“Hey, little boy, will you support me when I’m getting old?” Wang Wenshan, 35, asked his newborn baby as he picked him up at home.
The Chinese tradition of raising sons to support parents in their old age has been weakened by the rapidly growing economy and improving standard of living. As is the case with more and more developed countries, China faces an aging society. People are living longer and having fewer children. Therefore, many Chinese families are falling into a 4-2-1 family pattern: a couple raises one child and supports four elderly parents. But few realize that a problem is likely to happen ahead.
The aging of the population is a trend that now affects a growing number of countries. Not long ago, the Information Office of the State Council, China’s cabinet, issued a white paper on measures China is taking to help its elderly population. The paper said China’s population entered the aging period at the end of the 20th century and the proportion of people aged 60 and above accounted for over 10 percent of the entire population. By the end of 2005, China had nearly 144 million people over 60, accounting for 11 percent of population, according to the white paper.
An expanding aged population inevitably means that many issues must be settled, as the problem concerns every aspect of society. It puts more pressure on each family, causing disturbing economic consequences and serious social problems. It also challenges the labor force supply and the pension system.
“I used to think that it’s not an issue for me to provide for the aged,” said Wang, whose parents and parents-in-law all enjoy pensions and medical insurance. But last year Wang’s father suffered a serious illness and afterward Wang began to feel the pressure on his shoulders.
After his father recovered, Wang opened bank accounts for each parent and deposited some money into the account every month to prepare for future uncertainties. In addition, he has to save money every month to provide for his son’s future education. “I’m now breaking my back working to support my family: saving pensions for the parents, my son’s education funds, and living costs.”
Wang also bought some commercial old-age insurance for himself. “We have to take precautions before it is too late, and many of my colleagues share the same view,” he said. Which of the following is not caused by an aging society?
A.Social problem |
B.The problem of the pension system |
C.More pressure on the family |
D.Unemployment |
From the passage, we can infer _______
A.the aging people problem is one of the concerns for the Chinese government |
B.China will encourage young couples to have more than one child |
C.many people have realized the problem of aging society |
D.children will not support their parents in an aging society |
Which of the following can be used to replace the underlined word inevitably?
A.Surprisingly | B.Certainly | C.Hopefully | D.Unluckily |
Form the text we can see that _______
A.China is the only country to face an aging society |
B.Most of the developing countries face an aging society |
C.countries with a large population face an aging society |
D.more and more developed countries face an aging society |
Mark Twain was a great writer. He was from the USA. He was born in 1835. He was also a famous speaker. He was famous for his sense of humour. Many people liked to listen to him talk because he liked to tell some interesting stories to make people laugh all the time.
One day Mark Twain was going to a small town because of his writing. Before he was going to leave, one of his friends said to him that there were always a lot of mosquitoes(蚊子) in the town and told him that he’d better not go there. Mark Twain waved (摇动) his hand and said, “It doesn’t matter. The mosquitoes are no relatives of mine. I don’t think they will come to visit me.”
After he arrived at the town, Mark Twain stayed in a small hotel near the station. He went into his room, but when he was just about to have a rest, quite a few mosquitoes flew about him. The waiters felt very sorry about that. “I’m very sorry, Mr. Mark Twain. There are too many mosquitoes in our town.” One of them said to him.
Mark Twain, however, made a joke, saying to the waiter, “The mosquitoes are very clever. They know my room number. They didn’t come into the wrong room.” What he said made all the people present laugh heartily.
But that night Mark Twain slept well. Do you know why? That was because all the waiters in the hotel were driving the mosquitoes away for him during the whole night. That day Mark Twain went to the town _____.
A.to see one of his friends |
B.because he wanted to do something there for his writing |
C.because he was told there were a lot of mosquitoes there |
D.to see one of his relatives |
The waiters felt sorry because _____.
A.they did something wrong to Mark Twain |
B.their hotel was too small |
C.the room was not very clean |
D.there were quite a few mosquitoes in Mark Twain’s room |
All the people present laughed heartily because _____.
A.the mosquitoes were very clever and they didn’t come into the wrong room |
B.the mosquitoes knew Mark Twain’s room number |
C.Mark Twain gave the waiters some nice presents |
D.Mark Twain made a joke |
From the story we know _____.
A.no mosquitoes troubled Mark Twain in the night |
B.the owner of the hotel told the waiters to look after Mark Twain well at night |
C.Mark Twain didn’t have a good rest that night |
D.there were not mosquitoes in the hotel any longer |
Mark was walking home from school one day when he saw the boy in front of him fall over and drop all of the books. He was carrying, along with two sweaters, a basketball and a walkman(随身听). Mark stopped and helped the boy pick up these things. Since they were going the same way, he helped to carry some of his things. As they walked, Mark knew that the boy’s name was Bill, that he loved computer games, basketball and history, and that he was having lots of trouble with his other subjects and that he had just broken up with his girlfriend.
They arrived at Bill’s home first and Mark was invited in for a Coke and to watch some television. The afternoon passed happily with a few laughs and some small talk, and then Mark went home. They often saw each other at school, had lunch together once or twice, and then they both finished middle school. They ended up in the same high school where they sometimes saw and talked with each other over the years. At last just three weeks before they finished high school, Bill asked Mark if they could talk.
Bill asked Mark if he still remembered the day years ago when they had first met. “Did you ever think why I was carrying so many things home that day?” asked Bill. “You see, I cleaned out my locker(锁柜) because I didn’t want to leave anything for anyone else. I had put away some of my mother’s sleeping pills and I was going home to kill myself. But after we spent some time together talking and laughing, I began to understand that if I killed myself, I would have missed that time and so many others that might follow. So you see, Mark, when you picked up those books that day, you did a lot more. You saved my life.” When Mark met him the first time, Bill was going _______.
A.to have a basketball game | B.to his classroom |
C.to see Mark | D.back home |
From what Bill was carrying, we can know that he _______.
A.was a good student | B.liked sports and music |
C.liked all the subjects in school | D.was a good friend |
Mark and Bill _______.
A.were in the same middle school and high school |
B.were in the same middle school but not in the same high school |
C.often had lunch together at school |
D.had known each other before they began to study in middle school |
In this passage, the phrase “break up” means _______.
A.相处很好 | B.和好如初 | C.关系破裂 | D.保持联系 |
When Mark helped Bill to pick up some of his things, he _______.
A.knew he could save Bill’s life |
B.knew who Bill was and wanted to help him |
C.didn’t know why he was going to help him |
D.didn’t know what he was doing was very important to Bill |
Hobbs was an orphan(孤儿). He worked in a factory and every day he got a little money. Hard work changed him thin and weak. He wanted to borrow a lot of money to learn to paint pictures, but he did not think he could pay off the debts.One day the lawyer said to him, “One thousand dollars, and here is the money.” As Hobbs took the package of notes, he was very dumbfounded(目瞪口呆的). He didn’t know where the money came from and how to spend it. He said to himself, “I could go to find a hotel and live like a rich man for a few days; or I give up my work in the factory and do what I’d like to do: painting pictures I could do that for a few weeks, but what would I do after that? I should have lost my place of the factory and have no money to live on. If it were a little less money, I would buy a new coat, or a radio, or give a dinner to my friends. If it were more, I could give up the work and pay for painting pictures. But it’s too much for one and too little for the other.”
“Here is the reading of your uncle’s will(遗嘱),” said the lawyer, “telling what is to be done with this money after his death. I must ask you to remember one point. Your uncle has said you must bring me a paper showing exactly what you did with his money, as soon as you have spent it.”
“Yes, I see. I’ll do that.” said the young man.He wanted to borrow money because he wanted to_____.
A.study abroad | B.work abroad |
C.pay for the debts | D.learn to paint pictures |
Hobbs was dumbfounded on receiving the money because he thought_____.
A.the money was too much |
B.the money was too little |
C.he would be dismissed |
D.the lawyer meant to punish him |
With the money he got, first Hobbs_____.
A.planned to have a happy life for a few days |
B.decided to give up his work in the office |
C.was to give a dinner to his friends |
D.had no idea what to do |
What Hobbs was asked to do was_____.
A.to tell the lawyer what he did with the money after spending it |
B.to read his uncle’s will |
C.to tell the lawyer what was to be done with the money |
D.nothing but to buy some pictures |
What Hobbs really loved to do was_____.
A.working in the factory |
B.living in a fine hotel |
C.painting pictures |
D.saving the money |
John Smith was a writer, who wrote detective stories for magazines(杂志), though he never dealt with criminals(罪犯). One evening he could not finish an end for a story. He sat in his study(书房), but he had no ideas. So he decided to go to the cinema.
When he came back, he found that he had had a visitor. Someone had broken into his house. The visitor had had a drink, smoked several of his cigarettes and had read his story. The visitor left him a note. “I have read your story and I don’t think it is very good. Please read my suggestions and you can finish it. By the way, I am a thief. I’m not going to steal anything tonight. But if you become a successful writer, I will return.”
John read the thief’s suggestions. Then he sat down and wrote the rest of the story. He is still not a successful writer, and he is waiting for his “visitor” to return. Before he goes out in the evening, he always leaves a half-finished story in his study.Detective stories are stories about_____.
A.science | B.children |
C.the future | D.the police |
John went to the cinema because_____.
A.he was too tired |
B.he wanted to look for a thief |
C.he could not finish his story and hoped to get some ideas |
D.he wanted to enjoy himself in the cinema |
The visitor came to John’s house in order to_____.
A.steal something | B.read the story |
C.have a drink | D.visit the writer |
The visitor_____.
A.stayed in John’s house for a night |
B.took some of John’s things away |
C.left John some advice |
D.was a good friend of John’s |
John would like to_____.
A.have a talk with his visitor |
B.get more ideas from the visitor |
C.make friends with the visitor |
D.catch the visitor and take him to the police |
Good afternoon,and welcome to England. We hope that your visit here will be a pleasant one. Today,I would like to draw your attention to a few of our laws.
The first one is about drinking. Now,you may not buy alcohol (酒) in this country if you are under 18 years of age,nor may your friends buy it for you.
Secondly,noise. Enjoy yourselves by all means,but please don’t make unnecessary noise,particularly at night. We ask you to respect other people who may wish to be quiet.
Thirdly,crossing the road. Be careful!The traffic moves on the left side of the road in this country. Use pedestrian crossings (人行横道) and do not take any chances when crossing the road.
My next point is about litter (throwing away waste material in a public place).It is an offence (违法行为) to drop litter in the street. When you have something to throw away,please put it in your pocket and take it home,or put it in a litter bin.
Finally,as regards something,it is against the law to buy cigarettes or tobacco (烟草) if you are under 16 years of age.
I’d like to finish by saying that if you require any sort of help or assistance,you should contact your local police station,who will be pleased to help you.
Now,are there any questions?The main purpose of this speech would be to________.
A.prepare people for international travel |
B.declare the laws of different kinds |
C.inform people of the punishment for breaking laws |
D.give advice to travelers to the country |
How many laws are there discussed in the speech?
A.Three | B.Four | C.Five | D.Six. |
The underlined word “contact” in the seventh paragraph means________.
A.keep in touch with | B.join |
C.report | D.get in touch with |
From the speech we learn that________.
A.in this country,if you are under 18 years of age,you may not buy alcohol,but your friend can buy it for you |
B.you may not buy cigarettes or tobacco unless you are above 16 years of age |
C.because the traffic moves on the left side of the road,you must use pedestrian crossings when crossing the road |
D.you can’t make noise except at night |
Who do you think is most likely to make the speech?
A.A policeman | B.A worker at a hotel. |
C.A lawyer | D.An air hostess (空姐). |