Every week,more children arrive to work in the hundreds of primitive mines in the bush. Here they suffer long hours at dangerous jobs,getting gold from the dirt with mercury(水银) .

 One of them is a 12-year-old boy named Saliou. Momodou is just 13 years old. This is a region of Africa where boys of Saliou’s age are expected to earn money for their families. He works in a bush mine on the Senegal-Mali border in the village of Tenkoto. According to the UN,mining is one of the worst forms of child labour. However,the laws are seldom enforced.

 Children travel from mine to mine,moving with the gold. The AP reports that 6 months after Saliou arrived in Tenkoto,it was decided that the mine was nearly empty. So he and the boys walked for more than a week,crossed theSenegalborder and arrived at another mine inMali.

 The World Health Organization says that mercury can affect the brain. It’s especially dangerous for children since their nervous systems are still developing. Typical symptoms of mercury include mental retardation,loss of balance,blindness and loss of hearing.

The buyers step in offering about $ 19 per gram. Once the deals are done,the gold is taken to the capital of Mali. There the price for gold is almost $ 23 a gram,nearly $ 4 more than the buyers pay the miners.

United Nations mining experts guess that 10% to 20 % of the thousands of mine workers in West Africa are children.

For Saliou,the work in the mines goes on. He says he dreams that one day he’ll own something made of gold.

1. Why do the boys like Saliou go to work in the mines?

   A. They go there to play.

   B. They go there to find gold.

   C. They go there to buy gold.

   D. They go there to make a living.

2. How much money can Saliou get if he offers the buyers about 2 gram gold?

   A. $23.   B.  $46.

   C.  $38.   D.  $19.

3. What are the typical symptoms of the mercury if the children are affected?

   A. Loss of balance.

   B.  Mental retardation.

   C.  Blindness and loss of hearing.

   D.  All of the above.

4. What’s the writer’s attitude towards the situation of child labour in Africa?

   A. Children like to work there.

   B. The laws must be enforced.

   C.  It is right for children to work there.

   D.  It is not referred to in the passage.

   Most young people enjoy some forms of physical activities. It may be walking,cycling or swimming,or in winter,skating or skiing. It may be a game of some kind,football,hockey,golf or tennis. It may be mountaineering.

Those who have a passion for climbing high and difficult mountains are often looked upon with astonishment. Why are men and women willing to suffer cold and hardship,and to take risks on high mountains? This astonishment is caused probably by the difference between mountaineering and other forms of activities to which men give their leisure.

Mountaineering is a sport and not a game. There are no man-made rules,as there are for such games as golf and football. There are,of course,rules of a different kind which it would be dangerous to ignore,but it is this freedom from man-made rules that makes mountaineering attractive to many people. Those who climb mountains are free to use their own methods.

If we compare mountaineering and other more familiar sports,we might think that one big difference is that mountaineering is not a “team game”. We should be mistaken in this. There are,it is true,no “matches” between teams of climbers,but when climbers are on a rock face linked by a rope on which their lives may depend,there is obviously teamwork. The mountain climber knows that he may have to fight forces that are stronger and more powerful than man. He has to fight the forces of nature. His sport requires high mental and physical qualities.

A mountain climber continues to improve in skill year after year. A skier is probably past his best by the age of thirty,and most international tennis champions are in their early twenties. But it is not unusual for a man of fifty or sixty to climb the highest mountains in the Alps. They may take more time than younger men,but they probably climb with more skill and less waste of effort,and they certainly experience equal enjoyment.

1. Which of the following can be the best title for the passage?

   A. Differences between golf and mountaineering

   B.  Sports and games

  C.  Mountaineering

   D.  Why so many people are crazy about mountaineering

2. The mountaineering can also be called a team sport because          .

   A. mountain climbers usually compete in groups

   B.  mountaineers depend on each other while climbing

   C.  mountain climbers are free to use their own rules to climb

   D.  mountaineering is a sport and not a game

3. The biggest difference between golf and mountaineering lies in          .

   A. team game   B. enjoyment

   C.  age   D. rules

4. In the author’s opinion,one of the most important reasons why so many

people enjoy mountaineering is that          .

   A. there are no man-made rules for mountaineers

   B.  mountaineering is a sport and not a game

   C.  it is one of the most dangerous sports

   D.  mountaineering brings us more enjoyment than other sports

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