There is a new take on 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（捆）of straw can be very strong．
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 bale and hemp（大麻） material．During the next twelve months the team will study die effectiveness of these materials in home building．Professor Walker says there are many good reasons for using straw．It's a relatively inexpensive renewable material that's quickly and easily available．Straw takes in carbon dioxide as it grows．So it can be seen as having no harmful effects the environment．And the straw bales walls are relatively thick and so all that straw provides very good thermal insulation．So we make buildings that require very little heating in winter or indeed very little cooling in summer．So they require very little additional energy．
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 makes 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．As a matter of fact, straw bale houses have done well when tested for fire resistance．And his builders use the same building methods as traditional builders to keep out rain．He says we use what we call good shoes and a good hat, and that would be a solid foundation and a really good roof．
68．According to the passage, Pete Walker ____．
A．is cooperating with David Lanfear in building houses
B．is pretty sure that straw is a good building material
C．is studying home building with his team at present
D．holds a different view of building materials from David Lanfear
69．If we live in houses built with bales of straw, we ____．
A．will be worried about the threat of fire
B．need to wear good shoes in severe weather
C．can reduce our household expense
D．should use a special method to keep out rain
70．In building straw houses, ____．
A．a solid foundation and a good roof are necessary
B．straw bales have to be tested for fire resistance
C．a wood frame of straw should be used as a good roof
D．builders should wear good shoes and a good hat
71．Which of the following is the best tide of the passage?
A．Houses Made of Straw
B．New Meaning Of an Old Tale
C．Pete Walker and David Lanfear
D．Solid Foundation and Good Roof

There is a new take on 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（捆）of straw can be very strong．

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 bale and hemp（大麻） material．During the next twelve months the team will study die effectiveness of these materials in home building．Professor Walker says there are many good reasons for using straw．It's a relatively inexpensive renewable material that's quickly and easily available．Straw takes in carbon dioxide as it grows．So it can be seen as having no harmful effects the environment．And the straw bales walls are relatively thick and so all that straw provides very good thermal insulation．So we make buildings that require very little heating in winter or indeed very little cooling in summer．So they require very little additional energy．

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 makes 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．As a matter of fact, straw bale houses have done well when tested for fire resistance．And his builders use the same building methods as traditional builders to keep out rain．He says we use what we call good shoes and a good hat, and that would be a solid foundation and a really good roof．

68．According to the passage, Pete Walker ____．

         A．is cooperating with David Lanfear in building houses

         B．is pretty sure that straw is a good building material

         C．is studying home building with his team at present

         D．holds a different view of building materials from David Lanfear

69．If we live in houses built with bales of straw, we ____．

         A．will be worried about the threat of fire

         B．need to wear good shoes in severe weather

         C．can reduce our household expense

         D．should use a special method to keep out rain

70．In building straw houses, ____．

         A．a solid foundation and a good roof are necessary

         B．straw bales have to be tested for fire resistance

         C．a wood frame of straw should be used as a good roof

         D．builders should wear good shoes and a good hat

71．Which of the following is the best tide of the passage?

         A．Houses Made of Straw

         B．New Meaning Of an Old Tale

         C．Pete Walker and David Lanfear

         D．Solid Foundation and Good Roof

People living more than three thousand meters above sea level find it difficult to raise vegetables all year long. People living in the highlands of Peru and Bolivia, for example, cannot grow vegetables outdoors during the months of May through September. It is very cold in the highlands at that time of year. If traditional farming methods are used, vegetables will not survive.

However, there is another way to grow vegetables throughout the year in cold areas. It is a method of gardening developed by a private agency called World Neighbors. The method uses “hot houses” built below ground. A hot house is a building covered with plastic or glass in which vegetables or flowers are grown. The traditional hot house is built above ground.

The air temperature is cold in the highlands of Peru and Bolivia during the winter. But, the winter sun is hot. So, World Neighbors advises farmers there to build hot houses below ground. The design is simple. The material does not cost much. Here is how World Neighbors says to build it: Dig a hole two and one-half meters wide and six meters long. Make it about two meters deep. Build wall with a door in one end of the hole. Dig steps from the ground down to the door.

Now, build a wall along the top edge of the hole. Make it about one-half meters tall. Earth bricks work fine. Build two shorter walls on the ends. These will be uneven; one side will be as high as the existing wall. The other side will be at ground level. Leave a small opening in each of these sloping walls. This prevents the hot house from becoming too hot. Now, make the roof. Build a wood frame. Cover it with clear plastic. Connect it to the brick walls.

The underground hot house we have described is large enough for two raised vegetable beds. Each is one meter wide and six meters long. Each is seeded and watered just as if it were in a garden above ground.

The dirt walls protect the growing plants from the cold. The clear plastic roof permits the sun’s heat to enter. At night, the roof should be covered with straw. This helps prevent cold air from entering. An under ground hot house this size will provide enough vegetables for one family. Groups needing more vegetables can make it bigger.

66. If you lived in Peru, you _______.

A. should raise the special kinds of vegetables that can endure cold

B. could not plant at all

C. had to work out some new unusual plans

D. would not have many vegetables to eat

67. To our surprise, the “hot houses” invented by World Neighbors are _______.

A. covered with a transparent plastic ceiling

B. built under ground

C. quite small

D. hotter than traditional ones

68. The hot house can be kept warm by using _______.

A. a big oven  B. an electricity heater

C. the heat of the earth’s interior   D. the sun shine

69. The measure to prevent the hot house from becoming too hot is to _______.

A. make the roof sloped B. dig holes on the walls

C. make the wall not vertical D. make the walls shorter than the ground level

70. According to the passage, the method suggested by World Neighbors is _______.

A. new and difficult      B. uneasy to explain

C. at trial step D. simple and practical

Heading back to the room for dinner and a hot shower may sound like the act of a tired tourist ,but in a traditional Japanese inn ─ or ryokan ─ those activities can be as interesting as anything along the sightseeing trail.“People going looking for a sort of nostalgic(怀旧的),old-fashioned ,and traditional view of Japanese life will find it most easily in a ryokan,”said Peter Grilli, the president of Japan Society of Boston, Massachusetts.

Many ryokans sprang up in the 17th century to put up feudal lords traveling along the Tokaido highway to Edo(now Tokyo). Today tourists looking for a taste of the country’s historic lifestyle find varying levels of understated elegance in ryokans throughout the country.

A typical stay starts with a greeting from the inn’s staff and a change from street shoes into slippers .An attendant leads guests to their rooms, where slippers are removed before walking on the rice-straw flooring, called tatami. Walking slowly along behind a kimonoclad（身穿和服的）attendant on the creaky wood floors of Fukuzumiro ryokan,s hallways is like stepping back in time. The inn was established in 1890 by a former samurai（武士）.

Tim Paterson ,33, a banker living in Tokyo, has stayed at several ryokans. This New Zealand native leaves after a recent stay at Fukuzumiro. “I think it’s quite good mixing culture with history and not just going to see it ,but living in it, staying in it,”he said. Sliding glass doors line the inn’s rural hallways, bringing in the sound of tricking water and the quietness of the stone and tree-filled courtyards outside.

From the first paragraph, we can see that_________________ .

A. there is no dinner and a hot shower in the ryokan

B. such activities as dinner and shower in the ryokan can take you back in time

C. such activities as dinner and shower mean the same both in ordinary inns and traditional inns

D. such activities as dinner and shower are more important than the sightseeing for tourists

What’s the purpose of building so many ryokans in the 17th century?

A. Providing rooms for the noble when they traveled.

B. Keeping the Japanese traditional style of life.

C. Making people feel elegant in the ryokan.

D. Attracting more tourists to put up in the ryokan.

Which of the following shows the right order of tourists entering the ryokan?

  a. An attendant shows guests to their room;

b. The guests take off their shoes; 

c. The staff greet the guests; 

d. The guests walk on tatami; 

e. The guests take off slippers; 

f. The guests put on slippers.

A. b ; c ; d ; e ; f ; a             B. c ; b ; f ; a ; e ; d  

C. c ; a ; d ; b ; e ; f             D b ; a ; d ; e ; c ; f

From Tim Paterson’s words in the last paragraph ,we can infer that      .

A. he will never stay in such a ryokan again

B. he stays in such a ryokan just for its long history

C. he feels relaxed and culturally enriched after staying in such a ryokan

D. he would rather live in such a ryokan than go back home

People living more than three thousand meters above sea level find it difficult to raise vegetables all year long. People living in the highlands of Peru and Bolivia, for example, cannot grow vegetables outdoors during the months of May through September. It is very cold in the highlands at that time of year. If traditional farming methods are used, vegetables will not survive.
However, there is another way to grow vegetables throughout the year in cold areas. It is a method of gardening developed by a private agency called World Neighbors. The method uses “hot houses” built below ground. A hot house is a building covered with plastic or glass in which vegetables or flowers are grown. The traditional hot house is built above ground.
The air temperature is cold in the highlands of Peru and Bolivia during the winter. But, the winter sun is hot. So, World Neighbors advises farmers there to build hot houses below ground. The design is simple. The material does not cost much. Here is how World Neighbors says to build it: Dig a hole two and one-half meters wide and six meters long. Make it about two meters deep. Build wall with a door in one end of the hole. Dig steps from the ground down to the door.
Now, build a wall along the top edge of the hole. Make it about one-half meters tall. Earth bricks work fine. Build two shorter walls on the ends. These will be uneven; one side will be as high as the existing wall. The other side will be at ground level. Leave a small opening in each of these sloping walls. This prevents the hot house from becoming too hot. Now, make the roof. Build a wood frame. Cover it with clear plastic. Connect it to the brick walls.
The underground hot house we have described is large enough for two raised vegetable beds. Each is one meter wide and six meters long. Each is seeded and watered just as if it were in a garden above ground.
The dirt walls protect the growing plants from the cold. The clear plastic roof permits the sun’s heat to enter. At night, the roof should be covered with straw. This helps prevent cold air from entering. An under ground hot house this size will provide enough vegetables for one family. Groups needing more vegetables can make it bigger.
66. If you lived in Peru, you _______.
A. should raise the special kinds of vegetables that can endure cold
B. could not plant at all
C. had to work out some new unusual plans
D. would not have many vegetables to eat
67. To our surprise, the “hot houses” invented by World Neighbors are _______.
A. covered with a transparent plastic ceiling
B. built under ground
C. quite small
D. hotter than traditional ones
68. The hot house can be kept warm by using _______.
A. a big oven  B. an electricity heater
C. the heat of the earth’s interior   D. the sun shine
69. The measure to prevent the hot house from becoming too hot is to _______.
A. make the roof sloped B. dig holes on the walls
C. make the wall not vertical D. make the walls shorter than the ground level
70. According to the passage, the method suggested by World Neighbors is _______.
A. new and difficult      B. uneasy to explain
C. at trial step D. simple and practical