The income gap between China's rural and urban residents(居民) has continued to widen during the past few years in spite of rapidly rising rural incomes, Agricultural Minister Sun Zhengcai said here on Wednesday.

The income ratio(比率) between urban and rural residents was 3.28:1 in 2006, against 3.23:1 in 2003, said Sun in his report on the promotion of building a new countryside in 2007. Sun also said the net income of rural residents in different regions also varied widely. The income gap is only one of several problems in rural areas, according to Sun's report. While listing the achievements in rural areas in recent years, Sun believed that rural development still followed behind urban development.

"We have bigger pressure to ensure the supply of major agricultural products such as grain," he said. "China's urbanization(都市化) has been speeded up and more rural residents have gone to urban areas," he said.

"In this case, more agricultural producers become farm produce consumers, which created more pressure for supply," he said.

Another problem facing China's agricultural development is inadequate application of science and technology.

"Only 30 percent of scientific and technological achievements have been applied to agricultural production, which is 40 percentage points lower than developed countries," he said.

Despite increased government spending in rural areas, the infrastructure(基础下部组织) is still poor and easily hit by disasters.

According to Sun, the government spent 431.8 billion yuan ($59.15 billion) on agriculture, rural areas and farmers this year, an increase of 80.1 billion yuan over the previous year.

China set aside 11.38 billion yuan to promote a new rural cooperative medical care system and 27.98 billion yuan to support the new compulsory education mechanism in rural area to ensure that all citizens shared the fruits of China's reform and opening-up, Sun said.

1.Which of the following is TRUE according to the text?

2.Can you infer the meaning of the underlined words in paragraph 5?

3.How much is spent on agriculture, rural areas and farmers the previous year?

4.Which is NOT the problem in rural areas?

Beijing: The highly anticipated Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway will begin operation next year, and is expected to cut travel time to four hours, railway officials said.

The high-speed railway between China's two most important metropolises was scheduled to open in 2012 but will now open one year ahead of time, said Zheng Jian, chief planner with the Ministry of Railways.

Wang Zhiguo, vice-minister of railways, said that it would be a four-hour journey from Beijing to Shanghai, and only three hours from Beijing to Nanjing, capital of East China's Jiangsu province.

At present, it takes about 10 hours to travel from Beijing to Shanghai and Nanjing by train. A new-generation bullet train that will travel up to 380 kilometers per hour (kph) is now under development for the high-speed rail link.

It will be rigorously tested this year, and engineers want the train to run at a top speed of 420 kph to guarantee a safe operational speed of 380 kph, Huang Qiang, chief researcher with the China Academy of Railway Sciences told the Beijing News.

Vice-Minister Wang Zhiguo said it was expected that high-speed trains would one day take passengers from Beijing to most capital cities within eight hours, except for Haikou, Urumqi, Lhasa and Taipei.

It is expected that an 110,000-km railway network will be completed by 2012, including 13,000 km of high-speed rail, he said.

China already has 6,552 km of rail track in operation --- the longest amount of high-speed rail track in the world.

At present, at least 10,000 km of high-speed rail line is under construction in China. About 3,676 km of new track for running trains at speeds up to 350 kph have already been laid and put into operation. Another 2,876 km of old tracks have been upgraded to run trains of 200 to 250 kph. .

Ultimately, China plans to construct a 120,000-km railway network, including 50,000-km of high-speed rail track, by 2020.

The Ministry of Railways wants to export China's high-speed railway technology to North America, Europe and Latin America.

Wang said, “State-owned Chinese companies are already building high-speed lines in Turkey and Venezuela. Many countries, including the United States, Russia, Brazil and Saudi Arabia, have also expressed interest.”

56.When will the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway come into use?

A. In 2012.                   B. In 2013.                   C. In 2011.           D. In 2010

57. How much time will a passenger save by train from Beijing to Shanghai after the high-speed railway is open? 

A. 4 hours.                          B. 6 hours.                   C. 10 hours.          D. 3 hours.

58. Which of the following countries owns the longest railway in the world ?

A. China.                            B. America.                 C. Canada.            D. Russia.

59. Which city, in the opinion of vice-minister Wang Zhiguo, can passengers from Beijing reach  in high-speed trains within 8 hours ?

A. Haikou.                          B. Urumqi.                   C. Lhasa .             D. Changsha.

60. What can we learn from the last two paragraphs?

A. The Ministry of Railways wants to increase GDP by exporting railway technology.

B. China’s railway technology is superior to that of many other countries.

C. Countries in North America have already imported the railway technology of China.

D. The United States also wants to build high-speed railways in Turkey and Venezuela.

Diaoyu Islands Issue is       about the islands----it refers to the invasion of China’s territorial sovereignty.(中国领土主权的侵犯)

A．more than         B．no more than       C．other than         D．rather than

When Han Duan started her professional career at 16, China’s national women’s football team was defeated in the final of the World Cup by the US. While she was asked to play in her first World Cup in 2003, she largely remained on the bench after the first match.

But things have changed. Now, Han is one of the most important players in China’s team. “I can’t wait to play. Life is short. You must make the most out of it,” Han always says like that. 

Han wants every possible honor that a football player can get — an Asian Cup, a World Cup and an Olympic medal. She has always been good at sports, especially swimming and horizontal bars. At school, she was the fastest in the 60m and 100m.

But the reason she picked football was that she wanted to get more compliments (称赞). “Football is for boys. But I feel more fulfilled when I can do better than them and win more compliments,” she said. Later, when she entered a football school, the coach always asked Han to show others what to do.

However, nobody can be good at everything. Han described her singing as “howling” and the only school subject she was good at was Chinese. “I was very happy every time my essay was posted on the wall for my schoolmates to read.” But Han still has some regrets about her school years. Her handwriting was terrible at school. She ever wanted to improve her handwriting but didn’t achieve much.

“My fans ask for my signature (签名), so I’d better practice and practice. It’s not too late,” she says.

1.In the World Cup in 2003, Han Duan was a(n) ______.

2.What does the underlined part in the second paragraph imply?

3.According to the passage, we know that Han Duan ________.

4.From the fourth paragraph, it can be inferred that Han Duan most probably ________.

5.What’s the best title of this passage?

Some 80 percent of graduate students in East China’s Zhejiang Province said in a survey they will give up trying to find jobs in Beijing，Shanghai and Guangzhou，first-tier cities in China that have been considered dream places for many，because of the untouchable home prices and high living costs．

    The Yangtse Evening Post conducted the survey among 50 job seekers who were attending Sunday’s job fair in Jiangsu for graduate students．The survey showed graduates are becoming more realistic in their job search despite the job market becoming better．

    The fair attracted more than 10，000 graduate students with 7，382 positions．

    “The pressure of buying a house in Beijing is unbelievable，”said Wang Jian from Nanjiing Normal University，who acknowledged he had thought about finding a job in Beijing，Shanghai or Guangzhou，but in the face of huge pressures，he has no choice but to be “realistic”．

    People can have a very comfortable life in Nanjing with a monthly salary of between 3，000 yuan($450)and 4，000 yuan，but in Shanghai，5，000 yuan a month can only help you survive and buying a house will remain a dream．

    A student from Nanjing University of Science and Technology said he just turned down an offer from a Shanghai company of 7,000 yuan a month because“living  costs in Shanghai are too high．”

    An unnamed male student from Nanjing University said he will try first-tier cities only if he can get a high salary．“I would go to Beijing only if I can earn 200，000 yuan a year，”he said．

    “Beijing，Shanghai and Guangzhou once had the advantages that other cities don’t have，but the high housing prices and living costs make young people barely able to breathe，”said Ren Leiming from the job service center of Jiangsu’s colleges and universities．

    “First-tier cities have plenty of talents that make it hard for people to be outstanding，and if you go work in smaller cities you can become a dominant player at your position much more easily，”said Ren．

1.The majority of graduate students will give up trying to find jobs in the first-tier cities because       .

    A．it is not easy to find jobs there．

    B．home prices and living costs there are very high．

    C．they can’t make full use of their knowledge and skills there．

    D．monthly salaries there are low compared with those in other cities．

2.Which of the following statements is TRUE about the job market now?

    A．There are more job opportunities offered now．

    B．The job markets are becoming more and more competitive．

    C．Many graduate students aren’t satisfied with the working conditions．

    D．Companies and enterprises have stricter rules to take in graduate students．

3.We can learn from the news report that       ．

    A．in Shanghai，5，000 yuan a month can only help you buy a luxury house

    B．the fair attracted more than 10，000 graduate students and laid-off workers with 7，382 positions

    C．The Yangtse Evening Post conducted the survey among 50 personnel managers who were attending Sunday’s joh fair in Jiangsu for graduate students

    D．a student from Nanjing University of Science and Technology turned down an offer from a Shanghai company of 7，000 yuan a month

4.The words Ren said in the last paragraph mean       .

    A．people can’t achieve more in first-tier cities

    B．people can easily be outstanding in smaller cities

    C．he would rather go to first-tier cities than smaller cities

D．talents are more welcome in first-tier cities than smaller ones