With a little effort, and not much money, most of us could reduce our energy diets by 25 percent or more — doing the Earth a favor while also helping our wallets.
Not long ago, my wife, PJ, and I tried a new diet — not to lose a little weight but to answer an annoying question about climate change. Scientists have reported recently that the world is bending up even faster than predicted only a few years ago, and that the consequences could be severe if we don’t keep reducing emissions（排放）of carbon dioxide（CO2）and other greenhouse gases that are trapping heat in our atmosphere.
We decided to try an experiment. For one month we recorded our personal emissions of CO2. . We wanted to see how much we could cut back, so we went on a strict diet. The average US household（家庭）produces about 150 pounds of CO2 a day by doing common-place things like turning on air-conditioning or driving cars. That’s more than twice the European average and almost five times the global average, mostly because Americans drive more and have bigger houses. But how much should we try to reduce?
For an answer, I checked with Tim Flannery, author of The Weather Makers: How Man Is Changing the Climate and What It Means for Life on Earth. In his book, he had challenged readers to make deep cuts in personal emissions to keep the world from reaching extremely important tipping points, such as the melting（融化）of the ice sheets in Greenland or West Antarctica. “To stay below that point, we need to reduce CO2 emissions by 80 percent,” he said.
Good advice, I thought. I’d opened our bedroom windows to let in the wind. We’d gotten so used to keeping our air-conditioning going around the clock. I’d almost forgotten the windows even opened. We should not let this happen again. It’s time for us to change our habits if necessary.
72. Why did the author and his wife try a new diet?
A. To take special kinds of food B. To respond to climate change.
C. To lose weight D. To improve their health
【解析】转换理解题。根据第二段第一句的“to answer an annoying question about climate change”，【答案】B。
73. The underlined words “tipping points” most probably refer to “ ”
A. freezing points B. burning points C. melting points D. boiling points 【解析】词义猜测题。根据后一句的“such as the melting（融化）of the ice sheets in Greenland
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or West Antarctica.”，可知tipping points的意思是：融点，【答案】C。 74. It can be inferred from the passage that
A. it is necessary to keep the air-conditioning on all the time B. it seems possible for every household to cut emissions of CO2
C. the average US household produces about 3,000 pounds of CO2 a month D. the average European household produces about 1,000 pounds of CO2 a month 【解析】推理判断题。根据最后一段，开空调时，注意关窗。【答案】B。
75. Which of the following would be the best title for the passage? A. Saving Energy Starts at Home B. Changing Our Habits Begins at Work C. Changing Climate Sounds Reasonable D. Reading Emissions of Proves CO2 Difficult
【解析】 主旨大意题。根据开篇句的“Use less energy”，【答案】A。
第Ⅱ卷（非选择题 共35分）
第四部分 写作（共两节，满分35分）
第一节 短文填词（共10小题；每小题1分，满分10分）
阅读下面短文，根据以下提示：1）汉语提示，2）首字母提示，3）语境提示，在每个空格内填入一个适当的英语单词，并将该词完整地写在右边相对应的横线上。所填单词要求意义准确，拼写正确。
Mr. Smith offers us some advice on how to write a good
composition, which i the following steps. 76. includes Firstly, we should read the topic c and organize our ideas. Then we start to shape our thoughts our own word and finish our writing in the g time. After that, we have to check our
77. carefully 78. in
79. given
compositions, paying attention to （语法）and spelling. It is very 80. grammar important to read them aloud to （自己）or someone else from 81. ourselves to end. Lastly, we had better ask our teachers or classmates for 82. beginning advice on how to improve our writing. If （可能）, we may leave 83. possible
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them alone for some time before reading again, will help a 84. which great deal. I hope you will b a lot from the advice above. 第二节 书面表达（满分25分）
某英语报社拟成立“微笑俱乐部”，现向全球征募会员。要求申请者提交一篇题为“I want to Smile”的英语短文。请你以申请者的身份，根据以下思路图的提示用英语写一篇短文。
85. benefit
注意：
1. 根据思路图适当展开，以使行文连贯 2. 词数：120左右
I Want to Smile
参考答案
1-5 CBACA 6-10 CBACB 11-15 CBBCC 16-20 ACABB 21-25 BDADB
26-30 CBCAC 31-35 DBAAB 36-40 BACDD 41-45 ABDCB 46-50 ADCAB
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51-55 DCCAB 56-60 CABDB 61-65 DDCCA 66-70 DACBA 71-75 DBCBA
76. includes 77. carefully 78. in 79. given 80. grammar
81. ourselves 82. beginning 83. possible 84. which 85. benefit
One Possible Version
There are many advantages of smiling. It can not only make us happy, but also please others. If we smile at life, life will smile on us in return. So I want to smile at all whenever and wherever possible,
First, I would like to smile at my parents because they have given me life and take all the trouble to bring me up. They arrange almost everything for me. With their help, I have made great progress. I would like to say “Thank you” to them with a smile. Then my smile should go to myself, for only in this way can I gain more confidence in smiling my troubles away and live a better life.
In a word, let’s greet every day with a smile. Tomorrow is another day.
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