英语 热门试卷

（B）

Is there link between humans and climatechange or not? This question was first studied in the early 1900s. Since then,many scientists have thought that our actions do make a difference. In 1997,the Kyoto Protocol explained our role in the Earth’s changing atmosphere andset international limits for gas emissions(排放) from 2008 to 2012. Somecountries have decided to continue these reductions until 2020. More recently,the Paris Agreement, stuck by nearly 200 countries, also aims to limit globalwarming. But just now how much warmer it will get depends on how deeplycountries cut carbon emissions.

Section C

Directions: Read the passage carefully. Then answer the questions or complete the statements in the fewest possible words.

Walking will be banned on escalators as part of a trail designed to reduce congestion(拥堵) at some of the country’s busiest stations.

In the first move of its kind, all travelers will be forced to stand on both sides of escalators on the London Underground as part of a plan to increase capacity(容量) at the height of the rush hour.

A xix-month trial will be introduced at Holborn station from mid-April, eliminating the rule of standing on the right and walking on the left. The move, imitating a similar structure in Far eastern cities such as Hong Kong, is designed to increase the number of people using long escalators at the busiest times . it could be expanded across the Tube network in coming years.

According to London Underground, only 40 percent of travelers walk the full length of long escalators, leaving the majority at the bottom as they wait to get on to the “standing “side.

A three-week trial at Holborn last year found that the number of people using escalators at any time of could be raised by almost a third. Peter McNaught, operations director at London Underground, said: “It may not seem right that you can go quicker by standing still, but our experiments at Holborn have proved that it can be true. This new six-month trial will help us find out if we can influence customers to stand on both sides in the long term.”

Holborn has one of the longest sets of escalators on the Underground network at 23.4 high. Tube bosses claim that capacity was limited because so few people wanted to walk up—meaning only one side was used at all times. Research has shown that it is more effective use of escalators over 18.5 to ban walking.

The previous trial found that escalators at the station normally carried 2,500 people between 8:30am and 9:30am on a typical day, rising to 3,250 during the researching period.

In the new trial, which will be launched from April 18, one of three “up” escalators will be standing only, with a second banning walking at peak times. A third will remain a mix of walking and standing.

(Note: Answering the questions the questions or complete the statements in NO MORE THAN TEN WORDS.)

(A)

One early morning, I went into the livingroom to find my mother reading a thick book called Best Loved Poems to Read Again and Again. My interest was arousedonly by the fact that the word “Poems” appeared in big, hot pink letters.

  “Isit good?” I asked her.

  “Yeah,”she answered. “There’s one I really like and you’ll like it, too.” I leanedforward.

  “‘Patty Poem,’” she read the title. Who is Patty?I wondered. The poem began:

She never puts hertoys away,

                  Just leaves them scattered① where they lay,…      ①散乱的

The poem was just three short sections. The final one came quickly:

                     When she grows and gathers poise②,         ②稳重

                       I’ll miss her harum-scarum③ noise,         ③莽撞的

                       And look in vain④ for scattered toys.        ④徒劳地

And I’ll be sad.                 

  Aterrible sorrow washed over me. Whoever Patty was, she was a mean girl. Then,the shock.

  “It’syou, honey,” My mother said sadly.

  Tomy mother, the poem revealed a parent’s affection when her child grows up andleaves. To me, the “she” in the poem was horror. It was my mama who would besad. It was so terrible I burst out crying.

  “What’swrong?” my mother asked.

  “OhMama,” I cried. “I don’t want to grow up ever!”

  Shesmiled. “Honey, it’s okay. You’re not growing up anytime soon. And when you do,I’ll still love you, okay?”

  “Okay,”I was still weeping. My panic has gone. But I could not help thinking aboutthat silly poem. After what seemed like a safe amount of time, I read the poemagain and was confused. It all fit so well together, like a puzzle. Thelanguage was simple, so simple I could plainly understand its meaning, yet itwas still beautiful. I was now fascinated by the idea of poetry, words that hadthe power to make or break a person’s world.

  Ihave since fallen in love with other poems, but “Patty Poem” remains my poem.After all, “Patty Poem” gave me my love for poetry not because it was the poemthat lifted my spirits, but because it was the one that hurt me the most.

(C) 

Enough “meaningless drivel”. That’s the message from a group of members of the UK government who have been examining how social media firms like LinkedIn gather and use social media data.

The House of Commons Science and Technology Committee’s report, released last week, has blamed firms for making people sign up to long incomprehensible legal contracts and calls for an international standard or kitemark (认证标记) to identify sites that have clear terms and conditions.

“The term and conditions statement that we all carelessly agree to is meaningless drivel to anyone,” says Andrew Miller, the chair of the committee. Instead, he says, firms should provide a plain-English version of their terms. The simplified version would be checked by a third party and awarded a kitemark if it is an accurate reflection of the original.

It is not yet clear who would administer the scheme, but the UK government is looking at introducing it on a voluntary basis. “we need to think through how we make that work in practice,” says Miller.

Would we pay any more attention to a kitemark? “I think if you went and did the survey, people would like to think they would,” says Nigel Shadbolt at the University of Southampton, UK, who studies open data. “We do know people worry a lot about the inappropriate use of their information.” But what would happen in practice is another matter, he says.

Other organisations such as banks ask customers to sign long contracts they may not read or understand, but Miller believes social media requires special attention because it is so new. “We still don’t know how significant the long-term impact is going to be of unwise things that kids put on social media that come back and bite them in 20 years’ time,” he says.

Shadbolt, who gave evidence to the committee, says the problem is that we don’t know how companies will use our data because their business models and uses of data are still evolving. Large collections of personal information have become valuable only recently, he says.

The shock and anger when a social media firm does something with data that people don’t expect, even if users have apparently permission, show that the current situation isn’t working. If properly administered, a kitemark on terms and conditions could help people know what exactly they are signing up to. Although they would still have to actually read them.