An average 30-year-old person who has eaten three meals a day since birth has eaten more than 30,000 meals to date. Even if you've only eaten half that much you have to admit this : you've let some of that breakfast, lunch or dinner go to waste. And it turns out we're all to blame for this shaming fact: 30% of all food produced in the world each year is wasted or lost. That's about 1.3 billion tons, according to a new report by the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization.

      That's the weight of more than 8.6 million full-grown blue whales, the largest creatures on earth. That's the weight of more than 2.3 million Airbus A380s, the largest planes in existence. That's as if each person in China, the world's most populous country with more than 1.3 billion people, had one ton mass of food they could just throw into the dustbin. It's almost unfathomable, isn't it?

     Setting aside that big number, we find the people with the most money are the ones who waste the most. Per capita( 人均 ), European and North American countries waste between 95 and 115 kilograms of food. Sub-Saharan African, South Asian and Southeast Asian countries waste much, much less -- between 6 and 11 kilograms per person.

     Here's another statistic: all the food that the world's richest countries waste is about equal to all the food that sub-Saharan Africa produces. The numbers: 222 million tons and 230 million tons, respectively( 分别地). Basically, the wasted food of the rich could feed much of the African continent. And these numbers come as we've just been reporting about rising food prices around the world in the past week.

     And my own personal tip: if I eat at a restaurant and can't finish it all, I ask for a doggie bag. I used to be a waiter years ago and will never forget the amounts of food I saw left on the table after the bill was paid. There's no reason to waste food. It's up to all of us to use our common sense to eat and shop just a bit more wisely.

71. According to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, how much food do people produce each year in the world?

    A. About 3.3 billion tons.         B. About 3.9 billion tons.

    C. About 4.3 billion tons.         D. About 5.6 billion tons.

72. What does the underlined word "unfathomable" in Paragraph 2 mean?

    A. Possible to imagine.            B. Impossible to change.

    C. Impossible to understand.        D. Possible to understand.

73. It can be learned that the food the rich waste can support________.

    A. half the people in Europe           B. most people of America

    C. most people of Asia                D. most people of Africa

74. The author gave his personal tip based on the fact that _________

    A. he was once very poor                B. he was once a farmer

    C. he once worked in a restaurant          D. the price of food is very high

75. What is the purpose of this article?

    A. To show the author's opinion of food.

    B. To let us live more wisely and not waste food.

    C. To show the amount of wasted food a year.

    D. To ask the richest countries to help African people.

Directions: For each blank in the following passage there are four words or phrases marked A, B, C and D.  Fill in each blank with the word or phrase that best fits the context.

For several years, Americans have enjoyed teleshopping---watching TV and buying things by phone. Now teleshopping is starting in Europe. In some __46__ countries, people can turn on their __47__ and shop for clothes, jewelry, food, toys and __48__ things.

Teleshopping is becoming popular in Sweden. __49__, the biggest Swedish company sells different kinds of things on TV in fifteen European countries, and in one year, it makes $10 million. In France, there are two teleshopping channels, and the French __50__ about $ 20 million a year in buying things through those channels.

In Germany, __51__ last year teleshopping was only possible on one channel for one hour every day. Then the government allowed more teleshopping. Other channels can __52__ for telebusiness, including the largest American teleshopping company and a 24-hour teleshopping company. German __53__ are hoping these will help them sell more things.

Some people like teleshopping because it allows them to do their shopping without __54__. With all the traffic problems in cities, going shopping is not an easy thing. But at the same time, other Europeans __55__ like this new way of buying things. They call __56__ “junk on the air.” Many Europeans usually worry about the quality of the things __57__ on TV. They think high quality is the most important thing, and they don’t believe they can be sure about the quality of the things __58__.

The need of high quality means that European teleshopping companies will have to be __59__ the American companies. They will have to be more careful about __60__ of the things they sell. They will also have to work harder to sell things that the buyers cannot touch or see by themselves.

1.                A．European       B．Asian           C．American D．African

 

2.                A．lights          B．switches        C．radios    D．TVs

 

3.                A．some else       B．another many    C．the other D．many other

 

4.                A．Such as         B．For example     C．For teleshopping    D．It is like

 

5.                A．takes          B．cost            C．spends   D．spend

 

6.                A．to             B．until           C．unless    D．by

 

7.                A．begin          B．leave           C．open D．turn on

 

8.                A．people         B．women         C．businessmen   D．officials

 

9.                A．to go out        B．going out        C．to buy things   D．buying things

 

10.               A．still            B．don’t         C．even D．won’t

 

11.               A．teleshopping    B．TV             C．radio D．telephone

 

12.               A．appearing       B．coming out      C．for sale    D．to buy

 

13.               A．in the shop      B．on TV          C．they bought    D．by this way

 

14.               A．different from   B．the same with    C．as big as   D．larger than

 

15.               A．the number     B．the quality      C．the places D．the buyers

 

 

     A desert is a beautiful land of silence and space. The sun shines, the wind blows, and time and space seem endless. Nothing is soft. The sand and rocks are hard, and many of the plants even have hard needles instead of leaves.

The size and location(分布) of the world’s deserts are always changing. Over millions of years, as climates change and mountains rise, new dry and wet areas develop.  But within the last 100  years, deserts have been growing at a frightening speed.    This is partly because of natural changes, but the greatest makers are humans.

Humans can make deserts, but humans can also prevent their growth. Algeria Mauritania is planting a similar wall around Nouakchott, the capital. Iran puts a thin covering of petroleum  (石油) on sandy areas and plants trees. The oil keeps the water and small trees in the land, and men on motorcycles(摩托车) keep the sheep and goats away. The USSR and India are building long canals to bring water to desert areas.

40. In this passage, “needles” refers to _______.

A. small, thin pieces of steel.                      B. long, thin pieces of branches.

C. small pointed growth on the stem(茎) of a plant.    D. small, thin pieces of sticks.

41. Which of the following is NOT true?

A. The greatest desert makers are humans.   B. There aren’t any living things in the deserts.

C. Deserts have been growing quickly.      D. The size of the deserts is always changing.

42. We can guess that Mauritania and Algeria belong to _______.

A. Asian countries 　　　　  B. American countries

C. European counties　　　   D. African countries

43. Choose the sentence which best gives the main idea of the passage.

A. The deserts of the world are always changing.

B. Man is to take measures to control the growth of the world’s deserts.

C. Deserts are lands of silence and space.

D. Deserts have grown at a fast pace in the past 10 years.