Besides containing attractive flowers, trees and other plants that beautify the community, eco-friendly rain gardens are healthy for the environment and the people living and working nearby.

A rain garden is not very different from a traditional garden. It is just a far more eco-friendly garden. Usually it is built lower than the ground. Rain gardens make smart use of rain and storm water by temporarily holding water from rain and storms and letting it soak（浸人）slowly into the ground before it runs into streams or enters the public drinking water supply.

Thus, a rain garden keeps the water, allowing it to be used as needed by plants in the rain garden, rather than flowing immediately into nearby streams and going unused. The water will soak slowly into the ground within a day or two. This creates an advantage that the rain garden does not allow mosquitoes to breed. This is a simple, attractive, and eco-friendly “green” way to treat storm water.

What’s more, planting a rain garden helps reduce pollution and improve the environment. Without using expensive machinery and chemicals, rain gardens remove harmful chemicals in the rainwater and cut down on the amount of pollution reaching streams and rivers by up to 30%.

Native plants are recommended for rain gardens because they are more used to the locals climatem, soil, and water conditions. They may attract local wildlife such as native birds. Water your rain garden immediately after planting and once a week, unless you have had at least an inch of rain during the week. Once the native plants establish the necessary root system, it will require little care.

Often, local governments and private businesses develop large rain gardens in their yards and in public parks as a way to improve the environment and solve flooding problems. However, you don’t need to be a professional environmental engineer to create a rain garden. As long as you’re eco-conscious homeowners, you can help the environment by building smaller rain gardens in your yards.

1.Which of the following is the eco-friendly function of rain gardens discussed in Paragraph 4?

    A．They can keep the rain and storm water.

    B．They can help reduce the pollution problem.

    C．They can be healthy for the people around.

    D．They can make the environment more beautiful.

2.One of the main reasons why native plants are recommended is that            .

    A．they cost less and are much easier to get

    B．they may attract local wildlife to come

    C．they require little care from the local gardeners

    D．they are more used to the local growing conditions

3.What do we know about rain gardens?

    A．They need little water after all the plants are planted.

    B．They usually need at least an inch of rainwater a week.

    C．They may attract local birds and change the locals climate.

    D．They may reduce the water pollution problem by 70%.

4.Who are the intended readers of the passage?

    A．Homeowners.  B．Governors.   C．Engineers,   D．Educators.

 

A man named Smith was sitting on his roof during a flood, and the water was up to his feet. Before long a fellow in a canoe passed and shouted, "Can I give you a lift to higher ground?"

"No, thanks," said Smith. "I have faith （信任）in God and he will save me."

Soon the water rose to Smith’s waist.（腰，腰部） At this point a motor boat pulled up and someone called out, "Can I give you a lift to higher ground?"

"No, thanks, I have faith in God and he will save me."

Later a helicopter flew by, and Smith was now standing on the roof with water up to his neck. "Grab the rope, "shouted the pilot. "I’ll pull you up."

"No, thanks," said Smith. "I have faith in God and he will save me. "But after hours of struggling with water, poor exhausted Smith drowned and went to his reward. As he arrived at the Pearly Gates, Smith met God and complained about this. "Tell me, God, "he said, "I had such faith in you to save me and you let me drown. What happened?"

To which God replied, "What do you want from me? I sent you two boats and a helicopter."

1..When the pilot asked Smith to grab the rope, ______.    

   A. Smith pulled the pilot up　　　　　                   B. Smith did so

   C. Smith didn’t do so　　　　　　　　                   D. Smith didn’t hear him

2.At last, poor exhausted Smith drowned and ______.

   A. went to his reward　　　　　　　　 B. passed away

   C. went to heaven　　　　　　　　　   D. all of the above

3..What do we know about Smith? __      ____.

   A. He was a lazy man                                     B. He was a lucky man who believed in God

   C. He was a poor man                                     D. He was a silly man who believed in God

4.What do you think of this passage? This passage is very ______.

   A. moving　　　　  B. humorous　　　  C. depressing　　　 D. surprising

5.The best title of this passage is" ______" .

A. What Do You Want from Me?　　　 B. How Do You Believe in God?

C. How God Loved Smith!　　　　　　 D. Smith Obeyed God’s Order

 

  The trend in everyday conversation is to use grandiose(夸大的)words．“Outstanding” is the

new “good,”  “amazing” is the new “OK, ” and “huge” is the new “big.”

    I was in a restaurant in Washington D．C．last weekend and every question I asked was answered with exaggeration．

    Me：How is the salmon?

    Sever：Fantastic!

    Me：Does it come with rice?

    Sever：Absolutely!

    Would a “good” and a “yes” have been enough? Of course!

    My father is an average-sized man．He hasn’t gained weight or height for the past 30 years. Therefore, his size remains the same．However，in the same amount of time，his T-shirt size has gone from small to medium to large to extra large．

  The reason for the exaggerated word is clear：we are bored with our lives. We want the next

—next thing now．Immediately!

    And we also want others to think that we still care，that we can still be delighted，that we know that everything is just great．Even when deep inside we know it can’t be．Everything can’t be great．

  I’m not a scientist，so many methods of proof leave little to be desired，or a lot to be desired，or an immensity(无限)．   

  Listen to the voices around you．Listen to your own voices．There is nothing on the radio that is good or bad，weather is either beautiful or horrible．

  Listen，the next time when someone asks you something and you agree，because when you

could simply say “yes”, instead you will say “absolutely’’ or “without doubt ” or “Oh，yeah，unquestionably ---- absolutely without doubt."

  Have people forgotten what it is like to be OK? Simply OK with what they have and who they are? If everything is outstanding，if everything is the most amazing thing ever，is anything ever amazing at all?

1.By telling his experience in the restaurant，the author intends to ________．

    A. show his interest in exaggerated words

    B. prove that exaggerated words are widely used

    C. blame the restaurant for using exaggerated words

    D. tell us the food in the restaurant is extremely good

2.What do we know about the author’s father?

    A. He has gained height and is now a tall man．

B. He likes following the fashion in clothing．

C. His weight is getting greater and greater．

D.The size of his T-shirt is described in exaggerated words．

3.．So many people like using exaggerated words because_________．

    A. they are not satisfied with being normal

    B. they don’t want to be looked down upon by others

    C. they want to be different from others

    D. they are brave in telling their true feelings

4.According to the passage，if you approve of something，you’d better say “________”．

    A. fantastic    B. perfect    C. OK          D. absolutely

 

 

Can we turn negative thoughts like “I never do anything right” into positive ones like “I can succeed”? Is there power in positive thinking?

Researchers in Canada just published a study in the journal Psychological Science that says trying to get people to think more positively can actually have the opposite effect: it can simply emphasize how unhappy they are．

The study’s authors, Joanne Wood and John Lee of the University of Waterloo and Elaine Perunovic of the University of New Brunswick, begin by referring to older research showing that when people get feedback which they believe is overly positive, they actually feel worse, not better．If you tell your friend that he may be an Einstein, you’re just underlining his faults．In one 1990s experiment, a team including psychologist Joel Cooper of Princeton asked participants to write passages opposing funding for the disabled．When they were later praised for their sympathy, they felt even worse about what they had written．

In this experiment, Wood, Lee and Perunovic measured 68 students’ self-esteem（自尊）．The participants were then asked to write down their thoughts and feelings for four minutes．Every 15 seconds, one group of students heard a bell．When it rang, they were supposed to tell themselves, “I am lovable．”

Those with low self-esteem didn’t feel better after the experiment．In fact, their moods turned significantly darker than those of members of the control group, who weren’t urged to think positive thoughts．

The paper provides support for newer forms of psychotherapy（心理治疗） that urge people to accept their negative thoughts and feelings rather than fight them．In the fighting, we not only often fail but can make things worse．Meditation（静思） techniques, on the contrary, can teach people to put their shortcomings into a large, more realistic perspective（视野）．Call it the power of negative thinking．

1.The Canadian researchers find that _____．

A．encouraging positive thinking may do more harm than good

B．there can be no simple cure for psychological problems

C．unhappy people cannot think positively

D．the power of positive thinking is limited

2.What does the author mean by “… you’re just underlining his faults”（Line4, Para3）?

A．You are not taking his mistakes seriously enough．

B．You are pointing out the mistakes he has made．

C．You are emphasizing the fact that he is not clever．

D．You are trying to make him feel better about his faults．

3.What do we learn from the experiment of Wood, Lee and Perunovic?

A．It is important for people to continually improve their self-esteem．

B．Thinking positively can bring a positive change to one’s mood．

C．People with low self-esteem seldom write down their true feelings．

D．Forcing a person to think positive thoughts may lower their self-esteem．

4.What do we learn from the last paragraph?

A．The effects of positive thinking vary from person to person．

B．Meditation may prove to be a good form of psychotherapy．

C．Different people tend to have different ways of thinking．

D．People can avoid making mistakes through meditation．

 

The world is not coming to an end on December 21st, 2012, the US space agency announced to dispel （消除）widespread rumors fueled by the Internet and a new Hollywood movie．

The latest big screen 2012 was based on stories according to the Mayan calendar．It showed that by the end of 2012, a Planet X will collide （碰撞） with the earth．

Some websites accuse NASA of hiding the truth on the planet's existence, but the US space agency considered such stories as tricks．"There is no basis in fact for these claims," NASA said in its website．"If such a collision were real, scientists would have been tracking it for at least the last decade, and we would see it with our eyes now．Obviously, it doesn't exist and there will be no threat to the earth in 2012," it insisted．"After all, our planet has been getting along just well for more than four billion years," added NASA．

There is another planet, Eris, floating in space．But the small planet will remain safely fixed in the outer solar system and it can come no closer than four billion miles to the earth, according to NASA．

And even if the planets were to line up as some have forecast, the effect on our plant would be very little．"And while comets and asteroids （小行星） have always hit the earth, big hits are very rare," NASA noted．The last major collision was believed to be 65 million years ago, resulting the end of dinosaurs （恐龙）．

"We are sure that there are no threatening asteroids as large as the one that killed the dinosaurs," the space agency said．

1.What played a key role in the spread of the rumors?

    A．The Internet and the film 2012．             B．The Mayan calendar．

    C．The US space agency．                    D．The television screen．

2.The underlined word "it" in Paragraph 3 probably refers to _________.

    A．the collision       B．the threat        C．the Planet X     D．the NASA website

3.We can conclude from the passage that __________.

    A．the film 2012 is well accepted in the science field

    B．scientists have been tracking Planet X for over ten years

    C．the earth will exist for more than four billion years

    D．the rumors caused a panic among some people

4.What do we know about Eris according to the passage?

    A．It doesn't exist in the universe．          

B．It won't threaten the earth．

    C．It is too far to be seen．                   

D．It is similar to the earth.