With fears of a possible nuclear meltdown(核反应堆堆芯的熔毁) in Japan building up, evidence has come to light that the nation received warnings over the stability of its power plants from an international watchdog more than two years ago.
　　As the Telegraph is reporting, an official from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said in December 2008 that safety rules were out of date, and strong earthquakes would cause a “serious problem” for the power stations.
　　A U.S. embassy document, by quoting（引用）an unnamed expert, states: “He (the IAEA official) explained that safety guides for earthquakes have only been updated three times in the last 35 years and that the IAEA is now re-examining them. Also, the presenter noted recent earthquakes in some cases have gone beyond the design basis for some nuclear plants, and that this is a serious problem that is now driving earthquake safety work.”
　　The Telegraph also reports that the government responded to the warnings by building an emergency response center at the Fukushima Daiichi plant designed to resist magnitude-7.0 earthquakes. Friday's earthquake, originally named a magnitude-8.9 shock, has since been upgraded to magnitude-9.0.
　　Other nuclear experts state IAEA officials had willingly ignored lessons from the Chernobyl disaster to protect the nuclear industry's expansion, reports Bloomberg. “After Chernobyl, all the force of the nuclear industry was directed to hide this event, for not creating damage to their reputation,”Russian nuclear accident specialist Iouli Andreyev tells Reuters, before noting that radiation from spent fuel rods（棒）stored close to reactors at Fukushima looked like an example of putting profit before safety. “The Japanese were very greedy, and they used every square inch of the space. But when you have a dense(密集的) placing of spent fuel in the basin, you have a high possibility of fire if the water is removed from the basin.”
【小题1】 From the passage, we know that ____________.

A．people fear that the nuclear meltdown will possibly become more and more serious in Japan

B．people are becoming more and more afraid of a possible nuclear meltdown in Japan

C．Japan made no response to the warnings over the safety of its power plants

D．Iouli Andreyev warned Japan not to store spent fuel rods close to reactors

With fears of a possible nuclear meltdown(核反应堆堆芯的熔毁) in Japan building up, evidence has come to light that the nation received warnings over the stability of its power plants from an international watchdog more than two years ago.

　　As the Telegraph is reporting, an official from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said in December 2008 that safety rules were out of date, and strong earthquakes would cause a “serious problem” for the power stations.

　　A U.S. embassy document, by quoting（引用）an unnamed expert, states: “He (the IAEA official) explained that safety guides for earthquakes have only been updated three times in the last 35 years and that the IAEA is now re-examining them. Also, the presenter noted recent earthquakes in some cases have gone beyond the design basis for some nuclear plants, and that this is a serious problem that is now driving earthquake safety work.”

　　The Telegraph also reports that the government responded to the warnings by building an emergency response center at the Fukushima Daiichi plant designed to resist magnitude-7.0 earthquakes. Friday's earthquake, originally named a magnitude-8.9 shock, has since been upgraded to magnitude-9.0.

　　Other nuclear experts state IAEA officials had willingly ignored lessons from the Chernobyl disaster to protect the nuclear industry's expansion, reports Bloomberg. “After Chernobyl, all the force of the nuclear industry was directed to hide this event, for not creating damage to their reputation,”Russian nuclear accident specialist Iouli Andreyev tells Reuters, before noting that radiation from spent fuel rods（棒）stored close to reactors at Fukushima looked like an example of putting profit before safety. “The Japanese were very greedy, and they used every square inch of the space. But when you have a dense(密集的) placing of spent fuel in the basin, you have a high possibility of fire if the water is removed from the basin.”

1. From the passage, we know that ____________.

A. people fear that the nuclear meltdown will possibly become more and more serious in Japan

B. people are becoming more and more afraid of a possible nuclear meltdown in Japan

C. Japan made no response to the warnings over the safety of its power plants

D. Iouli Andreyev warned Japan not to store spent fuel rods close to reactors

2. Which of the following is true according to the passage?

A. Japan was warned of the stability of its power plants when they were built over 2 years ago.

B. Safety guides for earthquakes should be updated three times in 35 years.

C. The emergency response centre at the Fukushima Daiichi plant can not resist Friday’s  

     earthquake.

D. IAEA officials advised Japan to ignore lessons from the Chernobyl disaster.

3. IAEA officials were willing to ignore lessons from the Chernobyl disaster because they want ________.

A. to put profit before safety.         B. the nuclear industry to develop

   C. to protect the reputation of Japan        D. every inch of land to be made good use of

4.The writer develops this passage mainly by__________.

A. making comments              B. providing facts

C. quoting what experts say             D. analysing what happened

　 America has long been considered the land of opportunity(机遇)by those from other countries. Americans, too, believe that the United States gives almost limitless opportunity for those who want to open business on their own.

　 Today, Americans are still fond of trying their hand at becoming small business people, even though only one out of two survives in the first two years. Many of these people start their business for the wrong reason: to get away from the paper work of their present jobs or to exchange the responsibility(责任)of their present jobs for free life styles. But more, not less paper work and responsibility come with the ownership of a small business .

　 Not all small businesses succeed. Fifty percent of the 4,550,000 that start in the United States ever fail(失败). Still ninety-five percent of businesses in the U.S. can be regarded as small, and these businesses altogether produce forty percent of America’s total national products.

1. According to the passage, which of the following statements is TRUE?

　 A. People from other countries and Americans think there are a lot of opportunities in the

　　 U.S.

　 B. Only the Americans think the U.S. can give them many opportunities.

　 C. Both people from other countries and Americans believe they have many opportunities in

　　 the U.S so that they can do whatever they like.

　 D. People from other countries and Americans all think the U.S. the place where they can

　　 realize their dreams.

2. From this passage, we know that ____.

　 A. many people from other countries think that in the past there were many opportunities in

　　 the U.S. but not now

　 B. now Americans don’t believe the U.S. can give them a lot of opportunities

　 C. people from other countries still think they have more opportunities in the U.S. than in

　　 their own countries

　 D. Americans think they have more opportunities to start their own business than those from

　　 other countries

3. According to this passage, many American people like to start their own business because

　 ____.

　 A. they want to become rich soon

　 B. they not only dislike their present job but also want a free life style

　 C. they don’t want to do paper work

　 D. they want to have more chances

4. From this passage, we can get the idea that ____.

　 A. it is easy to do business successfully in the U.S.

　 B. it is easy to start a business but hard to make it successful

　 C. there are more big businesses than small businesses in the U.S.

　 D. only big businesses can succeed in the U.S.

America has long been considered the land of opportunity(机遇)by those from other countries. Americans, too, believe that the United States gives almost limitless opportunity for those who want to open business on their own.

　 Today, Americans are still fond of trying their hand at becoming small business people, even though only one out of two survives in the first two years. Many of these people start their business for the wrong reason: to get away from the paper work of their present jobs or to exchange the responsibility(责任)of their present jobs for free life styles. But more, not less paper work and responsibility come with the ownership of a small business .

　 Not all small businesses succeed. Fifty percent of the 4,550,000 that start in the United States ever fail(失败). Still ninety-five percent of businesses in the U.S. can be regarded as small, and these businesses altogether produce forty percent of America’s total national products.

1. According to the passage, which of the following statements is TRUE?

　 A. People from other countries and Americans think there are a lot of opportunities in the

　　 U.S.

　 B. Only the Americans think the U.S. can give them many opportunities.

　 C. Both people from other countries and Americans believe they have many opportunities in

　　 the U.S so that they can do whatever they like.

　 D. People from other countries and Americans all think the U.S. the place where they can

　　 realize their dreams.

2. From this passage, we know that ____.

　 A. many people from other countries think that in the past there were many opportunities in

　　 the U.S. but not now

　 B. now Americans don’t believe the U.S. can give them a lot of opportunities

　 C. people from other countries still think they have more opportunities in the U.S. than in

　　 their own countries

　 D. Americans think they have more opportunities to start their own business than those from

　　 other countries

3. According to this passage, many American people like to start their own business because

　 ____.

　 A. they want to become rich soon

　 B. they not only dislike their present job but also want a free life style

　 C. they don’t want to do paper work

　 D. they want to have more chances

4. From this passage, we can get the idea that ____.

　 A. it is easy to do business successfully in the U.S.

　 B. it is easy to start a business but hard to make it successful

　 C. there are more big businesses than small businesses in the U.S.

　 D. only big businesses can succeed in the U.S.