For many people who live in cities, parks are an important part of the landscape. They provide a place for people to relax and play sports, as well as a refuge from the often harsh environment of a city. What people often overlook is that parks also provide considerable environmental benefits.
One benefit of parks is that plants absorb carbon dioxide—a key pollutant—and emit oxygen, which humans need to breathe. According to one study, an acre of trees can absorb the same amount of carbon dioxide that a typical car emits in 11,000 miles of driving. Parks also make cities cooler. Scientists have long noted what is called the Urban Heat Island Effect: building materials such as metal, concrete, and asphalt absorb much more of the sun’s heat and release it much more quickly than organic surfaces like trees and grass. Because city landscapes contain so much of these building materials, cities are usually warmer than surrounding rural areas. Parks and other green spaces help to mitigate the Urban Heat Island Effect.
Unfortunately, many cities cannot easily create more parks because most land is already being used for buildings, roads, parking lots, and other essential parts of the urban environment. However, cities could benefit from many of the positive effects of parks by encouraging citizens to create another type of green space: rooftop gardens. While most people would not think of starting a garden on their roof, human beings have been planting gardens on rooftops for thousands of years. Some rooftop gardens are very complex and require complicated engineering, but others are simple container gardens that anyone can create with the investment of a few hundred dollars and a few hours of work.
Rooftop gardens provide many of the same benefits as other urban park and garden spaces, but without taking up the much-needed land. Like parks, rooftop gardens help to replace carbon dioxide in the air with nourishing oxygen. They also help to lessen the Urban Heat Island Effect, which can save people money. In the summer, rooftop gardens prevent buildings from absorbing heat from the sun, which can significantly reduce cooling bills. In the winter, gardens help hold in the heat that materials like brick and concrete radiate so quickly, leading to savings on heating bills. Rooftop vegetable and herb gardens can also provide fresh food for city dwellers, saving them money and making their diets healthier. Rooftop gardens are not only something everyone can enjoy, they are also a smart environmental investment.Based on its use in paragraph 2, it can be inferred that mitigate belongs to which of the following word groups?
Chọn C
My friend’s uncle has been________ MP ( Member of Parliament) for five years.
All the witnesses said that the accident was my fault. ( BLAME)
à All the witnesses said that___________________________ the accident.
It was childish of him not to accept my apologies. ( REFUSED)
à He _________________________________________________ of him.
In her report, she mentioned (treat) ______ at a hospital abroad last year
There are some ______ and differences between the New Year in Japan and that in Vietnam.
(SIMILAR)
When confronted with a mass of red tape, many people feel a sense of _________________
(POWER)
Hardly our teacher (enter) ________the classroom when it started to rain.
She thought it was too difficult for her to come to the class on time. (FOUND)
à She _______________________________________ the class on time.
Childhood is the time when there are (51)_________ responsibilities to make life difficult. If a child has good parents, he is (52) _________ , looked after and loved, whatever he may do. It is improbable that he will ever again in his life be given so much without having to do anything in return. In (53) _________, life is always presenting new things to the child- things that have lost their interest for older people because they are too well- known. A child finds pleasure playing in the rain , or in the snow. His first visit to the seaside is a marvellous adventure. But a child has his (54) _________ .He is not so free to do as he wishes as he thinks older people are: he is continually told not to do things, or being punished (55) _________ what he has done wrong. His life’s therefore not perfectly happy.
When a young man starts to (56) _________his own living, he becomes free from the discipline of school and parents, but at the same time he is forced to accept responsibilities. He can no longer expect (57) _________ to pay for his food, his clothes and his room, but he has to work if he wants to live comfortably. If he spends most time playing about in a day he used to as a child, he will be hungry. And if he breaks the laws of society as he used to break the laws of his parents, he may go to prison. If, however, he works hard, keeps out of trouble and has good health, he can have the greatest happiness of seeing himself make steady (58) _________ in his job and of building up for himself his own position in society.
Old age has always been thought of as the worst age to be, but it is not necessary for the old to be unhappy. With old age (59) _________wisdom and the ability to help others with advice wisely given. The old can have the joy of seeing their children making progress in life: they can watch their grandchildren growing up around them, and perhaps best of all, they can, if their life has been a useful one, feel the happiness of having come (60) _________ the battle of life safely and of having reached a time when they can lie back and rest, leaving others to continue the fight.
According to the passage, the Urban Heat Island Effect is caused by the fact(s) that ..................
a. cities are warmer than nearby rural areas
b. building materials absorb more of the sun’s heat than organic surfaces
c. building materials release the sun’s heat more quickly than organic surfaces
The accident ( report)_______(cause)________ by a reckless motorist.