There are various ways in which individual economic units can interact with one another. Three basic ways may be described as the market system, the administered system, and the traditional system.
In a market system individual economic units are free to interact among each other in the marketplace. It is possible to buy commodities from other economic units or sell commodities to them. In a market, transactions may take place via barter or money exchange. In a barter economy, real goods such as automobiles, shoes, and pizzas are traded against each other. Obviously, finding somebody who wants to trade my old car in exchange for a sailboat may not always be an easy task. Hence, the introduction of money as a medium of exchange eases transactions considerably. In the modern market economy, goods and services are bought or sold for money.
An alternative to the market system is administrative control by some agency over all transactions. This agency will issue commands as to how much of each good and service should be produced, exchanged, and consumed by each economic unit. Central planning may be one way of administering such an economy. The central plan, drawn up by the government, shows the amounts of each commodity produced by the various firms and allocated to different households for consumption. This is an example of complete planning of production, consumption, and exchange for the whole economy.
In a traditional society, production and consumption patterns are governed by tradition; every person’s place within the economic system is fixed by parentage, religion, and custom. Transactions take place on the basis of tradition, too. People belonging to a certain group or caste（阶级） may have an obligation to care for other persons, provide them with food and shelter, care for their health, and provide for their education. Clearly, in a system where every decision is made on the basis of tradition alone, progress may be difficult to achieve. An inactive society may result.What is the main purpose of the passage?
| A．To outline contrasting types of economic systems. |
| B．To explain the science of economics. |
| C．To argue for the superiority of one economic system. |
| D．To compare barter and money-exchange markets. |
In the second paragraph, the underlined word “real” could best be replaced by _______.
| A．valuable | B．concrete | C．absolute | D．reliable |
According to the passage, a barter economy can generate ______.
| A．rapid speed of transactions | B．misunderstandings |
| C．inflation | D．difficulties for the traders |
According to the passage, who has the greatest degree of control in the administered system?
| A．Individual households. | B．Small businesses. |
| C．Major corporations. | D．The government. |
Which of the following is not mentioned by the author as a criterion（标准）for determining a person’s position in a traditional society?
| A．Family background | B．Age |
| C．Religious beliefs. | D．Custom |
There was a story many years ago of a school teacher----Mrs.Thompson. She told the children on the first day that she loved them all the same. But that was a lie. There in the front row was a little boy named Teddy Stoddard. He didn't play well with the other children and he always needed a bath. She did not like him.
Then Mrs. Thompson got to know that Teddy was actually a very good boy before the death of his mother. Mrs. Thompson was ashamed of herself. She felt even worse when, like all her other students, Teddy brought her a Christmas present too. It was his mother's perfume(香水）.
Teddy said, "Mrs.Thompson, today you smell just like my Mom used to." After the children left she cried for at least an hour. On that very day, she stopped teaching reading, writing and math. Instead, she began to teach children.
Mrs.Thompson paid particular attention to Teddy.The boy's mind seemed to come alive. The more she encouraged him, the faster he improved. By the end of the sixth grade, Teddy had become one of the smartest children in the class.
Six years went by before she got a note from Teddy. He wrote that he had finished high school, third in his class, and she was still the best teacher he ever had in his whole life. He went to college. Mrs.Thompson got two more letters from him with the last signed, Theodore F. Stoddar, M. D. (医学博士）.
The story doesn't end there. On his wedding day, Dr.Stoddard whispered in Mrs.Thompson's ear," Thank you, Mrs. Thomson, for believing in me. You made me feel important and showed me that I could make a difference."
Mrs. Thompson , with tears in her eyes, whispered back,"Teddy, you have it all wrong. You were the one who taught me that I could make a difference. I didn't know how to teach until I met you.What did Mrs.Thompson do on the first day of school?
| A．She made Teddy feel ashamed |
| B．She asked the children to play with Teddy. |
| C．She changed Teddy's seat to the front row. |
| D．She told the class something untrue about herself. |
What did Mrs. Thompson find out about Teddy?
| A．He often told lies. | B．He was good at math |
| C．He needed motherly care | D．He enjoyed playing with others |
In what way did Mrs. Thompson change?
| A．She taught fewer school subjects. |
| B．She became stricter with her students. |
| C．She no longer liked her job as a teacher. |
| D．She cared more about educating students. |
Why did Teddy thank Mrs.Thompson at his wedding?
| A．She had kept in touch with him. |
| B．She had given him encouragement. |
| C．She had sent him Christmas presents. |
| D．She had taught him how to judge people. |
Do you know Australia? Australia is the largest island in the world. It is a little smaller than China. It is in the south of the earth. Australia is big, but its population is not large. The population of Australia is nearly as large as that of Shanghai.
The government has made enough laws to fight pollution. The cities in Australia have got little air or water pollution. The sky is blue and the water is clean. You can clearly see fish swimming in the rivers. Plants grow very well.
Last month we visited Perth, the biggest city in Western Australia, and went to a wild flowers’ exhibition. There we saw a large number of wild flowers we had never seen before. We had a wonderful time. Perth is famous for its beautiful wild flowers. In spring every year Perth has the wild flowers’ exhibition. After visiting Perth, we spent the day in the countryside. We sat down and had a rest near a path at the foot of a hill. It was quiet and we enjoyed ourselves. Suddenly we heard bells ringing at the top of the hill. What we saw made us pick up all our things and run back to the car as quick as we could. There were about three hundred sheep coming towards us down the path.
Australia is famous for its sheep and kangaroos(袋鼠). After a short drive from any town, you will find yourself in the middle of white sheep. Sheep, sheep, everywhere are sheep. Australia is __________.
| A．the largest country in the world | B．as large as Shanghai |
| C．not as large as China | D．the largest island in the north of the earth |
The government had made _________.
| A．not enough laws to fight pollution |
| B．so many laws that it can fight pollution |
| C．enough laws that it can hardly fight pollution |
| D．enough laws because the pollution is very serious |
Which of the following is NOT true?
| A．Perth is famous for its beautiful wild flowers |
| B．Perth is bigger than any other city in Western Australia |
| C．Perth lies in the west of Australia |
| D．No other city is larger than Perth in Australia |
One of the best-known American writers of children’s books is Alfred Strong, or Doctor Strong, as he is better known to readers everywhere. Now, an art show called “Doctor Strong from then to now” is traveling around the United States. The pictures and drawings show the history of Doctor Strong.
Doctor Strong first became famous almost fifty years ago when his first children’s book was published. Since then, he has written forty-five books that have sold more than hundred million copies around the world.
Doctor Strong’s books are known for their easy use of words and colorful, hand-drawn pictures. These drawings bring life to his imaginary creatures. The Cat in the Hat, Horton the elephant, The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, and hundreds of others.
The San Diego Museum, in California, organized the art show. It included about three hundred Doctor Strong’s original(最早的) drawings and some of his writings.
Most of Doctor Strong’s books, although written in a funny way, have serious messages. For example, in Mc Elligot’s Pool, he describes the danger of pollution. He discusses the arms race in The Butter Battle Book, written in 1984.
Doctor Strong is almost eighty-four years old now. He says he never planned to write stories just for children. He says he uses easy words so that everyone, even a child, can understand.Alfred Strong is a famous __________ in the United States.
| A．doctor | B．artist | C．writer | D．reader |
Doctor Strong first became famous in __________.
| A．his eighties when an art show was traveling around the United States |
| B．his fifties when his drawings and writings were published |
| C．1984 when his book McElligot’s Pool was published |
| D．his thirties when his first book was published |
Doctor Strong’s books are very popular in America because _________.
| A．they are stories about animals such as cats, elephants and so on |
| B．they are written in easy words with colorful pictures |
| C．he organized the art show in California |
| D．they are written in a funny way |
His purpose in writing many such books is _________.
| A．to show his original pictures and drawings |
| B．to organize a special art show of his own |
| C．to make his readers laugh or smile when they read his books |
| D．not only to interest people but to expose(揭露) some serious social problems |
Television, which made its first serious appearance in 1939, did not become common until the early 1950s. Since then, millions of children have grown up in front of the set, and many people now worry about the effect that TV has on the young, and on society in general. Educators, psychologists, and crime experts wonder if television should be abolished(取消). Many ordinary parents wish it had never been invented. Why are they so afraid? Is television as harmful as they think it is?
Like almost anything else, television has its good and its bad sides. One should surely thank its inventors for the joy and interest that they have brought into the lives of the old, the sick, and the lonely -- all those who, without it, would have no pleasure and no window on the world.
In truth, television has opened windows in everybody's life. No newspaper has ever reached so many people and shown so clearly what was happening right now in their own country and everywhere else. TV not only gives the news instantly, it also shows it in pictures more powerful than words. It can be said that TV has brought reality to the public. Millions of people now have seen the effects of a battle, a flood, a fire, a crime, disasters of every sort on the screen.
Unfortunately, television's influence has been extremely harmful to the young. Children do not have enough experience to realize that TV shows present an unreal world. They want to imitate what they see. They do believe that the violence they see is normal and acceptable. By the time they are out of high school, most young people have watched about 15,000 hours of television, and have seen about 18,000 killings or other acts of violence. All educators and psychologists agree that the "television generations" are more violent than their parents and grandparents,
According to the same experts, the young are also less patient. Used to TV shows, where everything is quick and entertaining, they do not have the patience to read an article without pictures; to read a book that requires thinking; to listen to a teacher who doesn't do funny things like the people on children's programs. And they expect all problems to be solved happily in ten, fifteen or thirty minutes. That's the time it takes on the screen.
It is certain that television has deeply changed our lives and our society. It is certain that, along with its benefits, it has brought many serious problems. To these problems we must soon find a solution because, whether we like it or not, television is here to stay.First TV set was made ______.
| A．in 1939 | B．in the 1950s |
| C．in the 1940s | D．in 1919 |
Which of the following people have a view on TV different from the others?
| A．Educators. | B．TV producers. |
| C．Crime experts. | D．Psychologists. |
According to the author, who need TV most?
| A．Educators. |
| B．Crime experts. |
| C．The old and the lonely. |
| D．The children and their parents. |
We can conclude that ‘television generations’ are_______.
| A．lonely | B．more patient |
| C．more violent | D．more gentle |
People have been painting pictures for at least 30,000 years. The earliest pictures were painted by people who hunted animals. They used to paint pictures of the animals they wanted to catch and kill. Pictures of this kind have been found on the walls of caves in France and Spain. No one knows why they were painted there. Perhaps the painters thought that their pictures would help them to catch these animals. Or perhaps human beings have always wanted to tell stories in pictures.
About 5,000 years ago, the Egyptians and other people in the Near East began to use pictures as kind of writing. They drew simple pictures or signs to represent things and ideas, and also to represent the sounds of their language. The signs these people used became a kind of alphabet.
The Egyptians used to record information and to tell stories by putting picture-writing and pictures together. When an important person died, scenes and stories from his life were painted and carved on the walls of the place where he was buried. Some of these pictures are like modern comic strip stories. It has been said that Egypt is the home of the comic strip. But, for the Egyptians, pictures still had magic power. So they did not try to make their way of writing simple. The ordinary people could not understand it.
By the year 1,000 BC, people who lived in the area around the Mediterranean Sea had developed a simpler system of writing. The signs they used were very easy to write, and there were fewer of them than in the Egyptian system. This was because each sign, or letter, represented only one sound in their language. The Greeks developed this system and formed the letters of the Greek alphabet. The Romans copied the idea, and the Roman alphabet is now used all over the world.
These days, we can write down a story, or record information, without using pictures. But we still need pictures of all kinds: drawing, photographs, signs and diagrams. We find them everywhere: in books and newspapers, in the street, and on the walls of the places where we live and work. Pictures help us to understand and remember things more easily, and they can make a story much more interesting. Pictures of animals were painted on the walls of caves in France and Spain because ______.
| A．the hunters wanted to see the pictures |
| B．the painters were animal lovers |
| C．the painters wanted to show imagination |
| D．the pictures were thought to be helpful |
The Greek alphabet was simpler than the Egyptian system for all the following reasons EXCEPT that _______.
| A．the former was easy to write |
| B．there were fewer signs in the former |
| C．the former was easy to pronounce |
| D．each sign stood for only one sound |
Which of the following statements is TRUE?
| A．The Egyptian signs later became a particular alphabet. |
| B．The Egyptians liked to write comic-strip stories. |
| C．The Roman alphabet was developed from the Egyptian one. |
| D．The Greeks copied their writing system from the Egyptians. |
In the last paragraph, the author thinks that pictures ___________.
| A．should be made comprehensible |
| B．should be made interesting |
| C．are of much use in our life |
| D．have disappeared from our life |