If women are mercilessly exploited (剥削) year after year, they have only themselves to blame, because they tremble at the thought of being seen in public in clothes that are out of fashion. They are always taken advantage of by the designers and the big stores. Clothes which have been worn only a few times have to be put aside because of the change of fashion. When you come to think of it, only a woman is capable of standing in front of a wardrobe packed full of clothes and announcing sadly that she has nothing to wear.
Changing fashions are nothing more than the intentional creation of waste. Many women spend vast sums of money each year to replace clothes that have hardly been worn. Women who cannot afford to throw away clothing in this way, waste hours of their time changing the dresses they have. Skirts are lengthened or shortened; necklines are lowered or raised, and so on.
No one can claim that the fashion industry contributes anything really important to society. Fashion designers are rarely concerned with primary things like warmth, comfort and durability (耐用). They’re only interested in outward appearance and they take advantage of the fact that women will put up with any amount of discomfort, as long as they look right. There can hardly be a man who hasn’t sometime in his life smiled at the sight of a woman shaking in a thin dress on a winter day, or picking her way through deep snow in high-heeled shoes.
When comparing men and women in the matter of fashion, the conclusions to be drawn are obvious. Do the constantly changing fashions of women’s clothes, one wonders, reflect basic qualities of instability (不稳定) ? Men are too clever to let themselves be cheated by fashion designers. Do their unchanged styles of dress reflect basic qualities of stability and reliability? That is for you to decide.Designers and big stores always make money _ .
| A．by mercilessly exploiting women workers in the clothing industry |
| B．because they are capable of predicting new fashions |
| C．by constantly changing the fashions in women’s clothing |
| D．because they always improve quality of women’s clothing |
The writer would be less critical (批评) if fashion designers placed more stress on the ________of clothing.
| A．cost | B．appearance | C．comfort | D．suitability |
According to the passage, which of the following statements is TRUE?
| A．New fashions in clothing are created for the commercial exploitation of women. |
| B．The constant changes in women’s clothing reflect their strength of character. |
| C．The fashion industry makes an important contribution to society. |
| D．Fashion designs should not be encouraged since they are only welcomed by women. |
By saying “the conclusions to be drawn are obvious”, the writer means that ________.
| A．women’s changeableness in their choice of clothing is often laughed at |
| B．women are better able to put up with discomfort |
| C．men are also exploited greatly by fashion designers |
| D．men are more reasonable in the matter of fashion |
The year was 1932．Amelia Earhart was flying alone from North America to England in a small single—engined aeroplane．At midnight, several hours after she had left Newfoundland, she ran into bad weather．To make things worse, her altimeter (高度表) failed and she didn't know how high she was flying．At night, and in a storm, a pilot is in great difficulty without an altimeter．At times, her plane nearly plunged (冲) into the sea.
Just before dawn, there was further trouble．Amelia noticed flames (火焰) coming from the engine．Would she be able to reach land? There was nothing to do except to keep going and to hope.
In the end, Amelia Earhart did reach Ireland, and for the courage she had shown, she was warmly welcomed in England and Europe．When she returned to the United States, she was honored by President Hoover at a special dinner in the White House．From that time on, Amelia Earhart was famous.
What was so important about her flight? Amelia Earhart was the first woman to fly the Atlantic Ocean alone, and she had set a record of fourteen hours and fifty—six minutes.
In the years that followed, Amelia Earhart made several flights across the United States, and on each occasion (时刻) she set a new record for flying time．Amelia Earhart made these flights to show that women had a place in aviation (航空) and that air travel was useful.
Which of the following statements is NOT the difficulty which Amelia Earhart met in her flight from north America to England?
| A．She was caught in a storm． | B．The altimeter went out of order. |
| C．Her engine went wrong． | D．She lost her direction. |
When Amelia Earhart saw flames coming from the engine, what did she do?
| A．She did nothing but pray for herself. |
| B．She changed her direction and landed in Ireland. |
| C．She continued flying. |
| D．She lost hope of reaching land. |
According to the passage, what was Amelia Earhart’s reason for making her flights?
| A．To set a new record for flying time. |
| B．To be the first woman to fly around the world. |
| C．To show that aviation was not just for men. |
| D．To become famous in the world. |
Which of the following statements was NOT mentioned?
A．She was the first woman who succeeded in flying across the Atlantic Ocean alone.
B．She showed great courage in overcoming the difficulties during the flight.
C She was warmly welcomed in England, Europe and the United States.
D．She made plans to fly around the world.Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?
| A．Amelia Earhart—First Across the Atlantic. |
| B．Amelia Earhart—Pioneer in Women’s Aviation. |
| C．A New Record for Flying Time. |
| D．A Dangerous Flight from North America to England. |
Matt grow the best vegetables in the village．He grows fruit too--big , sweet apples and oranges．And what else ? Well , the biggest and the prettiest flowers．Things grow in Matt' s garden all through the year．He cuts some flowers for his sitting room table ; and of course , he eats some fruit and vegetables．But he sells everything else in the market．Matt is not a poor man．
He knows a few other gardens ; but he does not have any friends．You might ask , " What is that ? Why doesn ' t he have friends ? "
I will tell you．People do not understand him．And they do not understand his garden, " Why not ? " you will ask．" It' s a very good garden , isn' t it ? "
It is a wonderful garden．Matt plants things in spring , summer and autumn and winter ．After that he does very little work．He sits in the garden with his small radio ．And everything grows ．
People ask , " How does Matt grow these wonderful things ? He waters the plants sometimes , but he doesn' t do anything else ．He just sits under an orange tree with his radio ．He listens to music nearly all day ! " And that is all quite true , people cannot understand it , and so they don' t like it very much ．
Matt likes music ．But what about the garden ? Who does the work ? I will tell you another true thing : the music does the work ．All plants love music ; and Matt knows that .
Do you want big vegetables and the loveliest flowers ? Well , just give your plants a lot of music , There are not only vegetables and flowers , but also ______ in Matt' s garden ．
| A．plants | B．fruit trees | C．ants | D．crops |
Matt makes a living by _______.
| A．selling his vegetables , fruit and flowers |
| B．growing trees in his garden |
| C．working in the market |
| D．helping other people growing plants |
Everything in Matt' s garden grows well because _____
| A．he has a good garden |
| B．he is good at growing things and likes listening to the radio |
| C．music helps his plants a lot |
| D．he is very hardworking |
People think that ______ .
| A．Matt' s garden is better than theirs |
| B．Matt works harder than they |
| C．Matt knows how to grow vegetables well |
| D．the radio helps Matt to grow veveything well in his garden |
People don' t like Matt because ____.
| A．he doesn' t give thim any vegetables or fruit |
| B．he listens to the radio too much |
| C．they are jealous（嫉妒的） of him |
| D．Matt doesn' t let them listen to his radio |
When Dean Arnold got his first job, he was miserable (痛苦的), Each time he went to work, he coughed and he couldn’t breathe．Working in a bakery(面包房) when you are allergic to (对…过敏) flour can be painful.
But Arnold stayed with the National Biscuit Company for ten years．He was a businessman and he helped them improve production．At last his health problems became too serious．He left and formed his own company.
With his wife and mother, he founded Arnold Bakery．They tried new recipes (配方)．changing the kind and amount of flour used．This enabled Arnold to work there without too much pain．The bread, made with unbleached flour (标准粉), was baked in a brick oven (烘炉).
They began by baking two dozen loaves．The bread was sold door to door for fifteen cents a loaf．Winning customers to his unusual, old-fashioned bread took time．But Arnold, struggling against his allergy, built his bakery into one of the largest in the United States.A good title for this passage would be.
| A．A Sick Baker | B．A Brick-oven Bread Baker |
| C．An Old-fashioned Baker | D．How to Overcome Allergy |
Dean left the National Biscuit Company because he _______．
| A．suffered from allergy to flour | B．didn’t like the job |
| C．wanted to make more money | D．wanted to form his own company |
During his stay in the National Biscuit Company, _______.
| A．he founded Arnold Bakery |
| B．he tried a new method of baking |
| C．he helped the company improve their production |
| D．he became successful in his business |
Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage?
| A．Arnold’s bread was baked in a brick oven. |
| B．Arnold’s bread was made with unbleached flour. |
| C．Arnold’s bread was sold at a low price. |
| D．Arnold’s bread was of poor quality. |
From the passage we can conclude that Arnold was ________.
| A．determined | B．brave | C．usual | D．unhealthy |
One day a few years ago a very funny thing happened to a neighbour of mine．He is a teacher at one of London’s big medical schools, He had finished his teaching for the summer term and was at the airport on his way to Russia to give a lecture.
He had put a few clothes and his lecture notes in his shoulder bag, but he had put Rupert, the skeleton (人体骨骼) to be used in his lecture, in a large brown suitcase (箱子)．At the airport desk, he suddenly thought that he had forgotten to buy a newspaper．He left his suitcase near the desk and went over to the shop.
When he got back he discovered that someone had taken his suitcase by mistake．He often wonders what they said when they got home and found Rupert.Who wrote the story?
| A．Rupert’s teacher. | B．The neighbour’s teacher. |
| C．A medical school teacher. | D．The teacher’s neighbour. |
Why did the teacher put a skeleton in his suitcase?
| A．He needed it for the summer term in London. |
| B．He needed it for the lecture he was going to give. |
| C．He wanted to take it to Russia for medical research. |
| D．He wanted to take it home as he had finished his teaching. |
What happened at the airport?
| A．The skeleton went missing. | B．The skeleton was stolen . |
| C．The teacher forgot his suitcase. | D．The teacher took the wrong suitcase . |
Which of the following best tells the teacher’s feeling about the incident?
| A．He is very angry . | B．He thinks it rather funny . |
| C．He feels helpless without Rupert. | D．He feels good without Rupert . |
Which of the following might have happened afterwards?
| A．The teacher got back the suitcase but not Rupert. |
| B．The teacher got back neither the suitcase nor Rupert. |
| C．The teacher got back Rupert but not the suitcase. |
| D．The teacher got back both the suitcase and Rupert. |
About 90 percent of Chinese believe the polarization(分化) between the rich and poor is “serious” in China, according to a survey conducted by China Youth Daily. And more than 80 percent of the respondents(对象) surveyed said something must be done to narrow the expanding gap between the rich and poor, while 14.1 percent said it was necessary.
The polarization has aroused wide concern among the public in recent years. The State Development and Reform Commission(国家发改委) said the Gini Coefficient had reached 0.47 for China, up from o.29 two decades ago. Usually, a country with a number above 0.4 is warned to pay attention to the income inequality problem.
To find out the people’s view, the survey covered 10,250 respondents, between the ages of 20 and 30 with a college education and a monthly salary between 1,000 and 3,000 yuan. Surprisingly, most disagreed with the view of experts who claim the urban-rural difference is causing the widening gap. More than 70 percent of the respondents believed that “ the group of special interests” is the prime reason for the polarization, followed by “people in power” 68 percent, and “bosses” 50 percent.
Another unexpected finding is that almost all agreed that a good educational background and knowledge were not the decisive factors in gaining wealth. About 95 percent said rich people are not necessarily those who are able to speak English or have a college education.
Today in China, rich people , accounting for 10 percent of the population, control 45 percent of the total social fortune, and poor people, also 10 percent of the population, only control 1.5 percent, according to an investigation published by the National Bureau of Statistics last June.
1. It can be inferred that the Gini Coefficient ( in paragraph 2) would probably be ________.
A. the unit used in advanced mathematics
B. the degree of a country’s development
C. the level of the citizen’s living standard
D. a measure of income inequality
2. Experts hold the view that the main reason for the polarization is ________.
A. the urban-rural difference
B. the group of special interests
C. the people in power
D. the bosses
3. Which of the following can show the correct proportion of the social fortune
among
population?
4. What’s the best title of the passage?
A. Close the Gap between the Rich and Poor
B. Surveys conducted by Chins Youth Daily
C. Higher education, Higher pay
D. Rich-Poor Divide Serious, Study Finds