to worry about the sun’s running out of energy for another several billion years or so. Besides begin an endless source of energy, the use of the sun has other advantages as well. The sun doesn’t offer as many problems as other energy sources. For example, fossil fuel plants add to already high pollution levels. With sola energy, we will still need sources of energy, but we won’t need as much. That means we can cut down on our pollution problems.

With all these good points, why don’t we use more solar power? There are many reasons for this. The biggest reason is money. Until now, it was just not practical for a home owner to put in a solar unit. There were cheaper sources of energy. All this is changing now. Solar costs are starting to equal the costs of oil and electricity. Experts say that gas, oil and electricity prices will continue to rise. The demand for electricity is increasing rapidly. But new power plants will use more gas, oil or coal. Already in some places the supply of electricity is being rationed. Solar energy is now in its infancy. It could soon grow to become a major part of our nation’s energy supply.

57. Which statement best expresses the main idea?

A. Something about Solar Energy and Pollution.        B. Solar Energy.

C. Energy and Pollution                                           D. Energy and Money

58. Solar energy can help us save ____.

A. the earth and nature resources                                   B. mother nature

C. the sun                                                                     D. our precious fuel

59. Which of the following statements is correct?

A. Energy from coal would not pollute our living environment.

B. Energy from natural gas would not pollute our living environment.

C. Energy from the sun would not pollute our living environment.

D. Energy from oil would not pollute our living environment.

60. Solar energy is in its infancy, ____.

A. but it will be considered as an important part of our nation’s energy supply

B. yet we will build more power plants

C. and the supply of electricity will be rationed

D. but we don’t need practice energy rationing now