Electric ears are dirty.In fact, not only are they dirty, they might even be more dirty than their gasoline-powered cousins.

    People in California love to talk about "zero-emissions vehicles", but people in California seem to be clueless about where electricity comes from. Power plants mostly use fire to make it. Aside from the new folks who have their roofs covered with solar cells, we get our electricity from generators. Generators are fueled by something---usually coal, oil,but also by heat generated in nuclear power plants. There are a few wind farms and geothermal plants as well, but by far we get electricity mainly by burning something.

    In other words, those "zero-emissions" cars are likely coal-burning cars. It's just because the coal is burned somewhere else that it looks clean. It is not. It's as if the California Greens are. covering their eyes---"If I can't see it, it's not happening." Gasoline is an incredibly efficient way to power a vehicle; a gallon of gas has a lot of energy in it.But when you take that gas (or another fuel) and first use it to make electricity, you waste a nice part of that energy, mostly in the form of wasted heat---at the generator, through the transmission lines, etc.

    A gallon of gas may propel your car 25 miles. But the electricity you get from that gallon of gas won't get you nearly as far---so electric cars bum more fuel than gas-powered ones. If our electricity came mostly from nukes; or geothermal,or hydro, or solar, or wind,then an electric car truly would be clean. But for political, technical,and economic reasons,we don't use much of those energy sources.

    In addition,electric cars' batteries which are poisonous for a long time will eventually end up in a landfill.And finally, When cars are the polluters, the pollution is spread across all the roads. When it's a power plant, though, all the junk is in one place. Nature is very good at cleaning up when things are too concentrated, but it takes a lot longer when all the garbage is in one spot.

What does "clueless" mean in paragraph 2?

    A. People are seeing the California Greens everywhere.

    B. People in California love to talk about zero-emissions vehicles.

    C. People in California love to have their roofs covered with solar cells.

D. People there have no idea that so far electricity mainly comes from burning

   coal, oil,etc.

What is the main idea of the passage?

    A. Electric cars are not clean at all

    B. Electric cars are better than gasoline-powered ones.

    C. People cast doubts on electric cars' batteries.

    D. Gasoline is an efficient way to powera vehicle.

The electricity we get from a gallon of gas may make our ear run         

    A. not less than 25 miles            B. more than 25 miles

    C. no more than 25 miles             D. not more than 25 miles

According to the passage, electric cars                  .

    A. do not burn fuel and more environmentally-friendly

B. are toxic because it is difficult for nature to clean it up when their

   batteries are buried in one spot.

    C. are very good at cleaning up when things are not too concentrated

    D. are poisonous for a long time and will eventually end up in a landfill

It can be inferred from the passage that                 

    A. being green is good and should be encouraged in communication

B. electric cars are not clean in that we get electricity mainly by burning

   something

    C. zero-emissions vehicles should be chosen to protect our environment

D. electric cars are now the dominant vehicle compared with gasoline-powered

   cousins

Tea drinking was common in China for nearly one thousand years before anyone in Europe had ever heard about tea．People in Britain were much slower in finding out what tea was like, mainly because tea was very expensive. It could not be bought in shops and even those people who could afford to have it sent from Holland did so only because it was a fashionable curiosity. Some of them were not sure how to use it. They thought it was a vegetable and tried cooking the leaves. Then they served them mixed with butter and salt. They soon discovered their mistake but many people used to spread the used tea leaves on bread and give them to their children as sandwiches.

    Tea remained scarce and very expensive in England until the ships of the East India Company began to bring it direct from China early in the seventeenth century. During the next few years so much tea came into the country that the price fell and many people could afford to buy it.

   At the same time people on the Continent were becoming more and more fond of tea．Until then tea had been drunk without milk in it, but one day a famous French lady named Madame de Sevigne decided to see what tea tasted like when milk was added．She found it so pleasant that she would never again drink it without milk. Because she was such a great lady her friends thought they must copy everything she did, so they also drank their tea with milk in it. Slowly this habit spread until it reached England and today only very few Britons drink tea without milk.

   At first, tea was usually drunk after dinner in the evening. No one ever thought of drinking tea in the afternoon until a duchess (公爵夫人) found that a cup of tea and a piece of cake at three or four o’clock stopped her getting “a sinking feeling” as she called it. She invited her friends to have this new meal with her and so, tea-time was born.

Which of the following is true of the introduction of tea into Britain?

A. The Britons got expensive tea from India. 

B. Tea reached Britain from Holland.

C．The Britons were the first people in Europe who drank tea.

D．It was not until the 17th century that the Britons had tea.

This passage mainly discusses_____________.

A．the history of tea drinking in Britain 

B．how tea became a popular drink in Britain

C．how the Britons got the habit of drinking tea   

D．how tea-time was born

Tea became a popular drink in Britain.

A．in eighteenth century    B．in sixteenth century

C．in seventeenth century   D．in the late seventeenth century

People in Europe began to drink tea with milk because.

A．it tasted like milk               

B．it tasted more pleasant

C．it became a popular drink

D．people tried to copy the way Madame de Servinge drank tea

60．We may infer from the passage that the habit of drinking tea in Britain mostly resulted from the influence of　________.

 A．a famous French lady    B．the ancient Chinese

 C．the upper social class  D．people in Holland

Tea drinking was common in China for nearly one thousand years before anyone in Europe had ever heard about tea. People in Britain were much slower in finding out what tea was like, mainly because tea was very expensive. It could not be bought in shops and even those people who could afford to have it sent from Holland did so only because it was a fashionable curiosity. Some of them were not sure how to use it. They thought it was a vegetable and tried cooking the leaves. Then they served them mixed with butter and salt. They soon discovered their mistake but many people used to spread the used tea leaves on bread and give them to their children as sandwiches.
Tea remained rare and very expensive in England until the ships of the East India Company began to bring it direct from China early in the seventeenth century. During the next few years so much tea came into the country that the price fell and many people could afford to buy it.
At the same time people on the Continent were becoming more and more fond of tea. Until then tea had been drunk without milk in it, but one day a famous French lady named Madame de Sevigne decided to see what tea tasted like when milk was added. She found it so pleasant that she would never again drink it without milk. Because she was such a great lady her friends thought they must copy everything she did, so they also drank their tea with milk in it. Slowly this habit spread until it reached England and today only very few Britons drink tea without milk.
At first, tea was usually drunk after dinner in the evening. No one ever thought of drinking tea in the afternoon until a duchess(公爵夫人)found that a cup of tea and a piece of cake at three or four o’ clock stopped her getting “a sinking feeling” as she called it. She invited her friends to have this new meal with her and so, tea-time was born.
59. Which of the following is true of the introduction of tea into Britain?
A. The Britons got expensive tea from India.
B. Tea reached Britain from Holland.
C. The Britons were the first people in Europe who drank tea.
D. It was not until the 17th century that the Britons had tea.
60. This passage mainly discusses ____________ .
A. the history of tea drinking in Britain
B. how tea became a popular drink in Britain
C. how the Britons got the habit of drinking tea
D. how tea-time was born
61. Tea became a popular drink in Britain____________.
A. in the eighteenth century           B. in the sixteenth century
C. in the seventeenth century          D. in the late seventeenth century
62. We may infer from the passage that the habit of drinking tea in Britain was mostly due to the influence of _________.
A. a famous French lady      B. the ancient Chinese
C. the upper social class      D. people in Holland

Tea drinking was common in China for nearly one thousand years before anyone in Europe had ever heard about tea．People in Britain were much slower in finding out what tea was like, mainly because tea was very expensive. It could not be bought in shops and even those people who could afford to have it sent from Holland did so only because it was a fashionable curiosity. Some of them were not sure how to use it. They thought it was a vegetable and tried cooking the leaves. Then they served them mixed with butter and salt. They soon discovered their mistake but many people used to spread the used tea leaves on bread and give them to their children as sandwiches.
Tea remained scarce and very expensive in England until the ships of the East India Company began to bring it direct from China early in the seventeenth century. During the next few years so much tea came into the country that the price fell and many people could afford to buy it.
At the same time people on the Continent were becoming more and more fond of tea．Until then tea had been drunk without milk in it, but one day a famous French lady named Madame de Sevigne decided to see what tea tasted like when milk was added．She found it so pleasant that she would never again drink it without milk. Because she was such a great lady her friends thought they must copy everything she did, so they also drank their tea with milk in it. Slowly this habit spread until it reached England and today only very few Britons drink tea without milk.
At first, tea was usually drunk after dinner in the evening. No one ever thought of drinking tea in the afternoon until a duchess (公爵夫人) found that a cup of tea and a piece of cake at three or four o’clock stopped her getting “a sinking feeling” as she called it. She invited her friends to have this new meal with her and so, tea-time was born.
【小题1】Which of the following is true of the introduction of tea into Britain?

A．The Britons got expensive tea from India.

B．Tea reached Britain from Holland.

C．The Britons were the first people in Europe who drank tea.

D．It was not until the 17th century that the Britons had tea.

A．the history of tea drinking in Britain

B．how tea became a popular drink in Britain

C．how the Britons got the habit of drinking tea

D．how tea-time was born

Electric cars are dirty. In fact, not only are they dirty, they might even be more dirty than their gasoline-powered cousins.
People in California love to talk about “zero-emissions（排放）vehicles”, but people in California seem to be clueless about where electricity comes from. Power plants most all use fire to make it. Apart from the few people who have their roofs covered with solar cells, we get our electricity from generators（发电机）. Generators are fueled by something--usually coal, oil, but also by heat generated in nuclear power plants. There are a few wind farms and geothermal（地热） plants as well, but by far we get electricity mainly by burning something.
In other words, those "zero-emissions" cars are likely coal-burning cars. Because the coal is burned somewhere else, it looks clean. It is not true. It's as if the California Greens are covering their eyes—“If I can't see it, it's not happening.”  Gasoline is an incredibly efficient way to power a vehicle; a gallon of gas has a lot of energy in it. But when you take that gas（or another fuel）and first use it to make electricity, you waste a nice part of that energy, mostly in the form of wasted heat--at the generator, through the transmission lines, etc.
A gallon of gas may drive your car 25 miles. But the electricity you get from that gallon of gas won't get you nearly as far -- so electric cars burn more fuel than gasoline-powered ones. If our electricity came mostly from wind or geothermal, or solar, then an electric car truly would be clean. But for political, technical, and economic reasons, we don't use much of those energy sources.
　　In addition, electric cars' batteries which are poisonous for a long time will eventually end up in a landfill. And finally, when cars are the polluters, the pollution is spread across all the roads. When it's a power plant, though，all the junk is in one place. Nature is very good at cleaning up when things are not too concentrated, but it takes a lot longer when all the garbage is in one spot.
【小题1】What’s the main idea of the passages?