More than 20,000 drivers and front seat passengers are killed or seriously injured each year. At a speed of only 30 miles per hour it is the same as falling from a third floor window. Wearing a seat belt saves lives; it reduces your chance of death or serious injury by more than half.

Therefore drivers or front seat passengers over 14 most vehicles must wear a seat belt. If you do not, you could be fined up to $50. It will not be up to the drivers to make sure you wear your belt. But it will be the driver’s responsibility to make sure that children under 14 do not ride in the front unless they are wearing a seat belt of some kind.

However, you do not have to wear a seat belt if you are reversing(倒退) your vehicle; or you are making a local delivery or collection using a special vehicle; or if you have a valid（正当的） medical certificate（ 证书）which excuses you from wearing it. Make sure these cases supply to you before you decide not to wear your seat belt. Remember you may be taken to court for not doing so, and you may be fined if you cannot prove to the court you have been excused from wearing.

1. This passage is probably taken from ______.

A. medical magazine    B. a legal document

C. a textbook    D. a government information booklet

2. Wearing a seat belt in a vehicle ______.

A. reduces road accidents by more than half

B. reduces the death rate in traffic accidents

C. saves lives while driving at a speed up to 30 miles per hour  

D. saves more than 16,000 lives each year

3. It is the driver’s responsibility to ______.

A. make the front seat passenger wear a seat belt

B. make the front seat children under 14 wear a seat belt

C. stop children from riding in the front seat

D. wear a seat belt each time he drives

4. For some people, it may be better to ______.

A. pay a fine rather than wear a seat belt   

B. wear a seat belt for health reasons

C. (not to) wear seat belt for health reasons  

D. get a valid medical certificate before wearing a seat belt

B
“It was all his own idea, ” says Pat Peters, the 38-year-old wife of Palo Alto, California high school football coach Bob Peters, 39. Bob had just drawn up a “motherhood contract” --a document stating that for 70 days this summer he would take over the care and feeding of the couple’s four children, plus all household chores. Although he didn’t even know how to make coffee when he signed, he was quite confident.(He thought the experience would make a nice book.)
After 40 of the 70 days, he was ready to give up. “I was beaten down, completely humbled（挫败的）,”  admits Peters. Three weeks later he spoke to the local press, stating, “Not only is motherhood a difficult task, not only is it never-ending, it is an impossible job for any normal human being.”
Bob and Pat were high school sweethearts. After they were married in 1960, she worked as a secretary to help put him through university. Since then Bob has been the football and wrestling coach at Palo Alto’s Cubberley High while Pat raised the kids. Then two years ago Pat went back to work as a secretary at Cubberley. “I had been around children so much,” she sighs, “I couldn’t talk to a grown-up.” She continued to run the household, however----until Bob signed the contract, therefore, she decided to relax and enjoy it. 
Although Peters had consulted(咨询) with his school’s home economics teachers and the head of the cafeteria, his meals were sometimes a disaster. “I tried to slip the butter I’d forgotten under the eggs after they were frying, ” he says. For the last three weeks, the family ate out a lot—sometimes having Macdonald’s hamburgers for lunch and dinner.
As for housekeeping, a home economics teacher had told Bob that a room always looks clean if the bed is made. “I found an easier way-I shut the doors, ” he says. Soon the kids were wearing the same clothes for a week. “I made them wear their shirts inside out, and when we went to pick up Pat at work they turned them right side out so they would look clean.”
Now that Bob has publicly admitted he was wrong, he is routinely sharing the child-raising and household tasks with Pat. The tentative（暂时的） title of his book about the summer is taken from something he shouted at the kids one day.
45. The couple signed the contract because _______.
A. Pat complained a lot about her doing the housework all by herself
B. Bob loved taking care of children and wanted his wife to have a good rest
C. they agreed that husband and wife should share household tasks
D. Bob thought it easy to take care of the family and wanted the experience for a book
46. It was agreed that if Bob failed to keep to the contract, he would have to _______.
A. pay a certain amount of money
B.  admit publicly he was wrong about motherhood 
C. say sorry to his wife         D. do all the housework for years
47. What can we learn about Pat Peters?
A. She was hard-working and selfless.   B. She was pretty and kind-hearted.
C. She was tired of the child-raising and household tasks.
D. She did not love Bob any longer.
48. Which of the following can best end the news story?
A. “Wait till your mother gets home!”    B. “My experience of being a mother.”
C. “I’m proud of you all, my dear!”     D. “Motherhood: an impossible job for anyone.”

Youth volunteers from Beijing University visited Songtang Hospital, a care clinic for the aged and dying patients, on April 21, the second Global Youth Service Day.
Thirty student volunteers from the university’s School of International Studies sat at the beds of the patients in their specially-decorated “care huts”. They talked with them and gave messages to patients kept in their beds.
“I felt sorry that I could not offer more to these people except talking with them and trying to cheer them up”, said Deng Yetao, a third-year student, “But it occurred to me that they need more care and love than babies. They are afraid of the coming death. Their loneliness is worse than physical pains.”
“Even though they are suffering a lot, the majority of the elderly people want to talk to us. Each of them has a lot of life experiences and philosophies to share. Instead of doing them a favor, I felt I was gaining a valuable lesson,” said Mao Xiaohua, another third-year student.
Mao talked with two elderly patients for a whole afternoon. The fact that most of the patients in the 80-room clinic are aged people with diseases which will lead to death soon made the volunteers’ hearts heavy.
Ninety-one percent of the patients will spend the last days of their lives in the clinic, according to a survey by the hospital.
Daily visits and services by social workers and youth volunteers are a very important part of their programme. A total of 330,000 Beijing students from 119 universities and colleges have visited the hospital. Many continue to offer services in their spare time. Some of them volunteer to hold the hands of dying patients during the last minutes of their lives.
Yin Hang, a student from Beijing Medical College, said he felt “the glory of life” as he saw the fading smile on the face of the old man who slipped into a deep unconsciousness while he was holding his hands.
61. Youth volunteers from Beijing University went to Songtang Hospital to ______.
A. pay a visit to the wounded        B. talk with the aged
C. offer services to the aged          D. learn something from the aged
62. What the aged most suffered from is ______.
A. loneliness          B. death                       C. physical pain            D. disease
63. According to what Mao Xiaohua said, we know that_____.
A. the elderly taught him a good lesson when he talked to them
B. he learned something important from the elderly instead of only helping them
C. he only wanted to get something rather than do them a favor
D. he was glad to have given them a favor
64. When volunteers know most of the aged people in the clinic are dying patients, they feel _____.
A. sad                   B. disappointed             C. hopeless                   D. worthless
65. Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?
A. The youth are fond of doing popular things.
B. The Second Youth Service Day is started by the Chinese government.
C. 91% of the aged in China are facing death.
D. The volunteers are taking an active part in the activity

“It was all his own idea, ” says Pat Peters, the 38-year-old wife of Palo Alto, California high school football coach Bob Peters, 39. Bob had just drawn up a “motherhood contract” --a document stating that for 70 days this summer he would take over the care and feeding of the couple’s four children, plus all household chores. Although he didn’t even know how to make coffee when he signed, he was quite confident.(He thought the experience would make a nice book.)

     After 40 of the 70 days, he was ready to give up. “I was beaten down, pletely humbled（挫败的）,”  admits Peters. Three weeks later he spoke to the local press, stating, “Not only is motherhood a difficult task, not only is it never-ending, it is an impossible job for any normal human being.”

     Bob and Pat were high school sweethearts. After they were married in 1960, she worked as a secretary to help put him through university. Since then Bob has been the football and wrestling coach at Palo Alto’s Cubberley High while Pat raised the kids. Then two years ago Pat went back to work as a secretary at Cubberley. “I had been around children so much,” she sighs, “I couldn’t talk to a grown-up.” She continued to run the household, however----until Bob signed the contract, therefore, she decided to relax and enjoy it. 

Although Peters had consulted(咨询) with his school’s home economics teachers and the head of the cafeteria, his meals were sometimes a disaster. “I tried to slip the butter I’d forgotten under the eggs after they were frying, ” he says. For the last three weeks, the family ate out a lot—sometimes having Macdonald’s hamburgers for lunch and dinner.

     As for housekeeping, a home economics teacher had told Bob that a room always looks clean if the bed is made. “I found an easier way-I shut the doors, ” he says. Soon the kids were wearing the same clothes for a week. “I made them wear their shirts inside out, and when we went to pick up Pat at work they turned them right side out so they would look clean.”

     Now that Bob has publicly admitted he was wrong, he is routinely sharing the child-raising and household tasks with Pat. The tentative（暂时的） title of his book about the summer is taken from something he shouted at the kids one day.

The couple signed the contract because _______.

    A. Pat plained a lot about her doing the housework all by herself

    B. Bob loved taking care of children and wanted his wife to have a good rest

    C. they agreed that husband and wife should share household tasks

    D. Bob thought it easy to take care of the family and wanted the experience for a book

It was agreed that if Bob failed to keep to the contract, he would have to _______.

    A. pay a certain amount of money

    B.  admit publicly he was wrong about motherhood 

 C. say sorry to his wife

    D. do all the housework for years

What can we learn about Pat Peters?

    A. She was hard-working and selfless.

    B. She was pretty and kind-hearted.

    C. She was tired of the child-raising and household tasks.

    D. She did not love Bob any longer.

Which of the following can best end the news story?

    A. “Wait till your mother gets home!”

    B. “My experience of being a mother.”

    C. “I’m proud of you all, my dear!”

    D. “Motherhood: an impossible job for anyone.”

London has become a cycle friendly zone after the launch of a new bike hire scheme.It has been designed to encourage more people to cycle in and around central London.

So how does it  work？First you have to sign up to the scheme to be sent a key.The key will unlock one of the bikes，which are kept at docking stations in  and around central London.You have to pay an access fee for the key and then you pay as you go，for he length of time you use the bike.

Transport for London， which runs the scheme，are hoping to have 6，000 bikes and 400 docking stations in place by the end of the year.The new hire system is hoping to ease congestion in London and is expected to generate up to 40，000 extra cycle trips a day into the city centre.London Mayor Boris Johnston launched the scheme and said London had been “filled with thousands of gleaming machines that will transform the look and feel of our streets and become as commonplace on our roads as black cabs and red buses”.

However，there  have been a few problems since the scheme was launched last Friday.On the first day some people found they couldn’t dock their bike  properly and their usage of the bike had not registered.Transport for London did admit they had been expecting a few “teething problems”and have said they wouldn’t charge for the first day as a“gesture of goodwill”.Some other people have criticized the lack of docking stations and locks for the bikes as well as the price it costs to hire the bicycles.

Despite the comments，the green-thinking London Mayor still seems very positive about things，saying，“My campaign for the capital to become the greatest big cycling city in the world has taken a gigantic pedal-powered push forwards.”

1.A new bike scheme has started in London to.

A.earn more money for the government

B.encourage the citizens to take exercises

C.deal with the city’s traffic problems

D.increase employment opportunities

2.Which  is the correct order of a bike hire？

a.pay a usage charge according to the time   b.pay for the key

c.cycle in and around central London         d.sign up as a member to get a key

A.b-d-c-a            B.b-c-a-d           C.d-c-b-a           D.d-b-c-a

3.According to he passage，the scheme         .

A.is started by volunteers in London

B.has prepared cnough cycles available

C.is expected to improve the environment

D.has become as popular as cabs and buses

4.Which of the following is NOT the“teething problems” of the scheme？

A.People were unable to lock properly.

B.People could not dock the bikes properly.

C.People had no enthusiasm about the scheme.

D.It’s too expensive for some people to hire a bike.

5.From the passage we know         .

A.the‘cycling revolution’failed once started

B.the scheme will be put off due to the problems

C.all the citizens in London are in favor of the scheme

D.the London Mayor has great confidence in the scheme