Have you ever seen some movies about American western cowboys? Would you like to know how the cowboys lived their life and what they are doing now? Read the following passage, and you'll find the answer．

　　In history, a real cowboy was a simple farm worker on horseback．He spent a long time a day outdoors working with cows．The work was dirty, tiring and not very well paid．

　　People in the western states had to 　1　 cattle at low cost and send them by railway to the eastern 　2　 ．But someone had to 　3　 the cattle and get them to the nearest railroad．This was the job of a cowboy．Sometimes the 　4　 was more than a thousand kilometers away and it could take as 　5　 as six months to move the cattle．The 　6　 was long but the cattle were driven 　7　 as not to lose 　8　 Then they could be sold at a good price．

　　Most cowboys were young, 　9　 men．A good horse 　10　 their job of moving cattle much easier．A good cowboy 　11　 cows and knew how to control them．At night, he 　12　 to the cows to keep them calm．

　　In the late-1800s, America was changing from a nation of farm to one of 　13　 and cities．The cowboy seemed 　14　 compared with other Americans doing ordinary jobs．

　　Today, the 　15　 of cowboys has 　16　 greatly．One change is the use of trucks．The job is not so hard 　17　 it used to be．And cowboys are better 　18　 now．They are

　19　 to be married．Some of them are farmers or teachers or truck drivers．Some work for big companies．　20　 at night and on weekends, they become cowboys．These part-time cowboys increase the total production of meat, keeping the beef price low．

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　The greatest recent social changes have been in the lives of women. During the twentieth century there has been a remarkable shortening of the time 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 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(退休) at sixty. Even while she has the care of children, her work is lightened by modern living conditions.

　　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 schools at the first chance, 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 usually marry younger, more married women stay 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 the 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.

　1.According to the passage, around the year 1900 most women married ________.

　　A. at about twenty-five B. in their early fifties

　　C as soon as possible after they were fifteen

　　D. at any age from fifteen to forty-five

　2. We are told that in a common family about 1900 _________.

3.When she was over fifty, the late nineteenth-century mother _________.

4.According to the passage, the women of today usually _________.

完形填空：阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从各题所给的四个选项中选出一个最佳答案。（共20小题，每小题1.5分）

   In the past, man did not have to think about the protection of his environment. There were few people on the earth, and natural resources seemed to be　46　 .                    Today things are　 47　 , the world has become too　 48　 . We are using up our natural resources too quickly, and at the same time we are　 49　 our environment with dangerous chemicals. If we continue to do this, human life on the earth　 50　 survive.

　　Everyone　51　 today that if too many fish are taken from the sea, there will soon be none left. Yet, with modern fishing　 52 , more and more fish are caught. We know that if too many trees are cut down, 　53　 will disappear and nothing will grow on the land. Yet, we　 54　 to use bigger and more powerful machines to　 55　 more and more trees.

　　We realize that if rivers are polluted with waste products from factories, we will die.　 56　 , in most countries wastes are　 57　 put into rivers or into the sea, and there are　 58　 laws to stop this. We know, too, that if the　 59　 of the world continues to rise at the present rate, in a few years there will not be enough 60　. What can we do to solve these problems ?

　  If  we eat more vegetables and less　 61　 , there will be more food available for everyone. Land that is used to grow crops　 62　 five times more people than land where animals are kept. Our natural resources will　 63　 longer if we learn to recycle them. The world population will not rise so quickly if people use modern methods of birth 64　 .

　　Finally, if we educate people to think about the problems, we shall have a better and clearer 65　 in the future.

1.A. beautiful            B. unlimited               C. rare                        D. valuable

2.A. common            B. the same               C. changeable     D. different

3.A. crowded            B. small                      C. dirty                        D. busy

4.A. protecting         B. saving               C. polluting                D. fighting

5.A. may not             B. will not                   C. shall not                D. could not

6.A. wonders            B. realizes                  C. consider                D. discovers

7.A. poles                   B. boats                      C. methods                D. ideas

8.A  mountains      B. the sea                      C. trees                      D. forests

9.A. continue            B. have                       C. ought                     D. go on

10.A. grow                 B. plant                       C. save                        D. cut down

11.A. Thus       B. However    

C. Generally speaking  D. Therefore

12.A. still                    B. even                       C. also                         D. certainly

13.A. too many         B. a few                      C. some                      D. few

14.A. production      B. pollution                C. population       D. revolution

15.A. houses             B. vegetables      C. food                        D. lives

16.A. fruit                  B. meat                      C. fish                          D. grain

17.A. feeds                B. increases              C. supplies                 D. helps

18.A. use                    B. stay                        C. keep                       D. last

19.A. control             B. born                        C. plan                        D. reward

20.A. nature              B. sea                    C. planet               D. forest