animals that are often given a bad reputation.
“The idea behind the Turtle Machine is to take a marginalized animal group like reptiles and give them some positive publicity on social media,” Rothacker explained. When reptile fans see the van parked with its colorful turtle mascot (吉祥物) giving a thumb-up, they are invited to take a photo with the vehicle with their own thumbs up sign. “Lots of people will have an opportunity to tell their friends on Facebook and Twitter that they give reptiles a thumb-up,” Rothacher said. “Then they can post their pictures to social media with the tag Give Reptiles A Chance.” To sweeten the deal, FFRS will choose several winners from those who post photos for special prizes such as T-shirts, books, and other reptile-related items.
In addition to the positive publicity, the Super Green Turtle Machine will serve a more practical purpose, as well. Rothacker and his team hope to make a few more changes to the van in the future. “The main work is done, but we?d love to finish her up,” Rothacker shared. “We have plans to add flashing caution lights for when we stop to help snakes and turtles cross the road.” Further enhancements to the Turtle Machine include adding extra tools to help with reptile rescue pickups and live educational events.
As FFRS is a non-profit, donations toward the Super Green Turtle Machine are tax deductible. Interested individuals may contribute at www. forgottenfriend.org.
66. What can we learn from the passage about Jesse Rothacker? A. He is good at composing songs. B. He has many batmobiles. C. He cures creatures of all shapes and sizes. D. He works for FFRS. 67. What?s the mission of the Super Green Turtle Machine? A. To roll out to the street for people to take pictures with.
B. To publicize reptiles positively and give them practical help. C. To inspire people with the songs the van plays.
D. To choose the winners from those posting good photos.
68. What does the underlined word “marginalized” in the 4th paragraph most probably mean? A. Often neglected. B. Highly endangered. C. Much valued. D. Widely noticed.
69. According to Rothacker, which of the following is NOT among the possible changes to the van? A. Flashing caution lights. B. Colourful turtle mascots. C. Tools for live educational events. D. Reptile rescue pickup tools.
(B) Dear Miss Manners, My friends’ kids always ask for gifts or say, “You didn’t give me a gift” for their birthdays or Christmas. This is done while their moms are present, and they don’t say anything. How do I ask Dear Paul, Never mind the mothers, who are obviously not going to teach them manners. I suggest responding directly and pleasantly to the children with, “Why—were you planning to give me one?” Their astonishment should give you the opportunity to explain politely that we are not supposed to force others to give ·5·
my friends to tell their kids that it’s rude to ask people for gifts? Paul gifts and giving presents is generally expected to be mutual. Dear Miss Manners, Dear Caroline, I am celebrating a milestone The temptation to tell one?s guests when they are birthday with a formal theme expected to leave is one with which Miss Manners party at a club. The time of the sympathizes. Clear signals are often neglected. If the party is 7 p.m. to midnight. It hosts do not rise from the table to announce coffee in includes a cocktail hour at 7, with the living room as the final act, guests feel awkward dinner following. about being the first to get up. And then some people Can I add the 7 p.m. cocktail just never know when to go home. hour to the invitation? I would However, putting both starting and finishing times hate guests to misunderstand and on an invitation, often done for cocktail parties, indeed think that they could arrive suggests that they may arrive during the event—not anytime between 7 and midnight. toward its end, to be sure, but not necessarily at the starting point. Caroline You are giving a dinner party, so you should inform your guests that it will start at 7, as drinks before the meal are part of the routine. That tells them to arrive on time—and you can only hope that they will take themselves off at a decent hour.
70. According to Miss Manners, the proper way to deal with a kid asking for gifts is _______.
A. to ignore the kid?s request for gifts B. to scold the kid for asking for presents
C. to tell kids gift giving is voluntary and two-way
D. to advise the kid?s mum to teach him proper manners
71. Which of the following does Miss Manners advise you to do at a party?
A. Suggest guests arriving during the event.
B. Directly remind guests to leave at a proper time. C. Inform guests of both starting and finishing hours.
D. Give guests clear hint when they should leave the party. 72. In witch part of a newspaper can you find this passage?
A. Advice Section. B. Live Chats Section. C. Entertainment Section. D. Classified Ads Section.
(C)
In the 1990s, when an area of Brazilian rainforest the size
of
Belgium was cut down every year, Brazil was the world?s
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environmental villain(反派角色) and the Amazonian jungle the image of everything that was going wrong in green places. Now, the Amazon ought to be the image of what is going right. Government figures show that deforestation fell by 70% in the Brazilian Amazon region during the past decade. If clearances had continued at their rate in 2005, an extra 3.2 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide would have been put into the atmosphere. That is an amount equal to a year?s emissions from the European Union. Arguably, then, Brazil is now the world leader in addressing climate change.
But how did it break the vicious cycle(恶性循环)? The answer, according to a paper is that there was no silver bullet but instead a three-stage process in which bans, better governance in frontier areas and consumer pressure on companies worked.
The first stage ran from the mid-1990s to 2004. This was when the government put its efforts into bans and restrictions. The Brazilian Forest Code said that, on every farm in the Amazon, 80% of the land had to be set aside as a forest reserve. As the study observes, this share was so high that the code could not be followed—or enforced. This was the period of the worst deforestation. Soybean prices were high and there was a vast expansion of soybean farming on the south-eastern border of the rainforest.
During the second stage, which ran from 2005 to 2009, the government tried to boost its ability to police the Amazon. Brazil?s president made stopping deforestation a priority, which resulted in better co-operation between different bits of the government. The area in which farming was banned was increased from a sixth to nearly half of the forest.
The third stage, which began in 2009, was a test of whether a system of restrictions could survive as soybean expansion continued. The government shifted its focus from farms to counties (each state has scores of these). Farmers in the 36 counties with the worst deforestation rates were banned from getting cheap credit until those rates fell.
By any standards, Brazil?s Amazon policy has been a success, made the more remarkable because it relied on restrictions rather than rewards, which might have been expected to have worked better. Over the period of the study, Brazil also turned itself into a farming superpower, so the country has shown it is possible to get a huge increase in food output without destroying the forest. Moreover, the policies so far have been successful among commercial farmers who care about the law and respond to market pressures. Most remaining deforestation is by small holders who care rather less about these things, so the government faces the problem of persuading them to change their ways, too. Deforestation has been slowed, but not yet stopped.
73. Brazil is considered to play a leading role in dealing with climate change because ______.
A. it has rainforest as large as Belgium B. it has cut down too much rainforest C. it has taken action to reduce deforestation D. it sent 3.2 billion tons of carbon dioxide into the air
74. The underlined phrase “silver bullet” in Paragraph 2 most probably refers to______.
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A. a powerful weapon C. an intelligent device
B. an effective solution D. a golden opportunity
75. Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?
A. 80% of the farmland was allowed for farming in the 1st stage. B. Soybean prices went up where farming land was expanded. C. The government hired more policemen in the Amazon area. D. The government enlarged its range of supervision in the 3rd stage. 76. What can we infer from the last paragraph? A. Brazil has successfully eliminated deforestation. B. All the farmers care much about forest protection.
C. Small farm holders are a headache for the Brazilian government. D. Both the food output and the forest in Brazil have greatly increased. 77. What can be the best title of the passage?
A. Cutting Down on Cutting Down B. Brazil, the World Leader in Farming C. Restrictions Outperforming Rewards D. Former Awareness Working Wonders
Section C
Directions: Read the passage carefully. Then answer the questions or complete the statements in the fewest possible words.
Want More Innovation? Get More Diversity(多样性)
Research by my colleague and I suggests that university administrators who do not work hard to attract and retain African-American teaching staff may well be missing out on an important benefit: Academic departments that are more diverse may produce more creative ideas and work.
A mathematical model has been developed to study the effects of diversity. And we discovered a simple truth: More diverse groups may do better because they are less conformist(墨守成规的).
Picture it: You?re brainstorming with your best friend of 30 years. You grew up in the same neighborhood, went to the same school, and stood up for each other at your weddings. When a crazy idea crosses your mind, you immediately see all the reasons why he may dismiss it. On the other hand, you know what ideas he is receptive to — so why not start with those?
Now suppose you?re brainstorming with someone who grew up with a different perspective and who has very different experiences from you. Would you be more willing to share your crazy idea with her? After all, you have no clue what ideas she is open to — so why not try it out?
Something like this may be going on in the academic workplace. We often don?t realize it, but we constantly think about how people around us will react to us. In itself, this is not a bad thing. If we didn?t put ourselves into other people?s shoes, we?d experience even more disagreements and
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