Brazil has become one of the developing world's great successes at reducing population growth-but more by accident than design. While countries such as India have made joint efforts to reduce birth rates, Brazil has had better result without really trying, says George Martine at Harvard.
Brazil's population growth rate has dropped from 2.99% a year between 1951 and 1960 to 1.93% a year between 1981 and 1990, and Brazilian women now have only 2.7 children on average. Martine says this figure may have fallen still further since 1990, an achievement that makes it the envy of many other Third World countries.
As Martine puts it, among other things, soap operas and installment plans introduced in the 1970s. Both played an important, although indirect, role in lowering the birth rate. Brazil is one of the world's biggest producers of soap operas. Globo, Brazil's most popular television network, shows three hours of soaps six nights a week, while three others show at least one hour a night. Most soaps are based on wealthy characters living the high life in big cities.
"Although they have never really tried to work in a message towards the problems of reproduction, they describe middle and upper class values-not many children, different attitudes towards sex, women working," says Martine. "They sent this image to all parts of Brazil and made people conscious of other patterns of behavior and other values, which were put into a very attractive package."
Meanwhile, the installment plans tried to encourage the poor to become consumers. "This led to an enormous change in consumption patterns and consumption was incompatible (不相容的) with unlimited reproduction," says Martine.
1 According to the passage, Brazil has cut back its population growth .
A. by chance
B. by educating its citizens
C. by careful family planning
D. by developing TV programs
2. What is probably Brazil's present population growth rate according to para.2?
A. 2.99% B.1.93% C.2.7% D. lower than 1.93%
3. Soap operas have helped in lowering Brazil's birth rate because .
A. they keep people sitting long hours watching TV
B. they have gradually changed people's way of life
C. people are drawn to their attractive package
D. they popularize birth control measures
4. What's the author's purpose to write this passage?
A. To call on developing countries to learn from Brazil's experience of controlling population growth rate.
B. To account for the reasons why Brazil succeeded in controlling its population growth rate.
C. To tell us how Brazil benefited from its successful control of population growth rate.
D. To raise people's awareness of controlling population growth rate.
C
Jim Carrey is one of the most recognized faces in the world—and certainly because of his rubbery face.
Born in Ontario, Canada on January 17th, 1962 to a poor family, young Jim Carrey led a tough life, yet one good thing came out of it: He developed a great sense of humor to cope with life. At 15, he started performing at a Toronto comedy club. later he moved to LA and soon came to the attention of Rodney and went on his tour.
Jim Carrey got his big break in 1990 oil the comedy show la Living Color. There Carrey perfected many characters, most widely-known one "Fire Marshal Bill", who always went up in flames. The show stopped when critics claimed that it encouraged kids to play with fire. This argument put Carrey' s name in the headlines for the first time.
He broke into feature films in one single successful year, 1994, making it the Year of the Funny Face. First there was Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, a surprise hit showing Carrey’s wacky (古怪) style. Next came The Mask, tailor-made for him and a hit with audiences. There was still Dumb and Dumber, which ended up on top of the box office.
Carrey has slowed down, but his films have continued to make waves if not quite of the previous quality. There was Batman Forever, then a sequel to Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls, which didn’t quite retake the sparkle (光彩) of the earlier one. Next came Liar, Liar, a terrific success everywhere, putting him back on top. Then came The Truman Show, a film which proved Jim Carrey was more than just a funny face. Snubbed (冷落) by the Oscars, he was clearly considered golden by the fans.
44. All of the following films are considered of excellent quality EXCEPT______.
A. Liar, LiarB. Dumb and Dumber
C. The Truman ShowD. Ace Ventura : When Nature Calls
45. Which of the following statements about Jim Carrey is TRUE?
A. He has achieved his fame completely due to his face.
B. His hard early life helped develop his style of humor.
C. He received universal praises for his part in In Living Color.
D. Not many people like his performing style.
46. The underline word "sequel" in Paragrah 5 probably refers to_______.
A. an adapted film of the original
B. a film that continues a story
C. a comedy show of a strange style
D. a comment on a funny film
47. What can be the best title of the passage?
A. Jim Carrey—More Than a Funny Face
B. Jim Carrey—Famous "Fire Marshal Bill"
C. Jim Carrey’s Great Films
D. Jim Carrey’s Acting Career
B
Sir Richard Branson today offered a $ 25,000,000 prize for scientists who find a way to save the planet from the effects of climate change.
Supported by the former US vice-president A1 Gore and other environmentalists, the boss of Virgin Atlantic airlines called for scientists to come up with a way to take greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere.
“What we are doing is making sure we get the most carbon dioxide-friendly planes. We promise that 100% of profits we make from our transportation business are put into things like the prize we've offered today. We shall convince people that we are facing a threat which is urgent and there’s no superhero. We have no hope of a meaningful solution unless we find a way to work together.” he said.
Mr Gore said global warming was man-made and was like to the planet suffering from a “fever”. He said, "Humans had slipped into a way of thinking that was centered on ‘short term satisfaction’, and now meet the challenge of ‘transforming ourselves and changing the structures of everything we do’," he said.
Reacting to the launch of the prize, Tony Jupiter, the Friends of the Earth's director, warned against wasting time waiting for new inventions. He said, "Sir Richard' s initiative (初衷) may encourage inventors to develop a wonder technology to deal with carbon dioxide of the atmosphere. But many of the ways, such as energy efficiency and renewables, already exist, and it is essential that these be put into practice as soon as possible. Moreover, Sir Richard must also look at his business activities and the contribution they make to climate change. The world will find it very difficult to settle climate change if air travel continues to expand and space tourism is developed."
40. Sir Richard Branson is ________.
A. a scientist concerned for climate change B. a businessman working for A1 Gore
C. the boss of Virgin Atlantic airlinesD. the director of the Friends of the Earth
41. The purpose of using A1 Gore' s quotation was to_______。
A. ask people to change the way of thinking
B. compare global warming to an Earth's fever
C. show how serious and urgent the problem is
D. call for more attention to the launch of the prize
42. What is file main idea of the passage?
A. It is important for people to save our planet.
B. Humans are to blame for causing climate change.
C. Scientists are trying to take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.
D. A prize was offered for solutions to global warming.
43. How was Tony Jupiter’s attitude to space tourism?
A. Negative. B. Positive. C. Optimistic. D. Neutral (中立).
第二部分 阅读理解（共20小题；每小题2分，满分30分）
A
Since it was published in 1818, Frankenstein, a classic horror story, has been in print in man
y languages. The monster from the novel by Mary Shelley is the result of man's uncontrolled desire to create and apply his knowledge.
The novel features Victor Frankenstein, a student who explores the secrets of life in his laboratory. Fearing that he has created a monster, Victor Frankenstein wants to stop but too late. The monster kills Victor Frankenstein's young brother and causes the murder to be blamed on an innocent girl. Victor and the monster meet in the frozen mountains. The monster asks Victor to create a female monster, promising to afterwards leave with her for the wilds. Victor begins the work and discovers the monster has followed him to watch the work. Victor regrets his decision to create a second monster and worries that together they will begin a species of monster. Victor destroys the monster's bride. The monster soon takes revenge (复仇) on Victor by killing his best friend, his father and finally, his bride, Elizabeth. Victor pursues (追赶) the monster across many places. On the point of death, Victor meets a ship and tells his story to the captain whose letters and diaries are then to form this novel. Victor Frankenstein's last words are, "Farewell, Walton! Avoid ambition, even if it is only the obviously innocent one of distinguishing yourself in science and discoveries."
Frankenstein’s conflicted ambition is with us always. And the Monster stands at our window, reminding us to take care of our creations against experimenting with things we don’t understand.
36. The passage was written to _______。
A. tell us the story from Frankenstein B. encourage us to explore the secret of life
C. entertain us with the monster D. show pity on Victor Frankenstein
37. According to the passage, Mary Shelley' s Frankenstein is made up of_________。
A. poems B. plays C. fairy tales D. letters and diaries
38. The correct order of the following events is_________。
a. The monster follows Frankenstein to watch his work.
b. Frankenstein runs after the monster across many places.
c. The monster kills Frankenstein's bride.
d. Frankenstein kills the monster's bride.
e. Frankenstein creates a monster in experiments.
A. e, b, a, c, d B. e, d, c, b, a C. e, a, c, d, b D. e, a, d, c, b
39. In the last paragraph, the writer of the passage points that_______。
A. the monster is still disturbing people
B. man's ambition in creations should never be allowed
C. man's risky experiments have created many monsters
D. creations in science should be carefully dealt with
E
I went on line to check my pay was in my bank account（账户）. To my amazement I discovered that not only had I been paid, a company I’d never worked for had also paid me! I know I would have been beside myself if my own salary was not in my account, so I tried to get the money back to the right person. Easier said than done.
The bank couldn’t help as it “wasn’t a bank problem.” The human-resource department at the company that paid me was unable to help as I didn’t have enough details. I rang the bank again. Thankfully I had a sympathetic call operator who gave me a name, so I again rang the company “Daniel” worked for.
I expected the bank would contact me to arrange to take the money from my account and repay Daniel. I heard nothing for a month and the money remained in my account when Daniel called, explaining he’d tried to get back his money but had been unsuccessful as neither the bank nor his company felt it was their error. He had rung to ask if I could speak to the bank, but after chatting for a few minutes we realized we could probably fix this problem ourselves.
We decided I would take the money from my account and he would pick it up from me. Due to my busy job I was unable to meet Daniel personally but he left me a lovely bottle of wine in exchange for what was rightfully his. I never had any intention of keeping Daniel’s pay but red tape（繁琐手续）made it difficult to do the right thing. It all came down to two people being able to do what a huge bank and a large company couldn’t do — admit a mistake has occurred and fix it.
52. What was the attitude of the author towards the extra money in his bank account?
A. He didn’t know what to do with it. B. He felt lucky to get it.
C. He thought of keeping it for himself. D. He wanted to return it to the right person.
53. The underlined phrase “beside myself” probably means _______.
A. very fortunate B. very angry C. really thankful D. at ease
54. How was the problem solved in the end?
A. The author and Daniel solved the problem themselves.
B. It cost Daniel a lovely bottle of wine to get back his money.
C. The author gave the money back to the company.
D. The call operator offered to solve their problem.
55. From the passage we can infer that _________.
A. the bank could solve the problem soon and easily with the red tape
B. some large organizations usually have troublesome official rules
C. Daniel didn’t know the error until he contacted the author
D. it was easy for a company to have a mistake which had occurred fixed
D
Like fine food, good writing is something we approach with pleasure and enjoy from the first taste to the last. And good writers, like good cooks, do not suddenly appear full-blown（成熟的）. Quite the opposite ,just as the cook as to undergo a particular training, mastering the skills of his trade, the writer must sit at his desk and devote long hours to achieving a style in his writing, whatever its purpose is — schoolwork, matters of business, or purely social communication. You may be sure that the more painstaking the effort, the more effective the writing, and the more rewarding.
There are still some faraway places in the world where you might find a public scribe（抄写员）to do your business or social writing for you, for money. There are a few managers who are lucky enough to have the service of that rare kind of secretary who can take care of all sorts of letters writing with no more than a quick note to work from. But for most of us, if there is any writing to be done, we have to do it ourselves.
We have to write school papers, business papers or home papers. We are constantly called on to put words to papers. It would be difficult to count the number of such words, messages, letters, and reports put into mails or delivered by hand, but the daily figures must be extremely large. What is more, everyone who writes expects, or at least hopes whatever he writes will be read from first word to last, not just thrown into some “letters-to-be-read” files or into the wastepaper basket. This is the reason we make efforts toward learning and practicing the skills of interesting, effective writing.
48. In this passage, good writing is compared to fine food because both______.
A. are enjoyable B. are easy to learn
C. are unnecessary to life D. take a short time to prepare
49. According to the passage, which of the following statements is TRUE?
A. Writing skills are less important than experience.
B. A good writer should have his own way of writing.
C. A good writer should learn to write the same kind of article.
D. The more efforts one makes, the more money one can earn.
50. The authour thinks that the most important reason for us to practice writing skill is ______.
A. to learn about our life B. to attract others to read
C. to do daily reports easily D. to become good secretaries
51. The purpose of the author in writing his passage is to ______.
A. comment and blame B. introduce and describe
C. explain and persuade D. interest and inform