Each year millions of babies are born too soon and too small. Premature or preterm births are defined as births at less than thirty-seven weeks.
Prematurity is the leading cause of death in newborn babies. More than one-fourth of the four million newborns who die each year around the world were born too early.
Preterm babies that survive can suffer a lifetime of serious health conditions. The examples include cerebral palsy, blindness, hearing problems and learning disabilities. Families and communities face emotional, physical and financial costs.
Christopher Howson is the vice president for global programs at the March of Dimes, a nonprofit group. His group and the World Health Organization recently published a report called “The Global and Regional Toll of Preterm Birth.”
CHRISTOPHER HOWSON: “Frankly the crisis of preterm birth is under-recognized, undercounted, undervalued and underfunded. I mean, this report shows that thirteen million babies are born every year preterm, and that over a million of those babies die as a result of being born too early.”
And these are just estimates; the true numbers could be even higher. More than eighty-five percent of preterm births happen in Africa and Asia. Africa has the highest rate, with about four million cases each year.
Chris Howson says many of the causes of preterm births are related to poverty and weak health-care systems.
CHRISTOPHER HOWSON: “For example, the poor overall health and nutritional status of women. A high burden of infectious diseases. Lack of provision of family planning – allowing a woman to decide when to start and end having children and how to space her children. And also the lack of good prenatal care programs that might identify problems early on in pregnancy.”
Preterm births are a problem not just in the developing world. The combined rate in the United States and Canada is the second highest in the world. Preterm birth rates in the United States have increased thirty-six percent in the last twenty-five years.
This has been largely the result of two reasons. One is an increase in pregnancies among women over age thirty-five. The other is an increase in the use of reproductive therapies.
49．This passage is mainly about ________.
A．the causes of people’s bad health throughout the world
B．how to improve people’s health throughout the world
C．premature or preterm births throughout the world
D．Christopher Howson, vice president for global programs at the March of Dimes
50．All of the following are causes of preterm births except ________.
A．too many deaths of newborn babies B．poverty
C．Lack of provision of family planning D．the lack of good prenatal care programs
51．Which of the following is a true statement according to the passage?
A．Preterm birth rates in developing countries are dropping and they are increasing in some developed countries like the US and Canada.
B．The increase in pregnancies among women over age thirty-five and the increase in the use of reproductive therapies result in the increase of preterm birth rates.
C．Fortunately, many people have already realized the seriousness of the problem of preterm births.
D．Preterm births must be a problem for only poor areas because of poverty.
52．Which is the best title for the passage?
A．Chris Howson, an Excellent Vice President
B．Preterm Births
C．“The Global and Regional Toll of Preterm Birth”
D．Emotional, Physical and Financial Costs
Chief Executive Office
Lahore Stock Exchange
Lahore Stock Exchange (LSE) is the 2nd largest exchange of the country with a workforce of almost 150 employees. The Exchanges of Pakistan are currently undergoing a major reform program involving shareholding(使成为股东制) in order to develop the capital markets further.
We seek a dynamic(精干的), forward-thinking Chief Executive with ability to provide strong leadership and effective management to deliver its organization goals and strategic plan. The successful candidate(候选人) should have the business both pre and post shareholding with a proven record.
The candidate should have minimum of 7 years of experience along with a business related degree or other professional qualifications. However, a strong record of achievement, excellent communication and team building skill are equally important. International qualifications or experience will be an added advantage together with the knowledge of the local corporate environment.
Compensation package will be highly attractive and match the position. If you are interested in a strategic leadership role and be part of an organization to make a difference, please write to:
Head of Human Resources, Lahore Stock Exchange (Guarantee)Ltd,
19th Khayaban- e- Aiwan –e- Iqbal, Lahore, Pakistan, together with your Curriculum Vitae and latest passport sized photograph. What is NOT true about LSE?
| A．It’s Lahore Stock Exchange |
| B．It’s one of the largest exchanges in Pakistan. |
| C．It’s developing Pakistan’s capital city |
| D．It’s located in Khayaban- e- Aiwan –e- Iqbal, Lahore, Pakistan |
What is wanted according to this advertisement?
A. A Chief Executive Office B. A Chief Executive
B. Head of Human Resources D.A candidateWhat does the underline word compensation probably mean?
| A．Salary | B．Job | C．Equipment | D．Food |
There was one thought that air pollution affected only the area immediately around large cities with factories and heavy automobile traffic. At present, we realize that although these are the areas with the worst air pollution, the problem is worldwide. On several occasions over the past decade, a heavy cloud of air pollution has covered the east of the United States and brought health warnings in rural areas away from any major concentration （集中）of manufacturing and automobile traffic. In fact, the very climate of the entire earth may be infected by air pollution.
Some scientists consider that the increasing concentration of carbon dioxide in the air resulting from the burning of coal and oil is creating a “greenhouse effect” - raising the world’s average temperature. If this view is correct and the world’s temperature is raised only a few degrees, much of the polar ice will melt and cities such as New York, Boston, Miami, and New Orleans will be in water.
Another view, less widely held, is that increasing particular matter in the atmosphere is preventing sunlight and lowering the earth’s temperature - a result that would be equally disastrous. A drop of just a few degrees could create something close to a new ice age, and would make agriculture difficult or impossible in many of our top farming areas. Today we do not know for sure that either of these conditions will happen though one recent government reports that the greenhouse effect is very possible. Perhaps, if we are lucky enough, the two tendencies will offset（抵消）each other and the world’s temperature will stay about the same as it is now. Driven by economic profits, people don’t think about the damage on our environment caused by the “advanced civilization”. Maybe the air pollution is the price the human beings have to pay for their development. But is it really worth?As pointed out at the beginning of the passage, people used to think that air pollution ________.
| A．caused widespread damage in the countryside |
| B．affected the entire eastern half of the United States |
| C．had damaged effect on health |
| D．existed only in urban and industrial areas |
As to the greenhouse effect, the author ________.
| A．shares the same view with the scientists |
| B．is uncertain of its happening |
| C．rejects it as being ungrounded |
| D．thinks it will destroy the world soon |
It can be concluded from the last paragraph that ________.
| A．lowering the world’s temperature only a few degrees would lead major farming areas to disaster |
| B．raising the world’s temperature only a few degrees would not do much harm to life on earth |
| C．almost no temperature variations have occurred over the past decade |
| D．the world’s temperature will remain constant in the years to come |
This passage is mainly about ________.
| A．the greenhouse effect |
| B．the burning of coal and oil |
| C．the potential effect of air pollution |
| D．the likelihood of a new ice age |
Have you ever thought about what determines the way we are when we grow up? Remember the TV program Seven Up? It started following the lives of a group of children in 1973. We first meet them as wide-eyed seven-year-olds and catch up with them at seven-year intervals: nervous 14-year-olds, serious 21-year-olds and then grown-ups.
Some of the stories are inspiring, others sad, but what is interesting in almost all the cases is the way in which the children’s early hopes and dreams are shown in their future lives. For example, at seven, Tony is a lively child who says he wants to become a sportsman or a taxi driver. When he grows up, he goes on to do both. How about Niki? She says, “I would like to find out about the moon.” And she goes on to become a space scientist. As a child, soft-spoken Bruce says he wants to help “poor children” and ends up teaching in India.
But if the lives of all the children had followed this pattern, the program would be far less interesting than it actually was. It was the children whose childhood did not prepare them for what was to come that made the program so interesting. Where did their ideas come from about what they wanted to do when they grew up? Are children influenced by what their parents do, by what they see on television or by what their teachers say? How great is the effect of a single important event? Many film directors, including Steven Spielberg, say that an early visit to the cinema was the turning point in their lives. Dr. Margaret McAllister, who has done a lot of research in this area, thinks that the major factors are parents, friends and their wider society.What does the text mainly discuss?
| A．New ways to make a TV program interesting. |
| B．The importance of TV programs to children. |
| C．Different ways to make childhood dreams come true. |
| D．The influence of childhood experience on future lives. |
What does the underlined word “influenced” mean in the last paragraph?
| A．Impressed. | B．Improved. | C．Affected. | D．Attracted. |
What are the examples in Paragraph 2 meant to show?
| A．Many people’s childhood hopes are related to their future jobs. |
| B．There are many poor children in India who need help. |
| C．Children have different dreams about their future. |
| D．A lot of people are very sad in their childhood. |
Spielberg’s story is meant to show that _______.
| A．going to a movie at an early age helps a child learn about society |
| B．a single childhood event may decide what one does as a grown-up |
| C．parents and friends can help a child grow up properly |
| D．films have more influence on a child than teachers do |
Information has always been at the center of human communication. You may ask why. Well, communication between people contains giving and receiving information. The way we give and receive information today has experienced a revolution in the development of the mass media in the 20th century.
The first truly mass communication medium was the newspaper. For the first time in history, people could read about events in their country and from around the world every day. However, there were two problems with newspapers of that time. Firstly, newspapers were available only in large cities, for getting newspapers to the countryside was a difficult and time-consuming（耗时的） task. Secondly, newspapers weren’t always reliable, as there was a limited range of opinions.
Nowadays, we can choose from a wide variety of sources to get information. Television and the Internet have given us the chance to be informed about everything the minute it happens. Large numbers of radio and TV stations, satellite channels and millions of websites help people keep up with the latest news. People live in history and are part of it.
The media have come a long way in the last century and there is no doubt that we now live in the information age. Whatever type of media we choose, it all comes down to the need for information. This will always be a basic need as long as communication is part of human nature.Information is considered the center of human communication because ________.
| A．human communication means information exchange |
| B．human communication involves people’s participation |
| C．information is now experiencing a revolution |
| D．information helps people gather together |
What was the historical contribution of the newspaper as a source of information?
| A．It made the mass communication truly develop. |
| B．It helped the mass communication develop in cities. |
| C．It kept people timely informed about home and world events. |
| D．It kept reliable information available in big cities. |
The third paragraph mainly tells us that technology helps ________.
| A．information easily available | B．people be part of history |
| C．inform everything timely | D．produce the latest news |
It can be concluded from the last paragraph that a basic need today is ________.
| A．communication | B．information |
| C．high technology | D．media types |
Dior was born in Normandy in 1905, and his family’s original plans for him included a career in the diplomatic service, but by the time he was twenty-three, with his parents’ money, he opened a small art gallery in Paris. By 1931, the money had been used up. Dior’s friends in the art gallery asked him to draw and he took his first step at designing and drawing. His first job was with Lucien Lelong from whom Dior learned his craft（手艺）.
In February, 1947, Dior started the New Look in his first major Paris collection. He was backed by a famous textile producer, Boussac, who looked after the dollars, while Dior looked after the fashions. Dior knew nothing about cutting and sewing, but he was good at fashion design.
The New Look started an entirely different look to costume, with a tiny waist, a rounded shoulder and a shapely bust（胸围）, usually with a low-cut neckline and a long full skirt. To women who had lived through the war years, the femaleness of the New Look was a great success, for people were tired of the extremely plain, wartime restrictive fashions.
It is said that dresses by Dior were “constructed like buildings”, but young people were attracted to his design, and all over the western world, manufacturers plunged into（投入）the production of his new style. Dior’s revolutionary designs lighted up a whole cycle of fashion - rounded, gentle, feminine - a delight in elegance. A New kook House of Dior opened in 1948, followed by one in London. Considered as King of Couture （Women’s clothing） for years, the Dior Empire grew until it covered every country in the western world, and included furs, jewelry, perfumes, men’s wear and so on. Over 1,000 people worked at the Paris headquarters then.
His sudden death in 1957 when he was 52 years old did not stop the growth of the House of Dior. Even now, so many years after his death, his name is closely connected with fashion throughout the world, and indeed is one of the most recognized names in the world. His first great New Look, with its long skirts, was an expression of freedom in the late 1940s.Which of the following designs is close to Dior’s?
According to the passage, in Dior’s life, he did not _________.
| A．make creative fashion designs |
| B．work in a diplomatic service |
| C．learn craft as his first job |
| D．open a New Look House |
We can infer from the passage that ________.
| A．Dior and his supporter had different interests in business |
| B．Dior’s New Look had little influence on people then |
| C．Dior is only a brand of women’s fashion |
| D．Dior’s fashion was not accepted at first |
What is probably the best title for the passage?
| A．The History of the New Look |
| B．The Growth of the Dior Empire |
| C．An Expression of Freedom - Dior |
| D．The Founder of the New Look – Dior |