题目内容
Life has changed in
Seemingly out of nowhere, swine flu has caused confirmed deaths in 12 countries as of April 30. It has sent a wave of alarm around the world. Governments are trying to find ways to prevent further outbreaks. The World Health Organization has raised its swine flu global threat level to five out of six.
People may be familiar with bird flu. but they know little about swine flu.O Swine flu is a contagious (传染性的) respiratory (呼吸的) disease in pigs. It is caused by a type-A influenza virus.
Humans can also catch swine flu. The virus causes regular outbreaks in pigs, but people usually do not catch it. However, there have been cases of the virus spreading to people, and then from one person to another.
The symptoms of swine flu are similar to the common flu. They include fever, lethargy (无精打采的), lack of appetite, coughing, runny nose, sore throat, nausea (恶心), and vomiting (呕吐). The high proportion of young adults among the deaths is one of several mysteries about this virus. Most of the dead had lung damage. What caused it is not yet known.
The virus spreads the same way the common flu does. When an infected person coughs or sneezes around another person, the latter is put at risk. People can get the disease by touching something with the flu virus on it and then "touching their mouth, nose or eyes.
There are medicines to treat swine flu. Doctors suggest using anti-viral drugs. They keep the virus from reproducing inside the body.
Although there are no vaccines (疫苗)for it now, several everyday steps can help prevent the spread of the virus: washing hands frequently; avoiding close contact with people who are sick; and avoiding touching surfaces that might have the virus on it.
People may worry that they will get swine flu from eating or preparing pork. In fact, you cannot catch the virus from pork products if they have been properly prepared and cooked. Cooking food at temperatures of 71oC kills the virus.
56. The main idea of the passage is __________________.
A. how swine flu broke out in
C. the differences between swine flu and bird flu. D. the dangers caused by swine flu.
57. The following tips can protect us from swine flu EXCEPT ________.
A. keeping us away from other people
B. washing hands frequently
C. avoiding close contact with sick people
D. avoiding touching surfaces that might have the virus on them
58. What’s the main idea of the first paragraph?
A.
B. People in
C. People in
D. Swine flu has seriously affected people’s life in
59. What can we conclude from the passage?
A. The swine flu virus causes regular outbreaks among people.
B. People usually get infected with swine flu directly from pigs.
C. All animals including pigs can easily be infected with swine flu.
D. People usually do not catch swine flu though it is a danger to people.
60. What can we infer from the passage?
A. At present there still aren’t effective vaccines for swine flu.
B. Swine flu virus cannot spread in the air.
C. From now on, people can’t eat pork if they want to be safe.
D. All of the dead killed by swine flu had lung damage.
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Prolonging human life has increased the size of the human population. Many people alive today would have died of childhood diseases if they had been born 100 years ago. Because more people live longer, there are more people around at any given time. In fact, it is a decrease in death rates, not an increase in birthrates, that has led to the population explosion.
Prolonging human life has also increased the dependency load. In all societies, people who are disabled or too young or too old to work are dependent on the rest of society to provide for them. In hunting and gathering cultures, old people who could not keep up might be left behind to die. In times of famine, infants might be allowed to die because they could not survive if their parents starved, where as if the parents survived they could have another child. In most contemporary(当代的) societies, people feel a moral obligation to keep people alive whether they can work or not. We have a great many people today who live past the age at which they want to work or are able to work; we also have rules which require people to retire at a certain age. Unless these people were able to save money for their retirement, somebody else must support them. In the United States many retired people live on social security checks which are so little that they must live in near poverty. Older people have more illnesses than young or middle-aged people; unless they have wealth or private or government insurance, they must often “go on welfare” if they have a serious illness.
When older people become senile (衰老的) or too weak and ill to care for themselves, they create grave problems for their families. In the past and in some traditional cultures, they would be cared for at home until they died. Today, with most members of a household working or in school, there is often no one at home who can care for a sick or weak person. To meet this need, a great many nursing homes and convalescent (疗养的) hospitals have been built. These are often profit making organizations, although some are sponsored by religious and other nonprofit groups. While a few of these institutions are good, most of them are simply “dumping (倒垃圾的) grounds” for the dying in which “care” is given by poorly paid, overworked, and under skilled personnel.
【小题1】The author believes that the population explosion results from _______.
A.an increase in birthrates | B.the industrial development |
C.a decrease in death rates | D.human beings’ cultural advances |
A.it was a moral responsibility for the families to keep alive the aged people who could not work |
B.the survival of infants was less important than that of their parents in times of starvation |
C.old people were given the task of imparting the cultural wisdom of the tribe to new generations |
D.death was celebrated as a time of rejoicing for an individual freed of the hardships of life |
A.Many of them live on social security money which is hardly enough. |
B.Minority of them remain in a state of near poverty after their retirement. |
C.When they reach a certain age, compulsory retirement is necessary and beneficial. |
D.With the growing inflation, they must suffer more from unbearable burdens than ever. |
A.prolonging the dying old people’s lives |
B.reducing the problems caused by the retired people |
C.making profits through caring for the sick or weak people |
D.taking care of the sick or weak people |
A.Sympathetic. | B.Approving. | C.Optimistic. | D.Critical. |
The greatest recent changes have been in the lives of women, during the twentieth century there was an unusual shortening of the time of a woman’s life spent in caring for children. A woman marrying at the end of the 19th century would probably have been in her middle twenties, and would be likely to have seven or eight children, of whom four or five lived till they were five years old. By the time the youngest was fifteen, the mother would have been in her early fifties and would expect to live a further twenty years, during which custom, chance and health made it unusual for her to get paid work. Today women marry younger and have fewer children. Usually a woman’s youngest child will be fifteen when she is forty five and is likely to take paid work until retirement at sixty. Even while she has the care of children, her work is lightened by household appliances (家用电器)and convenience foods.
This important change in women’s way of life has only recently begun to have its full effect on women’s economic position. Even a few years ago most girls left school at the first opportunity and most of them took a full time job. However, when they married, they usually left work at once and never returned to it. Today the school leaving age is sixteen, many girls stay at school after that age, and though women tend to marry younger, more married women stay at work at least until shortly before their first child is born. Very many more afterwards, return to full or part-time work. Such changes have led to a new relationship in marriage, with both husband and wife accepting a greater share of the duties and satisfaction of family life, and with both husband and wife sharing more equally in providing the money and running the home, according to the abilities and interest of each them.
【小题1】 According to the passage, around the year1990 most women married .
A. at about twenty five B. in their early fifties
C. as soon as possible after they were fifteen D. at any age from fifteen to forty five
【小题2】We are told that in an average family about1990 .
A.many children died before they were five |
B.the youngest child would be fifteen |
C.seven of eight children lived to be more than five |
D.four of five children died when they were five. |
A.would expect to work until she died |
B.was usually expected to take up paid employment |
C.would be healthy enough to take up paid employment. |
D.was unlikely to find a job. |
A.marry so that they can get a job |
B.Leave school as soon as they can |
C.give up their jobs for good after they are married |
D.continue working until they are going to have a baby |
A.stay at hone after leaving school |
B.marry men younger than themselves |
C.start working again later in life |
D.Marry while still at school |
There have been great changes in the lives of women. During the twentieth century ,there was an unusual shortening of the time of a woman’s life spent in caring for children. A woman marrying at the end of the 19th century would probably have been in her middle twenties, and would be likely to have about eight children, of whom about five lived till they were five years old. By the time the youngest was fifteen, the mother would have been in her early fifties and would expect to live a further twenty years, during which custom, chance and health made it unusual for her to get paid work. Today women marry younger and have fewer children. Usually a woman’s youngest child will be fifteen when she is forty-five and is likely to take paid work until retirement at sixty. Even while she has the care of children, her work is lightened by household appliances(家用电器) and convenience(方便) foods.
This important change in women’s way of life has only recently begun to have its full effect on women’s economic position. Even a few years ago most girls left school at the first opportunity and most of them took a full-time job. However, when they married, they usually left work at once and never returned to it. Today the school-leaving age is sixteen, many girls stay at school after that age, and though women tend to marry younger, more married women stay at work at least until shortly before their first child is born. Very many more afterwards, return to full or part-time work. Such changes have led to a new relationship in marriage, with both husband and wife accepting a greater share of the duties and satisfaction of family life, and with both husband and wife sharing more equally in providing the money and running the home, according to the abilities and interest of each them.
【小题1】Women marrying at the end of the 19th century ________.
A.would have fewer children than those today. |
B.would have more children than those today. |
C.lived as hard![]() |
D.lived more comfortably than those in the 20th century |
A.only about three of them could live more than five years old. |
B.only about three of them could live for five years. |
C.about eight children lived to be more than five years. |
D.about eight children lived to be less than five years. |
A.women today are not willing to run their home together with their husbands. |
B.women today wouldn’t like to do any housework. |
C.women today will return to work after they have their babies. |
D.were unlikely to find jobs like the mothers before . |
A.in the past most women often stay at home after leaving school |
B.women today like to marry men younger than themselves |
C.women today are playing important parts in work and family life. |
D.husbands today needn’t do any work at home. |