Educating Girls Is a Real Lifesaver
Clare Short knows it. Every developing economist knows it. The World Bank knows it. The education of girls is the surest way to reduce poverty.
The reason is simple. All the evidence shows that taking girls out of the fields and homes, and putting them behind desks, raises economic productivity, lowers infant and maternal(产妇) death rates, reduces birth rates, and improves environmental management.
Why, then, are 90 million primary school-age girls around the world not in school? For the same reason that when Charles Dickens was writing David Copperfield 150 years ago girls were absent from the British education system: Men in power mostly prefer it that way, or are not interested enough in changing the situation to commit energy and money to doing so.
The countries with the poorest record for having women in positions of power or influence have the worst figures for girls’ education. High-profile intervention(介入) by organizations such as the World Bank has begun successfully with several countries, and more of the same will probably be needed to bring change in conservative, male-run states.
Even if there were no development payoff from gender equality in schools, the education of girls would still be a cause worth fighting for. Education is a human right, and the denial of it to girls is a scar on the community in the twenty-first century.
To be born a girl in a rural area in Nepal, Pakistan, Indonesia, Morocco, Togo, or Sudan — half a dozen of the most shameful performers — means being condemned to a life without school, education, or clean water, marriage and babies coming too early, too many births, children who die of preventable diseases, backbreaking work in the fields, subordination(从属) to husband and his family, and an early death.
Every year, almost 12 million children under the age of five needlessly die of infectious diseases associated with poverty. But each additional year spent by their mothers in primary school lowers the risk of premature child deaths by about 8 percent. In Pakistan, an extra year of school for 1,000 girls could prevent sixty infant deaths.
With women and girls being the main farmers in Africa and southern Asia, their education offers a chance to develop more efficient farming practices, improve output, and raise awareness of the ecological needs of the land with tree planting and farming. Therefore, the world community cannot afford to ignore this avenue of change.Which is Not the reason why educating girls reduces poverty?
| A．It improves environmental management. |
| B．It raises economic productivity. |
| C．It creates more children. |
| D．It lowers maternal death rates. |
What does the underlined word “it” in Paragraph 3 refer to?
| A．The poor economy at that time. |
| B．Girls’ absence from school. |
| C．Energy and money. |
| D．The education of girls. |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．The countries where women have great influence and are in power always do worse in girls’ education. |
| B．Some organizations such as the World Bank haven’t taken the lead in girls’ education. |
| C．Some girls in Sudan and Indonesia are bound to live a life without education when they are born. |
| D．Each extra year of school for girls has nothing to do with the birthrate and maternal deaths. |
How many more infants will survive when 100 girls stay in school for another year?
| A．5 | B．6 | C．8 | D．12 |
What does the author think of girls’ education?
| A．essential | B．terrible |
| C．indifferent | D．helpless |
If you have a chance to go to Finland, you will probably be surprised to find how “foolish” the Finnish people are.
Take the taxi drivers for example. Taxis in Finland are mostly high-class Benz with a fare of two US dollars a kilometer. You can go anywhere in one, tell the driver to drop you at any place, say that you have some business to attend to, and then walk off without paying your fare. The driver would not show the least sign of anxiety.
The dining rooms in all big hotels not only serve their guests, but also serve outside diners. Hotel guests have their meals free, so they naturally go to the free dining rooms to have their meals. The most they would do to show their good faith is to wave their registration card to the waiter. With such a loose check, you can easily use any old registration card to take a couple of friends to dine free of charge.
The Finnish workers are paid by the hour. They are very much on their own as soon as they have agreed with the boss on the rate. From then on they just say how many hours they have worked and they will be paid accordingly.
With so many loopholes(漏洞) in everyday life, surely Finland must be a heaven to those who love to take “petty advantages”. But the strange thing is, all the taxi passengers would always come back to pay their fare after they have attended to their business; not a single outsider has ever been found in the free hotel dining rooms. And workers always give an honest account of the exact hours they put in. As the Finns always act on good faith in everything they do, living in such a society has turned everyone into a real “gentleman”.
In a society of such high moral practice, what need is there for people to be on guard against others? While taking a taxi in Finland, a passenger __________.
| A．can go anywhere without having to pay the driver |
| B．only pays two US dollars for a taxi ride |
| C．can never be turned down by the taxi driver wherever he wants to go |
| D．needs to provide good faith demonstration before leaving without paying |
We can know from the passage that in Finland __________.
| A．both hotel guests and outside diners are served food free of charge |
| B．big hotels provide meals for all kinds of diners |
| C．guests can enjoy free food once they stayed in the hotel |
| D．big hotels are mostly poorly managed |
Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
| A．Generally speaking, in Finland, workers can get more pay by working long hours. |
| B．The workers and their bosses will make an agreement in advance about the pay. |
| C．The workers are always honest with their working hours. |
| D．The bosses are too busy to check the working hours of their employees. |
It can be concluded that _________.
| A．Finnish people are really foolish in daily life |
| B．Finland has been a good place for cheats |
| C．the Finnish society is of very high moral level |
| D．all the Finns are rich and therefore honest |
An eight-year-
old child heard her parents talking about her little brother. All she knew was that he was very sick and they had no money. Only a very expensive operation could save him now and there was no one to lend them the money.
When she heard her daddy say to her tearful mother, “Only a miracle can save him now,” the little girl went to her bedroom and pulled her money from its hiding place and counted it carefully.
She hurried to a drugstore with the money in her hand.
“And what do you want?” asked the salesman. “It’s for my little brother,” the girl answered. “He’s really, really sick and I want to buy a miracle.” “Pardon?” said the salesman.
“My brother Andrew has something bad growing inside his head and my daddy says only a miracle can save him. So how much does a miracle cost?” “We don’t sell a miracle here, child
. I’m sorry,” the salesman said with a smile.
“Listen, if it isn’t enough, I can try and get some more. Just tell me how much it costs.”
A well-dressed man heard it and asked, “What kind of a miracle does your brother need?”
“I don’t know,” she answered with her eyes full of tears. “He’s really sick and mum says he needs an operation. But my daddy can’t pay for it, so I have brought all my money.”
“How much do you have?” asked the man. “$ 1.11, but I can try and get some more,” she answered.
“Well, what luck,” smiled the man. “$ 1.11, the price of a miracle for little brothers.”
He took up the girl’s hand and said, “Take me to where you live. I want to see your brother and meet your parents. Let’s see if I have the kind of miracle you need.”
That well-dressed man was Dr Carlton Armstrong, a famous doctor. The operation was successful and it wasn’t long before Andrew was home again.
How much did the miracle cost?
51．What was the trouble in the little girl’s family?
A．Her brother was seriously ill. B．They had no money.
C．Nothing could save her brother. D．Both A and B.
52．In the eye of the little girl, a miracle might be .
A．something interesting B．something beautiful
C．some wonderful medicine D．some good food
53．The little girl said again and again “...I can try and get some more.” That shows_________.
A．she had still kept some money
B．she hoped not to be refused
C．There was no need to worry about money
D．she thought money was easy to get
54．What made the miracle happen?
A．The girl’s love for her brother． B．The girl’s money.
C．The medicine from the drugstore. D．Nobody can tell.
55．From the passage we can infer(推断) that__________.
A．the doctor didn’t ask for any pay
B．a miracle is sure to happen if you keep on
C．the little girl is lovely but not so clever
D．the doctor had great sympathy for the girl’s little brother
Nothing is more pleasing and romantic as flowers in the bedroom. Now, a new study says that the sweet smells of flowers in the bedroom can also lead to sweet dreams.Researchers in Germany have carried out the study and have found that sleeping with flowers in the bedroom may encourage sweet dreams, a major finding they claim could help nightmare sufferers to and extent.They came to the conclusion after an analysis of the sleep patterns of 15 female volunteers for a period of nearly 30 nights, a leading British newspaper reported on Monday.The researchers pumped scents of rotten eggs, roses or no scent under their 
noses for nearly ten seconds while the women were in the Rapid Eye Movement period of sleep when a dream occurs.The subjects were then woken up and asked to record their dreams. The smells had an effect on the emotions of the dreams but did not become part of the dream in that the women exposed to roses did not dream about roses the study found.
There was a correlation between the negative smells and negative emotional scores the sleepers reported from their dream.According to the researchers, it’ll be interesting to study nightmare sufferers and if positive smells can actually influence the mood of their dreams as a form of treatment in the future.The study has been presented at the 2008 American Academy of Otoblaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Foundation Annual Meeting in Chicago.46. What is the best title for the text?A. A recent study on dreamingB. Smells influence one’s dreams C. Do you want to have a good dream?D. Flowers in the bedroom lead to sweet dreams.47. What is the right order of the events related to the experiment?a. The female volunteers get to sleep. b. The researchers wake up the sleeping women.c. A particular smell is pumped under dreamers’ noses d. The dreamers are asked to describe their dreams.A. a, c, b, d B. d, c, b, a C. a, c, d, b D, d, b, c, a48. The underlined word “correlation” in paragraph 6 can be replaced by _______A. combination B. coincidence C. connection D. cooperation49. Which of the following statements is TRUE?A. People are very sensitive to smells at night.B. The subjects were tested on when they dreamedC. Pleasant smells get sleepers to dream of roses.D. The experiment is designed to treat sleeplessness.50. What is the future perspective（前景）of the study?A. Sleeplessness can be cured in the near future.B. Nightmare sufferers are likely to recover soon.C. The finding can give hope to nightmare sufferers.D. Roses will become more popular among patients.
Ⅲ阅读 (共两节，满分40分)
第一节阅读理解 (共15小题；每小题2分，满分30分)
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的A、B、C和D项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
When my family moved to America from a small village in Guangdong, China, we brought not only our luggage, but also our village rules, customs and culture. One of the rules is that young people should always respect elders. Unluckily, this rule led to my very first embarrassment in the United States.
I had a part-time job as a waiter in a Chinese restaurant. One time, when I was serving food to a middle-aged couple, the wife asked me how the food could be served so quickly. I told her that I had made sure they got their food quickly because I always respect the elderly. As soon as I said that, her face showed great displeasure. My manager, who happened to hear what I said, took me aside and gave me a long lecture about how sensitive(敏感) Americans are and how they dislike the description “old”. I then walked back to the table and apologized to the wife. After the couple heard my reason, they understood that the problem was caused by cultural differences, so they laughed and were no longer angry.
In my village in China, people are proud of being old. Not so many people live to be seventy or eighty, and people who reach such an age have the most knowledge and experience. Young people always respect older people because they know they can learn from their rich experience.
However, in the United States, people think “growing old” is a problem since “old” shows that a person is going to retire or that the body is not working well. Here many people try to keep themselves away from growing old by doing exercises or jogging, and women put on makeup, hoping to look young. When I told the couple in the restaurant that I respect the elderly, they got angry because this caused them to feel they had failed to stay young. I had told them something they di
dn’t want to hear.
After that, I changed the way I had been with older people. It is not that I don’t respect them any more; I still respect them, but now I don’t show my feelings through words.
41．Jack brought the couple their food very fast because_________.
A．the manager asked him to do so
B．he respected the elderly
C．the couple wanted him to do so
D．he wanted more pay
42．When Jack called the couple “elderly”, they became__________.
A．nervous B．satisfied
C．unhappy D．excited
43．In Jack’s hometown, _________.
A．people dislike being called “old”
B．people are proud of being old
C．many people reach the age of seventy or eighty
D．the elderly are the first to get food in restaurants
44．After this experience, Jack_________.
A．lost his job in the restaurant
B．made friends with the couple
C．no longer respected the elderly
D．changed his way with older people
45．Which of the following is TRUE?
A．The more Jack explained, the angrier the couple got.
B．Jack wanted to show his feelings through words after his experience.
C．The manager went back to the table and apologized to the couple.
D．From this experience, Jack learned more about American culture.
One evening in November, Berlin received a telephone call from Mrs. Green. “Please, Dr Berlin, come to my house. I had 50,000 dollars on my desk and now it is gone.”
Dr Berlin arrived at Mrs. Green’s house at eight o’clock. First he asked Mrs. Green, “When did you see the money last?”
“At seven o’clock. I put it on my desk in my living room. Then I went to wash my hair. I came back at seven thirty and the money was gone.”
“I see.” Dr Berlin said. “Were you alone in the house?”
“No. My sister’s son Jack is here, too.” Then Dr Berlin and Mrs. Green went to Jack’s room.
“Please, sit down,” Jack said. Dr Berlin sat on the only chair in the room, and the chair was cold. He also saw some books on the ground near his feet.
“What have you been doing this evening?” Dr Berlin asked.
“I came home at six-thirty, and went right to my room. I’ve been sitting in that chair and reading all the evening. I never got up and I never left the room. Maybe somebody came into the house and took my aunt’s money.”
After hearing that, Dr Berlin was clear about who had taken the money.
31. When did Dr Berlin answer the phone from Mrs. Green?
A. At 6:30 B. At 7:00 C. After 7:30 D. At 8:00
32. Where did Mrs. Green put her money?
A. In her living room. B. In her washing room.
C. In Jack’s room. D. In her office.
33. When did the thief take Mrs. Green’s money?
A. Before Mrs. Green came back home. B. When Jack was reading.
C. After Mrs. Green went to wash her hair.
D. When Dr Berlin was answering the phone.
34. Who was Jack?
A. Mrs. Green’s son. B. Mrs. Green’s nephew.
C. Mrs. Green’s husband. D. Mrs. Green’s friend.
35. Which of the following is WRONG?
A. Mrs. Green didn’t live alone. B. Jack had given a careless reply.
C. Dr Berlin found out who had taken the money.
D. Jack had been really reading books all that evening.