Tens of thousands of couples across the United States are racing to get married by April 30．This is the result of a new law that makes illegal(不合法的)immigrants(移民) legal(合法的)if they marry by then．
The law has sent marriages rising by 50 percent to 300 percent this year in immigrant-rich Los Angeles, Houston and New York．The new law, passed in the last days of the Clinton administration(任期)，contains a large number of measures to help immigrants and their loved ones become legal．
Critics(批评家)say it also brings many marriage frauds(诈骗)．A key aspect allows immigrants to look for houses while remaining in the USA－if they are married to a citizen or legal resident and hand in applications by April 30．After the date, applicants will have to return to their native countries to deal with their paperwork－a requirement that could take as long as 10 years．
Demand for marriage licenses in Manhattan this year jumped from 100 a day to more than 300．The Los Angeles County registrar(户籍员)recorder's office supplied 12 997 marriage licences during January and February, and 59 percent increase over last year．
Critics say the new law encourages false marriage．There are a lot of frauds as people rush to make use of this window．In the past cases citizens or legal residents were paid US ＄10 000 or more to marry illegal immigrants in which immigration is concluded may be investigated for as long as the years after the vows．
“It's not worth the risk to attempt an illegal marriage, ”says INS spokesman Bill Strassberger．
(1)
Couples race to get married so that ________．
[ ]
A．
this can show their worship for the God
B．
they can become American citizens
C．
they can find true love there
D．
they can find good places to pray
(2)
If a person misses the deadline(截止日期), he will ________．
[ ]
A．
be put into prison as an illegal immigrant
B．
find a proper job for him to do
C．
be given a good beating by the local police
D．
be forced to go back to his or her homeland
(3)
In the author's eyes, those couples who race to get married are ________．
[ ]
A．
exciting
B．
crazy
C．
disappointing
D．
surprising
(4)
The underlined words“this window” probably refer to ________．
[ ]
A．
the new law
B．
the marriage full of love
C．
the window of the Los Angeles County registrar-recorder's office
D．
th US government
阅读理解
You are watching a film in which two men are having a fight．They hit one another hard．At the start they only fight with their fists(拳头)．But soon they begin hitting one another over the heads with chairs．And so it goes on until one of the men crashes through a window and falls thirty feet to the ground below．He is dead!
Of course he isn't really dead．With any luck he isn't even hurt．Why? Because the men who fall out of high windows or jump from fast moving trains, who crash cars of even catch fire, are professionals(专业人士)．They do this for a living．These men are called stuntmen(替身演员)．That is to say, they perform tricks．
There are two sides to their work．．They actually do most of the things you see on the screen．For example, they fall from a high building．However, they do not fall on to hard ground but on to empty cardboard boxes covered with a mattress(床垫)．Again, when they hit one another with chairs, the chairs are made of soft wood and when they crash through windows, the glass is made of sugar!
But although their work depends on trick of this sort, it also requires a high degree of skill and training．Often a stuntman's success depends on careful timing(时间测量)．For example, when he is "blown up"in a battle scene, he has to jump out of the way of th explosion(爆炸)just at the right moment．
Naturally stuntmen are well paid for their work, but they lead dangerous lives．They often get seriously injured, and sometimes killed．A Norwegian stuntman, for example, skied over the edge of a cliff(悬崖)a thousand feet high．His parachute failed to open, and he was killed．
In spite of all the risks, this is no longer a profession for men only．Men no longer dress up as women when actresses have to perform some dangerous action．For nowadays there are stunt-girls too!
(1)
Stuntmen are those who ________
[ ]
A．
often dress up as actors
B．
prefer to lead dangerous lives
C．
often perform seemingly dangerous actions
D．
often fight each other for their lives
(2)
Stuntmen earn their living by ________
[ ]
A．
playing their dirty tricks
B．
selling their special skills
C．
jumping out of high windows
D．
jumping from fast moving trains
(3)
Usually when a stuntman falls from a high building ________
[ ]
A．
he needs little protection
B．
he will be covered with a mattress
C．
his life is endangered
D．
his safety is generally all right
(4)
What can be inferred from the author's example of the Norwegian stuntman?
[ ]
A．
Sometimes an accident can occur to a stuntman．
B．
The percentage of serious accidents is high
C．
Parachutes must be of good quality．
D．
The cliff is too high．
完形填空
If you have a watch, don’t repair it! I know it 1 ．Once I had a beautiful watch．And this watch 2 perfect time．But one night it happened that I forgot to 3 it up．Next morning I went to a watchmaker as I wanted my perfect watch to 4 by the exact time．The watchmaker examined my watch and said, “The regulator(校准器)is to be pushed up 5 your watch is four minutes 6 ．”
I tried to stop him, tried to 7 him understand that my watch kept perfect time, but he did not listen to me and pushed the regulator．
My beautiful watch began to gain time．It 8 faster and faster day by day．By the end of the second month it 9 all the clocks and watches of the town far behind．
What did I have to do? To take it to another watchmaker to be regulated．I expected him to regulate the watch immediately 10 he asked me to come in a week’s time．When at last I took my watch from him it began to 11 down．And I began to be late for trains, business appointments and even missed my dinners．
Now I went to 12 watchmaker．While I waited for him to repair my poor watch, he 13 it to pieces and said that he could finish this work 14 three or four days．I could do nothing but 15 ．That time my watch went for half a day and then stopped．
So I kept 16 my watch from one watchmaker to another for a considerable period of time．
And as a result of it the cleverest man in the world could not 17 the time by my watch．The thing was getting 18 ．My watch had 19 two hundred dollars originally but I paid for repairs more than two hundred．At last I decided to buy 20 watch, which I did．
