An estimated 30 percent of outdoor lighting—plus even some indoor lighting—is wasted. Inefficient lighting costs U. S. about $10. 4 billion a year, according to Bob Gent of the International Dark-Sky Association, a nonprofit that aims to control light pollution.
Last year in Sydney, an estimated 2. 2 million Australians switched off their lights during “Earth Hour”, briefly reducing that city’s energy use by more than 10 percent. Motivated by such trends, more than two dozen cities worldwide went dim on March 29 this year in an hour-long demonstration.
A number of groups are trying to measure light pollution and assess its effects on the environment in the hope that people will reduce their own contribution to the problem. Scientists are trying to report how many stars we can see. In dark rural areas, about 2, 000 stars are typically visible at night, compared with“maybe five”in a bright city square—and about 5, 000 in centuries past.
People who are working while others are star-gazing may face the greatest risks. Nighttime exposure to white light can cause the growth of tumors (肿瘤) , experiments show. Two decades of research indicate that women who work night shifts have unusually high rates of breast cancer.
The word“drawbacks”in the first paragraph probably means_______.
A.benefits
B.interests
C.effects
D.problems
A.My TV doesn't work last night
B.My TV didn’t work last night
C.My TV isn’ working last night
A.done such
B.done
C.done so
D.done which
A.the;a
B./;an
C.the;an
D.a;the
You didn't remember () the umbrella last night,so please remember () umbrella tomorrow.
A、taking; to keep
B、to take; to keep
C、taking; keeping
D、to take; keeping
There was a gunshot in the cinema last night.
I heard about it, and()
A. I felt into sleep immediately after that.
B. I hope nobody was hurt in the cinema.
C. do you know what movie was on last night?
A、didn’t … would win
B、don’t … wins
C、don’t … has won
D、didn’t … wins
Passage Two
I was only eight years old when the Second World War ended, but I can still remember something about the victory celebrations in the small town where I lived on the day when the war in Europe ended. We had not suffered much from the war there. But both at home and at school I had become accustomed to the phrases "before the war" and "when the war's over". "Before the war", apparently, things had been better, though I was too young to understand why, except that there had been no bombs then, and people had eaten things like ice -cream and bananas, which I had only heard of . When the war was over we would go back to London, but this meant little to me. I did not remember what London was like.
What I remember now about VE (Victory in Europe) Day was the May evening. After dinner I said I wanted to see the bonfire (大火堆) , so when it got dark my father took me to the end of the street. The bonfire was very high, and somehow people had collected some old clothes to dress the un- mistakable figure with the moustache (胡子) they had to put on top of it. Just as we arrived, they set light to it. The flames rose and soon swallowed the "guy". Everyone was cheering and shouting, and an old woman came out of her house with two chairs and threw them on the fire to keep it going.
I stood beside my father until the fire started to go down, not knowing what to say. He said nothing, either. He had fought in the First World War and may have been remembering the end of that. At last he said, "Well, that's it, son. Let's hope that this time it really will be the last one."
40. Where did the author live before the Second World War?
A. In London.
B. In a small town.
C. In Europe.
D. In the countryside.
At the core of this debate is chairman Gerald Levin, 56, who took over for the late Steve Ross in 1992. On the financial front, Levin is under pressure to raise the stock price and reduce the company's mountainous debt, which will increase to $17.3 billion after two new cable deals close. He has promised to sell off some of the property and restructure the company, but investors are waiting impatiently.
The flap over rap is not making life any easier for him. Levin has consistently defended the company's rap music on the grounds of expression. In 1992, when Time Warner was under fire for releasing Ice T's violent rap song Cop Killer, Levin described rap as a lawful expression of street culture, which deserves an outlet. "The test of any democratic society," he wrote in a Wall Street Journal column, "lies not in how well it can control expression but in whether it gives freedom of thought and expression the widest possible latitude, however disputable or irritating the results may sometimes be. We won't retreat in the face of any threats."
Levin would not comment on the debate last week, but there were signs that the chairman was backing off his hard-line stand, at least to some extent. During the discussion of rock singing verses at last month's stockholders' meeting, Levin asserted that "music is not the cause of society ills" and even cited his son, a teacher in the Bronx, New York, who uses rap to communicate with students. But he talked as well about the "balanced struggle" between creative freedom and social responsibility, and he announced that the company would launch a drive to develop standards for distribution and labeling of potentially objectionable music.
The 15-member Time Warner beard is generally supportive of Levin and his corporate strategy. But insiders say several of them have shown their concerns in this matter. "Some of us have known for many, many years that the freedoms under the First Amendment are not totally unlimited," says Lute. "I think it is perhaps the case that some people associated with the company have only recently come to realize this." (458 words)
Senator Robert Dole Criticized Time Warn for ______.
A.its raising of the corporate stock price
B.its self-examination of soul
C.its neglect of social responsibility
D.its emphasis on creative freedom
M: Sorry, but I can't believe that you're actually complaining about free publicity. I mean I remember, Shelley, before you were famous, you were begging us to write features about you...anything...
W: If you would just let me finish of course the press have been important. I'm an actress and I understand the power of the press. But the thing is, I rarely seem to read anything true about myself these days... The point I'm trying to make here is that famous people have families with feelings.
M: Oh, sorry. You're really hurt by that particular article last week.
W: To increase circulation and make more money, certain newspapers continue to print those stories when it's obvious that they're not true.
M: But I think we have to consider the relationship between fame, the public and the press. The public are fascinated by fame and scandal, and they love to read about their favorite stars.
W: I'm sick of gutter-press making up stories. It's irresponsible and it messes up people's life.
M: The problem is, it's not always clear what's true and what isn't. I mean, if a newspaper prints something scandalous or embarrassing about a famous person, they're bound to deny it, but that doesn't mean it's not true.
W: Are you trying to say...
M: No smoke without fire, if you ask me.
(20)
A.A little known actress and a literary critic.
B.A well-known actress and a newspaper editor.
C.A movie star and one of her fans.
D.A movie star and a TV interviewer.