Australia warns on migrant cuts
Australia may cut the number of immigrants who are allowed into the country if the global financial crisis raises unemployment levels.
Australian Immigration Minister Chris Evans said a decision on reducing numbers would be taken after mid-year financial data is published next month.
Around 190, 300 immigrants are forecast to arrive in Australia in 2008/09. Earlier this month, a British minister said the country could reduce migrant flows due to the economic crisis. Mr Evans said the country's current migrant programme, which is aimed at skilled workers, was designed when Australia was forecasting good economic growth and a skills shortage.
"The government will take a calm look at those issues and make a decision when we have got proper information," he told Nine Network television.
"Clearly if the demand for labour comes off, you'd adjust the migration programme appropriately," he said. "We can turn the taps off if we need to. " Mr Evans said that any decision on cutting migrant flows was complex, considering their contribution to the country's economy. "We know that they consume, they buy property, and they're a net positive to the budget, " he said. "And a lot of the skills that are coming in at the moment are in the mining sector, which has allowed us to increase our exports. "
He said there were still industries which had a "strong demand" for labour and the government would analyse the economic situation and consult industry before deciding on what to do.
1.

  1. 1.

    Which of the following can we know from this passage?

    1. A.
      Australia may decide to increase the number of migrants.
    2. B.
      Britain has decided to reduce the number of migrants.
    3. C.
      Australia has decided to increase the number of migrants.
    4. D.
      Britain has decided to increase the number of migrants.2.
  2. 2.

    Australia may cut off the number of migrants mainly because ______ .

    1. A.
      Britain has decided to reduce the number of migrants
    2. B.
      it is forecast Australian will have good economic growth
    3. C.
      Australia has no demand for skilled workers in mining
    4. D.
      the global economic crisis is getting worse and worse3.
  3. 3.

    What does Mr Evans imply by saying the underlined sentence?

    1. A.
      It is necessary for the country to cut off the number of migrants.
    2. B.
      Citizens should turn off the taps when they don’t use the water.
    3. C.
      Britain shouldn’t have reduced the number of migrants.
    4. D.
      Increasing migrants to the country will consume more water.4.
  4. 4.

    From the passage, what does Mr Evans think of migrants’ contributions to Australia’s economy?

    1. A.
      Negative
    2. B.
      Doubtful
    3. C.
      Positive
    4. D.
      Critical

Two-legged, humanoid (类人的) robots such as Honda Motor Co. Ltd’s ASIMO would likely have an easier time climbing up stairs inside homes than a robot that moves on wheels, developers say. 
But it will be some time before such devices make their way into people’s homes.
“They may look smart, but they are still quite stupid,” Shimoyama said. “I don’t think they will ever be as smart as humans.”
While safety is an obvious concern, robots also need to be sensitive to people’s needs.
Researchers at Fujitsu Frontech Ltd and Fujitsu L       aboratories responsible for developing “Enon”, a guide and patrol (巡逻) robot designed for use in shopping malls and corporate facilities (公共场所), are working on this.
Enon, which has a humanoid upper body but no legs, is equipped with a touch screen on its chest and space in its belly to carry loads weighting up to 10 kg.
In guide mode, it will detect a newcomer and approach the person with a nod and a greeting: “Are you a visitor? Hello.”
Visitors requiring directions can point to icons (图标) displayed on Enon’s chest screen. If the restroom icon is pressed, the screen will display a map that shows the way.
The robot will then face and point in the direction of the restroom, although it won’t actually walk the visitor there.
Enon is now in use at four locations in Japan, including a shopping mall near Tokyo. The main goal is to make it more helpful for the elderly.
“People who work in the transportation sector often ask whether we can build a robot that will find elderly people who look lost in train stations, and ask them if they are all right,” said Toshihido Marita, director of Fujitsu Laboratories Ltd’s autonomous system laboratory. “Actually that is hard to do, very hard,” he said.

  1. 1.

    The advantage of Honda Motor Co. Ltd’s ASIMO is that _________.

    1. A.
      it can do any housework for us       
    2. B.
      it can talk with patients or old people
    3. C.
      it can climb up stairs as humans      
    4. D.
      it can walk smoothly with its wheels
  2. 2.

    According to Shimoyama, robots _________.

    1. A.
      can be made to do everything humans do 
    2. B.
      will be made as smart as humans in the future
    3. C.
      will remain as stupid as before
    4. D.
      can never compete with humans in intelligence
  3. 3.

    Most important of all, a robot should be made _________ at present.

    1. A.
      safe and elegant                          
    2. B.
      safe and functional
    3. C.
      elegant and cheap                         
    4. D.
      sensitive and cheap
  4. 4.

    Which of the following statements about “Enon” is NOT true?

    1. A.
      It can be used as a guide in hospitals. 
    2. B.
      It can help shoppers carry goods selected.
    3. C.
      It can be used to welcome guests in restaurants.
    4. D.
      It can be used to stop thieves in malls.
  5. 5.

    Enon is mainly designed to help _________.

    1. A.
      old people          
    2. B.
      mall owners       
    3. C.
      tourists or newcomers  
    4. D.
      shoppers

A growing number of health, hunger, and sustainable （可持续的）agriculture groups today announced plans for Food Day-a nationwide campaign to change the way Americans eat and think about food.Food Day will encourage people around the country to sponsor or participate in activities that encourage Americans to “eat real” and support healthy, affordable food grown in a sustainable, humane way.
Organizers hope Food Day will inspire Americans to hold thousands of events in schools, college campuses, houses of worship and even in private homes aimed at fixing America’s food system.A Food Day event could be as small as a parent organizing a vegetable identification contest at a kindergarten class-or as massive as a rally（集会）in a city park, with entertainment and healthy food.Health departments, city councils and other policy makers could use Food Day to launch campaigns, hold hearings, or otherwise address communities food problems.
The campaign will advocate progress toward five central goals:
·Reducing diet-related disease by promoting healthy foods.The American diet is too low in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains and too high in fatty meat, soft drinks and salty packaged and restaurant foods-contributing to hundreds of thousands of premature deaths each year.
·Supporting sustainable farms and stopping subsidies to agribusiness.Billions of federal dollars a year would be better spent helping environmentally conscious family farmers than hugeagribusiness operations.
·Expanding access to food and alleviating hunger.Far too many Americans don’t know where their next meal is coming from, or have access to fresh produce in their neighborhood.
·Reforming factory farms to protect animals and the environment.Farming of animals can and should be done without cruelty, and without degrading the quality of life.
·Curbing junk-food marketing to kids.Food companies should not be targeting children with foods that promote tooth decay, obesity and other health problems.

  1. 1.

    What is the best title of the text?

    1. A.
      Food Day Campaign
    2. B.
      Eat Real and Keep fit
    3. C.
      How to Observe Food Day
    4. D.
      Food Problems in the USA
  2. 2.

    What can we learn from Paragraph 2?

    1. A.
      Food problems are not easy to deal with.
    2. B.
      Food Day events should be held in public places.
    3. C.
      Kindergarten kids are unable to identify vegetables.
    4. D.
      People are invited to create their own Food Day events.
  3. 3.

    One of the aims of Food Day is to ____.

    1. A.
      target children with junk food
    2. B.
      operate more agribusiness
    3. C.
      increase access to food
    4. D.
      cancel a series of events
  4. 4.

    The underlined word "curbing" in the last paragraph is closest in meaning to “          ”.

    1. A.
      controlling
    2. B.
      enlarging
    3. C.
      evaluating
    4. D.
      providing
  5. 5.

    We can infer from the text that _____.

    1. A.
      Food Day will not help preserve natural resources.
    2. B.
      Food Day can be an opportunity to solve food problems.
    3. C.
      Food Day has so far achieved all the central goals.
    4. D.
      there are different ideas and views about Food Day.

What makes a house a home?
Not size, of course.I’ve been in some of the grandest houses in America, and it’s readily apparent no one lives there.Earlier this year, I had dinner in a mud hut in Ethiopia, where we sat on chairs next to the hostess’ bed -- a home that had more warmth than any house I’ve been in since.
Now John Edwards is exploring what makes a house a home in his just-released Home: The Blueprints of Our Lives.There Edwards writes, " This is a book about homes, the values they rest on, the dreams they are filled with, and the people they have shaped.The houses and circumstances are different, but much of what you find inside will be familiar."     
Whether you’re sitting in an airport right now, waiting to fly to your childhood home for Thanksgiving, or in your own home waiting for the relatives to arrive, you know what he’s talking about.
We’ve lived in our townhouse for 21 years.The loose windows that make noise in the wind.The fireplace so shallow it holds only one log.The kitchen window that offers a view of the world passing by.It’s where friends sit on the kitchen counter drinking wine while dinner is being fixed.I lived there for only 18, but it will always be my true home.Even the lamp in the west living room window, which I could see far down the road when driving home late at night, still shines.
While all this talk about childhood memories can be warm and comforting, home is whom you’re with, not where you are.As Edwards writes, "Home is family.Home is safety.Home is faith."
Happy homecoming.

  1. 1.

    What would be the best title for the text?

    1. A.
      Home Means Everything
    2. B.
      What’s Inside Makes Us Feel at Home
    3. C.
      Home: The Blueprints of Our Lives
    4. D.
      The Importance of the Home
  2. 2.

    The purpose of the second paragraph is to _    _

    1. A.
      mean the author likes living in grandest houses
    2. B.
      prove the author got along well with the hostess
    3. C.
      mean the feeling of home isn’t related to the size
    4. D.
      show the author’s different feelings about houses
  3. 3.

    About the book Home: The Blueprints of Our Lives, we know that       

    1. A.
      it was the description of Edwards’ houses
    2. B.
      it is mainly about houses
    3. C.
      it helps us understand the concept of home
    4. D.
      it was written by the author of the text
  4. 4.

    What did the author mainly mean when he mentioned the loose windows and the shallow fireplace ?

    1. A.
      His house was too old to live in.
    2. B.
      He missed the feelings of home.
    3. C.
      He hated living there.
    4. D.
      He missed his old friends too much.
  5. 5.

    It can be inferred according to the text that _     _

    1. A.
      the author’s family were very rich
    2. B.
      every happy home is the same
    3. C.
      the author has been living a hard life
    4. D.
      the author and Edwards hold similar ideas

When I asked my daughter which item she would keep: the phone, the car, the cooker, the computer, the TV, or her boyfriend, she said, “the phone”. Personally, I could do without the phone entirely, which makes me unusual. Because the telephone is changing our lives more than any other piece of technology.
Point 1. The telephone creates the need to communicate, in the same way more roads create more traffic. My daughter comes home from school at 4:00 pm and then spends an hour on the phone talking to the every people she has been at school with all day. If the phone did not exist, would she have anything to talk about?
Point 2. The mobile phone means that we are never alone.”The mobile saved my life,” says Crystal Johnstone. She had an accident in her Volvo on the A45 between Otley and Skipton. Trapped inside, she managed to make the call that brought the ambulance to her rescue.
Point 3. The mobile removes our secret. It allows marketing manager of Haba Deutsch, Carl Nicolaisen, to ring his sales staff all round the world at any time of day to ask where they are, where they are going, and how their last meeting went.
Point 4. The telephone separates us. Antonella Bramanate in Rome says, “We worked in separate offices but I could see him through the window. It was easy to get his number. We were so near---but we didn’t meet for the first two weeks!”
Point 5. The telephone allows us to reach out beyond our own lives. Today we can talk to several complete strangers simultaneously（同声翻译地）on chat lines (at least my daughter does. I wouldn’t know what to talk about). We can talk across the world. We can even talk to astronauts (if you know any) while they’re space-walking. And, with the phone line hooked up to the computer, we can access the Internet, the biggest library on Earth.

  1. 1.

    Point 1 mainly tells us that __________.

    1. A.
      The writer’s daughter enjoys talking on the phone
    2. B.
      More roads create more traffic
    3. C.
      phones create the need to communication
    4. D.
      it’s easy to communicate through phones
  2. 2.

    People’s attitude towards mobile phone is that it _________.

    1. A.
      helps people deal with the emergency
    2. B.
      brings convenience as well as little secret to people
    3. C.
      is so important and should be encouraged
    4. D.
      is part of people’s life
  3. 3.

    It is possible to talk to several complete strangers at the same time through_____.

    1. A.
      the TV screen
    2. B.
      a fax machine
    3. C.
      the Internet
    4. D.
      the phone
  4. 4.

    Which is the most suitable title for the passage?

    1. A.
      Phone Power
    2. B.
      Kinds of Phones
    3. C.
      How to Use Phone
    4. D.
      Advantages of Phones

Modern society cannot well do without the contribution that women can make in the professions and other kinds of work. There is a serious shortage of nurses and teachers, to mention only two of the occupations followed by women. It is a waste to give years of training at public expense only to have the qualified teacher or nurse marry after a year or two and be lost forever to her profession. The training, it is true, will help her in her duties as a mother, but if she continued to work, her service would be more widely useful. Many factories and shops, too, are largely staffed by women, many of them married. While here the question of training is not so important, industry and trade would be seriously short of staff if married women did not work.
We can see then that there are good reasons for regarding it as desirable that married women should have some occupation outside the home. However, there are serious objections. Schools do not keep children occupied the whole day and school holidays are long. The mother’s working day will almost certainly end well after the school day and her holiday will not begin at the same time as her children’s. There will be therefore a period when children are not taken care of unless a substitute for the mother can be found, or unless it becomes more generally possible for women to work part-time. There seem to be some grounds for believing that there is more bad behavior among the children of working mothers than among those of mothers who stay at home, but more evidence is required before we can be certain of this. What we can be certain of, however, is that many more will continue to do so.

  1. 1.

    According to the writer, women nurses and teachers ought to carry on their occupation after marriage because______.

    1. A.
      they are not allowed to give up their jobs
    2. B.
      their training should not be wasted
    3. C.
      they want to make a living by themselves
    4. D.
      they must still improve themselves as mothers
  2. 2.

    According to the writer, one possible way for the children of working mothers to be attended to is that________.

    1. A.
      schools keep children occupied the whole day
    2. B.
      their mothers change their occupation
    3. C.
      their mothers do not work full time
    4. D.
      their mothers should stay at home
  3. 3.

    The clause “unless a substitute for the mother can be found” means_______.

    1. A.
      if someone takes over the mother’s occupation
    2. B.
      if no mother works all day
    3. C.
      if no one takes care of the children for the mother
    4. D.
      if someone takes care of the children for the mother
  4. 4.

    The writer believes that bad behavior among the children of mothers who do not work is _________ among the children of working mothers.

    1. A.
      possibly less than
    2. B.
      about the same as
    3. C.
      a little greater than
    4. D.
      certainly more than

Watching some children trying to catch butterflies one hot August afternoon, I was reminded of an incident in my own childhood．When I was a boy of 12 in South Carolina, something happened to me that cured me forever of wanting to put any wild creature in a cage.
We lived on the edge of a wood, and every evening at dusk the mockingbirds would come and rest in the trees and sing. There isn’t a musical instrument made by man that can produce a more beautiful sound than the song of the mockingbird.
I decided that I would catch a young bird and keep it in a cage and in that way would have my own private musician.
I finally succeeded in catching one and put it in a cage. At first, in its fright at being captured, the bird fluttered about the cage, but eventually it settled down in its new home. I felt very pleased with myself and looked forward to some beautiful singing from my tiny musician.
I had left the cage out on our back porch, and on the second day of the bird’s captivity my new pet’s mother flew to the cage with food in her mouth. The baby bird ate everything she brought to it. I was pleased to see this. Certainly the mother knew better than I how to feed her baby.
The following morning when I went to see how my captive was doing, I discovered it on the floor of the cage, dead. I was shocked! What had happened! I had taken excellent care of my little bird, or so I thought.
Arthur Wayne, the famous ornithologist, happened to be visiting my father at the time, hearing me crying over the death of my bird, explained what had occurred. “A mother mockingbird, finding her young in a cage, will sometimes bring it poison berries. She thinks it better for her young to die than to live in captivity.”
Never since then have I caught any living creature and put it in a cage. All living creatures have a right to live free

  1. 1.

    Why did the writer catch a mockingbird when he was a boy of 12?

    1. A.
      He wanted it to sing for him
    2. B.
      He had just got a new cage
    3. C.
      He liked its beautiful feather
    4. D.
      He wanted a pet for a companion
  2. 2.

    The mockingbird died because it ______

    1. A.
      was frightened to death
    2. B.
      drank the poisonous water by mistake
    3. C.
      ate the poisonous food its mother gave it
    4. D.
      refused to eat anything
  3. 3.

    An ornithologist probably means ______

    1. A.
      a religious person
    2. B.
      a kind person
    3. C.
      an expert in birds
    4. D.
      a schoolmaster
  4. 4.

    What is the most important lesson the writer learned from the incident?

    1. A.
      Be careful about food you give to baby birds
    2. B.
      All birds put in a cage won’t live long
    3. C.
      You should keep the birds from their mother
    4. D.
      Freedom is very valuable to all creatures

A gentle breeze blew through Jennifer’s hair. The golden red sun was setting. She was on the beach, looking up at the fiery (火红的) ball. She was amazed by its color, deep red in the middle, softly fading into yellow. She could hear nothing but the waves and the seagulls flying up above in the sky.
The atmosphere relaxed her. After all she had been through, this was what she needed. “It’s getting late,” she thought, “I must go home. My parents will be wondering where I am.”
She wondered how her parents would react when she got home after the three days she was missing. She kept on walking, directing herself where she spent every summer holiday. The road was deserted. She walked slowly and silently. Just in a few hundred meters she would have been safe in her house.
It was really getting dark now. The sun had set a few minutes before and it was getting cold too. She wished she had her favorite sweater on: it kept her really warm. She imagined having it with her. This thought disappeared when she finally saw her front door. It seemed different. Nobody had taken care of the outside garden for a few days. She was shocked: her father was usually so strict about keeping everything clean and tidy, but now... It all seemed deserted. She couldn’t understand what was going on.
She entered the house. First, she went into the kitchen where she saw a note written by her father. It said: “Dear Ellen, there is some coffee ready. I went looking.” Ellen was her mother but — where was she? On the right side of the hallway was her parents’ room. She went in. Then she saw her. Her mother, lying on the bed, was sleeping. Her face looked so tired, as if she hadn’t slept for days. She was really pale. Jennifer would have wanted to wake her up but she looked too tired. So Jennifer just fell asleep beside her. When Jennifer woke up, something was different... she wasn’t in her mother’s room and she wasn’t wearing the old clothes she ran away in. She was in her cozy bed in her pajamas (睡衣).
It felt so good being back home. Suddenly she heard a voice, “Are you feeling better now, dear? You know you got us very, very scared.”

  1. 1.

    The writer describes the beautiful sunset to show Jennifer’s ______.

    1. A.
      love of the natural beauty
    2. B.
      desire of getting back home
    3. C.
      intention of becoming independent
    4. D.
      depression of being alone
  2. 2.

    What does the underlined phrase “This thought” most probably mean?

    1. A.
      The idea of going back home.
    2. B.
      Her anxiety about her parents.
    3. C.
      The feeling of being warm in her favorite sweater.
    4. D.
      The feeling of getting back home safely.
  3. 3.

    Her father didn’t take care of the garden because ______.

    1. A.
      he was busy looking for her
    2. B.
      he had to look after his wife
    3. C.
      he was not strict with his job
    4. D.
      he no longer enjoyed working in the garden

Moods, say the experts, are feelings that tend to become fixed, influencing one’s outlook for hours, days or even weeks. That’s great if your mood is a pleasant one, but a problem if you are sad, anxious, angry or simply lonely.
Perhaps the best way to deal with such moods is to talk them out; sometimes, though, there is no one to listen. Modern pharmacology（药理学）offers a lot of tranquilizers（镇静剂）What many people don’t realize, however, is that scientists have discovered the effectiveness of several non-drug methods to set you loose from an unwanted mood. These can be just as useful as drugs, and have the added benefit of being nonpoisonous. So next time you feel out of sorts, don’t head for the drug-store but try the following methods.
Of all the mood-altering self-help techniques, aerobic exercise seems to be the most efficient cure for a bad mood. “If you could keep up the exercise, you’d be in high spirits, ” says Kathryn Lance, author of Running for Health and Beauty.
Researchers have explained biochemical and various other changes that make exercise compare favourably to drugs as a mood raiser. Physical exertion such as housework, however, does little. The key is aerobic exercise—running, cycling, walking, swimming or other repetitive and sustained activities that increase the heart rate, increase blood circulation and improve the body’s use of oxygen. Do some of the activities for at least 20 minutes a session three to five times a week.

  1. 1.

    What is the main subject discussed in the passage?

    1. A.
      How to beat a bad mood.
    2. B.
      How to talk bad moods out.
    3. C.
      How to do physical exercises.
    4. D.
      How to join in aerobic exercises.
  2. 2.

    According to the passage, all of the statements are true EXCEPT that       

    1. A.
      climbing is an efficient cure for a bad mood
    2. B.
      moods can have a bad effect on people’s health
    3. C.
      aerobic exercise can help people get rid of bad moods
    4. D.
      pharmacology has provided people with many tranquilizers
  3. 3.

    “Feel out of sorts” in paragraph 2 could best be replaced by “       ”

    1. A.
      put things in order
    2. B.
      are in high spirits
    3. C.
      are in a bad mood
    4. D.
      search for tranquilizers
  4. 4.

    It can be inferred from the passage that        

    1. A.
      some drugs are more effective than physical exercises
    2. B.
      a person does not need aerobic exercise if he is in a good mood
    3. C.
      the best way to overcome a bad mood is to talk to oneself
    4. D.
      when in a bad mood, one may not work very efficiently

Our daughter Kerrin, a student at Boston University, had been home for a week-end visit, and I dropped her off at the bus station just in time for her back to college. After Kerrin’s bus had gone and I was driving away, I noticed that she had left her purse on the passenger seat. Worried that she would arrive in Boston without money or keys to her room, I called my wife, Bette Jean, on the car phone, explaining why I would be late. As I was following the bus, Bette Jean phoned me back to say she had phoned the bus dispatcher（调度员）on the other line and he, in return, had phoned the bus driver on yet another phone. The driver asked me to wave out of my window to show where I was. Then he pulled over at a rest stop, and I did the same. Kerrin jumped off the bus, and I handed her the purse and went on my way.

  1. 1.

    The writer saw his daughter’s purse right after       .

    1. A.
      seeing her off at the bus station
    2. B.
      starting his car again
    3. C.
      she got off the car
    4. D.
      she got on the bus
  2. 2.

    Kerrin didn’t find her purse missing until       .

    1. A.
      the bus started off
    2. B.
      her mother told her
    3. C.
      the bus stopped again
    4. D.
      she returned to the university
  3. 3.

    In which order did the following persons know about the loss of the purse?

    1. A.
      driver—writer—Better Jean—Kerrin
    2. B.
      Kerrin—writer—Better Jean—driver
    3. C.
      writer—driver—Kerrin—Better Jean
    4. D.
      writer—Bette—Jean—driver—Kerrin
  4. 4.

    Which of the following is not true?

    1. A.
      The bus was too fast for the car to catch up with in no time.
    2. B.
      The writer had tried to phone the dispatcher but failed.
    3. C.
      The writer couldn’t get in touch with the driver by the phone.
    4. D.
      Both the writer and the bus driver could use the car phone.
  5. 5.

    Which of the following seems the most necessary in helping the writer?
    a. his car           b. phone    c. the bus driver   
    d. the dispatcher     e. his wife         f. his daughter

    1. A.
      a, b, d and e
    2. B.
      c, d, e and f
    3. C.
      a, b, c and d
    4. D.
      b, c, d and e
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