阅读理解

　　The British National Health Service(NHS)was set up in 1948 and was designed to provide equal basic health care, free of charge, for everybody in the country．Before this time health care had to be paid for by individuals．

　　Nowadays central government is directly responsible for the NHS although it is administered by local health authorities．About 83 percent of the cost of the health service is paid for by general taxation and the rest is met from the National Insurance contributions paid by those in work．There are charges for prescription and dental care but many people, such as children, pregnant women, pensioners, and those on Income Support, are exempt from payment．

　　Most people are registered with a local doctor(a GP, or General Practitioner)who is increasingly likely to be part of a health centre which serves the community．

As the population of Britain gets older, the hospital service now treats more patients than before, although patients spend less time in hospital．NHS hospitals－many of which were built in the nineteenth century－provide nearly half a million beds and have over 480, 000 medical staff．The NHS is the biggest employer in Europe although Britain actually spends less per person on health care than most of her European neighbours．

　　During the 1980s there was considerable restructuring of the Health Service with an increased emphasis on managerial efficiency and the privatization of some services(for example, cleaning)．At the end of the 1980s the government introduced proposals for further reform of the NHS, including allowing some hospitals to be self-governing, and encouraging GPs to compete for patients．Patients would be able to choose and change their family doctor more easily and GPs would have more financial responsibility．The political questions continue of how much money should be provided to support the NHS and where it should come from．

阅读理解

　　Hawking has left much for Chinese to think about．British physicist Stephen Hawking, possibly the world’s most famous scientist after Albert Einstein, gave lectures in Zhejiang and Beijing in August．

　　An illness left him unable to move any part of his body except for three fingers．But his continuing efforts in the field of science have made many young people take him as their idol(偶像)．

　　His books, such as, A Brief History of Time, become bestsellers in Chinese bookstores．Hawking helps people expand their horizons and become interested in science, said Pan Yunhe, president of Zhejiang University．

　　Indeed, experts don’t think it is likely that Hawking’s lectures and far-reaching ideas will be easily understood by the common person．

　　But he has certainly sowed the seeds of science among many young people．

　　And the “Hawking fever” caused by his visit has made people ask：How can China produce more top scientists like Hawking?

　　“Training top scientists will take as much work to change society as to educate the scientists themselves, ”said Zhang Fan．Zhang has studied in the UK since 1999 and was a sophomore(大学二年级学生)at Trinity College in 2002．

　　In Britain, Zhang said, teachers inspire students to have a general understanding? of the subjects they are interested in．And they encourage students to develop new ideas, which helps them to nurture(培养)their creativity．

　　In China, the Ministry of Education has encouraged schools to provide quality education to develop students’ potential(潜能)．

　　“I hope teachers will pay more attention to helping us use our imaginations and solve problems on our own, ”said Lu Jie, a Junior student in Sanfan Middle School in Beijing．

阅读下面短文，从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中，选出最佳选项。

　　Hawking has left much for Chinese to think about．British physicist Stephen Hawking，possibly the world’s most famous scientist after Albert Einstein，gave lectures in Zhejiang and Beijing in August．An illness left him unable to move any part of his body except for three fingers．But his continuing efforts in the field of science have made many young people take him as their idol(偶像)．His books，such as A Brief History of Time，become bestsellers in Chinese bookstores．“Hawking helps people expand their horizons and become interested in science，”said Pan Yunhe，president of Zhejiang University．Indeed，experts don’t think it likely that Hawking’s lectures and profound(深奥的)ideas will be easily understood by the average person．

　　But he has certainly sowed the seeds of science among many young people．And the “Hawking fever” caused by his visit has made people ask：How can China produce more top scientists like Hawking?

　　“Nurturing(培养)top scientists will take as much work to change society as to educate the scientists themselves，”said Zhang Fan．Zhang has studied in the UK since 1999 and will be a sophomore(大学二年级学生)at Trinity College in October, 2002．In Britain，Zhang said，teachers inspire students to have a general understanding of the subjects they are interested in．And they encourage students to develop new ideas，which helps them to nurture their creativity．In China，the Ministry of Education has encouraged schools to provide quality education to tap(开发)students’ potential(潜力)．

　　“I hope teachers will pay more attention to helping us use our imaginations and solve problems on our own，”said Lu Jie，a Junior Three student in Sanfan Middle School in Beijing．