Their grandmothers fought for the vote, and their mothers have battled to have it all. Now the upcoming generation of girls have decided to turn the clock back and stay at home with their babies.
According to a survey of more than 5,000 teenage girls in Britain, their main ambition (追求的目标) is to complete university then stay at home. More than nine out of ten of the girls believe it should be up to their husbands to provide for them. And although 43 percent of those questioned believe they should continue with their education until they have achieved a university degree, one in four say getting married is the most important thing for them.
The supposedly super-modern, “fun comes first” teenage generation has proved to be very traditional in every area of their beliefs, with over 50 percent saying they would not dream of having children before
seeing a ring on their finger.
The desire to have children is beginning earlier too. On average, teenage girls plan to have their first child at 26, and most plan to have one or two more children over the following four years. The national average now is 1.64 children per couple.
“This survey doesn’t show that the battles of feminism (女权运动) have been lost,” said author Claire 
Rayner, “Feminism was never opposed (反对) to marriage or children. On the contrary, feminism was about to equal opportunities for women to do what they wanted to do, when they wanted to do it, and this is exactly what these girls are choosing to do.” The passage is mainly about ________.
| A．the result of the battles of feminism |
| B．women’s struggle for independence in the society |
| C．the girls’ desire to stay at home after they graduate |
| D．women’s social status in the modern society |
Girls prefer to be housewives rather than independent women because _______.
| A．it’s hard for women to find jobs |
| B．men would rather their wives look after babies at home |
| C．girls want to live a more comfortable life |
| D．women have a low salary |
. From the last paragraph we can see that Rayner thinks ________.
| A．women should stay at home with their babies |
| B．women should find jobs and support the family |
| C．women should be offered more job opportunities |
| D．women should live the life they like |
BEIJING, Nov. 25, 2005（Reuters）— China’s home-grown human bird flu vaccine① is at least a year away from hitting the market but tests on humans have been approved by the government, head of the research drug company said on Friday.
Development of the vaccine started last year after bird flu outbreaks in Thailand and Vietnam and animal trials have already been completed, said Yin Wei-dong, managing director of Sinovac Biotech.
“It is not a virus that is spreading from human to human，so we are very optimistic②,” Yin told Reuters in an interview.
The deadly H5N1 made its first known jump to humans in Hong Kong in 1997, killing six people. The virus appeared again in late 2003 and is known to have infected 130 people in several parts of Asia, killing 68 of them.
“It is not decided yet when the human trials will begin. We just got approval on November 22 by the State Food and Drug Administration,” Yin said.
Oregon, Nov. 26, 2005（AP）— The deadly strain of bird flu that appeared in Asia and has already spread to other parts of the world has not affected the Oregon poultry③ industry or consumers, according to Oregon State University researchers.
There are many strains of bird flu that do not usually infect humans. But one strain, called H5N1, has jumped from chickens to humans and is blamed for more than 60 deaths in Asia.
International disease control experts are worried about a worldwide outbreak of bird flu, raising concerns such as whether it is safe to eat poultry.
But Oregon State University researchers say there is no proof that the virus can jump to humans by eating cooked poultry products.
“Consumers needn’t be overly concerned about bird flu,” said Jim Hermes, OSU Extension Service poultry specialist. But he urged consumers to follow standard food safety practices in preparing poultry —including washing hands while preparing food, and proper cooking of poultry meat and eggs.
He noted that a 2003 outbreak of bird virus caused much damage to commercial poultry operations in California but did not get into Oregon because of industry safeguards.
Notes:
vaccine n. 疫苗
optimistic adj. 乐观的
poultry n. 家禽
Choose the best answers according to the above:Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the first news report?
| A．Human trials have already started but not yet successful. |
| B．Bird flu killed 68 Asian people in its second outbreak. |
| C．The bird flu virus is not one that spreads from human to human. |
| D．The government has agreed to have the vaccine tried on humans. |
What does the first news report mainly talk about?
| A．The new outbreak of the bird flu. |
| B．How the development of the bird flu vaccine is going on. |
| C．How many people died of bird flu. |
| D．What measures the government has taken to stop the spreading of bird flu. |
What does the underlined word “strains” probably mean?
| A．signs. | B．symbols. | C．kinds. | D．diseases. |
What can we know from the second news report?
| A．Because of the safety guards, Oregon poultry industry didn’t suffer any loss in the 2003 outbreak of bird flu. |
| B．People in Oregon are not concerned about bird flu. |
| C．People will develop bird flu even if they eat well-cooked poultry products. |
| D．H5N1 has caused more than 60 deaths worldwide. |
CAIRO, Egypt (Reuters) April 24, 2006—Three explosions shook the Egyptian Sinai resort of Dahab on Monday, killing 23 people and wounding dozens of others, rescue and security officials said.
Witnesses said smoke billowed①up from the town’s tourist bazaar, and residents said they saw body parts and debris②on the street after an explosion at a restaurant.
People in the small beach and diving resort, which is popular with backpackers, described scenes of carnage③and chaos④.
A cafe worker who was about 200 meters (yards) from the scene said: “We saw many dead people. People were screaming. People were being taken to hospital. Egyptians went to give blood. There were body parts. There’s police everywhere.”
“There are ambulances and cars taking people to hospital,” said another resident, who also did not want to be named.
The explosions took place at the Nelson Restaurant, the Aladdin Cafeteria and the Ghazala Supermarket, the Interior Ministry said.
The explosions took place in quick succession at about 7.15 p.m. (1715 GMT). “There is smoke coming from the area and there are people running everywhere,” said one witness, who heard the blasts.
An official with the local ambulance service said many of the dead appeared to be foreigners.
Israeli divers often stay in the resort but with the Passover holiday over it is unlikely many were there. The Israeli ambassador in Cairo and Israeli authorities said they did not know of any Israeli casualties⑤.
One visitor said police were stopping cars and buses leaving the resort and had imposed restrictions on movements in and out of backpacker camps in the area.
It was the third set of three explosions on the eastern coast of the Sinai peninsula since October 2004, when a group attacked the Hilton hotel in the border resort of Taba and two other resorts on the northeast coast, killing 34 people.
Notes:
① billow v.翻腾
② debris n.残骸
③ carnage n.残杀，流血
④ chaos n.混乱
⑤ casualty n. （人员）伤亡 What’s the result of the explosions in Dahab?
| A．34 people were killed. |
| B．There were many Israeli casualties. |
| C．23 people were killed and dozens of others were injured. |
| D．Many houses were burned to the ground. |
How many places did the explosions take place in?
| A．Two | B．Three | C．Six | D．Eight |
What does the underlined word “resort” mean?
| A．popular holiday centre | B．hotel or guest-house for holidaymakers |
| C．visiting some place | D．Making use of something for help |
Which of the following statements is right?
| A．Many of the dead appeared to be residents. |
| B．The first set of three explosions took place in October 2004. |
| C．Police couldn’t know what to do. |
| D．Israeli divers stayed in the resort with the Passover holiday over. |
Every human being has a unique① arrangement of the skin on his fingers and this arrangement is unchangeable. Scientists and experts have proved the uniqueness of finger-prints and discovered that no exactly similar pattern is passed on from parents to children, though nobody knows why this is the case.
The ridge structure on a person’s fingers does not change with growth and is not affected by surface injuries. Burns, cuts and other damage to the outer part of the skin will be replaced in time by new one, which bears a reproduction of the original② pattern. It is only when the inner skin is injured that the arrangement will be destroyed. Some criminals make use of this fact to remove their own finger-prints but this is a dangerous and rare step to take.
Finger-prints can be made very easily with printer’s ink. They can by recorded easily. With special methods, identification③ can be achieved successfully within a short time. Because of the simplicity and economy of this system, finger-prints have often been used as a method of solving criminal case. A suspected man may deny a charge but this may be in vain. His finger-prints can prove who he is even if his appearance has been changed by age or accident.
When a suspect leaves finger-prints behind at the scene of a crime, they are difficult to detect with the naked eye. Special techniques are used to “develop” them. Some of the marks found are incomplete but identification is possible if a print of a quarter of an inch square can be obtained.
Notes:
①unique adj. 唯一的，独特的
②original adj. 最初的，原始的
③identification n. 辩认，鉴定 Scientists and experts have proved that the pattern of a human being’s finger skin ________.
| A．is similar to his mother’s |
| B．is valuable to himself only |
| C．is like that of others with the same type of blood |
| D．is different from that of all others |
If your fingers are wounded by knife, fire or other means, the structure of skin will ________.
| A．be changed partly | B．be replaced by a different one |
| C．be the same when the wound is recovered | D．become ugly |
Some criminals remove their own finger-prints by ________.
| A．using printer’s ink | B．injuring the inner skin |
| C．damaging the outer skin | D．damaging the colour |
Finger-prints have often been used as a method of solving criminal case because it ________.
| A．is complicated but reliable | B．is simple and not expensive |
| C．is expensive but easy to do | D．can bring a lot of money |
Athens Olympic 110m hurdle champion Liu Xiang felt so relieved to return to racetrack after getting out of the great number of social activities.
Liu arrived in hometown Shanghai Wednesday night and was about to resume① training shortly after.
“I am so exhausted② from so many social activities, which made me even more tired than training,” said the 21-year-old Liu, who wrote a new chapter in China’s Olympic history by winning the country’s first ever athletics short-distance running title in the men’s 110m hurdles in Athens in August.
“I am happy that I will resume my training soon back in Shanghai,” said the Shanghai native. He turned into an instant national hero with the Olympic glory③ and one of the most popular Olympic gold medalists, taking part in scores of celebration activities since he returned to China early September.
“My regular training has been interrupted for such a long time that I think I can only run at about 13.5 seconds now,” said Liu, who clocked a world record-tying time of 12.91 to clinch the title.
“I would rather forget what I have achieved in the past and try my best to realize a higher goal,” he said.
Liu already missed the Berlin Golden League Series on Sunday and won’t be able to catch the IAAF Grand Prix final slated for September 18-19 in Monaco.
He plans on attending an IAAF all-star tournament in Japan at the end of this month.This passage mainly talks about ________.
| A．victory of Liu Xiang |
| B．Liu Xiang’s resumption to the racetrack |
| C．dream of Liu Xiang |
| D．Liu Xiang’s high aim |
From the passage we can see ________.
| A．Liu Xiang is content to go back to training |
| B．Liu Xiang will win Golden League Series on Sunday |
| C．Liu Xiang wasn’t good at social activities |
| D．Liu Xiang was refreshed after so many social activities |
The underlined word “relieved” means ________.
| A．sad | B．glad | C．worried | D．disappointed |
Which of the following is NOT wrong?
| A．Liu Xiang has had a quiet life for as long as half a month. |
| B．Liu Xiang has missed two races because of his social activities. |
| C．Liu Xiang has made up his mind to stop his social activities. |
| D．Liu Xiang has deserted his present career. |
US college students are burdened, with credit card (信用卡)debt, according to a study published Tuesday, and the problem can be serious－ranging from more drop-outs, to future employment problems and even self-murder. The study, by Georgetown University sociologist (社会学家) Robert Manning, blamed credit card issuers for actively targeting students and colleges for allowing them to do so. "The unrestricted selling of credit cards in universities or colleges is so aggressive that it now forms a greater threat than alcohol or sexual diseases," Manning told a news conference in Washington. "If we do not quickly deal with this serious problem, the matter will continue to get worse, with social consequences far more tragic (悲剧的) than mere dollars and cents. "
Based on hundreds of face-to-face interviews and surveys with students, Manning concluded both the number with credit card debt and their indebtedness had been "underreported" in previous studies－which failed to reflect the "survival strategies" many used to deal with their debts. These included the use of federal student loans to pay off credit cards, effectively shifting the debt, appealing to parents for loans, reducing course work hours to increase time at paid jobs, or even dropping out altogether to work full time.
"Official drop-out rates include growing numbers of students who are unable to cope with the stress of their debts and / or part time jobs for servicing their credit cards, " the study said. "Students credit card debts are examined during the employment process and may be an important factor in evaluating future employees," it noted. O’Donnell and Manning agreed students should bear some responsibility for reckless use of credit, but said credit card companies also had to be held responsible for making it so easy for them to get into debt. Manning said one of the most troublesome aspects of the student credit card issue was "the seduction (诱惑) of college and university officials by the credit card industry".Sociologist Robert Manning's study shows that .
| A．the number of American college students using credit cards on campus is increasing |
| B．more and more American college students meet with credit card debt problems |
| C．more and more American colleges encourage students to use credit cards to make profits |
| D．credit card issuers will run into debt for encouraging college students to use credit cards |
The author's feeling towards college students with credit card debts is __.
| A．discouraged and negative | B．pitiful and critical |
| C．indifferent and disapproving | D．negative and doubtful |
The author implies all of following should be responsible for this problem EXCEPT .
| A．credit card issuers | B．college authorities |
| C．parents of the students | D．students themselves |
The word "reckless" in Paragraph 3 can be replaced by .
| A．inconsiderate | B．frequent | C．careful | D．regular |