People in Shanghai can quench their thirst with high quality water if the Shanghai Water Authority (SWA) is able to make good on its word. It has vowed to make the city’s water match its status as a world class city.

   “The current tap water quality meets national standards, but, compared with that of the European Union and the United States, it still needs to be improved.” said the SWA’s director general, Hang Jiayi.

    In other developed countries, water fountains can be found almost everywhere—people do not bother with bottled drinking water.

    By 2020, the water of the Huangpu River will be treated to reduce the amount of organic waste in it. Major water works that draw water from the Huangpu will need more treatment facilities to improve the colour, texture, ammonia(氨)and nitrogen content before 2010.

    These treatment facilities are expected to cost 4 billion yuan, something that could affect the price of water, according to Chen Yin, SWA’s deputy director general.

    Chen said that replacing water pipes was also a key project. The city’s aged pipes are mostly to blame for the bad water quality.

    The SWA has started the water facilities renovation(更新)work, including the more than 14,000 kilometres of indoor piping, 107,000 tanks on top of the buildings, and more than 6,000 underground facilities.

    World Water Day came on March 22, and this year’s theme is “Water for the future”. Beijing is also drawing up plans during China’s Water Week, which runs until March 28.

    By 2010, the water for the Shanghai EXPO is to be above World Health Organization standards. And, the people of Beijing will be able to drink their tap water as well.

People in Shanghai can drink their tap water_____.

   A. by 2020       B. in the first half of this year     C. by 2010      D. by 2008

What step need not be taken in order to improve the tap water?

A. The water of the Huangpu River will be treated.    B. Aged water pipes will be treated.

C. Water facilities must be renovated.                   D. Water fountains must be found.

Which is the correct statement according to the passage?

A. The tap water quality in Shanghai hasn’t met national standards.

B. World Water Day fell on March 22 this year.

C. The people of Beijing cannot drink their tap water now.

D. The treatment of the water of Huangpu River has been finished.

What is the main idea of the passage?

A. The cost of treating the tap water.

B. How to reach the water standards of developed countries.

C. The project for making tap water drinkable in Shanghai and Beijing.

D. The progress of treating the water of Huangpu River.

The local people are now________ Hong Kong, which was once ________the British for one and half a century.

A. in charge of;???? in charge of????? B. in the charge of;? in the charge of

C. in the charge of; in charge of??? ?? D. in charge of; in the charge of

The greatest recent social changes have been in the lives of women. During the twentieth century there has been a remarkable shortening of the proportion of a woman's life spent in caring for children. A woman marrying at the end of the nineteenth century would probably have been in her middle twenties, and would be likely to have seven or eight children, of whom four or five lived till they were five years old. By the time the youngest was fifteen, the mother would have been in her early fifties and would expect to live a further twenty years, during which customs, opportunity and health made it unusual for her to get paid work. Today women marry younger and have fewer children. Usually a woman's youngest child will be fifteen when she is forty－five and can be expected to live another thirty－five years and is likely to take paid work until retirement at sixty. Even while she has the care of children, her work is lightened by household appliances and convenience foods.

This important change in women's life－pattern has only recently begun to have its full effect on women's economic position. Even a few years ago most girls left school at the first opportunity, and most of them took a full－time job. However, when they married, they usually left work at once and never returned to it. Today the school－leaving age is sixteen, many girls stay at school after that age, and though women tend to marry younger, more married women stay at work at least until shortly before their first child is born. Very many more afterwards return to full－or－part－time work. Such changes have led to a new relationship in marriage: with the husband accepting a greater share of the duties and satisfactions of family life, and with both husband and wife sharing more equally in providing the money, and running the home, according to the abilities and interests of each of them.

6. Which of the following is the topic of this passage?

A. The marriage of women: past and present.

B. Women and their jobs.

C. The social changes in the lives of women.

D. Women's role in family life.

7. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the amount of time the women spent taking care of children ________.

A. was shorter than in previous centuries

B. was longer than in previous centuries

C. was considered to be surprisingly long

D. accounted for a great part of their lives

8. One reason why the woman of today may take a job is that she ________.

A. is younger when her children are old enough to look after themselves

B. does not like children herself

C. need not worry about food for her children

D. can retire from family responsibilities when she reaches sixty

9. According to the passage, it is now quite usual for women to ________.

A. stay at home after leaving school

B. marry men younger than themselves

C. start working again later in life

D. marry while still at school

10. What can be inferred from the last sentence?

A. The husband tends to share greater share of duties of family life.

B. In the past, the husband used to provide money for the family while the wife ran the home.

C. The wife does not have her own abilities and interests.

D. Both the husband and the wife should be satisfied with their family life.

Someday a stranger will read your e-mail without your permission or scan the Website you've visited，Or perhaps someone will casually glance through your credit card purchases or cell phone bills to find out your shopping preferences or calling habits.

In fact, it's likely that some of these things have already happened to you. Who would watch you without your permission? It might be a spouse, a girl friend, a marketing company, a boss, a cop or a criminal. Whoever it is, they will see you in a way you never intended to be seen ---- the 21st century replacement of being caught naked.

Psychologists tell us boundaries are healthy, that it's important to reveal yourself to friends, family and lovers in stages, at appropriate times. But few boundaries remain. The digital bread crumbs(碎屑) you leave everywhere make it easy for strangers to reconstruct who you are, where you are and what you like. In some cases, a simple Google search can reveal what you think. Like it or not, increasingly we live in a world where you simply cannot keep a secret.

The key question is: Does that matter?

For many Americans, the answer apparently is "no."

When opinion polls ask Americans about privacy, most say they are concerned about losing it. A survey found a strong bad feeling about privacy, with 60 percent of respondents saying they feel their privacy is "slipping away, and that bothers me."

But people say one thing and do another. Only a tiny part of Americans change any behaviors in an effort to preserve their privacy. Few people turn down a discount at tollbooths(收费站) to avoid using the EZ-Pass system that can track automobile movements. And few turn down supermarket loyalty cards. Privacy economist Alessandro Acquisti has run a series of tests that reveal people will give away personal information like Social Security numbers just to get their hands on a pitiful 50-cents-off coupon(优惠卷)。

But privacy does matter ---- at least sometimes. It's like health: When you have it, you don't notice it. Only when it's gone do you wish you'd done more to protect it.

What does the author mean by saying "the 21st century replacement of being caught naked"?

A. People's personal information is easily accessed without their knowledge.

B. In the 21st century people try every means to look into others' secrets.

C. People tend to be more frank with each other in the information age.

D. Criminals are easily caught on the spot with advanced technology.

What would psychologists advise on the relationships between friends?

A. Friends should open their hearts to each other.

B. Friends should always be faithful to each other.

C. There should be a distance even between friends.

D. There should be fewer arguments between friends.

Why does the author say "we live in a world where you simply cannot keep a secret"？

A. Modern society has finally developed into an open society.

B. People leave traces around when using modern technology.

C. There are always people who are curious about others' affairs.

D. Many search engines benefit from giving away people's identities.

What do most Americans do as for privacy protection?

A. They change behaviors that might disclose their identity.

B. They use various loyalty cards for business transactions(交易)..

C. They rely most and more on electronic devices.

D. They talk a lot but hardly do anything about it.

According to the passage, privacy is like health because ___.

A. people will make every effort to keep it.

       B. its importance is rarely understood

C. it is something that can easily be lost

      D. people don't treasure it until they lose it

My first most vivid and broad impression of the identity of things seems to me to have been gained on a memorable raw afternoon towards evening near my parents’ tomb in the churchyard.

    “Hold your noise!” came a terrible voice, as a man started up from among the tombs at the side of the church. “Keep still, you little devil(小鬼), or I’ll cut your throat!”

     A fearful man, all in coarse grey, with a great iron on his leg. A man with no hat, and with broken shoes, and with an old rag tied round his head. He seized me by the chin(下巴).

    “Tell us your name!” said the man. “Quick!”

    “Pip, sir.”

    “Show us where you live,” said the man. “Point out the place!”

    I pointed to where our village lay, on the flat in-shore among the alder-trees and pollards, a mile or more from the church.

    The man, after looking at me for a moment, turned me upside down, and emptied my pockets. There was nothing in them but a piece of bread.

    “You young dog,” said the man, licking his lips, “what fat cheeks you ha’ got. Darn me if I couldn’t eat em, and if I han’t half a mind to’t!”

I earnestly expressed my hope that he wouldn’t, and held tighter to the tombstone on which he had put me; partly, to keep myself upon it; partly, to keep myself from crying.

“Now then lookee here!” said the man. “Where’s your mother?”

“There, sir!” said I.

He started, made a short run, and stopped and looked over his shoulder.

“There, sir!” I timidly explained, pointed to the tombstone. “That’s my mother.”

“Oh!” said he, coming back. “And is that your father alonger your mother?”