（C）
In today's throw-away society, dealing with the city's growing mountain of waste is an increasing challenge for the city council （市議會）。
Recently, Edinburgh is faced with the problem of disposing of （處理） about 250，000 million tons of wastes a year. Despite different ways to dispose of much of it in a green manner — largely through encouraging recycling — its aging facilities such as the Powderhall landfill do not have the ability to deal with it.
The European Union （EU） has issued a new policy, regulating how such mountains of wastes are to be disposed of. The five councils （Edinburgh, East Lothian, West Lothian, Midlothian and Borders） face fines around $18 million a year from 2013 if they don't increase recycling levels and rely less on landfill. With this in mind, the councils got together with the idea of building a large incinerator plant（垃圾焚燒廠） to burn half of the waste produced in their districts. But this plan fell apart after the change of target levels by a new UK government waste policy which required that no more than 25% of the city's waste should be disposed of in this way by 2025.
After the plan was abandoned, a private company which already transported millions of tons of the city's waste by train to a landfill site near Dunbar, offered an alternative solution when it suggested opening a huge waste site near Portobello.
Since Powderhall is supposed to close in 2015, it seemed necessary for the members of the Edinburgh Council to accept the suggestion. But soon they turned it down — after 700 local objections reached them — because it would have meant hundreds of lorries a day making loud noise through heavily populated areas.
That still leaves the council with a problem. By 2013, only 50% of 1995 levels of waste will be allowed to be sent to landfill. Even if recycling targets are met, there will still be a large amount of rubbish to be burnt up. Due to this, Edinburgh and Midlothian councils have now decided to work together to build an incinerator plant as time to find a solution is fast running out.
59. The main way of handling waste in a green manner in Edinburgh is .
A. recyclingB. restoringC. buryingD. burning
60. The five councils worked out a plan to build an incinerator plant to .
A. reduce the cost of burying wasteB. meet the EU requirements
C. speed up waste recyclingD. replace landfill sites
61. The city council of Edinburgh rejected the suggestion to open a huge landfill site near Portobello because .
A. it came from a private company
B. the council was not interested in it
C. it was not supported by EU
D. the local people were against it
62. What is the final decision of Edinburgh and Midlothian councils？
A. To open a new landfill nearby.
B. To close the Powderhall landfill in 2015.
C. To set up a plant for burning waste.
D. To persuade people to reduce their waste.
（D）
Feeling blue about the world？ “Cheer up，” says science writer Matt Ridley. “The world has never been a better place to live in, and it will keep on getting better both for humans and for nature.”
Ridley calls himself a rational optimist — rational, because he's carefully weighed the evidence； optimistic, because that evidence shows human progress to be both unavoidable and good. And this is what he's set out to prove from a unique point of view in his most recent book, The Rational Optimist. He views mankind as a grand enterprise that, on the whole, has done little but progress for 100，000 years. He backs his findings with hard facts gathered through years of research.
Here's how he explains his views.
1） Shopping fuels invention
It is reported that there are more than ten billion different products for sale in London alone. Even allowing for the many people who still live in poverty, our own generation has access to more nutritious food, more convenient transport, bigger houses, better cars, and of course, more pounds and dollars than any who lived before us. This will continue as long as we use these things to make other things. The more we specialize and exchange, the better off we'll be.
2） Brilliant advances
One reason we are richer, healthier, taller, cleverer, longer-lived and freer than ever before is that the four most basic human needs — food, clothing, fuel and shelter — have grown a lot cheaper. Take one example. In 1800 a candle providing one hour's light cost six hours' work. In the 1880s the same light from an oil lamp took 15 minutes' work to pay for. In 1950 it was eight seconds. Today it's half second.
3） Let's not kill ourselves for climate change
Mitigating（減輕） climate change could prove just as damaging to human welfare as climate change itself. A child that dies from indoor smoke in a village, where the use of fossil-fuel（化石燃料） electricity is forbidden by well-meaning members of green political movements trying to save the world, is just as great a tragedy as a child that dies in a flood caused by climate change. If climate change proves to be mild, but cutting carbon causes real pain, we may well find that we have stopped a nose-bleed by putting a tourniquet（止血帶） around our necks.63. What is the theme of Ridley's most recent book？
A. Weakness of human nature.B. Concern about climate change.
C. Importance of practical thinking.D. Optimism about human progress.
64. How does Ridley look at shopping？
A. It encourages the creation of things.B. It results in shortage of goods.
C. It demands more fossil fuels.D. It causes a poverty problem.
65. The candle and lamp example is used to show that .
A. oil lamps give off more light than candles
B. shortening working time brings about a happier life
C. advanced technology helps to produce better candles
D. increased production rate leads to lower cost of goods
66. What does the last sentence of the passage imply？
A. Cutting carbon is necessary in spite of the huge cost.
B. Overreaction to climate change may be dangerous.
C. People's health is closely related to climate change.
D. Careless medical treatment may cause great pain.
（E）
Which are you more likely to have with you at any given moment — your cell phone or your wallet？ Soon you may be able to throw your wallet away and pay for things with a quick wave of your smart phone over an electronic scanner.
In January, Starbucks announced that customers could start using their phones to buy coffee in 6，800 of its stores. This is the first pay-by-phone practice in the U.S., but we're likely to see more wireless payment alternatives as something called Near Field Communication （NFC） gets into America's consumer electronics. Last December some new smart phones which contain an NFC chip were introduced to the public.
Already in use in parts of Asia and Europe, NFC allows shoppers to wave their phones a few inches above a payment terminal — a contact-free system built for speed and convenience. But before NFC becomes widely adopted in the U.S., a few problems need to be worked out, like who will get to collect the profitable transaction（交易） fees. Although some credit card providers have been experimenting with wave-and-pay systems that use NFC-enabled credit cards, cell phone service providers may try to muscle their way into the point-of-sale （POS） market. Three big cell phone service providers have formed a joint venture（合資企業） that will go into operation over the next 15 months. Its goal is “to lead the U.S. payments industry from cards to mobile phones.”
The other big NFC issue, apart from how payments will be processed, is security, For instance, what's to stop a thief from digitally pick-pocketing you？ “We're still not at the point where an attacker can just brush against you in a crowd and steal all the money out of your phone，” says Jimmy Shah, a mobile-security researcher. “Users may also be able to set transaction limits, perhaps requiring a password to be entered for larger purchases.”
Still uneasy about this digital-wallet business？ Keep in mind that if you lose your smart phone, it can be located on a map and remotely disabled. Plus, your phone can be password protected. Your wallet isn't.
67. What is predicted to happen in the U.S.？
A. The expansion of cell phone companies.
B. The boom of pay-by-phone business.
C. The disappearance of credit cards.
D. The increase of Starbucks sales.
68. The NFC technology can be used to .
A. ensure the safety of shoppersB. collect transaction fees easily
C. make purchase faster and simplerD. improve the quality of cell phones
69. Three cell phone service providers form a joint venture to .
A. strengthen their relationshipB. get a share in the payments industry
C. sell more cell phonesD. test the NFC technology
70. According to the passage, what can users do if they lose their smart phones？
A. Stop the functioning of their phones.
B. Set up a password.
C. Get all the money out of their phones.
D. Cancel large purchases.
（9）2011年普通高等學校招生全國統一考試（湖南卷）英語Part ⅢReading Comprehension （30 marks）
Directions：Read the following three passages. Each passage is followed by several questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A, B, C and D. Choose the one that fits best according to the information given in the passage.
（A）
When first entered, Vanak Restaurant does not look like much of a restaurant, but once the pleasant smells of kabob（烤羊肉串） hit the senses, you are incapable of calling it anything less.
Owned by a local couple, this Persian restaurant has an inviting, homelike atmosphere that many restaurants lack.
The space is small with only a few dining tables and nearly no decoration, but the environment is truly charming.
Lying in a hardly noticeable street corner, the restaurant still attracts all customers, especially those experienced in the delights of Middle Eastern cooking.
A common sight is that of old Persian men sitting in the corner talking loudly about world topics, watching news events on TV, drinking a black tea known as Persian chai, and reading local Persian newspapers all the while trying to finish off their plates piled with food.
The variety of food at the restaurant is limited, but the amount of each dish is fairly large. Most of the meals can serve two people and are under ＄10, so not only is it affordable but practical as well.
The food especially appeals to health-conscious eaters because each dish is very healthy, made with limited fat and oil and served straight off the grill（烤肉架）.