Many cities around the world today are heavily polluted. Careless methods of production and lack of consumer demand for environment (环境) friendly products have contributed to the pollution problem. One result is that millions of tons of glass, paper, plastic, and metal containers are produced, and these are difficult to get rid of.

However, today, more and more consumers are choosing “green” and demanding that the products they buy should be safe for the environment. Before they buy a product, they ask questions like these: “Will this shampoo damage the environment?” “Can this metal container be reused or can it only be used once?”

A recent study showed that two out of five adults now consider the environmental safety of a product before they buy it. This means that companies must now change the way they make and sell their products to make sure that they are “green,” that is, friendly to the environment.

Only a few years ago, it was impossible to find green products in supermarkets, but now there are hundreds. Some supermarket products carry labels(标签) to show that the product is green. Some companies have made the manufacturing (生产) of clean and safe products their main selling point and emphasize it in their advertising.

The concern for a safer and cleaner environment is making companies rethink how they do business. No longer will the public accept the old attitude of “Buy it, use it, throw it away, and forget it. ”The public pressure is on, and gradually business is cleaning up its act.

64. It becomes clear from the text that the driving force(动力) behind green products is ______

       A. public caring for the environment    B. companies desire for bigger sales

       C. new ways of doing business      D. rapid growth of supermarkets

65. What would be the best title for the text?

       A. Business and People  B. Business Goes Green

       C. Shopping Habits Are Changing D. Supermarkets and Green Products

66. The underlined word “it” in the fourth paragraph refers to _____

       A. a selling point    B. the company name

       C. a great demand for health foods       D. the manufacturing of green products

                                The Touchstone

    When the great library of Alexandria burned, the story goes, one book was saved. But it was not a valuable book, and so a poor man, who could read little, bought it for very little money.

The book wasn’t very interesting, but between its pages there was something very interesting indeed. It was a thin strip of vellum on which was written the secret of the “Touchstone”! The touchstone was a small pebble that could turn any common metal into pure gold.

The writing explained that it was lying among thousands and thousands of other pebbles that looked exactly like it. But the secret was this: The real stone would feel warm, while ordinary pebbles are cold.

So the man sold his few belongings, bought some simple supplies, camped on the seashore, and began testing pebbles. He knew that if he picked up ordinary pebbles and threw them down again because they were cold, he might pick up the same pebble hundreds of times. So, when he felt one that was cold, he threw it into the sea. He spent a whole day doing this but none of them was the touchstone. Yet he went on and on this way. Pick up a pebble. Cold, throw it into the sea. Pick up another. Throw it into the sea. Pick up another. Throw it into the sea. The days continued over a long period of time.

One day, however, about mid-afternoon, he picked up a pebble and it was warm. He threw it into the sea before he realized what he had done. He had formed such a strong habit of throwing each pebble into the sea that when the one he wanted came along he still threw it away.

    So it is with opportunity. Unless we are careful, it’s easy to fail to recognize an opportunity when it is in hand and it’s just as easy to throw it away.

The man bought the book because ______.

  A. he wanted to read it                   B. it was very interesting

C. there was a secret in the book            D. he wanted to find the touchstone

We can learn from the passage that the touchstone is ______.

A. pure              B. cold               C. magic              D. big

What does the author want to tell us in the passage?

A. We should offer opportunities in our life.

B. We should seek for opportunities in the world.

C. We may seize opportunities when we are watchful.

D. We may discover opportunities when forming habits.

Flying over a desert area in an airplane, two scientists looked down with trained eyes at trees and bushes. After an hour’s flight one of the scientists wrote in his book, “Look here for probable metal. ” Scientists in another airplane, flying over a mountain area, sent a message to other scientists on the ground, “Gold possible. ” Walking across hilly ground, four scientists reported, “This ground should be searched for metal. ” From an airplane over a hilly wasteland a scientist sent back by radio one word, “Uranium. ”

None of the scientists had X-ray eyes:  They had no magic power of looking down below the earth’s surface. They were merely putting to use one of the newest methods of locating minerals in the ground. . . trees and plants as signs that certain minerals may lie beneath the ground on which the trees and plants are growing.

This newest method of searching for minerals is based on the fact that minerals deep in the earth may affect the kind of bushes and trees that grow in the surface.

At Watson Bar Greek, a brook(小溪) six thousand feet high in the mountains of British Columbia, Canada, a mineral search group gathered bags of tree seeds. Boxes were filled with small branches from the trees. Roots were dug out and put into boxes. Each bag and box was carefully marked. In a scientific laboratory the parts of the forest trees were burned to ashes and tested. Each small part was examined to learn whether there were minerals in it.

Study of the roots, branches, and seeds showed no silver. But there were small amounts of gold in the roots and a little less gold in the branches and seeds. The seeds growing nearest to the tree trunks had more gold than those growing on the ends of the branches.

71. Scientists were flying over a desert or a hilly wasteland or a mountain area in order to search for_______in the ground.

A. gold                                              B. silver

C. metals                                           D. minerals

72. The scientists were searching for minerals by using_______ .

A. X-ray                                            B. magic power

C. a special instrument                 D. trained eyes

73. Which of the following is NOT mentioned as part of a tree that can help find minerals?

A. Leaves.                                        B. Roots.

C. Branches.                                      D. Seeds.

74. The study of trees, branches and roots shows that_______ .

A. there were larger amounts of gold in the branches than in the seeds

B. there were smaller amounts of gold in the roots than in the branches

C. there were less amounts of gold in the seeds growing on the ends of branches than seeds growing nearest to the tree trunks

D. there was more gold in the branches than in the roots

75. Which is the best title suggested below?

A. Scientists Searching for Metals with Special Power

B. New Methods of Searching for Minerals

C. Gold Could Be Found by Trees and Plants

D. A New Method of Searching for Minerals—Using Trees and Plants

There are many thoughts on the origins of civilization. One of the major factors involved was the increase in population. The development of techniques, primarily irrigation and flood control, which permitted agriculture in special areas such as the flood plain of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, made possible the support of large population. Once populations reach a certain number, the older pattern of social organization breaks down and new ones develop. Specifically the older system, whereby each individual participated in food production and maintained a similar standard of living and whereby kinship(家属关系) served as the basic method of social organization, was replaced by the occupational division of labor, political and religious hierarchies(等级制度), public works such as road and public building construction, class systems, codes of law, markets, new forms of warfare, and urban centres. Allied with these important sociological traits are material traits, such as monumental architecture and the development of science and, in many cases, metallurgy(冶金学) and writing systems.

The earliest civilization, Sumer, developed in the Middle East. This was the Bronze Age of the Old World, during which people first developed the art of metallurgy, civilization also arose in other parts of the Old World, first in Egypt, China, and India, and later in Europe and Africa. At this time, civilization also developed independently in the New World, in the Mexican area and in Peru and its adjacent(邻近的) areas.

In the Old World the Bronze Age was followed by the Iron Age, which saw the rise and fall of great empires and the shift of power from the Middle East to Greece and Rome and then to Western Europe. In the 1700s the Industrial Age began, leading directly to the modern civilization of today.

46. The author of this passage __________________________________.

A. gives a comparison between ancient civilization and modern civilization

B. suggests that population increase is most important in the development of civilization

C. tries to explain how civilization developed in human history

D. explore the relation between agriculture and industry

47. According to the first paragraph, the increase in population __________________.

A. resulted in the development of agricultural technology

B. resulted from the breakdown of old social organization

C. caused the occupational division of labor

D. was impossible without the development of agriculture

48. The word “traits” in Paragraph One most likely means ____________________.

A. main appearances                        B. great achievements

C. distinguishing features                      D. outstanding successes

49. Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?

A. The Bronze Age is one of the earliest civilizations.

B. The Industrial Age started in the Middle East.

C. The Bronze Age developed into the Iron Age.

D. The use of metal instruments started from the Bronze Age.

50. Which of the following is NOT included in the expression “the Old World” used in the passage?

A. American continent.                         B. Both Western and Eastern Europe.

C. African continent.                                   D. Asian countries.

 

He kept all his letters in a______box.

A.metal strong black                    B.strong metal black

C.black strong metal                    D.strong black meta