This is an old tale. It’s the story of the three little pigs and the big bad wolf that blew down a house made of straw and one made of sticks. The only house left standing was the one made of bricks. Now there is new evidence to suggest that houses built with bales of straw can be very strong. They are also environmental.
Pete Walker is a professor at the University of Bath in Britain. He and a team of researchers there have built a house made out of straw bales and hemp material.
During the next twelve months the team will study the effectiveness of these materials in home building. Professor Walker says there are many good reasons for using straw.
Professor Walker says that one of the benefits is that it’s a relatively inexpensively renewable material that’s readily available.
According to Professor Walker, straw takes in carbon dioxide as it grows. So it can be seen as having no harmful effects on the environment. He says straw helps the environment in other ways.
Professor Walker: “The straw bale walls are relatively thick and so all that straw provides very good thermal(of heat) insulation. So we make buildings that require very little heating in the winter or indeed very little cooling in the summer. So they require very little additional energy.”
Professor Walker says this reduces home operating expenses. It also reduces the effect on the environment. He says the current interest in straw bale houses is a direct response to the problem of climate change.
David Lanfear owns an eco-friendly home building service in the United States called Bale on Bale Construction.
He says he laughed when some friends first told him about houses built of straw. But after doing his own research, he learned that building with straw bales made a lot of sense. He has now helped to build more than ten straw bale houses and says the building material is becoming more widely accepted.
To build the houses, he fills a wood frame with tightly packed bales of straw. Next he coats the walls inside and out with layers of clay plaster. He says the common ideas about straw houses continue, including stories about the threat of fire. Mr. Lanfear says straw bale houses have done well when tested for fire resistance. And he says his builders use the same building methods as traditional builders to keep out rain.
David Lanfear: “We use what we call good shoes and a good hat, and that would be a solid foundation and a really good roof.”
46. The function of the story in the first paragraph is to _____________.
A. amuse the readers
B. introduce the topic of this passage
C. help the readers to recall their childhood memory
D. remind the readers that bricks are no longer the best choice for building
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47. Which of the following words is closest in meaning to the underlined word “insulation” in paragraph
six?
A. protection B. condition
C. transmission
D. expansion
48. What’s David Lanfear’s attitude towards the straw houses at last? A. Doubtful B. Approving C. Defensive D. Negative 49. Which of the following is NOT the advantage of the house built with straw bales?
A. It is environmentally friendly.
B. The supply of its building materials is easily guaranteed. C. It is comparatively economical. D. It is free from fires.
50. Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
A. Professor Walker is still not very sure about whether the straw bales and hemp material are as useful as they expect.
B. According to Professor Walker, climate change contributes to people’s present attention to straw bale houses.
C. People’s idea about the straw houses remains the same.
D. The straw bale house built by David Lanfear share the same method to keep out rain as the traditional ones.
C
This is our country, America. The country where everyone is supposed to have a shot at financial success. The country of dreams and ambition. Yet, caused by the endless pursuit of individual profit, our country is a mess. And we owe it all to capitalism.
We live in a society where people are forced to live without health coverage. A country where the poor can hardly feed themselves while the rich decide which one of their 10 homes to stay at for the night. All of these sad things arise out of capitalism.
Sadly, our country values little more than money. It motivates our decisions and even influences entire political parties. We have gotten to the point in society where a human life comes secondary to our financial security. Any rational society would value life above all else and realize that health is a basic human right. Yet in our world, money comes first.
I never once have claimed to be an economist and have no interest in debating the financial advantages of any economic system. Yet socialism surely looks better than what we have.
If we lived in a socialist society, we would be a country without such an unfair wealth distribution. We would value friendship over business and we would treat one another as humans. Most importantly, however,
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is that money would stop controlling our lives and we could act how humans should act.
Capitalism has created an “every man for himself” existence. Everything is a battle for limited resources and fuels. We have become so accustomed to the life value that we will do whatever we have to look out for ourselves. Yet is this really the kind of life we want?
We have become so illusioned. We are tired of the misdirection. All economic systems have their issues, but I feel like ours is turning our country into something it shouldn’t be. The good of man falls secondary to money. In our world, it is all about dollars and cents, which, unfortunately for most, makes no sense.
51. In the author’s opinion, the root cause of the present situation in his country is __________.
A. money B. people’s value C. social unfairness D. social system 52. According to the passage, which is NOT the characteristic of capitalism?
A. individualism C. humanism
B. endless pursuit of wealth
D. great gap between the rich and the poor
53. How does the author feel about his country?
A. concerned
B. angry
C. skeptical
D. hopeless
54. Which of the following would the author agree with?
A. Life should be placed at the top of our considerations. B. Socialism is perfect.
C. Health is equally important as wealth. D. The pursuit for wealth should be restricted.
55. Which of the following might be the best title of the passage?
A. How to Save America
B. Capitalism Is in Trouble D. America Is in Trouble
D
A lot of interesting things have happened in the past several months as people from all walks of life learn how to stretch their money. A lot of changes have been accelerated by the fuel shocks during the summer of 2008; in a lot of ways we seem to be reverting to the frugal(economical) sensibilities of a past generation. More people are choosing to be more picky when they swipe their credit cards even if that means not buying things until they have money in their bank accounts, the days of the $0-down mortgage(抵押贷款)seem to be murdered, and there is a lot more acceptance of environmentally-friendly technologies that promise to reduce our overall dependency on foreign oil even if it means taking a hit to the excesses that used to define our quality of living.
An interesting new trend being taken by small businesses is the practice of offering discounted prices
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C. Why Is America in Trouble
to customers willing to pay in cash. This is not the same as paying “under the table”---rather, the store saves its merchant processing fees and passes those savings on to the customers. The idea is a good one in principle---paying in cash forces consumers to take stock of what they are spending as much as it saves stores from transaction(交易) fees.
Of course there are drawbacks to the plan. When people pay in cash, they tend to be more conservative with their spending since they tangibly(really) feel their money leave their possession. That will cause stores to lose profits because customers will think twice before buying high—margin “impulse” products at checkout whereas before they might not have thought twice before charging it. Increased volume of cash handling opens stores to loss through employee theft at the till(抽屉), not to mention controls that need to be put into place to count and deposit physical currency.
Our family has saved a fortune by switching to cash. When getting to the bottom of your change jar means no more purchase power until your next pay period, you really start to appreciate the fine art of merchandising(做买卖) and the expertise applied to make you want to buy more and more. Cold hard cash feels more organic, and helps us to appreciate the effort it takes to maintain our lifestyle. 56. From the passage, we can learn that __________.
A. customers are in a more favorable position by paying in cash.
B. people will not be allowed to use their credit cards if there is no money in their bank account. C. people have adjusted their way of living to the new situation. D. people are living better than before by paying in cash.
57. By saying “people from all walks of life learn how to stretch their money”, the author means that _________.
A. people walk to work in order to save money.
B. people of all professions learn to make the best use of their money. C. people of the whole society learn to earn more money. D. all people learn to extend money so that it is worth more.
58. When the customers pay their goods in cash, the stores will be affected in the following ways EXCEPT
___________.
A. the sale of their goods will decrease as the customers are more reluctant to buy things. B. there is a potential danger of money loss by their staff.
C. it brings a burden to the stores as they need to deal with the cash.
D. the stores make less money as they need to give some money back to the customers. 59. What caused people to start to use cash instead of credit cards?
A. The rising prices. B. High unemployment. C. The fuel shocks. D. The economic crisis. 60. What’s the author’s attitude towards the practice of paying in cash?
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A. Approving
B. Ridiculous C. Uninterested D. Opposed
第二节 信息匹配（共5小题；每小题2分，满分10分）
阅读下列应用文及相关信息，并按照要求匹配信息。请在答题卡上将对应题号的相应选项字母涂黑。以下为几则招聘广告：
A. The candidates will be expected to drive new business through telephone sales. However, the role does include meeting clients face to face, attending industry events, managing one or two members of staff, finding new advertisers and gaining repeat business from existing clients. Therefore, we are looking for sales professionals with media sales backgrounds, and experience in managing a team.
B. Bright Social Care Agency is calling for experienced support workers who can take care of adults with autism to register for work as soon as possible. The duties of this post include interacting with the service user, promoting independent living, and assisting with personal care. Therefore, the applicants should have experience as a support worker and good interpersonal skills. If you’re interested, please send your CV to beca@hotmail.com.
C. Balfor Education is looking for teachers who are dedicated to children’s learning and able to manage a classroom efficiency. We offer flexible teaching assignments that meet your own requirements and have a number of strong relationships with many schools. The ideal candidate should have the qualifications for a teacher and have knowledge of the National Curriculum. A flexible and friendly attitude is also an essential quality.
D. Tutor Doctor is looking for experienced and capable English tutors. If you have relevant experience of tutoring or teaching and know how to get the very best out of your students in a 1 to 1 situation, then we would love you to join the Tutor Doctor team. Also, you must have the passion and capability to help others learn and fulfill their potential. Most tuition happens between 4:30 pm and 8 pm of weekdays, and at weekends.
E. The client is looking for experienced, reliable caring individuals to look after physically sick adults in their own home. You are required to follow all rules and regulations in relation to care, and perform such other duties as may reasonably be required. You must be self-motivated, flexible, caring and sensitive to the needs of others and to the sick.
F. I run a small local family magazine which relies on adverting revenue, and I need someone to help sell advertising space for the magazine. This job would ideally suit someone who used to work in sales and now needs to work hours that fit around school hours and sports days. The job won’t make you rich but it will give you the opportunity to work your own hours, from home, in an enjoyable role for a well respected magazine.
请阅读以下几位求职者的相关信息，然后匹配适合他（她）的工作。
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