Two hours from the tall buildings of Manhattan and Philadelphia live some of the world’s largest black bears. They are in northern Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains, a home they share with an abundance of other wildlife.
The streams, lakes, meadows (草地), mountain ridges and forests that make the Poconos an ideal place for black bears have also attracted more people to the region. Open spaces are threatened by plans for housing estates and important habitats are endangered by highway construction. To protect the Poconos natural beauty from irresponsible development, the Nature Conservancy (大自然保护协会) named the area one of America’s “Last Great Places”.
Operating out of a century-old schoolhouse in the village of Long Pond, Pennsylvania, the conservancy’s bud Cook is working with local people and business leaders to balance economic growth with environmental protection. By developing partnerships with people like Francis Altemose, the Conservancy has been able to protect more than 14,000 acres of environmentally important land in the area.
Altemose’s family has farmed in the Pocono area for generations. Two years ago Francis worked with the Conservancy to include his farm in a county farmland protection program. As a result, his family’s land can be protected from development and the Altemoses will be better able to provide a secure financial future for their 7-year-old grandson.
Cook owes the Conservancy’s success in the Poconos to having a local presence and a commitment to working with local residents.
"The key to protecting these remarkable lands is connecting with the local community,"Cook said. “The people who live there respect the land. They value quiet forests, clear streams and abundant wildlife. They are eager to help with conservation effort.
For more information on how you can help the Nature Conservancy protect the Poconos and the world’s other “Last Great Places,” please call 1-888-564 6864 or visit us on the World Wide Web at www.tnc.org.
1.The purpose in naming the Poconos as one of America’s “Last Great Places” is to ________.
A. gain support from the local community
B. protect it from irresponsible development
C. make it a better home for black bears
D. provide financial security for future generations
2.We learn from the passage that ________.
A. the population in the Pocono area is growing
B. wildlife in the Pocono area is dying out rapidly
C. the security of the Pocono residents is being threatened
D. farmlands in the Pocono area are shrinking fast
3.What is important in protecting the Poconos according to Cook?
A. The setting up of an environmental protection website
B. Support from organizations like The Nature Conservancy
C. Cooperation with the local residents and business leaders
D. Inclusion of farmlands in the region’s protection program
4.The passage most probably is ________.
A. an official document
B. a news story
C. an advertisement
D. a research report
A. The engine in your body. B. The location, size and heartbeat of a heart. C. What happens when the heart beats? D. How does your heart work? E. How do we know about the heart? F. What can a doctor tell by feeling your pulse? |
阅读理解。 |
The $11 billion self-help industry is built on the idea that you should turn negative thoughts like "I never do anything right" into positive ones like "I can succeed." But was positive thinking advocate Norman Vincent Peale right? Is there power in positive thinking? Researchers in Canada just published a study in the journal Psychological Science that says trying to get people to think more positively can actually have the opposite effect: it can simply highlight how unhappy they are. The study"s authors, Joanne Wood and John Lee of the University of Waterloo and Elaine Perunovic of the University of New Brunswick, begin by citing(引用) older research showing that when people get feedback which they believe is overly positive, they actually feel worse, not better. If you tell your depressed friend that he has the potential of an Einstein, you"re just underlining his faults. In one 1990s experiment, a team including psychologist Joel Cooper of Princeton asked participants to write essays opposing funding for the disabled. When the essayists were later praised for their sympathy, they felt even worse about what they had written. In this experiment, Wood, Lee and Perunovic measured 68 students" self-esteem. The participants were then asked to write down their thoughts and feelings for four minutes. Every 15 seconds, one group of students heard a bell. When it rang, they were supposed to tell themselves, "I am lovable." Those with low self-esteem didn"t feel better after the forced self-approval. In fact, their moods turned significantly darker than those of members of the control group, who weren"t urged to think positive thoughts. The paper provides support for newer forms of psychotherapy (心理治疗) that urge people to accept their negative thoughts and feelings rather than fight them. In the fighting, we not only often fail but can make things worse. Meditation (静思) techniques, in contrast, can teach people to put their shortcomings into a larger, more realistic perspective. Call it the power of negative thinking. |
1. What do we learn from the first paragraph about the self-help industry? |
A. It was established by Norman Vincent Peale. B. It is based on the concept of positive thinking. C. It is a highly profitable industry. D. It has brought positive results. |
2. What is the finding of the Canadian researchers? |
A. Encouraging positive thinking may do more harm than good. B. The power of positive thinking is limited. C. Unhappy people cannot think positively. D. There can be no simple therapy for psychological problems. |
3. What does the author mean by "… you"re just underlining his faults"? |
A. You are pointing out the errors he has made. B. You are not taking his mistakes seriously enough. C. You are trying to make him feel better about his faults. D. You are emphasizing the fact that he is not intelligent. |
4. What do we learn from the experiment of Wood, Lee and Perunovic? |
A. It is important for people to continually increase their self-esteem. B. Forcing a person to think positive thoughts may lower their self-esteem. C. Self-approval can bring a positive change to one"s mood. D. People with low self-esteem seldom write down their true feelings |