D
The cost of rice is expected to go up in the coming moths, as an improving global economy raises demand, and drought(旱灾) cuts production in countries such as India. Some economists say prices for rice, the main food for the world’s population, could be returning to levels that caused inflation(通货膨胀)fears in much of Asia last year.
Charuk Singhapreecha is dean of the faculty(系)of economics at Thailand’s Kasetsart University, Hesays prices-especially for Thai nice-are being pushed higher by new customers coming into the market after the economic slowdown of the past year. “They expect that the world demand will increase and we expect that the price of rice will increase next year,” Charuk said. “There are many new markets fro the Thai rice and also we still have for our old customers-China, some Arab countries-they will increase the demand.”
Prices on the global market could again near the record of $1,000 a ton set in the middle of 2008. This month, export prices for Southeast Asian rice have jumped from about $550 a ton to more than $650.
Vichai sriprasert, president of the Thai Rice Exporters Association, says further weakness in the US dollar and concerns over drought add to pressure on prices. Market experts say next year India is likely to try to import three million tons of rice-entering the world market for the first time in 21 years-because of a drought.
Vichai also warns that increasing demand for bio-fuels(生物燃料)from grain could reduce food crops, forcing the price of grains higher. “this is very serious. That’s why the price of rice will not go back to the level that we used to see,” Vichai said. “It will have to be raised at a higher level, but I don’t know where.”
The Philippines this week said it is cutting rice imports due to high prices, even though the country lost more than a million tons of grain to typhoons this year. officials from veetnam, a leading export competitor with Thailand, predict prices will reach about $800 a ton by the middle of 2010. This week the Philippines’ National Food Authority offered almost $665 a ton for 600,000 tons of Vietnamese rice.
Economists say higher food prices will only increase the problems faced by the region’s poor, who are highly dependent on rice as a staple food.
63.   Which of the following is NOT true according to Paragraph 1?
A. Drought reduces production of rice in India.
B. Prices for rice were lower all the time in 2008.
C. Rice is a major food for the world’s population.
D. the improving global economy increases the need for rice.
64.   How many reasons did Vichai mention about rice price’s going up?
A.1.                  B.2.                 C.3.           D.4.
65.Why does the Philippines plan to cut rice imports?
A. Because of high prices.                      B. Because of typhoons.
C. Because of civil war.                        D. Because of drought.
66.What’s the best title of the passage?
A. Higher food prices will increase problems
B. There are many new markets for the Thai rice
C. The global economy is improving
D. Prices for rice are expected to rise

请认真阅读下列短文，并在文章后表格中的空格里填入一个最恰当的单词。每空一词。
In the United States, engineering is a profession that has been dominated historically by men． Even today, it’s still true that few women become civil or chemical or mechanical engineers, but that’s something www．EngineerGirl．org aims to change． Young women who visit the web site can find out about a great career choice they might not have considered．
“Women are very much underrepresented in engineering and in engineering education programs and then of course, down the road, in the engineering workforce． So only about 20 percent of engineering undergraduate degrees go to women, and then only about nine percent of working engineers are women．”
Mary Mattis in the National Academy of Engineering, says the EngineerGirl website aims to reach young women around ages 11 through 14, when they are just getting old enough to start thinking about their futures．
“We know from the research that middle-school girls are at a critical point in their lives, and that it’s a time when we need to reach them, both with an understanding, increasing their awareness of interesting fields in engineering, what a wonderful productive and exciting career you can have as an engineer． But we also need to reach them at that time because you have to take certain courses, and you can’t start thinking about taking those courses when you’re a junior in high school．”
Engineering is a demanding course of study ---there is a lot of science and mathematics, for many girls and even boys, that can be challenging． But Ms． Mattis says that the EngineerGirl website stresses that engineering can also be fun and exciting．
“It’s about designing things． It’s about changing the world for people． It’s about making a difference． And, in addition, you can make a good living, you can be independent economically by becoming an engineer． All of those things are messages that girls need to get．”
While most engineers go into traditional fields such as mechanical and electrical engineering, the EngineerGirl site also highlights unusual engineering careers in fields such as sports engineering and --- believe it or not --- chocolate engineering．
“There’s a section called ‘why be an engineer,’ and that talks about the many opportunities and increasingly different opportunities like with bio-engineering and environmental engineering, some fields that might appeal to girls who want to make a difference or have a meaning for their careers beyond earning an income．”
Even if you are not a girl in the target age group, there’s a lot of interesting information on the site, including biographies of some notable women engineers．

-What will people die of 100 years from now? If you think that is a simple question, you have not been paying attention to the revolution that is taking place in bio-technology(生物技术). With the help of new medicine, the human body will last a very long time. Death will come mainly from accidents, murder and war. Today’s leading killers, such as heart disease, cancer, and aging itself, will become distant memories.
In discussion of technological changes, the Internet gets most of the attention these days. But the change in medicine can be the real technological event of our times. How long can humans live, Human brains were known to decide the final death. Cells are the basic units of all living things, and until recently, scientists were sure that the life of cells could not go much beyond 120 years because the basic materials of cells, such as those of brain cells, would not last forever. But the upper limits will be broken by new medicine. Sometime between 2050 and 2100, medicine will have advanced to the point at which every 10 years or so, people will be able to take medicine repair their organs(器官). The medicine, made up of the basic building materials of life, will build new brain cells, heart cells, and so on—in much the same way our bodies make new skin cells to take the place of old ones.
It is exciting to imagine that the advance in technology may be changing the most basic condition of human existence, but many technical problems still must be cleared up on the way to this wonderful future.
【小题1】 According to the passage, human death is now mainly caused by __________.

What will people die of 100 years from now?If you think that is a simple question,you have not been paying attention to the revolution that is taking place in bio-technology(生物技术).With the help of new medicine,the human body will last a very long time.Death will come mainly from accidents,murder and war.Today’s leading killers,such as heart disease,cancer,and aging itself,will become distant memories.

In discussion of technological changes,the Internet gets most of the attention these days.But the change in medicine can be the real technological event of our times.How long can humans live?Human brains were known to decide the final death.Cells(细胞) are the basic units of all living things,and until recently,scientists were sure that the life of cells could not go much beyond 120 years because the basic materials of cells,such as those of brain cells,would not last forever.But the upper limits will be broken by new medicine.Sometime between 2050 and 2100,medicine will have advanced to the point at which every 10 years or so,people will be able to take medicine to repair their organs(器官).The medicine,made up of the basic building materials of life,will build new brain cells,heart cells,and so on—in much the same way our bodies make new skin cells to take the place of old ones.

It is exciting to imagine that the advance in technology may be changing the most basic condition of human existence,but many technical problems still must be cleared up on the way to this wonderful future.

According to the passage,human death is now mainly caused by _______.

A.diseases and aging                                         B.accidents and war

C.accidents and aging                                       D.heart disease and war

In the author’s opinion,today’s most important advance in technology lies in _______.

A.medicine                                                      B.the Internet

C.brain cells                                                    D.human organs

Humans may live longer in the future because _______.

A.heart disease will be far away from us

B.human brains can decide the final death

C.the basic materials of cells will last forever

D.human organs can be repaired by new medicine

We can learn from the passage that _______.

A.human life will not last more than 120 years in the future

B.humans have to take medicine to build new skin cells now

C.much needs to be done before humans can have a longer life

D.we have already solved the technical problems in building new cells

Biomass energy (生物能).often forgotten as a promising alternative (替代物) to oil, received its day in the sun with the gathering of the Bio-Energy World Congress and Exposition in Atlanta, Georgia, late in April, 1990. Nearly 1, 700 scien??tists, businessmen, and policy-makers, one-quarter from the foreign nations, gathered for a week to discuss various means of squeezing usable energy out of trees, crops, manure, sea??weed, algae, and urban waste. Biomass in the United States contributes 2. 5 percent of the total supply, but this amount can be doubled by 2000 and then doubled again by the year 2010.

Eight percent of Sweden’s energy supply, for example, is presently coming from wood bark and pulp remainings, Sweden intends to raise this percentage by more intensive harvesting of waste food lying around in forests, and through the planting of so-called energy forests of fast-growing trees such as willow and birch.

Brazil is frequently pointed to as a nation with a major successful investment (投资)in energy coming from grains: it presently runs 330,000 automobiles on a water and alcohol (酒精) mixture, replacing 10 percent of its previous oil sup??ply. Brazilian representatives (代表) at the conference said they wish to double this in five years, with a final goal of total replacement. Most of the cars are built at the factory to use the mixture, while older models are changed through low-cost gov??ernment programs.

4. In Line 2, the phrase received its day in the sun most probably means ________.

A. came to the public mind                     B. had its turn in the sunlight

C. was regarded as a solar energy                   D. came from the energy of the sun

5. Which of the following statements is supported by the passage?

A. 1, 700 scientists attended the conference.

B. A quarter of American businessmen were present at the conference.

C. Foreign policy-makers accounted for a quarter.

D. Three-quarters of the representatives were from the U. S.

6. Of the total supply in 2010, biomass in the U. S. will be________.

A. 5%               B.20%               C.10%               D.15%

7. Which of the following is not regarded as biomass energy?

A. Willow and seaweed.                      B. Wood and grains.

C. Water and alcohol mixture.              D. Crops and oil mixture.

8. A suitable title for this passage would be ________.

A. An Energy Conference                    B. Approval of Biomass Energy

C. Bio-Energy for Automobiles        D. Keys to Energy Crisis