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.
Martine puts it down to, among other things, soap operas (通俗电视连续剧) and installment (分期付款) 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 life, women working,” says Martine. “They sent this image to all parts of Brazil and made people aware of other patterns of behavior and other values, which were put into a very attractive package.”According to the passage, Brazil has cut back its population growth _____.
| A．by educating its citizens |
| B．by careful family planning |
| C．by developing TV programmes |
| D．by chance |
What can you infer from the passage about many Third World countries ?
| A．They haven’t attached much importance to birth control. |
| B．They would soon join Brazil in controlling their birth rate. |
| C．They haven’t yet found an effective measure to control their population. |
| D．They neglected the role of TV plays in family planning |
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 |
Started in 1636, Harvard University is the oldest of all the colleges and universities in the United States. Yale, Princeton, and Columbia were opened soon after Harvard. In the early years, these schools were much alike. Only young men could go to college. All the students studied the same subjects, and everyone learned Latin, and Greek. Little was known about science then. When the students graduated, most of them became ministers or teachers.
In 1782, Harvard started a medical school for young men who wanted to become doctors. Later, lawyers could receive their training (训练) in Harvard’s law school. In 1825, besides Latin and Greek, Harvard began teaching modern languages, such as French and German. Soon it began teaching American history.
As knowledge increased, Harvard and other colleges began to teach many new subjects. Students were allowed to choose the subjects that interested them.
Today, there are many different kinds of colleges and universities. Most of them are made up of smaller schools that deal with special fields of learning. There’s so much to learn that one kind of school can’t offer it all.
1. The oldest university in the US is ______.
A. Yale B. Harvard C. Princeton D. Columbia
2. Which of the following statements is TRUE?
A. Those colleges and universities were the same.
B. People, young or old, might study in the colleges.
C. Students studied only some languages and science.
D. When the students finished their school, they all became lawyers or teachers.
3. As knowledge increased, colleges began to teach ______.
A. everything that was known
B. law and something about medicine
C. many new subjects
D. the subjects that interested students
4. On the whole, the passage is about ______.
A. how to start a university
B. the world-famous colleges in America
C. how colleges have changed
D. what kinds of lessons each college teaches
5. From the passage, we can infer____
A. Harvard is the oldest university in the world.
B. Befoe 1825, besides Latin and Greek, other modern languages were taught in Harvard.
C. Today, most universities only deal with special fields of learning.
D. In the early years, young women couldn’t go to college in the US.
Mount Everest is the highest mountain in the world. It is in the Himalayan Mountains between Nepal and China, and it is 8 900 meters high. Sir Edmund Hillary from New Zealand and Tenzing Norgay from Nepal were the first people ever to climb Mount Everest. They climbed it in 1953. Men from several different countries climbed it after that.
Jumko Tabei, a Japanese from Hokkaido, was the first woman to make this difficult climb. A Tokyo newspaper television organized the climb in 1975. They chose fifteen women from mountaineering (登山) clubs to go to Nepal. The group climbed for several days. Then there was an avalanche (雪崩). The heavy ice and snow injured ten of the women. They had to stop climbing, the other five women continued.
Only Ms. Tabei was able to climbing the last 70 meters. She was standing on the top of the world. She was the first woman there.
Ms. Tabei was 35 years old at the time. She is 1 meter 50 centimeters and weighs 42 kilograms. She says that she is an ordinary housewife. She started climbing mountains in 1960. She climbed every mountain in Japan. Then she climbed Mount Annapurna, another high mountain in the Himalayas. Finally she climbed the world’s highest mountain.
When she reached the top, she thought, “I’m at the top and I’m glad that I’m at the top.” Then she climbed back down the mountain.
1. Ms. Tabei was great because _________.
A. she was the first one ever to climb Mount Everest
B. she had climbed every mountain in Japan
C. she was the first woman that climbed the world’s highest mountain
D. she had climbed many mountains though she was small and young
2. “The heavy ice and snow injured ten of the women.” The word “injured” means ________.
A. killed B. hurt C. buried D. froze
3. Which of the following is true?
A.None of the group reached the top of Mount Everest.
B. Ms. Tabei was one of the other five women who reached the top of Mount Everest.
C. The other five women reached the top of Mount Everest but Ms. Tabei was the first one.
D. Ms. Tabei was the only one of the group who reached the top of Mount Everest.
4. Ms. Tabei had practiced climbing for _________ years.
A. fifteen B. twenty-two C. thirteen D. ten
5.What’s the main idea of the passage ?
A. The highest mountain in the world.
B. The first woman to set foot on the highest mountain in the world.
C. How to climb the highest mountain in the world.
D. The exploration to the highest mountain in the world.
第三部分：阅读理解（每题２分，共３０分）
Maria is a very fast runner. She has won many races put on by the factory in Russia where she works. She was asked how she was able to stay in such good shape（体型）. This was her answer.
“I’m in shape because of the way I spend my day. It begins at 5:30 in the morning. I jump out of bed to cook for my husband and iron（熨衣服） the clothes. Then I have to start running to work on time.
“I rush with a large bag in one hand and my four-year-old baby in the other. First， I stop at the school, hand my baby to the teachers, and then rush to work. After work I run back to the school to pick up my baby and then run to the market. Then I run home to start cooking supper-and then it takes time to feed them and get them all to bed. Then I start doing the washing so I can iron in the morning.
“My husband is soft because I have made life easy for him. He doesn’t hurry to and from work，and I have the table set when he gets home. He eats， puts on the television, sits down and reads the newspaper. And that’s why I’m in such good shape—and my husband isn’t.”
1.Maria is in good shape mainly because she ＿＿＿＿＿＿＿.
A. goes to exercise classes B. runs so much every day
C. has won many races D. is a Russian
2.Maria gets up at 5:30 in the morning because ＿＿＿＿＿＿.
A. her children wake her
B. she has so much to do before she goes to work
C. she likes getting up early
D. her husband wakes her
3.After work, Maria usually＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿.
A. goes on with her work B. takes her baby to school
C. irons the clothes D. cooks supper
4.Which of the following is TRUE about Maria’s hus band?
A. He’s a badtempered man.
B. He always goes to work in a hurry.
C. He isn’t in good shape.
D. He cooks breakfast by himself.
5.Which of the statements is right ?
A. Maria is an American woman.
B. Maria won many races put on by the CLUB in Russia.
C. Maria has to hurry to do something every day.
D. Maria and his husand care about each other.
C
43. What is Kelly Chan going to do?
A. To hold a concert. B. To go on a diet. C. To watch a game. D. To make a dress.
44. According to the news the player from ________ won the tennis match on Saturday.
A. Russia B. Japan C. South Korea D. America
45.The medical group from America said last week that _________.
A. America has too many good athletes B. children shouldn’t have too many soft drinks
C. schools should organize more picnics D. most parents in America have health problem
Few students would dream of getting a job as a shoe shiner working along the street. College students, in their own eyes and in the eyes of the public, are expected to get at least a proper job, if not working in a high-income or white-collar position.
Cai Yong’s decision to work as a shoe shiner shocked not only his parents, who had high hopes for him, but also his girlfriend.
“It is right for young graduates to be ambitious (有抱负的). But they have to start in a solid
and down-to-earth way,” Cai said. Cai is not alone in making such a choice. The company has got
12 college students in all.
“I come for the 800 yuan monthly pay,” said Xiao Ji, who is a student from Nanjing University. “I have grown up and no longer live on my parents,” he said.
“Working as shoe shiners can mean a bright future,” Cai said.
Not everyone can accept this job choice. Cai’s girlfriend left him because she felt ashamed to be with a shoe shiner, and Cai accepted the fact. “This is the price to be paid for a job,” he said.
A former shoe shiner, Zhong Haibo, from a medical college, believes it was a good training for the rest of his life. “There is nothing I can’t do after working as a shoe shiner,” Zhong said, meaning that such kind of experience in early life is helpful in a future job.
39. Cai Yong decided to work as.
A. a college teacher B. a company manager C. a shoe shiner D. a medicine maker
40. Why did Cai’s girlfriend leave him?
A. They didn’t get along well with each other. B. Her parents didn’t like him.
C. She found it a shame to marry a shoe shiner. D. Cai had got a new girlfriend.
41. Most people think Cai’s choice.
A. unbelievable B. niceC. enjoyable D. wonderful
42. From the passage we know Zhong Haibo.
A. doesn’t like college life B. thinks highly of working as shoe shiners
C. is a middle school student D. is still a shoe shiner at the moment