BEIJING , March 9 --- The central government will require an additional three years of use for official vehicles for ministers and governors to reduce the costs of purchasing new cars, media have reported.
The new rule has been applied among all Party and government departments nationwide, the Beijing News reported on Tuesday. The new rule has not yet been made public, said Li, a member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference National Committee.
Under the old rules, the cars used by minister-level officials could be replaced as often as every five years, Li said. These officials will also keep the same cars when they assume new posts, he added.
The new rule also reiterated(重申) that officials ranking below minister-or-governor-levels should not be allocated cars. The cars possessed by their departments should be used on demand.
“It violates the rules for lower-ranking --- even county-level-officials to be allocated cars,” Li said.
Purchases of vehicles for official use have been heavily investigated, as they account for a large expenditure (花费) of public funds every year.
A survey on the Web news www.ifeng.com found 64 percent of respondents believed the new rule will be difficult to carry out because it is related to officials’ interests.
“Local government departments had halted(中断) approvals for requests for such vehicles and had started to work on new quotas(指标) under the new rules,” Li said. “The future reform of official vehicle use will introduce market mechanisms and monetization.”
Premier Wen Jiabao said in the annual government work report on Saturday that expenditures on such vehicles will not increase in 2011 compared with a year ago.
Beijing’s standing deputy mayor Ji Lin last week said the municipal (市政的) government will release the number of vehicles for official use in the capital as early as at the end of this month.
Earlier this month, the Minister of Finance had published a rule regulating the budgets for such vehicles.What is the purpose of the new rule allocating vehicles among officials?
| A．To promote a low-carbon lifestyle. |
| B．To cut down the present huge expenditures of purchasing cars. |
| C．To make good use of budgets for official cars. |
| D．To solve the problem of severe traffic jam. |
How often could the cars used by minister-level officials be replaced according to the new rule?
| A．Every 3 years. | B．Every 5 years. | C．Every 8 years. | D．Every 10 years. |
What about the officials ranking below minister-or-governor levels in terms of official vehicles?
| A．They can still possess special cars. |
| B．They can use their own private cars. |
| C．They can use cars whenever officially necessary. |
| D．They can be allocated second-hand cars. |
What is the public’s attitude toward the new rule’s fulfillment?
| A．Uncertain. | B．Optimistic. | C．Indifferent. | D．Passive |
From the passage, we can infer that_________.
| A．the government is determined to carry out the new rule |
| B．the new rule has not yet been made public |
| C．the new rule will benefit official’s interest |
| D．the new rule is applied to minister-level officials |
I began working in journalism when I was eight. It was my mother’s idea. She wanted me to “make something” of myself, and decided I had better start young if I was to have any chance of keeping up with the competition.
With my load of magazines I headed toward Belleville Avenue. The crowds were there. There were two gas stations on the corner of Belleville and Union. For several hours I made myself highly visible, making sure everyone could see me and the heavy black letters on the bag that said THE SATURDAY EVENING POST. When it was suppertime, I walked back home.
“ How many did you sell, my boy?” my mother asked.
“ None.”
“ Where did you go?”
“ The corner of Belleville and Union Avenues.”
“ What did you do?”
“ Stood on the corner waiting for somebody to buy a Saturday Evening Post.”
“ You just stood there?”
“ Didn’t sell a single one.”
“ My God, Russell!”
Uncle Allen put in, “ Well, I’ve decided to take the Post.” I handed him a copy and he paid me a nickel. It was the first nickel I earned.
Afterwards my mother taught me how to be a salesman. I would have to ring doorbells, address adults with self-confidence, and persuade them by saying that no one, no matter how poor, could afford to be without the Saturday Evening Post in the home.
One day, I told my mother I’d changed my mind. I didn’t want to make a success in the magazine business.
“ If you think you can change your mind like this,” she replied, “ you’ll become a good-for-nothing.” She insisted that, as soon as school was over, I should start ringing doorbells, selling magazines. Whenever I said no, she would scold me.
My mother and I had fought this battle almost as long as I could remember. My mother, dissatisfied with my father’s plain workman’s life, determined that I would not grow up like him and his people. But never did she expect that, forty years later, such a successful journalist as me would go back to her husband’s people for true life and love.Why did the boy start his job young?
| A．He wanted to be famous in the future. | B．The job was quite easy for him. |
| C．His mother had high hopes for him. | D．The competition for the job was fierce. |
From the dialogue between the boy and his mother, we learn that the mother was _______.
| A．excited | B．interested | C．ashamed | D．disappointed |
What did the mother do when the boy wanted to give up?
| A．She forced him to continue. | B．She punished him. |
| C．She gave him some money. | D．She changed her plan. |
What is the text mainly about?
| A．The early life of a journalist. |
| B．The early success of a journalist. |
| C．The happy childhood of the writer. |
| D．The important role of the writer in his family. |
(CNN)-China will sometimes say “no” and the world should get used to it.
That message came through when China joined Russia in blocking action on Syria.
“Do not mistakenly think that because China takes a careful and responsible position on the Syria issue, China will not use its veto power (否决权) or will always abstain（弃权）,” said Cui Tiankai, China’s vice foreign minister, “When China must use its veto power to say no, it will surely use it.”
On Saturday, Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, called the vetoes “disgusting and shameful.”
He Wenping, director of African Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the veto shows China’s confidence in foreign affairs. “A country expressing its true opinion – that’s progress. China opposes the use of threat or force to achieve regime（政权）change in other countries. This agrees with China’s long-standing diplomacy principle. It is also not acceptable for China to rush a U.N. vote without sufficient discussion.”
So why did China use its veto this time?
China’s critics say China’s veto of the U.N. draft proposal(草案) was in part due to Beijing’s fear that allowing a regime change in Syria could encourage the spread of the Arab revolution and eventually threaten China.
He Wenping disagrees, “China has a completely different political system and economic development path. If someone in the international community thinks that the Arab Spring will happen in China, then I think they misjudge the situation in China, exaggerate(夸大) some problems in the Chinese society and underestimate the ability of the Chinese government to control the situation in China.”Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．China often uses its veto power on international issues. |
| B．China never uses its veto power on international issues. |
| C．China’s normal practice in the U.N. is to abstain rather than veto. |
| D．China should not have veto power in the U.N. |
What is the international reaction to China’s veto on the Syria issue?
| A．Russia supports China |
| B．The U.S. feels very unhappy. |
| C．The international community is used to it. |
| D．The Arab countries show no concern. |
Why did China use its veto power this time?
| A．Because Russia and China are friends. |
| B．Because China wants to hold an opposite stand against the U.S. |
| C．Because China is worried about a chain-action resulting from Syria’s revolution. |
| D．Because China opposes the use of threat or force to achieve regime change in other countries. |
What can we learn from the passage?
| A．China has a firm stand on international issues. |
| B．The U.N. asks the whole world to get used to China saying no on international issues. |
| C．CNN believed that China helped Syria to fight against the U.N. |
| D．All the member countries of the U.N. supported Susan Rice. |
Money, jewels and important documents are not the only valuable placed in banks these days. Some mothers store their breast milk in banks.
There’re ten breast banks set up across the United States, where mothers can donate their extra milk for other women’s babies. Experts say breast milk is the best food for babies. The World Health Organization says it is the only food babies should get during the first six months of life, in most cases. Breast milk is especially important for babies born too early. Sometimes these premature babies must stay in the hospital for many weeks.
James Cameron is a doctor who treats newborns at Lutheran Children’s Hospital in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He says breast milk is almost like medicine. Doctor James Cameron said, “The fact is that there are so many different proteins and specialized sugars in the breast milk that the mom’s able to make that help provide immunity. It’s very important for the health of the newborn.”
There are several reasons some mothers may not be able to breastfeed. Some are not able to produce enough milk. Others might be taking medicines or have medical problems that prevent the process.
Lucy Baur lives near Fort Wayne. She fed her milk to both her children and always had more milk than they needed. She wanted to donate to the Indiana Mothers Milk Bank in Indianapolis. But freezing and shipping milk can be costly. Then, a donor station opened near her home.
Milk donations in the United States work like this: Donors must be willing to provide almost three liters of breast milk. They freeze the milk and take it to the station. There, employees warm the milk and mix it with other mothers’ milk. Then, the milk is heated to kill bacteria. After that, the technicians test samples of all the milk to make sure it is safe and healthful. The milk is re-frozen and sent to the main milk bank. The milk bank transports the milk to hospitals to feed premature or sick babies. Donors are tested for diseases before any milk is accepted. They are not permitted to smoke tobacco, use illegal drugs or drink too much alcohol.The purpose of setting up breast milk banks is to_____.
| A．store extra fresh milk for school children |
| B．provide milk to children who go hungry |
| C．help mothers donate milk to other babies |
| D．offer free breast milk to premature babies |
The breast milk is important for newborns because_____.
| A．it protects them from any possible disease |
| B．it contains rich nutrients that they need |
| C．it is the only food that babies can eat |
| D．it benefits them as the best medicine |
The underlined word “they” in the last paragraph refers to____.
| A．milk bank employees | B．milk bank doctors |
| C．milk bank nurses | D．breast milk donors |
Which of the following shows the process of milk donations in the USA?
a. The mixed breast milk is heated to kill bacteria.
b. Breast milk is donated by mothers, frozen by them and sent to the stations.
c. The breast milk samples are tested for safety reason.
d. Different donors’ breast milk is warmed and mixed together by the station.
e. The milk is frozen again and sent to the main milk bank.
| A．bdace | B．bcdea | C．badec | D．cbaed |
Microblogging is a broadcast medium in the form of blogging. A microblog differs from a traditional blog in that its content is typically much smaller, in both actual size and aggregate file size. Microblogs “allow users to exchange small elements of content such as short sentences, individual images, or video links”.
As with traditional blogging, microbloggers post about topics ranging from the simple, such as "what I'm doing right now," to the thematic(主题的), such as "sports cars.” Commercial microblogs also exist, to promote (促进) websites, services and/or products, and to promote collaboration within an organization.
Some microblogging services offer features such as privacy settings, which allow users to control who can read their microblogs, or other ways of publishing rights besides entering the web-based interface.(界面) These may include text messaging, instant messaging, E-mail, or digital audio.
The first microblogs were known as tumblelogs. The term was invented in a blog post on April 12, 2005. However, by 2006 and 2007, the term microblog came into greater usage for such services provided by Tumblr and Twitter. Other leading social networking websites Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, and XING also have their own microblogging features, better known as status updates.
Several studies, especially by Harvard Business School have tried to analyze the usage behavior of Microblogging services. Many of these studies show that for services such as Twitter, there is a small group of active users contributing to most of the activity.
Twitter, Facebook and other microblogging services are also becoming a platform for marketing and public relations, with a sharp growth in the number of social media marketers. The Sysomos study shows that this specific group of marketers on Twitter is much more active than general user population, with 15% following more than 2,000 people. Why is a microblog different from a traditional blog?
| A．Because a microblog doesn’t include pictures, but a traditional blog does. |
| B．Because a microblog doesn’t include videos, but a traditional blog does. |
| C．Because a microblog has smaller contents than a traditional blog in actual and total file size. |
| D．Because a microblog can only be written on the cell-phones. |
What is the meaning of the underlined word “collaboration” in the second paragraph?
| A．Competition. | B．Discussion. | C．Tradition. | D．Cooperation |
Microblogging can protect the following privacy EXCEPT_______.
| A．deciding the readers of the microblogs |
| B．allowing readers to publish their views |
| C．readers’ deleting what a microblog says |
| D．deciding whether readers can enter it |
We can infer from the passage that______.
| A．microbloggers always post about the thematic topics instead of the simple ones |
| B．microblogging has developed so quickly and brought the owners more and more benefits. |
| C．microblogging protects both the owners’ and the readers’ privacy |
| D．the studies by Harward Business School have analyzed the usage of microblogging services |
This advertisement is designed especially for those who __________．
| A．like eating in restaurants | B．have little time |
| C．prefer home-cooked meals | D．want to save money |
What information CAN’T we get from the advertisement about Quickeats?
| A．Different kinds． | B．High quality． | C．Exact prices． | D．Good taste． |
Which of the following can be cooled in a refrigerator before eating according to the ads?
| A．Pasta Salad． | B．Dried Fruit． | C．Noodles． | D．Nuts． |
What can we learn from the advertisement?
| A．Get one Quickeats container and you’ll have four Quickeats to eat． |
| B．Take one coupon and you can eat freely in a participating store． |
| C．Buy one coupon and you’ll get a free Quickeats． |
| D．Buy one Quickeats and you’ll get a container． |