When Jane Austen (1775--1817) wrote her novels in England, she was writing about a   21  that most of us would not recognize.

But today Austen’s books are in great   22   than ever. In the last ten years, five or six novels have been   23   into Hollywood films, while her books continue to be bestsellers. So why is Austen still   24  ?

Richard Jenkyns, a professor of English at Oxford University argued that her novels still  25  people because they  26  the same issues today as they were when she wrote them.

Her novels are about women   27  to find a perfect husband, but also  28  issues surrounding marriages, friendships and the family. “The plots are fairly timeless about human interaction   29  are familiar to us,” Jenkyns says.

The most famous book Austen wrote is Pride and Prejudice, a   30   story between Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy. At first the two   31  do not get on. They   32   fall in love, but still have to   33   opposition to their relationship from their families.

All of Austen’s books are   34   to read, making them popular with children and adults,

  35  they work on different levels so people can take  36  they need from them, author Kate Henry says.

“You can choose to see the politics and feminism(男女平等思想) in them,  37  you don’t want to take on those issues you can turn a blind eye to it,” she says.

  38  is often hailed(赞扬) as the greatest romance writer in the English language, so it is surprising she remained  39  . “Maybe she was too much of a romantic, waiting for a    40

man,” Henry says.

When Jane Austen (1775--1817) wrote her novels in England, she was writing about a   21 that most of us would not recognize.

But today Austen’s books are in great   22  than ever. In the last ten years, five or six novels have been   23  into Hollywood films, while her books continue to be bestsellers. So why is Austen still   24 ?

Richard Jenkyns, a professor of English at Oxford University argued that her novels still  25  people because they  26 the same issues today as they were when she wrote them.

Her novels are about women   27 to find a perfect husband, but also  28 issues surrounding marriages, friendships and the family. “The plots are fairly timeless about human interaction   29 are familiar to us,” Jenkyns says.

The most famous book Austen wrote is Pride and Prejudice, a   30  story between Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy. At first the two   31 do not get on. They   32  fall in love, but still have to   33  opposition to their relationship from their families.

All of Austen’s books are   34  to read, making them popular with children and adults,

  35 they work on different levels so people can take  36 they need from them, author Kate Henry says.

“You can choose to see the politics and feminism(男女平等思想) in them,  37 you don’t want to take on those issues you can turn a blind eye to it,” she says.

  38 is often hailed(赞扬) as the greatest romance writer in the English language, so it is surprising she remained  39 . “Maybe she was too much of a romantic, waiting for a    40

man,” Henry says.

The world’s population continues to grow. There are about five billion of us on earth now. It could reach six billion in 10 years’ time, and eleven billion in another 75 years. Experts have long been concerned about such growth. Where will we find the food, water, jobs, houses, schools and health care for all these people?

A major new study shows that situation may be changing. A large and rapid drop in the world’s birth rate has taken place during the past 10 years. Families generally are smaller now than they were a few years ago. This is happening in both developing and industrial nations. Scientists said they found a number of reasons for this. More men and women are waiting longer to get married. More women are going to school or working at jobs away from their home instead of having children. And more governments, especially in developing nations, now support family planning programs to reduce population growth.

China is one of the nations that have made great progress in reducing its population growth by about one half since 1970. China now urges each family to have no more than one child. And it hopes to reach zero population growth before long, that is, the number of birth equaling the number of death.

Several nations in Europe already have fewer births than deaths. Experts said that these nations could face a serious shortage of workers in the future.

1. In the sentence “Experts have long been concerned about such growth”, the phrase “concerned about” is similar in meaning to_____.

A. worried about      B. related to       C. busy working on     D. made a study of

2. “Family planning programs” means______.

A. economic policy in a country         B. economic policy in a family

C. TV programs for a family            D. birth control in a country

3. The world’s birth rate has dropped because_____.

A. people marry at a much later time

B. women would rather go to study or work than have children

C. some countries are carrying out the family planning programs

D. all the above

4. We hope that soon the number of birth and the number of death in China will_____.

A. be greatly different          B. be equal to each other

C. drop in great deal            D. become much larger

The world’s population continues to grow. There are about five billion of us on earth now. It could reach six billion in 10 years’ time, and eleven billion in another 75 years. Experts have long been concerned about such growth. Where will we find the food, water, jobs, houses, schools and health care for all these people?

A major new study shows that situation may be changing. A large and rapid drop in the world’s birth rate has taken place during the past 10 years. Families generally are smaller now than they were a few years ago. This is happening in both developing and industrial nations. Scientists said they found a number of reasons for this. More men and women are waiting longer to get married. More women are going to school or working at jobs away from their home instead of having children. And more governments, especially in developing nations, now support family planning programs to reduce population growth.

China is one of the nations that have made great progress in reducing its population growth by about one half since 1970. China now urges each family to have no more than one child. And it hopes to reach zero population growth before long, that is, the number of birth equaling the number of death.

Several nations in Europe already have fewer births than deaths. Experts said that these nations could face a serious shortage of workers in the future.

1. In the sentence “Experts have long been concerned about such growth”, the phrase “concerned about” is similar in meaning to_____.

A. worried about      B. related to       C. busy working on     D. made a study of

2. “Family planning programs” means______.

A. economic policy in a country         B. economic policy in a family

C. TV programs for a family            D. birth control in a country

3. The world’s birth rate has dropped because_____.

A. people marry at a much later time

B. women would rather go to study or work than have children

C. some countries are carrying out the family planning programs

D. all the above

4. We hope that soon the number of birth and the number of death in China will_____.

A. be greatly different          B. be equal to each other

C. drop in great deal            D. become much larger