Allan goes everywhere with Birgitta Anderson, a 54-year-old secretary. He moves around her office at work and goes shopping with her. ‘Most people don't seem to mind Allan,’ says Birgitta, who thinks he is wonderful. 'He's my fourth child,' she says. She may think of him and treat him that way, buying his food, paying his health bills and his taxes, but in fact Allan is a dog. Birgitta and Allan live in Sweden, a country where everyone is expected to lead an orderly life according to rules laid down by the government, which also provides (提供)a high level of care for its people. This level of care costs money. People in Sweden pay taxes on everything, so aren't surprised to find that owning a dog means yet more taxes. Some people are paying as much as 500 Swedish kronor in taxes a year for the right to keep their dog, money that is spent by the government on dog hospitals and sometimes medical treatment for a dog that falls ill. However, most such treatment is expensive, so owners often decide to pay health and even life insurance (保险)for their dog. In Sweden dog owners must pay for any damage (损坏)their dog does. A Swedish Kennel Club official explains what this means: if your dog runs out on the road and gets hit by a passing car you, as the owner, have to pay for any damage done to the car, even if your dog has been killed in the accident.

Birgitta pays taxes for Allan because          .

A. he is her dog  B. he is her child  C. he follows her everywhere  D. he often falls ill

The money paid as dog taxes is used to            .

A. keep a high level of care for the people  B. pay for damage done by dogs

C. provide medical care for dogs         D. buy insurance for dog owners

If a dog causes a car accident and gets killed, who should pay for the damage done to the car?

A. The owner of the car.                B. The owner of the dog.

C. The insurance company(公司).        D. The government.

From the text it can be inferred that in Sweden          .

A. dogs are welcome in public places      B. keeping dogs means asking for trouble

C. many car accidents are caused by dogs  D. people care much about dogs

The early lack of exposure to science ,technology,engineering and mathematics (STEM) can be harmful to achieving gender (性别)balance in these fields. It begins when we are young and continues throughout our time in high school.
While at home,girls generally don’t get to experience the level of exposure or encouragement in STEM fields that their male counterparts do. It is often subtle ,but it’s the first hurdle that faces and confuses so many women. Boys ,on the other hand, get on their path ,and are encouraged to do so, generally earlier than girls. For example ,boys are more often given science sets as toys ,which spark an interest in these subjects.
In school 3 boys are often pushed to take the more challenging math and science classes. So if we want to attract the best and brightest minds into the fields that will advance us as a people ? a country,and a planet,we can no longer look to only half of the population. Young girls cannot possibly consider opportunities they do not know exist. If girls are not exposed to certain subject and career paths,they are highly unlikely to choose to follow them in college.
Our bias(偏见)toward girls9 either from families or from schools ,is so rooted in our culture that we often don’t even recognize it. Although the situation Has changed greatly in the past 20 or 30 years,there is still a sense that girls aren't as good at math 9 for instance 9 even though there is almost no evidence to support such a belief.
It is important that as a society we deal with gender stereotypes long before young people are faced with a decision to declare or choose a major in college. Without making efforts to break them, we are limiting the potentials of our youth,both male and female. Providing the necessary resources, exposure , and encouragement would help young women understand that their gender shouldnt determine the career path they choose, and that pursuing a STEM career does not make them less feminine.
【小题1】According to the passage ? not many girls grow to enter STEM fields because______.

A.girls are not as good at STEM as boys
B.girls do not like to take science classes
C.girls get fewer chances to know about STEM
D.girls seldom survive the high pressure positions
【小题2】The underlined word “it” in Para. 4 refers to______
A.our biasB.our cultureC.the situationD.a sense
【小题3】The main purpose of the passage is to______.
A.show women’s potentials in STEM fields
B.praise women’s contributions to STEM fields
C.describe the present gender bias in STEM fields
D.call for more involvement of women in STEM fields
【小题4】Which of the following shows the structure of the passage?

It was a sunny day. A city man was driving along a country road with a new wagon(马车)and a beautiful pair of horses. He didn’t pay a lot of  1 to where he was going. Pretty soon he  2  that he was lost, but he  3 to drive, expecting to find his way or to  4 someone who could tell him how to get back to the  5 .

It was a long  6 road. For many hours he kept on driving. When it was almost   7 , he saw in a  8  a tall farmer ploughing the land. He stopped his  9 team of horses near the fence and called out, “Hello, farmer.”

“Hello, yourself,”  the farmer replied,  10 ploughing.

“Where does the horse   11 ? He asked without knowing his languages mistakes.

“I haven’t seen it go anywhere. It   12 stays right where it is,” said the farmer,   13     stopping his work.

“How far is it to the next town?” said the city man, speaking a little  14 .

“Don’t know. I never  15 it,” replied the farmer. By this time the city man was getting 16 . “What do you know? You’re the biggest fool I  17 saw.”

18  stopping, the farmer turned and looked for a long time  19 at the city man. Then he said, “Maybe I don’t know much.   20  I am a fool. But at least I’m not lost!”

1.                A.signs           B.orders          C.attention  D.direction

 

2.                A.realized        B.recognized      C.accepted D.received

 

3.                A.stopped        B.used           C.wanted   D.continued

 

4.                A.miss           B.meet           C.look D.lose

 

5.                A.town           B.country         C.capital    D.village

 

6.                A.lonely          B.busy           C.dirty D.crowded

 

7.                A.at noon         B.at night         C.raining   D.dark

 

8.                A.truck          B.pile            C.field D.store

 

9.                A.strong          B.tired           C.weak D.tiring

 

10.               A.but            B.went on        C.stopped   D.still

 

11.               A.go            B.lead up         C.get   D.show

 

12.               A.always         B.often          C.sometimes D.seldom

 

13.               A.began          B.still            C.without   D.already

 

14.               A.clearly         B.lower          C.more loudly    D.more politely

 

15.               A.judged         B.measured       C.saw  D.studied

 

16.               A.sad            B.lovely          C.friendly   D.angry

 

17.               A.ever           B.often          C.even D.never

 

18.               A.Still            B.Not            C.With  D.Finally

 

19.               A.gladly          B.immediately     C.in silence  D.excitedly

 

20.               A.Really          B.Perhaps        C.Certainly  D.Fortunately

 

 

The World Health Organization says obesity rates are rising in Pacific island countries. So, too, are health problems linked to being overweight.

The WHO says a major reason for the rising obesity rates is an increase in imported foods. It says many Pacific islanders have replaced their traditional diets of vegetables and fruits with imported processed foods.

Dr.Temu Waqanivalu is with the World Health Organization’s South Pacific office in Suva, Fiji.He says many of the imported products lack nutritional value.

Temu Waqanivalu said: “In some of the places, you’d be amazed to see how a bottle of Coke is cheaper than a bottle of water. I think that represents the kind of off­environment we’ve created that doesn’t really encourage or make lifestyle choices an easy choice for the population.”

And a lack of physical activity among many Pacific islanders only adds to the obesity problem.

The WHO says more than 50 percent of the population is overweight in at least ten Pacific island countries. The rate is as high as 80 percent among women in the territory(领地)of American Samoa. Fiji had the lowest obesity rate at 30 percent.

In all, almost ten million people live in Pacific island countries. The WHO estimates that about 40 percent of them have health disorders related to diet and nutrition.

Diabetes(糖尿病)rates are among the highest in the world. Forty-seven percent of the people in American Samoa have diabetes. So do 44 percent of the people in Tokelau, a territory of New Zealand.

By comparison, the diabetes rate is 13 percent in the United States, a country that has its own problems with rising obesity.

Officials also note an increase in nutritional problems like anemia and not enough vitamin A in the diets of Pacific islanders. Dr. Waqanivalu says treating conditions related to obesity and diet puts pressure on limited health resources and budgets.

1.The main reason why obesity rates are rising in many Pacific islanders is ________.

A. the change of society               

B. the change of eating habits

C. the change of life style            

D. lack of exercise

2.Imported products lack nutritional value but people love to buy them because they are ________.

A. cheap            B. popular      C. tasty            D. convenient to get

3.How many people living in Pacific island countries have health disorders?

A. 1 million.       B. 4 million.       C. 6 million.  D. 10 million.

4.The percentage of diabetes rates in American Samoa is ________.

A. optimistic       B. steady           C. worrying         D. low

 

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