For many people today, reading is no longer relaxation. To keep up their work they must read letters, reports, trade publications, interoffice communications, not to mention newspapers and magazines: a never-ending flood of words. In  1  a job or advancing in one, the ability to read and comprehend  2   can mean the difference between success and failure. Yet the unfortunate fact is that most of us are   3   readers. Most of us develop poor reading  4    at an early age, and never get over them. The main deficiency   5  in the actual stuff of language itself ——words. Taken individually, words have  6   meaning until they are strung together into phrases, sentences and paragraphs.    7  , however, the untrained reader does not read groups of words. He laboriously reads one word at a time, often regressing（退回） to  8    words or passages. Regression, the tendency to look back over   9  you have just read, is a common bad habit in reading. Another habit which  10   down the speed of reading is vocalization—sounding each word either orally or mentally as  11    reads.

　　To overcome these bad habits, some reading clinics use a device called an  12  , which moves a bar (or curtain) down the page at a predetermined（预先确定的） speeD．The bar is set at a slightly faster rate  13   the reader finds comfortable, in order to “stretch” him. The accelerator forces the reader to read fast,    14  word-by-word reading, regression and subvocalization（默读）practically impossible. At first  15  is sacrificed for speeD．But when you learn to read ideas and concepts, you will not only read faster,   16    your comprehension will improve. Many people have found  17   reading skill drastically improved after some training. 18  Charlce Au, a business manager, for instance, his reading rate was a reasonably good 172 words a minute  19   the training, now it is an excellent 1,28 words a minute. He is delighted that how he can   20  a lot more reading material in a short period of time.  

1．  A．applying B．doing       C．offering   D．getting

2．  A．quickly    B．easily       C．roughly    D．decidedly

3．  A．good       B．curious    C．poor        D．urgent

4．  A．training   B．habits      C．situations        D．custom

5．  A．lies   B．combines        C．touches    D．involves

6．  A．some       B．a lot        C．little        D．dull

7．  A．Fortunately     B．In fact      C．Logically        D．Unfortunately

8．  A．reuse       B．reread      C．rewrite     D．recite

9．  A．what        B．which      C．that D．if

10．A．scales      B．cuts C．slows       D．measures

11．A．some one        B．one   C．he    D．reader

12．A．accelerator      B．actor        C．amplifier D．observer

13．A．then        B．as     C．beyond    D．than

14．A．enabling B．leading    C．making    D．indicating

15．A．meaning B．comprehensionC．gist    D．regression

16．A．but   B．nor   C．or     D．for

17．A．our   B．your        C．their        D．such a

18．A．Look at    B．Take        C．Make       D．Consider

19．A．for   B．in     C．after        D．before

20．A．master     B．go over     C．present     D．get through

　　WASHINGTON: Chinese scientist Yuan Longping and Dr Monty Jones of Sierra Leone were named co－winners of the 2004 World Food Prize here on Monday for their contribution to world food security and rice production.

　　In announcing the recipients in a ceremony held at the US State Department, President of the World Food Prize Foundation Kenneth Quinn lauded both scientists for their “breakthrough scientific achievements” which have significantly increased food security for millions of people from Asia to Africa.

　　Quinn said it was particularly fitting that the two pioneering rice breeders rewarded the prize during the United Nations International Year of Rice, the crop identified as the staple(主要的) diet of more than 3 billion people around the world.

　　Professor Yuan Longping is director－general of the China National Hybrid Rice(杂交水稻) Research and Development Centre in Hunan Province, China. Jones is presently executive secretary of Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa.

　　Yuan is credited with(功劳在于……) developing the world's first successful and widely grown hybrid rice varieties, revolutionizing rice cultivation in China and tripling production over a generation.

　　Jones's work recaptured the genetic(遗传的) potential(潜能) of ancient African rice by combining African and Asian rice species.

　　Present at the ceremony hosted by US Secretary of State Colin Powell were UN Food and Agriculture Director－General Jacques Diouf, US Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman and Minister and Deputy Chief of Mission of the Chinese Embassy Lan Lijun.

　　The World Food Prize will be formally presented to Professor Yuan and Jones on October 14 this year in Iowa, the United States.

1．Which of the following is the best title?

[　　]

A．A．pioneer of the genetic research.

B．Passion for hybrid rice.

C．Scientists from China, Africa share food prize.

D．What is the World Food Prize?

2．The underlined word “lauded” can be replaced by ________.

[　　]

3．Jones won the 2004 World Food Prize for his achievements in ________.

[　　]

A．breeding(培育) hybrid rice

B．breeding hybrid wheat

C．improving ancient African rice

D．finding the genetic secret of rice

4．Which of the following is NOT true?

[　　]

A．The ceremony was held at the US State Department

B．Professor Yuan Longping attended the ceremony hosted by US Secretary of State Colin Powell.

C．Professor Yuan and Jones will go to the USA．in October to receive the World Food Prize.

D．3 billion people around the world live on rice.

Intellectual property (IP) is a product of the mind that has commercial value. The concept dates back to 1623, when the first patent law to protect IP rights was passed. IP rights protect an artist from having his/her creative ideas copied by another. For example, if somebody generated an idea for a novel, that idea is protected by IP rights. If someone else wishes to represent the idea or develop it further, he/she must consult the original artists, who will normally be rewarded financially for its use. Back in the 17^th century, IP rights were primarily carried out to protect newly developed manufacturing processes against stealing, but today intellectual property rights are also enjoyed by those who create music, art and literature.

   In recent years, IP rights have been the focus of a great deal of discussion because of a technology which looks set to weaken them altogether: the Internet. Many years ago, if you wanted a recoding of a song, you would have to purchase it from a music store; if a novel, from a book store. In those days, IP rights were easily protected since it was very difficult to obtain intellectual property without paying for it. However, a lot of IP, including songs, films, books and artwork, can be downloaded today free of charge using the internet. This practice has now taken the world by storm, dramatically affecting the way in which we view IP rights.

1.According to the writer, in the beginning, IP rights were mainly of use to _______.

　　A. those creating music, art and literature

　　B. novelists

　　C. those not receiving financial reward for their work

　　D. engineers and inventors

2.What do we know about the Internet according to the passage?

　　A. It does not affect the way we understand IP rights.

　　B. It sells songs and films.

　　C. It makes IP rights harder to protect.

　　D. It prevents the production of artwork.

3.According to paragraph 2, what has “taken the world by storm”?

A. Intellectual property rights.            B. Free downloading. 

C. The Internet.                        D. The large number of songs, films and books.

4.A possible title for this passage could be _______.

　　A. IP Rights and Our Attitudes　          B. Ways to Protect Your IP Rights

　　C. The Present and the Future of IP rights　 D. A History of IP Rights