We already know the fastest, least expensive way to slow climate change: Use less energy. With a little effort, and not much money, most of us could reduce our energy diets by 25 percent or more—doing the Earth a favor while also helping our wallets.

    Not long ago, my wife, PJ, and I tried a new diet—not to lose a little weight but to answer an annoying question about climate change. Scientists have reported recently that the world is bending up even faster than predicted only a few years ago, and that the consequences could be severe if we don't keep reducing emissions(排放) of carbon dioxide (CO₂ ) and other greenhouse gases that are trapping heat in our atmosphere.

    We decided to try an experiment. For one month we recorded our personal emissions of CO₂. We wanted to see how much we could cut back, so we went on a strict diet. The average US household(家庭) produces about 150 pounds of CO₂  a day by doing common-place things like turning on air-conditioning or driving cars. That's more than twice the European average and almost five times the global average, mostly because Americans drive more and have bigger houses. But how much should we try to reduce?

    For an answer, I checked with Tim Flannery, author of The Weather Makers: How Man is Changing the Climate and What it Means for Life on Earth. In his book, he had challenged readers to make deep cuts in personal emissions to keep the world from reaching extremely important tipping points, such as the melting(融化) of the ice sheets in Greenland or West Antarctica. "To stay below that point, we need to reduce CO₂  emissions by 80 percent," he said.

    Good advice, I thought. I'd opened our bedroom windows to let in the wind. We'd gotten so used to keeping our air-conditioning going around the clock. I'd almost forgotten the windows even opened. We should not let this happen again. It's time for us to change our habits if necessary.

    When I was growing up, I had an old neighbor named Doctor Gibbs. He didn't look like any doctor I'd ever known. He never yelled at us for playing in his yard, but was always very kind.

    When Doctor Gibbs wasn't saving lives, he was planting trees. He had some interesting theories about planting trees. He believed in the principle “No pain, no gain”. He hardly watered his new trees, which flew in the face of conventional(传统的) wisdom. Once I asked why and he told me that watering plants spoiled them because it made them grow weaker. He said you had to make things tough for the trees so that only the strongest could survive. He talked about how watering trees made them develop shallow roots and how, if they were not watered, trees would grow deep roots in search of water. So, instead of watering his trees every morning, he'd beat them with a rolled-up newspaper. I asked him why he did that, and he said it was to get the tree's attention.

    Doctor Gibbs died a couple of years after I left home. Every now and then, I walked by his house and looked at the trees that I'd watched him plant some twenty five years ago. They were all tall and strong.

    I planted a couple of trees myself a few years ago. Two years of attending these trees meant they grew up weak. Whenever a cold wind blew, their branches trembled. Adversity(逆境) seemed to benefit Doctor Gibb's trees in ways comfort and ease never could.

    Every night before I go to bed, I check on my two sons. I often pray that their lives will be easy. But lately I've been thinking that it's time to change my prayer. I know my children are going to meet with hardship. There's always a cold wind blowing somewhere. What we need to do is to pray for deep roots, so when the rains fall and the winds blow, we won't be torn apart.

根据短文内容，选择最佳答案，并将选定答案的字母标号填在题前括号内。

    How many times a day do you check your WeChat(微信) or QQ? When you wake up? Before bed? A dozen times in between? The technology which was supposed to make our lives simple has taken up too much time. The young people spends more than seven hours a day using technological devices(设备), with an extra hour just text-messaging friends.

    The advantage of technological devices is connection: we are in touch with more people during more hours of the day than at any other time in history. But is it possible that we're lonelier than ever? That's what professor Sherry Turkle observes（观察）in her new book, Alone Together, which clearly describes our changing relationship with technology.

For Turkle, technology isn't offering us the lives we want to live. “We're texting people at a distance,” says Turkle, “We're using lifeless objects(物体) to convince(使确信) ourselves that even when we're alone, we feel together. And then when we're with each other, we put ourselves in situations where we are alone—always on our mobile devices. I call it a storm of confusion(困惑) about what's important in our human connections. That's my biggest worry.”

    Besides, communicating online is not equal to face-to-face communication. Online, you can ignore(忽视) others' feelings. In a text message, you can avoid eye contact(目光接触). A number of studies have found that this generation of young people is less sympathetic(有同情心的)than ever. “That doesn't lead to disaster,” says Turkle, “but the disadvantages still cannot be ignored.”

    Put on your sunglasses and enjoy the island, the sun and the blue sea. Malta combines (结合) learning English with the Mediterranean way of life: you will have language course and a great holiday at the same time,

    Your language course    Our school lies in Sliema, only a few meters from the sea, the beach road and cafés. The school is in an old Maltese building. Our teachers use a modern teaching method and you will learn English quickly.

    The leisure (休闲) programmes    Our school and team leaders organize varied leisure programmes. There will be a welcome party on your first day. You will also take part in beach volleyball, and beach parties. Other activities include: Discos, visit to Popeye Village, Water Park, bowling, cinema, ice skating (different prices).

    Accommodation (住宿) Family    You will live in friendly host families that the school has known for years. All families are near the school (20 minutes on foot or by bus).

    Supervision (监督)    Our team of friendly teachers, team leaders and host families will always be there for you. There is also an emergency phone number for parents and students.

    Dear parents, please note that there are periods of time when your children are unsupervised, for example on the way to school. We are happy to discuss any questions you may have. Please contact us by phone or email.

Concrete has served as the foundation stone of the construction industry for hundreds of years. However, the process of producing concrete is one of the most environmentally unfriendly processes in the world. In the process, not only is carbon dioxide（二氧化碳）released into the air by the energy used to heat the limestone, but the limestone itself also gives out a huge amount of the element. 

Luckily, a number of start-ups throughout the world are using creative thinking to make the construction industry a whole lot more friendly for the planet. 

A Canadian company called CarbonCure, has found a way to inject（注入）concrete with carbon dioxide itself. Not only does this trap the carbon dioxide into the concrete, keeping it from running away into the atmosphere, but it also creates a super strong material called calcium carbonate, which reduces the total amount of concrete that needs to be used. 

California-based Brimstone, is creating carbon-negative concrete by doing away with limestone entirely and instead using silicate rock, a material that does not release carbon dioxide when heated. Instead, the process produces magnesium（镁）, which absorbs carbon dioxide, as the basis for their concrete. 

Additionally, researchers at Australia's RMIT University have recently released a study showing that adding coffee grounds instead of sand to concrete could make it much stronger, reducing both the amount of sand used, as well as the amount of concrete that would need to be used in the final product. 

The biggest barrier at this point is convincing members of the industry that the new types of concrete are safe to be used, according to Stacy Smedley, director at a nonprofit focused on decarbonizing construction. 

Hopefully these new solutions to the environmental problems of concrete will soon be widely adopted. Given the significant part the construction industry has in releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, great improvements can be made when more environmentally-friendly materials are used. 

I remember that it was a fall morning when the orchestra (管弦乐队) teachers came into Miss Newell's third-grade classroom. "You have hands for the viola(中提琴)," Miss Ciano told me. I was excited because my hands were finally good for something. I told my parents I wanted to play, and naturally, they agreed.

Since I first touched the viola, I haven't been able to put it down. Ignoring the difficulty, I am pulled closer to it each day.

Classical music is truly my best friend. It is the trusted friend of every man, woman and child. Various feelings are expressed in classical music. I discovered that when I was eleven and played a cello concerto (大提琴协奏曲) of Bach in a competition, the first movement was joyful, but the second movement was mysterious and full of pain. From the piece, I learned that music expresses not only feelings, but also sudden mood changes. By listening to classical music, I know that someone else shares these feelings. Since I am lucky enough to be able to play classical music, I am comforted by it when I am upset. It gives me a way to escape from my problems for a short period. Classical music can express my joy, sadness and anger.

Now look back at that fall day in the third grade and think how gullible I was for believing that anyone, even music teachers, could tell whether hands were perfect for a certain instrument. I'm certain they told me I had " viola hands" not because they were fortune-tellers(算命师), but because there was a lack of violists in our district. Classical music is one of the best things that ever happened to mankind. If you get introduced to it in the right way, it will become your friend for life.