Teens for planet Earth

This is a social networking site for teenagers who want to get involved in protecting our planet. They can connect with other green-minded teens, choose a project or create their own. Teens for Planet Earth encourages young folks to get busy in their own communities. They offer guidance on local projects with categories such as habitats, animals, water and education. Awards are given to active members.

Meez

At Meez, teens can create their own avatars(头像), rooms and virtual pets. It is a social community of creative people that combines avatars, virtual worlds and games. Meez offers contests and chat as well as homework help, a fashion centre and a writers’ corner. A chat area for younger teens is available. Other areas are music, geek(极客) centre ,art and sports.

Cyberteens

Cyberteens is another cool site that celebrates the teen years. Here teenagers can find communities, games, and news. There is a link called “creativity” where teens can share their poems, stories, photos and artwork. The “cool links” section offers a huge variety of choices to curious teens. This site also has surveys and helps with jobs and schoolwork.

Student.com

Student.com is a resource site for teens and high school students. Its social network has over 900,000 members. Members earn points to win prizes just by browsing and they offer several multi-player games. Points are used to buy items at auction(拍卖会). Student.com is filled with useful information and articles.

21. What is Teens for Planet Earth aimed at?

A. Setting up a project.                            B. Giving awards to teens

C. Getting young folks busy                         D. Giving advice on local projects.

22. Which website offers assistance in jobs?

A. Teens for planet Earth           B. Meez             C. Cyberteens       D. Student.com

23. What makes Student.com special among these websites?

A. It has the most members                          B. Teens can read articles on it.

C. It offers help on schoolwork                     D. Teens can make purchases on it.

24. What can we infer about the websites mentioned in the text?

A. They provide game platform                   B. They benefit teens in their social life.

C. They award outstanding teens                     D. They offer various study guidance

My dearest son and daughter,   

The story of New Jersey high school student Rachel Canning suing(起诉) her parents for child support and high school education inspired me to write you a little letter. Let me just put this out there: the only way I expect to see you in a court is as a lawyer or a judge.

There are two things about this case that seem to be disaster.

First, it’s natural for parents and children to argue. I can guarantee that we will disagree. One or both of you will, at some point, scream at the top of your lungs the various ways you hate me. And I won’t always like you, either. But I will always love you and do everything I can to keep your best interests as my focus, even when I am so angry. We are family. That means we are as much a part of one another as the flesh, blood and bones in our body. And we all should think about it very deeply instead of breaking that bond.

Second, I’ll be honest, and no matter how far apart we are on your life choices, your father and I will most certainly pay everything we can for your higher education. But that doesn’t mean you deserve it. To be clear, this is a privilege we happily extend (给予) to you – not a right you are born with. And you will have to work hard to earn that privilege. Growing up is hard work.

If I do my job properly as your mother – and you do yours as my children – you would sooner get a job or two, and find a way to make your dreams come true rather than go to trial over what you think you are entitled to.

Love always,

Mom

25. The mother writes this letter because she wants her children to _______.

A. be prepared for education                     B. learn a lesson from the case

C. take up the legal profession                      D. remember Rachel Canning

26. When in disagreement, the mother expects her children not to ________.

A. guarantee anything                            B. scream out their anger

C. break the family bond                         D. forget their best interests

27. The mother thinks of parents’ paying for their children’s higher education as _______.

A. a way in which children realize their dreams      B. a test of whether parents love their children

C. a privilege that children should earn             D. a right that parents are born with

Bernard Shaw (1856 -- 1950) was born in Dublin, Ireland. With an unhappy childhood, Bernard Shaw did not do well at school but he showed great interest in literature. He left school at the age of 14. In 1876, Shaw gave up his first job and went to London, where he devoted much of his time to self-education by widely reading in the local libraries. Shaw began his literary career by writing novels after he settled down in London. The best known is Cashel Byron’s Profession(1886).

In a period of ten years from 1885, Shaw worked as a critic of music and drama for many magazines and newspapers. In his critical essays, he held the view that art should serve social purposes by reflecting human life, revealing social contradictions and educating the public.

Shaw wrote more than 50 plays, touching upon a variety of subjects. The Apple Cart(1929) is about politics; John Bull’s Other Island(1904) is about racial problems; The Doctor’s Dilemma(1906) is about ignorance and pride of the medical profession.

As a realistic dramatist, he took the modern social issues as his subjects with the aim of directing social reforms. Most of his plays are concerned with political, economic, moral or religious problems. Many of Shavian(萧伯纳的) dramas are constructed around the inversion of a traditional theatrical situation. The inversion is an important part of Shavian dramas. By presenting a hero as a villain(恶魔) or a villain as a hero, Shaw intends to leave a shocking impression on his audience.

Shaw’s plays have plots, but they do not work. The plot is usually the ignored backbone of one long and unbroken conversation. Action is reduced to the minimum, while the dialogue maintains the interest of the audience.

28. Which of the following is the best-known work of Bernard Shaw?

A. The Apple Cart                           B. The Doctor’s Dilemma

C. John Bull’s Other Island                     D. Cashel Byron’s Profession

29. In Shaw’s plays, he showed his concern mainly about __________.

A. education            B. music            C. religious problem        D. traditional drama

30. According to the text, what’s the main feature of Shavian drama?

A. Characters           B. Inversion            C. Realistic description     D. Long conversations

31. What does the text mainly tell us?

A. Bernard Shaw’s works.                   B. Bernard Shaw’s view on art.

C. Some facts about Bernard Shaw.           D. The writing style of Bernard Shaw.

There are an extremely large number of ants worldwide. Each individual (个体的) ant hardly weighs anything, but put together they weigh roughly the same as all of mankind. They also live nearly everywhere, except on frozen mountain tops and around the poles. For animals their size, ants have been astonishingly successful, largely due to their wonderful social behavior.

In colonies (群体) that range in size from a few hundred to tens of millions, they organize their lives with a clear division of labor. Even more amazing is how they achieve this level of organization. Where we use sound and sight to communicate, ants depend primarily on pheromones (外激素), chemicals sent out by individuals and smelled or tasted by fellow members of their colony. When an ant finds food, it produces a pheromone that will lead others straight to where the food is. When an individual ant comes under attack or is dying, it sends out an alarm pheromone to warn the colony to prepare for a conflict as a defense unit.

In fact, when it comes to the art of war, ants have no equal. They are completely fearless and will readily take_on a creature much larger than themselves, attacking in large groups and overcoming their target. Such is their devotion to the common good of the colony that not only soldier ants but also worker ants will sacrifice their lives to help defeat an enemy.

Behaving in this selfless and devoted manner, these little creatures have survived on Earth for more than 140 million years, far longer than dinosaurs. Because they think as one, they have a collective (集体的) intelligence greater than you would expect from its individual parts.

32. We can learn from the passage that ants are ____________.

A. not willing to share food                 B. not found around the poles

C. more successful than all other animals        D. too many to achieve any level of organization

33. Ants can use pheromones for______.

A. escape               B. communication   C. warning enemies          D. arranging labor

34. What does the underlined expression "take_on" in Paragraph 3 mean?

A. Accept.          B. Employ.         C. Play with.               D. Fight against.

35. Which of the following contributes most to the survival of ants?

A. Their behavior.      B. Their size.          C. Their number.        D. Their weight.

Ways to Help Solve Plastic Bags Pollution

It takes self-discipline(自律) to solve water pollution, air pollution and soil pollution caused by plastic bags. The answer is not only about government campaigns or organizations. ___36____ Here are very simple and effortless things you can do to help solve plastic bags pollution.

___37___ If possible, do not use any plastic bags any more. It may be difficult to do that because plastic bags are easy and light to carry. If you can limit your use until you are able to 100% keep away from them, you are helping the campaigns against bags pollution.

Use eco-friendly bags. You do not have to worry about banning plastic bags. There are environmentally friendly bags that you can use as an alternative. ___38___ That way you can say no to plastic bags even if the stores offer them.

__39___ It is also possible to recycle the used plastic bags. Instead of throwing them away, make them usable next time. It helps you to avoid getting more plastic bags in this case too. This is actually the first start on how you can totally ban the use of plastic bags.

Donate plastic bags to recycling centers. From stores to industrial companies, there are places where you can make your plastic bags recycled. You can even find some recycling centers in your community where you can donate the plastic bags you have. ___40___

A. Reuse plastic bags.

B. Ban the use of plastic bags.

C. It starts with yourself in your daily life.

D. When you go shopping, take such bags with you.

E. Even the smallest plastic bag has to be dealt with properly.

F. Instead of throwing them away, just donate them to these places to help prevent pollution.

G. Put the used plastic bags into garbage cans to avoid causing pollution to the environment.