题目内容
London, April 28---The Man Group, a British hedge fund, is betting that investors will want to read more than the latest how-to- get –rich-quick business book.
In a five-year deal worth roughly $3.6 million announced last week, Man has agreed to sponsor(主办)the Booker Prize for Fiction, which will be renamed the Man Booker Prize. Since creating the award in 1969, Booker P.L.G., a British food group, in June 2000, executives began considering attracting outside sponsors. Man will be the first of these. Bill Grimsey, the chief of the Big Food Group, saw little business sense in a link between a food supplier and a literary prize, explained Dotti Irving, a spokeswoman for the Booker Prize foundation.
Such dissimilarities (差异) have not reduced Man’s enthusiasm for the prize which is expected to be open for the first time to American authors. David Browne, a spokesman for Man, said most of the firm’s investors are high-net-worth individuals who appreciate literature. “The people who buy hedge funds,” Mr. Browne said, “also read.”
Under the new agreement, authors will get more money. The winner of the annual prize, to be awarded in October, will receive $73,000 , up from $30,000 the Australian writer Peter Carey won last year for his novel “True History of the Kelley Gang.”
The six short-listed authors will each receive $3,600, up from $1,500. Having a hedge fund as a backer apparently has its perks.(福利).
【小题1】The article is mainly about ____.
| A．the disagreement between two groups | B．the Booker Prize Foundation |
| C．the Big Food Group | D．The new development of Booker Prize |
| A．best-selling book | B．magazine | C．newspaper | D．advertisement |
| A．Bill Grimsey decided to open the prize for American authors |
| B．“How-to-get-rich-quick” business was written by Peter Carey. |
| C．Under the agreement, the Booker Prize will be sponsored only by Man. |
| D．If you win the prize, you will get $73,000 next October |
| A．David Browne | B．Peter Carey | C．Bill Grimsey | D．Dotti Irving |
【小题1】B
【小题2】D
【小题3】D
【小题4】A
解析
LONDON (AP) — England joins on Sunday the growing list of places that ban smoking in public buildings, taxis and other places including even Buckingham Palace with a tough law.
Pubs, clubs and restaurants will all be smoke-free. Taxi and delivery drivers have been warned that they too could be fined 50 pounds, or about $100, if caught lighting up inside work vehicles.
Experts say the bans have become an irreversible (不可逆转的) tread because of greatly rising health costs and public uneasiness over second-hand smoke. Some of the strictest smoking bans are in the United States, even though there is no federal anti-smoking policy. New York and Florida have strict bans, while California has certain outdoor smoking bans.
Spain, Italy, Iran, Norway, Sweden, Singapore, South Africa, Uruguay and new Zealand have passed legislation(立法) to restrict smoking. France banned smoking in many public places in February and plans to extend the ban to cafes and restaurants next year. Finland is introducing a ban in 2009.
Despite the spread of bans, the World Health Organization predicts a steady rise in tobacco sales. In its Tobacco Atlas, the WHO said that by 2030 there will be “at least another two billion smokers in the world” and an expected decrease in male smokers “will be offset by an increase in female smoking rates, especially in developing countries.”
In advance of the English ban, anti-smoking ads have coated bus stops and the British government has subsidized(资助) programs to help people quit. The rest of Britain—Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland —already have smoking bans in place.
【小题1】The first two paragraphs mainly tell us_______
| A．Buckingham Palace bans smoking |
| B．smoking ban comes into force in England |
| C．there’s no smoking in Buckingham Palace |
| D．smoking is against the law in England |
| A．Private houses | B．Taxis. |
| C．Restaurants. | D．London clubs |
| A．decreased | B．raised | C．encouraged | D．balanced |
| A．Smoking has strictly been forbidden in cafes in France. |
| B．There is an extremely strict smoking ban everywhere in America. |
| C．Smoking situation is still serious across the world. |
| D．Related ads didn’t appear in England until the English ban was lifted.（解除） |
National Forecast
LONDON —This Evening and Tonight:
Rain, locally heavy across northwest Scotland. Mostly cloudy but dry in other northern and western areas. Dry with clear spells(持续时间)in more central and eastern parts, but some low cloud and fog will develop. Generally mild with light winds.
Saturday:
Cloud and rain over western Scotland at the beginning will gradually push down over N. Ireland and northwest England. Largely dry, warm with sunny spells elsewhere, once early fog and low cloud clears.
http://www.times.online.co.uk/tol/news/weather/
The Nation's Weather
Fri, Aug 24,
NEW YORK—Heavy rain was forecast throughout Friday in parts of the Midwest. The heaviest rainfall was over northern Illinois, with more than 4 inches possible around Chicago.
Wet weather was also expected in the Plains as the same storm system tracks through the region.
Periods of heavy rain were also forecast for the Northeast as the remnant(剩余部分)of tropical storm Erin moves into the Canadian Maritimes.
Hot weather was expected to continue in the South and West.
http://www.underground.com
Death toll rises to 36 in China typhoon
Wed, Aug 22,
BEIJING— At least 36 people were killed by Typhoon Sepat in four provinces in eastern and central China in widespread destruction that also forced the evacuation (撤退)of l.37 million people.
More than 60,000 homes in the provinces of Fujian, Jiangxi, Zhejiang and Hunan also were destroyed or damaged, Xinhua News Agency said.
Total economic losses in the provinces have reached $ 663 million.
Fujian was the worst-hit province, with 18 people killed, Xinhua said.
Earlier, the storm, named after a Malaysian fish, killed at least one person in Taiwan, and left three dead in the Philippines.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap
【小题1】On August 25, in N. Ireland and northwest England, there will be _____.
| A．low cloud and fog | B．typhoon and flood |
| C．cloud and rain | D．sunshine and mild wind |
| A．It was hot. | B．It was rainy. |
| C．It was foggy. | D．It was warm. |
| A．caused one death in the Philippines |
| B．killed 18 people in Taiwan |
| C．destroyed about 60,000 homes in Fujian |
| D．caused great economic losses |
| A．a tropical storm | B．a Malaysian fish |
| C．a place | D．a person |