A sunflower is a sunflower. A mobile phone is a mobile phone. But can you combine the two to do something for your local environment? As early as next year it may well be possible. When you have finished with your mobile phone you will be able to bury it in the garden or a plant pot and wait for it to flower.

A biodegradable (生物可降解的) mobile phone was, this month, introduced by scientists. It is hoped that the new type of phone will encourage consumers to recycle. Scientists have come up with a new material over the last five years. It looks like any other plastic, but overtime it can break down into the soil without giving out any poisonous chemicals. British researchers used the new material to develop a phone cover that contains a sunflower seed. When this cover turns into waste, it forms nitrates (硝酸盐). These feed the seed and help the flower grow. “We’ve only put sunflower seeds into the cover so far. But we are working with plant experts to find out which flowers would perform best. Maybe we could put roses in next time.” said one scientist.

As phone technology is developing so quickly people are constantly throwing their mobiles away. This means producers are under pressure to find ways of recycling them. Some 650 million mobile phones have been sold this year. Most of them will be thrown away within two years, adding plastic, heavy metal and chemical waste to the environment. A biodegradable cover can offer some relief for nature, according to the scientists. “The seed is released and the flower grows in the pot so you don’t have to concern yourself with the phone when you have finished using it,” said Kerry Kirwan, the leader of the research team.

After you have finished using the new type of mobile phone, _______.

A. the sunflower seed will come out and flower in the pot

B. the phone cover will break down very soon in the soil

C. it will be recycled by the producers

D. it can charge itself with electricity in a green way

This type of research is done because ________.

A. the technology of making phones is changing rapidly

B. too many waste mobile phones may lead to environmental problems

C. nobody has ever thought of recycling mobile phones

D. producing mobile phones uses a lot of energy

We can infer from the story ________.

A. the new type of mobile phones are already on the market

B. the new type of mobile phones will sell extremely well

C. the material of the new type of phones is harmful

D. other flowers may be used in the new type of mobile phones

The best title of this passage is           .

A. Recycling our phones

B. The phones that flower

C. A new material for making phones

D. The harm of thrown-away phones

“Humans have a code of ethics (行为规范) ,” says Marc Bekoff, an animal behavior expert at the University of Colorado. “If I don’t play in a certain way, you won’t play with me. Some animals have the same code”

Scientists recently discovered that animals which live in groups, such as elephants, foxes and wolves are especially likely to follow rules. If they don’t, and each does its own thing, the group might break apart. Group members would be forced to live alone. Then they’d have a harder time hunting and raising their young.

That’s probably why a traveling wolf pack stopped and waited to let its slowly moving leader catch up. Similar social ties may have caused a captive elephant to save her friend from drowning. Selfish reasons certainly motivated the male fox, who wanted to keep playing.

Sometimes, though, animals go out of their way to do what’s right, even when there’s nothing in it for them. Nobody knows why. “It might simply feel good to be kind, just as it does for humans,” says Bekoff.

If your friend wasn’t nice to you, what would you do? Maybe you would just walk away. That’s exactly what a wild red fox did when she was play-boxing with another fox. The larger fox, a male, began pushing too hard. The little female didn’t like fighting. She ran away quietly.

“He still wanted to play,” says Marc Bekoff. So the male fox ran after his playmate, bowed down, and rolled over. His body language meant, “Don’t leave. I’ll play nicely.” The female gave him another chance, and the male wrestled more gently this time.

71 How did the little female fox show her dissatisfaction with the larger male one? (no more than 5 words)

A technique that controls immediate gas explosions by spraying them with large droplets of water is being tested by scientists at the University of Wales, United Kingdom．Instead of using the traditional fine water sprays when a gas leak is detected, the researchers have discovered that large droplets help to draw in some of the force of any explosion and provide a better way of controlling fire．

The research is based on studies made of the Piper Alpha oil rig （油井） explosion that occurred in the North Sea nine years ago killing 167 workers．The Welsh team found that by covering the gas-leak area with water droplets, the explosion and its effect can be greatly reduced．

Dr Gerand Thomas, a good lecturer in physics at the university’s Center for Explosion Studies, said that it was impossible to deal with gas explosions in the same way as fires because the whole event may only last a quarter of a second and normal water sprays do not have time to be effective．

Using the droplets of water to hold explosions resulted in the water being turned into a mist that allows some force of the explosion to be reduced．The mist slows down the combustion （燃烧） process and can stop a large amount of the gas igniting （点火,燃烧）, thus greatly reducing damage by limiting pressure development．With such a system, the operator has to decide at what point after a gas leak to activate the sprays．

The Center for Explosion Studies is the first of its kind in the UK and has been purposely-built for the study and implication of industrial explosions on land and sea．Research is developed to the causes of accidental explosions and they might be prevented．Full-sized imitative buildings can be built at the center where explosions and fires are created to test preventative equipment using sensors to monitor their efficiency．

Another area that the Welsh researchers have been looking at is how materials respond to explosions．The center also carries out research requested by individual customers．

Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?

     A．Piper Alpha Oil Rig Explosion

     B．Large Droplets of Water

     C．A New Way of Controlling Gas Explosions

     D．The center for Explosion Studies

The research finds that _____ in holding immediate explosion．

     A．small water sprays are better than large droplets of water

     B．small water sprays are not as good as large droplets of water

     C．both small water sprays and large droplets of water are good

     D．neither small water sprays nor large droplets of water is good

Dr Geraint Thomas implies that ______．

     A．normal water sprays can put out fire effectively

     B．gas explosions break out more quickly than fires

     C．fires are easier to be held than explosions

     D．gas explosions break out so quickly that there is no way to control it

Which of the following is not included in the research area of the Center for Explosion Studies?

     A．To test the result of gas explosion．

     B．To get some implications of industrial explosions on land and sea．

     C．To find out how materials respond to explosions．

    D．To find out when material respond to explosions．

Have you ever stayed in a hotel? Most Chinese hotels often provide guests with things like disposable (一次性的) toothbrushes, toothpaste, shampoo and slippers. Many guests like the idea because they don't have to bring their own. But, if you travel to Beijing, remember to bring your own things. Starting from June, some hotels in Beijing will no longer provide guests with these disposables. They want to ask people to use less disposable things.

Many disposable things are made of plastic. People throw them away after only using them once. It is a waste of natural resources and is very bad for the environment. Do you know, one Chinese person makes as much as 400kg of waste a year! Most of that waste comes from disposable things. In Beijing, people throw away about 19,000 tons of plastic bags and 1,320 tons of plastic lunch bowls every year! Plastic can take between 100 and 400 years to break down. So the less plastic we throw out, the better. So, wherever you travel, bring your own things and use them again and again.

Back at home and school, you can also do something to make our world a better place. Try to do these things in your daily life:  Use cloth shopping bags, not plastic ones. After using a plastic bag, wash it out and let it dry. Then you can use it over and over again. Do not use paper cups. At your school canteen（食堂）, use your own bowl and chopsticks instead of disposable ones.

Some Beijing hotels will no longer provide guests with ____.

A. cheap food and drink                   B. disposable things

C. good service                         D. free TV programmes

Which of the following is NOT true?

A. Many disposable things are made of plastic.

B. Throwing disposable things away is a waste of natural resources.

C. Plastic is very bad for the environment.

D. Plastic breaks down easily.

What can we do to make our world a better place at home and school?

A. Use shopping bags made of plastic.          B. Do not throw away paper cups.

C. Use disposable plates, bowls and chopsticks.

D. Do not forget to reuse daily necessities.

We can tell from the story that ____.

A. people don't like disposable things at all

B. we can't use paper or plastic bowls at school

C. we should use less plastic things and protect our environment

D. hotels won't provide disposable things because they want to save money

A sunflower is a sunflower. A mobile phone is a mobile phone. But can you combine the two to do something for your local environment? As early as next year it may well be possible. When you have finished with your mobile phone you will be able to bury it in a garden or a plant pot and wait for it to flower.

A biodegradable (生物所能分解的) mobile phone was, this month, introduced by scientists. It is hoped that the new type of phone will encourage consumers to recycle.

Scientists have come up with a new material over the last five years. It looks like any other plastic and can be hard or soft, and is able to change shape. Over time it can also break down into the soil without giving out any poisonous chemicals. British researchers used the new material to develop a phone cover that contains a sunflower seed. When this new type of cover turns into waste, it forms fertilizers. These feed the seed and help the flower grow.

Engineers have designed a small transparent (透明的) window to hold the seed. They have made sure it only grows when the phone is thrown away. “We’ve only put sunflower seeds into the covers so far. But we are working with plant experts to find out which flowers would perform best. Maybe we could put roses in next time,” said one scientist.

As phone technology is developing so quickly, people are constantly throwing their mobiles away. This means manufacturers are under pressure to find ways of recycling them. Some 650 million mobile phones have been sold this year. Most of them will be thrown away within two years, adding plastic, heavy metal and chemical waste to the environment. A biodegradable cover can offer some relief (缓解) for nature , according to the scientists.

“The seed comes out and the flower grows in the pot so you don’t have to concern yourself with the phone when you have finished using it,” said Kerry Kirwan. She leads the research team, which is based at the University of Warwick in Britain.

What is the purpose of this passage?

A. To tell the popularity of biodegradable cell phones.

B. To persuade the reader to buy the biodegradable cell phone.

C. To discuss the development of phone technology.

D. To introduce an environmentally-friendly cell phone to readers.

People throw away their cell phones most probably because _______.

A．there is something wrong with them

B．no sunflowers can grow out of them

C．they are out of fashion

D．they are becoming cheaper and cheaper

It could be learned from the passage that _________.

A．developing the new type of phone is mainly to protect the environment

B．phone-makers will benefit much more from the new type of phone

C．the new type of phone will certainly be popular with users all over the world

D．the phones that can be recycled are available only in Britain now