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本文作者： 21ST

A

Charlotte Hollins faces a battle. The 23-year-old British farmer and her 21-year-old brother Ben are fighting to save a farm that their father worked on since he was 14. Although confident they will succeed, she is aware of farming’s many challenges.

“You don’t often get a day off. Supermarkets put a lot of pressure on farmers to keep prices low. With fewer people working on farms it can be isolating,” she said. “There is a high rate of suicide and farming will never make you rich!”

Like others around the world, Charlotte’s generation tend to leave the farm for cities.

Oliver Robinson, 25, grew up in Yorkshire. But he never considered staying on his father and grandfather’s land. “I’m sure Dad hoped I’d stay,” he said. “I guess it’s a nice, straightforward life, but it doesn’t appeal to me. For young, ambitious people, farm life is hard.”

For Robinson, farming doesn’t offer much “in terms of money or lifestyle”. Hollins agrees that economic factors stop people from enjoying the rewards of farming. He describes it as a career that provides “for a vital human need”, allowing people to work “outdoors with nature”.

Farming is a big political issue in the UK. The “Buy British” campaigns urge consumers not to purchase cheaper imported foods. The 2001 foot and mouth crisis closed thousands of farms, stopped meat exports, and raised public consciousness about the troubles on UK farms.

Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver’s 2005 campaign to get children eating healthily also highlighted the issue.

This national concern gives hope to farmers competing with powerful supermarkets. While most people buy food from the big supermarkets, hundreds of independent Farmers’ Markets are becoming popular.

“I started going to Farmers’ Markets in direct defiance of the big supermarkets. I seriously objected to the super-sizing of everything – what exactly DO they put on our apples to make them so big and red? It’s terrible,” said Londoner Michaela Samson, 31.

1. What are the challenges that British farmers face according to Charlotte Hollins?

a. loneliness b. thin profits

c. a lack of good equipment d. long working hours but slow results

A. abc B. abd C. acd D. bcd

2. Why did Oliver Robinson refuse to stay on the farm?

A. He hoped for a simpler life.

B. He was fed up with a hard farm life.

C. Farm life was too demanding though he liked it.

D. He hoped for something challenging and rewarding.

3. Which of the following is an advantage of Farmers’ Markets?

A. Lower prices. B. Flexible sizes.

C. Convenient location. D. Healthier food.

4. What can we conclude from the last two paragraphs?

A. Things are improving for independent farms in the UK. B. Farming in the UK can now match the powerful supermarkets.

C. Most British people are doubtful of food in big supermarkets.

D. Most British people have realized the problems facing farms and begun to help save them.

B

If you are looking for a creative solution to a piece of work or a school assignment, don’t lock yourself up in a quiet room.

A new study suggests that moderate background noise is a better spur (动力) to creative thinking than the sound of silence, Time magazine reported.

A paper published in the Journal of Consumer Research says that the perfect working environment should buzz (嗡嗡作响) with a little noise.

Researchers found that test subjects were at their most creative when background noise was measured at 70 decibels, the level one might find in a busy coffee shop.

A nearly silent environment (50 decibels) was too quiet. Turning up the volume to 85 decibels (a jackhammer tearing up the pavement outside your building) was counterproductive – the noise became a distraction.

The researchers asked 65 students at the University of British Columbia, Canada, to perform various creative tasks while noises recorded at a roadside restaurant were played in the background.

In one experiment, scientists asked participants to brainstorm ideas for a new type of mattress (气垫). Test subjects had the most successful discussions when the noise in the background was noticeable but not too loud.

While a quiet environment may make it easier to read a book, the authors of the study say that moderate background noise creates just enough of a distraction to force people to think more imaginatively, without breaking their focus so completely that they can’t think at all.

Should we all head for Starbucks to get creative? Not necessarily.

Researchers found limited work time surrounded by the low-level noise of a coffeehouse is what really stimulates creativity.

Equally, working in a cafe environment isn’t good for everybody. The productivity boost was most obvious among those who were naturally creative to begin with.

5. The recommended level of background noise is ______.

A. 50 decibels B. 65 decibels

C. 70 decibels D. 85 decibels

6. Why is moderate background noise good for creativity?

A. It relaxes people and stops them from getting bored.

B. It can help people to focus on a subject.

C. It can absorb sudden noises that cause distraction.

D. It pushes people to use their imagination but doesn’t reach a level that disturbs them.

7. According to the last three paragraphs, ______.

A. the low-level noise of a coffeehouse may be too loud for some people to work with

B. if a person is not a creative type, then background noise may not be of so much help to them

C. a person’s own creative ability is as important as the environment they are in

D. working in a coffeehouse is effective for most people

8. Which best describes the writer’s tone in the passage?

A. Negative. B. Objective.

C. Enthusiastic. D. Doubtful.

C

I looked at my beautiful Christmas tree and sighed. It was time. The New Year was a week old and my tree still stood in the corner of our room with its collection of memories proudly displayed in a shower of colorful lights. I’d procrastinated long enough.

I got up, went to the garage and dragged all the boxes into the room. The garland (花环) was the first to come down. The tree looked naked (光秃秃的) already. I took the large ornaments off next. They made a large pile on our bed. An hour later, our bed was covered with Christmas memories. Each pile contained an ornament along with its matching brothers and sisters from sets purchased many years ago.

I prepared the boxes and carefully placed ornaments in their protective packaging, pausing every few minutes to admire a favorite. “Hey, little Santa!” I held the Santa from my childhood. “Thanks for being my friend for almost fifty years.” He was a little ragged (衣着破烂的) but still gives me a flood of wonderful memories. “Until next year, my dear friend.”

There was a collection of handmade ones. My children made in their first years of school, more than twenty years ago. Made by tiny hands, they are far from perfect in design, but every year they go on my memory tree – memories of young giggles (咯咯地笑) on Christmas morning and a smiling face when they handed them to me when I came home from work. “Look what we made, Daddy!”

“Oh! It is beautiful. Let’s find a special spot on the tree for it.” Every year since, they are displayed.

A few hours after I started, the filled boxes were back in the garage, the room was vacuumed (用吸尘器清扫) and I sat staring at a barren (空荡荡的) corner. The room seemed so empty. It took me two days of work to assemble (收集) and decorate my tree, but only a few hours to take it apart.

My tree is a good marriage or a great friendship. Like the tree, they take a long time to assemble and decorate with memories, but can be torn down quickly.

Every year I have to put my tree away, but not my marriage or friendships. I take great care of those. They get to glow in the corner of my life for as long as I live. I get to analyze my tree and find memories for a few weeks every year. I can do the same with the loves in my life every day. Take great care of your friendships and your marriage. Once they come down, they aren’t as easy to put back together as a Christmas tree. Stand them in that special spot in the corner of your heart and admire their glow.

9. In the author’s eyes, the Christmas tree _____.

A. is a collection of childhood memories